Evening journal., 1909-04-03
Saturday, April 3, 1909
BATTLEsHIP GIFT.

NOW for a long and a strong pull to raise
money with which TO purchase suitable
present for the Battleship Delaware which will
be the pride and the flag ship of the American
Navy Delaware waited long before she had the
honor of having war vessel of the first class
named for her. But she gets her due, and per-
haps many another state wishes that it had
waited little longer so that it would not be OUT
done by Delaware i'll the navy. Frequently
il pays to be patient and in this instance our
State has been literally rewarded, thanks to the
untiring efforts of our Senators and Representa-
tvcs in Congress, ably supported by our civic
bodies. Working together they prevailed upon
the then Secretary Bonaparte to honor Delaware
and Delawareans must show in substantial
manner appreciation of the honor conferred upon
the State.
The Legislature has made an appropriation OF
$1,000 for the gift fund. We wish it were more
We know now what is to be counted on from the
State. The ST 900 appropriation is but drop in
the bucket of what will be needed. The exact
sum to be raised has not yet been definitely de-
termined, but there is no fear that too much
money will be secured The Board of Trade has
taken hold of the matter of raising the fund in a
patriotic manner and it should be supported by
all Delawareans, both in the State and out of it.
A pleasing announcement of the committee is
that Mr.. Howard Pyle one of our most distn-
guished citizens, has consented to make the de-
sign for the silver service. This shows that the
committee has started right. Mr.. Pyle is one of
the most eminent men OF the country III his pro-
fession and it goes without saying that no state
has presented more beautifully designed silver
service than the design which Mr.. Pyle will
make.
It is important that the raising of the fund
should not be considered a Wilmington affair
This is a matter in which every county should be
concerned and the rural districts as well as the
towns should make contributions. The collect
ing of the money should not be imposed upon a
few rich men. AS many citizens as possible
should contribute even though their contributions
may be small Kent and Sussex should be as
deeply concerned as is New Castle, and we are
sure that New Castle or the Board OF Trade rep
resenting Wilmington viii be glad to hear of any
suggestions as TO ways and means from citizens
of the other counties.
A few OF the many organizations of the city
have already made small contributions to the
fund; others will do so. Every organization OF
whatever character in the State ought to give
something. Then there will be the school chill
dren to draw from Parochial public and private
schools should Join in the work and Delaware
College should add its contribution. The sooner
we begin the actual gathering OF the funds the
better it will be. This is project in which per-
sons of all parties and creeds and both sexes
may ioin All will be welcome. The important
thing now is to begin. We trust that every
newspaper in the State will take ZIP the matter
and do what it can to help the cause along.
We have observed that some of the Organized
Militia favor the giving of a library to the bat
tleship for the reason that such gift would be
Of more direct benefit to the sailors on the ship.
Much could be said in favor Of the library, but
we understand that the idea Of the Board of
Trade is to present library also if sufficient
funds are raised. However, it is important that
before we do anything, we should unite in our
plans and not work at cross purposes. Intima-
tons it is said,k have come from Washington
that silver service is the gift that would be
most proper as the Delaware will probably be
the flagship of the navy, the ship which will
be received guests from other countries and va
rious notables. If the State of Delaware does
not furnish the silver service, the government
will have to do so. The silver service there
fore, seems to be the proper thing; but first OF
all whether the gift shall be silver service or
something else the important thing to do is to
get our hands the money necessary for pur-
chasing the gift. That done all the rest will be
easy.