Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-01-17

there was vacancy at Annapolis, so l
entered the navy"
Ship Goes Aground
At the outbreak of the Civil War
Dewey was 23 years old. He was COM
missioned a lieutenant and guided the
Mississippi as its executive officer in
tarragut's historic dash past New Or
leans and its forts He was not so
successful at Fort Hudson. Farragut
won through, but Dewey and the Mis-
sissippi ran aground under the guns of
the torts The ship was set aflre and
during the transfer of the crew under
ilre the young officer lived five years
in an hour"
From the close of the Civil War
until the opening of the Spanish
American the life of the American
naval officer was made up of routine
outy at sea and ashore. During this
period the future admiral cruised.
taught class at Annapolis, surveyed
Lower California and part of the west
coast of Mexico, carried supplies to
the survivors of the siege of Paris, per-
formed duty at Boston navy yard and
the naval torpedo station at Newport,
inspected lighthouses and served as
naval secretary of the Lighthouse
Board, spent two years travelling on a
SICK leave in search of health. four
years as chief of the Bureau of Equip
ment, and at the age of SO was serving
as president of the Board of Inspection
and Survey, with the rank of commo-
dore. 1t was in this important naval
offtce that he presided at the trials of
all the battleships, except the Oregon,
which were to demolish the Spanish
squadron at Santiago.
Criticised for Gift
Shortly after his return from Manila
Bay Admiral Dewey found himself in
the hre Oh popular criticism over the
gilt house Incident" American citi-
zens had raised $4,000 by public sub
scription as a testimonial to the hero
or Manila and they presented him with
a mouse in Washington. Dewey. who
mad been widower since 1872, had
Just married Mrs. Mildred Mclean
daZen. 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
W1feS former home
In 1900 Admiral Dewey was seri-
ously talked of as a candidate for tba
republican nomination as President.
but the Admiral preferred to remain
in the naval ranks rather than to seek
venture in craftsmanship. His ad-
mlrers have since often spoken of him
as the man who could have been n
President if he had wished.
Early in 1914 Admiral Dewey again
became conspicuous in the current
news by revival of the long standing
controversy with Admiral Won Died.
erichs, of the German navy, regard
ing the conduct of the German SQUAD
ron during the blockade of Manila
Bay sixteen years before. In his auto
biography Admiral Dewey criticised
Won Diederichs for failing to observe
the neutrality laws and told how a
shot was fired across the bows of one
of the German ships to impress it with
the fact that the American navy had
established a blockade and would
countenance no undue activity on the
part of the German ships suspected
ut the time as friendly to Spain.
Great Student
A difference of opinion about inter
national law had been adjusted" said
Dewey, without adding to the sum of
President McKinley's worries"
Dewey was always a great student
of history; he knew every naval cam
paign that had been waged from the
days of ancient Greece and Rome. had
analyZed them and knew why defeat
or victory had come from certain
movements, and this without doubt