The times., 1899-10-01
THE BIRTH OF GEORGE DEWEY.
He Came while Christmas Chimes
Were EcboiaE-


He Came while Christmas Chimes
We're EcboIaE.
It was Yuletide in New England. Crys-
tails from the skies were falling. Pines
and cedars nodded under coronets Of snow
Naked elms and NAPLES stood out bare and
black against the midwinter white. Bells
were making merry music Troops OF
happy children filed Montpelier with glad
4 sounds There was hope in the Dewey cot
/ tage that stood back from State Street.
4 During the day of the 26th OF December
there was joy in the home. baby boy
! had been born fortnight later the eeTe-
Elony of baptism came to pass in Christ
! Church, and the central figure in this cere-
| mony was chrisIened George Dewey. This
was in the house Of worship which DR.. Ju-
Illus Yemans Dewey had founded and in
which he and his wife had then praised
God for twelve years.
The Time of Toys.
With the infant George, the time OF toys
passed quickly and the age of games came
on. There are many old persons in the
capital of the Green Mountain State whose
memories run back to the time when Ad-
| Dtral Dewey was a child They recall
that he had bright, dark eyes, and that In
! summer his legs were bare and yellow
George and his sister Mary were much to-
gethe- They carried tin pals OF worms
and homemade fishing rods and they spent
many. many hours along the banks of the
! Wincoski. which is the Indian for the
river Of wild onions" The fagorte story
book with George was Robinson Cru
see" He emuiated that island eastaway,
and his sister Mary acted as his man Fri
day.
Emulatcs Hannibal.
One Christmas day George was given an
illustrated copy of the life of Hannibal
Behind the State capitol there was steep
slope which was covered with crusted snow.
IN his young fancy, George fashioned this
into Jungfrau ard with his little sister
he essayed TO cross the Alps that he might
look upon the Italy that lay beyond 1t
is recorded that this adventure resulted in
severe colds for the children, and that they
received from the hands OF their parents
that which it would be sarcastic to call
blessing This is one CT the earliest stories
of the American Admiral
4 Cruise en- Dog River.
Another story is that of the Admiral's
first voyage. He had been sent with a
horse and buggy TO visit his grandfather
whose farm was near Berlin, Vermont
Across his way ran the Dog River, usua- ly
an insignificant stream, tributary TO the
winoosiKi. A storm Of rain swelled the wa
ters of the Dog River till food ragged
there. But when George Dewey reached
the ford, or the place where the ford was
won't TO be, he drove ahead. The horse
broke from the harness and the buggy
fioated down the stream with young Dewey
in it. He narrowly escaped drowning.
Some of the children of Montpelier used
to give irnproEissd plays in the barn Of DR..
Dewey. George was always one OF the &C
tors. On one occasion. he thought to en-
phasize his part By firing a heavy pistol,
which he had gained possession of by some
secret method. The act made such hit
that the neighbors rushed into the barn
and stampeded the players 1t has been
said by the Rev. Mr. Wright, of Montpe-
lier, who knew George Dewey. that he was
what might be termed destructive boy.
He had penchant for throwing stones at
other boys, pigeons, dogs, and pet cats
Dewey Enters school.
While quite young he was entered a
pupil in the Washington County Grammar
School. The boys were unruly. it is said
and more than one teacher had failed 10
fmpart knowledge TO the scho'ar George
is said TO have been the ringleader OF the
bad" boys. Finally there came TO this
school as a teacher z. K Pangborn, who
/ became 2 major in the Union army dur
ing the Civil War. was at one time editor
OF the Boston Atlas and Bee" and is now
the editor of the Jersey City Journal.
This teacher found Dewey during recess
perched in a tree and engaged in throw
ing stones al boys and things. The teachel
directed the pupil 10 descend and desist
but was urged TO visit that place which
churchmen say is hotter than the tropics
Major Pangborn cut a stout hickory
switch brought young Dewey out o. IN.
tree. and chastised him DIR. Dewey. it i.
said, wrote a congratulatory letter TO the
Instructor.
Pad Boys and the Teacher.
An old woman who lived in Montpelier
has contributed the following child story
Of Admiral Dewey:
Know George Dewey? Well, guess
did My, but he was a mischieyous boy
remember once il was in the fall of tn,
wear and the apples were ripe. There wa
one orchard with particularly fine tree il
il and the boys; my. but how they dit
hanker after that fruit; / don't know as
: blame 'em for ii, either. At any rate
George Dewey. VIII Redfeld, and one othe
boy pretty near cleaned out all the apple
thai were on that tree Mad? Well, yol
| that orchard was He ran of TO the schoo
teacher, Mr.. Pangborn, and complained s.
when all the boys were in their seats, tn
I teacher told OF the apple stealing and said
Now / want the guilty boy 10 understan'
that / know Just who did this and tina
they viii be severely punished If it happen
again. But law, he couldn't fool Georg
Dewey. George never blinked. but he mad
I'D his mind he'd show Mr.. Pangborn
! thing or two So he kind of started ru
: NOR that there was going TO be another raj
on the orchard the next night He ant
: those other boys got an empty hogsheal
and put il under the tree that bore the fin
? apples The next night they hid in anothe
tree and watched Sure enough, Mr.. Pang
born came stealing along, and when he es
pied the hogshead, he crawied into it, S
As 10 have good place TO wait for tn
, ! boys Just as soon as he got in, the boy
! sneaked UP behind the hogshead. and start
ed II running down the hill, teacher an
all; bumpily. bump. bump. By the tim
the teacher got out, the boys were neari
home and they hadn't any more ide
| than the dead who done il.
DEWEY BECOMES A CADET
He Enters the Military Academy "A
Norwich. VT.