The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1917-05-25

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! suppose that very few casual
readers OF the New York Herald Of
August 18th observed, In an obscure
corner, among the Deaths. the an,
nouncement:
NOLAN. Died. on board u. s. Cor
veite Leyant. Lat. % II" s., Long. 1879
w. on the lith Of May, Philip Nolan. "
! happened TO observe ii. because
! was stranded at the old Mission.
house Ia Mackinac. waiting for Lake
Superior steamer which aid not choose
90 come, and / was deYouring, TO the
very stubble. ali the current literature
could get hold % even down 10 the
deaths and marriages IN the Herald.
Ny memory for names aud people Is
good and the reader viii see, as he
goes on, that had reason enough to
remember Philip Nolan. There are
hundreds OF readers who would have
paused at that announcement, IL the
officer OF the Leyant who reported Il
had chosen 60 make Ii thus. "Dled,
May nth, The Man without Coun.
try. For II was as THE Man with
out a Country" that poor Philip Nolan
hRd generally been known by the OH.
GERS who had him In charge during
some ffiy years. as. indeed. by all
the men who had sailed under them.
l dare say there Is many n man who
has taken wine with him once d fort.
night, Ia u three years cruise, who
never knew that his name was aNo-
lam" or whether the poor wretch had
any name ut all.
There can now be no possible harm
In telling this poor creatures story.
Reason enough there has been till
now. ever since Madisons admInlstra.
lion went out In 1917, for very strict
secrecy. the secrecy Of honor itself,
among the gentlemen Of the navy who
have had Nolan IN successive charge.
And certainly II speaks well for the es-
prit de corps Of the profession and the
personal honor Of It's members, that TO
the press this mans story has been
wholly unknown, and, / think, TO the
country at large also.
4 have reason TO think. from some
Investigations made In the naval
archives when / was attached to the
bureau OF construction. that every Of
acial report relating to him was burned
when Ross burned the public buildings
AZ Washington. One Of the fuckers.
Or possibly one OF the Watsons, Ind
Nolan IN charge at the end u the war
and when. ON returning from his cruise,
he reported ut Washington to one OF
The CruwninshleldE--w was In the
aavy department when he came home
-he found that tile department k.
nored the whole business. Whether
hey really knew nothing about Il, or
whether II was 4 non mi rlc0r(lo. de-
termtned on as q piece IL policy. | do
not know. But this | do know, that
since 1Sl7. and possibly before, no
naval officer has mentioned Nolan In
his report of cruise.
As I say, there Is no need for Sc
crecy any longer. And now the poor
creature Is dead, Il seems 10 me worth
while to tell little Of his story, by
way OF showing young Americans Of
today what II Is to be
Al MAN WITHOUT A. COUNTRY.
Philip Nolan was as fine young
officer as there was la the Legion Of
the West as the western division of
our army was then called. When
Aaron Burr made his first dashing ex.
petition down to New Orleans Ia 1905.
at Fort Massac, or somewhere above
on the river, he met, as the devil
would have it, this gay, dashing, bright
young fellow, at some dinner party,
j think. Burr marked him, talked to
him, walked with him, took him a day
or two's voyage in his fiatboat, and
in short, fascinated him. For the next
year barrack life was very tame to
poor Nolan. He occasionally ayailed
of the permission the great man had
given him to write to him. Long, high
worded, stilted letters the poor boy
wrote and re-wrote and copied. But
never line did he have in reply from
the gay deceiver. The other boys in
the garrison sneered at him, because
he sacrificed in this unrequited affec
ton for a politician the time which
they devoted to Monongahela, sledge
and high-low-jack. Bourbon, euchre