The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-17

Pi ooeit anu, as they say at <Ahhapoiis, the midshipmen have an opportunity ito stand from under.s
 Discipline for Disciplinarians
 There Was only one way by which the brigade could show this particular officer the contempt they held him in, and that was by giving him the silence" The practice of giving an officer ''the silence IS one of the oldest and most curious customs of the naval service. It is rec osnized as an expression of abhorrance and contempt, and 1t is a fact that no officer who ever received it has had the moral courage to remain long on duty With those who gave it. They soon get transferred to other duty. In the navy It IS regarded as putting stigma on the recipient-a stigma the more felt because so rarely given.
 In all the history of the Naval Academy hardly half a dozen officers have been given "the silence
 It was late iii one November and only lew days before the annual Army Navy football game when the attention was conferred on this discipline officer. The brigade had marched to dinner in the Immense dining room of Brancroft hall The officer in question was seated at the table in the center of the room. The meal began. For few moments there was the usual hum of conversation, the usual clatter of knives, forks and dishes; then, at preconcerted signal, dead silence. Every midshipman simply stopped eat ing and stopped taking at the same moment. Scores of busy waters, startled by the sudden quiet, stopped what they were doing to see what was the matter, thereby making 1t complete.
 The officer colored painfully, then lost his head. He marched the brigade, din- nerless, back to their quarters and later had to march them into the mess hall again. Under naval regulations it is grave offense for enlisted men to give the silence The discipline officer re- commended that as part of the punish ment to be meted out to the middies they be deprived of their trip to the Army Navy game.
 When this became generally known to the brigade the midshipmen were panic stricken. The offense was great no matter what the provocation. They knew that. And they feared that the punish ment would be proportionate. Then day later the acaremy grapevine tele- graph flashed joyous tidings. The com mandant had summoned the discipline officer The latter had urged his re- commendation. The commandant had listened, he had ruminated awhile and then he had closed the interview with the famous words, "rhe brigade will attend the Army-Navy game
 5 standing with those midshipmen was for ever secure Although himself a strict disciplfnarian, he played no favorites and no man was punished without a fair hearing. This was generally recognized and made him universally popular besides winning for him the sobriquet of Square Deal" Badger
 Another Case of Square Deal'
 On one occasion a midshipman had gone a e fvo tot. Q@- kx-~- evidenced unmistakable signs of intoxlca- ton on the return trip. He was in uni form. A local newspaper man observed him, found out his name, reported him to the authorities and improved the occasion by writing an editorial on the subject in most caustic vein. The punishment for drinking at the academy. much less in toxication, may be and often is dismissal
 But Square Deal' did not take kindly to the newspaper mans editorial and even less kindly to his reporting the mdshipman, especially as the latter had braced up to such an extent by the time he reported to the officer in charge that that officer noticed nothing amiss. The culprit was sent for, given very serious talking to, which closed the incident so far as he was concerned. but the news paper man got off less lightly according to the grape vine telegraph" This gem erally reliable source of information had 1t that he was summoned by the superin- tendent, who was at that time Rear Ad- miral Willard H. Brownson, now retired Admiral Brownson was famous for his concise and forceful way of speaking his mind and the newspaper man reported later that on that oeeas sion he was in his best form.
 At Annapolis Admiral Badger was the terror of naval taiors. He simply could not be convinced that tailor made clothes should not fit exactly or that tailors should be paid for uniforms which did not fit. On Sunday morning inspections the present commander of all super-dread- naughts, in full dressed uniform, passed down the long lines of midshipmen, fol- lowed by his staff and trailed by the miserable tailors. No uniform which did not fit snugly escaped his eye; no tailor responsible for an i'll fit escaped his cen sure. And after alterations were made the midshipman accompanied by his tailor, had to report 70 the commandant still another until his critical eye was satisfied.
 unquestionably there Is no flag officer in the naval service more popular with both officers and enlisted men than he whom President Wilson selected to com mand the North Atlantic fleet in this critical time. His popularity with the latter is fully attested by the small num- Der of assertions from the ships which he has commanded. His record for every grade from midshipman to admiral spells the word efficiency