Evening star., 1914-07-26
Service With jefferson Davis
Portrait Not Sold With
BattIeship.
THIRD VESSEL OF NAME
LIKELY TO RECEIVE 1T
Subscribers Find Out From Navy
Department What Became
of Donation.

Residents of Mississippi are making in
quiry at the Navy Department and the
State Department as to the eventual fate
Of the silver service they presented, sew
eral years ago. to the battleshp Missis-
sippi. The Mississippi. with the battle
ship Idaho, was recently sold by the
United States government to the kingdom
Of Greece.
The people of Idaho have not yet pre-
sented a silver service to the battleship
which has borne their state name Such
a service has been prepared and is in the
state officials. It will probably be placed
upon the second Idaho.
The answer to the residents of the state
Of Mississippi is that when your Uncle
Samuel" offers bargains in battleships, he
does not throw in as special inducements
the solid silver services presented to the
vessels by the people Of the states whose
names these ships bare. The service
which has reposed on the Mississippi Will
not be used by Greek officers.
Whereat there is more than ordinary re-
joicing in Mississippi. in view of the fact
that the people of that state had hard
time in getting their offering accepted in
the first place. 1t bears portrait OF
Jefferson Davis, the head of the Con-
federacy.
1t is stated as more than probable that
the Mississippi silver service, which Is
being returned to the custody of the Navy
Department, will be placed upon the third
Mississippi of the United States Navy.
The ship to be built to take the place OF
the battleship sold will be the third in the
navy to bear the name Mississippi. The
Idaho to be built will be the second In
the navy to bear that name.
Congress authorized at this session. in
all, three new battleships. The Secretary
of the Navy has designated the names
Of Idaho and Mississippi for two OF them
Considerable fun is gotten out OF the
fact that the silver services on most OF
the ships of the navy are built up
around enormous punch bowls. as Sec
retary Daniels has abolished punch and
all other alcoholic drinks on the ships
The question Is asked: OF what use now
are the silver services containing punch
bowls and punch glasses to the ships
of the navy. One ribald person has sug-
gested that these enormous bowls be
filled with pickles and used as pickle
dishes at big formal dinners No Inn
mediate acceptance Of the suggestion
has been heard.
Whether the practice of presenting
open question, in view of Secretary
Daniels recent order. II state com
munities desire to honor with gifts OF
silver those ships named after them in
sets will be built up around tea or
coffee pots. It is said that the ships
that now have these enormous punch
bowls will use them in future as part
of some centerpiece table decoration,
perhaps to hold flowers.
Method Of Naming Warships.
The practice of states presenting sill
yer services to their namesakes began
about 1898. when the acts relating to
the naming of vessels Of war went into
effect. 1t was provided that first-class
ships should be named after states.
second-class after rivers and third
class after cities.
About that time great arguments
arose in the different states. Each
state struggled to tag its name on a
new vessel Dissensions arose in vari-
Gus states as to the character OF the
engraving on the silver services. Cam
yer services were not always marked
by entire harmony.
Down in Mississippi the silver service
fund got into politics as a live issue.
The people of North Dakota have not
yet paid for their silver service, and it
has not been presented. Cities whose
proud names are carried over the seven
seas by ships that bear them have ex-
perienced similar disagreement
Rivers from which ships of the navy
get their names are. of course. immune
to such discord. The first Mississippi.
launched at the Philadelphia navy yard,
May 5. 1841. was named for the Mis-
sissippi river. THE Father of Waters
gave her nothing but a grave, for she
was abandoned and blown up at Port
Hudson in 1868.
When the second Mississippi-just
sold to Greece-was launched she was
for the state. When the silver
service given her by the people of that
state was ornamented with portrait
of Jefferson Davis. president Of the
Confederate states of America, Senator
tnat ornamentation on the ground that
a silver service on battleship of the
United States Navy should not consist
of a portrait of a man who had been
war.
Occasions for Discussions.
There are always local quarrels over
what shall be engraved on a silver
service for a warship. A committee to
handle the selection of the silver is
generally appointed by the governor of
a state. and is sometimes abused and
de-ided at home and thrown out Of
mental balance by the subscribers. But
these auarrels generally end with the
of the service, as they did
in the case of the second Mississippi.
when she steamed to Natchez and took
on board not only the silver portrait
of Jefferson Davis. but picture Of
Beauvoir. his Mississippi home.
When a silver service was given to
the battleship Utah, among the objects
depicted on the service was the
Pioneers monument in Salt Lake City.
Brigham Yc---' countenance is among
those on the monument. and it was
visible on the silver service That
stirred up considerable strife, as many
persons thought there should not be on
a United States war vessel the portrait
Of the leader of the Mormon Church
But that incident also closed with the
of the service.
There has always been considerable
discussion as to whether or not it is in
good taste to criticise the nature of
such gifts. Naturally. officials of the
Navy Department have never taken
part in these discussions. Officers and
men on the Warships to be honored by
such gifts have remained silent.
The decorations. however, on such |
services are usually innocent. A state |
zeal is generally considered in best |
aste. in view of the fact that it arouses |
10 animosities. Sometimes there are |
engraved on the services scales of JUS
ice, a primitive prov, wood burning |
a sewing machine or a /
Ceres shaking peace and plenty out of