Omaha daily bee., 1909-06-11


Captain Samuel c. Lemly, judge advocate
general of the navy during the Spanish
American war and prosecutor of Rear Ad-
mlral Schley in the famous court Of In
quiry, has been an inmate of st. Eliza
beth's hospital for the insane in Washing
ton for nearly a year.
Worry over the Sampson-Schley contro-
versy shattered his reason, it is said. 1t Is
understood that Captain Lemly never re-
covered from the hard work performed at
the Schley trial. That was the most noted
work Of his naval career.
The affliction Of Captain Lemly calls at
tention once more to the strange fatality
that has followed those who were con-
cerned In the S~ampson-Schley controversy,
Admiral Sampson himself, who was the
storm center of the great trial, was at
flicted fatally at the time of the agitation.
His affection was described as aphasia,
and it was Of so serious a nature that he
could not appear at the trial. He died
shortly afterward.
It is certain that brooding over the causes
which brought about the trial and which
divided officers and men in the navy into
violent factions helped materially to pro-
duce and a~ggravate Admiral SIMPSONS
trouble.
The truth is that the sampson-schley
controversy never has been settled and
every now and then 1t breaks out In con-
v~ersation at the Navy department.
About a year ago this city and the navy
were startled by the suicide of Lieutenant
John w. Crawford, confidential secretary
of Admiral Dewey, who was president Of
the board of inquiry. Lieutenant Crawford
all the sessions of the court and
several times was put in as stenographer
Jere Wilson, a famous Washington law
yer, who was one OF the attorneys for
Rear Admiral Schley, died very suddenly
when engaged in the case.
Surgeon General Rixey has been ordered
by the secretary Of the navy to make an
investigation of the cause of
so many failures of Naval academy stu
in the final physical examinations.
of a class Of $50 midshipmen forty
three were debarred from graduating be
cause of physical disability, most of them
OF defective eyesight or a patho-
logical condition OF the valves of the heart.
This subject came to the attention OF the
through nine of the rejected mid
coming to Washington to apply
for examination for commissions in the
coast defense corps, in which wearing
glasses is not forbidden, as it Is in the
navy.
The secretary told DR.. Rixey that in his
opinion there must be something radically
wrong either with the examinations held
hafpra aAPnffffpR the Np4lpa man 70 fHa
academy or else in the condition which
their life there, and whatever
it was it must be discovered and remedied.
On inquiry Mr.. Meyer found that last
year. with a graduating class Of 200, eighty
or more midshipmen were rejected after
the physical test, and this only served to
confirm his view that there was something
6Sfective in the system at the academy.
Some members of the faculty at Annapolis
have expressed the opinion privately that
the course Of study is. so hard as seriously
to overwork the men, and to constitute
a grave n TO their physical we'll
being, n the condition OF the graduating
classes OF the last two years would seem
to bear out the contention.
The feat OF Senator Gore In Keeling off
columns OF Tariff StatlStlcS IN a recent
speech serves to increase public interest
in the blind senator and his remarkable
intellectual equipment. The oklahoman
occupies a seat In the back row on the
side, save when he makes his
speech. Then he moves down to senator
Daniels seat in the front row. For a
man, Senator Gore does an awful lot
of writing. especially while Aldrich, Smoot
or some other republican is explaining or
defending the tariff bill. He scribbles
away at a great rate, and everyone wonders
what it is about. At other times he sits
bolt upright, paying strict attention. He Is
the best listener in the senate.
Gore, In action, is picturesque. He has
a magnificent voice. is a master Of sar-
casm. and is feared by republicans more
than any other democrat, including Bailey.
Gore has trained himself in tricks to cover
up his blindness. While speaking he swings
regularly from left to right, turning his
head so as to address all his auditors, He
snaps out his words with vigor. To empha-
size them he jerks his head In q way that
would ordinarily bring on intense headache.
Cores hair is iron gray, stiff and plentiful.
With each jerk of his head his hair flies
into disorder. then with many shakings and
tremblings II gradually readjusts itself, only
o be sent flying asain as the speaker drives
home another point