The National tribune., 1902-01-23

No. he was not planning a bloody cam
paign, nor was he in love-then.
He was bowed down momentariIy be-
meath fit of deep disgust and dlsap-
pointment.
He was sitting on a campstOol by my
Office table, between two great Columhlads
on the starboard side of the gun deck
His right elbow was resting on the table
and his partly-closed hand tapped softly a
nervous tattoo that sounded Ike the
nuGfled drum-beats of lost hope.
Three weeks before the time of which
7 am now writing October, 1866 Dewey
had been appointed Executive officer OF
the Colorado" succeeding Lewis A. hlm-
berley, now Rear-Admiral, retired. Kim
berley had been promoted TO the rank Oh
commander, and was on his way home
TO take command of the U. 5. receiving
ship Vermont" lying in the New YORK
Navy Yard Basin.
Dewey was not new to the Colorado,
nor to the existing conditions. he hau
been acting as Flag Lieutenant for Ad-
miral Goldsborough for a short time
hence when spoken Of as likely to get
the appointment of First Luff,' the RS
ing and ambitious young officer stipulated
that when he took charge all Offenders
should be pardoned, the brig, or ship
prison, vacated, and the entire ships com
pany be given q clean bill Of moral
health.
Cant, r. Fl. Wyman. or "Black Jack"
ms he was called by the ships company,
was strongly opposed to this; but Dewey
was persistent, and being seconded py our
oil Admiral finally won,
There were several hard cases in the
brig. Some were confined for compnclty
In the robbery of Fleet Paymaster Gun
ninghams safe. Several thousand dol
lars had been stolen. The principal thlei
was a ward-rOom negro waiter named
Watts. Among the better class of prison
ers was a runaway boats crew, formerly
belonging to the Admirafs barge, all ike
" young fellows, some of them today
prosperous business men in the East, one
Of them at least past officer IN re Ma
tional Encampment. Beside these there
were the usual number OF drunks, nghters
and rebelli0us Sailormen.
have an explanation for this condition
of things, an explanation which may serve
as hint to some OF the well-meanlng but
mistaken officers of our present White
Navy.
You must know that my position as
Sims Clerk gave me an opportunity 70
bly,, than dny other parsonage aboard the
frigate. | was, as Ships Writer, neither
officer nor private-a sort of Mahomet
coffin swinging 'twixt heaven and-well,
terra firma. l stood in kind OF halt-
way house, mixing freely with both ends
of the ship.
To start, then, from the beginning: On
the 9th of May, 1865, Lieut. Commander
Kimberley went on board of the receiv-
ing ship North Carolina" and had the
men all lined up on the upper deck. Go
Ing down the line, followed by clerk,
Kimberley selected the hkeliest, most IN
telligent, cleanest and nattiest-looking fel-
lows he could find. The clerk took the
names and records. The next day, May
2j, these men were sent aboard of the
Colorado" and she went into commits
sion l mention this because / want my
readers TO understand that we had the
finest, cleanest, best-l00king set of fun
loxing, jolly young fellows that ever sailed
OUT of New York Harbor. With material
such as this, Americas bravest, best
blood, failure to get the very best re
suits must be attributed to lack of the
proper quantity Of knowledge, tact and
sympathy necessary to utilize the excel
lence at hand.
The Colorado" was well worthy of her
crew. She was q trim, stately, we'll
equipped frigate. She had been selected
as the showiest of her class to go over
to Europe after the close of the civil var
10 show the people on the other side of the
water that, far from being either dead, or
even sick, we were very much alive, and
some OF our rollicking sailormen succeed
ed only too well In this respect.
A large percentage Of our crew were
veterans from the Gulf and Atlantic
Sauadrons Many of them-ferce and
effective fighters in the bloody battles OF
the previous years-had been too lavish
of their pay, and hence were behind on the
ships books. This estopped them from
'1iberty on Shore" and was great cause
for discomfort.
/ am compelled reluctantly to confess
that Kimberley's nature and temperament
untitled him for the task of controlling
and training this stirring aggregation of
muscular young Americans. We were,
confessedly, in holiday ship. The Off
GERS laughingly avowed that they were on
q picnic. Aft, peace had spread her
turned upside down. Balls, parties, con-
eerts, receptions followed in rapid sue
cession.
Forward of the mainmast a different
state of things existed. Here everything
was on a war footing. Guns had 10 be
kept polished, decks whitened, sails and
masts made presentabe This perpetual
grind might have been borne with more
patience had there been some show of
consideration in granting the little privi-
leges so dear 10 Jackys heart, but con-
cessiens were apparently wrung from the
Executive as slowly as juice from a hard
apple. The crew resented this. They at
tributed the reluctance TO the promptings
Of soured and mOrose nature.
In this they were wrong. kimberlcy's
whole soul was wrapped up in duty. He
took no pleasure outside Of his profession,
and he could see no reason why men were
not satisfied who had plenty TOO eat and
and drink, and q good bed TO sleep in.
after the work was done. | guess that's
why so many ministers SONS go wrong.
Parents don't appreciate the fact that
there must be human sympathy and
reciprocity of benefits TO make good chill
dren, and your man-of-warsman is n child
In some respects.
Kimberley was n stern. strict martinez.
but beneath crusty exterior he had n
very kindly soul. But he seldom went
ashore himself, took no delight in dances
or dinners, fed TO his state-room when
ever pretty girl showed her dainty nose
above the starboard gangway, and he
looked upon whisky bottle as an in
genious invention Of the devil. Now what
sympathy can a gentleman, thus un-
armed, have for band of impulsve full
blooded, thoroughbred Yankee boys?
Mems minds and souls are constructed
very much on the wireless -telegraphy prin-
cple; there must be perfect sympathy TO
produce the best results. Kimberley's ma
ture, on the contrary, was repellant to
the ardent blood surging around him. He
was looked to for bread; he gave n stone.
This aUuHrgnt CyuiciSO how