The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1905-11-10
BRIEF HISTORY OF
MISS LOUISA BAKER
She Served a. a Man on Board
a Vesse! During the War
of 1912.
WAS A FAMOUS AMAZON
WAS a FAMOUS A
Once Challenged a Sailor to Fight .
Duel, but When the Preliminaries
Had Been Arranged the
Youth Weakened.
From the Kansas City Star.

From the Kansas lily SldI.
Although from time immemorial 1t ma
been a canon in the naval profession that
women have no place in warships, 1t is q
fact that. not only in European fleets, but
In our own, women. have served in men-of-
war with credit to themselves and to the
flag they fought under. In some OF the
greatest battles in naval history women
have taken conspicuous parts in caring
for the wounded. and, while instances Ike
that of Molly Pitcher, who took a very
active part in a land battle by loading a
cannon to which her husband was at
tached as a gunner are rare in sea rec
ordS, it is known that women have braNed
all the dangers aboard a war craft While
IN action, and in attending to the more hu-
name service of minding the wounded, e{-
posed themselves to missiles of death quite
as much as the male participants.
In that greatest naval battle of all his
tory, Trafalgar, it is on record thai nearly
every ship under Nelson's command there
were several women, the wives of some
members Of the crews. In the flagship Vic
tory, at the moment the great English he
70 was ~shot-whicll was at the height of
the action-it is recorded hat three good
women walked about the spar deck-the
most exposed place in the ship-giving a.d
ard comfort TO the wounded; seemingly
oblivious to the very great danger they
themselves were in. They We're as cool
and collected as if the battle was out of
sight and hearing.
AZ first glance, it might seem remark
abel that any of the gentler sex would be
permitted aboard militant craft in time of
war, but when We recall the conditions
governing enlistment in English men-of-
war in Nelson's time the anomaly is eX-
planned.
by resorting to the press gang, the ad-
niralty caused many good citizens to be
seized in the public streets and compelled
them to serve in the navy against their
VIII. Early in the nineteenth century Eng
land experienced great difficulty in filing
U tho compliments of her enormous
fleets and had recourse to the questionable
methods of coercion. The commander of a
frigate on finding himself short of men.
would arm six or ten of his best men, send
them ashore. usually at night. under the
care of a petty officer. with Instructions to
Seize any able-bodied man they met and
bring MIN aboard.
BY this method 1t frequently happened
that grave injustice was inflicted on the
victim, and. as some palliation OF the out
rage, II the man CHANGED to be married,
his wife, by a special dispensation from
the admiralty. was permitted to live with
nm aboard the warship during his term
OF service which usually was for life.
Women in the War of 1912.
From the dairy of an American seaman
" YAK iioAAe VI WAile, WHO served In the
of 1872, we get an interesting side
light on this peculiar phase of naval life.
White, In December. 1914, shipped in a
famous American privateer, and, when
only a few days out from Boston, was
captured and taken aboard the English
6O-gun ship Leander. Captain Sir George
Collier. In his graphic description of the
scenes aboard the British frigate, he tells
OF an English gunner and his wife, who
mad been together in the navy seven
years, having been shipped from one
man-of-War to another.
The gunner had been a Woodworking
tradesman in London. From small be-
and opened a little store on the Surrey
SID of the Thames. Having Well estab-
Hshed himself in business, he married a
woman of refinement and influential con-
nections. One night, after locking up his
store a little later than usual, he was re-
turning home when a press gang seized
and hurried him aboard a man-of-
war, despite his pleadings and protests.
His care was one of many, n his pray
ers fell on deaf ears. Through the in
huence of his wife's relatives he obtained
permission from the admiralty TO have his
wife aboard with him; and so for seven
years they had sailed together, changing
about from one ship to another as the
~eXigencics of the service required. How
many more years they served Mr.. White
does not inform us. but as Impressed mon
generally were kept as long as the officers
deemed it necessary for ..the GOOD Of the
service" IL is highly nroha hlv that their
Involuntary stay was indafnitn1s, No
longed.
They were assigned. with several othor
couples aboard the Leander, to a quarter
of the berth deck. slightly removed from
the rest of the crew. where they sl,,ng
their ham,nocks and Jared much the same
as the ordinary seamen. White records
that these women were treated with the
utmost resnect Inv the ro,,gl, 49,. aro,,rsl
them, and that the mere presence Of GOOD
women seemed TO have a refining and
elevating influence on the entire shin,s
company,
An American a,,.zo,
We have mad reviewer . r,a,, ,,,t,,ar
cated case Of ;, wo,nan saryinn au. IT,
wears IN orr ,av. anS ,5,,rina Tho ,a,ied
She took nor MARI in tbree ~ t,ai n.ost ~,
portant sea fights in the war Of 1s1S Her
career is one of 1,nns,, - i mae AZ
Louisa Baker, a typical New England
girl, having been betrayed by her lover,
fled to Boston in the depth of a bitterly