The Washington herald., 1914-05-13
statss,.sa, Rel s.d Near.
b. FRED G. KELLY.

when the epanish- American war was
going on. young captain named Frank
L. 0reena, from Vermont lay In the
tyDhoid convalsscent ward Of q hospital
At Chickamauga on . cot alongside that
Of . young soldier named Sam +. sehs'
from Tennessse. Naturally they got ac-
quainted. When one Of them was ready
70 lsave the hospital there were hearty
expressionS OF hope that they would
meet again. They aid. but some years
later. and then they did not know each
other at frst Their next meeting was
as fellow members Of the Committee on
Pensions In the House Of Congress. And
one Of the frst pension cases they had
to pass on was that of q young man
who was In the army hospital at the
Same time they were.
Here's another coincidence that Greene
found himself snaried up In. When he
was young man. Greene Travelled all
over Europe. working his way as he
went. just for the Joy Of sightseeing and
finding out what the world was like. He
happened to strike Rome In time for the
big Jubilee he'd for the late Pope Plus
XIII on the fiftieth anniversary Of his
papal rule. After q lot of difhculty
Greene got q ticket for the affair, but It
got torn before he reached the doorway
where he was to present II. and a soldier
on duty there refused to accept II.
Greene argued and pleaded. and finally
the soldier let him In.
A couple OF years ago Greene fell into
conversation with an Italian fruit dealer
| on street corner in his native st. Al
bans. VT. They talked about places
II came out that both had been at the
papal jubilee.
II was serving time In the army then"
remarked the fruit dealer. land was as
signed to one Of the doors where people
gave In their tickets for the big cele-
bration. III never forget one American
who had q ticket that was no good. He
coaxed and carried on until I had to let
him in
Rear Admiral Frank Friday FIetch-
er. who handled the taking of Vera
Cruz, Is accredited with being an au-
thority on more different branches of
naval affairs than any man in the
United States. He entered the Naval
Academy at the age Of fourteen years
and ten months-which event was sig
nalized by his boyish nickname Of
Friday" being made a part of his
regular name in the academy records,
and he has been learning one thing
and another about naval matters ever
since.
He knows a lot about sunpowder,
about target practice, and about ord
nance mechanism. Most OF the three
inch field guns In use by the United
States today conform to inventions by
Fletcher. And the modern way of
handling a fleet was Fletcher's idea.
1t used to be that vessels in a feet
were kept in proper alignment and
the proper distance apart by means of
charts. Fletcher simplified this by
having lights placed on the vessels to
be used somewhat like sights on a
gun. The pilot sights along the two
signal lights on the vessel ahead of
him and knows just where he belongs
without the bother of backing and
flling or any monkey business whatso-
ever. The whole idea Is SO absurdly
simple that 1t was extremely stupid OF
somebody not to have thought of II
before.
Just because he Is a master OF details.
Fletcher is probably the strictest disci-
plinarian in the navy. When man
works under Fletcher he has to go the
whole distance. No half way business
and no skipping over the fine print viii
do. EsF.,
Fletcher il a man who has little to say.
either personally or officially. One would
take him at first size-up to be almost
morose. Yet his reserve Is not that OF
the crab. He is agreeable enough when
one knows him; he simply doesn't say
much.
To look at Fletcher one would say
that he would be about the last man In
| the world to be called Friday by his
associates.
II properly approached. Representative
Ansberry. of Ohio. will confess that he
fis one of the foremost pension grabbers
in Congress. When the armed conflict
with Mexico broke out Timothy was
asked II he purposed to organize an Irish
regiment and hasten to the front.
"Ah, no. replied Tim, shifting his
chest: but i shall stay right here and
make a brave fight to get pension fol
| every man that does 60
| (Copyright. 1914, by Fred C. Kelly. All rights re
| eeved)