Evening star., 1897-04-17

head and its mizzen truck: his duties do not
require him to define the dainty uses Of the
marlinspike or of the sinister Delaying pin;
and he IS never called upon during MS en-
tire incumbency to shiver his timbers or to
blind his eyes-as. indeed. sailor of this
globes deep waters ever was. Capt. Marry
att and Fenimore Cooper to the contrary,
Notwithstanding n Secretary Of the Nays
heavyweather work and dead reckoning
are well performed for him by rlen ad-
mirably trained for the business: and few
heads of the American naval establishment
would have been able, upon cross-examina
ton. to state with any degree of precision
the relative positions of cooks galley and
an after cabin. Nevertheless for some
reason or other, there is TO squelching the
expansive grin that wreathes the gene:' ii
/. countenance of man-of-war's company,
officers and biuejackets. after an official
visit aboard by the civilian head of the
naval establishment; and there is always
day of unctuouS though harmless mirth at
mess tables fore and aft over some of the
bland, land-locked questions that are some
times asked by the civilian chief On such
occasions.
Distinguished Lawyer.
Secretary Long, however. is not putting
off enjoyment until he gets aboard his
first vessel of war The bent of his tenn
permanent is legal: he is a distinguished
lawyer: he likes to unreeve the Gordian
knots of law: he is admirably qualified for
tne DSncns the CCHS.derdllOn OF WelSnty
decision is mental recreation for him, and
for these reasons, to say nothing of many
others. he is round peg in a round hole
as Secretary of the Navy. For. more than
the head OF any other American executive
department. the Secretary of the Navy is
the final arbitrator between his distin-
guished subordinates. His cask of intel
lectual suasion. the oil for tumultuous
official waters. is always ON tap; and he
does twenty -four-hour watch a day for
his entire term. in that he must be always
on deck to compound his especial balm for
green-eyed jealousy at a moments no.
tice- Thus:
Problem to Solve.
Shortly before the expiration of his term.
Secretary Herbert decided that the electri-
cal apparatus on war ships belonged to the
Jurisdiction of the bureau of equipment
His decision. carefully weighed was, of
course final; and the mutterings of the
bureau of construction. which instalIs the
electrical plants of men-of-war, and the
calculations of the bureau of steam en-
gineering. which makes the steam to run
the electrical plants after they are in
stalled. were perforce stiiled by the de-
cision during the remainder of Mr.. Her
berts incumbency. But Mr.. Herbert had
no sooner cleaned out his desk and turned
II over in apple-pie order to Mr.. Long
than the TWO aggrieyed bureaus asked for
a reopening of the dynamo plant case by
the new Secretary Wherefore. when Mr..
Long Is not immersed ear-hlgh In other
and more pressing work. he summons the
heads Of these bureaus concerned and has
heavy and difficult seances for the deter
mination of the proper bureau custodian
ship of the intangible fluid that makes
light. turns turrets. and does lot of other
laoorious work. On men-of-war. And al
though Mr.. Long, who has not yet an
nounced his decision on this seemingly un-
important but really tremendous matter,
will eventually be compelled to either total
ly reverse the decision of his predecessor.
and thus wound the susceptibilities of two
bureau heads. CT to sustain the decision
OF his predecessor. and still fill two of his
bureau chiefs with grief. he does not ap-
pear 10 be sicklIed DER with the pale cast
OF thought even a little bit and even
sends out for bottle Of apollinars and a
chicken sandwich while the seances are
in progress. and takes both with every
possible Indication of physical heartiness
and mental repose.
To Resist Pressure.
Secretary Long looks. In fact. as II he
had been especially contrived and built for
the resistance of pressure. which Is lucky
Tor him. for the exercise of pressure uporr
Secretary of the Navy is thing that has