The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-09-30
GEORGE DEWEy--THE man,
THE ADMIRAL AND THE HERO

AS a reward for his services the
young officer was commissioned lieu
tenant commander, and for the next
few years he served on different ships
of the European squadron. In April,
1872, he was commissioned commander,
and subsequently he served for time
ON the government lighthouse board,
mainly in the capacity of secretary.
We next find him in command of the
Juniata under orders to join the Ash
attic squadron. This was a critical time
for him. While on his way to the
squadron he became so Ill that he was
obliged to stop at Malta. The physi-
clans found that 1t would be necessary
to remove a part of his liver, and
through a very delicate surgical op-
Grafton this was done successfully
Dewey bore the operation with his
usual courage, and his comrades never
let him forget the incident. for they
straightway nicknamed him "the man
without a liver
His health completely restored, he
left his kind friends and soon after
ward was promoted captain and was
placed in command of the dispatch boat
Dolphin. His next appointment was as
chief of the bureau Of equipment and
recruiting, with the rank of commo-
dore, a position which he held for near
ly four years. On Feb. 20, 1896, he was
promoted to commodore, and two years
later the opportunity of his life came
to him, for he was then assigned to
the command OF the Asiatic squad
ron.
A farewell banquet was given to
him at Washington on the night before
he started for the East, and he was
toasted in verses that have become
famous. Spirited, and in a sense pro-
phetic, lines they are, as the following
stanzas will show:
Fill all your glasses full tonight;
The wind is off the shore;
And be it feast or be 1t fight.
We pledge the commodore.
Ashore, afioat, on deck, below,
Or where our bulldogs roar,
To back friend or breast a foe
We pledge the commodore.
Our relatio with Spain were ON
inous at that time, and Dewey went
to Hong Kong as quickly as steam
could carry him, and on Jan. 3, 1898,
his flag was hoisted on the Olympia
There he quietly remained, awaiting
instructions from Washington. And
he had not to wait long, for no sooner
was war declared than an order was
sent to him to capture or destroy the
Spanish fleet at Manila.
And now he comes home to receive
such a welcome as no conqueror has
ever before received. Triumphant in
deed has been his progress ever since
he left the scene of his victory. At
whatever port his vessel touched hon.
age has been shown to him. He could,
| If he so desired, have been feted for
days at his various hating places, but
| IL there is one thing which George
Dewey dislikes it is ostentation and
| -glorification, and the result is that
| his journey was not as much of a
| triumph as it might have been. though
: there are some who think that 1t was
on that account the more dignified
| and the more proper.
| George Dewey is now an admiral
and his pay is $4,000 year He may
remain on active service as long as
| he pleases, and his rank is equal to
| that of any naval commander In re-
| gard to his personality much might
be written, but as the honor that is
being paid to him now is on account
! of his achievements it is on these that
stress has been mainly laid He is a
widower, his wife, who was the daugh-
ter of Governor Goodwin of New
Hampshire, having died 20 years ago.
He has one son, George Goodwin
Dewey, who is a graduate Of Princeton,
| and who is now in business in this
city.