New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-14
THE ADMIRAL.
NAVY REGULATIONS ARE SILENT CON
CERNING HIS DUTIES.
NO NAVAL OFFICER OUTSIDE OF ENGLAND WILL
RANK ADMIRAL DEwEY-HE MAY DEVISE
HIS OWN UNIFORM-THE ETH


The rank Of admiral in our Navy Is too eX-
allied to have any duties prescribed for it, There
fore the Navy regulations are silent on the SUD
ject In fact. they recognize the altitude OF tne
position by merely specifying the honors to be
paid TO II and nothing else. When Admiral
Dewey arrives on board his flagship or leaves IL
officially the marine guard Is paraded ana pre-
sents arms, the band in attendance plays a
march, the captain Of the ship and other of1cers
also at hand salute. the drums sound four run
fees" the bugles the same number or hour
ishes" and the guns thunder seventeen times.
Please note the rufiles. the hourshes and the
drums which are distinctive, for all the rest OF
the function is bestowed on other flag officers
Irrespective OF grade. A Vice admiral receives
three rufiles and hourishes and fifteen guns a
rear-admirai two ruffes and flourshes and thir-
teen guns. while a mere commodore gets but one
ruffle and flourish and eleven guns. The only
Americans who get more guns than the admiral
the President Cor an ex-PresidenD who is
honored with the National salute. which is TWEEN
ty-one guns. and the Vice President or United
States Ambassador. who receives nineteen EX-
Vice Presidents don't count.
When the President is saluted his own dis
tinctive flag is hOisted at the mainmast head.
For the Vice President or an Ambassador or
Minister the National ensign is hoisted to the
fore. But for a naval officer his particular flag
is sent aloft, at the proper place; and iiags and
places differ. Thus for a commodore swallow
tail blue hag-the broad pennant'-bearinG
single star rises to the mainmast head; for
rear admiral square blue flag with two stars
goes up at the mizzen; for a vice-admiral a SINH
lar flag with three stars appears at the fore, and
when the Manila fleet saluted the new admiral
the other day the guns all spoke in chorus when
blue banner with four stars on 1t broke out at
the main.
NO PRESCRIBED UNIFORM.
The admiral has prescribed uniform. The
Navy Department at last accounts was concoct-
ing one for him and raking up precedents But
in the end he will fix ii to suit himself. just as
Farragut did, though probably not with such
artisticay disastrous results for Dewey is
man of great taste and discernment in matters
of personal apparel.
never could understand why Admiral Farra-
gut did not bestow on himself a uniform coat
with gold sleeves and few blue stripes on them.
and thus be done with it. He had on each sleeve
two very broad bands of gold lace and slight
ly narrower one between them the combina ton
reaching about to the elbow. and still above
that huge gold-embroidered star with a steam
frigate worked in silver in the middle Of it, II
was quite imposing. if not slightly tropical in
ito splendor. Admiral Porter cut it down on his
undress uniform to one broad band and three
much narrower ones above it. but kept the star.
For full dress he wore three embroidered bands
of oak leaves, and these, it is believed Admiral
Dewey will adopt. inasmuch as the rear-admiral's
uniform already has single oak-leaf band.
The general tendency throughout the world is
to make the uniforms of naval officers much
alike In the different navies as possible.
This avoids confusion; especially in mat.
ters of ceremony. The sleeve marks of
our Navy closely resemble those of
sponding grades in the English. Navy the
difference being that our stripes are surmounted
VI permost English stripe has a curl loop i'm
1t. like the lions tail when twisted" as an
irreverent midshpman once remarked. Dewey's
ordinary sleeve ornament will doubtless be close
ly correspondent to that of the British admirals
that u.s. broad band Of gold lace about two
Inches wide, with three half-inch bands above it,
The shoulder-straps and epaulettes OF ad-
miral are similar to those Of general-that is
they have four silver stars on them, but with an
anchor under each Of the outer stars OF the row
In other respects the uniform will probably not
m TOR ial1N Of
A reader Of THE Independent" has recently
honored me with the query whether Admiral
Dewey would lower his flag to anybody" To
which reply no, because admirals do not lower
their flags at all. long as they are in command
afoat. They change the color of their flags
sometimes, and If we had more than one admiral
this might happen even to the possessors Of that
exalted rank. In such case. If two admrals
should meet, the flag at the masthead Of the
hagship Of the junior one would become red
and if three OF them should assemble the Junior
Of all would hoist white flag with blue stars
while the next in seniority would fly the red
nag and the senior would retain his blue flag un-
disturbed These changes in color to indicate
seniority are Renaissance of the old now obso-
iete English custom OF making three grades for
each admiral-whether rear vice or full ad-
mlral-termed respectively admiral Of the
Whlte. admiral of the req" and admiral of
The blue" Admrals who never get sea com
mand during their career arc sometimes jocu-
larry termed "admrals Of the yellow" The Per
sonnet bill recently enacted is making us a lot Of
them out OF the staff officers who have been sud
1enly converted from engineers paymasters and
doctors into rear admrals. OF course as we
nave no full admiral but Dewey his blue flag
Always remains; and even if should create
another admiral the latter would be Junior To
Dewey. so that the flagship of the victor Of
Manila need never have a red four-starred flag
In her signal locker.
ENGLISH ADMIRAIS
suppose, however that my querist really
meant 20 ask whether Admiral Dewey would
have to yield precedence to any other naval
officer afoat SO far as | am aware there is no
,ne to rank him in any foreign navy except that
H England and there he is overwhelmed In
lact, an admiral in the British Navy is at pres |
ent the third grade down no lad Ill.,.