The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-10-02

1892 1892, - 'sfr's''r'd special ''a''s' in
(; II locks picturesque and beautiful to
see war vessel going out through the
| Narrows. sailors In new rig singing,
A life on the ocean wave,
| 4 home on the rolling deep.
| the colors gracefully dipping to passing
ships, the decks immacuistely clean and
the guns at quarantine firing parting
salute. But the poetry Is oil gone out Of
| that ship as It comes out of that engage
ment, its decks red with human blood,
| wheelhouse gone, the cabins a pile Of
shattered mirrors and destroyed furni-
ture, steering wheel broken, smokestack
| crushed, hundred pound Whitworth
rife shot having left its mark from port
to starboard. the shrouds rent away, lad
| ders splintered and decks plowed up and
smoke blackened and scalded corpses ly-
ing among those who are gasping their
last gasp far away from home and
kindred, whom they love as much AZ we
lore wife and parents and children.
Oh, men of the American navy re-
turned from Manila and Santiago and
Havana, as well as those who are sur
vivors Of the naval conflicts OF 1868 and
1864, men Of the western gulf squad
ron, Of the eastern gulf squadron, Of the
south Atlantic squadron, of the north At
lantic squadron, of the Mississippi squad
ron, of the Pacific squadron, OF the West
IndA squadron and Of the Potomac hotil-
10, hear our thanks! Take the benedic-
ton Of our churches. Accept the hos
FATALITIES of the nation. II we had our
way. we would get you not only u pen
sion, but home and princely wardrobe
and an equipage and banquet while
you live and after your departure a
catafalque and mausoleum of sculptur-
ed marble, with a model Of the ship In
which you won the day. 1t is considered
gallant thing when in naval fight the
flagship with its blue ensign goes ahead
up a river or into bay, its admiral
standing In the shrouds watching and
giving orders. But have to tell you, o
veterans OF the American navy, il you
are as loyal to Christ as you were to the
government, there Ia a flagship sailing
ahead Of you of which Christ is the ad-
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 hell 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. o ye veter-
ans, charge you bear up under the
aches and weaknesses that you still car
ry from the wartimes. You are not as
stalwart as you would hsxe been but for
that nervous strain and for that terrific
exposure. Let every ache and pain, in
stead of depressing. remind you Oh your
fidelity. The sinking of the Weehawken
off Morris island, Dec. 6, 1868, was
mystery. She was not under fire. The
sea was not rough. But Admiral Dahl
gren from the deck Of the flag steamer
Philadelphia saw her gradually sinking,
and finally she struck the ground, but the
flag still fioated above the wave in the
sight of the shipping. 1t was afterward
found that she sank from weakness
through injuries in previous service. Her
plates had been knocked loose in previous
times. So you have in nerve and muscle
and bone and dimmed eyesight and diff
cult hearing and shortness Of breath
many intimations that you are gradually
going down. 1t Is the service Of many
years ago that is telling on you. Be Of
good cheer. We owe you just as much as
though your lifeblood had gurgled through
the scuppers of the ship in the Red river
expedition or as though you had gone
down with the Melville off Hatteras. On
ly keep your flag flying, as did the illus
trious Weehawken. Good cheer, my
boys! The memory Of man Is poor, and
all that talk about the country never for.
getting those who fought for 1t is an un-
truth. 1t does forget. Witness how the
veterans sometimes had to turn the hand
organs on the street to get their families
living. Witness how ruthlessly some
of them were turned out Of Office that
some bloat of politician might take
their place. Witness the fact that there
Is not man or woman now under As
years Of age who has any full apprecia-
ton Of the four years martyrd0m of
1861 to 1865, inclusive But, while men
may forget, God never forgets. He re-
members the swinging hammock. He re-
members the forecastle. He remembers
the frozen ropes of that January tempest.
He remembers the amputation without
sufficient ether. He remembers the hor-
'ors of that deafening night when forts
from both sides belched on you their fury
and the heavens gl0wed with ascending
and descending missiles of death and
your ship quaked under the recoil OF the
100 FOUNDER, while all the gunners, ac-
cording to command, stood on tiptoe,
with mouth wide open, lest the concus.
sion shatter hearing or brain. He re-
members 1t all better than you remember
1t, and in some shape reward will be CIV
en-. God is the best of all paymasters,
and for those 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, Unanswered before them for that
purpose. In the Baltic sea the car and
czarina have reviewed the Russian navy.
To bring before the American people the
debt they owe to the navy / go out with
you on the Atlantic ocean, where there is
plenty Of room, and in imagination re-
view the war shipping Of our four great
1872, 1865 and 1893.
Swing into line all We frigates, ironclads,
fire rafts, gWnboats and men-of-war!
There they come, all sail set and all fur
naces In full blast, sheaves of crystal
tossing from their cutting prows. That
Is the Delaware, an old Revolutionary
craft, commanded by Commodore Deca.
tur. Yonder goes the Constitution, Com
modore Hull commanding. There is the
commanded by Captain
whose dying words were.
Don't give up the ship" and the Niaga-
ra of 1872, commanded by Commodore
Perry, who wrote OH the back Of an old
letter, resting on his navy cap, 1--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.
yonder, the flagship Philadel-
phia, Admiral Dahlgren commanding;
yonder, the flagship San Jacnto, Admiral
Bailey commanding; yonder. the flagship
Black Hawk, Admiral Porter command.
ing; yonder, the flag steamer Benton, Ad-
niral Foote commanding; yonder, the