I also explained our system of landing with liberty men an unarmed
patrol, properly officered, to quietly take in charge and send off
to their ships any men who showed the slightest trace of disorderly
conduct. This letter he showed to the Minister of the Navy, who highly
approved of all our arrangements, including the patrol, of which I
feared they might be jealous. Mr. Denison's reply reached me in Manila,
with a memorandum from the Minister of the Navy which removed all
doubts. Three temporary piers were built for our boat landings, each
300 feet long, brilliantly lighted and decorated. The sleeping
accommodations did not permit two or three thousand sailors to remain on
shore, but the ample landings permitted them to be handled night and day
with perfect order and safety.
At the landings and railroad station in Yokohama there were rest
houses or booths, reputable money changers and as many as a thousand
English-speaking Japanese college students acted as volunteer guides,
besides Japanese sailors and petty officers detailed for the purpose.
In Tokyo there were a great many excellent refreshment places, where the
men got excellent meals and could rest, smoke, and write letters, and
in none of these places would they allow the men to pay anything, though
they were more than ready to do so.
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