a [text missing in original.] There was always a good heap of hash
left to show the astonished men that they were merely chronic kickers.
Then the well-fed comedian adjourned to his spacious saloon and offered
an apology to his offended stomach by supplying it with an abundance of
all that the steamer carried.

The one great comfort to the fagging spirits of the Utahn was the
battery fund. Through the darkest days of war his dying hopes were
revived by visions of what the future held in store for him by the aid
of this phantom. It was to the despairing volunteer what mirage is to
the thirsty traveler of the desert. The fund represented the combined
contributions of the soldiers, benevolent persons and charitable
institutions. Besides this a fabulous sum was added by the artillery
canteen which exchanged beer for the Utes' money and, in addition to
what it contributed towards the battery fund, provided turkeys and
succotash for the Thanksgiving and Christmas banquets. When it was
announced that this enormous sum was to be expended for dainties on the
way home the joy of the batteryman knew no limits. Spectre dinners of
mutton, cakes and pies arose in his mind with a suddenness that would
have startled the most ardent disbeliever in ghosts. Without the aid of
Pluto he called up all the spirits of meals long dead and fed on them
till the marvelous distribution should take place. And it was not long
in coming. One morning, accompanied by the stentorian voice of the bugle
Judge Williams, heavily laden with a huge cargo of jam, hove in sight.
Then were many whispered comments made about the quantity which each man
was to receive. The Judge soon stopped this and shortly after there was
a hum of satisfaction all along the deck as the men made way with this
delicacy. Now the gastronomy of the warrior lived and flourished under
the rigors of army hardtack and navy beans, but it collapsed at once
when introduced to Jamesson's jam. There was a sudden epidemic of cramps
throughout the entire organization, but the ever victorious commissary
sergeant soon stamped this out by the judicious application of some
French mustard, which had been purchased by the battery fund. And thus
the men of Utah were fed.

Meanwhile the swift "Hancock" steamed out of Manila bay and speeded
toward Japan. Two days out she passed the beautiful Island of Formosa,
and in three days more the vessel came in sight of Nagasaki, the leading
coaling station of t