The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-05-09
Capt. Clark Of the
Oregon Tells Spy
Man About Poetry.
HERO IN WORCESTER
Famous Naval Officer Re
turns to Familiar
Scenes.

Capt. Charles E. Clark, famous as
the commander of the battleship Or
egon in its record breaking cruise
around the continent and later as her
commander when she did effective
work in putting Admiral Cervera's
fleet on the submarine list, was in
Worcester yesterday for a few minutes,
on his way to and from the home of
Miss Adeline May, in Leicester who
is relative of Mrs. Clark. He was
accompanied by his wife and Mrs.
John CONFESS, his wife's sister, and
probably not more than a dozen people
who came in contact with Capt. Clark
recognized him as the famous naval
commander.
He arrived in Worcester on the 11.4O
train, and took an electric for Leices-
ter, leaving the Union station at Has.
o'clock Miss May of Leicester met the
party at the depot, in company with
Charles Firth, local agent of the Bos-
ton and Albany railroad, and he was
escorted to the electric car, stating that
he would prefer to use the electric
rather than private carriage.
He carried two travelling bags and
laughed and talked to the few people
who knew him, as though he had seen
them every day for the past rs years,
much to their amusement.
A Spy man got on the car at the cor
ner of Park and Portland streets, and
while the car was packed 1t was eY-
ident that the captain was practically
unknown to all the people on board,
with the exception of The Spy man. He
talked freely and seemed much inter-
ested in the growth of Worcester since
his last visit here, 20 years ago Owing
to the crowded condition of the car, he
was obliged to squeeze up into small
space His laughter at the sallies of
Mrs CONFESS made the other pasSen-
gers feel as though they were missing
some good jokes. 1T would be sur
prising to me-" he said, IF there is not
newspaper man on the car, and at
this opportunity a chance offered itself
for The Spy man to slide into the seat
directly behind the captain, and for Is
minutes he talked freely in answer to
several questions put by the reporter.
AS far as politics and bad beef were
concerned, the captain was not en-
lightened, because he was and his men
were satisfied.
wen. now you see' he said in an
swer to a question from The Spy man
the much talked-of poem, "Hoch der
Kaiser" Il might if 1 wanted to very
badly, but / won't. The duty of a
sailor is to perform what he is ordered
to do. and of course, while some like
poetry and think it is all right, there
is no need of reciting it all the time. =
Here the captain laughed and seemed
to think that the joke was certainly not
on him.
His visit to Worcester, he said, was
merely for the purpose of coming to
see his wife's friends, whom he had not
seen in 20 years, and as he neared the
Leicester hill. he seemed to display
great interest in the changes he no
ticed. In speaking of the trip of the Ore
gon, the heavy part it played later in
the naval engagement off the Cuban
coast was passed over by Capt. Clark S
statement that he did not consider
there was anything wrong in a man be-
ing called a hero when he has done
something heroic, but DO not think
am justified in being given all the
praise for this famous run of the Ore
gon aSd its subsequent good work as a
deal of the credit is due to the men
who serve behind the guns and the
common seamen.
ut is necessary for a man to travel
with the American seaman to under
stand him and see his Splendld TRAITS
which are not to be seen in him when
there is no danger around. He de-
serves all the credit that can be given
him. He is a splendid fellow, and al
ways does the right thing.
mo one on board ship is more loyal
and true to his country's rights than
Jack. and am glad the American peo-
pie are looking at the matter in that
light"
At the May homestead, the captain
spent about four hours, in which he
received several intimate friends of the
May family. and came to Worcester in
time to get the 5.04 train for New York,
from where he will go to League ISL
and to serve as chief of staff to the
commander. He told The Spy man that
he was satisfied with his post, and pre-
ferred for time to be on shore, where
he could see his family occasionally,
and probably take a run up to Leices-
ter once in a while.
Il am feeling first rate" the captain
said in leaving The Spy man, "and al
though the Oregon is showing signs of
age from her heavy work, / do not feel
much out of sorts. Worcester is a
growing city, and from what ! saw, it
is sailing along with all other places"
He also called on John E. Russell
during his stay in Leicester, and was
received cordially.