The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1917-06-11


of the Leyant who reported 1t had
chosen to make it thus: DIED,
May 18th, The Man Without a
Country"
Many Never Knew His Name.
For IL was as THE Man With
out a Country" that poor Philip
Nolan had generally been known
by the officers who had him in
charge during some fifty years,
as, indeed, by all men who sailed
under them. l dare say there is
many a man who has taken wine
with him once a fortnight, In a
three-years' cruise, who never
never knew that his name was
Nolan" or whether the poor
wretch had any name at all.
There can be no possible harm
In telling this poor creatures
story. Reason enough there has
been till now, ever since Madison's
administration went out in 1917,
for very strict secrecy, the secrecy
of honor itself, among the gentle
men of the navy who have had
Nolan in successive charge. And
certainly it speaks well for the
esprit de corps of the profession,
! and the personal honor of its
members, that to the press this
mans story has been wholly I'M
known-and, | think, to the
country at large also.
l have reason to think, from
some Investigations | made in the
naval archives when | was attach
ed to the bureau of construction,
that every official report relating
to him was burned when Ross
burned the public buildings at
| Washington. One of the fuckers,
or possibly one of the Watsons,
had Nolan in charge at the end
Of the war; and when, on return
ing from his cruise, he reported
at Washington to one of the
| winshields-who was in the
navy department when he came
home-he found that the depart
ment ignored the whole business.
Whether they really knew nQth-
ing about 1t or whether it was a
mon mi recordo" determined on
as a piece of policy. l do not know.
But this l do know, that since
1917, and possibly before, no
naval officer has mentioned No
Ian in his report of a cruise.
Death Ends Cause for Secrecy.
But, as | say. there is no need
for secrecy any longer. And now
the poor creature is dead, 1t seems
to me worth while to tell a little
of his story. by way Of showing
young Americans of today what it
is to be A Man Without a Coun-
try.
Philip Nolan was as fine a
young officer as there was in the
Legion of the West" as the
Western division of our army was
then called. When Aaron Burr
made his first dashing expedition
down to New Orleans in 1906, at
Fort Massac, or somewhere above
on the, river, he met, as the devil
would have 1t, this gay, dashing.
bright, young fellow, at some din
ner party, think.
Burr marked him, talked to
him, walked with him, took him
a day or twO's voyage In his flat
boat, and, in short, fascinated
him. For the next year barrack
life was very tame to poor Nolan.
He occasionally availed himself of
the permission the great man had
given him to write to him. Long,
high-worded, stilted letters the
poor boy wrote and rewrote and
copied. But never a line did he
have in reply from the gay de-
ceiver.
The other boys in the garrison
sneered at him, because he sacri-
ficed in this unrequitted affection
for a politician the time which
they devoted to Monongahela, haz-
ard and high-low-jack. Bourbon,
euchre and poker we're still I'M
known. But one day Nolan had
f, his revenge.
Burr Came as COnguerOr.
This time Burr came down the
river, not as an attorney seeking
place for his office, but as a dis
guised conqueror. He had defeat
ed l know not how many district
attorneys; he had dined at I know
not how many public dinners; he
had been heralded in | know not
how many Weekly Arguses, and
it was rumored that he had an
army behind him and an empire
before him. 1t was a great day
his arrival-to poor Nolan.
Burr had not been at the fort an
hour before he sent for him.
That evening he asked Nolan to
take him out In his skiff, to show
him a canebrake or a cottonwood
tree, as he said-really to seduce
him; and by the time the sail was
over Nolan was enlisted body and
soul. From that time, tho he did
not yet know 1t, he lived as A Man
without a Country.
What Burr meant to do know
no more than you, dear reader. 1t |