El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-09-15

WA appointment made tn,
other day by president VIII
son filled the list Of high command
ing officers in the United States navy
We now have four fuI-fedged ad-
mirals and three vice admiraIs-ar
imposing array indeed. considering
the fact that Cbarring Dewey nc
such ranks have been represented il
the service for more than a genera
ton.
The admi-als are William S Benson
Henry T. Mayo. William B. Capertor
and Austin n knight.
the vice admirals are De Witt A.
Conman, William s Sims, and Albert
". Grant
AdmiraIs Pay $4,000.
An adm1rals pay is $4,000 a year
plus allowances that add substantially
70 that sum In point of rank ne
stands on an equal footing with a full
general in the army. At the present
time We have no full generals. but
doubtless there will be several Of
them before the war comes TO an end.
Most people imagine that the grade
OF vice admiral is entirely new in
our navy This, however, is not a
fact Rowan died a vice admiral
az AA anu = DLLEL IDLl leLU me
rank Of vice admiral before they we're
promoted to be admirals-
DeWeyfs Rank Unique.
DeWeys rank may be said to have
been In its way unique in our history.
congress made him the admiral of
the navy title not conferred upon
t'srragut or Porter.
But Farragut and Porter were adj
mirals for life; their rank. once
gained could not be taken away from
them Our four ueWiy-appointed
admirals, on the other hand viii re-
tain the grade only so long as they
continue to hold their present iobs
Thus, for example. William 5. Ben
son, If deprived Of his place as chief
Of the office Of operations in the navy
department, would automatically
cease TO be fun admiral. returning
TO his previous rank of rear admiral
The same thing would happen TO
Mayo, if he were superseded as com
handkerchief Of our Atlantic fleet
The three new vice admirals are
similarly situated Sims Though it is
mighty unlikely might be recalled
from Europe and placed in command
Of a battleship- In that case he would
find himself only a rear admiral.
This situation is rather absurd. and
so far anomalous that congress viii
probably correct 1t before long. At all
events the four admirals and three
wee aQmlralS VIII surely have their
rank made permanent before the
close OF the war-unless perchance
one or another Of them commits some
disastrous blunder.
such a contingency, however, is ex-
tremely unlikely, for all seven Of
these men were selected for promo
tion by reason Of conspicuous ability,
well proved Havoritisrn did not cut
any figure whatever in the matter.
sims, for example, was jumped from
tie top Of the list Of captains to
the rank Of vice admiral because
he was generally recognized as Just
about the cleverest man in the navy.
The chances are that he viii come
out OF the war a full fIedged admiral.
with a life appointment as such
Critieises Department Bureaus.
William S. Sims IS by all odds the
most interesting figure in our naval
service today He is the most popu-
lar man in the service from the view
point Of the personnel; yet. by
curious paradox, he was long regard
ed as d pest and nuisance by the navy
department The reason why was
that he fearlessly criticised the do
ings Of its administrative bureau. 60