Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-11-01
President Regards South
ern Visit Most Profitable.
.Shove|s Coal With Profuse|y
Decorated Shovel
Into Roosevelt" BoiIer...His Talk 10 Officers
and Men Of West Virginia.


regards his Southern trip just ended as
a most enjoyable and profitable expert
ence. Particularly did he enjoy the sea
VOYAGE, and the President expressed
himself in the most enthusiastic terms
regarding the ships. officers and men of
tile squadron.
While at sea, on Sunday, the Presl-
dent made a speech to the officers and
men of the West Virginia. He had just
completed an inspection of the entire
ship. In the boiler room Il profusely
decorated shovel was put into his hand
and he was asked to throw a shovel of
coal into a particular boiler. He threw
in two, and the boiler was Immediately
christened 1.-The Roosevelt boiler" The
shovel was passed around that every
stoker might shovel coal with it. 1t was
then speedily demolished into bits, each
bit being retained as a souvenir.
At the conclusion Of the speech. the
President was given three rousing
cheers by the officers and men.
The President said in part:
1T is a privilege for any President
to come on board of a squadron Of
American warShipS such as these, not
alone to see the ships. but to see the
men who handle them. From the adj
miral down through the entire ships
company, every American should be
proud of what have seen on board this
ship, the discipline, the ready subor-
dination of each man, whether officer
or enlisted man, to duty; the care TAX
ell of the men and in return the eager,
intelligent. self-respecting zeal of each
man i'll doing his work. What must i'm
press especially any observer is how
essential it is that every individual on
ship like this should do his whole du-
ty and in any crisis more than his du-
ty. At any time some emergency may
arise in which the safety of the entire
ship will depend upon the vigilance, in
telligcnce and cool courage of some one
man among you. perhaps an officer.
perhaps an enlisted man. Any man in
the whole ships company who does his
full duty can claim as his own the hon.
or and repute of the ship and has a
right to feel a personal pride i'll all she
does.
"You are doing your duty well and
faithfully in peace. Remember that if
ever which may Heaven forbid, war
comes, it will DEPEND upon you and
|
| this county arc to hold their heads even
| higher or to hang them in shame.
Now, n special word to the officers
Captain Arnold, as 4 boy. you Witnessed
a great fight of the Merrimac when she
came out to Hampton Roads sunk the
Congress and the Cumberland and the
next day met her match in the Moni-
tor. That was fight fought with great
homer for our people. The Cumberland
sunk with her flags flying and her guns
firing while her decks were awaSh, and
as the water was shallow, her flag still
foated from the mast above them after
she had gone down.
1.-The captain of the Congress
met his death in the fight.
winning an epitaph which deserves to
be remembered forever in the Amer
lean navy. His name was Joe Smith,
and his father. an old naval officer, was
| in Washington. When word was
| brought to him that his sons ship had
surrendered he answered simply:
",Then Joe is dead" To have earned
| the right to have his death assumed as
matter of course in such conditions is
OF itself enough to crown any life, and
every American officer should keep ev
err before him all that is implied there
| in.
Let each of you officers remember
| in the event of war that while a sur
render may sometimes be justifiable,
yet a surrender must always be ex
planned while it is never necessary to
| explain the fact that you don't surren
| der, no matter what the conditions may
| be.
"a tragedy occurred, this morning.
A man was lost from the Colorado.
| Such cases are from time to time in
| evitablC in a service like ours. Under
such circumstances everything must al
| ways be done, as in this instance every
| thing was done, for the rescue of the
| man. But you men are fitted for fight
| ing because you have the fighting edge.
This means that you are willing at
times to face death in the performance
of your duty. The man who died, this
morning, was an excellent seaman who
had done his duty faithfully and who
died i'm the performance of that duty.
| Therefore he died in the service of his
| country exactly as much as if he had
died in a battle, and deserves as much
honor"
i