Nothing absolutely was to be sent, that
would convey in any way an idea of the number of troops in Tampa, the
time of arrival or departure of any number of troops or ships, and
above all, not a word was to be sent out as to when the 5th Army Corps
was to sail. When I had finished one of the correspondents shook his
head in a deprecatory way and said:
"Well, captain, we thought Lieutenant Miley (my predecessor) was bad
enough but you can give him cards and spades and beat him out. You're
certainly a hummer from the word go, and I reckon we'd better go home."
He had my sympathy but that was all. Every correspondent had a war
department pass; these I examined and registered each man.
That night my fun commenced. At six P. M. they began to file stuff, and
armed with a big blue pencil I started to slash and when I finished,
some of their sheets looked like a miniature football field, while their
faces betokened blank amazement and intense disgust. Boiled down, the
first night's batch of copy consisted of a glowing description of the
new censor; this fiend whose weapon was a blue pencil--his glowing red
whiskers--his goggle eyes, and his Titian-colored hair.
Pages:
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488