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| Rear Admiral Winfield Scott Schley, USN. |
Cortland Evening Standard, Wednesday, September 7, 1898.
SAN JUAN COMMISSION.
Porto Rican Capital Entered by Admiral Schley.
ENTHUSIASTICALLY RECEIVED.
Salutes Fired by Both United States and Spanish Gunboats Lying in the Harbor—One Million Dollars to Pay Off Our Troops in Porto Rico.
SAN JUAN, Porto Rico, Sept. 7.—The United States transport Seneca, carrying Rear Admiral W. S. Schley and Brigadier General W. W. Gordon of the Porto Rico military commission, has arrived here. The United States protected cruiser New Orleans, which is lying in the harbor, fired an admiral's salute of 13 guns. The Spanish gunboat Isabel Segunda responded with 13 guns, whereupon the New Orleans set the Spanish flag at the peak and saluted it with 13 guns.
A boat immediately put off from the New Orleans to the Seneca and took Admiral Schley aboard. As he went over the steamer's side her passengers, among whom he had become exceedingly popular, gave three cheers and a tiger. One man in his enthusiasm [screams]:
"Hurrah for the next president."
Admiral Schley was given an enthusiastic reception on board the New Orleans.
The Seneca brought also the postal commission, 30 nurses and six contract surgeons. There are 13 postal clerks with the commission for the various stations. The commissioners will make an investigation into the postal system of the island and report to Washington.
Messrs. P. Dumareaq, J. D. E. Luce, W. H. Lathrop, representing the Boston firm of DeFord & Co., which has been appointed the government's fiscal agent in Porto Rico, will establish banks at San Juan and Ponce. They believe the United States government will eventually retire the Porto Rican currency, which the local banks are trying to maintain close to par at an arbitrary price. It is valued approximately at $1,000,000.
The Seneca proceeds to Ponce. Paymaster Arthur, who is on board, has $1,000,000 for the troops.
FROM PORTO RICO.
John Phelan Tells of His Experience in a Most Interesting Manner.
Mrs. John Kernan of Cortland has received the following letter from her brother, John Phelan, who was at the time of writing in Porto Rico. Mr. Phelan is a son of Mr. Thomas Phelan of Cortland. He left his home here about a year ago and enlisted from Chicago:
ON THE FIELD NEAR MAYAGUEZ, Aug. 16, 1898.
DEAR SISTER—Well, we arrived on this island all right after a voyage of eight days and have been continually on the march or fighting since. We have fought two pitched battles with the Spanish and besides we have been skirmishing with guerillas all the time night and day. I am on the Gatling gun detachment and we have been at the front all the time and have been complimented time after time for our good work. The country here where we are is very mountainous and very hard to campaign in, as the roads are poor and the rainy season has set in.
In our fights our loss has been small, owing to the poor marksmanship of the enemy. Still we have lost two men and have several wounded on the Gatling detachment. All the natives are friendly to us with the exception of the wealthy Spanish, and they pretend to be after the army is in their neighborhood. The natives are no more than slaves and are exceedingly poor. They are all a mixture of negroes and low Spanish and, while most of them are very ignorant, they have some remarkably good traits, being polite, honest and very accommodating. They are poorly fed and will do anything for some of our rations. Our hardtack which we consider pretty tough they seem to think a choice morsel, and the tin cans in which our rations come are eagerly gathered up by them for dishes.
Porto Rico as a country is fine and the climate delightful. We expected the climate to be worse here than in Florida, but were much surprised to find it a great improvement. When the sun shines and there is no breeze of course it is very hot, but there is a breeze blowing nearly all the time, and the nights are quite cool. One always sleeps comfortably under a heavy blanket. The dew is heavy, and there is considerable rain at this season of the year. The soil is fertile and when cultivated will grow about anything. The principal crops, where we are, are coffee and bananas. Oranges do well here and lemons grow wild. Cocoanuts are as plentiful as apples in New York, and in the season pineapples are plentiful. A cocoanut costs one cent and the other fruit is so plentiful that I never heard of any one selling it.
The national drink here is rum and costs 20 cents a quart, or one cent a drink, but I can tell you that it is something fierce and if a man goes up against it once and comes back he is certainly a stayer and should be entitled to a pension after the war.
We are camped now about fifteen miles from the coast on the top of the mountain ranges that reach from one end of the island to the other. We do not know what we are held here for, although there has been some talk about an armistice having been made. We have not heard anything from the United States since we left Tampa, and know nothing about what is going on in the outside world. We had some quite severe fighting for two days and if the rumor of peace is unfounded we expect a battle at a town seven miles ahead, where we hear the enemy is entrenched.
On the12th inst. we completely routed the Spanish, capturing their colonel, lieutenant colonel and all the field officers of one regiment. We also got one of their military bands and a large amount of stores and guns. Our commanding officer is General Schwan and he is a fighter from the start, but don't seem to have any regard for his troops' health or comfort, sometimes pitching camp on wet and swampy ground when we could just as well go to a dry place. But I don't complain as some things are better than I expected and I have been lucky so far. I was very fortunate in getting detailed on these guns as we do not have to walk or carry our equipments like the other fellows. Of course we are always at the front in a fight, but I do not mind that any more. The first fight we were in I was somewhat scared, but as soon as we got our guns unlimbered and into action I did not mind it any more. There was a man shot beside me the other day and that made me kind of nervous for a while. My position on the gun is feeding it, that is putting the cartridges into what is known as the hopper, and I have a good chance to see all that is going on in front in time of action.
I think one could do quite well here after the war is over, especially if he could speak some Spanish and was fairly well educated. The people here have been taxed so much that they do not put in much time raising crops. On the basis of what the tax now is I think the people will go ahead again and times should be good again on the island. If some American farmers came here and worked as hard as they do in the States it would be only a short time before they became rich, as this is certainly a rich and fertile land.
Well, dear sister, I shall be glad to hear from you all again and trust you and all are well. I would like some Cortland papers. By the way I met one Fitzgerald here. He is in the Eleventh Infantry and asked me to have you tell his sister, James Sheridan's wife, that he is well and all right. His company has been to the front with us all the time and he was pretty well shot up once. Give my love to all the folks and the next time you write send to my New York address, as I may need it some time or other. Answer at once and I suppose in about a month I will hear from you.
Your loving brother, JOHN PHELAN.
Address: Gatling Gun Detachment, Eleventh Infantry, U. S. A., Porto Rico.
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| Maximo Gomez. |
GOMEZ' SENTIMENTS.
FEELS VERY KINDLY TOWARD THE UNITED STATES.
But Was Rather Hurt That He Was Not Notified of the Signing of the Peace Protocol—Garcia Considers Shafter His Personal Enemy, but Other Americans are all Right.
NEW YORK, Sept. 7.—A dispatch to The Herald from Havana says: Frank Bolio, a newspaper correspondent who has been with General Gomez, arrived in Havana to-day, accompanied by an officer of the insurgent army who brought messages from Maximo Gomez. Mr. Bolio said:
"There is scarcely any difficulty now for any one in going to visit any insurgent camp in eastern or central Cuba. All that one has to do to visit General Gomez, for instance, is to apply to the military governor of Placetas for a pass, which is readily granted, to ride out to Yaguajay where his headquarters are.
"I had many interviews with Gomez during my stay with him, so that I think I know pretty thoroughly what his opinions are. Gomez is rather hurt that the United States did not send him an official note that the peace protocol had been signed. Neither Spain nor the United States has paid the slightest attention to him or to any other insurgent leaders in the peace negotiations. Nevertheless as soon as the local Spanish papers printed the news that the protocol had been signed in Washington Gomez at once issued orders to his army to stop fighting. Those orders were enforced rigidly, although many of his officers complained, arguing that now would be an exceptionally good time to attack the Spanish in their present divided condition.
"In the many talks that I had with General Gomez he had nothing but kind words for the United States.
"It is a mistake to say that the insurgents are dissatisfied with the way that the Americans have treated them. On the contrary, they have a feeling of gratitude and love, which they hope to foster as their republic becomes prosperous.
"General Gomez showed me a long letter from General Garcia, giving a detailed account of the troubles which led him to withdraw his forces from Santiago. In it Garcia speaks in the highest terms of the Americans. He praises their bravery and self sacrifice and says Cuba owes them a debt of gratitude, which it can never repay. Garcia finds fault only with General Shafter, whom he regards as his personal enemy."
FIRED BY LIGHTNING.
TALL SPIRE OF ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH DAMAGED.
The Large Cross Hurled to the Ground—Slate Ripped from the Side of the Spire—Firemen Worked All Night—About 8 Feet of the Top Burned Off Before the Blaze Was Put Out This Morning.
The tall spire of St. Mary's Catholic church on North Main-st. at the head of Madison-st. was struck by a bolt of lightning soon after 6 o'clock last night, the interior of the spire was set on fire and burned until 4:30 o'clock this morning when it was completely extinguished.
The bolt which struck the spire came during the heavy shower prevailing at 6 o'clock, and the shock startled all the residents of that locality. The large wooden cross 18 feet high with 4-foot cross arm was hurled to the ground, striking between the church and the house of W. E. Powers. In its descent, the cross landed first on the roof of the church, breaking a small hole and then bounding off to the ground. The lightning followed down the southeast corner of the spire, ripping off a narrow strip of slate.
Officer W. T. Nix and E. B. DuChette were walking along North Main-st. at the time, and in on instant saw that there was fire in the very tip top of the spire. Officer Nix turned in a fire alarm from box 224, and the companies were soon on the ground. Hose was laid, but no water was thrown. There did not seem to be much fire, and it is doubtful if a stream of water could have reached it. The blaze came from the apex two or three times, and quite a number of sparks also went into the air. Fire Chief Barber dismissed the hose companies, but retained the Hooks to watch and do what they could with their chemical fire extinguishers.
Five members of the Hook & Ladder company: Messrs. D. F. Waters, Henry Wilsey, Page Benjamin, M. B. Filzinger and G. E. Butler remained there all night, using chemicals in the interior of the spire. They climbed up on the inside as high as they could, being prevented from getting clear to the top and to where the fire was located by the close net work of timbers and cross pieces. They could not reach all of the places where there was fire because of these. The timbers were of course dry and burned easily. It was simply impossible to get the chemical fluid in all places where needed.
Early this morning word was sent to Chief Barber that more help was needed, and he started to send a hose cart up there without ringing in an alarm. Just before 4 o'clock a northbound coal train on the D., L. & W. stopped near the milk station, the engineer having seen the flames which then began bursting forth anew from the spire. He blew his whistle long and loud, and this aroused many people. Chief Barber had already sent Emerald Hose company to the church with their hose, and then went to the engine house and rang the bell. All the companies were soon on the spot again. By this time the flames were so large that there was evidence of quite a fire in the apex. It looked like a huge torch as it blazed up, and could be seen for miles. The men were still in the top within 8 feet of the fire, and cinders were frequently dropping drown upon them in an uncomfortable way. The Emeralds carried a line of hose through a front window and then drew it up 80 feet with a rope, and tied it fast. The fear was that there would not be pressure enough from the ordinary fall from the reservoir on the hill to throw a stream of any power to the top of that spire.
Superintendent B. F. Taylor of the Cortland Water Works company in consequence went to the pumping station and had the connection with the tank shut off and the direct pressure of the pumps put on, and when the water was turned into the hose, it went clear to the top of the spire and came out on the outside.
Ordinarily there is telephone communication between the office of the Water Works company and the pump house, but the private telephone got out of order yesterday and there had been no time to fix it. This caused Mr. Taylor to take the long trip over the hill on foot.
No more water than was really necessary was used, and it was not many minutes before the fire was out.
The men who worked there all night used 80 gallons of chemicals. There was barely room for one man at the top, and after one can of chemical fluid was emptied, the fire would get a fresh start before another could be passed up.
About 8 feet of the top of the spire was burned off, which of course includes the damage by fire. The water running down the inside has damaged the frescoing in the lobbies. The large pipe organ escaped injury. It was carefully covered with oil cloth before the water was thrown. But the organ is not located under the spire. It is farther in the interior of the church. The exact damage is hard to estimate, but it will not be large. It is fully and amply covered by insurance.
It gave a queer sensation, however, this morning to the crowd to stand there and see that spire burn. The flames seemed to roll up in a lazy sort of way, though toward the last before the water was turned on they burned more fiercely and the sparks and cinders came down in a shower on the outside, and also increased very materially on the inside. Occasionally a piece of slate would be loosened and would come down in a way that warned the crowd to stand back or it might get brained with the sharp edges.
A fire of that size would have been disposed of in two minutes by the fire department if they could have got at it, but only a few men could work near it at best, and till the direct pressure of the pumps was started it was impossible to get much pressure up so high. But when the water was turned on and the sight of the water appeared pouring up through the opening at the top in a strong spray and dashing down over the outside and it became apparent that the means of extinguishing the fire was at hand and that the spire and the church could be saved a mighty shout of gladness went up from the great crowd of anxious watchers on the ground below.
It was a fortunate fire as regards damage by smoke, for nearly all of the smoke went up and little of it settled down to discolor anything in the church.
Lightning often does queer things and in this case seems to have equaled previous efforts. A circular window at the rear of the steeple near its base was broken out, and also some of the brick were torn loose. The window casing was shattered and hurled in all directions. Three rafters in the rear of the church were split in some way. The cross itself was broken in several pieces, and besides falling on the north side, a large piece fell at the rear of the church.
The spire was built in 1887 and was 154 feet high to the top of the cross, which itself was 8 feet high and had a spread of 4 feet. It has not yet been decided whether the spire will be repaired or torn down. It is to be examined carefully and if deemed unsafe will of course be taken down.
The bolt of lightning killed a dove which had sought refuge in the steeple. Of course the dove was instantly killed. The feathers on its breast and neck in front of the wings were all taken off, except a tuft on top of the head. The legs were partially torn from the body. The flesh did not appear burned.
Polling Places Designated.
At a meeting of the [Cortlandville] town board yesterday the following places were designated for the coming general election:
Dist. No. 1—Village hall, McGrawville.
Dist. No. 2—M. E. Corwin's shop, 71 Pomeroy-st.
Dist. No. 3—Steam laundry, 78 Clinton-ave.
Dist. No. 4—J. L. Watrous' barn, Clinton-ave.
Dist. No. 5—Warner Rood's barn, 16 Madison-st.
Dist. No. 6—Yager's livery stable, 80 Maple-ave.
Dist. No. 7—Fireman's hall.
Dist. No. 8—C. H. Stickney's barn, 113 Tompkins-st.
Dist. No. 9—McGraw's carriage shop, 135 Main-st.
Dist. No. 10—Hubbard's hall, Blodgett Mills.
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BREVITIES.
—County correspondence will be found on third page.
—New display advertisements to-day are—Palmer & Co., Special Sale, page 7.
—All are invited to hear Rev. Stanley B. Roberts of Utica at the Homer-ave. church to-night at 7:30 P. M. Those who don't hear him will miss a rare treat.
—LeRoy Griffiths, the 10-months-old son of Mr. and Mrs. George L. Griffiths of 12 Railway-ave., died last night from cholera infantum. The funeral will be held to-morrow afternoon at 2 o'clock.
—Prof. L. J. Higgins is each afternoon and evening this week giving a free exhibition of oil paintings and crayons, portraits and sketches from nature at room 13, third floor of the Wallace building. The public is cordially invited to call and inspect the work.
—The STANDARD is indebted to Mr. M. W. Boone of Galesburg, Ill., formerly of Cortland county, for a copy of the Galesburg Republican containing an interesting letter from one of his relatives who was a soldier at Santiago and who took part in the charge at San Juan.
THE GREENE FAMILY
Held its Annual Reunion In Willet on Thursday, Sept. 1.
According to appointment the Greene family met in A. C. Greene's grove in Willet, Sept. 1. The day was fine and the friends began to assemble about 10 o'clock. At noon a bountiful repast was served, after which each one present wrote his or her name in the record book.
They were then called to order by the president, Willson Greene. A letter from his niece, who was present last year, was read relating to the death of her father and sister. A committee was appointed consisting of A. R. Greene, Mrs. M. Briggs and Mrs. Mary Duell to draft resolutions of condolence and send to the family.
Mrs. Permelia Wooster read a short history of the Greene family which dated back three generations before they came to America and taking up the line of John Greene who was born in England in 1596 and came to America in 1637 and traced the descendants down for eleven generations.
After the reading of the paper Will O. Greene of Fairport, vice-president, gave one of his spicy little speeches and was followed by Dr. Greene of Binghamton and others.
The business session which came next resulted in the election of officers as follows:
President—Willson Greene.
Vice-President—Will O. Greene.
Secretary—Adelbert Greene.
Treasurer—Jefferson Greene.
Permelia Wooster was elected delegate to attend the reunion of another branch of the Greene family held in Clifford, Pa., next August.
A large executive committee was elected to make arrangements for the next reunion to be held in the same place Sept. 5, 1899.
One of
the interesting features of the day was a chart arranged by Mrs. Wooster
giving the names of each one of the descendants of Wm. Greene who came into
Cortland county in 1808, down to the sixth generation, showing the time of
birth, to whom married and date of death. There were seventy-five present.
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