The Carlisle independent., 1908-01-16
HAS WIDE EXPERIENCE.
IMPORTANT POSTS HELD BY
 REAR-ADMlRAL BROWNSoN.
Naval Officer Who Resigned as Chief of Bureau of Navigation Has Won Praise Both as Execu-
 tive and Fighter.

Washington.-R Willard Herbert Brownson, who has resigned as chief of the bureau of navigation after difference of opinion with President Roosevelt, is an officer who has proved numerous times that he combines both the qualities of fight CT and an executive. He has had particularly wide experience and has held some very important posts, both ashore and af1oat, in all of which he has won praise from those who have had occasion to pass upon his work.
 Brownson, who attained the rank of rear-admiral in 1905, had just come from command of the Asiatic feet when he was appointed to the bureau of navigation last spring. At that time he had reached the age of retirement, but was placed at the head of the bureau nevertheless because of his ability.
 As nlidshipman he headed dar- ing cutting out" party which defeated gang of Mexican pirates as a com mander he handled the cruiser Detroit when it broke the Brazilian blockade in 1894; as a captain he commanded the Yankee during the Spanish-Ameri- can war. He has been tried equally thoroughly in other lines of duty He. has done scientific work for the coast survey; he was in the Photographic office for four years in important posi- hn of I0{c at the naval academy and he was superintendent Of that institution from 1902 to 1904, when he made record for efficient work; he was sent abroad in 1898 to purchase ships of war for this country, doing his work so well that he was thanked by the navy de- partment
 One of Brownson's most interest ing adventures came to him when, as a midshipman, he was attached to the old Mohegan on the Pacific station. He was at that time P years old, having been born at Lyons, N. Y, in 1S45 He was graduated at the naval academy near Mazatlan, Mexico, when the cit izens of that port appealed to Capt. Lowe, the commander, for protection against crew of pirates who were killing innocent citizens, footing un- protected towns and committing dep relations of frightful barbarity all along the coast.
 Capt. Lowe promised that he would deal with the pirates, and he soon thereafter located them in a cluster ot tropical lagoons, almost inaccessible because of dense vegetation. The pirate captain had worked his vessel into a snug position, where he believed himself safe from all attacks, having got wind of the fact that the cantain of the American man-of-war was look ing for him. But he made a mistake in his. calculations as to the kind of men who were in command of the yes. sel flying Old d-Glory When Capt. Lowe discovered where the pirate craft was hidden he detailed Midshipman Brown son, with boats crew, to attack them. It was a desperate command that Brownson undertook, the small boat pulling up to the schooner un~ protected. Brownson's boat, however. was permitted to reach the schooner unmolested. The pirate ship was ut terly silent and deserted.
 The moment. however, that the American sailors, headed by Brown son, climbed over the rail a volley of gunshots was poured upon them from the limbs of the trees near by. The pirates had arranged an ambush in this fashion, the whole crew being under cover and invisible. Realizing that he could do nothing in the way of reaching the pirates, Brownson's quick mind instantly conceived plan