APRIL 28. I take out and plant my dahlias. Adolph helps me in the garden. Mr. Beiter gets some dahlias. The bobolinks are here, and all the birds sing. Sharp frost this morning, but nothing killed.

APRIL 30. Walpurgis Day. Swifts arrive. Apple trees partly out. Thermometer 70°, noon; in the evening, clouds indicate rain. The bobolinks make the air musical. Hysterical demonstrations at Cleveland over the departure of the Fifth Regiment; all the busybodies on the platform at the flag presentation. Conflicting stories of naval engagements. The navy seems to have a keener nose for merchant vessels than for Cuban fortresses. This custom of seizing non-combatant vessels and stealing the property of innocent people is flat piracy, and is unworthy of civilized people.

The

Go to Wheeling on the morning train. town dull, the weather hot-84°. Go to Moundsville, and find a curious policeman, with coat and helmet and shabby trousers; he talks volubly of the war, and says he thinks it will be over in a month. His ideas about Cape Verde and the Philippines are very wild. The recruits are mainly thoughtless people, who long for an opportunity to see the world and take their chances on the rest.