Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-04-30
Notable Services of Admiral Kimball

Rear Admiral William w. Kimball,
recently retired, a brother of Mrs. E.
H. Guyer and j. R. Kimball of this
city, and well known here, is the sub
ject of an interesting story appearing
! in the New York World of April "a.
1t is as follows
When Rear Admiral William Writ
Kimball hauls down his flag from the
cruiser Albany as commander-in-chief
of the Nicaragua eXpeditionary force
he will have ended a five months tour
of duty which has been of exceptional
interest and Importance. The assign
ment, moreover. has been extremely
complimentary to him, inasmuch as he
| is the only officer of the navy who has
been assigned to the command of a
squadron after having been transferred
from the list of active service to the
roster of the retired.
The admiral has almost rounded out
the stipulated period of active service
when the Nicaraguan troubles broke
out. When on the first of last Deem
Der the government deemed it neces-
sary to send strong body of marines
and numerous force of warships to
the scene, it was announced that Ad
miral Kimball, then on duty in Wash
ington, had been assigned to command
the expedition. The admiral was then
almost on the verge of retirement and
it was practically certain that this duty
would considerably overlap into the re-
tired period. But as explained by the
navy department, 'Kimball is the very
man for the work.
Those intimately acquainted with the
admiral and who had foreknowledge
of what the work was likely to be, did
not need that official endorsement to
know that he was the very man to
handle it. Eminently competent in his
profession, the admiral possessed other
qualifications which perfectly fitted
him for this task, one of these being
thorough knowledge of international
law The result has shown that it was
to Admiral Kimball, more than to any
other man, that credit is due for our
having emerged from the Nicaragua
imbroglio with so few blunders when
the possibility of creating numerous
ones and accentuating those already
made were so numerous and prolific.
But the admiral showed himself to
be diplomat of high order. He won
the confidence and esteem of the whole
of Nicaragua, irrespective of party.
He was cheered wherever he went,
by the Madriz government party, by
the Extradists, by the Intervention
lists.
What we need one of the inter
ventionists enthusiastically said to the
admiral at the time when Intervention
talk was running high, lis American
occupation and the strong arm of your
country compelling order in Nicara-
qua
What you really most need" the
admiral with his customary good sense
replied, 'is less talk of revolution, less
importations of fire arms and more of
farm Implements
The Nicaraglan newspapers have
had columns of complimentary refer
ences to Admiral Kimball. Consider
ing that he was in Nicaraguan waters
and in command of a military force
which might any day have been called
into use against Nicaragua, this praise
from these Sir Huberts is praise in
deed. With three parties struggling
IOI SUPP SuudCss WIFI inc OllS III ppWOi
being distinctly hostile to everything
American, the situation from any
point of view was an extremely del:-
cate one and required infinite tact to
handle. The admiral is possessed of
that tact in high degree and brought
it into play. Not only did he prevent |
any conflict between the forces of the
United States and those of the con-
tending parties, but in so doing fully |
maintained the dignity of the flag and |
met every situation with a strict Oh. |
servance of the requirements of inter |
national law and of naval usage.
1t is a commentary on our system |
of promotion that this distinguished |
officer had almost rounded out his |
active service before he had obtained |
a flag command. "All things come to |
him who waits-too late" he one day |
paraphrased to the writer, who had &C |
companied his expedition. -Four |
weeks from retirement he continued, |
land my flag hoisted for the first time, /
and hcisted en- transport"
The admiral was born in Paris, |
naval academy on July 81, 1866, grad
uadIng four years later. In 1870 he |
was promoted to the rank of ensign |
and in the following year to that of I
master. a rank which was abolished /
many years ago. He was one of the
first of his profession on this side of /
the Atlantic TO recognize the potential |