The age-herald., 1899-01-15
WHEN DEWEY LAY
 AT DEATHS DOOR

'.I was in intimate relations with Admiral
 Dewey for eight or ten months, and
 I never heard him once mention poli-
 tics. Therefore I have no sort of knowl-
 edge as to the admiral's political views or
 inclinations. Broadly speaking, politics Is
 never discussed by the officers on board
 American warships. The navy has no pol-
 tics. Its business and sole purpose is to
 do the work assigned to it as one arm of the national defense"
 So spoke MT. Thomas w. Warrington, of
 Birmingham to a few friends yesterday. MT. Worthington graduated from Annapolis in 1882, and was assigned to the Juniata,
 commanded by Dewey, who at that time
 held the rank of commander in the navy.
 MT. Worthington was at that time an ensign
 and was a flag officer for Dewey. He re-
 signed from the navy to engage in private
 business, but retains some extremely inter- esting impressions of the now famous ad-
 miral. He is very reluctant to speak of these matters, but his friends managed in some way to draw him out privately yes- terday.
 Admiral Dewey was given up to die while in command of the Juniata early in 1885," said MT. Worthington. "The ship sailed for the far east on the long course. Command r Dewey's health was bad and got very much worse after we sailed from the United States. We got into Fayal, in the Azores and lay there for a month. The commander was extremely ili and the ships surgeon couldn't tell what was the matter with him. The commander himself couldn't tell. Nobody knew Doe tors invited on board were no wiser than the rest of s. Finally Dewey gave orders for the ship to sail for Gibraltar Arrived there, our surgeon went ashore and got two
 army surgeons of the British garrison to come off to the ship and consult with him regarding the commanders condition They failed to discover the cause of the patients suffering. We remained at Gibraltar for a time and proceeded from there to Malta At Malta it was decided to take Comman- der Dewey to the hospital It was there discovered by one of the doctors that the
 commander was suffering from abscess of the liver.
 surgical operation was decided upon.
 but the doctors informed the sufferer that the chances were greatly against his re- ct cry. Dewey made his will and prepared
 for death. He dictated to me letters to
 members of his family, and they were
 mailed also, under his instructions, drew
 up detailed statement as to his private
 affairs, so that there might be no unneces-
 sary trouble after his death. The surgeons
 performed the operation, and, of course,
 the use of the knife made the patient
 weaker than ever. Those who assisted in
 the painful work became convinced after
 wards that Dewey could not long survive, and they told him so. He received the statement calmly, and completed his ar engagements for passing out. We stayed there a month, during which time I att tended Dewey in the hospital. He showed no signs of recovery, and so finally we had to leave him, expecting never to see him again. We sailed for the east, and spent year or two in chinese waters. The next time heard of my old commander he was in charge of another ship.
 'Tell us about Admiral Dewey in his per- sonal relations?" Mr. Worthingtons friends
 urged upon him.
 "He is the most socable and companion able of men," was the answer. "He is what we may call an all-rong good fellow"