The Washington herald., 1914-01-18
ADMIRAL UPSHUR AT NINETY, TELLS OF EXPE

George Upshur," Nsaii. ''died at sea-
'.Yes; on the sloop Lsvant. when ne
commanded The brilliant. but uhioreon'
ate Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, was ms
intimate friend. The Slidells were I'M
portant people. One Of them WAS
Senator and figured In history. AiexAnoei.
to whom referred. was 6iideii, put nc
took his mothers maiden name 10 please
her brother. Therefore he was known
a. Alexander slidell Mackenzie. He wrote
q good many biographies and essays
washington Irving sale his descriptive
volume on Spain was quite the Iasn-
ionable book Of the day In Great DH'A'n
and on the ointment.
"WhiIe captain of the United states
steamer Somers in 1882. and of the Airi-
can coast-I was in the navy myself al
that time-Mackenzie discovered q mutt
nous plot among the apprentices Inc IN,
stiGators of the mutiny were arrested
and q council of officers decided tha'
the three principal leaders shouio DC
executed. One Of the young men hanged
from the yard-arm was the son Of John
C. Spencer. then Secretary of War In
Tyier's Cabinet. Two subsequent nava
courts approved of the execution, but the
controversy which followed embittered
the rest Of Mackenzie's life"
went 10 JoP8n WIN HerTss
.'wtat happened to you." asked,
when you returned from Vera CRUZ"
Il entered the Annapolis Academy
graduating with the second class OF that
now ancient institution. I saw service
In various waters and was on duty along
the coast of Africa in an attempt to sup
press the trade In slaves. My ship chased
and captured a SLAYER. but for most part
our time was spent in cruising and
watching. Previous TO that l had fol-
lowed Commodore Matthew Calbraith
Perry to Japan. He went there to OBJ
tain protection for American shipwrecked
sailors, to open certain ports to Ameri-
can vessels SO that they could rent and
procure coal and to gain the right for
American ships to trade with the jap
anese people
Japan then was a closed country.
Perry's sailing charts were purchased In
Holland for $4,000. He interviewed cap
tains Of whaling vessels In New York.
Boston and Bedford. Thus equipped with
information he sailed In the Susquehan-
ma. a new ship Of modern type. accom-
panied by three other war vessels.
"I left New York In the Supply. which
carried 900 tons of coal. 80 barrels of lu-
bricating oil, $50 tons Of grate-bars. six
cannons and a supply Of ammunition for
Perry's feet. The supply was small
ship and was laden twenty inches be-
low the load water-line. Our captain
hoped that he would beat Perry to
Japan.
. I'VE sailed straight for the Cape of
Good Hope. passing LEO miles to the
south and encountering all the winds
that ever blow before or have blown
since. II was midwinter and for three
weeks We saw nothing but the sea be-
meath, the sky above being shut from
view by rain. sleet. and fog. Water
poured over the deck waist deep. We
feared the ship would founder every
minute. My experience as a watch OH
Ger cannot be described. To make my
own matters worse. a wave knocked me
down and dislocated my arm. That
arm slipped Que OF place eight times
afterwards in different parts Of the
world.
"Perry's ships were the first to enter
Japanese waters under steam When
the natives saw smoke pouring from the
tunnels they thought the devil was COM
ing to town. ! had no relations with
Perry directly. Once. however. he sent
another young officer and myself a mes
sage. IF I hear from you again. he
said. I'll detach both OF you and send
you home
I'VE had written him a letter COM
planning that one of our juniors had
been given command of a small boat
that was being used by the fleet. The
protest would have been made even II
the boat had been a mudscow. But
when We heard from the commander We
concluded to bring our correspondence to
a close.
'T was an instructor at the Naval