Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-02-17

three-quarter inch bar of square iron only
foot long across his knee as easily as
boy breaks a lath. and aloft he was as act
i've as a cat and nimbe as an acrobat.
He had been in the United States navy for
eight years without ever getting a black
mark tackled opposite his name on the
ships writer's books, when he fell into this
bit of trouble / speak of. Our gunboat was
at the Mare Island navy yard. under or
ders to sail for Honolulu. Anderson was
the cox'un of the steam cutter. On the
morning that the ship was to get under
way for the islands Anderson drove the
launch back and forth from the ship t,
Vallejo, the little town across Napa creek
from the navy yard, a dozen times, an,
every time he made the landing at Vallejo
the weather being misty and cold he tool
swig of the raw. vilainous red stuff nc
litely termed whisky in the navy yard
town. He was not used to drinking ano
the stun got to his head all of a sudden
SO. on the last trip back from Vallejo e
the ship. which was anchored in mid
stream. the Danish cox un decided to maxi
little cruise of his own He gave the
oiler at the throttle of the cutters en-
the stream.
The cutter started for the heads Of tho
Golden Gate. about thirty miles away. at a
ffteen-knot clip and Anderson would pro;,
ably have gone to midsea with her or any
NOW, as lar as the coal aboard the guitar
WoulG take her, had not the oiler horned mn
forward and induced him, after half an
nour or so, TO swing ship and make hack
LOT the man-of-war. When Anderson pulled
ire cutter alongside the gangway the officer
OF the deck. young ensign, was waiting
Ior MIN. he had seen from the poop the
queer movements of the cutter Anderson
made the cutter fast 10 the eangway float
ana stumbled up the gangway ladder like
man daZed.
Cox un, said the officer of the deck
what did you mean by that bit of compass
testing?
The Vallejo liquor had made the cox'un
insane, and he raised his hand as if to
strike the officer of the deck. In a jiffy the
master-at-arms and the marine sergeant
nad MIN, and he was carried struggling to
the brig and double-ironed In double irons
he went down to Honolulu When he
aWoke from his stupor he didn't remem-
Der anything of what had happened but he
cld not emit whimper. After we had
been at Honolulu for a month or so another
American man-of-war came along on her
way to China, and, there being enough Off
GERS for the converting of a general court
martial, Anderson was general court-mar-
tailed and sentenced to dismissal from the
nay! and a term of Imprisonment at the
Mare Island naval prison. He took his
medicine like the rugged, manly man he
was. His nerve sort of appealed to me. and
1 volunteered to write letter in his name
to the Secretary of the Navy. asking for
clemency in his case on the ground that hi,
record had been notably fine and clean
one up to the time he had made his ir-
responsible break. He refused outright to
make any such appeal at first, but when l
prepared the letter and read it to him. he
reluctantly placed his signature to it,
Meantime. the young ensign, who was Off
Ger or the deck at the time Anderson had
fallen into his trouble. had been detached
from the ship and ordered to Washington.
When Anderson's letter reached the Navy
Department the ensign, who felt sorry for