The evening times., 1898-07-01
FAMILIES OF THE NAVY.
Instances of Transmitted Love for
the Service.

the Service.
| In these times, when the valorous
| deeds of the officers and men of the Unit
| ed States Navy are recounted almos,
| daily. and when the world Is being con-
vinced that. in spite of long quiescence,
| the fighting blood of the American OF
| days gone by still flows in the veins of his
descendants, it is of interest to note that
| the sons of worthy sires and srandsires
are wearing officers uniforms aboard the
ships of SIMPSONS and Schley's squad
rons. and that these young men, the
product of the younger generation. are
doing everything that is expected of them
1t would probably be too much to say
that the love of things pertaining TO the
Navy and naval warfare was an Inherit
ed instinct. in the strict sense of the
term. The reason is set forth. however.
by some to account for the many in
stances in which the sons of Navy or
Army officers follow in their fathers foot
steps. And while the love of such life
| may may not really be inherited, it is
doubtless true that there is more reason
why the son of a United States officer
should become the servant of the Govern
ment than the son of anyone else.
While it may not be the fighting in
stinct that is inherited, there is no doubt
that the most natural thing for such a
young man to do is to do just what his
father has done before him. He has been
in a naval atmosphere since he can re-
member. His friends have been the chill
dren of naval people. His family's friends
have been the families of other naval Of
ficers. He has lived in naval colony,
where most of the conversation has been
upon some naval topic.
He has never received any consecutive
education nor even thrown continuously
with boys who were not naval in their
thoughts. His life has been Il wandering
one. because his father has been moved
from station to station at the beck and
call of Uncle Sam. No sooner has he
been settled in one school than he has
had to leave 1t and become settled in an
other and all this is calculated to break
the train of thought which might lead
him into a profession other than that
which his father has followed before
him.
There are many instances disclosed by
the naval registers showing how the
naval feeling has been handed down
through genera tions: how IT has been
disseminated through branches of the
same family and how marriage ties have
made it as contagious as any other force.
Witness among these the remarkable
Admiral John Rodgers. now deceased
and his cousin. Rear Admiral c. r. P.
Rodgers, the Chesterfield OF the Navy"
who is also dead. Lieut.. Commander
Raymond Rodgers. the son of the last
named. is now on the Iowa. and this Of
ficer's brother. Alexander s. Rodgers. is
a captain in the Army. Lieut. Thomas
S. Rodgers. a son of Raymond Rodgers.
is on the Remington. and Capt. Freder-
ick Rodgers. cousin of Raymond. is de-
tailed for naval duty in Washington.
His brother Lieut.. Commander John A.
Rodgers. is on the Indiana, and this ones
son. William L. Rodgers. is lieutenant
on the torpedo boat Foote. Lieutenant
Commander John A. Rodgers's second son
Is now a cadet at the Naval Academy. If
there are any other male members of
this family. who are not hankering to sail
on Uncle Sans ships. Uncle Sam would
like to hear from them.
These Rodgerses are related by mar
riage to old Commodore Perry. and the
Hoff family. of which there are some rep-
resentatives in the Navy. may get their
inspira tion from one of their ancestors.
Bainbridge. Rear Admiral Henry A.
Hoff is dead, and his son. Capt. William