The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1899-10-04
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miral, and he watches from the shrouds,
and the heavens are the blue ensign, and
he leads you toward the harbor, and all
the broadsides of earth and he'll cannot
damage you, and We whose garments
were once red with your own blood shall
have robe washed and made white in
the blood Of the Lamb. Then strike
eight bells! High noon in heaven!>
The Veterans OF the Navy.
While we are heartily greeting and ban
quoting the sailor patriots just now re-
turned we must not forget the veterans
of the navy now in marine hospitals or
spending their old days in their own or
their children's homesteads. 0 We veter-
ans, l charge you bear up under the
aches and weaknesses that you still car
ry from the war times You are not as
stalwart as you would have been but Tor
that nervous strain and for that terrific
exposure. Let every ache and pain, in
stead of depressing, remind you of your
fidelity. Be of good cheer. We owe you
just as much as though your life blood
had gurgled through the scuppers of the
ship in the Red river expedition or as
though you had gone down with the Mel
vile off Hatteras. Only keep your flag
flying, as did the ilustrious Weehawken.
Good cheer, my boys! The memory OF
man is poor, but God never forgets. He
remembers the swinging hammock. He
remembers the forecastle. He remem-
bers the frozen ropes Of that January
tempest. He remembers the amputation
without sufficient ether. He remembers
the horrors of that deafening night when
forts from both sides belched on you their
fury and the heavens glowed with as
cending and descending missiles Of death
and your ship ouaked under the recoil Of
the 100 FOUNDER, while all the gunners,
according to command, stood on tiptoe.
with mouth wide open, lest the. concus-
sion shatter hearing or brain. lie re-
members it all better than you remember
it, and in some shape reward will be Civ
en-. God is the best Of all paymasters,
and for >se who DO their whole duty
to him and the world the pension award
ed is an everlasting heaven.
Debt We Owe the Navy.
Sometimes off the coast of England the
royal family have inspected the British
navy, maneuvered before them for that
purpose. In the Baltic sea the Car and
Czarina have reviewed the Russian navy.
10 bring before the American people the
debt they owe to the navy / go cut with
you on the Atlantic ocean. where there is
plenty Of room. and in imagination re-
view the war shipping Of our four great
conhicts-17T6, 1872, 1865 and 1898.
Swing into line all ye frigates, ironclads,
fire RATS, guaboats and men-of- war!
There they come all sail set and all fur
naces in full blast. sheayes OF crystal
tossing from their cutting prows. That
is the Delaware. an old Revolutionary
craft, commanded by Commodore Deca-
ture. Wonder goes the Constitution, Com
modore Hull commanding. There is the
Chesapeake, commanded by Captain
Lawrence, whose dying words Were,
Don't give up the ship and the Niaga-
IA of 1872, commanded by Commodore
Perry, who wrote ON the back of an old
letter, resting on his navy cap, "We have
met the enemy, and they are ours" Yon-
der is the flagship Wabash Admiral Du-
pont commanding; yonder, the flagship
Minnesota, Admiral Goldsborough COM
manding; yonder, the flagship Philadel-
phia, Admiral Dahlgren commanding;
yonder, the flagship San Jacinto, Admiral
Bailey commanding; yonder, the flagship
Black Hawk, Admiral Porter command
ing; yonder, the flag steamer Benton, Ad-
miral Foote commanding; yonder, the
flagship Hartford, David G. Farragut
commanding; yonder, the Brooklyn, Rear
Admiral Schley commanding; yonder, the
Olympia, Admiral Dewey commanding;
yonder, the Oregon, Captain Clark COM
handing; yonder, the Texas, Captain
Philip commanding; yonder, the New
York, Rear Admiral Sampson command
ing; yonder, the Iowa, Captain Robley D.
Evans commanding.
And now all the squadrons Of ali de-
partments, from smallest tugboat to
mightiest man-ofwar, are in procession,
decks and rigging filed with men who on
the sea fought for the old flag ever since
world ever saw! Sail on before all ages.
Run up all the coors! Ring al! the bells!
Yea, open all the portfolios! Unlimber
the guns and load and fire one great
broadside that shall make the continents
in honor Of peace and the eternity Of the
American Union. But / lift my hand,
and the scene has vanished. Many Of
the ships have dropped under the crystal
pavement Of the deep, sea monsters
swimming in and out the forsaken cabin,
and other old craft have swung into the
navy yards, and many Of the brave spir-
its who trod their decks are gone up to
the Eternal fortress, from whose case
ments and embrasures may we not hope
they look down to-day with joy upon a
nation in reunited brotherhood?
All those Of you who were in the naval
service during the war OF 1868 are now in
the afternoon or evening Of life With
some Of you it is o'clock, 3 o'clock, 4
O'Clock, 6 o'clock, and it will soon be sun
down. If you were Of age when the war
broke out, you are now at least so. Many
Of you have passed into the seventies.
While in our Cuban war there We're more
Christian commanders on sea and land
than in any previous conflict, would re-
viye in your minds the fact that at least
two great admirals Of the civil war were
Christians, Foote and Farragut. Had
the Christian religion been a cowardly
thing they would have had nothing to do
with it. In it's faith they lived and died
In Brooklyn navy yard Admiral Foote
held prayer meetings and conducted a re-
vival on the receiving ship North Caro-
lima and on Sabbaths, far out at sea fol-