The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1898-03-27

the transport Benefit 10 take dispatches
to me at Springfield Landing | had a
field piece and a 24-pound Howitzer placed
on this vessel and a part of the crew of
the flagship to go with her. About fifty
miles from Grand Ecore Mr. Terry dis
covered a battery Of four guns facing
down the river on which he opened fire
with his Howitzers and steamed on The
battery opened a quick fire On him, strik-
ing the little vessel almost every time
The river captain Of the Benefit was kill
ed and several Of the men lut the little
transport fought her way through and
brought me the dispatches, which were
important. Such cool and 5rave conduct
gives promise OF q good officer; ] COM
mend him TO the notice of the depart
ment."
Capt. Merrill Miller. besides being in
charge of Farragut : mortar boats al the
siege of NivllshuTg for twCaty-thrce q: vs.
was one Of the officers attached to the
Mona inock on her perilous trip from New
York TO San Francisco in .S55. and shared
in the credit of that feat of navigation.
Since his promotion TO be Il captain in
1893 he has been in charge OF the rcCeiy-
ing ships Franklin and Vermont. His
ability to Judge men is most valuable in
enabling him 10 pick the best possible re
CTuits eut OF the YaTieSaird material t,lat
presents Itself.
The Navy is full of stories about Capt
R0bley u. Evans. Ii is only fair to
him and 20 the rest OF The Navy to say
that his fame has gone abroad by no
fault of his own. and that the nick
name Fighting Bob for which he is
certainly not responsible. has been in
great measure the means of spreading
his fame. Capt Evans was severely
wounded while leading a part of the
land attack on Fer, Fisher. He walks
with a limp 10 this day. Some of the
incidents that have made him promi-
nent as an alleged seeker for gore are
his remark TO Secretary Herbert toward
the close OF the last Administration that
il would please him greatly Ito make
Spanish the prevailing language in hell
for the next FIVE years. and his an
nOuncement to the Chilean torpedo boat
that made itself obnoxious by rushing
around the Yorktown. Of which Capt.
Evans vas in command, in Valparaiso
harbor. if the torpedo boat so much as
scratched half an inch of paint of the
Norktowns side, that he would blow her
out of the water. At another time
launch crew came aboard the Yorktown
and reported to the captain that the
natives had been throwing stones at
them from the shore The captain hur-
ried a rapid-fire gun into the bow of the
launch. filed her w with armed men,
and made fc" the shore. No more
stones were thrown.
Leaving ! sufficient guard with the boat
( he marched through the streets until he
( found the highest civil authority IN the
/ town. and then and there informed that
! functionary briefly and with much neat
that if any more stones We're thrown by
+ anybody at his launch lie would make life
miserable for everybody within range Of
I the Iorktown's guns so long as he could
keep the shin afioat. That ne knew eX-
/ actiy the sort Of people he was dealing
! with is shown by the intense respect with
! which he and his men were regarded dGr-
/ ing the remainder Of The time the York
I town was in the h1rbor. Those who at
/ tribute Wild recklessness to Captain Ey-
/ ans are ignorant Of his record as . dis
ciplinarian
once on the Mediterranean station he
/ was temporarily in command Of his ship
4 when French geRdarmos brought aboard
! large number Of American bluejackets
who had deserted ii was the custom on
Z such occasions for each bIuejacket. as
( soon as he was released on the deck Of
. the vessel. 10 turn and hammer the coun-
+ teiaEcc Of the gendaImc until he was
pulled away This sort of thing had a
tendency to make the eendarmes afraid
10 bring in deserters. and Evans deter
mined 10 stop il. In the presence of the
gendarmes and their captives he an
was released, and promptly knocked his
EendaTne fat Evans picked up the gen
daTme's sword and struck down the sail
or. Exactly the same performance was
gone through with as each az the next six
bluejaclEetS was unshacjlled The eighth
permitted his gendarn:e to go in peace
The seven men who had been cut doHr
all escaped with their lives Evans said
that they owed their preservation to a
merciful Lord, who turned the edge Of
the French policemans tin sword The
seven Injured mea were invited to make
charges gatnst Evans. but they said the,
didn't want 10. As thcy put it them
selves:
They guessed they had run I'D agains
something they didn't know anything
about"
Capt Evans is a civil engineer Of wild,
reputation among builders Of bridges ans
steel frame works. Whenever he is OF
leave his services have been eagerly
sought by The great steel companias An
drew Carnegie has said publicly that r,
considered Capt. Evans ore of the mos
capable engineers in America Takine
him all in all. he is a typical naval off
yer Of the day. The acciden; Of his nick
name has simply brought about publ,
acknowledgment Of qualities whici
nave remained unremarked in other mel
above and below him in the service.
>
time when he was the senior officer Al
Samoa in lSSS had one OF those oppor
tunities which every naval officer covets
ben the German waTshiDs threateue.
to lombard the town Lesry quietly rar
MS ship III between the German gun.
aHo n. shorc and then sent over anc
asked the Germans what their intention.
were. There was 40 bombarhlnent
Capt. Nehemiah NJ Dyer came int
the Navy from the volunteer army Be
fore enhsting IN the Army he had serv
ed six years in the merchant service. II,
was kept on active duty All through IN,
war and had three commands before tn.
war was over. IN 1870. while in com
mand Of the Ossipee. he jumped over
board in hurricane and rescued one O
his searnen.
Captain French Z. Chadwick has ;
reputation in the Navy much lik,. tha
Of Captain Taylor. his colleague in tn
Board Of Inquiry on the Maine disaster
He is constantly studying and workin,
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