ips
were ordered back into the slip. It must be said, however, that General
Miles _never had any idea that the Spanish fleet was approaching our
shores_.

The transport fleet was tied up and then followed six days of weary
waiting, and the duties of the censor became more arduous than ever, and
the utmost vigilance was exercised. Private messages were almost all
hung up, in fact, very little else than government business was allowed
to pass over the wires. And yet, every day for a week, copies of the
daily papers that reached me had, under flaming headlines, the startling
news that Shafter's fleet had sailed--destination--Havana, San Juan,
Matanzas,--yes--even the Spanish coast. All this was announced from
Washington, and made the correspondents snort; they made every excuse to
let their papers know they were still there. They wanted money, they
wanted to send messages to their families, in fact, they wanted
everything under the sun, but to no avail. Finally, on the 14th of June
the army sailed away, filled with hope and courage, on their mission
that resulted in victory for the American arms; but that was a foregone
conclusion, while we less fortunate ones were left behind to pray for
the success that we knew would be theirs.

The correspondents were all on the transport "Olivette," and just before
they pulled out I sent them a message saying I would release the news
that night about the _sailing of the fleet only_, and they might file
their messages. They did in large numbers and here is where the joke
came in. When the messages reached the papers they thought it was all a
bluff to mislead the public, and many of them refused to publish the
news, but the fleet had gone this time for certain. As late as two days
afterwards I received messages from the managing editors of two of the
greatest papers in the country, asking me if the fleet had really
sailed. I assured them it had. One thing is certain, the destination of
that fleet was a well-kept secret. Mr. Richard Harding Davis in his
admirable book on the Cuban and Porto Rican Campaigns, says that credit
is due the censor because it was so well kept. I am afraid that this is
about the only good word the censor ever received from the said Mr.
Davis.

The "Olivette," on which the correspondents sailed, was the last boat to
leave Port Tampa. She left about six-thirty P. M. in the glory of the
setting sun of a tropical evening. About five-thirty P. M. Mr. Edward
Marsha