Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-06-15
Farragut IN Mobile.

utes to the Portsmouth On. H.)
Weekly an account of a conversation
she held with Admiral Farragut in
the summer of 1865, at ball given
in his honor at what was then called
the Atlantic House, at Rye Beach,
N. H., and is now as the Farragut
House. She says: 'Every prepara-
tlon had been made to give brillian-
cy to the ball. The house was deck
ed in bunting, bands of music lent
their power to the general gayety,
and ladies We'd with each other in
richness of attire. The officers of the
army and navy were in attendance
and few invited guests from Ports
mouth assisted AS l alighted
from an open carriage, in the twi-
light, I observed a neat, sailor-like
little fellow, with round cap, stand
ing at the steps. But l, bent on the
business in hand, THAT Of seeing the
distinguished Admiral, with all his
laurels thick upon him), carelessly
took the proffered hand of the sailor
Masters Mate l thought him), enter
ed the dressing-room, and soon took
a gcntleman's arm and mingled with
the throng. Presently a lady, whom
l then resembled, accosted me, say
ing: Have you seen the Admiral
this EVENING" No. 1 replied, 'but
I am all impatient to meet him.
well, she said, I'll bring HIM to
you at once, for I think you are at
the bottom of a a contretemps. He
accuses me of treating him with cold
disdain, and we will see if we can't
clear it up Very soon the lady,
wife of an officer of high rank, ap-
peared on the Admlral's arm, and
presented him to me. To my sur
prise and CONSERVATION, l beheld the
supposed Masters Mate, whom 1 had
met at my carriage-door. The Ad-
miral, mistaking me for friend,
had come out on the piazza to well
come her. Inow greeted him with
as much composure as could, con-
sidering my awkward blunder. The
Admiral observed. 'We have met
before this evening, and I experien-
ced pang Of disappointment at your
seeming coldness, as mistook you
for this lady, who has long been my
friend" Thus introduced, we were
put on pleasant footing at once.
and he soon asked me it / would
promenade with him through the
halls and view the decorations. l
readily accepted SO distinguished an
honor, and, as we walked, l begged
him to tell me about the banquet that
had been given him on the previous
evening in Boston. A conspicuous
feature of the occasion had been the
reading, by Oliver Wendell Holmes,
of his exquisite poem, in which occurs
the line about Farragut's being lash
ed to the rigging during the Mobile
fight. The hero's bravery was equal
ed only by his modesty, and he
shrank from giving me complete
account of an affair which so close
ly concerned himself. He said, 4
shall make a poor figure relating my
own praises co. l replied, put
your share of the thing aside and re-
late it to me as though you were on
ly spectator and not party to it,
WELL said he, I'll try to sink my
personality Then in pleasant
and unaffected manner, he described
the banquet, repeating the verse of
DR.. Holmes poem in which was the
allusion to his being lashed to the
mast. Suddenly breaking off, he
laughingly said: They are making
a great deal of fuss about my being
lashed to the mast, when, in fact, 1t
amounts to nothing at all. There
was no bravery in it; l simply fol-
lowed habit which have always
practiced, that of taking strap and
lashing myself to the mast when |
90 aloft, lest l might become dizzy.
| little thought that it would be turn
ed to such fine account in poetry
1t was only matter of caution His
being lashed to the mast was mere
accident,-neither adding to nor de-
tracing from the great Admiral's
services, simply making a pretty
thing in picture and story. But, as
it had been made of sufficient lmpor-
tance to be denied, l have taken the
pains to reatlirm it from the hero's
own lips.