The Washington herald., 1907-01-20

Wnefe my IdtneF QleG- lneu j SllppeQ
on a Finnish vessel from Copenhagen and
was shipwrecked IN the North Sea. We
were picked up by a fishing vessel and
eventually I landed In London
/ From there ! shipped on an American
vessel for New York, and from that time
until 1869 ] was on vessels from New
York out
in September, 1863, I was in Mar
se.lles, France, and enlisted IN the
/ American navy. and was assigned 10 the
Franklin. again Admiral FarTagut's flag
ship. From Marseilles We made a long
| cruise taking Us almost three years. all
Of which time I was on the Franklin,
and most of the time belonged to the
admirafs gig-t C boat the admiral uses
when going on shore. After leaving the
Franklin. ]. with five others. w9s sent
/ TO the Hghtship of Sandy Hook and re-
mained there three years. N Sen my
/ time was up I again entered the mcr-
chant marine service, and in 1876 I quit
/ ted the sea altogether
RecoIIections of Farragut.
while on our three years cruise on
board the Franklin. being a member OF
| the crew Of the admiraTs gig, J. Of
course, saw a good deal Of Admiral Far
ragut He was Invariably kind 10 his
! crew During my entire three years
under him, most Of the time being quite
near him. I never saw him real mad.
While We were running the batteries at
/ Mobile Bay, he was as cool as q cucum-
/ ber.' The sailors would get up and try
/ 90 peek over and see matters. but he
would yell at us and motion for Us 10
/ lie down. After we had passed the bat
/ teries he allowed US to stand up behind
/ him and see the fight with the Confed-
crate gunbOats
| once while On shore a. Lisbon. P0rtu-
/ gal I got two bottles Of whisky and was
/ going up the gangWay with them when
/ an officer saw them. I Immediately
/ dropped the whisky overheard. but was
| arrested and put in the guardhouse. The
/ next morning the admiral wished 70 go
ashore The captain told him his crew
was one man short, that he had been
caught bringing whisky On shpboard.
/ Farragut told the officer 10 bring him
the whisky, and when IL was explained
/ that 1 had dropped the whisky over
I board, FaTTagUt said. 7 thought you
| told nee he brought whisky on shlpboard
/ II he dropped II overheard he didn't
! bring it on board the ship, did he?' And
he ordered me into MS gig again
The AdmiraPs Humor.
He was always very prompt in return
shore When we rowed him ashore we
would leave one man to guard the gig.
/ and the rest Of Us would take stroll
/ One day We got into a saloon and re-
I NAMED longer than we intended Farra-
gut came down TO the gig and asked the
guard where we we're He told him we
| had gone Up town 20 buy envelopes and
paper 70 write home Very well. I will
/ return in short time he said. He soon
| came back and ordered US 20 row him
/ over TO TIE ship When there he left
US In the gig. and IN a few minutes came
I back with two marines. Then he ordered
Us to row ashore again. and when there
gave the marines orders not 10 allow Us
/ 10 leave the gig
/ We waited and waited FOR him. but he
Il did not come. Daylight faded and night
/ came on, but no admiral. Morning broke.
1 but no admiral for a long time Finally
/ he appeared and asked US if we were
hungry. We told him we were. He took
/ Us to 4 restaurant and gave US a good
/ breakfast When we were rowing back
! 10 the ship he asked If We knew why he
/ left US to go hungry. We told him we
/ thought so Well. the next time you do
/ that I'll keep you out two nights and two
days he said.
Fist Fight with Dewey.
"On this three years cruise. Admiral
Dewey was aboard the Franklin. He
was then only a mldshipman He was
young and quite boyish looking. and light
and trim in build He was a little cranky
sometimes with US. but maybe no more
! than we deserved, and on the whole We
liked him very well. He never reprimand-
ed me but once, and 7 never had any
trouble with him but once
"one night I was on post as guard on
/ the bridge, the most important post en-
the ship Suddenly. without any warn
/ ing whatever Dewey was right upon ne.
/ He told me I was asleep. I told him he
was a liar. Without saying a word he
struck me a good, solid blow fairly be-
tween the eyes. I was large and strong.
/ but the blow made me reel. I grabbed
him and threw him on the deck and held
I him down. He kicked and fought and
tried TO get UP. but I still kept him down.
/ He soon yelled for the guard and two
marines came and took me off 10 the
! guardhouse. The next morning I was
| court-martialed and sentenced TO the
sweatbox for six hours.
The sweatbox was an iron box about
/ two feet square and a little higher than
a mans head heated intensely hot. The
/ ships surgeon examined each man before
/ he was put in and every half hour during
sentence When I came out I was asked
/ how l liked H. I replied I could stand
another six hours, bat as a matter Of
/ fact / was so weak 7 could scarcefv
stand up. Dewey had only reported me-
| for breach OF discipline. or some minor
! onense. II he had reported me for being
asleep on post it would have gone hard
/ with me.
"On thinking the matter over after
ward I concluded he was right. and I
must have been asleep, or else he never
/ could have got right up 10 me before I
saw him. This happened during the
middle part of the cruise. but NfidsbIp-
man Dewey never seemed to harbor anv
ill-feeling. but treated me fairly during
/ the entire cruise
Gabriel Justus Dahligren is the family
/ name of the sailor whose experiences are
related above, though he is now known
as Thomas Thompson. When he Joined
the Russian navy they gave him the
name of Ivan IyanhoH That is his Rus
sian name He declares it was the
custom in the Russian navy to give sailors
new names. Afterward he shipped under
/ several names-AndersOn. Johnson. Smith.
and others. His present name was be
slowed thus: The last time he shipped
was on an American vessel. When asked
| for his name, he replied Anderson
| The skipper answered: we have too
many AndersOns on board now. Your
name is Thompson, Thomas Thomson
and he has carried that name ever
since.
4 Famous Retreat,