The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-12-17

CAPTAIN RiCHl Captain Hobson is only 35 years old and is perhaps the best known man Of his age in the world. Yet until the last year or two he has been in a cer- tain sense the least known man 10 pc so well known. On account or shal- low interpretations O. the Merrimac ex- ploit, his phenomenal courage was by many deemed that simply of a hair- brained daredevil. This unjust esti- mate was augmented in many minds when upon his kissing several young lady cousins in Chicago, the entire press, ignorant of the facts. began be- littling him with fiippant filings. For. tunately he has been able to correct these fiagrantly unjust impressions, by visiting every State and Territory in the Union, except one, and meeting the people face to face and talking to them heart to heart.
 His Character.
 Therefore. it is unnecessary to enum- crate now the many noble traits or ms character So, 1t will suffice to name only two: First, his habit Of doing things. and, second, his remarkable de- yotion to duty.
 He has been uniformly successful in everything he has tackled. While he was still going barefooted during tne summer months, he decided to try for Annapolis. Accordingly. linking down to it, he studied away so effectively that in a few months he was able to meet all the best talent In his district in competitive examination, and carry off the prize. Although. the youngest man in his class, he graduated No. l, at Annapolis, being the first Southern boy to do so since the Civil War; achieving the great honor in competi- tion with the pick of Americas bright est young men.
 His success at Annapolis caused his Government to send him to Paris to the worlds greatest School of Naval Architecture. Here he forged ahead at once, despite the dificulties of new language Taking the lead at the very start he held 1t to the end, graduating No. 1 in everything. being the first person born outside of France who had ever done so
 His Services.
 Returning to the United States his | services were in great demand, and he | signalized himself repeatedly in de- | signing and constructing great war vessels. So great was his fame that the Mexican Government selected him | from all the officers of the American Navy, and paid him handsomely. to rep
 resent her in the test of new war vessel built in this country for her | In process of time a daring enterprise | came to his mind; no less an enterprise, | in fact. than the establishment of a great School of Naval Architecture at | Annapolis. similar to the one in Paris. thus enabling us. in event of trouble | with foreign countries to be independ- ! ent of their schools.
 The gigantic task of both organiz- ing and conducting this great school
 was confided to him alone, thus putting l the work of ten men on his shoulders 1 Ca thing, by the way, he was often. will 1 lingly, had done to himl and he organ
 ized and conducted the school alone | with amazing success until the out break of the Spanish American war. Contrary to all precedent, he rolun-
 teered to go with the warships to bat | tie for the important purposes of keep ing the ships in good repair, and of | studying at close range the effect of l protectiles, and the ships behavior in battle, but Title being actually known | at the time along those lines. Not | only did he himself go. but his noble pupils catching his spirit. went with l him. His tremendous and valuable la-
 bors in keeping the ships fit for fight
 ing were the subject of long and | greatly complimentary special report
 from the Admiral to the Government
 Then came the much misunderstood
 Merrimac exploit: Then the triumph every other inspecting oficer. from the
 admiral down. had openly and officially
 declared her unraisable. It was just after this great feat that ex-Secretary l Herbert declared to some friends at the
 Army and Navy Club in Washington that Lieutenant Hobson is undoubted- l ly the greatest naval constructor in
 the world"
 Tn order to save the Government
 Ss, ,00O, ,000 or $l0.O00.000 and to secure patriotic trophies. Lieutenant Hobson desired and demanded to raise the other | | course would knock the great Repub- lican ship builders out of several mill
 lion dollars of profit they would make by building brand new boats. So these
 Republican hip-builders, who always contributed literally to Republican
 campaign funds: were allowed to have
 their way To keep Hobson from agi-
 tating the subject any further, he was
 sent with ridiculous haste 5000 miles
 to China, and kept there for years un-
 der conditions that it was known by
 the department no ordinary American
 or Englishman could stand for more
 than twelve months. Fortunately,
 Hobson's giant constitution held out,
 and as good luck (God save the mark)
 would have it, his eyes instead of his
 life gave out. Who can wonder that
 he Is a Democrat?
 Failing to get retired with the right
 to remain in the navy. he was com
 and thus be in condition to continue to
 do things. to resign the navy.
 Here, then. would seem to have been
 his finish; his position gone, his eyes
 so ruined in direct serV1ce to his coun-
 try that he could not continue his pro-
 fession. In which at any time past he
 could have gotten an income of tens of
 thousands of dollars annually, If he
 had, as many of his fellows did, re-
 signed from the navy and gone with private ship yards.
 In Private Life.
 But his indomitab1e spirit saw no
 failure. The very day he resigned he