The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-02-11

China seas. They lived for months upon
terms of daily intercourse and in the
closest intimacy, and it is within my per-
s0nal knowledge that no one was ore
esteemed by the ex-President than the
gallant gentleman who has added new
glories TO the American flag in Rio
Janeiro.
Admiral Benham, as 1 know him, has
unique qualities. He is pre-emnently
courteous. with supreme common-sense.
i will not call him a sailor of the old
school. because from what read of these
departed heroes. either in history or fiction,
they lacked many qualities which modern
| taste exacts from q gentleman.
Inc lllustrious Nelson could not, as
nave read. speak sentence without the
Disagreement of an oath. And these types
OF the naval hero as drawn by Cooper and
Marrvat are gruesome characters to whom
authority meant arrogance and injusti ce,
and who spent their time between the
punch bowl and the boatswain's cat. The
cat with nine tails was then the tutelar
naval deity. The degrading and soul
destroying custom of fiogging. with its ever
present brutality and frequent injustice,
had sad effect, not alone upon those
who suffered. but on those who caused the
suffering.
Benham has talent for silence rather
reticent than otherwise; modest, with
flashes of pleasantly never in a hurry nor
at loss as to what should be done; firm,
determined, and like most of the really
brave men / have known. ruling without
osientation or exhibition of temper He
has fathomed the profound thought that
temper Is either a weakness of intellect or
| a disease of the nerves. To outward show
ing the mildest OF men, caring nothing for
the rattle and noise of power; Indifferent
to trifies; ready to overlook. forget or for
give venial shortcomings; but like steel
han s.1 ~. l..
L can see those firm lips come together,
and those keen, earnest eyes flash, as with
courtesy OF manner worthy of Lord Ches-
| terrified. he in formed the Brazilian adm iral
in soft. gentle. half hesitating tones that
he meant &c protect The humble Yankee
skipper. and that he would sink any ship
| that fired on the American flag. And he
| would have done it.
What the lawyers and dipIomatists will
do about Benham il were in vain to predi-
! cate. II is clear that L. nham's prompt
| defense Of our flag has struck the people's
| heart. No American but will feel prouder
| as he realizes the power OF his country in
these far southern seas. as he feels that
| brave men are ever on the watch and
ward to give the American 10 honest pur-
suits the proection Of his country. In
| this we have the prestige, the true
| grandeur of nation. And as well as we
can understand the proceedings of Ad-
mlrai Benham. tney are In Keeping with
his character. We note the absence of
buster or menace; the patient, careful
| way in which he studied the case-his
warnings to the insurg- his efforts to
| avoid controversy by keeping them out of
trouble, and all else failing, courtesy. per-
suasi0n, reason, argument, friendly good
will-that final appeal to his guns, and the
inexorabe declaration that he would treat
as rirate whoever fired on his flag.
The action Of Admiral Benham vindi-
Gates the flag and protects American
rights. The re, so far as he is concerned,
the incident ends. But if the moral effect
of his work is to bring peace to Brazil
then the world will rejoice. Brazil, with
its rebellions and pronunciament0s and
vagabond aaval officers seizing men-of-
war. firing on their peaceable fellow
countrymen and Smelling defenseless towns,
is general nuisance.
Brazil is the smokiest chimney of the
day, ard the sooner it Is extinguis he'd the
+ better. And while the putting out of the
fire does not especially concern the United
States ir will be an ever remem bered
blessing if among the consequences of
Admiral Benhan's discernment we should
have peace. order and good government in
that torn and troubled republic.