El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-08-13

-, the public. They do their duties well,
but they have no trait of character
upon which public fancy seizes, and so
| these officers are but vague figures to
the people ashore. But the captain of
the Texas is not of this class. Every
one knows now the chivalric command
er who shouted to his crew, when the
Spanish ships ran ashore, Don't
cheer, The poor devils are dying"
and who, after the battle, standing Oh
his quarterback, barred his head and
said to the same crew: 81 want to
make public acknowledgements here
that | believe in God the Father AL
mighty. l want all you officers and
men to lift your hats and from your
hearts offer silent thanks to the AL
mig hty." Such words as these
stick in the memory: Even q
sneering, Notwithstanding London
weekly has surprised its readers by
sp esking kindly of Capt. Philip, and
mentioning Nelson's humanity In the
same sentence.
Capt. Philip is not q Quaker, who
finds himself by some mistake on the
quarter deck of wsrship. He is a
good fighter, and believes, with Oliver
Cromwell, Henry Havelock, Stoue-
other removed warriors-that fighting
and praying go very we'll together.
The chaplain of the ship. the Rev
Harry W. Jones, has been telling a
New York reporter about him. He
took command OF the Texas last Octo-
Der. In his first talk with Mr.. Jones
he said: Chaplain, L am firm be-
lever in prayer, and l think it is a
duty we owe God to have prayers on
board ship every evening" OF course
Mr.. Jones acquiesced in this program,
and it is regularly carried out to
this day. The captain has often talked
with Mr.. Jones about religious matters.
After the false report of his death in
action be wrote to his wife: 81 am
just as safe here as | would be in walk
ing up Broadway with you. because
God is with US and He is listening TO
our prayers"
Capt. Philip is a devoted Presby-
terrain. He is an habitusl reader OF the
Bible, never offers his guests liquors,
and never swears, his only expletive be-
ing by crackey.'
He dislikes Sunday lighting. He
has theory that the side that forces
1t Is booked for defeat, and cite >
instances of the working of this rule
in the last war. Once, then Sampson
summoned q council of war and was
ombardment, the captain said: "Ad-
miral, this Is Sunday; do not think
we should fight today: we may be sorry
II we do. Sampson. explaining that
he had lost track of the days, put OIL |
the bombardment until Monday. The |
chaplain believes that it was q load of |
the captains mind that Sunday morn |
ing, July I'd, when the Maria Teresa !
fired the first shot of the action. The !
impr0mptu thanksgiving service on
the Texas after the action was Capt. !
Philips own idea. He did not even |
know the chaplain was on deck. AT |
the close OF the silent prayer Lieuten- |
ant-Commander Harder, the executive |
officer, approached Mr.. Jones. did |
you hear what the captain said?" he
asked.
Eyes, sir, replied the chaplain.
"A very manly thing indeed to do, |
said the lieutenant commander" and a |
most impressive sight
Capt. Philip is only one of a goodly |
company of praying officers in the |
navy, and better sailormen or gentle
men no service on earth contains. |
Capt. Mahan, in his Life of Nelson" |
speaks of the deep religious sentiment
which is frequently produced among |
naval commanders by their recognition |
OF power, outside themselves, ruling !
human affairs. Farragut's Damn the /
torpedoes. Go ahead uttered in /
Mobile hsrbor, is often quoted. But |
it should not be forgotten that the
minute before issuing the order he had |
covered his face with his hat and |
prayed for wisdom to determine what
to do.
Philip saw hard fighting during the
civil war, attached to the Gulf ana |
South Atlantic lockading squadrons
and In the James River heet was eng
aged in the siege of Charleston for
about two years, and was wounded in
the leg in Stone River while on duty |
asexecutive officer Of the Pawnee.
After the war he was attached to the |
Asiatic and European SOU adrons. For
two years he had leave of absence |
from the department in order to COM
mand one of the vessels of the Pacific |
Mail steamship company. Later, on
leave, he commanded the Woodruff |
scientific expedition around the world. ~