The Washington times., 1905-09-17
" GUNNER" MORGAN
MAY BE DROWNED
Brother Fears He Was
Serving on Mikasa.
ENLISTED IN JAPANESE NAVY
Family Ignorant Of His Whereabouts,
As Japanese Forbade His Writ
ing Letters.
ENLISTED IN JAPANESE NAVY

Was Charles Morgan known TO fame
as Gunner" Morgan, the man whom
Admiral Sampson refused 10 allow to
stand an examination for a commission
in the navy because Of his alleged i.um-
BILE birth. on the Inflated Japanese bat
tleship Mikasa, which was blown up
week ago?
Cneasiness for the possible fate of
Morgan has caused members of his fam
lily in New Orleans. who firmly believe
he has been in the Japanese navy for
the past year. 10 write to friends in
washington. asking them to find ont
what they can from the Navy Depart-
fnent Concerning Morgan's whereabouts
Ihey particularly want to know IL a
list OF the names OF those who lost their
iiVes In the hiikasa explosion has been
made public. and II Charles Morran.s
name was among them
Nothing has been heard Of .'Gunner,,
Morgan by his family since he t,,r,,.a
up In San Francisco more than a vaar
ago, shortly after he resigned from the
United states navy at Newport r
about two years ago. letter was re
celVeo from him at the time ha re-
signed, and brother in New Orleans
heard not long afterward that he wao
! In San Francisco
Family's Belief.
All his family believe he went to San
FRANCISCO TO sail for Japan. They at
eFIOute thelr lack Of news from him
u tne iact mat the japanese have per
S-steiiIy maintained that only japanese
were employed In the army or nav ard
have prevented Americans beI{e,,ed -
| have been in both branches OF m -
vice from writing any letters at aIr
Il am uneasy about my brotbar >,
writes Joseph Morgan, who lives inst
outside New Orleans. land wouId lilxa
TO learn the names of those who wen,
down with the Mikasa just TO assure
myself that Charley was not one of
them.
My certainty that he joined the Jan
anese navy is based on what I was told
by captain Merrill, who commanded the
naval station here at New Orleans be-
fore Captain Singer took charge Can
tam Merrill told me that my brother
had enlisted He was TO receive. the
captain said. $500 month. and a hand
| some bonus after the war
Moreover. my brother. who ALWAYS
wrote to me every two weeks. has not
| written n l!ne since the war between
Russia and Japan. He wrote me from
Newport, when he left the service near
| ~ TWO years ago. Later | heard he
| was in San Francisco. / have not been
worried at not hearing from him he
| cause / knew the japanese would not
| let him write. as they pretend they
| have nothing but japanese in the serv
ice: Since the blowing up of the
| Mikasa have begun to feel worried
and the rest Of the family share nv
| apprehension.
American Gunnecs.
Joseph Morgan goes on 10 say that
he was reliably informed that thirty
five American gunners besides his
brother had enlisted I'm the japanese
navy and that they had been scattered
about on the different ships. where
they directed the gunnery OF the whole
4 Japanese navy. This. Gunner Nor
gan's family think. is responsible 10 a
large degree for the fine marksmanshiD
attributed TO the Japanese.
Gunner" Morgan was born in New
Orleans in 1866. He enlisted in the navy
when he was fifteen years old After
ten years in the service. he was pro-
had the honor to fire the first gun from
Admiral SIMPSONS flagship. the New
York at San juan
| In that engagement n Spanish shell
| blew of his cap and killed seven men
| standing near. After twenty-five years
in the navy. he retired In disgust. Ad-
| miral SIMPSONS refusal to rccomend
| Morgan for a commission on the ground
that his social standing disqualified
him for such position. was the real
cause of his retirement