New-York tribune., 1908-08-18
ADMIRAL ErANSS RETIREMENT.

The celebration which will occur this evening
ar Lake Mohonk to mark the retirement of Rear
Admiral Evans from the active list of the navy
will command wide and sympathetic Interest
throughout the nation. commensurate, indeed
with the interest which has long been felt in
= career Of more than ordinary duration. fidelity
and efficiency in Of the most arduous or ali
the public services Roblcy Dunglison Evans
was born lust sixtytwo years ago, and forty
eight years ago. lacking n month, he entered
the national service midshipman at An
napolis. Though of Virgnian birth. and though
strongly urged by relatives to associate himself
with the Confederate cause. he chose, as did
FarraglIt Thomas and other great SouthernSrs'
to hold the nation above the state. Accordingly,
forty-five years ago next October he accepted
nm ensIgns commission under the Stars and
Stripes. and before the Civil War ended had
his strenuous baptism Of fire and recelVed
wounds which narrowly escaped being fatal
and of which he bears lifelong marks, at the
storming of Fort Fisher. Since then his career
has been filled with almost incessant activity
in almost all parts of the world and in almost
all departments of naval work. and it is simple
Justice TO record that his multfarious duties
have been discharged in manner acceptable
to his superior officers and commanding the ap-
proval and confidence of the nation.
His services in two amply attest his
capacity as a fighter and confirm his title to
the sobriquet by which he has long been famll-
+ iarly known. But any estimate OF the value
of his services to the nation would be incomplete
and Inadequate which did not take account Of
his work in time of peace and for the avoidance
of war His patrol service in Bering Sea and
the North Pacific lid not figure sensationally
on the bulletin boards in faring headlines,
but it was tedious and arduous to degree.
and In It's Involvement OF international interests
If called into exercise a larger measure Of tact
and discretion than is often required OF any
commander. In Chilan waters, too, at time
Of peculiarly delicate relations. his balance OF
: intrepidity and Judgment. at once sustained the
! dignity of the flag and averted threatene2 0c-
currences which might have had the gravest re-
suits In the training and discipline of the
navy during all the period of our naval re-
habilitatiOn and expansion, and the period too.
OF our naval transition to an entirely new type
of equipment and of action, his executive and
administrative powers and his mastery Of his
! profession have been of incalculable worth TO
the nation.
1t is gratifying to be able to say these things
in this place, as 1t will be TO conduct the ex-
ercise of this evening in Admiral Evans's pres
ence. There is unavoidable feeling of deep
regret at his necessary retirement from the
service of which he has been so conspicuous q
member and deeper still at the know ledge that
his health has become somewhat infirm through
the unsparing character of his labors and the
| effects of the wounds received forty-fve years
ago But as strong that regret Will be the
hope that in his well earned retirement he may
find renewed health and strength and many
years of happy enjoyment of the gratitude and
affection of his fellow countrymen. 1t would
he pleasant and appropriate to have him bear
into his retirement the rank and title of vice
admiral which the President and Secretary Of
/ the Navy recently urged Congress TO create
and though Congress unfortunately failed to
make it possible to bestow upcn him that dis
tinction. there is some measure of satisfaction
in the reflection that If II had created it, that
rank would have been bestowed upon him amid
universal acclaim