Omaha daily bee., 1899-09-17

Amy town boy who developed a reputation
as a bully was sure to fall foul of George
Dewey, and to get a licking, too. l don't
think he was ever beaten in a fight"
A Substitute for Swearing.
There has been a great deal of discus
sion about the things Dewey said at Manila
during the naval battle, but, whatever his
remarks may have been, it is safe to as
sumo that they were forcible ones. Though
a quiet man under ordinary circumstances.
he lets loose" when there is occasion, and
his flow of ''cuss words at such times is
decribed as lovely Sailors, however, do
not mind such sea blessings" so much as
they do having language addressed to them
that they do not understand, when they
know that it has an uncomplimentary sig
nificance. Most of all they dislike to be
called farmers in irony.
Well, it is related that on a day in 1885,
when the Pensacola, Captain Dewey in com-
mand, was in the Mediteranean-she was
then the flagship of the European squadron
"a shift of wind accompanied by a rapid
fall Of the barometer gave warning of chang
ing weather. Presently a white squall came
up and there was busy work for all hands,
the executive officer in the waist, the officer
of the deck on the quarterback and the
midshipmen in the fo'castle bellowing and
repeating orders, while the sailors jumped
through the tops like monkeys. Just then
something fouled the clews of the main
topsail at the very moment the squall
struck, and bungling for a moment or two
nearly cost the vessel a spar. Dewey, from
the bridge, was looking on, and everybody
was in tremulous anticipation of a severe
rebuke. But he only turned to the officer
of the deck and said mildly:
we you kindly tell me what was the
matter just now with the agricultural popu-
lation on the main topsail yard?'
This remark percolated through the mid
Shlpmen to the crew, and, being duly
translated, it produced an effect from which
the men did not recover for days.
Dewey and the Shark.
This story seems too good not to be true,
but the writer refuses to be responsible
for it.
AT Mobile bay, after the fall of New Or
leans, Dewey was a junior watch officer on
the steam sloop Mississippi. The ships
cook-called in naval parlance the Doctor
was a superstitious old darby, and with
an extreme dread of sharks. He tried to
convert Dewey to a faith in the danger of
sharks, but Dewey held out that they would
never bite a human being. The latter point
was long in controversy between them.
INV % bV"Vy wa ocHl IN III TIC
ships dingey on some triiing duty. He
had on, as usual, a frock coat with very long
tails, such as all naval officers wore in those
days. In obedience to orders, he hurried
back, the sloop being on the point of getting
under weigh, and, as he sat in the stern of
the skiff, his coat tails trailed in the water.
Just as the dingey was on the point of
reaching the vessel a shark rose to the sur
face-perhaps attracted by the gilt buttons
on the coat-tails aforesaid-and bit off the
starboard side of the lieutenant's after uni
form.
Dewey jumped to his feet, and, we'll sat
isfied under the circumstances to relinquish
his coat-tail, ran up the side of the ship.
The Doctor" who had viewed the proceed
ings from the rail Of the vessel, approached
him presently with a grin OF the utmost
width. "Ah, ha!" he said, taking advantage
of the familiarity customarily allowed him
on board. Perhaps, Massa Dewey. yo'
blieve now dat sharks won't bite a pusson,
Whar' yo' coat tail, eh?"
my coat-tail," replied the lieutenant,
with his habitual sangfroid, has been re-
moved by an act of Providence"