Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1908-04-17
SPERRY AND HIS WORK
An Intimate Estimate OF Rear
Admiral Evans Successor.
DlGNIFlED AND WELL TRAINED
In Spanish War He Missed the Glory,
but Not the Hard Work-A Quiet
Mathematician Who Has Been In the
Navy Forty-sis Years.

Dut moi the nara "OfN-N Sulet
Mathematician Who Has Been In the
Navy Forty-ss Years.
An estimate of Rear Admiral Charles
s. Spcrry. who is to succeed Rear Ad-
mlral Evans in command of the Unit
ed States fleet that will make tour
of the world. is given In the New York
Post by Z. W. Very, formerly of the
United States navy. who says:
"Do know Spcrry: Let me see. He
entered the service in 90. That was
forty-siX years ago II that computa-
ton is right ! have known Spcrry for
ty-fivc years and have known him init
mately some forty odd Why. helped
him get through with his wedding GER
emony and year afterwurd | brought
bride of my own to visit the happy
couple However. you want Ia know
what kind of It commander in chief he
Is going to make and how he came 10
get the appointment. In SO far rs the
1ect is concerned. ! can say without
hesitation that precisely rs Evans has
reported from Magdalena bay that the
iicet is in better shape than it was
when it left Hampton Roads so Sper-
~ will be able to show to an inSpec-
ton board when the ships anchor there
again
AS to the reason why he receives
the appointment. since neither political
nor family influence has anything to
do with it and since he in a manner
missed the chance Ia earn glory In the
late war with Spain. the circumstances
are perhaps worth explanation. In the
FIRST place. Spcrry had the good luck to
enter the service very young, 50 that
his retiring age comes quite later than
that Of his classmates. the majority of
whom are already retired Then he
had the common sense aud brains nee
eSsary to graduate from the academy
away up in the single numbers OF his
class. Thus. you see. right nj the start
he got into shape to become a rear adj
mirHi early and to stay late
His start in active service WIS as
dime novel, although | never could
persuade him to view It In that light
He started for the China station on the
corvet Sacramento. and they got along
all right until somewhere near the
mouth Of the Hooghy river on the
way to Calcutta. when the ship went
ashore ut night in fog and was to
tai wreck. Ne lives were lost. and no
clothes We're saved. SO all hands came
home rich only in experience. If |
were commissioned to write Sperry'S
biography could no doubt rake NJ
lots of such material of narrowing in
tercSt To the people who pass their
lives ut home. but in order to he truth
full | should have TO get my detailed
facts from the fOuntalnhead. ana right
there Is where | should meet with de.
feat, for the reason that all such cpl
sodes would appear to him as too com
mOnpIace to be worth even recalling
''Spery is phlegmatic doubt much
If he took his shipwreck any more So
riouSly than a person would who step
ped in mud puddle. 1t was all over
as soon as his paiamaS got dry. The
day that he got married you would
have thought that Il was his sixteenth
experience instead of his first one. Ap.
pearanCeS are often deceptive, and the
matter of fact air may come from alb.
Soiute vacuity of mind. but such an ac-
cuSation can hardly be laid at his door
His innate mathematical talent sent
him repeatedly to the Naval academy |
as IN Instructor in higher mathematics |
Only the best talent in the service |
would ever be picked for president of |
the Naval Var college, and he served |
in that capacity for three years. relin. |
gushing ii TO go as the naval member |
of the last lIague conference
Il have sad that he missed the glory |
of the Spanish war. SO he did. but he
by no means missed the hard work OF
it. for as ordnance officer of the New |
York navy yard he had anything but |
smecure, To the ordnance officer fall |
all the details of fitting the vessels out |
with their entire artillery outfits There |
was scarcely Il day for more than six !
purchased yachts were not at the |
docks to be armed and started off in
hurry. but not Il mistake must be made. !
this only in addition to the repairs aud |
equipment of the main feet.
Il saw Sperry at his work often in
those days, and it was a JOY to the
spirit to see the machine work There
was tangle in the thread every live
minutes, but it came straight in Il mo-
ment and without stop in the regular
motion Of the shuttle. He is going to
handle the feet of battleships in eX-
tctIy the same way. 1t is not merely
matter Of navigating some twenty
old vessels in company There are the
comfort, the well being. the training
and the steady enthusiasm of $4,000
people TO be maintained 1t takes
steady hand at the wheel and solid
sense unaffected by what is called the
exalted position to carry the cruise to
a successful finish. Trust Sperry.
But how did he secure the appoint
ment? Notwithstanding the dispatches
that state that it has just been deier.
mined after consultation, there are all
the finger marks of a long and well de-
veloped plan of the naval authorities.
In the first place, it Is easily seen what