New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-07-12
SUFFERS IN
LOSS OF GIBBONS
Richard Harding Davis Declares the Captain Forced to
Retire by the Pucking Board Should Be
Restored to Active Service.
By RICHARD HARDING DAVIS.

been given 10 the navy; eighteen anu
q half years OF that time has been
spent at sea. This is sea service pro-
portionately equal TO or even greater
than that Of the five rear admirals VINO
condemned him. In all the wars In
which our country has engaged since
Gibbons Joined the navy he has taken
an active part. He saw service IN
Cuban waters at the battle OF Nam
zanillo and the bombardment OF MORO
Castle; in the Philippines, where he
commanded the gunboat General AVA,
and after a fight rescued from the
Filipinos party of American soldiers
and hundreds of Spanish prisoners; IN
China during the Boxer revolution and
in Vera Cruz, where on shore he COM
manded the fighting forces OF the
Florida, Arkansas, San Francisco. Ches-
ter. and of his own dresdnought, the
Utah.
For two years he was our naval at
tache in London. He was good enough
for both Mr.. Taft and Colonel Roose-
Welt Under each he commanded the
Dolphin. the navy vessel assigned 10
the use of the President.
At Head Of Academy.
For three years he held position
which is one of the most responsible
in the service, that Of the superin-
tendcnt of the Naval Academy, the
man who trains and teaches our future
admirals and who sets them an eX-
ample. For his services at that post,
by both Secretary Meyer and Secre-
tary Daniels, Gibbons was most heart
lily praised, and also Ly the president
OF the Board of Visitors to the Naval
Academy, Herbert L. Satterlee, an cx-
Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
When Gibbons was in command OF
the Detroit she won the gunnery
trophy; when he was in command OF
the Charleston she won the gunnery
trophy. As long ago as the hurricane
at Apia Gibbons, then a junior lieu
tenant, was commended for leading his
men UP the shrouds of the storm
driven Vandalia and forming a life
sail, thus helping to save the lives Of
the crew and the life of the ship.
When the navy was policing Vera
Cruz Gibbons was on shore in COM
mand OF three thousand bluejackets.
But when he returned to the Utah, dur
ing the two months before he was
ordered to home waters, he did not
visit the plazas nor loiter under the
portales. With the exception of one
evening, when he dined at the Dill
genciss, if you wanted to find Gibbons
you could find him only on his ship.
Three weeks ago, when the Utah
came North, had the privilege OF re-
turning with her and of sharing the
captains mess. As junior officer on
different warships and as our attache
in London, for seventeen years | have
known Gibbons, but | had never before
seen him in command of a dread
nought. And what ! saw of him in
that capacity led me to write this.
At a safe distance ] have followed
the sea for twenty years, and when !
say | know few captains smarter than
Gibbons. more efficient, more intelli
gent. physically more alert and fit, in
habits as temperate, in mind and
thought as kind, sane and conserva-
tive, echo only what all the officers
in his wardroom said of their captain.
And they see him at first hand; their
lives "a well as those of eleven hun
dred bluejackcts and property worth
sl4,000,000, are-or were-in his keep
ing. They ought 20 know; and what
they think of him ought TO count.
During the passage home Captain
Gibbons did his own inspecting, his
own navigating. In dungarees he
orawled through manholes and down
oily ladders; in thick or fair weather
he spent his time upon the bridge. His
mind was always on his job. When, at
dinner the marine would spoil my best
story BY announcing that somewhere
on the horizon suspicious looking
oysterboat had appeared or that the
officer of the deck wanted to make il 8
o'clock, Gibbons would give that fact
as grave consideration as though the
orderly had told him hurricane was
approaching under forced draft, or
that the German navy was in our
course and cleared for action.
j When last saw Captain Gibbons as
! left the Utah at Tompkinsvile, the
p fog and rain were dripping from his
oilskins. The entire night he had spent
upon the bridge, and the following
morning, without pilot, he locked his
ship at the Brooklyn navy yard.
/ Twenty-four hours later he opened II
/ telegram and found he was dismissed
/ from the navy.
! As he went down the gangway in the
/ clothes Of a civilian his shipmates,
/ still in uniform, saw him leave thea
with eyes that were blurred with angry
( tears. For them the scene was the
essence Of injustice and ingratitude.
/ For them il was both a mockery and y
menace. What hope did il hold out for
/ their future? They saw man in the
, prime Of life, who had held with honor
three of the highest posts in their pro-
/ fesson, thrown out as you would throw
/ out q drunken cook What incentive
/ for unccasing vigilance. study and risk
of life did it leave with them? What
i lesson did it teach to 500 midshipmen
at Annapolis to whom Gibbons, their
commanding officer and their friend,
had been the living promise of what
after thirty years they might hope To
attain?
Secretary Daniels is determined the
"plucking board" must 60. That is good,
but il is not enough. 1t has robbed the
navy Of n man the navy needs, and the
people Of a good and faithful servant.
An act Of Congress, with the recon-
mendation Of the President, can return
Captain Gibbons to his ship and to the
service. He rs man who never
sought an honor or shirked duty"
/ His country cannot afford to lose him.
II cannot afford TO wrong him.
hn autd