The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-05-13
MIKE HEALY, OF THE BEAR.
In the Far Northwest He Holds a Power OF
Attoraex For the IYh ole Cou.&xx

MIKE HEALY, OF THE BEAR.
In the Far North west He Holds a Power of
Attorney For the Whole Country.
Capt Mike Realy. of the revenue cut
ter Bear. is a good deal more distin-
! guished person in the waters of the far
northwest than any president OF the
| Unlted States or any potentate of Eu-
rope has yet become He stands for
law and order in many thousand square
miles OF land and water. and if you
should ask in the Arctic sea. Who is the
| greatest man in America the instant
answer would be, Why, Mike Healy. =
When an innocent citizen of the Allan.
tie coast once asked on the Pacific who
Mike Healy was the answer came:
Don't you know Mike Healy? Why.
he's the United States He holds in
these parts power of attorney for the
whole country" The reply hardly
seems extravaCant when it is known
that for twenty years or more Capt
! Healy has been the sole representative
OF legal authority in much of the region
northwest OF Port Townsend To the
Indians OF that region he stands for
the United States government To the
whalers Of the Arctic he is by turns
benehcent providence and an avenging
Nemesis He is constantly in the
United States courts at San Francisco.
where everybody knows him, and
/ he has time and again suppressed
disorder and prevented crime in regions
thousand miles from any legally con-
stituted authority. He is the ideal
commander of the old school, bluff,
prompt, fearless, pitiless in discipline,
but not unjust He knows Behriug
sea, the straits, and even the Arctic as
little craft has sailed those waters az
almost all seasons He is usually the
first man up in the spring and the last
man 10 leave the northwest at the ap-
prOach of winter.
With all this he is man of no little
book learning, excellent address and
uncommonly agreea bic manners One
brother is a bishop OF the Catholic
church and another priest Healy
himself was preparing to take orders
when his scholastic career was Gu.
short by accidents for which he was
not altogether responsible. After man
aging 70 get himself out OF a school in
the east he was sent to Roman Catho-
lie school in Paris Here young Healy
was missed one morning. and at the
same time the statue of the Virgin
standing just within the convent hall
was found 70 be unshipped from its
r0edez-al ThA-a -y-aS wound no
Virgins neck, and this rope had evil
IDENTIFY been thrown over the wall so as
10 nable some one 70 escape. All these
suspicious facts, taken together with
Healy's absence, made it pretty plain
how the young man had disappeared
and the affair aroused considera bic in
terest The lad was captured but he
eventually gave up the plan Of taking
orders and finally went into the revenue
marine.
Capt Healy is best seen on board his
own craft. He is of medium height,
with a figure erect and well knit, but
far from stout A nautical cap partly
covers his gray hair, and beneath its
peak one sees a pair of keen eyes,
while a grizzled, almost white mus
tache partly conceals firm but not IN
kindly mouth Navy trousers and
pea jacket Of unplucked seal complete
the costume. Unplucked sealskin is
something rarely seen in the east,
though some folks in the northwest
think it vastly handsomer than the
smooth, brown-dyed affair OF commerce
and the New YORK streets. Il IS much
lighter in color than the sealskiu worn
By women in the east, and IL glitters
like silver in the sunshine. Mike
Healy, pacing the deck in his sealskin
racket Is a brilliant figure beneath
a cloudless northwestern skv.
Capt Mike finds time in the midst of
q busy life 70 read some books. and his
acquaintance with men and with
strange places is so varied that his talk
IS marvellouslv interesting. Perhaps
no other man in the United States has
seen as much Arctic daylight as Mike
Healv. He sometimes takes his wife
on his northwes tern cruise: an unconn-
monty presentab Die matron and agreea-
bic shipmate those who know Mrs Healv
have found her to be. Once, at least,
Capt. Healy took his brother, the priest,
for a summer vacation OH board ths
Bear. When the clerical brother came
z board he limited that something in the
way of religious service would be the
proper thing: but Capt Mike replied
that he was not only commander of
that craft, but priest as well, and If
IN the way OF religious service
was necessary he himself would provide
il The clerical brother listened but
did not fully accede to Capt Mixes ar
and on the very first Sur
day ont every body was late at quarters /
Capt Mike inquired stormily what it
all meant. and learned that the men |
had been detained at mathis To Mike |
Healy his brothers conduct was little |
short Of nutinous. and when the priest /
anne on deck. Nike lost no time in say /
ing so, AID in adding that only his !
cloth saved the brother from chastise- 4
uent Mike owns that he ought to /
have known his brother better than 10 /
make such threat, and that he was /
hardly surprised when the priest an /
swered: Never mind the coat, Mike; |
# you want TO try trouncing HE, come |
on. Capt Mike did not accept the |
and he tells the story with |
evident appreciation OF ais brothers
grit N. Y. Sun