The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-04-07
HE WAS WITH CARPENTER.
d. NJ. ellis Speaks in High Praise of tn
Late Admiral

r. NJ. Wills speaks in High Praise of tn
Late Admiral.
Great Falls, April "a press dis
patch in the columns of the Standard
or April recalled ito D. M. ellis of
this city his own relationship to Ad-
mlral c. c. Carpenter who committed
suicide at Quincy, Mass, sanitarium.
Mr.. ellis was a fireman in the South
Atlantic squadron during the civil war
and at Its close went to the Brooklyn
navy yard with the rest of the sailors.
To G. c. Carpenter, then a first lieuten-
ant IN the navy, was assigned the task
of selecting a crew and equipment for
the ship Hartford, one of the fleet
Which, under the command of Admiral
Leech Bell went to Japan for the pur-
pose of completing the treaty with that
country and formally opening four
ports, Yeddo and three others, to trade
with the United States. Mr.. Gillis was
one of the men selected for the crew
of the Hartford, and the fleet left for
the Pacific, sailing around the Cape of
Good Hope. Save for rough weather
the voyage was not memorable. The
fleet duly arrived at Yokohama and
then, the formalities having been con-
cluded, proceeded to open the port of
Yeddo and finally concluded it's work
at the port of Ioga, where Admiral Bell,
Flag Lieutenant Reed and 10 sailors
We're drowned, their boat capszing as
they crossed the bar into the harbor
The trip lasted three years, from 1865
to 1858, and gave the men an oppor-
tunity to become well acquainted with
their officers. Of Admiral, then Lieu
tenant Carpenter, Mr.. ellis speaks
with affectionate remembrance. He
was an officer whom all of the men
Worshiped, and while highly efficient
was considered the most lenient officer
in the fleet. He was a large, square,
Shnnl6arP6 IF
time, of rudy complexion and light
hair and mustache. One incident of
his kindness of heart Mr. Gillis remem-
bers well. One of the petty officers of
the boat had placed a boy in the brig
for a trivial offense. The lad was
shackled and then triced up SO that his
toes barely touched the water butt be-
meath him and his whole weight de-
pending on the rough irons, was suffer-
ing almost uncomfortable torture. Mr.
ellis approached Lieutenant Carpenter,
who was ignorant of the punishment,
and asked the officer to look at the
boy Carpenter fastened to the brig
without word and Immediately or
dered the boy let down and the irons
removed. Then he read the petty off,
Ger a lecture which the latter was not
likely to soon forget and the practice
of cruel punishment was at an end on
that boat. Mr.. Gillis says there were
any hummer OIL OtneT instances IN which
the officer showed his humanity and
when the cruise had ended Lieutenant
Carpenter was the most popular man
in the fleet
The other day another incident in
connection with this cruise came up
Mr.. ellis was asked to make affidavit
to petition for pension in favor of one
of his shipmates on the Hartford. Rob-
ert Ferguson, who now lives in Indian
Territory When asked by the notary
administering the oath how he hap
pened to remember Ferguson so WELL
Mr.. ellis said that he was on the OPP
Dosite watch to Ferguson and the lat
ter had one song which he sang over
and over again, I'm Not Myself Mol
lie Darling" and he had often told Fer
guson to shut up when singing it. They
were also together at the Island of For
mosa, when a land force under Captain
Belnap and Lieutenant Carpenter of the
Hartford was sent ashore to clean out
a nest of MALAY pirates