Galveston Tribune. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 124, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 13, 1898 Page: 6 of 16
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6
THE GALVESTON TRIBUNE.
PACIFICOES IN WAR.
z£
How the Heroic Little Hauscar Was
WELL TO GET OUT OF SPAIN.
Overpowered by Chileans.
Dr. Harter’s Iron Tonic Cures Dyspepsia.
In
Who is to
purifies the
wares
NEED A LITTLE EDITING.
SOME WAR STATISTICS.
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several men.
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ADVERTISING.
were
were
govern-
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sore
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ASTONISHING
The
TWO-BIT AD.
eye.
Hood’s
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of belligerent countries.
3 LINES
“In Presi-
3 TIMES
25 OTS.
Perils They Meet and Protection
They May Expect.
GLORY AND GORE
IN AN OCEAN DUEL
the Hands of a Hostile Nation
Their Rights Are Only Such
as It Concedes.
The results that are obtained
from a
In the
Tribune Want Columns.
destroy. The surgeon and his assistants
laid out scalpels, long gleaming knives
and saws. Huge piles of lint were placed
on the floor.
Here’s a Tale to Curb the Desire of
Young Men to Fight in Battle-
ships of Today.
HORRORS OF COMBAT
IN A TURRETTED SHIP,
passed about
sailors in the
over
A shell
=
The Most Common of Human Ills,
The Last Thing One Ever Thinks
It Worth While to Try to Cure.
The Cause of More Misery
Than Drunkenness.
0
____ Sarsaparilla is just what __
needed to give strength to the nervous,
weak and worn.
choruses of their songs. This is all right.
It is as it should be. It would be a queer
thing, indeed, if silence should follow such
a bit bf stage work, and in these days the
very calmest and most self-contained men
under ordinary circumstances And it Im-
possible to refrain from joining in the
tumultuous approval of the palms in im-
pact when they see their colors exhibited
under any old circumstances. But, for the
sake of even approximate exactness,
some of the Maine disaster songs, and all
of the Maine disaster recitations, ought to
be edited.
In a Washington variety theater this
week a slam-bang comedian, whose regu-
lar stunt is a knockabout turn, becomes
suddenly serious at the conclusion of his
act and recites a little story, erected in
decidedly lumpy verse, of th^ Maine dis-
aster. It is done to slow music, and at
every night performance and every mat-
inee it has simply torn the house apart,
both ends from the middle, up and down,
going and coming. It is a song of a “tiny
little midshipman,” whose smug, babyish
face, brave manners and all-round dead-
gameness earns for him the love of all
the horse-voiced, barnacled, heavy weath-
er men of the Maine on the trip down to
Havana harbor. The tiny midshipman is
pictured as having been on terms of the
easiest familiarity and confidence, both
fore and aft, and there is a lot of mother-
is-sadly-wait'ing-at-home business in the
recitation. Of course, the tot of a middy
gets blown skyhigh in the explosion; of
course, he is picked up in the harbor by
one of the aforesaid old deep-water blue-
jackets, and of course, he died on a cot in
a Havana hospital, uttering brave words
of cheer for the United States navy, and
sending comforting, elevated messages to
his mother and sisters at home.
There is, of course, such
poetic license. But when it is reflected
that there haven’t been any midshipmen
in the United States navy for about 40
years, this recitation certainly seems to
be a bit beside the mark. There are en-
listed apprentices in Uncle Sam’s navy—
none of them under 17 years of age—and
if anybody has ever been able to discover
anything tot-like in the carriage or man-
ner of a United States naval apprentice
he must have had a peculiarly discerning
\ J
The following account of a fight between
two modern naval vessels—the two-turret
ship Huascar of Peru and the iron clad
Almirante Cochrane of Chile—is taken
from “A Famous Sea Fight” (in the Chile-
Peruvian war of 1879), in the April Cen-
tury, by Claude H. Wetmore:
The drummers and buglers were ordered
to sound calls, first for general quarters,
then for action; and, stripped to the
waist, the guns’ crews crowded into the
ill ventilated turret, where they were to
toil and sweat at the great pieces in an at-
mosphere that the sun’s fierce rays, al-
ready causing the morning to be close and
sticky, would make stifling. Ammunition
holds were thrown open and the long- cur-
tains of green felt were slung from the
deck beams above to protect the magazine
passages, in order that sparks might not
fall among the'Explosives. A dozen men
hurried into therpiavn military top to serve
the Gatling gun :and rifles there. Rubber
(T «?L
cloths were stretched (over the wardroom
table and fastened iMf such a manner that
the blood of the wounded would flow
smoothly and be- caught in buckets that
we're placed at 'Ihe four corners, for there
one science would .endeavor to save the
lives that another science was trying to
---------------------E r—-t---------------?------------
Rj u. pr •
as; i: - ■ b
Stage Songs of the Maine Disaster that
Get the Loudest Applause.
Washington Evening Star.
The variety theaters are surely getting
a good deal out of the Maine disaster. The
serio-comic women are all singing “writ-
ten-especially-for-me” songs about it, and
they infallibly get terrific “hands” when,
at the conclusion of their songs, they edge
-over to the wings, grab an American flag
out of the hands of the property man, and
wave it frantically to the swing of the
The Armies of European Nations and
What It Costs to Maintain Them.
Boston Herald.
It is estimated that since the Christian
era began over 4,000,000,000 human beings
have perished in war. The cost of tha
did so, he called through an aperture, tell-
ing the quartermaster to put the helm to
port; for he had determined to ram one
of the adversaries, and sink with her if
necessary. Over and over spun the wheel,
but the Huascar’s head still pointed be-
tween the Chileans.
“Port! Port, I say!” screamed the com-
mander.
“She won’t answer,” came back the sul-
len reply from the only one of the four
quartermasters alive; the bodies of the
others were lying upon the grating at his
feet.
“A shot has carried away the starboard
steering-gear, sir,” reported an ensign;
and he dropped dead as the words left his
mouth.
The Huascar is now lying drifting in a
hell of shot and flame, but all the while
the red', white and red fluttered from the
peak. One by one, in twos and threes, the
men in the turret dropped at their posts;
at last the remaining great gun was si-
lent, its tackle literally choked with dead.
The turret could not be turned for the
same reason. Corpses hung over the mil-
itary top; corpses clogged the conning
tower.
hibiting further intercourse with them, he
said that ‘all goods and chattels, wares
and merchandise coming from any of the
said states into other parts of the United
States without the special license and per-
mission of the president, through the sec-
retary of the treasury, or proceeding to
any of the said states by land or water,
together with the vessel or vehicle con-
veying them, will be forfeited to the Unit-
ed States, and that from and after 15 days
from the issuing of this proclamation all
ships and vessels belonging in whole or
in part to any citizen or inhabitant of any
part of the said states, found at sea in
any part of the United States, will be for-
feited to the United States.’
“On July 21, 1861, President Lincoln is-
sued an executive order, in which he said:
‘Ordered that the military commanders
within the states of Virginia, North Caro-
lina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Missis-
sippi, Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas in
an orderly manner seize and use any prop-
erty, real and personal, which may be
necessary or convenient for their several
commands for supplies, or for any other
military purposes; and that while prop-
erty may be destroyed for proper military
objects, none shall be destroyed in wan-
tonness or malice.’
“That was the spirit throughout the
civil war. Even our own people, when in
a hostile section of the country, were con-
sidered to have no rights against the gov-
ernment, although they were not to be in-
jured through wantonness or malice, and
it was ordered that strict accounts should
be kept of the property taken so that the
United States might make payment or
reparation for the goods taken from loyal
citizens. This payment was made, how-
ever, only as an act of equity and not of
right.”
world’s wars since the Crimean war has
been $13,265,000,000, or enough to give a $10
gold piece to every man, woman and child
on the globe. During the most peaceful
years the world has 3,700,009 soldiers, wh»
are withdrawn from productive occupa-
tions to pose as soldiers. The pay, equip-
ments, food and clothing of these men
cost the world’s tax payers nearly $8,000,-
000 a day. The cost of our navy during
the civil war was: For 1S62, $42,009,000;
1863, $63,000,000; 1864, $85,000,000; 1865, $122,-
000,000.
During the civil war the Confederate
cruisers captured or destroyed 80 ships, 46
brigs, 67 schooners and eight other vessels
flying the American flag. The number of
men withdrawn from industry to take
part in the civil war on the union side was
2,772,468, while the Confederates enlisted
over 600,000. The expense of the war de-
partment in 1862 was $394,000,600; in 1863,
$599,000,000; in 1864, $690,000,000, and in 1865,
$1,031,000,000.
In times of war the armies of European
nations can be raised to 9,366,000 men, and
the daily expense will be nearly $20,000,000,
to say nothing of the destruction of life
and property. During the last few months
of the civil war the expenses of the gov-
ernment exceeded $3,000,000 a day. The de-
struction of stores and clothing by both,
armies during the civil war is estimated
at $100,000,000. In 1881 English ships
brought to the bone factories of England
30,000 skeletons of Turkish and Russian
soldiers who had perished in the Crimean
war. They were to be utilized as fertiliz-
ing material, after being ground to pow-
der in the mills. All the wars of Napoleon
Bonaparte cost £255,000,000, while the wars
of Louis Napoleon cost France £442,000,-
00-0. The former made the enemy pay most
of the expense; the expense of the wars
waged by the latter was borne by France.
During the civil war in this country,
from 1861 to 1865, the union ordnance de-
partment served out to the army 7892
cannon, 4,022,000 rifles, 2,360,000 equipments
for foot and horse, 12,000 tons of powder,
42,000 tons of shot and 1,022,000,000 cart-
ridges.
The soldier is the best fed individual of
his class in Europe. The British soldier
receives for his daily ration 16 ounces of
bread, 12 of meat, 2 of rice, 8 of dried
vegetables, 16 of potatoes, and cnce a week
he receives 2 ounces of salt, 4 of coffee and
9 of sugar.
In time of war. France puts 370 out of
every 1000 of her population in the field,
Germany 310, Russia 210.
The Krupp steel 130 ton gun has a range
of 15 miles and can fire two shots a min-
ute. The shot weighs 2600 pounds and 700
pounds of powder are required for a
charge. The cost of a single round from
this gun is $1500, and it is said that the
gun can not be fired more than 51 or 60
times. The cost of the piece is £475,000.
The regular army of China is said to
consist of 323,000. Besides this, the em-
peror’s army, there is a national army of
650,000 men, who are paid about $1 a month,
but in consideration of this munificence
are required to feed? themselves. The
cavalry receive $3 a, month, feed their
own horses, and, if they are lost or killed,
are required to replace them out of the
pay given by the government.
The largest standing army is that of
Russia, 800,000 men; the next in size that
of Germany, 592,000; the third that of
France, 555,000; the fourth, Austria, F23,000;
after which come Italy, with 235,000; Eng-
land, with 210,000; Turkey, with 160,000;
Spain, with 140,000. Little Switzerland has
an enormous army in proportion to popu-
laucn. The population is 2,900,000; the
stanai-ng army 126,000.
Over l,b«n Q00 French w6men were made
widows and Mno.OOO French children fath-
erless by Napoleon campaign^ IatU
In proportion to the -numbers t.v^Ta„e(j
Waterloo was the bloodiest battle
ern times. Over 35 per cent of the m
engaged were killed or wounded.
Seeing aid at hand, the men on the
Cochrane had redoubled their efforts, and
when the Blanco had ranged along to port
the horror cf it began, and the engage-
ment resolved itself into a marine car-
nage, for the Huascar lay between the
two fires, the Cocrane to starboard, the
Blanco to port, and both so near that the
gunners in the turret of the little ship
could see the faces of their adversaries
as the latter sighted the pieces on. the
Chilean boats.
Blood Purifier, Appetizer, Digester and leno Tone.
Eipels Weakness and Stekness! Mates Vigor and Stagtfel! It Druggists.
With coats and waistcoats off, the sur-
geons had been laboring.in the ward room
upon the wounded,' who shrieking in their
agony, had been tumbled down the com-
panionway like so much butchered beef;
for there was no time to use stretchers or
to carry a stricken comrade to a doctor’s
care. Steam and smoke filtered through
the doorways, and the apartments became
stifling. While they were sawing, ampu-
tating and bandaging, a shell tore into the
wardroom, burst, and fragments wounded
the assistant surgeons, the chief of the
medical staff having been killed earlier in
the conflict. Those unfortunates who were
stretched upon the table awaiting their
turn under the knife, and those who lay
upon the floor, suffered no more pain;
they were killed as they lay groaning.
This shell tore away wardroom and stern
cabin, and hardly a trace was left of the
bulkhead. After that what little surgery
was done was performed in the coal bunk-
ers.
Huddled in a passageway near the en-
gine room were A score or more of non-
combatants—stewards, pantrymen and
stokers. They were in a place that was
lighted only as flashes came from the
guns; it was filled with powder smoke,
and clouds of steam that drifted from be-
low told that the Huascar had been struck
in a vital spot—near her machinery. Sud-
denly they heard a crash, followed by the
rending of the deck, and the little iron-
clad swayed as if she had struck a reef.
Some one passed the word that the maln-
MRS. WINSLOW’S SOOTHING SYRUP
has been used for over 50 years by millions
of mothers for their children whjle teeth-
ing, with perfect success. It soothes the
child, softens the gums, allays all pain;
cures wind colic, and is the best remedy
for diarrhoea. Sold by druggists in every
part of the world. Be sure and ask for
“Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup,” and
take no other kind. 25c a bottle.
a thing as
At this stage of the combat victory
perched for a moment on the red, white
and red; but even as it did so the com-
mander of the Cochrane saw relief which
Grau had not perceived. In fact, a shot
that plowed in the Huascar’s side
“One-half the people in the world suffer
from weak stomachs,” is a common say-
ing and a true one. Are you one of the
suffering half? Have you a variable ap-
petite, nausea, “gnawing at the pit of
the stomach,” belching, heartburn, loss of
flesh, sleeplessness, etc.? The list of
symptoms is a long one.
Do you want a ?:ure—not a temporary
respite, to be followed by a renewed and
re-enforced attack, but a cure for once
and all? Then go straight to the seat
of the sickness—the blood.
Dr. Harter’s Iron Tonic
blood—gives it the power to nourish the
vital organs—gives zest and appetite—puts
the stomach into a healthful condition. It
cures chills and ague.
Read one of 'the thousands of testimon-
ials we have received during the last 42
years:
Read this from one grateful lady:
Dallas, Texas, Dec. 14, 1897.
News, Dallas:
Gentlemen—I have used Dr. Harter’s
Iron Tonic and And it the best medicine
that I ever used for indigestion and bil-
iousness, loss of appetite and general de-
bility. I freely recommend it to those suf-
fering from such complaints.
MRS. M, ALEXANDER,
244 Griffin street.
A. R. Bond, a prominent Fort Worth
druggist, reports that his wife had been
suffering for more than six months with
stomach trouble and toss of appetite. His
physician, as well as his own knowledge
of drugs, was unable to relieve her. Mrs.
Bond took a sample bottle of Dr. Harter’s
Iron Tonic, and in four days’ time was
eating heartily and feeling better than
she had in one year.
Dallas, Texas, Dec. 15, 1898.
Dallas News:
Gentlemen—Answering your inquiry of
today, I cheerfully recommend Dr. Har-
ter's Iron Tonic for a general household
medicine. I have used several bottles in
my family, and for building up the sys-
tem, loss of appetite and indigestion it
can’t be beat. In future I will alw’ays
have a bottle of Dr. Harter’s Iron Tonic
in the house.
J. J. BINSON, 218 N. Harwood.
Try Dr. Harter's Iron Tonic and see
what inspiration it gives to the blood,
brain and body.
Sold everywhere.
Sample dose of Dr, Harter’s Little Liver
Pills and Book of Dreams mailed free.
Address HARTER, Dayton, Ohio.
Dr. Harter’s Little Liver Pills lighten
liver troubles.
was
the first warning the Peruvian admiral
had of assistance coming to the Chileans;
and, looking to starboard through a peep-
hole in the conning-tower, he saw the
Blanco Encalada bearing down; while
veering seaward, only a few cable lengths
astern of the rapidly approaching iron-
clad, were the Matias Couslnno and the
Covadonga, evidently starting off to give
chase to the Union, by this time well in
the offing, and fitted, because of her su-
perior speed, to take care of herself.
Grau, therefore, turned his attention to
his own ship, which Indeed was in
straits.
12 men. But the places of the dead were
quickly taken by men from below, the
chamber was cleared of the corpses, the
guns were loaded again, and the action
was renewed. Then the Huascar secured
an advantage. One of the 10-inch shells
forced its way through a casement on the
starboard side of the Cochrane, exploded
on the deck, dismantled a gun, and killed
For a few minutes the ene-
my was in such confusion that not
cannon was fired; and it became almost a
panic on the Cochrane when the Huascar
edged in closer, her sailors cheering as
they again discharged the twin pieces.
This turrret rapidly became so crowded
with the bodies of the dead that the
steam training-gear of the iron round-
house was clogged and useless.. As the
men struggled to remove the tumbled
corpses of their comrades, blood became
smeared over their chests, and it mingled
with the sweat which dripped as they
toiled in quarters that resembled a bak-
ing charnel-house, through which filtered
steam and smoke, while a nauseous odor
rose from the bodies and the heated guns.
topmast had been shot away. As it cam®
down it brough living men to be dashed t®
death, also corpses that had been hanging
over the sides of the military top.
There was a cry of “Fire!” and all hands
rushed to the stations—perhaps two men!
to a boat’s crew, one to a pump gang-.
•D the fire!” shouted Lieut. Garezon^
“Repel boarders!”
They were metamorphosed by this or-
der from fire-fighters into warriors again,
^nd formed a line of bleeding men, their
clothing in rags, and, ranged in company?
front, stokers elbowing marines, pantry-
men leveling ^rifles in union with mid-
shipmen, aw’aited the coming of a fleet
of the enemy’s boats which, crowded with'
marines, were forcing their wray through
the water toward the wounded, staggering
Huascar, that lay like a log, motionless.
But fire raged1 between decks, and flames
flared up the after companionway; and
when the boats had crowded around, like
threshers attacking a whale that had
been struck to the deck, the few survivors
were compelled to yield to the force of
numbers, and the Chileans swarmed the
ironclad’s deck. As they mounted it, the
red, white an'd red, tattered and torn by
bullets, still fluttered its rags at the peak.
The victors had barely got control of
the flames when word was brought to the
officer commanding the boarding party
that the prize was sinking. He examined
her sides, and as there was no great in-
jury below the water line he summoned
Chief Engineer McMahon, and accused
him of scuttling the ship. The latter
laughed defiantly. The officer cocked a
revolver, placed it at his head, and threat-
ened to shoot if the man did not tell what
he had done. Only then did he admit hav-
ing opened the sea-valves, and the Chil-
eans, rushing below, were only able t®
close them just as the blood-stained water
lapped the slippery deck.
There is no authentic record of the num-
ber slain, but the accounts in Callao
were that .of 200 men on the Huascar narly
100 were killed, and of the remainder only
half escaped without injury. The Peru-
vian dead were thrown into the sea as the
Blanco Encalada took the battered, blood-
stained Huascar in tow.
New York Sun.
In case of war between the United States
and Spain, th'e right's and status of the
Citizens of either country w7ho might be
on hostile ground at the outbreak of war
and what sotrt of treatment they might
expect at the hands of the authorities are
interesting questions. There are Spaniards
in great numbers in the United 'States who
own stores and real estate within our bor-
ders, and Americanls own large commer-
cial! interests and much property in Span-
ish territory. Merchant ships of each na-
tion are usually to be found in the other’s
waters and harbors', loaded with
which are individual property. Besides
the persons who have fixed abodes and
places of business in the countries foreign
to them, there are also travelers in con-
siderable numbers who might be caught
on hostile shores at the beginning of a
war. How would the authorities of each
country regard the persons w*hO' were sub-
jects of the other country, and what treat-
ment might be expected for them and
their propety under the so called rules of
•modern warfare?
Perhaps there is no one in thfe city bet-
ter able to answer these questions than
Frederick R. COudert. “War,” he said last
night, “is barbarism, and it can not be
made either humane or civilized. It is true
that we do not hang our prisoners of war
to the yard arm at sea nor shoot them
upon land, and that attacks upon the lives
or property of nOn-combatants have fallen
into disrepute, but the limits to which na-
tions may go in the use of violence de-
pends solely upon thems>elves and the cir-
cumstances in each case.
“It is, however, no 'longer the custom to
look upon or to' treat the individuals owing
allegiance to a hostile nation as public
enemies, to sequestrate their properties, '
or to drive them out of the country. Of
course, the minister of a hostile country
is not permitted to remain. He owes no
duty to any one but his own country, an'd
to allow him to remain would be to main-
tain a spy and an avowed enemy in tfhe
midst of the people. Since many of the
consular, agents of nations have been in-
trusted with duties and powers which are
of a semi-diplomatic order, such of them
as came under this head would naturally
be forced to leave also. Ordinarily, con-
sular agents who confine themselves to
duties purely of a mercantile nature are
not generally disturbed. When the min-
ister cf one country leaves another it is
the custom nowadays for him to request
that the minister of some other country
which is at peace with the one he is leav-
ing should undertake to care for the sub-
jects of his country who remain, and look
after their lives, liberty and property in-
terests, and the right of the friendly min-
ister to assume such duties is generally
recognized among civilized nations. No
Spaniard who chose to remain in the
United States and no American who chose
to remain in Spain or any of her posses-
sions would have any occasion, probably,
to fear molestation at the hands of the
ith'oiri'ties of either country so long as
The stewards hurriedly
coffee and bread, and the
turret ate their morning meal leaning
against the already loaded pieces, and
those in the top had pails of coffee car-
ried up to them, which they drank while
setting their sights. The hinged bulwarks
of the little vessel were let down, and the
smooth water rippled only four feet below
the Huascar’s deck. The forecastle and
main hatches were battened, but the.after
companionway was left open, for down
this passage the wounded would be taken.
Between decks were stationed those sail-
ors not needed in service of the guns,
where they would be most handy to assist
in the navigation of the ship, the service
of ammunition or to replace the killed. A
score of non-combatants were also there.
At 9 o’clock the Cochrane was within 3000
yards, and Grau, having given a last
glance around, and having signalled the
Union to keep out of the enemy’s way, en-
tered the conning tower that was to prove
his tomb. Not a shot had as yet been
fired. These modern ships, carrying guns
that could throw a shell from four to five
miles, reserved .^jeir fire for closer quar-
ters. Five minutes later Grau gave a
command to the officer in the turret, and a
shot from one of ^.Huascar’s 10 inch
guns whistled <^r'^e water. The com-
mander of the Cochrane evidently wished
for still closer rangg, and did not reply
until three shots hacj^left the turret of the
little ship.
Finally the aiiswer.. came in the shape
of a broadside* and^a shell dented the
Huascar’s protective*.belt just above the
w’ater line. A jnoment later the Gatling
guns in the t^ps '<&£ both ships were
brought into action, and a leaden hail be-
gan to patter, while great projectiles were
hurled from the large deck cannon,
rapid-firing pieces of the Chileans were
trained upon the Huascar’s turret aper-
tures, while the one in the military top of
the latter vesssel. was aimed at the gun
ports of the enemy.. Many a man dropped,
dead or wounded, hit by one of these small
shot. For 15 minutes not much was accom-
plished by the great gun fire; the heavy
shot either fell short of the mark or were
buried in the armor. By this time, when
the ships were within 1500 yards of each
other, a shell from the Cochrane entered
the Huascar’s turret, exploded and killed
he attended strictly his own business
and did nothing to give rise to an impres-'
sion that he was a public enemy or a spy
for his own country.
“Still, there is no rule or law which
would make such treatment obligatory on
the part of either nation. Such matters
may have been provided for in some meas-
ure by treaty, but all our treaties with
Spain are of old date, and, at any rate,
war puts an end to all treaties. Suppose
that Spain or the United States were
either one of them to commit act's which
the other did not like, who is to protest?
Spain or the United States?
enforce the protest? They would be al-
ready at war, and the protest must await
the settlement of all the other matters at
issue, by force.
“As regards merchant vessels which are
caught in hostile ports at the outbreak of
war, it is the custom to give them notice
to leave and a reasonable time in which to
get away, but they are liable to capture
immediately afterward, and if it were
considered better policy to seize them at
once, who is to prevent it? The whole
treatment of such matters in time of war
must be a matter of policy dominated
only by the general spirit of humanity
which each nation must interpret for it-
self.
“So if it were considered the better pol-
icy to drive out every citizen of a hostile
nation, there is no reason why this should
not be done. In such a case it is, however,
the custom, to allow' some stated time,
named by proclamation, in which the per-
sons must get away. There is no rule as
to the time thus to be named, except that
it shall be a reasonable time. Once it was
the custom to sequestrate all the proper-
ties belonging to citizens of a hostile na-
tion, but commerce has so welded the na.-
tions of the earth and so dominates their
policies that this custom no longer holds.
Still, in this respect again, all would de-
pend upon what is considered the better
policy. If the possession of those prop-
erties by hostile owners was thought to be
a public danger or the use of the proper-
ties was needed in carrying on the war,
there would probably be no hesitation on
the part of either Spain or the United
States in seizing them forthwith. When
the armies of the north were in the south
during the civil war they did not hesitate
to seize whatever was needed for their
support, nor to destroy what might be
used directly for the comfort or use of the
opposing army.
“There are many Spaniards in this coun.
try and in this city whose interests also
lie here. They are in business, and per-
haps their sympathies in a contest be-
tween the two countries would be with us.
We are a cool headed and law abiding
people, and I do not imagine that so long
as these persons did not make themselves
personally objectionable they would need -
to apprehend any disturbance or injury to
themselves or their property,. As regards
Americans in Spain, I think the case
would be different. The Spanish are a hot-
headed people and you can never tell what
a mob will do anywhere. From what I
know of Spain and the Spanish, my advice
to all Americans in Spanish territory
would be to buy a ticket to the borders by
an express train at the first declaration of
hostilities. I think it would be the best
investment which they could make.
“Military possession,” Mr. Coudert con-
tinued, “abrogates all legislative author-
ity. Should a Spanish force take posses-
sion of any part of our territory, or a
United States force take possession of any
Spanish territory, all the authority in that
country would be immediately invested in
the military officer in command. It would
be at his option whether the rule should
be strictly under martial law, or whether
the civil authorities might continue all or
any part of their functions.”
The rights of the citizens of a hostile
country, which Mr. Coudert referred to as
being left to the protection of some min-
ister of a friendly country, he said,
only such rights and privileges as
ordinarily recognized as belonging to non-
combatants and admitted by the
ment of the country in which the persons
were. If any of these persons thus left
under the charge of the friendly minister
were arrested or their property seized, it
would be the duty of the minister to pre-
sent the cases to the government of the
country and ask for a reconsideration,
just as if the aggrieved person were a
citizen of the minister’s own country. De-
cision in such cases would, however, be
arrived at purely upon lines of equity and
as dictated by a regard for the public
safety.
Even in the matter of what goods were
to be considered contraband of war and
what the subjects of legitimate commerce
Mr. Coudert said the interpretation could
not rest upon the covenant of previous
treaties between the two countries at war,
but must be decided in accordance with
the immediate view of the facts.
Mr. Coudert referred to some of Presi-
dent Lincoln’s proclamations and orders
during the civil war as showing clearly
some of the views which the country has
held upon the matter of the rights of citi-
zens
dent Lincoln’s proclamation of April 15,
1861, declaring that the inhabitants of
Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ala-
bama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mis-
sissippi and Florida and the eastern part
of Virginia were in insurrection and pro-
C** 1 The sun bea* upon the wild scene
h If E g /“ through air so calm that after the white
_________ smoke had belched from the guns, it rose
in pillars and clung to the mastheads.
From the first of the battle, the encour-
aging voice of Grau had come to the
men in the turret through the speaking-
tube from the conning-tower; but when
the Blanco crowded in to the thick of it,
and great shot struck the Huascar’s'sides
as regularly as blows of a battering-ram,
the orders of the commander were no
longer heard. The officer in charge of the
turret called to his superior. There was
no answer, and when Commander Elias
Aguerre ran up the narrow little ladder
that led to the tower, he stumbled
the dead body of his admiral,
had struck the conning-tower, and had
taken off Grau’s he-ad as neatly as if the
decapitation, had been by the guillotine.
This shell also killed Lieut. Fere, the ad-
miral’s aid.
There was only time to push the corpses
aside, and the new commanding officer
pulled back the tube flap to give his di-
rections; but as he did so the Huascar
staggered, keeled over, then shook in ev-
ery plate; while a concussion more ter-
rific than any so far told that a shell had
entered the turret and had burst there.
When the fumes had cleared away so
that a person could speak, a midshipman
called out that one of the great guns had
been, dismounted and 20 men killed. Ths
survivors tumbled the bodies through the
hatch that opened into the deck below,
thus releasing the clogged machinery;
and as the corpses rattled down, other men
rushed up, throwing off their clothing as
they jumped into the pools of blood to
seize hold of the gear and swing the re-
maining gun. into position, that it might
train upon one of the ships—they could
no longer make out which, nor did they
care—and it was discharged, hauled in,
loaded and discharged again.
Once more all was silent in the conning
tower. Lieut. Palacois hastened there,
but before he could enter he was com-
pelled to push three bodies out of the way.
He had barely given his first com-
mand when a bullet from a well aimed
rifle of a marine in an enemy’s top lodged
between his eyes. Then the fourth to
command the Huascar that day, Lieut.
Pedro Garezon, took the place, and as he
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Galveston Tribune. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 18, No. 124, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 13, 1898, newspaper, April 13, 1898; Galveston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1283524/m1/6/?rotate=270: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rosenberg Library.