The Savannah morning news., 1903-02-15

so represented. There were lots of SOL
diers named Kirby Smith, and for that
reason Gen. E. Kirby Smith should not
be called plain Kirby Smith. We have
"Stonewall' jackson and ''Tete"
Smith and "Jenks" Jones and Bar
ney" Finegan-all misleading names to
strangers. Frank A Munsey, the great
newspaper and magazine owner, says
truly, that "carelessness" in writing is
the growing evil of newspaper work.
And he might have included magazine
work, and so called historical and bio
graphical work.
In his Captain Maclin, His Me-
moirs," the famous and eccentric
Richard Harding Davis, the novelist
and war correspondent, closes the
story with two paragraphs that seem
to fit the reports false, however)
about Admiral" William King
Nephew, who was said to have been
fred from West Point, but won
rank and fame in the navy of a for
eign country. Capt Macln says: "In
year ! certainly must come back, a
foreign officer on leave, and I shall go
to West Point and pay my respects to
the commandant. The men who saw
me turned out will have to present
arms to me, and the older men will
say to the nlebs that distinguishes
looking officer with the French mus
tache, and the red ribbon of the Lee
gion of Honor is Capt. Maclin. He was
turned out of here. Now he's only a
soldier of fortune. He belongs to no
country. But when the flag
comes down Cat sunset, I shall raise
my hand with theirs, and show them
that I have a country, too, and that
the flag we salute together is my flag
still"
Now, If Midshipman King had been
turned out" of Annapolis Naval Acad-
envy, as falsely reported, he might come
home and enact a similar scene at the
Naval Academy, and as a "sailor of for
tune" belonging to no country, join in
saluting the flag and show them that
he, too. has country and that the flag
they salute together is stin his flag.
Since writing the above the report
comes from Venezuela that Midshipman
King is not an admiral, but war Ger
respondent. This fact If it be fact,
does not destroy the force of the Capt
Maclin episode. I can name several
cadets that were "fired" from West
Point and Annapolis, years ago, who
came back later as officers of our own
army or navy, or that of some foreign
country, and were saluted by the ca
diets and officers of the institution from
which they We're fired" There are sew
eral such promising officers noIv doing
good service and winning deserved pro-
motion in our own army and navy. one
of whom is Capt. James V. Heidi a
Georgian, in the Tenth United States
Infantry.
A few months ago I referred to the
various styles in which the name of
Gen. Nathaniel Greene appeared. Of
ficially and otherwise in print. James
Barnes, in THE Outlook" magazine for
Jan. 3, has a similar case of a naval
officer. In 1777, President John Han
cock, of the Continental Congress. In
which South Carolina and Georgia had
representation, issued a captains COM
mission to one Gustavus Cunningham.
to command a Colonial naval vessel.
One of the pictures shown-from a
French print of 1779-calls him Angus
tatus Kuningam." The secretary of
the American Commissioners at Paris.
however, officially addressed him as
capt. Cunningham" Later, Ben.
Franklin also did the same thing, yet
his name was Conyngham. In Gen.
Greene's case we have Nathan Green"
and "Nath. Green" and Nathaniel
Green" all official in the army rec
ords. Washington also called him
Gen. Green" The National Portrait
Gallery" QS3D has II Nathaniel
Greene" but the autograph under the
picture Is "Nath Green"