y manuscript and said:

"Anything in there about Sampson licking Cervera?"

"Naw, sir, dat were a fake, cap'n, but dere is lots of oder news fur
you."

"No, kid, I don't want a paper to-night, and besides I'm not a captain,
I'm only a lieutenant."

"But yer may be one some day. Please buy one cap'n," and with this he
laid a paper down on my table (a cracker box). I was about to shove it
aside and sharply tell him to skip out when my eye fell upon:

"Nominations by the President."

"To be captains in the Signal Corps," then followed my name. I bought a
paper, yes, all he had.

On May 27th, I was ordered to proceed at once to Tampa, Florida,
reporting upon arrival by telegraph to the chief signal officer of the
army for instructions. Tuesday morning, the 29th of May, I reported my
arrival and spent the rest of the morning in looking around the camps,
renewing old acquaintances. I supposed of course that I was to be
assigned to the command of one of the new signal companies then forming
to take part in the Santiago campaign and was filled with delight at the
prospect, but about eleven o'clock I received an order from General
Greely directing me to assume charge of the telegraphic censorship at
Tampa. Three civilians, Heston at Jacksonville, Munn at Miami, and
Fellers at Tampa, were sworn in as civilian assistants and directed to
report to me, thereafter acting wholly under my orders. Mr. B. F.
Dillon, superintendent of the Western Union Telegraph Company, was in
Tampa, and I had a long conference with him. He assured me of his
confidence and cordial support, and placed the entire resources of his
company at my disposal. Operators all over the state were instructed
that anything I ordered was to be obeyed and then the work began.

The idea of a telegraphic censorship was a new and irksome one to the
great American people and just what it meant was hard to determine. Much
has been written about "Press Censorship." That term was a misnomer.
There never _was_ an attempt to _censor_ the _great American press_. The
newspapers were just as free to print as they were before the war
started. _All the censorship that existed was over the telegraph lines
militarily occupied._ A government officer was placed in charge and his
word was absolute; he could only be overruled by General Greely, the
Secretary of War or the President. It was his duty to watch telegrams,
regulate the kind that were allowed to pass, and to see that no