The National tribune., 1900-04-19
UNCLAIMED NAVAL MEDALS.
Hundreds of These Priced Decorations Awaiting Rghtfu Owners

During the Spanish war it will be re,
membered that many of the officers and
enlisted men of both the army and navy
were commended for their conspicuous
bravery. In the army as well as the navy
MANY of the enlisted men received not only
special mention, but were awarded certill-
Gates of merit. and III some rare cases were Were
presented With the medal of honor; Ihe
men who fought under Admiral Dewey
at Manila each received Speclally-oe-
signed medal. the gift Of Congress. some
of the army officers We're given mco;ilS
: The officers of the navy, with the exception
of those who served on the ASliltc 9tatloh
received their promotion by being advanced
i'm numbers to the detrimcnt of those who
were unfortunate enough to be placed on
stations where duty was lrksome ana at
times heroic. That is to say. ofilcGrs WlG
were given the opportunity were 2aVance!
over the officers who had no chances OF
showing their ability.
In the last report to the President. Secre-
tary John ID. Long, of the Navy. has tricl
to overcome this unfairness by bestowng
medals on those officers who distinguish
themselves. He has suggested that Con
press establish medals of three classes:
as follows: One for conspicuous conduct III
war: one for extraordinary hcrolSm. ana
one for general meritorious service; tle
first TO carry with it a percentage o. the
increase of pay based upon the rank o. ;-2e
recipient and calculated TO take HE p''';e
of the increase which would be the result
of promotion. In closing he says: IT is
believed that such a medal worn curing
life and transmitted as an Inheritance Ill
be far more grateful to a deserving officer
than promotion in rank 1T the expense OF
n comradc.
were advanced from one II 10 numbers,
giving them precedence over mon who;
had the opportunity Offered Itself, would
have shown equal valOr with tlose who
received recognition at the h&niS OF TIE
Government.
AS THE ROLL OF HONOR
will show i'll the army, nc !a!5 Of honor
have been given 10 many officers curing
the Indian campaigns and other wars.
The list OF m"ia!-oE-honor rl'n in the navy
shows not enc name OF commlSSi0n"a
officer, and Yet there are many OF them
whose heroic deeds will go down il history
so long as history is written. Tho naval
list is composed only OF enlisted men,
petty and warrant Officers. Fer some
unknown reason the officers who stand
on the bridges, the quarter decks, direct
the guns and watch over the forces il the
engine and fire rooms have been GcJarred
from receiving what is considered in both
branches of the service the highest honor
the Government can give them, and that
is the medal Of honor:
MANY HltdlS lltLNt Et''li gwen ~ pOt-l
officers and men for special duty. When
the Baltimore took TO Stockholm the body
of John Ericsson, the inventor of the ship
that saved the Union fleet and revolu-
tioniZed modern ships of war, the King of
Sweden and Norway gave to each officer
and sailor of the ship Il medal to commemo-
rate the service. Captain (now Rear
AdmiraD Schley was in command of that
vessel. and his medal was gold. To the
other officers silver medals We're given.
while TO the crew the decorations were of
bronze.
of the Navy Department, recently, il might
seem that some of the bluejacketS who
were awarded medals OF honor did not
appreciate them; for out of 400 or 500 of the
Ericsson medals sent to the ship there are
still about 40 for men and 26 for appren-
tees unclaimed. These, however, con-
stitute but few of the decorations that are
waiting for claimants. The decorations
are. in many cases, for heroic services, and
some are the medals of honor. Those to
whom they We're awarded can have them
BY making application 10 the Department,
or their families can secure them in case
the men are dead, providing sufficient
proof accompanies the request. This may
not be known TO the sons or other relatives
of the sailors to whom the decorations
belong. Some of the medals have been
forfeited by desartion or bad conduct, after
lllGt Eau IttH dNdIttt. HONtktT. liicFe
are few such instances, and they are
all touching, as some of the bravcst men
in the service. growing tired of waiting
for promotions which seemed never to
come, became deserters.
Besides the medals mentioned in the fol
lowing list there are several in the safes
Of the Department for men who served in
the Inflated Jeanette Of Arctic fame. Most
OF the men TO whom the medals of the
Jeannette expedition were awarded are
dead. Among them is one for Dressler, who
died with Ensign Chipp in the attempt 10
reach Lena Delta from the ice. Others are
for All Sam and a man named Star. bc.l
of whom found their last resting place i.
Woodland Cemetery, New York.
UNCLAIMED MEDALS.
The following is list of the unclaima4
medals awarded 10 the bueiackots OF tlr
navy, with in some cases = brief Sketch Of
the services rendered which obtained for
them the precious decorations.
The list begins with the bronze medals
awarded TO the crew Of the United States
cruiser Baltimore by the King Of Sweden
when the remains Of John Ericsson were
taken TO that country in 1893. The foI-
lowing have not been Claimed:
Allen, j. j., coal passcr; Anderson.
Charles, Quartermaster; Anderson, ID. ",
painter; Burkhart. H., coal passer; Barbec.
William A, landsman; Bernaker, Ulricli
j., Quatarmaster; Birdsall, D. d., Coz!
passer; Brown, Warren, sccOnd-class fire
man; Brown, Joseph, Quartarma3tor:
Brown, j. g., coal passar: Burke N. j.
landsma8; Butts. Robert. wardro1fn staw--
ard; Carscn, T. seaman; Chase, !. 4. y.
landsman; Coyn, A, lanGsman; Cot.
George H, coal passer; Cook, J. W. lands,
man; Collins, w, coal passer; Conway.
p, coal passcr; Cray, William d.. coal
passer: Cullin, W. f., Quartarmas.rr:
Dalstrom. Charles, seaman: DAYTON. +.
g., quarter gunner; Donaldson. 4. first
class fireman; DOwney. E, Ianf5nau.
Ebert. r., landsman; EshikaWa. Masatara,
steward: Freeze, John W. seaman; Frcid-
rich, Herman, seaman; FurlOng, James.
watcr tender; GALLAGHER, Thomas, fire
man; German, VI. j., carpenter and caulk-
er; Gustafsou, John p, landsman: Hail.
Thomas, seaman; Hayes, William seaman;
Hogan. George, coXswain; Holm. Adoiph,
seaman; Hogan, Michael, oiler; Houlihan,
Michael, fireman, second-claSS; Howard
Charles. landSmau: Hurley. j. j.. cabin
cook; Hunt, j. H., seaman; Irisia. Sinijra.
landsman; Jonbeck, Beterc, fireman. first
class; Kearts, Peter j., fireman, first class:
Kenny, Thomas, seaman; KinScy, Fredcr-
lex E.. fireman. first class; Kilbrid. John.
coal passer; kinkichi, F., wardroom Off
GERS steward; kondrup, J. j., seaman:
Eobayashi, Edward. landsman: Layorv,
Jamcs f., oiler; Lightfoot, w H.. lands,
man: Lucy, Patrick, coal passer: LOTUS.
James, coal passer; Mahoney, Peter. fire,
man, first class; Maloney, john. fire
man, first class; Maramuchi T., lands-
H.