The times., 1901-06-25
SAMPSON PROFILE RETAINED.
The santiago Medal Designs APPROX
ed by Secretary Long.

Secretary Long has approved the de-
signs for the West Indian naval cam
paign medal and the meritorious service
medal of the war with Spain, submitted
by board consisting of Frank w. Hack
ett Assistant Secretary; Rear Admirals
Luce, Benham. and Watson, and Colonel
Reid. of the Marine Corps. The original
report of the board which recommended
a campaign medal bearing a profile like
ness of Rear Admiral Sampson on one
side and a representation of the Oregon
type of battIeship in action on the re-
verse, was referred back by Secrctary
Long with certain suggestions. The see
retary desired the board to devote more
careful consideration to the subject IN
view of possible dissatisfaction over the
prominence given one vessel when ON
ers Of different types rendered such spieh-
did service. The board took occasion TO
further discuss the advisability OF re-
tanning the profile likeness OF AdmiraI
Sampson. 1t was decided that IN view OF
the language of the law which PROVIDED
that the medal should be awarded to all
officers and men who served in the west
Indian naval campaign and that the med
al was not in commemoration only oI
the battle Of Santiago, the honor should be
given to Sampson as the "Commander-in-
Chief of the United States fleet in the
West Indies"
The designs approved by Secretary Long
were prepared by Robert G. Skerrett, of
the Navy Department, a son of the late
Rear Admiral Joseph 5. Skerrett, and are
regarded as exceedingly artistic and strik-
ing The West Indian medal contains on
the diverse side a profile likeness of Rear
Admiral Sampson, surrounded by a
wreath of oak leaves and has the inscrip-
ton in plain lettering: United States
naval campaign in the West Indies, 1898.
William Thomas Sampson, cOmmander-in-
chief,
On the reverse is a representation of
'"rhe Man Behind the Gun" II shows the
deck of a naval vessel and a group con-
sisting of a seaman stripped to the waist,
a beardless young naval officer and ma
rine in his shirt sleeves holding a rife,
all standing in the rear of a small cali
bre rapid-fire gun. In the background are
the outlines of an armored vessel OF con-
ventional type partly concealed in the
smoke of battle. Just below the group
will be the inscription commemoraung
the principal battle in which the recipi-
ent participated The designer gives the
following example of the inscription:
Santiago July 3, 1888. John Smith, sea-
man. L. 5. S. Texas
The medal will be held to the pin-bar
by q crimson and blue ribbon, white be-
ing eliminated because ii soils so quickly.
For every other engagement in which a
recipient of the medal participated there
viii be a bar containing the proper IN
scription.
The meritorious service medal consists
of a wreath of laurel leaves holding i've
pointed star, each point being attached TO
the inner rim of the wreath and the space
between the points being open. The star
has an anchor in the centre, while the
points bear the inscription:
Navy of the u. 5. in the War with
SPAIN
At the bottom of the wreath are the
words:
''Meritorious service"
The name of the recipient will be en-
graved on the reverse. The medal IS at
tached to a broad crimson and blue rib
bon, which forms a background for il. All
tho medals viii be of bronze.