States of America, the authorities at Washington began to perfect their
plans for an immediate increase of the navy. The Naval Militia of the
country, of whom Assistant Secretary Theodore Roosevelt had a very high
opinion, came in for early attention, and word was sent to the different
States to prepare for service. Several days previous to the actual
outbreak of war, messages were forwarded from the Naval Reserve
receiving ship "New Hampshire," lying at a dock in the East River, to a
number of young men, members of the Naval Militia, residing in New York
City. These summons contained simply a request to report at once on
board the ship, but they resulted in a most curious and interesting
transformation--in fact, they formed the foundation of a chain of events
which was destined to amalgamate into a common grade--that of a naval
bluejacket--several hundred young Americans, who, in their natural
characters, were sons of rich men and of men of moderate means, of
doctors and lawyers and brokers and clerks and bookkeepers, and of all
sorts and conditions of respectable citizens. Patriotism was the
incentive which called these youths of various stations together, and
sheer love of country and the courage to fight her battles formed the
cement which bound them cheerfully to their duty. To fight for pay and
as a profession is one thing; to offer your freedom and your life, to
endure discomforts and actual hardships, to risk health in a
fever-stricken foreign country, and to sacrifice settled ambition for
mere patriotism, is another. It is the latter which the Volunteer Naval
Reserve of the United States has done, and every American citizen with a
drop of honest blood in his veins will surely give the organization the
praise it so richly deserves.

On the third of May, while Cervera's whereabouts was still an absorbing
mystery, the "Yankee" (an auxiliary cruiser, converted from the
steamship "El Nort") went into commission at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. She