rejoiced in “delicious” beef and mutton from Australia.  It was explained that the use of cold-storage meat depended upon giving it time to thaw, for if it should be cooked in an icy state it would be black and unpalatable, losing wholly its flavor and greatly its nourishing quality.  Australia is not many thousand miles from the Philippines—­and one must count miles by the thousands out there.  The Belgians have a smart Consul at Manila who is a friend of mankind.

One of the incidents in the battle of Manila—­all are fresh in the public memory—­is that Admiral Dewey did not make use of the conning-tower—­a steel, bomb proof, for the security of the officer in command of the ship—­the Captain, of course, and the commander of the fleet, if he will.

This retreat did not prove, in the battle of Yalu and the combats between the Chileans and Peruvians, a place of safety; but as a rule there is a considerable percentage of protection in its use.  Admiral Dewey preferred to remain on the bridge—­and there were four fragments of Spanish shells that passed close to him, striking within a radius of fifteen feet.  The Admiral, when told there had been some remark because he had not occupied the conning-house in the action, walked with me to the tower, the entrance to which is so guarded that it resembles a small cavern of steel—­with a heavy cap or lid, under which is a circular slit, through which observations are supposed to be made.  “Try it,” the Admiral said, “and you find it is hard to get a satisfactory view.”  He added, when I had attempted to look over the surroundings:  “We will go to the bridge;” and standing on it he annotated the situation, saying:  “Here you have the whole bay before you, and can see everything.”  I remarked:  “The newspaper men are very proud of the correspondent of the Herald who was with you on the bridge;” and the Admiral said:  “Yes; Stickney was right here with us.”

There were many reasons for the officer commanding the American fleet that day to watch closely the developments.  The Spaniards had, for their own purposes, even falsified the official charts of the bay.  Where our vessels maneuvered and the flagship drew twenty-two feet of water and had nine feet under the keel, the chart called for fifteen feet only!

It is not a secret that the President wanted Admiral Dewey, if it was not in his opinion inconsistent with his sense of duty, to go to Washington.  Naturally the President would have a profound respect for the Admiral’s opinion as to the perplexing problem of the Philippines.  The Admiral did not think he should leave his post.  He could cover the points of chief interest in writing, and preferred very much to do so, and stay right where he was “until this thing is settled.”  The opinion of the Admiral as to what the United States should do with, or must do about, the political relations of the Philippines with ourselves and others, have not been given formal expression; but it is safe to say they are not in conflict with his feeling that the American fleet at Manila should be augmented with gunboats, cruisers and two or three battle-ships.  It was, in the opinion of the illustrious Admiral, when the Peace Commission met in Paris, the time and place to make a demonstration of the sea power of the United States.