as fighting men is known throughout the islands Spain oppressed; and the bonds of the tyrants have been broken.  It should not be out of mind that the first transports with our troops did not reach Manila for six weeks, and that the army was not in shape to take the offensive until after General Merritt’s arrival, late in July.  All this time the American Admiral had to hold on with the naval arm; and it was the obvious game of Spain, if she meant to fight and could not cope with the Americans in the West Indies, to send all her available ships and overwhelm us in the East Indies.  At the same time the German, French, Russian and Japanese men-of-war represented the interest of the live nations of the earth in the Philippines.  As fast as possible Admiral Dewey was re-enforced; but it was not until the two monitors, the Monterey and Monadnock, arrived, the latter after the arrival of General Merritt, that the Admiral felt that he was safely master of the harbor.  He had no heavily armored ships to assail the shore batteries within their range, and might be crippled by the fire of the great Krupp guns.  It was vital that the health of the crews of his ships should be maintained, and the fact that the men are and have been all summer well and happy is not accidental.  Admiral Dewey took the point of danger, if there was one, into his personal keeping, by anchoring the Olympia on the Manila side of the bay, while others were further out and near Cavite; and throughout the fleet there was constant activity and the utmost vigilance.  There was incessant solicitude about what the desperate Spaniards might contrive in the nature of aggressive enterprise.  It seemed incredible to Americans that nothing should be attempted.  How would a Spanish fleet have fared for three months of war with us in an American harbor?  There would have been a new feature of destructiveness tried on the foe at least once a week.

The Spaniards ashore seemed to be drowsy; but the Americans were wide awake, ready for anything, and could not be surprised; so that we may commend as wisdom the Spanish discretion that let them alone.  The ship that was the nearest neighbor of Admiral Dewey for months of his long vigil flew the flag of Belgium.  She is a large, rusty-looking vessel, without a sign of contraband of war, or of a chance of important usefulness about her; but she performed a valuable function.  I asked half a dozen times what her occupation was before any one gave a satisfactory answer.  Admiral Dewey told the story in few words.  She was a cold-storage ship, with beef and mutton from Australia, compartments fixed for about forty degrees below zero.  Each day the meat for the American fleet’s consumption was taken out.  There was a lot of it on the deck of the Olympia thawing when I was a visitor; and the beef was “delicious.”  I am at pains to give Dewey’s word.  While the Spaniards ashore were eating tough, lean buffalo—­the beasts of burden in the streets, the Americans afloat