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The Story of Dewey's Welcome Home

looking folk traveled aimlessly up and
down Fourth and Sixth Avenues, hoping
perhaps at the last minute to find a
place from which they might see the
tips of the marching flags, if nothing
Half-way down the side streets
the stoops of the houses and the railings
were pre-empted. Where the old St.
Luke's Hospital had stood, a great pile of
scaffolding rose to the height of a three-
story building. On this one stand twenty-
eight hundred people could be seated.
The front of the reservoir at Forty-second
Street was half hid in the National colors
that stood out well against the moving
At the cen-
green of its vine-clad surface.
ter of the great Pylon towers a huge gilt
eagle spread its wings. The police, by
The
this time, had begun their labors.
crowds had commenced to swerve and
sway and occasionally break through and
The bell of the ambu-
fill the Avenue.
lance had already begun its whiring
clangor. Occasionally the shrieks of a
frightened woman would ring out, and
children would be lifted above the crowd
Belated
to keep them from the crush.
ticket-holders fought their way to the
entrances of the stands. At many places
it looked as if some calamity might take
place, and the police, scenting danger,
had flocked there to stand it off. They
were working like rescuers along the lines
of the human dikes to prevent the leaks
But the
that might presage the on-rush.
crowd was good-natured. It took the
pushing and proddings without display of
anger. Occasionally a man would break
out from the line and endeavor to force
A half-
his way to some forbidden spot.
score might follow him, and then the fun
began-if fun it might be called-for the
burly policemen shuttlecocked them from
one to another, hurled them back and
pushed them into place. It was impos-
sible to get down the Avenue to reach
the place where I intended to view
the parade, the big grand stand at
the Arch-for by good fortune I had
secured a position among the elect of the
day, the tribe of Tammany. Crossing
"court
Thirty-fourth Street, where the
of honor" began, into Madison Avenue, it
took me a full ten minutes to get through
the block, and there the sight was almost
a sad one. People who had despaired of
ever securing a position crowded the

309

with his family had opened his
doorsteps, waiting disconsolately. A Ger-
lunch-basket and made a table of a broad
man
stone railing. Two little boys in cheap
the other bearing on his cap the Admiral's
sailor suits, one labeled "Hobson" and
name, were weeping woefully as they
tugged along on either side of a pale-
She was trying her best to
faced woman who was evidently heading
homeward.
persuade them that the parade had gone
by! Poor little chaps! I would have
given up my ticket to have helped them if
I could. Almost every one I passed wore
Admiral's features; all were out to get a
the National colors or badges with the
glimpse of the owner of them.

Crossing Madison Square, it was the
same tale. The huge wooden erections
shut out the view of the Avenue; the side
streets adjoining them were jammed like
the Black Hole of Calcutta. Reaching
the entrance to the stand for which I had
a reserved seat, I perceived that a hun-
dred angry people were standing there
arguing with the policemen who were on
guard. The stand was closed! Early in
"pull" had
The chosen
the morning the Tammany
seats had been filled with privileged inter-
been worked to its utmost.
lopers.

"I worked on that Arch for three am with my wife and two tickets, and they weeks," said a man, bitterly, "and here I "We won't let me in."

66

It's a shame," cried the crowd. all here have tickets, and they won't let us through."

The barricade was high and strong, the policemen were numerous and large. I showed my ticket to an officer.

"I can't let youse in," said he; "the inspector has closed it up-them's orders! The seats is all took long ago."

I looked back at the unhappy people on the park benches, and the disconsolate I looked longingly up at tide that wandered across the downtrodden grass. the tree-tops filled with boys and men, and then I realized how bitter it is to be shut out; but, "nothing venture, nothing win," said I to myself, and, making a quick spring to the top of the high fence, I managed to tumble over it, while three big poI almost fell on top of a fat licemen made wild and futile grabs for my coat-tails. sergeant on the other side. He looked at

me with some astonishment, but said nothing, nor did he have time, for, seeing the success that I had made, the crowd charged the barrier, and the sergeant and his men on the inside were called to the aid of the bluecoats beyond. Not a man got over! All were beaten back, and I climbed the steps and reached the open space above.

Within a few feet rose the beautiful arch, with its well-modeled classical figures. The Avenue was swept and clean as a ball-room floor; the thousands that filled the stands were raising a great clatter of voices. Waiters were passing up and down the aisles, carrying trays of drink and food. Down at the corner of Twenty-third Street, and up at Twenty

THE OLYMPIA'S CREW

fifth, the police were fighting the multitude. The swaying, moving mass of men and women, as I looked down upon them, looked like teeming animalcules beneath the microscope. They clung together around one lamp-post like a hive of swarming bees, Men were cursing there and women were shrieking, but the people on the stands were seated in comfort; and surely there would have been room, standing room at least, for all of those outside. But, as I said before, I was among the elect. Without the aid of an usher, I found my seat. It was occupied by a large man with a black mustache and a cigar. I spoke to a policeman standing in the aisle. He leaned down and whispered confidentially.

"I can't move him," he said, politely and with some deprecation. 66 He's a friend of Alderman; that's him sitting next. But," he added, "I'll call an usher and get you another seat."

I thanked him and waited. The usher proved to be a decent fellow, and in a few minutes I was comfortable. When once seated, I looked about me.

Opposite was the stand from which the Admiral was to review the passing regiments. The front was decked with a bank of flowers. A hundred policemen stood on guard before it. When one looked away from the struggling mass at the street corners, the scene was one of order and discipline, and a beautiful sight. High in the sky floated long lines of kites; a homing pennant, two hundred feet in length, fluttered and whipped from the shining line of piano wire up in midair. The minutes sped by. There was so much to hear and to see that I could hardly realize that I had been seated an hour when the cry arose that the Admiral was coming! The people broke away from the policemen at the corner and filled in for a block the sidewalks that had been

kept open. But at last they were in control again, for the reserves were ordered out to meet them. And now, headed by three files of mounted police, the guests in carriages hove in sight, coming down. the Avenue. On the box of Admiral Dewey's open carriage, drawn by four horses, sat a trim jacky. It was the same lad who had accompanied him at Gibraltar; and as the carriage came to a halt, he jumped to the ground nimbly and

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"THE POLICE BY THIS TIME

opened the door. When it was seen that
it was really the Admiral, the cheering
rose, shrieks and shouts of welcome,
and the handsome officer bowed his
acknowledgments as he took his seat.
More open vehicles of all kinds, barouches,
landaus, and victorias, followed, bearing
the city's guests; and as the officers were
recognized they were cheered in turn.
One of the admirals came in for a shower
Ad-
of flowers-Admiral Schley it was.
miral Sampson, grave, quiet, and dig-
nified, the man whose worth is known by
the service and recognized more by the
Government than by the news-reading
public, descended and took his seat with
Our visiting
out much demonstration.
yachtsman rode with the grizzled Chief
of the Wigwam. He looked pleased and
affable. But at last the motley procession
of moth-eaten equipages and seedy horses

HAD BEGUN THEIR LABORS
had gone by, and down the Avenue came
the first marching music, Sousa's great
band of one hundred and fifty pieces-a
great, welling, thrilling march they played!

"Here come the Olympia's lads," was
And now a
the shout, and, led by the marines, the
crew came tramping on.
strange thing happened.

Perhaps the spectators were so curious to see them that they forgot, or perhaps all had their eyes upon the small, graymustached man across the Avenue; but there were no spontaneous shouts of applause; a few shouts here and there, some clapping of hands, but no loud cries of welcome, like the ones that had greeted the Admiral himself. Why was it? I couldn't tell. The officers had risen to He was thoughttheir feet as the line appeared. Dewey stood there in silence. ful as his men went past. These were

311

the brave fellows to whom he owed the day; these were the men that he had seen fighting behind their guns. His face bore an expression as if he were bidding them farewell. For three hours and more the saluting soldiers marched beneath the Arch. The West Pointers were followed by the Regulars. Great siege-guns and light artilery trundled by. Visiting regiments from the Southern and Western States came in for hearty greetings, but perhaps the loudest was given to a body of bronzed, sturdy fellows in blue shirts and khaki breeches-the Tenth Pennsylvania, just back from the war in the Philippines. Somehow it made the blood course warmly to see them. The brave men who had enlisted for one war and stayed on to fight another! There were partisans' shouts as favored regiments went by; the Governor of our own State received an ovation as he led his own division. The bands came quicker, some played the old familiar marching tunes, while two at least swung along to the air of "Onward, Christian Soldiers;" the Southerners played "Dixie." The Governor's Footguard of Connecticut, in their old Continental uniform, looked as if they had stepped out of the pages of past history, with their black gaiters, knee-breeches, and their bearskin busbies. The Volunteers and the Grand Army of the Republic followed in their turn, led by the gray, one-armed General. Their ranks grow thinner every year, but there were many there able to

fight again if need be. An old man was trundled along in a large perambulator. He waved his hat from where he lay beneath a covering blanket. Some one said that he had entered Mexico with General Scott! The young veterans of the war with Spain, in their stained and weatherbeaten uniform, reminded us how lately we had been in conflict.

The wind had blown up chill and strong from the west, the shadows lengthened, and many seats in the stands were vacant, but the show was not yet over. When the Admiral and his escort had started for the big hotel that has been aptly termed "an American invention for supplying exclusiveness to the masses," there was a rush made by the crowd; the police were swept away; down the Avenue, up the Avenue, from the side streets the people poured, tʊ meet about the Arch. The glorious sunset sky lifted in the west, a half-light descended on the teeming street, the searchlights from the tops of the buildings played their rays upon the Arch. The tired crowd began to dwindle; two hours more, and save for the bunting and the decorations, the symptoms of the madness of the city were dying out. Small boys everywhere were gathering up bundles of wood, the flotsam and jetsam left on the sidewalks. The rush was made for the ferries and railway stations, and as I walked homeward up the Avenue the streetcleaners were loading wagons with the débris the hordes had left.

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I

Meeting Dewey in Manila Bay

By Major-General Wesley Merritt, U.S.A.

First Military Governor of the Philippines

AM asked to tell of my meeting with Admiral Dewey in Manila Bay; and while there is nothing dramatic to relate, the occasion was one of such comfort and pleasure that I have a vivid recollection of the incidents of that morning.

The transport Newport, carrying the Astor Battery, a battalion of the Third Artillery, and my staff, myself, and a million. and a half of treasure, had sailed from San Francisco on the 29th of June. On that morning, just before leaving, we received. news that Admiral Camara was entering the Suez Canal, bound presumably for Manila, and his movements were therefore a matter of intense interest. If he should reach Manila and successfully attack Admiral Dewey, or if, avoiding Manila, he should send a ship to intercept us, our situation would be critical in the extreme. other ships followed a few days behind mine, carrying General McArthur's brigade, and not one of them could have made any resistance to the smallest gunboat. As it was impossible for the navy to furnish us an armed ship as escort, it was arranged that Admiral Dewey should send one to meet us at a point six hundred miles due east of Cape Engaño, the northeast point of Luzon, and consequently our ship was steered for that spot.

Four

As we neared the looked-for place, there was much staring at the unbroken horizon and much speculation among the officers, which became more earnest as we continued along the due-west course without seeing any sign of a ship. Finally Luzon came in sight. The sea was like a mirror, the sky was cloudless, the air of peace was almost irritating; it gave us nothing on which to base a theory as to why we had not been met except the old, worn-out premises. I was not greatly worried, but, having had no news of any kind for nearly four weeks, and with so much. at stake, it was only sensible to examine the possibilities; fortunately, this examination was always reassuring. I believed in the first place, that we could beat Camara to Manila, supposing he had been able to coal; and even were he to get there first, I felt convinced that Admiral Dewey would give such an account of himself that Camara would have precious little fight left in him.

Thinking thus, we steamed down the coast toward the entrance to Manila Bay. We could see Corregidor Island standing up like a sharp green crag at the entrance; we turned to the left and faced the wide channel. Still no sign of a ship. At last we were past the island, and the shipping

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