The Washington herald., 1919-12-26
JOSEPH BvcKLIN BISHOP

Sess
request. had him wear his kilt at
the state dinner and reception the
night we were at the palace. You
know he is n descendant of Montrose,
and although born in Canada, his
parents were Scotch and he was edu-
Gated in Scotland. Do tell Mr.. Bob
Fergie about him and his kills when
you next write him.
We spent the night at the palace,
which is half palace and half castle,
and was the residence of the old
Spanish governors. 1t is nearly 40
years old. and is a delightful building.
with quaint gardens and a quaint
sea wall looking over the bay. There
were colored lanterns lighting up the
gardens for the reception. and the
view across the bay in the moonlight
was lovely. Our rooms were at
tractive, as possible. too except that
they were so very airy and open that
We found II difficult to sleep-not that
that much mattered as, thanks to the
ecrlines> of our start and the lateness
of our reception, we had barely four
hours in which we even tried to sleep.
The next morning we came back in
duloilOplAts oNtI anu tN'ii
more beautiful roads. The mountain
passes through and over which We
went made us feel as if we were in a
tropic Switzerland. We had to cross
two or three rivers where big cream
colored oxen with yokes tied to their
horns pulled the automobiles through
the water. At one funny little village
we had an open air lunch, very good.
~ rhiClar Nj onl hread anh
some wine contributed by a wealthy
Spaniard who rode up from a neigh
boring coffee ranch.
Yesterday afternoon we embarked
again. and that evening the crew gave
a theatrical entertainment on the
afterdeck. closing with three boxing
bouts. l send you the program. 1t
was great fun. the audience being
equally enraptured with the sentimen-
tai songs about the flag. and the
sailors true love and his mother. and
with the jokes (the most relished Of
which related to the fact that bed
bugs were supposed to be so large
that they had to be shot0 and the
skits about the commissary and vari-
Gus persons and deeds on the ship.
In n way the freedom of comment re-
minded, me a little of the Roman
triumphs. when the excellent legend
aries recfted in verse and prose- any,
thing they chose concerning the hero
in whose deeds they had shared and
whose triumphs they were celebrating
The stage, well lighted, was built on
the aftermost part of the deck We
sat in front with the officers. and
the sailors behind us in masses on
the deck. on the aftermost turrets. on
the bridge. and even in the fighting
top of the aftermost mast 1t vas
interesting to see their faces in the
light
T. s. I forgot to tell you about the
banners and inscriptions of welcome
to me i'm Porto Rico. One of them
which stretched across the road had
on it. welcome to Theodore and Mrs.
Roosevelt" Last evening l really en-
ioyed rather funny experience
There is an Army and Navy Union
composed chiefly of enlisted men, but
also of many officers. and they sud-
denly held a garrison" meeting in
the torpedo room of this ship. There
were about fifty enlisted men, togeth-
or with the captain and myself / WAS
introduced as "comrade and shipmate
Theodore Roosevelt. President of the
United States" They were such a
nice set of fellows, and I was really
so pleased to be with them; so self
respecting, so earnest. and just the
right type out of which to make the
typical fighting man who is also a
good citizen. The meeting reminded
me good deal of a lodge meeting
at Oyster Bay; and of course those
men are fundamentally of the same
type as the shipwrights. railroad men
and fishermen whom met at the
lodge. and who, by the way. are my
chief hackers politically and are the
men who make up the real strength
of this nation.