Norwich bulletin., 1917-01-17

| ies without the loss of a man on the
| American side
Upon his triumphant return to the
United States he was feted by the
! nation. His admirers presented him
with beautiful home in the national
cauital. Congress gave him an en-
graved sword, and raised him from
| the rank of commodore to rear ad-
mira1 and then to the full rank of the
admiral of the navy.
Admiral Dewey was the third
American to reach that pinnacle OF
naval rank. Farragut was the first
Farragut that Dewey received his first
baptism in war;
Was With Farraeut.
Valuable as the training of Anna
polls was, 1t was poor schooling be-
| side that of serving under Farragut
| in time of war" Admiral Dewey once
| said. whenever I have been in a
| such confusion of details that the
simple and right thing to do seemed
hazy l have often asked myself, what
would F,arragut do" In the course OF
asked myself this question, and I con-
fess was thinking of him the night
we entered the bay and with the con-
viction that 1 was doing precisely
what he would have DONE"
Born in Montpelier.
George Dewey was born in the
shadow of Vermont's state capitol at
Christmas in 1887. At the age of II,
he reached the crossroads of his ca
reer; one road led to Wet Point. the
other to Annapolis. Young Dewey
favored the former but
There was no vacancy for West
Point from Vermont" explained the
admiral in reviewing his life. 10Th
erwise l might have gone into Manila
10 Axr~,,
on the Olympia. But 1t happened that
there was a vacancy at Annapolis, so
I entered the navy"
At the outbreak of the Civil war,
commissioned a lieutenant, and guild
ed the Mississippi as it's executive Of
hcer in Farragut's historic dash past
New Orleans and it's forts. He was
ragut went through, but Dewey and
the Mississippi ran aground under the
guns of the forts. The ship was set
af1re and during the transfer of the
crew under fire, the young officer
lived five years in an hour"
Commodore at Acc of SO.
From the close of the Civil war I'M
lean, the life of the American naval
officer was made UP of routine duty
at sea and ashore. During this period,
the future admiral cruised; taught
GLASS; at AIndpOllSs surveyed lower
California and part of the west coast
of Mexico; carried supplies to the sur
vivors of the siege of Paris: perform
ed duty. at Boston Navy Yard and the
naval torpedo station at Newport; in
spected lighthouses and served as ma
val secretary on the lighthouse board;
spent two years travelling on a sick
leave in search of health; four years
as chief of the bureau of equipment;
and at the age. of SO was serving as
president of the board of inspection
and survey with the rank of commo-
dorc. IT was in this important naval
Office that he presided at the trials
of all the battleships. except the Ore
gon, which were to demolish the
Spanish squadron at Santiago.
Criticism Over "Gift House"
1 Shortly after his return from Ma
Mia Bay, Admiral Dewey found him.
self in the fire of popular criticism
over the gift house incident" Amer
lean citizens had raised $4,000 by
public subscription as a testimonial
to the hero of Manila and they pre-
scented him with a house in Washing
ton,. Dewey, who had been a widower
since 1872, had Just married Mrs Mil
dred Mclean Hazen of Washington
and he turned over the gift house to
her. Shortly afterward the admiral
and Mrs. Dewey left the gift house
and lived in the wife's former home.
Talked of as Presidential Candidate.
In 1900 Admiral Dewey was seri-