The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1903-10-24
ADMIRAL SIR JOHN FISHER.
Commander Of British Navy Tn
known to the World

known to the World.
Ask the ordinary individual the name
of the commander in chief of the British
army and he will promptly answer Lord
! Roberts, and express surprise at your
asking such a question. But hardly any
one outside of the navy knows anything
of the man who would be called upon to
command our fleet in case of war. This
interesting and highly responsible indi-
vidual is Admiral Sir John Fisher, known
| throughout the navy as "Jacky Fisher,
says London Tid-Blts
| In the service ne is regarded as
| strong and able admiral. The officers
of foreign navies respect him for his stra-
tegical skill and technical ability in ham
| ding a fleet. In a sense he may be said
| to hold the greatest post in the British
! empire to which a subject can aspire.
| His work is more responsible than that
! of the prime minister, because he Is the
| first man in the fighting fleets, Where
| on" as the articles OF war say, under
| the good providence of God, the wealth,
peace and safety of the country doth
! chiefly depend.
The strangest thing about this man who
| bears upon his shoulders the weight of
| the British empire, is that he is not an
! Englishman at all in the strict sense of
| the word. His father was a captain in
| the Seventy Highlanders, who set
! tied in Ceylon, and his mother was a
| Shanghaiese woman of high rank. Thus
| he has a. strain of Oriental blood In his
veins. 1t shows very slightly in his face,
| but only those who have lived for some
| time in the east are able to detect it.
A Typical Briton.
In appearance he is a typical British
/ with a simple. bluff, hearty manner.
! Many are inclined to regard him is sui
! len, but this IS because he is naturally
| silent with horror of notoriety. In
! If,rr -isNd of
| nine years, he has never spoken or writ
| ten a word for publication. That is the
| reason no doubt, why those outside the
service know hardly anything about him.
A well known naval writer, in describ-
ing Sir John Fisher, remarked that he
| had risen by the "dint of sheer brain
F., power, continuity of purpose, clear sight
edness and conspicuous ability to the po-
Sition he now holds. Although the son
of an obscure man, he has attained the
highest rank in the naval service through
his own individual efforts and dogged
perseverance. He entered the navy in
1854 and four years later occupied tne
post of lieutenant. He had seen much
active service, having taken part in the
Crimean war of 1855, the China war Of
1890 and the Egyptian war of 1882.
He sh owed the sternness of his nature
after the bombardment of Alexandria i'll
1882 AS captain of the 1nflexible he had
the task of organizing a police force and
depressing the disorder and footing after
CAPTURE
guilty at sight and restored order in a
few hours. He caught many of his
friends and even officers of his own ship
among the footing party, and although
they begged for mercy he had them court
martialed and severely punished. Several
years ago he was at Lisbon with a squad
ron. The relations between this country
and Germany were decidedly strained.
Just before the English fleet left, a
German fleet of twice the strength en-
tered the harbor, with the idea of i'm
pressing the Portuguese, and drew up in
double line off the town. Fisher eX-
changed salutes and then led his vessels
out of the harbor at full speed between
the two German lines, with only twenty
! or thirty yards clear on either side. II
was a maneuver that might have wrecked
dozen ships and only man of iron
nerve could have carried 1t out success
fully. But he had trained his squadron
we'll Not a single vessel swerved a yard
from the wake of his flagship. Amazed
at his daring, the Germans cheered as ne
passed by their ships.
In 1880 Fisher was promoted to the rank
of rear admiral, while from 1899 to 1903
he held the. responsible post of command
er in chief of our most important fleet
the Mediterranean, when he became sec
ond naval lord of the admiralty.
Although all his suborGinates respect
him and many admire him, ii cannot be
said that they all love him. Stern and a
hard worker with no pleasures excepting
an occasional dance, his entire life is de-
voted to keeping the British navy in per-
feet readiness to fight an enemy in any
part of the world at a moments notice.
His Regular Habit.
Sir John rises regularly every morning
at and works on until or o'clock at
night In this connection ne is fond of
telling a story of an old boatswain who
served under him in several ships. The
boatswain eventually retired on pen
sion, and Fisher paid him visit at his
country cottage in DeVonShire. He no
ticed man servant about the place, who
seemed to have nothing to do, and asked
his host:
What on earth do you want him for?"
"Well. SIR" said the boatswain. very
gravely, ''he has to call me every morn
to see you, sir roll over on the other
side of the bed and reply: Tell the ad-
miral to go to Jericho. Then | go TO
sleep again, feeling good. This happens
ter every time. I've been waiting twenty
Favorite With the Queen.
Although stern toward men, he is
pleasant to women. He never goes into
port if he can help it without giving a
ball on his flagship ot He was great dea en-
" attached to her. When the French Adj
miral Gervais visited Portsmouth some
years ago with his fleet Fisher was told
off by the admiralty to do him honors:
rhe queen called him to Osborne and
said. "Sir John, we have sent for you
especially to ask you to be very nice to
Admiral Gervais. as he was so very kind
to us when we were recently at Cimiez,
Madam" replied Jackey Fisher, gal-
lantly 'I will even kiss him, II your
majesty wishes it.
Sir John Fisher has just been appointed
naval commander in chief at Portsmouth.