CHAPTER VIII.

Transportation of Troops by Sea

When rumors of war crowd upon one another until it seems inevitable, the State Departments of the interested nations are not more anxious to anticipate coming events than are the corps of war correspondents who wish to follow the fate and fortunes of the armies. To be on the spot when things happen is the secret of their success; but during the past few years, when wars have been so frequent, it has been hard to decide where to go. It is not always easy to get there after that decision is reached, for in recent years war has been carried on in the most remote and inaccessible places, and many weeks were often lost in anxious travel before the scene of action was reached.

When I was leaving Havana, just after the American occupation, a young officer there was ordered to proceed at once to the Philippines. He packed all his belongings, arranged his departure, and caught a steamer for Tampa in two hours, bidding only such friends good-by as he happened to be able to hail from his cab on the way to the wharf. I met him on the steamer, and all the way to Washington he fretted and worried because steam could not drive the passenger coaches fast enough. He feared the war would be over before he could reach the Philippines; he counted the days until he could get there; he prayed that Aguinaldo might not surrender until he arrived. I received a letter from him a short time ago, and he is now praying that the rebellious leader will surrender; and he added that it was the one regret of his life that he did not miss that steamer at San Francisco, as it would have given him two weeks more at home.

In London, last year, a young Guardsman told me almost tearfully that he was ordered out to South Africa, but that he was sure Buller would finish up the war before he could get there. More than six months later I saw him in Pretoria, and he remarked hopelessly that he had come to the conclusion that he was now a permanent resident of the Transvaal.

Having gone through similar anxieties myself several times during the past few years, I had a little faith that the Boers would be able to hold out until I got there, but I naturally studied the quickest way to make the long journey. I was favored in that the new army transport _Sumner_ was ordered from New York to Manila, and I secured a passage direct to Suez. Not only was I helped along on that journey, but I had an opportunity of studying the new American transport service.

The mystery and awe which always attend a great ship starting on a voyage across the trackless ocean is intensified when the floating city is filled with men of war, who are to face death in a far-off land for their country’s honor; then the interest becomes appealing and tender. Men who have left home for the front or the post many times before now leave under new and more unknown conditions. Yet there seemed not to be an officer on the _Sumner_ who doubted his return to his native land after winning honor on the field. Already, however, several of those officers who were my companions across the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and many of the men, have given up their lives in the far East.

One of the most attractive and promising of the officers on the _Sumner_ was Captain McIniston of the Fourth Infantry, over six feet of man, and of powerful frame. He had won in Cuba several mentions for conspicuous gallantry. But he had carried from Santiago the seeds of tropic fever, which were going with him now. He was appointed, upon his arrival at the Philippines, to command a little garrison, which the insurgents immediately besieged in force. His fever developed rapidly under the exposure and terrible strain of the siege, and at last, when delirium had usurped his brain, he was shot dead, in a panic, by his own soldiers--thus dying the most pitiful death a soldier can know. The comment of the bulletin, “temporary insanity,” gave no hint of the bravery, dutifulness, and suffering which had produced it, and which called for a better fate.

The private soldier’s life while on a long ocean voyage is made as easy and as pleasant as possible by the officers in charge, and the entire trip is a rest from arduous duty. It is recognized that no serious work can be done at sea by any man not accustomed to seafaring. A certain number are detailed for assisting in the preparation and serving of the meals, in keeping the quarters clean, and in a small guard detail; but that is all. After the first few days out the men are put through a regular amount of health exercise, which consists chiefly of walking and running around the decks. When time hangs heavily, amusement is ready. The army department of the Y. M. C. A. has been officially recognized by the War Department, and men are detailed by the Association to accompany the troops and furnish entertainment which may occupy their minds. A variety of games, from tiddledy-winks to chess, is provided, and the man in charge of this valuable work is active all the day and evening in keeping the men amused. He arranges tournaments and matches, and gives prizes for the winners. He suggests different occupations for the idle men, and in this way does an immense amount of good. The Association also provides reading matter sufficient to occupy the minds of those who care to read.

An incident of peculiar interest was the visit we paid to the Spanish garrison when the _Sumner_ stopped at Gibraltar. Crossing the neutral strip, the American officers, in full uniform, drove into the little Spanish military town. It was with a natural doubt as to our reception that we made this invasion. At once the strange uniforms engaged attention, and then it was whispered and finally shouted that _los Americanos soldados_ were visiting the place, and the crowds grew greater to gaze at their former enemies. The salutations were of the most friendly nature, and there seemed no trace of Spanish animosity. A bunch of officers invited us to remain for the morrow’s bull fight, and appeared genuinely sorry that their invitation could not be accepted. They discussed the Philippine situation with friendly candor, sent messages to old acquaintances, and rejoiced that they were not going themselves.

At Malta the _Sumner_ anchored only a couple of lengths from shore, and her cable had hardly been paid out before several boat-loads of British Tommies were alongside. Then followed an extraordinary exhibition of fraternization. The soldiers of the two nations examined one another’s equipment and uniforms and discussed their relative usefulness. They finally began to exchange buttons from their blouses and tunics, and before many minutes had passed the spirit of trade took their fancy. A British soldier would admire the useful campaign hat of an American, who in return would declare what a good souvenir the “dinky lid” of the Britisher would make for his family at home, and the next moment they would swap. Then the trading went into blouses, trousers, and shirts; at least one entire boat-load of Tommies went back in the full field uniform of the American army. What afterwards happened to them when they encountered the strict sergeant the Americans conjectured with grins.

The American colonel, however, put his foot down, and the amusing episode had to end, for the regiment was going to land for parade the next day, and there would not have been an entire uniform in the lot had the men been allowed to keep on exchanging clothes.

The parade on British soil, in the presence of a British garrison, put the men on their mettle. As the Philippine khaki had not then been issued, they furbished up their worn blue suits until the uniforms made an unusually good appearance.

Just before they landed, Captain McCoy stepped out to give them a final word of advice. It was short, and it expressed what every man was thinking already.

“Remember one thing, men,” he said; “you are going to be watched every minute you are on shore by Britishers, so don’t forget that you are Americans.”

Although the men were nearly all recruits who had never drilled together, even as companies, they went ashore in a regimental formation which did credit to our service. Every man marched and drilled as though the eyes of all the British soldiers about were directed upon him alone.

The British officers expressed much admiration for the men, and gave our officers a good many hearty compliments. They were a different type of soldiers from any they had ever seen; they had none of the fancy steps or hackney carriage of the European soldier; they were, instead, plain, solid men in uniform, nothing more; but they had the swing and the soldierly alertness which stirs the blood with its promise. British bands furnished the music for the American troops, and the old ground of the Knights of Malta heard such tunes as “Marching Thro’ Georgia,” “Rally ’Round the Flag,” and Sousa’s spirited marches, played for the friendly tramp of the soldiers of the Republic in their first parade on European soil.

The beautiful transport to which I bade good-by at Port Saïd is as near perfection as a ship made on this earth can aspire. This superlative has a right to be used. The people of the United States have been made familiar with the details of their perfected warships; they have even more reason to be proud of the superb completeness of their ships which have been prepared for the comfort, health, and good cheer of the American soldiers as they sail around the world. From the dirty floating pens of fever and misery which brought our men up from Santiago to Montauk, to the cleanly, shining spaciousness and undreamed-of conveniences of such ships as the _Sumner_, is a far call; it seems as if a century or two instead of a couple of years had gone between.

The _Sumner_ is a fair type of all the new army transports now in use.

To begin with, she is well armed with four rapid-firing guns, and belongs in reality to one of the class of unprotected cruisers. She would make a formidable foe in battle. Any distrust of the value of such ships in time of war is dispelled when one remembers the record of the American liners _St. Paul_ and _St. Louis_ when they were converted into cruisers; of the dashing _Gloucester_, which won immortality on a Sunday morning at Santiago--only a light-minded yacht a few days before; of the stout _Hudson_, a conscript tug-boat, which, under the command of Lieutenant Scott, participated in the engagement of Cardenas Harbor, and finally rescued the torpedo-boat _Winslow_ after it was disabled and helpless under the enemy’s guns.

The transports are, in appearance, regular merchant-built ships; they are not only armed, but they are fitted with every known appointment for the comfort, health, and general welfare of the troops. Each man sleeps in a comfortable bunk built on iron standards, to which are fastened the springs on which rests a mattress. The seating capacity of the tables equals the conveying capacity of the ship; yet, as soon as the meals are finished, the tables may be folded away, leaving a large deck room for the enjoyment of the men. Bath appliances of the latest pattern furnish opportunities for cleanliness and comfort not excelled in garrison. A store gives the men an opportunity to buy almost any article necessary to their comfort or pleasure. All sorts of food supplies, of a better grade than are usually furnished, articles of clothing, games, candy, fruit, and all the ordinary articles in demand, are to be found in the ship’s store. The prices charged for these articles are only their cost to the government; and, as the government buys in large quantities, the shop makes a very economical place for the men to trade.

The hospital and drug store hold all that is wanted by modern medical science. There is an operating-room containing every known appliance useful in surgery; the whole room is finished in marble tiling, while all the metal work is shining nickel. Here is the electric apparatus necessary to operations, a Roentgen ray apparatus, batteries for treatment of certain diseases, and, in fact, all the devices and mechanisms used in a city hospital. The hospital beds are as comfortable as could be made on ship-board, all being supplied with necessary supports, bridges for removing the weight of the bed-clothes, and tables for the use of the reclining patient.

There is a system of cold storage and ice manufacture which makes it possible to carry a five months’ supply of fresh food stuffs for a full complement of troops, so that the transport can take on a supply of rations at a home port and not be compelled to replenish until it returns again to America. The kitchens, bakeries, and laundries might belong to a Fifth Avenue hotel, so perfect are they in every detail.

One of the most important and useful features of this magnificent ship is the arrangement for supplying a cold-air draft during hot weather. The fresh-air supply is so forced over ammonia pipes that it is cooled and then discharged throughout the entire ship. Each cabin, each deck, and every part of the great vessel receives its supply of fresh air in this manner, so that even in tropical weather the interior of the transport is very comfortable. During winter weather the air supply may be heated to a sufficient degree to create warmth throughout the vessel.

The officers’ quarters are the final model of comfort. On the _Sumner_ there are accommodations for more than sixty officers. Thirteen bath-rooms belong to them. These baths are the most perfect made by scientific plumbing; each has a great porcelain tub, with its spray and shower; each room is done in white marble tiles, with nickel fittings throughout. There is a large dining-saloon and also a comfortable smoking-room. In short, every comfort that is known, afloat or ashore, for both officers and men, is included in these new transports, which are in all respects a distinguished honor to our government.

In her fleet of splendid transports, of which the _Sumner_ is a fair example, the United States now leads the world. Indeed, ours is the only government that has a complete transport service of its own regularly equipped. The others have a continuous use of hired transports. The British abandoned their governmental transport service a few years ago as a failure.

The American fleet of transports has been built up entirely since the war with Spain by the purchase and reconstruction of a number of vessels from the merchant marine. It grew out of sheer and alarming necessity.

When the war with Spain broke out, and it became necessary to transport General Shafter’s army to Cuba, the government was compelled to use every sort of vessel which the entire Atlantic seaboard could produce to get a sufficient number flying the American flag to carry a little army of 15,000 men a few hundred miles. So serious was the problem that old side-wheelers were used, as well as a great number of ancient craft that were barely seaworthy. This humiliating condition stands in contrast with England’s readiness when the South African War called for transports. She sent over 220,000 men several thousand miles by sea, on British bottoms, without making so much as a ripple on the surface of maritime commerce and traffic. The experience of Japan in her war against China in 1895 might have taught us a lesson. After her first army had sailed and landed and fought, operations were practically suspended for months, as there were not enough ships available to carry over the second army. But we do not learn our lessons that way, and we required our own melancholy experience, both in the confusion of the hired ships off Daiquiri and in their cruel inadequacy for the broken-down soldiers on the return voyage, to teach us the need of regular and model transports for our armies across the sea. In view of this costly experience it seems like an unpatriotic thing for the private lines now running to Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines to be engineering a movement to have our proud little national fleet of transports abolished.

Our transport service is adequate for our present needs, but in the event of a new war, which might require us to send an enlarged army over seas, we are practically no better prepared than in 1898; for there are no more ships in the merchant marine carrying the United States flag which could be drafted into service than were in commission then. There are practically no American ships in trans-oceanic service outside those of the government. During the past year I sailed entirely around the continent of Africa, through the Mediterranean, touching at many of the important ports on the route. In all that time I saw but two vessels flying the American flag. One was a little lumber schooner from Maine, lying in the harbor of Madeira; the other was a bark, at Cape Town, over which there was an immense amount of trouble raised because the crew refused to take her out to sea on account of her unseaworthy condition. Consul-General Stow was making an investigation to estimate whether the hulk would float long enough to get back to an American port, not to be condemned, but to be painted over and sent out again, a disgrace to the nation. American vessels do not carry five per cent. of our exports abroad, for what American tonnage we have is suitable chiefly for coastwise and lake navigation. While England’s red ensign of the merchant marine is seen over the stern in every port of the navigable world, to our shame, a ship flying the stars and stripes is a stranger on the seas.

On the other hand, we pay out $165,000,000 each year to foreign ships simply to carry our products abroad. We need our own ships for our own traffic. We may suddenly need them some day for availability in war.

There seems to be but one way in which to build up an American merchant marine without waiting for another generation. That is to permit ships to become naturalized. There are to-day hundreds of foreign-built ships plying to our ports, knocking at the door of the United States to be admitted under American registry, so that they may fly the American flag, but because they are foreign-built they are debarred. Men, women, and children are allowed to become citizens of our country and to enjoy our privileges; why, then, should we not allow ships to do likewise? Protection to the home trade of ship-building is the reason for debarring those who want American registry. We need make no quarrel with the good principle of protection when we remind ourselves that our ship-building does not need such drastic measures as that; we build good ships, and foreign powers are ordering even their ships of war from our yards. It will be a greater benefit to all our shipping to allow the flag to be raised over as many vessels as will accept its protection, and in building up our shipping our ship-building industry will increase.

It is simply not possible for the United States to acquire, within a reasonably short space of time, a sufficient shipping to occupy any important position in the control of the merchant marine of the world without admitting foreign-built ships. A large amount of American capital has been invested for some time in foreign-built ships, the desire of the owners of these vessels being to place them under the American flag; but they have been prevented from doing so by our government. It seems only fair that our citizens who have invested their capital in this way should be in a position to realize the benefits that would accrue by having them under the American flag, provided they would agree within a reasonably short time to add to the tonnage so admitted an equal amount of American-built tonnage, thus building up a large American marine, and at the same time securing a large amount of work to the American ship-building interests.

A Shipping Subsidy Bill, not unlike the one so long before Congress would, if passed, materially help the merchant marine of this country. It would make it possible for the United States to occupy a leading position among the shipping interests of the world, instead of its present insignificant place. To-day it is impossible for the United States, with its scale of wages and larger amount of compensation to seamen and officers, to compete with countries where there is absolute freedom in the employment of help and in the scale of wages, without some such assistance. In addition to this, the cost of ship-building in the United States is so much greater than that of foreign countries that the questions of interest, depreciation, and additional insurance would make it impossible for the owner of American ships to compete with foreign-built ships without assistance; and those countries which have recently built up their merchant marine--notably Japan--have done so by such help.

The matter of raising the American flag over every good ship that is willing to fly it most immediately concerns the commercial world; but there is another side of the question to be considered. So long as we are friendly with Great Britain we shall undoubtedly be able to borrow her ships with which to transport our troops or to use as hospital ships; but if we should ever have any serious difficulty with that country it would be very difficult for us to obtain a sufficient number of ships to transport our troops without stopping all trade. We must remember that most of the vessels of our new transport service formerly flew the Union Jack of Great Britain. If it is thus necessary for the United States to buy its ships of a foreign power for this service, our lack of such material is conspicuous.

An excellent example of the advantage to our interests in offering our flag to ships that desire it is afforded by the attitude of the Atlantic Transport Line. That large fleet of steamships is owned and governed by Americans. Ninety per cent. of the stock is held in this country; more than half of the officers of the company are Americans. The owners want the American flag to replace that of England, but they are unable to accomplish their desire owing to the present laws. This fleet would be a magnificent addition to the little shipping our country has at present; not only would it be a valuable addition to commerce, but it would be of inestimable value in time of war. In fact, it would be almost like building fifteen or twenty extra transports, for the line has proved its willingness to turn over its ships to the government when necessary. The transports _Thomas_, _Sherman_, _Logan_, _Sheridan_, _Grant_, _Buford_, _Kilpatrick_ were all formerly ships of the Atlantic Transport Line, as were also the hospital ships, the _Missouri_ and the _Maine_.

The two new ships built by this line, the _Minnehaha_ and the _Minneapolis_, are undoubtedly better adapted for use as transports than any other private ships afloat to-day. They are especially adapted for the transportation of mounted troops, the most difficult problem of ocean carriage. These two sister ships are among the largest afloat, and have permanent accommodations for one thousand animals, so arranged that a long voyage could be made without any serious loss of stock. Their freeboard is exceptionally high, and their immense deck room would allow transportation of many guns and troops. The cabin accommodations are ample; in fact, if these ships had been especially built for use as transports they could scarcely be constructed in a more available manner. They are not as fast as some of the mail steamers, but they are fast enough to keep up to any convoy, and what they lack in speed they make up in steadiness. I crossed in the _Minnehaha_ during the most violent part of the great storm that swept across Galveston, and although the seas ran mountains high it was not found necessary to put the racks on the tables save one day, and even then they were not really needed. The steady running is due to the broad bottom and the extra wide bilge-keels. If some heavy rapid-fire guns were mounted on these ships, as they were put on the American liners, the _St. Paul_ and the _St. Louis_, they would make the best transports ever seen; they could go almost anywhere without convoy of warships, and still take care of themselves.

Were it permitted by the laws of this country these ships, as well as every other of the Atlantic Transport Line, would fly the American flag immediately.

Hospital ships have played an important part in the wars of the past three years, and they have become a necessary adjunct to the transportation department of the army. All of our new transports are fitted out with hospital appliances; but separate vessels for nothing but hospital work have been equipped, and have done excellent work in both the Spanish-American and the South African wars.

When the negotiations were opened by the United States Government for the purchase of ships to be used as transports, it was also determined to fit out one as a hospital ship, to be used with the fleet or to be stationed at any port which the operations might include. Mr. B. N. Baker, president of the Atlantic Transport Line, tendered to the government the choice of his ships for hospital service, fully manned and free of expense to the government, and furthermore made his offer to cover the indefinite period of “the continuance of the war.” The _Missouri_ was chosen as the ship best suited to the work, and she was found so valuable for this purpose that, after the war, the government purchased her at an exceedingly low figure.

The _Missouri_ has had a romantic life ever since she has been afloat, and has seemed destined to be a life saver and general benefactor to mankind in distress. On April 5, 1889, the _Missouri_ overhauled the _Denmark_, of Copenhagen, which was in a sinking condition, having on board over seven hundred souls. The _Missouri_ stood by and threw her entire cargo into the sea in order to take on this load of human freight. Not a soul was lost, and the heroism of that day’s work was rewarded by decorations and medals from nearly every kingdom of Europe. The insurance companies offered to pay the loss of the cargo, as though it had been lost by wreck; but the owners would not accept this, taking the entire loss themselves. In 1892 the _Missouri_ carried the gift of a load of flour to the famine-stricken people of Russia, the company furnishing the crew, fuel, and cost of transportation. During this year she picked up two more ships at sea--the _Delaware_ and the _Bertha_--and towed them safely into port. There is thus a poetic fitness that this ordinary freighter, which has been the cause of saving thousands of lives, should have become a regular hospital ship in the government service.

In recognition of this magnificent gift, prompted by true patriotism, Congress passed the following resolution:

“_Resolved_, by the Senate and the House of Representatives, That in recognition of the patriotism and generosity of Bernard N. Baker in donating the use of the steamship _Missouri_ to the United States, with the services of her captain and crew, during the war with Spain, the cordial thanks of Congress are hereby tendered to him, and Congress hereby authorizes and directs that a gold medal with appropriate design be prepared by the Director of the Mint, and that said medal be presented to him by the President of the United States at such time as he may determine.”

Mr. Baker repeated his generous offer when he gave the _Maine_ to the American ladies in London to be fitted out as a hospital ship similar to the _Missouri_. Lady Randolph Churchill (now Mrs. Cornwallis West, Jr.) took the matter in charge and worked unremittingly until the ship was sent to South Africa fully equipped. From October, 1899, to July, 1900, the _Maine_ ministered to the needs of the sick and wounded from South Africa. Then she sailed for Chinese waters, there to undertake the nursing of the British and American soldiers alike. All this time she has been manned, coaled, and run by Mr. Baker entirely at his own expense.

The transportation of troops at sea is a problem of the first importance in war. The government of the United States has solved it for the present by purchasing and equipping a fleet of model transports. Great Britain has solved it by abandoning her former fleet of government ships and using her immense merchant marine. Her conspicuous success in carrying promptly and comfortably over 200,000 soldiers to South Africa shows that the resource was ample and that she fully understands the work. The men in khaki fared well on their long journey to the south, and the absence of any complaints speaks well for the staff of the British army which had the task in hand. But the chief secret of the success was in the fact that there were ships without limit for selection, and only the best and largest and swiftest were chosen. At the same time they did not find it necessary to disturb the transatlantic commerce by drawing off the great liners.

It is not a pleasant comparison when one thinks that Great Britain sent the greatest army she ever brought together to almost the remotest quarter of the globe without any apparent effect on sea-going traffic, while the United States in 1898 had to scrape together every hulk that would float in order to transport a single army corps a few hundred miles.