Evening journal., 1910-07-22
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
The Man Who Was Saved
Against His Will
BY "HOlland."
By "Honand.''

If Lieutenant John L. Worden,
whom, you know better as Rear Ad-
miral Worden, had had his way, he
would have been killed in the naval
battle between the Monitor and the
Merrimac, instead of receiving the in
jury to his eyes which every school
history tells came to him while he
was gazing through the lookout hole
of the pilot house of the cheese box
at the height Of the battle" said a
cousin of Admiral Worden to me
when his distinguished kinsman's ca
reer was under discussion.
while the Monitor was partly
completed, and work upon it was be-
ing rushed day and night. so as to
get 1t ready at the earliest possible
moment to oppose the ironclad which
the government knew the Confeder-
ates were building at Norfolk, Va,
the Secretary Of the Navy, Gideon
Welles. determined upon Lieutenant
Worden as the commander of the
cheese box, and my cousin was ask
ed TO proceed to Greenpoint, Long
Island, and make a careful inspection
of the curious craft On the morning
tenant reported at the shipyard of
the Delamaters, and It was with very
curious eyes that he beheld the little
ironclad
Ericsson and one of the Delama-
ters took him all over the Monitor.
He was intensely interested in the re
volving tower, and warmly approved
of the mechanism by which It was
l 10 f,r Il
lutely impregnable, in my opinion.
he declared. I don't believe a shot
could hit Il square; any blow would
glance off of It..
Lieutenant Worden was equally
satisfied with various other parts OF
the vessel shown him, but at last he
asked But where is the pilot house
There must be some place from which
the pilot and the commander can look
out upon the waters so as to guide the
vessel, either for navigation or into
battle
Ericsson took my cousin along the
passageway beneath the deck TO a
point very near the bow of the little
boat and then pointed to little tow
er-like projection reaching only about
two feet above the deck.
That's where the pilot or com
mander will stand he said. That's
your post when you are I'm battle.
Lieutenant Worden looked the lit
/ tie pilot house over carefully. He
found the lookout hole and peered
through it. At once, he turned to the
inventor. That's an absurdly small
hole he declared. i insist that the
slot be widened considerably
That slot is just the proper
width replied Ericsson. 1T would
not be safe to have the opening any
wider
Nevertheless, ! shall insist that
II be made wider. I will appeal to
Secretary Welles and ask him to issue
an order instructing Mr.. Delamater
TO have a much wider slot made,
retorted the Lieutenant.
Sure enough" continued the Rear
Admirals cousin, when Lieutenant
Worden returned TO Washington he
made an urgent appeal TO the Secre-
tary of the Navy to order the slot to
be considerably widened, and after
much hemming an order was issued
for a slot somewhat wider, but not
nearly so wide as the Lieutenant had
commended for.
mot long thereafter there was
fought the battle that revolutionized
sea warfare, and, as every school boy
knows, early in the engagement a
she'll from the Merrimac struck -ex-
actly upon the pilot house where the
slot was. IL was a terrific blow, and
through the slot and into the face OF
Lieutenant WOrden, who was LOOKING
out of the slot al the moment. a greai
amount of fine metal and powder
passed. He fell back. MORALLY wound
ed, apparently, a fate that would un
doubtedly have been his had he ha,
his full way about teh width o
that slot. He was saved against hi
will. Still, for all that, had he no
had his way partially. he probabl
would have escaped the serious injur.
that threatened for a time to blini
him permanently"
Copyright, 1910, by E. J. Edwards
All rights reserved.)
Tomorrow Mr.. Edwards will tell Q
"The Time That +. 4. Barnum Wa
! Actually FlabherCaSted0