New-York tribune., 1908-08-19
EVANS TALKS OF JAPAN
Continued from nrst page

listed men have better quarters, are better
cared FOR and get more liberty than they used
to
Be said the navy was steadily getting
higher class .of men and that the standard wa.
improving each year He did not believe the
service would ever suffer from inability to get
sood men
AS matter of fact said the admiral. ''our
reouireuleuts are exceedingly severe II We
were to be less strict, even make our require
rnents slightly easier. could and would
easily get more men for the service than are
needed or than We could use. There need be
no 1neasness about this
"0f course when We get midshipmen fresh
from Annapolis they know little nothing
about handling and not too much about
r77nnery They haven't time 70 learn those
things they are too busy studying. But it IS
rot z difficult matter ~ lick them into shape.
and most of them can be developed into excel
lrnt officers
HIS GREATEST ACFIFT ENTENT
In looking back upon the fortv-eight wears
ot your naval career v-het do you regard a. your
greatest achievement -
I regard as the best piece Of work ever
did the organization and equipment Of the bat
-leship feet and taking that feet around Cape
HON into the Pacific Ocean No other thing in
~ career gives ne IS much satisfaction as
that ror % I consider anything I did 50 i'm
7ortant
The most disagreeable duty ever had was
-hen 7 commanded the Iowa al the blockade
~ Santiago It was frieh+fullv hot and of
course our decks were cleared for action all
ire tine and the matches battened down But
then there was the battle finally The pleas
sutest cruise ever made was lust before the
china station. The japanese people showed me-
unusual attention and courtesy. and look back
~ that tire as the pieasantest Of my entire
naval career
He thought the Naval Academy vas turning
nut excellent material. In regard TO the course
e. Annapolis. he had made several reccrmenda-
tons 70 the Wainwright committee ct seems
p ne" he said. that perhaps little too much
tire ! being devoted TO mechanical drawing.
not speaking authoritativey. neither am
crfticisi in any way. That is simply my i'm
preston. but I do not know enough about the
exact situation TO give any definite opinion upon
that question There is one thing. however.
that should receive careful attention az the
Academy. and that is the question Of the eye
sig of the nidshipmen Annapolis is sending
- TOO many men with impaired eyesight-
have noticed that large number Of the passed
uidshipu1en have 70 wear eyeglasses. Some
thing should be done to rectify this. I do not
know whether the fault lies in the lighting svs-
ten at Annapolis or in the mechanical drawing
course. but 1t is there.
Admiral. is there any truth in the story that
after the battle OF Santiago you called out from
the bridge Of the Iowa 10 captain of another
bsttleship, Those Spaniards can't hit a
damned thing except vater?'
Admiral ans laughed heartily. Il will tell
vnu what really did say and what the incident
really was he said One drizzIy day during
the blockade We stood in toward the harbor and
shelled the shore batteries. Il wasn't as excit-
InE II might have been. for whether We hit
anything not I know the Spaniards didn't
come near us After the sheIling was over d
press boat laid alongside my ship and a news
paper man asked II we had been hit. I shouted
hack. They didn't touch Us The Spaniards
didn't hit anything except water. and they
couldn't have hit that If there wasn't so damned
much Of it,
Rear Admiral Evans Is now preparing series
Of twelve naval articles for New York mag
azine The first one viii appear in October of
this year. He said that some OF these articles
dealt with the cruise CT the battIeship squad
ron
Do YOU expect to do much literary work."
Il intend to write from time to time he
said. and I will do more work on The Sailors
log"
Throughout the interview Rear Admiral
Evans was constantly interrupted by persons
coming congratulate him. and the majority
Of them brought birthday gifts Every child at
the Lake Mohonk Mountain House gave him
some reminder OF the day mostly things which
they themselves had made The children look
upon him as their official storyteIler and
Rmuser and not an evening passes without a
number Of them gathering around him and beg