in addition to his work as a newspaper cartoonist, mccutcheon became a war correspondent and combat artist who covered the spanish–american war, the philippine–american war, and the second boer war in south africa, as well as europe during world war i. he also became a world traveler. mccutcheon and his friend, george ade, went to europe in 1895 to collaborate on illustrated stories for the "chicago news". a collection of their work was later published as a book, "what a man sees who goes away from home " (1896). on january 8, 1898, mccutcheon began an around-the-world cruise aboard the "mcculloch" as a guest of the u.s. treasury department. he visited malta, singapore, and hong kong before transferring to the uss "olympia". mccutcheon was an eyewitness to the battle of manila bay on may 1, 1898, and remained in the philippines for several months to report on war before resuming his travels.