The Washington herald., 1911-11-21
PRINCE OF WALES ENDS
CAREER AS MIDSHIPMAN


service as midshipman on the British
man-o'-war Hindustan. Whether this Is
TO end the naval career of the heir to the
English throne is not clear, but this most
probably is the case. At any rate, he
will spend the winter at Sandringham
with his grandmother, Queen Alexandra,
during the absence of his parents in
India for the durbar. Next year he viii
enter one of the universities.
When the Prince Of Wales Joined the
Hindustan il was arranged that the
cruise should be for three months This
period has not actually expired, but in
view of the departure Of the King and
Queen. which took place five days ago,
coupled with the fact that the Hindustan
has been ordered to proceed at once to
Irish waters, It has been deemed the best
course for the young prince to leave the
ship now.
The three months spent by him on
board the war ship have been for him a
strenuous time, filled with exacting du-
ties, which, according to report, have
been performed by him with cheerful
willingness and an intensity of purpose
which have won for the prince the high
appreciation Of his superior officers and
the respect of his colleagues.
Throughout the four years spent at
he has lived the life of an ordinary cadet,
and has shared and shared alike with all
his fellows of whatever station. He has
experienced all the drudgery and all the
arduous phases of life which fall to the
lot of a naval cadet, as well as the more
pleasurable side of the calling. and has
cheerfully submitted to the common dis
cipline of both establishments.
n.
some departures from the general prac-
tice. but they certainly were not dis
criminatory in his favor. Capt. Camp
bell, who had charge of the prince. was
anxious to give him at least a fair in
sight of the workings in all the depart
ments OF a modern great battle ship,
and as all this had to be compressed
into three months, some notifications of
the usual course of training had be-
come inevitable Hence. for instance, the
prince was allowed to receive his in
structions direct from or through the
head of each department separately. He
a gunnery lieutenant, as well as those
practically OF every branch on board,
and. as a result. he has acquired some
experience of every department of the
big ship and of the duties.
Although at first, perhaps. a little retir-
ing. the prince afterward displayed a
bright and CHEEKY disposition, which
made him popular on both the quarter
and lower decks. II is an open secret
that he is leaving the Hindustan reluc-
family. FOR he obviously enjoyed the life.
but the prince is among the first to real
ize that his lot is to prepare himself for
other branches OF the public service.
Capt. Campbell said the prince was a
very hard worker. He had taken part in
every duty which an officer was liable to
be called upon to perform. He had done
his night watches. taken part in the gen.
eral drills and the landing OF parties
with small arms. He also experienced.
like every other officer. the toll and
drudgery of an inspection, as we'll as the
spectacular phase. He Is what we naval
men call the live thing The prince
is a long way ahead of his years. which
is due to the fact that he is an eXtraOrdi-
narily hard worker"
During the coming winter the Prince
OF Wales will continue his studies at
Sandrngham.
A real romance OF the seIf-made man
lies behind the announcement that Sir
William Edward Smith has been ap-
pointed director of naval construction at
the British admiralty. to succeed Sir
Philip Watts Sir William started his
distinguished career at the very foot OF
the ladder. AS boy he was helper in
the sailing ship still held the seas he
worked with his hands on some Of the
earliest ironclads. and so, step by step,
reached his present position.
He was born at Portsmouth in 1880. and
began at the age OF eleven by working
at the ropewalks at Portsmouth dock
yard. There as the men spun the threads
II was his duty to catch the ends, and.
with a turn of the wrist that was at
first difficult to acquire. throw them over
the hooks If the lad who was one day TO
direct the building of the yet undreamed-
of Dreadnoughts ever thought OF his fu-
ture il must have been in hours of great
WEAKNESS, for the ropewalk was 40
yards long, and he tramped this liz times
daIIy-a walk of twenty-eight miles for
boy OF eleven.
After four years of this he became an
apprentice at Woolwich, then in its last
days as a royal dockyard. and was after
wards transferred to Portsmouth. where
he worked in the yards and shops. In
1869 he entered the Royal School of Archi-
lecture at South Kensington. The school
was then surrounded by cornfelds. and
he saw the walls of Gloucester-road rail-
way station rise amid growing crops.
Early in his career he formed a taste
elected to take his prizes in the form of
books on the subject, and to-day, from
his weIl-filled bookshelves on that science,
he takes down with pride Herschers
Outlines of Astronomy and Roscoe's
Spectrum Analysis" bearing labels that
recall hard-won prizes Of those early
days.
From South Kensington he entered the
naval construction department in 1873. and
NhaN ANv1an nor hnnn a
steady progress to the top of the tree.
His first work was in connection with the
early ironclads, Northampton, Colossus,
and InfieXibfe-ships which have long
since passed to the scrap heap and hand
ed their names on to more powerful sue
cessors.
In the early sos, Sir William was ap-
pointed instructor in naval architecture
at the Royal College, at Greenwich, and
his lectures on the armoring of battle
ships. published by the admiralty, became
the recognized textbook on the subject.
Later came the superintendent of the
building of battle ships in private yards
all over Great Britain.
The Earl of Onslow, former governor
of New Zealand and president of the
board of agriculture in the last Union
list cabinet is dead at Hampstead. in
the home Of his son, Viscount Cranley.
Lord Onslow was born In 1853 He came
of an old parliamentary stock. for he
was the lineal descendant OF three speak
ers of the House. of Commons-Richard
Onslow, who filled the chair in 1865; Sir
Richard Onslow, who was speaker in the
reign of Queen Anne; and, greatest OF
all, Arthur Onslow, who was speaker
during the entire reign of George IL, till
the first year Of the reign Of George III,
from III till 1761.