The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-19
BOB EVANS TYPE OF OLD SAILORMAN One of the Most Picturesque Careers In Navy AST0NlSHED THE EMPEROR He Is Clustering and Profane, Yet He Is Loved By His Men
 and Is a Genuine
 Fighter.
AST0NISHED THE EMPEROR

From the New York World
 On the Sth of next May, when the Pa. ellie fleet has finished it's great review in san Francisco harbor, Robley D. Evans will haul down his rear-admirars flag and start for home to retire on August 1s On the first of these dates, in a fitting blaze of lights, one of the most typically sail ofman' careers in the history of the United States navy will terminate.
 For Evans is saiorman. There are Sfrategists, professors, commanders, he- foes, and everything else that is needful n the American navy, and on all these 1 foints Evans is outshone. But there Is robody in the navy who is such a typl- al sailorman. If the navy still consisted Of the unwieldly old frigates and little nrigs of Stephen Decatur's day, when steam was unknown and iron merely thing that would sink, Evans would be in his element
 He might have been one of Captain Marryats heroes. There is something in- congruous about the steam and steel of Els ships, when one looks at their con- mander. He is thoroughly up to date to the last inch of him, and yet he seems to belong back in the days of the first David Porter.
 Evans is not over-popular in the navy. About one-third of the officers devotedly admire him and about two-thirds hoot at the mention of his name. But the one third are sailormen and the two-thirds men of the modern mathematical type
 SurnFlSed Ennar0r wfIIian,
 All in all, there is not an officer in the navy who has such grip on his men and Ais ships. When he was at Kiel in 1895 extending the opening of the Kiel canal. the German Emperor came aboard and put him through a course ot sprouts For instance, when the Emperor asked him low long it would take him to close all "ater-ught doors and Evans said it could be done in two minutes, the Emperor as- t9n1shed Evans by asking him to do it himself. Evans tried to blow the siren but there was not steam enough and 1t would not blow
 "Aha!' said the Kaiser grinning with delight. You can't close your bulk headsr'
 Evans touched a general alarm button and Tn an instant the men were swarmitir lp. In one minute and a half, by the Elm peror's watch for Wilhelm held the time cn Evans himself-the doors were closed and the ship ready for action. This was at o'clock in the morning, and the Elm peror hurled bouquets at Evans until the sir turned red.
 Captain Evans,' said the Kaiser as he quit the ship, after a thorough investiga- ton, T cannot imagine that ship could be in better condition"
 Evans and the Kaiser bad both been hitting up champagne and cigars through- cut the evening-the Kaiser had been aboard all day and had dired there-and when the Emperor quit, at a. m, Evans thought he had seen the last of him. At o'clock his orderly awoke him to say that the Emperor was just passing steer ing his own yacht
 For heavens sake,' growled Evans. don't stop him! But he got up and l looked out of an air port, where he saw ine Teddy of Prussia in white fiannels steering the Meteor and looking" as Evans afterward admiringly said, "as If fe had never taken drink in his life" Doesn't Like "Fighting Bob." | How about the Fighting Bobv busi- ness? Evans says he doesn't like the term; ] lie parks at it. But such a title is the in- ev'table penalty of the ough-and-ready Clustering manner of such a sea dog It ls undeniabl that Evans does buster. The time-dishonored theory that a brave nan must be exceptionally modest and
 
 to find it fame, never did have a leg 10 stand on and meets it's final refutation in Evans.
 When he is going into action he lets everybody know it. "Ill make hell smell of garlic when I get down thercr' he said when he was ordered to Chili during the war scare of 1891 m make Spanish the cnly language spoken in he'll" he an- rcunced when he was ordered to Cuba at hpQinninR
 In these ladylike days of ours such sea captain may be out of date. One of Marryats heroes would have talked just that way. Now we require our sailors to follow the example of George Washing ton and are ''leery" of hero who brags. Put it is totally wrong and Evans has proved 1t. He can buster and bluster, s,bd yet be the most efficient seaman, the best commander, the most cautious and yet ready commander on the naval list: and he has done 1t.
 This reckless habit of speech was born n him. though it has been moderated somewhat of late years, largely as the re- sllt of the unmerciful scoring he got from Isadore Rayner, now senator from Maryland, in 1901, as result of his boast ful line of talk about his prowess at San tdgo. Still the time will never come When picturesque and rough swaggering hlmor will not proceed from Evans on any subject that comes uppermost
 The humorous side of everything ap- | eals to him. He used to keep diary in which he recorded in breezy fashion ev- ttything that he saw. Here is an extract from it, written in 1895, when he was in London:
 Called Prince "Nigger."
 After the party we drove to the zoo, where the Afghanistan Prince was having an outing. All the royal carriages we-a- cut, and the Prince and Princess of Wales were showing him about. They call him 'nigger,' and at the same time bow down to him and make much of him, for fear of what he may do in the east. Funny people! The nigger prince at d dinner party last week refused to enter the drawing room because of the low dresses of the ladies' saying it was not decent. When he had to take out the lady of the house, he walked two yards ahead of her and wouldn't look at her curing the dinner. Funny Digger. A "nigger" has always remained mig ger to Fighting Bob, despite his long service in Uncle Sans navy, for he was a Virginian to begin with and has never | ceased to be one. When the civil war | f1 oke out and the young southerners in | il.e service were called upon to make l their choice between state and nation, | Evans followed the course of Thomas. and not that of Lee. He went with the | old flag His mother, Virginian to tn ? ] core, was utterly dsgusted and humiliaL- | ed when she learned his intention.