re firmly compressed, the color faded from our
cheeks with excitement, but our eyes blazed with exultant anticipation
as nearer and nearer to Pernambuco did he come. We all now feel, judging
of the possibilities by actual achievement, that had Captain Clark
encountered the enemy's ships, he could and would have successfully
fought and defeated the entire Spanish fleet. He carried his ship ready
for instant actions, every man at his post. God bless that crew! God
bless those stokers, far down below those decks, confident that the
captain who commanded them was on the bridge, and that he would never
flinch nor fail in the hour of trial! I have often tried to draw a
mental picture of what the scene must have been when the _Oregon_
steamed in to join the fleet before Santiago; when the white jackets on
the yard-arms tossed their caps in the air, and southern tars gave back
to Yankee cheers a lusty welcome to the man who for so long, against all
odds, with no encouraging advices, with unknown terrors all about him,
had never flinched from duty, and who, when the last summons came,
responded in the words of Colonel Newcomb, _Adsum_--"I am here."

On the morning of the third of July, 1898, there stood the frowning
Morro Castle, the prison of the glorious Hobson; on the other side the
fortress of Estrella; the narrow channel blocked by the wreck of the
_Merrimac_; the _Brooklyn_, the _Oregon_, the _Texas_, the _Indiana_,
the _Iowa_ and the _Massachusetts_ all watching that orifice. Then black
smoke rolled from the tunnels of the enemy's ships, indicating that the
tiger had roused him from his lair and was making a rush for the open
sea. Up went the signal on the flagstaff of the _Brooklyn_,
"Forward--the enemy is approaching." Then engines moved; then guns
thundered their volleys; then sky and sea became black with the smoke of
battle; and swiftly steamed the _Oregon_ in pursuit of the _Cristobal
Colon_. Beneath well-directed shots the monster reeled, like a wounded
athlete, to the beach; and then from the flagstaff of the _New York_
were displayed those signals now on these walls before your
eyes--"1-7-3; cornet; 2m-9m-7m"--which, translated, meant--and we of the
League to-night repeat the words--"Well done, _Oregon_."

Captain Clark, the city of Philadelphia has always contributed her share
to the building of the navy and to a fitting recognition of the heroes
who have commanded our battleships. In the old churchyard of St. M