This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XXII STRAINED RELATIONS On the following morning the Valparaiso papers said the trouble between the two countries was about settled; that there would be no war, and that we had found out that Chile was in the right all the time. If the editors had seen the message I had received and my reply I think they would have changed their minds somewhat. Press reports from the United States published the same morning indicated great activity in the Navy Department. One of the papers had, in large headlines, " What we may expect when the Boston arrives." The article then went on to state that she had landed ninety-five men on liberty in Montevideo, and ninety of them were arrested. I felt sure that the Boston's men were not in any such condition as this indicated, and I was confident at the same time that the article and many more like it were meant to influence public opinion against us and prepare them for more riots and bloodshed. Monday, December 21st, brought me a telegram to keep my ship filled up with coal, which led me to wonder if they regarded me at the Department as some kind of an idiot. Of course I was full of coal and everything else I should need when the time for action came. A Curious Christmas All my plans were made down to the smallest detail, and my mind made up as to what I would do under certain conditions. The head of the house of Grace & Company must have had some serious telegram from New York on this day, as he said to me in the afternoon that things looked bad for a settlement. Mr. Egan 'phoned me in the evening that his son had been arrested at Santiago the previous day as he came out of the legation, and later two other persons had been arrested in the same way and held for two hours or more. The situation was...