Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1907-10-25

satisfaction to know that we have
just made a record for straight shoot
ing that considerably surpasses any,
thing done by any Of the other uavi. 8
Of the world In target practice off
G pc Cod. the battleships have jus,
made an average of 80 per cent. hits
under battle conditions The large
Was the r. gulation navy target, a flo IT.
ing canvas frame 80 by 80 Ivy 80 feet
The ranges were unkno vn to the gun
GERS and varied from 600 to 5000
yards, the latter a little over four miles.
All the shooting WAS done while steam
ing at 10 knots an hour. These We're
as near service conditions as could be
arranged 10 time OF peace and lacked
Only the single disc0ncerting elemen.
IF having some other gun crew shoot
ing back The greatest number of
bits with the 10 inch and II inch rifles
was made by the Maine which ran up
the surprising string of 81 per cent =
There were sos and AIS made by some
of the other ships 1t was estimat d
that.had the target been the size of an
opposing warship, the Maine would
have registered over 100 bits in the
space OF eight minutes. Comparing
this with the performances of foreign
navles, it is wonderful shooting. The
average of foreign squadrous in simi-
lar practice has never run over rs per
cent. and all the damage done by Togo s
f1eet in the battle of the Sea of Japan
was with percentage of only four
The average with the secondary bat
teTies was not SO high. but these gus,
running from to s inches are not
supposed to be effective at such a
range.
There was a surprise in store for
most people who knew them by the
marriage of one and the engagement
of another of the retired navy veterans
this week. Tue engagement was that
of Admiral Salfrldge of Civil War
fame. He is IA and is known to every
schoolboy as having been immortalized
In the poem ION Board the Cumber-
land" Admiral Melville is Sc and
has been on the retired list for three
years. He was married to lady he
has known for forty years.
Admiral Melville is one of the most
picturesque figures of the old navy and
one of tue originators of the new navy
He was long the Chief of the Bureau
of Steam Engineering, and enjoyed
the reputation among the tackles In
his prime of being the top notch
scrapper" of the whole service. He is
about five feet four inches high and
about four feet five inches broad With.
out any supertluOus flesh. He was the
chief engineer of the Inflated Arctic
brig the Jeanette and was the hero OF
the fight between the Ohio and the
Confederate vessel the Florida In the
Harbor of Bahia during the civil war.
The Confederate vessel had come ito
the barbor and refusing challenge to
fight, 1t was proposed to ram her. 1t
was almost certainty that the boilers
of the Ohio would not stand the shock,
and Melville who was one of the en-
CINE room force said that he would 20
below aud run the engines himself Just
before the collision so that there wO Id
be only one man sacrificed. One OF the
warrant officers vowed he should not
take the risk alone and tie two of
them went through the adventure to-
gether, coming out with hardly a
scratch.
This is an official narrative, but there
| Is another story of Melville that Is told
| in the ward room with even more rel
| isb and does not appear on the official
| archives. He was on the old Nara
gapset when he was lieutenant and
| had incurred the enmity Of some of the
toughest mem bers of the crew. The
vessel landed in Cuba for water. and
! Melville went ashore with the boat 4
crew when the asks were filed -Four
of the sailors decided it was good time
to kill him and desert if they could get
him alone for a minute, and Melville,
getting wind of their plan decided to
give them good chance. AS saon a:
they landed, be strolled off alone up the
beach and around bend out of sight
of the boat. Three of the four sailors
followed him in the bushes and met
| him on the beach out of sight of the
boats crew. After a short interva
Melville strOlled back. nOuchalantly as
he had gone and remarked to the boat.
swain that there wele three of his meI
| up the beach Lying around and acting
as if they were drunk" and he GER
tainly did not see how thew had man.
aged to get the liquor. This was all
| the mention that was ever made Of the
affair, but it esta blished the lieuten
ants equation as man of his hands.
The four Central American republics
of Honduras, Nicaragua, Gautema!a
and Salvatore have notified the State
Department of their selection of dele
gates to the Central American con-
ference that is to be held IN Washing
ton in November