A wave of national patriotic enthusiasm swept over the United
States. North and South, East and West, there was hardly a
discordant note in the great chorus of fervent applause which rose
when it was understood that at last the forces of the nation were
to be united in the cause of liberty and humanity.

But sentiment could not fight battles, unless backed by material
equipment. The nation was preparing for war. From all parts of the
United States the troops of the regular army were hurried by
special trains southeastward to camps at Chickamauga and Tampa. In
every navy yard work was hurried night and day upon all incomplete
battleships and cruisers. Already the fleets of the American navy
had been concentrated at points of vantage so that little was left
to be done on that score. Congress lost no time in providing the
sinews of war by generous appropriations for the regular channels
of supply, in addition to one passed by unanimous vote of both
houses granting $50,000,000 as a special fund to be at the
disposal of the President. The war appropriation bill and the
naval appropriation bill carried with them emergency clauses.
Preparations were made for the reorganization of the regular army
to more than double its normal size, and the President was
authorized to call for a volunteer army of 125,000 men. Looking to
the future, and the possibility of a long and expensive conflict,
financial measures were prepared which would raise war revenues
through the regular channels of taxation and the issue of bonds.
Americans were ready to put their hands in their pockets and pay
for the privilege of teaching a worthy lesson to the world.

American sense of humor never fails, and even in this period of
stress the people took time to smile over the story of the Spanish