From a photograph by F. C. Hemment, copyright, 1898, by W. R. Hearst.

Suwanee, Vixen, and St. Louis at Siboney.

"This was the Ensign's ultimatum. He turned his back on the terrified inhabitants and returned to his gig. Four hacks started on a mad race for Ponce, and the central office of

the telephone rang with hurry calls.

"On his way out to the ship, Ensign Curtin met Commander Davis on his way to the

GREAT BANA

JERA ESPERANZA
.:

Port of Manzanillo.

shore. Commander Davis looked at his watch. 'I shall extend his time another half hour,' said Commander Davis. Ensign Curtin saluted, sternly, making no criticism upon this weak generosity of his superior officer, but he could afford to be magnanimous. He, at least, had upheld the honor of the navy, and he will go down in the history of the war as the middy who demanded and obtained a surrender by telephone.

"General Miles landed in the morning after Curtin had taken the place, and Mr. Curtin came ashore in the same boat with us. We asked him if he had already landed, and he replied, modestly, that he had, but he spared the

Bark

commanding General's feelings by making no reference to his own part in the surrender."

The work of the navy was all but done. There was that irritating little port of Manzanillo, where we had had two fights, with excellent results afloat, but the forts and the town were still under the Spanish flag, and by orders of Admiral Sampson the Newark, Captain Albert S. Baker, assisted by the Suwanee, Captain D. Delehanty, the Hist, Captain L. Young, the Osceola, Captain J. L. Purcell, and the Alverado, a captured gun-boat, went to reduce the place. No such a ship as the Newark had ever been in that bay, but in spite of shoaling water, she steamed in to a range of 5,000 yards, and, with the others farther in, began a bombardment at 3.30 in the afternoon of August 12th, which was continued vigorously until 5.30, and thereafter with one gun every half-hour all night. The town was white with surrender-flags at daylight. It was the last fight of the war around Cuba. Before the sun

was up the Spanish sent out a boat to announce that the protocol between the warring governments had been signed the day before, and hostilities were ended.

CHAPTER XXI

OUR NEW NAVAL PROGRAMME

VESSELS THAT WERE IN THE SHIP-YARD WHEN THE WAR BEGAN -TWO-STORY TURRETS AND BROADSIDE BATTERIES-SMOKELESS POWDER IN FUTURE, WITH GUNS THAT FOR THE MOMENT WILL LEAD THE WORLD-SHIPS ΤΟ REPLACE THE MAINE-THE NEW MONITORS-A TALE OF A TORPEDO-BOAT ON THE BLOCKADE-A SPLENDID FLOTILLA TO COME-A WORD ABOUT THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

THE breath of the sea comes once more to inspire the American nation as it did after the War of 1812. We began in We began in halting fashion and under the spur of necessity, in the days after the Revolution, to build a navy. We were in the old days so full of the harbor-defence idea that we wasted much of our resources, but we did get a few ships afloat that were typical of our genius-got them afloat just in time to save the honor of the people. So in these late years we began in a way that was worse than

halting to create a sea-power.

We were still

possessed with the idea that the way to resist aggression was to retire within our protected