Tangible evidence of the increased role that the United States was beginning to play in international affairs is a silver pitcher and salver[25] presented to Judge George S. Batcheller in appreciation of his services as president of the International Postal Congress, which was held in Washington, D.C., in 1897. Judge Batcheller's international career began when President Ulysses Grant appointed him as the U.S. judge in the newly created International Tribunal for legal administration of Egypt. The Tribunal had jurisdiction in cases between foreigners of different nationalities and also in cases of foreigners versus Egyptians. Batcheller later served as minister to Portugal and then as manager of European interests for various American companies. The International Postal Congress presented Judge Batcheller, its presiding officer, with a handsome urn-shaped pitcher with the following inscription engraved on the center front: Le Congres postal de Washington a son President le General George S. Batcheller Juin 1897. The pitcher, 14-1/4 inches high, is marked inside the base "Galt & Bros., Sterling, 925--0--1879, 277, 7-1/2 pts." The "925" is circled, and the date is boxed. Accompanying the pitcher is a silver tray with the monogram "G S B" in script in the center. The tray is marked on the back with an eagle in a circle to the left, an "A" in a shield in the center, and a hammer and sickle in a circle to the right (an unidentified mark). 20th-Century Pieces FOR SERVICE IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR One of the most controversial figures of the Spanish-American War is represented in the Museum's collection of some of the silver that was presented to Rear Admiral Winfield Scott Schley.[26] Schley became a national hero primarily because of his genial personality, and he was acclaimed and supported by the masses of the American public even while his claims to fame were being challenged by his colleagues. Admiral Schley had already had a long and illustrious naval career before the outbreak of the war with Spain. After his graduation from the Naval Academy in 1860, he served on board the frigate _Niagara_ when it was detailed to bring to the United States the first representatives from Japan to this country. As a junior naval officer he took part in the Civil War engagements leading up to the capture of Port Hudson. Then followed a period with sea duty and alternate posts ashore at the Naval Academy and elsewhere. During this period he took part in the capture of some Korean forts in 1871, and later he commanded the relief expedition that rescued the Arctic explorer Lieutenant Adolphus W. Greeley and six of his companions near Cape Sabine, when they were near death, and brought them safely home after a perilous voyage through 1,400 miles of ice.