Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-05-08
At THE NAVAL ACADEMY.
Graduating Exercises at the United
States Naval Academy at
Annapolis, Md.
PRESIDENT PRESENTED THE DIPLOMAS.
The Chief Executive of the Nation
Sought to Impress Upon the Minds
CT the Graduates the Weight of
Responsibility that Henceforth
Rested Upon Them.

Rested Upon Them.
Annapolis, Nd, May 3,-The special
train conveying President Roosevelt
and his party to Annapolis to attend
the graduating exercises at the naval
academy arrived here at 9:45 O'clock
Thursday morning over the Pennsyl-
vania railroad. AS the president
alighted from the train he was re-
ceived by Superintendent Wainwright
and his aide, Lieut.. H. j. Ziegemier.
A battalion of marines, under COM
mand of Capt. Lucas, was drawn up
at the station. The party proceeded
in carriages to the academy grounds,
the president going directly to the
superintendent house, where there
was a short wait to permit the as
sembling of the cadet battalion ut
the chapel. The day was most pro-
pitieus, and the cadets in their uni
forms presented a fine appearance.
The president walked across the
campus to where the cadets were
lined up and, passing down the line,
looked the cadets squarely in the
face. He was then presented to the
officers of the academy by Comman-
der Wainwright. While this was GO
ing o. the shore batteries fired the
presidents salute of 81 guns.
At the sound of a bugle blast, the
cadets stacked guns, and with a pre-
cision that bore evidence of The dis
cipline which they have to undergo,
marched by tours to the chapel,
A great crowd gathered around the
grand stand, where the cadets were
to receive, at the hands of the presi-
dent, the diplomas which would make
them officers in the United States
navy.
The graduating class discarded
their guns and accoutrements, and
advanced close to the platform. Pres
ident Roosevelt then addressed them.
his remarks being frequently inter
rupted by applause. Following is
the presidents address:
The Presidents Address.
In receiving these diplomas you be-
come men who, above almost any others
of the entire Union, are to carry hence
forth the eVer-preSent sense of RESPONSE
hility which must come with the knowl-
edge that, on some tremendous day, it
may depend upon your courage, your pre-
paredness, your keen Intelligence and
knowledge of your profession, whether or
not the nation Is again to write her name
on the worlds roll of honor or to know
the black shame of defeat. We, all of us,
earnestly hope that the occasion for wal
may never come, but if it has to come,
then this nation must win; and the prime
factor in securing victory over any for
eign foe must, of necessity, be the United
States navy. If our navy fails us, then
we are doomed to defeat, no matter what
may be our material wealth or the high
average of our citizenship. 1t should,
therefore, be an object of prime impor-
lance for every patriotic American to see
that the navy Is constantly built up and,
about all, that it is kept to the highest
point of efficiency, both in material and
in personnel. 1t can not be too often re-
pealed that in modern war, and especially
in modern naval war, the chief factor in
achieving triumph is what has been done
in the way of thorough preparation and
training before the beginning of the war.
1t is what has been done before the out
break of war that is all-important. After
the outbreak, all hat can be lone is to
use to best advantage the great wal en-
gines, and the ~seamanship, craftsmanship
and general practical efficiency, which al
ready, have been provided by, the fore
thought of the national legislature and
by the administrative ability, through u
course of years of the navy department.
A battleship can not be improvised. 1t
officers and crew in handling it Alright
can likewise never be improvised, but
must spring from use and actual sea
service, and from the most careful. zeal
,Ir upl Suctnn,ntin tpotpinu Won "a
whom / give these diplomas, now join
the ranks of the officers of the United
States navy. You enter a glorious serN-
ice, proud of its memories or renown.
You must keep ever in your minds the
thought of the supreme hour which may
come when what you do will forever add
to or detract from this renown. Some Of
you will have to do your part In helping
you use. You need to bend every energy
toward making these ships and guns, in
all their details, the most perfect of their
kind throughout the world. The ship must
be seaworthy, the armament fitted for
the best protection to guns and men; the
guns, in all their mechanism, fit to do the
est possible time. Every detail. whether
of protection TO the gun crews, of rapidly
and sureness in handling the ammunition
and working the elevating and revolving
gear, or of ~quicknesS and accuracy in
sighting, must be thought out far in adj
vance, and the thought carefully executed
in the actual work. The best ships and
guns and the most costly mechanism are
utterly valueless If the men are not
trained to use them to the utmost posi-
BILE advantage. From now on throughout
your lives there can be no ~slackness on
your part. Your duty must be pres-
have got to train yourselves, and you
have got to train those under you, in
actual work of seamanship,, in the actual
work of gunnery. If the day for battle
comes you will need all that you possess
of holiness, skill, determination, ability
to bear punishment, and instant readiness
in an emergency. But, though, without
these qualities you can do nothing, yet
even with them you can do but little II
you nave not had the f~orethought and
set purpose to train yourselves n the
and men alike must have the sea habit;
officers and men alike must realize that
in battle the only shots that count are
the shots that hit, and that normally
shots hit oftenest. Stewardship and marks
m~anship-these must be the two prime OBJ
jects of your training, both for yourselves
and for the men under you.
At the conclusion Of his address
and distribution of diplomas the pres
ident requested that he be taken to
the hospital, where Emory S. Long,
of Wyoming, a member of the gradu-
ating class, was lying i'll. Sitting up
in bed, the sick boy received his di-
ploma from the president, who made
a few appropriate remarks, in which
he expressed the hope that he would
soon be out. The president was then
given an opportunity of witnessing
the customary prank of the plebes
throwing the graduation class out Of
quarters, which afforded a great deal
of amusement.
GUATEMALAN EARTHQUAKE.