Connecticut western news., 1917-01-18

tion and Victory In Philippines In
 1899, but Before That Had Gained
 Recognition as Brave and Efficient
 Officer.
 Admiral George Dewey, victor of the battle of Manilla bay and president of the general board of the navy, died al his Washington home at 5:50 Tuesday afternoon after a weeks illness.
 He was seventy-nine years old, Mrs Mildred Mclean Dewey, his wife, who was constantly with him throughout his brief illness, was at his bcdSid" when he died. Drs l.. Sheldon and A. II. FauntlerOy also were with him and Lieutenant l.. F. Breton, his personal aid, was on duty when the end came.
 Dewey has been called the last of the old sea fighters. Born ill farmhouse near Montpelier, Vt., he entered the Naval academy at Annapolis in 1851
 After graduation Dewey was assign 3d to duty on the Wabash, the flagship f the Mediterranean squadron.
 Afterward he served on the PoWhat- an and the Pawnee in cruise to Ca ribbean and gulf ports.
 On May 10, 1861, Dewey reported for duty on the old side wheeler Mississip pi, on board which he served until she was fired upon and burned by the bat tories of Port Hudson ill March, 1863.
 He nayigated the side wheeler Mis- sissippi when Farragut ran the forts at New Orleans. She was set afire by Confederate shells and abandoned. Next he was on blockade duty at Charleston, S. O., and later served on the Fort Fisher expedition.
 Commodore In 1896.
 After the war Dewey served on the European squadron and in routine work
 He was promoted to commander ill April, 1872, then in his thirty fifth year. In September 1884, he was raised to the rank of captain and was made commodore on Feb. 8, 1896. At the outbreak of the Spanish war in 1898 Dewey assumed command of the Asiatic squadron. The fleet lay in the harbor of Hongkong on April 10 when it received an order to prepare for battle. The ships painters in one day changed the snow white garb of peace for the somber gray of war
 On April 9 war was declared be- tween the United States and Spain April PC Dewey received orders to commence operations at once. particu- larly against the Spanish fleet then cruising about the Philippine Islands. The American fleet headed direct for Manila.
 The squadron was made up of the following vessels:
 Cruisers Olympia, flagship; Boston, Concord the Petrel, Raleigh and ,the Baltimore.
 It was learned that the Spanish fleet was in Manila bay. Saturday night. April 30, the very day he arrived at the islands, Dewey proceeded through the dangerous channel of Manila bay. The shore was dotted with forts, and the waters were thick with mines.
 Dewey ran the channel ill the dark and was not discovered until too late by the forts. At dawn the American
 
 guns of the strong fortress of Cavite. Dewey engaged at once. ?
 Americans Outnumbered.
 The Spanish fleet consisted of seven cruisers, five gunbOats and two tor pedo boats. The Americans had two gunboats, four cruisers and one cutter.
 The Spanish were assisted by the powerful land batteries as well as by their knowledge of the surrounding waters. But at nightfall the odds were with the Americans. When the battle was resumed at dawn ship after ship of the Spanish fleet was either sunk or disabled until Admiral Montajo gave up the fight.
 The Spanish losses were the Reina Cristina, Castilla, Don Antonio de Ul- loa, Don Juan de Austria, Isla de Lu- zon, Isla de Cuba, Fl Correo, Velasco and Isla de Mindanao. The Spaniards lost more than 600 men.
 Immediately upon receipt of the news at Washington Dewey was pro- noted to rear admiral and thanked by resolution of congress. In 1899 he was made a member of the Philippine com mission and on March ? of the same year was appointed admiral of the navy, the highest possible rank. Later he was president of the navy general board.
 Admiral Dewey married Miss Susie Goodwin, daughter of Governor Icha- bod Goodwin of New Hampshire, on Oct. 24, 1867. She died Dec. 2S, 1872. His second wife was Mrs. Mildred (Mc- Lean} Hazen of Washington, whom he married Nov. 9, 1899.
 Arrangements for the funeral are not completed, but they will probably take ihe form of a great tribute by the heads of the nation to Dewey's life and achievements. He will be buried in Arlington cemetery on the slope of