rendered such trifles negligible, and that, if insufficient
attention had been given to the study of such matters in the
past, American ingenuity would quickly offset the lack of skilled
military experience. The fact that American soldiers traveled in
sleeping cars while European armies were transported in freight
cars blinded Americans for a while to the significant fact that
there was but a single track leading to Tampa, the principal
point of embarkation for Cuba; and no one thought of building
another.

Nothing so strongly marks the amateur character of the conduct of
the Spanish War as the activity of the American press. The navy
was dogged by press dispatch boats which revealed its every move.
When Admiral Sampson started upon his cruise to San Juan, he
requested the press boats to observe secrecy, and Admiral
Chadwick comments with satisfaction upon the fact that this
request was observed "fully and honorably...by every person
except one." When Lieutenant Whitney risked his life as a spy in
order to investigate conditions in Porto Rico; his plans and
purpose were blazoned in the press. Incredible as it may now
seem, the newspaper men appear to have felt themselves part of
the army. They offered their services as equals, and William
Randolph Hearst even ordered one of his staff to sink a vessel in
the Suez Canal to delay Camara on his expedition against Dewey.
This order, fortunately for the international reputation of the
United States, was not executed. With all their blare and
childish enthusiasm, the reporters do not seem to have been so
successful in revealing to Americans the plans of Spain as they
were in furnishing her with itemized accounts of all the doings
of the American forces.