o Washington, where he was duly
installed as First Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

In his new position, certainly a high one for such a young man to
occupy, Mr. Roosevelt had much to do. As first assistant, nearly the
whole responsibility of the real workings of the department fell upon
his shoulders. He took up these responsibilities manfully, and how well
he succeeded in the work, history has abundantly proved.

"It was Roosevelt's work that made Dewey's victory at Manila possible,"
one who knew of the inner workings of the department has said, and
another has said that the victory off Santiago Bay was also due in part
to Roosevelt's watchfulness over the ships that took part in that
conflict.

At Washington the Assistant Secretary found an era of extravagance equal
to that which he had discovered in New York. The Navy Department was
paying dearly for almost everything it bought, and many laborers and
others were drawing high wages for doing little or no work. Against this
Theodore Roosevelt set his face uncompromisingly, so that inside of a
year the actual saving to our government was twenty-five per cent. When
it is remembered that the Navy Department spends each year millions of
dollars, something of what such a saving means can be realized.

For many years our country had been at peace with the whole world, but
now a war cloud showed itself on the horizon, scarcely visible at first,
but gradually growing larger and larger. Those at Washington watched it
with great anxiety, wondering if it would burst, and what would be the
result.

Cuba had been fighting for liberty for years. It was under Spanish rule,
and the people were frightfully oppressed. To Spain they paid vast sums
of money and got but little in return. Money that should have gone into
improvements--that should have supplied good roads and schools--went
into the pockets of the royalty of Spain. When a Cuban tried to
remonstrate, he could scarcely get a hearing, and this state of affairs
went from bad to worse until, in sheer desperation, the Cubans declared
war on the mother-country, just as in 1776 our own nation threw off the
yoke of England.

As my young readers know, Cuba lies only a short distance from the
southeast coast of Florida. Being so close, it was but natural that our
people should take an interest in the struggle at hand. Everybody
sympathized with the Cubans, and some made offers of assistance. Then,
when many Cubans were on the v