Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-07-31
WISE OLD AEMIRAL
ECW AMERICAN SAILOR ElSCC ~
FiTEC ENGLISH MAN.
Disposed a -sjs croc, Eut Net n The
Manner 0sua3iy Ccnsicercr propet
incident That Shows his Steriinc
Sense Of -lonesty.

! At cnf -e:ss5@I Satur1ey nix.
.aee;z... T.. * III. hee. efe-..s..'.
/ .iL.e c.;.-2 .e"e1.Iy Col. Clurcn tod
tory l.z.; 80 Ga admiral Gfea
1rE Wfict n9& g. 10 Bible class lau.!..
"AGmirs! f,l.4o!y-Capt Gregory
! he was 5Eer--was in Portsmouth
Gh#laId. il. command Of friaate. =
| saiG Co. C:.uHGH. tond i.e was the re
cipient q n4any Aospitable attentions
That was hack in the days when
naval hospitality meant srog. and the
host and guest drank healths till one
or both were under the table.
"There was at Portsmouth in com.
mand of the Elsin feet seasoned old
Sea-dOs in the matter Of alcoholic bev-
eraees. arc lie soon invited Gregory to
dine with Lin tipping the wink to his
officers Hat Le was going to fill that
Yankee naNal officer SO full OF gros
that ne woHl&nt know captain from
a Delaying pi1i.
Gregory Was tOlerably well sea.
sonel vessel himself: so he took to
strategy. His troubles began when
the Englishlnan called in his officers
one by one and Introduced them to
Gregory. this. Of course, meaning an
extra drinking With each as the offc-
ers We're brought in.
In those days the naval officers
wore stocks coming high up under
their chins under tightly buttoned
coats. Gre"Ory was adrOit enough to
empty about SO per cent of the drinks
that came his way into the space be
tween his stock and his chin. The
consequence was that the more he
seemed to drink the soberer he got
while the Englishman at last landed
under his own table. Then Gregory
went on deck. talked With the officers
looked over the strip and finally went
over the side into his gig and away to
his own ship.
Wasn't he drrnk?' asked the Eng
lishman when he inquired about his
guest the next morning.
Drunk? Not bit of it. sir an
swered the officers. "He was sober
as Judge. But there was one thing
never saw man sweat so in my life
, Why the front of his coat was We
, through
OF all the old type of American
naval officers there is none abou
whom more stories are told by the ole
timers than about Admiral Francis
Hoyt Gregory. He was - years ole
) when he died, here in New York il
1856 and his service in the Unitet
States navy went away back before
the war Of 1912.
In the civil war he was appointed
to superintend the construction o.
ironclads, with headquarters at the
Brooklyn Navy Yard. Boodling il
government contracts ran wild ant
one of the first things he received
after he took charge was a polite let
ter from one of the big iron firms
which had been doing a good deal o
business with the government, inclos
ing a check made out to Gregory per
sonally for the sum of $4,000.
The old warrior bristling with
wrath, expressed himself in choser
sea language about the "impudence OF
the damned scoundrels.' Then he sal
down and wrote letter to this eff
feet:
Yours inclosing a check made on,
to me personally for the sum of $40.
600 is at hand. As l can conceive OF
no other reason for your sending
money to me l assume it is contri
button TO the conscience fund, and
have so disposed of it,
And that is precisely what he did
sent it to Washington to be credited
to the account of those who had in
one way and another swindled the gov
ernment and afterward made restitu
tion.-NeW York Sun.