The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-11-05
BOOKS OF The HOUR
JOHN BARRETT,S SKETCH OF AD-
2 MIRAL DEWEY ONE OF MUCH
MERIT
TOLD BY A NEWSPAPER MAN

The Book Prepared at the Scene of
the Hattie of ManIIa-Mr. Barrett
Lets Little Light Upon Mr..
Deweyis POIitics-Seems Not to
Have Allied Himself with Any
Party.
'- Admiral Dewey; a Sketch of the Man,"
by John Barrett. Harper 81 Brothers,
publishers. London and New York.
FOR sale by the st. Paul Book and Sta
tionery Company.
The author of this little book has not
entered into competition with the more
pretentious biographers of Admiral Dew
ey, Mr.. Barrett, however, possesses su-
perlor advantages over any Of the others,
Tor the reason that he has compiled the
work from notes taken on the scene OF
the great naval victory at Manila, and
while In daily communication with tho
hero. The author was United States min
lister: to Spain from 1894 to 1895, and -spe-
cial correspondent with admiral Dewey
= at Manila from May, 1898, until March,
1899.
Here, then, we have the work of
genuine newspaper man at his best. And
when it comes to telling a story graph
icaliy, Incorporating all important details
and condensing facts to the compass of
plain, readable and interesting story,
the average newspaper mans training
and discipline contribute much to such a
result. He tells the story of the naval
victory as an eyewitness. and he repeats
the comments on that event by the Ad-
miral direct from his lips There is moth
ing equivocal nothing ambiguous, no
guesswork from beginning to end Of the
book and, better yet, no partisan editori-
aIizing, blemish too frequently found in
biography. Only once does the author
depart from the matter-of-fact style of
his description, and then he says:
LAS to the admirals politics, 1t can be
said that he is neither a pronounced
Democrat nor Republican. He once dis
cussed this matter with me, and said that
his life had been so absolutely removed
from the direct influence of politics that
he did not class himself as belonging to
any psi ticular PARTY. He has voted very
$ few times in his life, and does not expect
ever TO be called upon to take the posi-
ton OF a partisan He has numerous
. fl1erdS in both parties. and no particu ar
~ pIeJud ces in favor of either. Any
one VINO discusses politics with him can
Plainly .ee that ne cannot be distinctly
parties"
Mr.. Barrett covers all the important
events in which Admiral Dewey partici-
pated, including the destruction of Mon
teJo's fleet the delicate diplomacy exhib-
tied in his relations with the German Adj
nfral Won Diedrichs, and the subsequent
relations sustained by the American fleet
toward the land forces under Gems Otis
d. and Merritt.
Having told his story Of Admiral Dew
ey from the point of view of an eye-wit-
ness, Mr.. Barrett judiciously supplements
e his work with sketches of his early boy
10 hood life at Annapolis and during the
Civil war with Farragut. Many contro-
Nerted points are settled in this book
particularly the one concerning the re-
sponsibility for giving to Admiral Dewey
the command of the Asiatic squadron
. Credit for this is accorded chiefly to SEN
s7ater Proctor, and, secondarily to Theo-
dore Roosevelt. Secretary of the Navy
Long had, it appears selected another
softicer for the position. Senator Proctor's
4 Influence with Mr. Nc Finley, however, Sc
cured.for Dewey the place, and Secretary
Long awakened to the fact that the
president had appointed a man directly
over his. head The work Is handsomely
illustrated, and from no biography yet
published can the reader obtain more
impartial description of the great naval
commander than from the realistic little
work by Mr. Barrett