The times., 1898-02-06
CAPT. SIGSBEE'S SERVICE
1t Is to Be Recognized by the
Navy Department.
He VIII Probably BE Made Chief
of tue Bur eau of Yards
aud Docks
F'rom the New York Tribune.)

(From the New York Tribune.)
The Navy Department proposes sig
naIly to honor Capt. Charles ID. SiSs-
bee, the commander of the Maine, now
in Havana, and has already taken un-
der consideration certain suggestions.
which. if carried out, Will, in the popu-
lar mind, represent no more than jus
tice for the conspicuous services of that
excellent officer. The fact tnat he SIM
ply did his duty as any officer would
have done in promptly obeying his or
ders to visit Havana naturally occurs
to the ordinary layman, who has only
an abstract notion Of naval discipline,
but brother officers-many of whom
characterize Capt. SigSbee as simply
lucky" to secure such an opportunity,
and proclaim their regret that they
were not so fortunate as TO be selected
nevertheless, recognize the slight
chance he would have had of escaping
from Havana il the crisis had come,
and cannot resist according to him
great credit for volunteering for haZ-
ardous undertaking of this nature.
They recollect his notable devotion to
his family of young children in Wash
ington, with whom his chief paStime
for several years has been in frOiicS
and associations more as an elder
brother than as parent, and, to crown
his domestic pride, he had been few
days ago Informed by cable that he
was a grandfather at fifty-three. AL
though Capt Sigsbee had always i'm
pressed his superiors as an officer of
rare discretion and possessing in re-
markable degree those qualities which
are relied upon in great enterprises. his
most notable services to the Govern
ment had been of q scientific nature.
For twenty years he was the deep-Sea
authority of this country. his appara-
tus for studying ocean depths being
used exclusively by all Government and
individual investigators. His long term
as photographer of the Navy was
marked by the Improvement of that
branch OF the service beyond that of
any nation. The pilot chart of the
great lakes was his creation, as We'll as
the war upon dangerous deTelicts drift
ing about the Atlantic.
His last achievement before going to
sea year ago was the practical stand
ardization of clouds, which has been
enthusiastically received by meteorolo-
gists the world over, and has already
demonstrated it's incalculable benefit to
mariners. His highly cultivated in
genuity in mechanical matters has left
its lasting impression on everything he
ever undertook. and the Government Is
indebted to him in q hundred ways Tor
devices which have been adopted in the
Navy and other executive departments
These are few of the matters that the
Administration appreciates in Capt.
Sigsbee. and they carried conviction as
to the desirability of bringing him back
to Washington, where his unusual tall
ents may be more effectively utilized
than if he were permitted to remain at
sea. While the heads of the Navy De-
partment recognize that he quickly be-
comes conspicuous in any capacity,
whether it be by jamming his ship into
a dock to avoid running down a crowd
ed ferrybeat and an excursion steamer.
as he did last summer under the
Brooklyn bridge, or firing an unexpeet-
ad salute to the most irnpreCnable for
tress in the western hemisphere. as ne
did at Havana the other day. they feel
he is not a man to be kept afioat, and