The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1901-08-15
Special Correspondence of the Gold Leaf
Buffalo, n. Y, Aug. II, oil presenr

zee of the Gold Leaf
present situation, to the urgent and
| operative demand for the upbuild
ing of our Merchant Marine and for
the facilities at our command for such
upbuilding. We can now build ships
as cheaply as any nation in the world
Indeed, there is no reason why Ameri-
can shipbuilding, like American
bridge building and similar indus
tries, should not lead the world. Nor
do | admit that foreign companies
can manage and maintain mercantile
vessels better or more cheaply than
Americans, for American methods of
organization can be applied with as
much advantage in this department
as in the other departments of modern
arts and industries. | believe on the
contrary that in building and main
tanning merchant ships America has
important advantages, and with
equal chances, can become not only
her own carrier but the common
carrier for the worlds sea borne COM
merce. AS to the matter of subsidies
no one can question Americas abil-
ity and | believe her willingness to
compete with any foreign nations
that endeavor through government
aid to secure the worlds carrying
trade, and reap the benefits of the
possession of great mercantile
marine.
Il believe that the question of the
Merchant Marine and of the Navy is
beginning to receive the serious atten-
ton of the American people. | think
they go hand in hand and should be
furthered by al! thoughtful Ameri-
cans. | see the conditions ripening
and if | am spared to live to the
allotted span of human life l expect
to see the United States Navy the
largest in the world and the United
States Merchant Marine the largest
Merchant Marine in the world. /
hope to see the day when our flag
will fly from a myriad mast heads all
over the face of the earth, when the
inhabitants of all the continents and
all the islands of the sea will look
upon that flag with reverence, with
respect, with admiration, with love,
and shall with one voice acclaim the
American nation as blessed"
Captain Hobson is fine type Of the
representative manhood of the South.
| have known the family of this young
man all my life. l first met him
when mere lad at Annapolis. He
was then Gin Coventry" for keeping
the oath he had taken as cadet officer
of the day, circumstance he kept
from his mother and sister two years
because he feared it would worry
them. l was within three yards of him
when he graduated at the head of his
class and, as he, the youngest man in
the class received his diploma, heard
the battalion of cadets cheer him with
all the enthusiasm of youth. Some
them even threw their caps higher
than the tops of the trees in the
campus because, as one Of his class
mates told me "the high marks he
got reflect credit to the whole class" "
He was not the Hero of the Merrimac
then, but he was the hero of his class
that day and think Admiral Samp-
son was Commandaut of Cadets. Ii
was because he knew of what stuff
Hobson was made that Sampson sent
him in command of the unseaworthv v
old Merrimac, with few sturdy sea
men of his own selection, to peril his
young life in trying an experiment to
close the harbor of Santiago. Samp-
son knew Cervera's fleet. He knew
that if the Spanish Men of War got
out and our Men of War followed
them, one by one, the swift Spaniards
would be able to keep together, to
outrun our vessels, and perhaps, to
capture or sink them singly. Hobson
knew this too, for he had spent two
years in Europe studying his profes-
sion from every point of view. He
proposed the plan to his commanding
officer and took his life in his hands
to carry it out. He blew up the
Merrimac and was pulled out of the
water by Admiral Cervera whose
warm friend he has been every since.
He was put in prison in MORO Castle
and since his release has done as
much hard work for his country as
any other officer of the United States
Navy. He was promptly ordered to
raise the ships sunk in Santiago
Harbor and when he had done so he
was ordered to Manila Bay where he
raised the three Admiral Dewey sunk.
These three have been added to the
United States Navy. After his work
was done al Manila he asked for dan
gerous duty in the Philippines. This
was refused because the glare of the
tropic sun in Manila Bay had serious.
ly injured his eyes, and he was soon
afterward seized with a severe attack
of typhoid fever during which he was
for several days in imminent danger
of death. Since his recovery. he has
| made a number of notable speeches
One in Boston on the Fourth of July
one in Detroit, Michigan, at the invi
tation of the g. A. K. in which he ad
vocated the closest union between
the sections of his country. He wa:
the orator for the Navy, Flag Day
celebrated in the Temple of Music
Pan-American Exposition, under the
auspices of the Daughters of th'
American Revolution. The last speech
he made was an especial compliment
to the Press. He was introduced by
Mark Bennitt, Esq, the Chief of th'
Pan-American Press Department., wht
has just been elected to a similia
position at ST. Louis. Capt. liobsol
| knows whareof he speaks when n,
pleads for an American Navy and al
American Merchant Marine with ;
big A. His people have always beer
well to the front in the creation ant
defence of the United States.