telling me anything about Aguinaldo more than that cablegram there,
and I said he might come. And you see how much importance I attached
to him; I did not wait for him.

"_Senator Patterson_. What you said was: 'Tell Aguinaldo to come as
soon as possible.'

"_Admiral Dewey_. Yes; but I did not wait a moment for him.

"_Senator Patterson_. Yes; but there was a reason for that.

"_Admiral Dewey_. I think more to get rid of him than anything else.

"_Senator Carmack_. Rid of whom?

"_Admiral Dewey_. Of Aguinaldo and the Filipinos. They were bothering
me. I was very busy getting my squadron ready for battle, and these
little men were coming on board my ship at Hongkong and taking a good
deal of my time, and I did not attach the slightest importance to
anything they could do, and they did nothing; that is, none of them
went with me when I went to Mirs Bay. There had been a good deal of
talk, but when the time came they did not go. One of them didn't go
because he didn't have any toothbrush.

"_Senator Burrows_. Did he give that as a reason?

"_Admiral Dewey_. Yes; he said, 'I have no toothbrush.'" [100]

However, Dewey ultimately yielded to the pressure exercised on him by
Pratt and Wildman, and allowed Aguinaldo and some of his associates to