The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-12-31
4 .DOCTORED~ ARMY AND
NAVY.

|~#N "a A&AE - -
long been said 10 consist in the dis
covery % great men According to
this standard Roosevelt Is q Napoleon
The Little Corporal had a habit Of
creating MarshaIs on the field %
battle. The Ego Of the White House
goes him one better, ae creates hnsn-
ciers from typewriters, Major Gen
erals and Governors from Major
Surgeons" Naval secretaries from
general freight oflces and. as his lat
est find" has discovered that & man
who can handle a scalpei IS tend
BY nature TO handle a ship
In the AFFAIR by which Admiral
Brownso was forced To retire from
his post as chief OF the Bureau Of
Navigation in order that DR.. kixey
might become the navigator Of the
hospital ship with the feet now be
ginning TO make its journey from the
Atlantic to the Pacinc. the sympa-
thies OF the people should go out 10
the old~-fashioned sailor even while
it is recognized that a little thing
like making a Paul Jones u or a
saw-bones is too easy for a Roosevelt
to understand a question at the feat.
Admiral Brownson a graduated
from the Academy. had been through
long and arduous training on sea and
land. had conceived in fact a too
pompous idea of the requisites of ma
val command. He could not under
the Roosevelt genius that made
Leonard Wood the greatest soldier in
the nation and discovered that Ad-
miral Rixey was the greatest doctor
that ever boxed a Admiral
Brownson would have kept all doc
tors in their hospital wards or attend
ing pink teas. The men on he
bridge he would have selected from
the lire. He could not understand
those hidden and subtle qualities OF
mind that Roosevelt recognizes in
men to do things that they have new
er done before.
goes to Join the long line of war
dogs and sea-dogs that have by their
b%luntness of speech incurred the
Presidents disfavor. He marches to
gether with Dewey and with Miles,
and with many othar lesser lights
forced to retire or banished to I'M
heard of positions. The American
people will be sorry to see him go,
but they will at the same time ac-
knowledge his lack of finesse.
AS the matter is sifted. it appears
that DR.. Rixey, who was the physician
of President Mckinley and later of
Roosevelt, had the curious vanity
that is sometimes apparent in men
proficient in one line Of effort of de-
Michael Angelo, who made the Sis
tine Chapel, was a mediocre poet. Dr..
Rixey, who is an admirable surgeon,
aspires to be a great sailor. Given the
meaningless rank of "Admiral' he
sought to exact it from officers in lieu
of his real title of Doctor" His pride
was piqued because men in whom he
would Rave laughed at a pretension
Of knowledge of anatomy refused to
consider him seriously as a naval ge-
And, in his dilemma, Roosevelt
came to his aid as he had
formerly come to the aid of
General Wood. In the one case
there was a general created out
eff a physieian; in the other an ad-
daily Gali:ance with the Presidential
family's ~infuenzas! In the accom-
plishmens Of this stroke of genius the
President gives to the public the let
ter of the DGctor-Adniral Rixey. set
ting forth his side of the case: While
the letter of Admiral Erownson, ex-
planning his resignation is safely pi-
.geonholed by the watchful Loeb. That
is another Roosevelt characteristic, to
seal the lips of the old ~sea-dog whose
ideas of discipline Will not permit him
to divulge the contents of a letter
written to his superior officer: and to
exploit only that phase of the contro-
versy consonant with my policies"
With 9 perhaps reprehensible affec-
ton for old-fashioncd ways, we trust
that with the passing of Roosevelt
warrior, hunter, naturalist, ~financier,
statesman, diplomat and middle
weight-the army and the navy may
resume business by drawing their fin
product from the two institu-
ions founded to furnish them trained
men. The genius OF a Roosevelt is a
thing. If the departure be-
comes a precedent it is possible that
the future may witness a favorite
engaged in planning coast de-
lenses and a valuable valet promoted
a Christmas gift from the bed
chamber Of the White House to the
post of Chief of the Army General
Staff. General Gawge' might be all
right-if he was discovered by Roose-
veit. But somebody" might ~blunder.
From an exchange We quote the fol-
lowing, opposite of the penchant OF
the President for his doctors. that
turns the situation:
The Most Direct Way.
"Papa-And what is Willie going to
be when he grows to be a man?
"Willie-I think, papa, if YOU have
no objection, I'll be an admiral in the
navy.
"Papa-All right, Willie: be a good
boy and you shall go to the Punk Vile
Medical College as soon as you are IL.
Willie-But, papa, l don't want to
a doctor: +