The National tribune., 1908-01-02

some time to comep a definition of the
| difference between the line and the staff
| may help the public to understand this
| more or less confused distinction. In
| brief, it may be said that line officer
| is one whose sole duty is to fight the
| ship, while the staff officer is one who
| either provides the means for the line
| officer TO do so or acts under his direc-
ton in carrying iout his general orders.
Thus, the Engineer when of the staff
| looks closely after the machinery, and
| starts and stops it when called upon to
| do SO by the line officer; he has nothing
| to say as to where stbe ship shall go OF
what speed or when it shall move.
Likewise, the Surgeons aboard ship
look after the health of the crew in
time of peace. and heal their wounds in
time of war, but they also have nothing
| to do with the movements of the ship
| to which they are attached, and the
same rule applies to the Paymaster and
| to the Constructor, who builds the ship
nayigated by the line officer.
Successful Surgeons.
Two conspicuous examples of the
manner in which men who have entered
| the Navy and Army as Surgeons have
gone to the front are found in Fred c.
Ainsworth, the Adjutant-General, with
the rank of Major-General, and the
other is Leonard Wood, also a Major
General. who is in command of the
Philippines Division, but who will soon
| return to the United States to take
command of the Department of the
East, the most desirable assignment in
the service.
Both of these men were graduated
| from the Medical Corps. and their rapid
advancement over the heads of line Off
GERS who served with distinction in the
field has excited the hostility of most
of the Officers of the Army
Gen. Woods case has aroused the
more bitterness because he rose from
the grade of Captain in the Medical
Corps in 1898 to the rank of Major
General in the line within eight years
1t will be recalled that when the Rough
Rider Regiment was formed at the out
break of the Spanish War President Nc
kinley, at the request OF Mr.. Roosevelt
then the Assistant Secretary of the
Navy, appointed Wood Colonel of that
organization. Alltho Gen. Ainsworth
has never had a field command, and
has always been detailed in the De-
partment at Washington, he has exhib-
tied executive ability of an exceptionally
high order, and to this, as well as to his
indefatigable industry and alertness, is
due his rapid promotion.
Admiral Brownson's Record.
On the other hand, Admiral Brown
son has war record that has endeared
him not only to the President, but to
everybody else. And it stacks up by
the side of Ainsworth's Woods and
Rixey's like starlight to sunlight
While resigning from his Bureau af-
fairs, Admiral Brownson retains his
rank and title on the retired list of the
Navy.
He was born July 8, 1845, at Lyons,
N. Y; was graduated from the United
States Naval Academy in 1865, and has
been actively engaged in naval work
ever since.
The incident in his career which
brought him into greatest prominence |
occurred at Rio de Janeiro in 1893, |
when, in command Iof the gunboat De- |
troit, he steamed under the guns of the |
Brazilian rebel battleships, Aquidadan
and Esmeralda. and. despite the protests |
of the big ironclads, conveyed two |
American merchant vessels thru the |
line,; thus breaking the
blockade and putting an end to the
naval rebellion under Admirals Mello |
and De Cana.
Since then President Roosevelt and
Admiral Brownson have been close
friends. When Mr.. Roosevelt was AS
sistant Secretary of the Navy, they were
intimate. In the Spanish
War Admiral Brownson commanded the
auxiliary cruiser Yankee. Afterward |
he commanded the ibattleship Alabama
and was Superintendent of the Naval
Academy.
When he reached the rank of Rear
he commanded the armored
cruiser squadron which brought Presi-
dent Roosevelt from New Orleans to
Hampton Roads in 1905. He took that
to the Philippines, and became |
Commander-in-Chief of the United
States naval forces on the Asiatic Sta
ion. He succeeded Rear-Admiral Con-
verse as Chief of the Bureau of Naviga-
ton on his return to the United States
IN May, 1907.
Taking it altogether, It looks as tho
there might be nasty sort of a shake
up in the Navy Department, because
Senator Hale has come out with the
statement that he believes that Brown
son was correct in the position which
he took, and it is we'll known that if
Senator Hale sits down on a PROPOSE
ion in the Senate, no matter whether
It is the Presidents or one of his low
lest supporters, that proposition is a
lead one.