The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 23, 1898, Page 4

FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY . 23, 189S. CONGRESS TO STRENGTHEN THE NAVY WILL Uncle Sam to George Washington in One Year. In Addition to This Passes the Bill Providing for Two More Regiments to Man Coast Defenses. Call Office, Riggs House, Washington, Feb. 22. of the hi te to-day, Hawley of setts in t Connecticut, chai Affairs Commit called up the bill | providing for tt listment of two | additional giments of artillery for ce in manning the heavy coast e batte which Congress has | provided du the past two years. see objected to the Bate of 1 3 i to an increase to which he said he the army, unalterably opposed. there were enough troops already un- der enlistment to man all the guns now being provided for by the Govern- ment. He argued that it would be bet ter to assign infantry regiments to the manning of these guns than to put | them in charge of raw recruits. | In reply Hawley pointed out that the | strength of the army was really de- creasing in proportion to the inhabi- tants of the country. In addition, he said, s had made large appro- in recent y pria s for great guns for forts and coa stations. Of these gun: guns of large calfber and d nechanism. To these mus! rifled steel morta be | placed, v of trained men is 1 of these great war engines requires to handle it as much skill as it requires to run a locomotive or an ordinary river steamer. The War Department estimates that the 1600 | which this bil ill be sary to properly man the: guns. krell of Missouri said he was op- posed to n increase in the infant: or cavalry arms of the service, but this case the country was confronted | b, i condition. He regarded | y that the guns provided | by the Government should be properly | cared for and manned. For that rea- | son he had consented as a member of | the committee to have the bill favora- | bly reported. The bill then passed, 52 to .| The negative votes were cast by Bate | of Tennessee, Clay rgia, Chilton | of T and Ve Morgan of Alabama secured the adoption of the foll : “That the Committee on Naval Af- | fairs is instructed to inquire and re- | port whether a man-of-war equal, at least, to any warship in the world, to be named the George Washington, can be built, armed and commissfoned | within a period of twelve months by | the use of the facilities of the ship | yards, machine shops, mines and for- ests of the United States, wherever the same are found, and that the commit- tee have leave to report at any time by bill or otherwise.” The resolution was adopted without debate, At 1:30 the Senate went Into execu- tive session, and at 4 p. m. adjourned. SENTIMENTS OF SOME OF THE STATESMEN., Senator Morgan and Others Speak | of the Neccessities of | the Navy. | WASHINGTON, Feb. 22—1In an in- terview Senator Morgan sald to-night: | “In view of the foreign complications that now threaten us, I assumed that | Congress was willing to be more liberal | with appropriations for the navy and it occurred to me that this might be a | good time to provide for a new naval ship to take the place of the Maine. The new vessel might properly be named the George Washington and this na- tional memorial day was a very proper time to introduce such a resolution. It is singular that none of our war vessels have been named in honor of the father of our country. The Navy Department has very properly named most of our vessels after the several States, but it seems to me that there should be a de- parture in naval nomenclature and we should honor the memory, not only of our military and naval heroes, but our fllustrious statesmen as well. The in- troduction of my resolution on this na- tional holiday was therefore deemed an appropriate sentiment by my col- —————————— ADVERTISEMENTS. Pears’ was the first maker of sticks of soap for shav- ing. Pears’ Soap es- tablished over 100 years, BUILD THE LARGEST OF WARSHIPS of the Military | as | He thought that | | and a holy terror to those on board of | when | best type of naval ship for harbor de- | the bottom with all her precious freight |army and navy on a respectable and | exactions that shipmasters are now al- Constructthe the Senate [leagues. They passed the resolution, and 1 have strong hopes that the Goerge Washington will within a year | be added to our nav Senator Morgan was asked whether, | In his opinion, the destructipn of the | Maine would have a tendency to make Congress more liberal or more eco- | nomical in its appropriations for war | vessels. He replied: ~It all depends | on the report of the naval court at Ha- vana. If the court finds that the Maine | was blown up by the Spanish, the tendenc of course, will be toward a | great increase in our navy, for in that | event war can scarcely be avoided. But | if it appears that the sh was de- stroyed by reason of the carelessness | of our naval officers, many members of Congress (remembering the disasters that have overtaken other American naval vessels) will naturally say ‘What is the use? ‘e might as well throw our morney into the sea.’” A leading member of the House Ap- | propriations Committee expressed this view of the matter to-night when he said to The Call correspondent: “Up to date the modern steel-clad battle- ship has only been a peril to herself and Inside of her. Except for the one naval battle between a Japanese and a Chinese cruiser and the little scrim- mage in front of Alexandria, Egypt, the English fleet silenced the Egyptian shore batteries, the present type of steel-clad battle-ship has never done anything but blow up or run on mud banks or s at sea or cut up | some caper dangerous to her crew and | costly to her owner. Moreover, just as | soon’ as millions are invested in these | metal monsters, the type is changed | and more millions are sunk. “The whole mad struggle for power is a costly foily. It is folly which we, thanks to our isolation and the com- pactness of our country, can escape if we will mind our own business, in our own proper sphere. Yet, despite these ¢y tuition fees in the schooi of bit- experience, a conspiracy is afoot to ex the Sandwich Islands and start and colonial scheme, throwing the greatest advantage we have possessed as a nation over all others in olation which has exempted us ntaining either an army or a of any size.” Congressman Hilborn of California, a member of the Naval Affairs Commit- tee, believes that the monitor is the fense, although, of course, ‘a2 monitor & ot carry coal enough for a long cruise. He says: ‘“The modern battle- ship is purely the emanation of the human brain. Theoretically this great steel battleship, weighing 11,000 tons, protected by heavy armor, a floating fortress, is a powerful engine of naval | warfare. But what she would do in | action no one knows. She has cost milllons of dollars and carries withia | her sides hundreds of human beings, | but a little torpedo of insignificant cost | touching her sides would send her to of human life.” It must not be inferred from this, however, that Mr. Hilborn does not ad- | vocate liberal appropriations to put our safe war footing, but he believes in an- otber style of battleship, constructed on the monitor plan and besides he is in favor of a Government factory for the production of our ammunition. A Congressman who is a strong advo- cate of the seamen's bill said: “We | can have no assurance of safety for our naval vessels as long as they are manned by crews composed largely of fcreigners. Any one who can read the list of the dead and of the saved crew of the Maine cquld not but be lm-‘ pressed with the preponderance of for- eigners who composed the crew of the | unfortunate vessel. American vessels | should be manned by loyal Americans. | They cannot be educated in the ap- ! | prentite schools, but must have years | of hard and practical experience, but | under our existing laws the sea offers | no temptation to our youth. The hard | | lowed to impose upon sailors must be | | removed by Congress before we will | be able to enlist American seamen for | our naval vessels. | “'A seaman is a slave and can be im- prisoned for failing to carry out a civil | contract. ed. All of this must be remedled by | Congress. If not forelgn sallors will | continue to compose the crews of mer- | ers, for our naval apprentice schools do not and will not accomplish the pur- | pose intended and must continue to employ for our naval vessels practical seamen who are under existing condi- -tions chiefly of foreign birth. In order to guard against explosions from inter- | nal cause we must have good, loyal | Americans for a crew. I think that the | seamen's bill advocated by Andrew Furuseth of San Francisco and the Sea- | man’s Union, and introduced by Sena- tor Frye, will be passed by Congress. | At any rate its chance of success is | | greatly improved on account of the Maine disaster.” WILL ENTERTAIN THE NEW MINISTER. ‘Woodford to Give a Dinner to Bar- | nabe, Who Soon After Leaves Spain. Copyrighted, 189, by James Gordon Bennett. MADRID, Feb. 22.—Minister Wood- ford gives a dinner Thursday in honor | of the new Minister to Washington, | Barnabe, and Saturday his guest salls for New York, carrying with him the | latest instructions of his Government, the first of which is the_ necessity of pushing affairs to an immediate, satis- factory conclusion. COMMODORE PHILIP HICHBORN, U. S. N., Chicf of the Burcau of Construction and Repair, Who Will Have Charge of the build- ing of the Proposcd Battleship George Washington. REGULARS ARE | READY FOR WAR Brave Boys in Blue Want a Brush "With the ‘Spaniards. Work of Strengthening Harbor 'Defenses Goes Steadily On. the There Is & Prospect That Angel Island May Be Abandoned as a Mili- tary Station. | Officers and enlisted men stationed at | the Presidio received with delight yes- | terday the news that the Senate had | voted unanimously to authorize an in- | crease of the army by the addition of | two more regiments of artillery. More soldiers of this branch of the service | are needed. The force of artillerymen | at the Presidio is not sufficient to properly man the high power guns al- ready in position. When additional guns arrive to fill the emplacements now ready the need of more troops will be urgent. The impression that there is a regi- ment of artillery at the Presidio Is| wide of the true mark. There are only | four batteries of artillery at this g&r-l rison and two of these are light bat- teries. The only troops available to handle the modern guns are Batteries A and H of the Third Artillery. Bat- | tery D of this regiment is at San Diego; K Battery is at Alcatraz; E 15‘ at Fort Mason; L is at Lime Point | | (Fert Baker); M is at Fort Canby; B | Spaniards in Cuba. It is admitted that is at Fort Monroe and Batteries G and | I are at Angel Island. Yesterday Battery H was on duty at | He may be flogged and abus- | the works near Fort Point, where the | Indian campaigns. modern high-power guns are placed. | Since the recent orders from Gen. Miles chant vessels and therefore our naval | directing that extra caution be observ- | have been bushwhacking in Cuba for ships will also have to enlist foreign- | ed at the forts, the men of the Third | several years, but if American troops | Artillery have not been able to perform | 80 there they will have to fight in the all the duties enjoined. Details for | guard duty have been made from the | First Infantry. The Fourth Cavalry has supplied mounted patrolmen. It may be necessary to bring from Angel Island the two batteries of the regiment stationed at that post and to transfer the battery at Fort Mason to | a point near the main works of de- fense. No provision has been made for barracks at the places where the troops are most needed. The comfort- | able barracks at the Presidio are dis- tant one mile and a haif from the ten and twelve inch batteries of Fort Point. Tents could be pitched at the front, and this may become necessary. It is surmised that the increase of the artillery force will bring more | troops of this branch of the service (0‘ It is probable that An- | military station may be | wholly abandoned. The fight to pro- | tect the harbor and the city must be | made at the heads, and as a final re-| sort in the narrow channel between | Lime Point and Fort Point. A hostile fleet powerful enough to defeat Uncle Sam's ironclads and battle-ships in an engagement outside and then run the gauntlet of the forts on either side of the Golden Gate channel would soon | silence the Angel Island batteries. An admiral with the courage and skill of a Farragut or Nelson might attempt with a powerful fleet of arm- ored ships to pass the batteries defend- ing the entrance to the harbor of San Francisco, but few fleet commanders would venture upon a movement £o full of peril and with such remote chance of success. As the works of defense now stand the fire of six 12- inch guns, five 10-inch guns, S‘xm‘(’ni heavy mortars and three dynamxte‘ guns could be concentrated on a hos- | tile fleet. The 12-inch rifles have a | range of ten miles. The mortars and | pneumatic dynamite guns have a range of four miles. Apart from these modern guns there are many effective 15-inch smooth bores and S-inch rifles of the old pat- tern. The 10-inch smooth bores, which were converted into 8-inch rifles, shoot with remarkable accuracy. Artillery- men of the United States service have a great admiration for the converted 8-inch rifles. A soldier of the Third Artillery at the Presidio yesterday re- marked: “We used to keep a tug busy setting up targets for these guns. The projectile goes to the mark with the directness of a bullet from a small rifle. The six or eight rifles of this pattern now lying on the ground near Fort Point ought to be sent over to Lime Point and placed near the water line.” The enlisted men of the Third Ar- tillery believe that a war with Spain would do the country good. They fig- ure that the regular army could easily absorb 25,000 men, and this force to- gether with volunteer regiments would make an army sufficient to whip the | the regiments of the regular army have not, as organizations, ever en- gaged in battle, although many of them have been tried under fire during “If the Spanish troops ever encoun- ter American soldiers they will quickly understand what fighting means. They open or leave the island. We have the men and the money to win if we go to war, and it is now time that foreign nations understood that Americans would fight. If we do not have war over this Maine affair the Spaniards | will think we are a nation of coward: and offer some other provocation. Whether war is declared or not the present war talk will do good. Tt will show the country the need of preparing to fight. We will get more men, more guns and more ships. This regiment, Section of the Maine, Showing the Forward Magazines and Pocket Coal-Bunkers. the Third Artillery, is ready at any time for a fight with Spain.” The dynamite guns at the Presidio are carefully guarded, and no one is al- lowed to enter the compressed air plant without a permit from headquarters. The immense guns are covered as a weather protection. Each gun is capa- ble of throwing 500 pounds of dynamite a distance of four miles. Three shots from each can be fired in quick succes- slon. Recent orders issued by General Shafter prescribe that on the 20th of each month post commanders submit a schedule for the approval of the de- partment commander for such drills and exercises, including practical in- struction contemplated by orders from the adjutant-general’s office at Wash- ington, as they may deem most neces- | sary for their commands for the month following. These drills must embrace athletic instruction, preferably such as may be joined in by the entire organi- zation, as the department commander deems this more important than ath- letic instruction to a few who show special aptitude. In this connection at- tention is directed to the “Manual of Physical Drill,” prepared by Lieuten- ant E. L. Butts, U. S. A, and author- ized for the use of the troops by the Secretary of War. It is contemplated to have practice marches for all arms of the service in this command early in the year. The concentration of the heavy artillery troops at the Presidio for practical artillery instruction and target practice will take place in the months of May and June. The practice season for smallarms for the cavalry in the department of California is an- nounced as follows for the current vear: Revolver practice, March; car- bine practice, April and May. The cordon of precaution is being drawn tighter and tighter about the defenses of San Francisco and the bay, as the prospect of war grows nearer, and each day brings some new regu- lation to prevent the possibility of Spanish agents ascertaining the real strength of the forces stationed here. The latest order went into effect yes- terday when mounted soldiers were sent to guard all the means of entering the Presidio except the one where the Union street railway terminates. All of those who tried to enter with- out permits were quietly but firmly told that such passports were neces- sary and that they must be procured to enter the reservation. Those who entered the Presidio by the Union street line were under constant sur- veillance and were not permitted t» get beyond the range of vision of the vigilant guards. ORDERED FROM GALVESTON TO KEY WEST. NEW YORK, Feb. 22.—A Galveston (Texas) special to the Herald says. To- morrow will end the visit of the bat- tle-ship Texas and gunboat Nashviile to this port. The Nashville will pro- ceed to sea directly after breakfast. She will be followed between 11 and 4 ‘clock by the Texas. The destina- tion of both vessels is Key West, where they will rejoin the flag of Admiral Si- card. Beyond that they have received no orders, or if they have their com- manders have been careful not to dis- close them. Commander Maynard of the Nashviile, when asked how he fancied the idea of being ordered to Havana to replace the unfortunate Maine, evaded the question, answering | it in saying his orders took him from Galveston to Key West. p S E5M San Diego’s Fortifications. SAN DIEGO, Feb. 22—The third 10- inch rifle for the Ballast Point fortifica- tions arrived to-day and will be trans- ferred to the lighter and towed across the bay to be mounted. A large portion of the members of Battery D, Third Ar- tillery, are now at the works preparing to mount the guns and get the battery into working condition at t possible date. he earliest O'Brien’ 3 ding b, pl::n! :pfix best and lnllnt en ns, Gol Polk street. dep s HOW SPAIN ‘BUTCHERED AMERICANS Story of the Revolting Massacre in Cuba Retold. Alex Matheson Describes the “Virginius Affair” and the Pop- ular Clamor at That Time for War Against Spain. The present state of national excite- ment over the destruction of the Maine and the death of more than half of her brave crew recalls to my mind most vividly certain events which took place on the Atlantic shore a quarter of a century ago. To most of the young men of the present a reference to ‘‘the Virginius affair’” means very little. It was, as events proved, merely an incident in ous history, and has been given very little space in the printed records of our past. To the American men, young and old, however, who were alive in 1873, that “incident” meant much, and for a time it seemed as if the country, just recovering as it was from the effects of an internecine war, was to be forced by her excited and righteously angered people into a sudden and retributive conflict with the same kingdom against which our hearts are now up in arms. The story can be briefly told: The Cuban insurrection, begun October 10, 1868, by 128 men under the leadership of Charles M. de Cespedes, had endured for just five years of varying fortunes for the opposing forces, when the steamer Virginius, a regularly docu- mented American vessel under com- mand of Captain Frey of New Orleans, was captured by the Spaniards just outside Jamalica in neutral waters and the 183 men who comprised her officers, crew and passengers were made pris- oners of war. Of these unfortunates fifty-three were executed, or rather, butchered, almost immediately in the city of Santiago de Cuba; they were ‘shot down by a detachment of soidiers, and their still palpitating bodies trampled on by cavalry and run over by military wagons, after which their heads were hacked off and carried through the town on spikes. Such revoltingly cruel acts were in themselves sufficient to arouse the in- dignation of a civilized country, but when it was known that 35 of the vie- tims—some of them beardless boys whose love of adventure alone had lur- ed them from home—were bona fide citizens of the United States, a tidal wave of outraged feeling swept over the entire land. Though every section of the country was roused by the news of the dreadful tragedy the real storm center was the city of New York. The headquarters of the Cuban junta were there, which insured direct and con- stant communication with the unhap- py island, and the fact that a number of the butchered men were former resi- dents of New York and Brooklyn made the horror of the affair felt there with special keenness. ‘When the news first came it seemed as if every man in the vicinity of New York harbor went wild. Business of all kinds was neglected and the streets were full of excited men in groups and crowds, talking together, reading the bulletins, or listening to the impromp- tu speakers reviewing the situation and urging the remedy. And the only remedy that was suggested during those days of furious and unreasoning indignation was war. That we could “whip Spain with one hand tied be- hind us” was the universal opinion publicly and loudly expressed. Print- ing House Square was packed with people feverishly waiting for addi- tional details from Cuba and news from Washington, and the vicinity of the Herald office, then situated at the corner of Broadway and Ann street, was so densely crowded that it was al- most impossible for the omnibuses to make their way up and down. Anonymous posters and handbills speedily made their appearance sum- moning all eitizens to a mass meeting at Cooper Institute, and on the night appointed that immense hall was jammed and at least a score of “over- flow meetings” were held elsewhere, half a dozen being organized in the im- mediate vicinity of the hall. To facili- tate matters all foreigners in attend- ance were segregated and asked to go to different localities, where they were addressed by orators speaking their | special language, and messengers were constantly sent from the main body in the institute to these meetings to keep them informed of all that took place there. The outcome of this immense gather- ing was a message to'the President from the citizens of New York and vi- cinity offering to furnish both men and money to begin and carry on an ag- gressive campaign against Spain on sea and shore, and asking only the Govern- ment’s sanction.’ As soon as this message was sent preparations for war began in earnest among us. Recruiting offices were opened in various parts of the city and provisional enlistment was general. All classes were represented in the enroll- ment lists, war veterans, professional and business men, and mechanics and laborers. All were eager to help wipe out the insult offered to their country and avenge the undeserved deaths suffered by their countrymen. I was a young fellow then, with a wide acquaintance in the sister citles. It took me just two days to raise a company of 100 men, not one of whom was over 25 or was unable to pass a strict military medical examinatio Captain Thompson, who had manded a New York company in tha civil war, was to be colonel of our regi- ment, and he wished me to take the captaincy of my company, but I felt that I was neither old enough nor wise enough in military matters to flil such a position and we compromised by my taking the office of first lieutenant. Just previous to the Virginius af- fair one of Spain’s finest cruisers, the Arapales, lay up in the Brookivn navy-yard for cleaning and overhaul- ing. As soon as there was a rumor of war the captain was naturally anx- fous to get away, and hurried the workmen up, fearing that he might be made a prisoner. The workmen were strangely slow, but at last even they were unwillingly obliged to pronounce the ship ready for sea. Then three days were spent in looking for a pilot, but every »one of those useful persons was found unaccountably busy. At last one was secured, one of the best on the bay, and the captain’s troubles seemed at an end. Unfortunately, how- ever, this most excellent pilot who had never before met with an accident, awkwardly ran his charge on a hid- den rock, and back she had to go to com- the navy-yard for additional repairs, which it required a whole week to finish. During this time the captain, who seemed to have been of a singularly suspicious turn of mind, and,k was moreover noted as being the most vol- uble andaccomplished swearer to whom New York had ever listeped, famil- {arized himself with the chantel suf- ficiently to take his ship out and proceeded to do so as soon as she was afloat again. The New Yorkers saw him slipping through their fingers without expressing the least regret and much friendly sympathy was shown when misfortune again overtook him. Just as he was entering East River after loudly declaring that he never wanted to see America nor anything American again, fate or iankee inge- nuity interfered once more. A’ tug- boat with several barges loaded with coal for the Willlamsburg sugar re- fineries steamed across his path and three of the barges, afterward ascer- tained to have been bored full of auger holes, sunk direetly before him. It took days to raise them, for all man- ner of small accidents happened to the hoisting machinery, much to the loudly expressed wonder and regret of the American workmen employed, and all that time the Spanish captain simply raved and roared, to the silent delight of his unofficial but very determined jailers. Not until the uncertainty was over and war was no longer threatening was that cleverly caged cruiser, which would have been, as we all know, a rich prize in case of conflict between her nation and our own, allowed right of way out to the broad Atlantic. ALEX. MATHESON. 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