The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1909-05-18
.Flc,4,INc <HoH,s. LECTURE.

"FlcHlINc sHoB,s. LECTURE.
Robley Dunglison Evans, retired
rear-admiral of Uncle Sans navy,
best known OF Americas naval officers
either retired or now in active service,
/ sat in a big arm chair. on the stage at
the Burtis opera house in Davenport
last Friday night and once more made
| that memorable cruise from Hampton
Roads to San Francisco in command
l,of the U. s. Atlantic fleet. The admir-
al proved himself lecturer Of rare
worth. HIS recollection Of the Incl
dents which occurred during the voy-
age around the Horn was as clear as
though they had happened only yester-
day. Two brief hours and the lee
ture was concluded. The audience,
while small, was one of the most ap-
preciative which ever gathered in the
tri-cities. It gave the retired admiral
an ovation as he entered the opera
house. 1t appleuded him frequently
following displays of rare wit or re-
marks which stirred within one the
burning flame OF patriotism for ones
country, cne'- flag, ones navy upon
the high seas. After relating that
wonderful story of the more wonderful
trip made by sixteen powerful battle
ships Fighting Bob was not back
ward in giving some advice to those
who at present command Uncle Sans
fleets. The Rock Island Union, which
prints readable synopsis of his re-
marks. quotes him as saying in this
connection:
Living up in the stars Is all very
nice, said Evans, in referring to the
argument now being made by some
well mentioned people to the effect
that the U. s. should take the initial
steps in the universal peace program
of disarmament, but the thing for us
to do Is to stay with our feet in the
grass. What we must do is keep peace
if we have to fight for it,
You need more ships, said the adj
miral and as he said it his eyes lit
UP with light which surely comes
only after one has been in command
of tho greatest of the worlds great
battleship fleets during cruise which
made nations stare and, after the first
glance, return to their firesides and
keep the peace
There was both praise and censure
in the admiral's lecture as outlined
in the published report In referring
to certain moves made by congress
Sin its wisdom he made resort to sar-
casm which was not lost on his audi
ence. Evans remarks showed plainly
that in his mind the man behind the
guns Is many times hindered, handi-
capped by the man many miles from
the field OF action but who is continu-
ally placing his finger in the pie"
= Fighting Bob, the hero-worshipped
and hero-worshipper, could not say too
much for Uncle Sans navy and the
men Of which it is composed. The re-
port in the Union goes on to say:
There is just one soft spot he
said and as he did so raised his left
hand and motioned as though he were
outlining the needs Of the navy to the
President of the United States, there
is not navy enough. You cannot de-
fend your Pacific coast with a fleet
basis in the Atlantic. Two fleets are
needed.
No disarmament is wanted. The
millennium is not within telegraph
distance as yet. And before 1t does
come to sight there will be good
many hard knocks. What you want to
do is be ready. Unless navy is ready
to defend the country at moments
notice it is of no value
Admiral Evans praised the stalwart
men who have left the plowshares OF
the middle west at various times and
gone aboard the battleships of Uncle
Sam as "greenhorns" only to prove
! the "belt sailors ever" after little
/ training on the high seas. He told OF
the effort the Atlantic fleet made to
make the jamestown exposition a
success and described that effort as
''the toughest job ever" In speaking
of the orders received from President
Roosevelt regarding the cruise around
the Horn he stated that the President
said the cruise was to be cruise oil
] peace. THAT is" said Evans I'VE are
going to go with peace in mind but il
anybody wanted to have trouble they
would have to take the consequences
There were sixteen battleships to be
taken fourteen hundred miles, some
had no guns, they had never been to
gether. 1t seemed an impossible task
After the exposition ended and be
fore starting on its long journe,
around the world the fleet had prac
tice as in time of war. OF this ex
perience the admiral said
"a lot of shore station officers came
out and they brought rules and UNI
pires and judges. They would place
one ship at distance and play war.
When they would signal that shil
wouls have to haul down her flag as /;
sign of defeat. If you had been with
in half mile of that ship as she haul
, ed down her flag you would have
, heard some beautiful English-Norti
American English. The men said the.
hadn't been fired on, they hadn't beer
defeated so why should they hau
down their flag?"