The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-10-06
FROM SEAMAN
To Admiral.
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-Oo

his first duty az such was the command
OF the ordinances schooner Henry
James His fighting was not by any
means over, and before the close Of the
war he participated in several more
sParp engagements, notably in the
CnoWan and Black Water rivers and
the battle and capture of Fort Fisher
by the combined military and naval
forces. in January 1863
As a result of his fine war record
Farenholt was selected as one of the
volunteer officers to be retained perna-
nently in the navy. and on March IL
1868, after passing an examination, ms
was commissioned an ensign in the
regular establishment
From that time on he has passed sue
Cessively by strict seniority through
all the intermediate grades up 20 and
inclusive of that of captain, which was
his last rank on the active list He
reached the grade Of rear admiral on
the day of his retirement by virtue of
the law passed two years ago. which
permitted officers who served during
the civil war to retire with the rank
and pay of the next higher grade
Rear admiral is the grade next above
captain.
FarenhOlt's naval career since the
civil war. however, has not always led
through fOwery paths. He has ever
mad to contend with a certain preju-
dice which exists in the navy against
oIticers who are not graduates Of An
napolls. This prejudice has been par
tcul2rly marked in his case owing to
the fact that he did not enter even the
tciunUeer service as an officer, but as
an enlisted man. The social gulf in
the navy between forward and aft IS
"a vast one. and naval officers wish it
to be kept impossible. The only bridge
they permit, and even that reluctantly,
Is an Annapolis education separating.
the enlisted period from the commits.
stoned. At one time a certain number
of enlisted naval apprentices were Civ
en- appointments to Annapolis, but the
practice was shOrt-lived. Of the few
who graduated three are still on the
.active lst-COmmander W p. Day.
Lieutenant Commander J E Roller
and w. II. II. SOUtherland. Two are on
the retired list-Lieutenants T G.. G.
Salter and Samuel Seabury- These.
with Farenholt and VIM. are the only
American naval officers who have ever
been enlisted men. All but FarenhoIt
and Winn graduated from Annapolis.
F&renhOlt alone has reached the high
est grade in the service.
While Rear Admiral Ammen was
chief of the bureau of navigation dur
ing the seventies, FarenhOlt received
some fairly good details. but. as a gen.
eTal thing. the berthS he had drawn
were undesirable. He was not always
wanted as a shipmate by Annapolis
bred officers, for, aside from the preju-
dice against fOrecastle experience, his
foreign accent was very marked. his
education was below the naval acad-
envy standard and his manners We're
slow in acquiring the polish desired.
Many officers, too, thought Of numbers
Of enlisted men of their own acquaint-
ance whose herOisms had been quite as
great if not greater. than FarenhOlts
and their other qualifications for a
commission better.
= y o
Hence FarenhoIts personal friends in
the navy have been cOmDarativelv
few. His ships have usually been
stOreships or something Of the kind
which do not offer all the enjOyments
or advantages of the regular cruises
FarenhOlts rather limited acquaint-
ance at first with ordnance and other
technical subjects also initiated to
some extent against his assignment to
ships where ne would be called upon
to act as an instructor to others.
His first duty after the war was on
the small monitor Shawnee. and then
at the Boston navy yard. In 1855 he
was ordered to the StOreship Purveyor,
and in the one year 1867 to the receiv-
ing ships New Hampshire and Ohio
and the storeship Idaho. He was
banded about with very little cere-
mOny, and only on two occasions COM
pleted a full cruise in one vessel. In
lS6S-1O he served on the AShuelot. in
Asiatic waters. and in the latter year
was attached to the Norfolk navy yard.
following in close order by duty on the
cruiser Shenandoah. the receiving ship
Relief, the flagship Minnesota, the
practice ship Supply and in 1876 back
again TO the Norfolk nav yard. He
spent year there, and then from 1877
to 1879 was placed in charge of the
naval inter depot at Maiden. Mass. He
made a fun three years cruise in the
. 'double-ender' gunbOat MOnOcacy in
Chinese waters from 1879 to 1882.
Finally in 1882 he was assigned to
duty on the old steam frigate Wabash
the same vessel upon which he saw his
first naval service as a seaman in the
stirring days two decades previously
He remained on the old Wabash
which had ended her active DAYS and
been converted into "A receiving ship
at Boston. until 1899 except for about
one year. when he was attached to the
steam sloOp-of-war Swatara on the
North Atlantic station.
Most of his later years have been
spent on the Pacific coast. He COM
manded the gunbOat Piata in Sitka
Alaska. for couple of years. and af-
terward served as lighthouse inspector
for the northwestern district. with
headquarters at Portland Ore
His last sea service, which he COM
pleted shortly before his retirement.
was in command Of the double-turret
monitor MonadnOck, stationed in Ma
Mia bay. Curiously enough his first
and last duties an an officer in the
navy were as the commanding officer
( of vessel-the schooner Henry James.
| in 1864, and the armorclad Monadnock,
/ in 1901, and both vessels were in hos
/ tile waters, for the Monadnocla was
frequently under Filipino fire.
Admiral FarenhOlt is tail, well built
i,and with the blonde hair and blue
/ eyes of the typical Norseman- He is
/ socially inclined, and while a light
/ house inspector made himself quite
/ popular with the people of Oregon and
I Washington. He is known. too. in San
/ Francisco, having served on a court
martial at Mare island not very long
| ago, prior to his deDarture to assume
command of the Monadnock.
He has a son in the navy. Passed
Assistant Surgeon Ammen FarenhoI<
named for his friend and benefact
/ the late Rear Admiral Ammeu.
FarenhOlt'S life has been uniqus
volumes are summed up in the
/ quent sentence:
From seaman to rear adj
He Baf1ed the 2
cleveland Plail
/ The success of a