The Washington times., 1913-03-23
MISS DOROTHY AINSMITH.

clubdom and betook himself to the out
of-way places where no one wanted to
intrude. @
Army and navy circles in Washington.
Boston, and New York remember him
as Admiral Eaton, typical officer. good
fellow, a man of the worlds affairs.
For several years Assinippi have known
him as the admiral who stays to him
SELF a queer, changing sort of mortal
whom no one professed to understand.
Near Assinippi he lived with the sec
ond Mrs. Eaton. who nursed the first
wife while she lay on her deathbed in
Washington. With Admiral Eaton and
the wife now accused of poisoning him
lived stepdaughter and the family, in
which peace has not reigned, was occa-
sionally visited by Eaton's mother-in-
law. The latter was there the night
Eaton died and she affrms that indiges-
ton caused the sudden demise.
Mystery In Living.
Almost as mysterious as the death of
Admiral Eaton was the manner of his
living during his last years. There has
been no satisfactory explanation of his
punctilious naval officer to farmer
and a shiftloss village character, best
satisfied when feeding his chickens.
There is not black mark against the
record OF Admiral Eaton as an officer.
Including his course of training at the
Naval Academy, he saw forty years
service in the navy, and when lie re-
tired in 1905 there was no fault to find
with the active career then closed. His
final assignment was the command of
the New York navy yard. and prior to
his retirement he had distinguished
himself in every grade of the service.
These facts make all til, more re-
markablc the story of his ath and
burial. and of that period of his life
Immediately following his farewell to
the navy, eight years ago
On the bridge Admiral Eaton was an
eXactlng commanding officer: as the
commandant of a navy yard there was
little of the queer about him; in his va
rious capacities as naval officer he held
the respect of those about him, and
when he went on the retired list no
one dreamed he was entering an era of
self-effacemcnt
Yet within a few years the change in
the man had been SO complete that he
was isolated from the world in which
he lad once moved; he died a virtual
recluse: no military horors marked the
consignment OF his body TO the grave
and his passing would have gone unno-
ticed by the country at large had il not
been for the peculiar circumstances
surrounding his home life and his
death
Admiral To Blame.
For the change in his life. however
Admiral Eaton was himself most to
blame. If mis- friends forsook him il
was because he drew apart; IL his
clubs knew him no more 1t was be-
cause he preferred the rustic seat in
a barnyard to the cushioned resting
place in a Eilded palace; If he lost
his dignified bearing IL was because he
suddenly acquired preference for baggy
clothes. slouch hat and overalls. and the
dumb companionship of chickens and
animals.
Straitened circumstances did not bring
about the practical octracism of Ad-
miraI Eaton. His pay as retired naval
officer was ample for ordinary needs
and his former friends have never un-
derstood why the admiral sought the
scclusion of a Massachusetts farm and
gradually withdrew from the life he had
known.
Following his retirement from active
service in 1905. Admiral Eaton lived for
short time in Washington, where his
first wife died. The marriage always
had been considered a most happy one.
and there was surprise when il was an
nounced the following year that he had
married again.
His second wife was a divorcee of D..
H. Ainsworth. at one time Senate EN-
ployc and was an Alexandria, Va. girl.
fnn ant nrnrpN
ment between the admiral and his wife,
the former explained that he believed
she was a widow when he married her.
lie did not discover until later, he said.
that she flad been divorced. After their
marriage in Chicago, the couple came
East and 1t was then that Admiral
Eaton began his life on poultry farm.
The farm. while not unattractive. was
isolated. Because Of the admirals po-
sItion nc was welcomed TO the social
life OF the village and for a time he and
Mrs. Eaton went about among their
new found friends. Gradually they