Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-05-24
Bv GoUvERNEUR MORRIS
soMEwHERE NEAR AMERICA, May 2

on Friday, May II, / received permis-
.,on 10 visit a feet Of United States war;
..,ns was told where TO find &C. how to
each It, and that until Thursday. May "a.
must not convey to the newspapers which
!, represent any Of the impressions that II
mould make upon me, nor all Of the i'm
,rssslons until the end of the war
II may be Of interest to the public 70
.row that the fleet which | visited is some
-hsre in American waters. and that, backed
~ the proper authority, 1t may be reached
a. several ways. More than this am NOT
] osrmitted to say, nor may | give the COM
rositIon Of the fleet. nor the names OF the
shps composing It. nor of any Of the Off
GERS governing those ships.
must deal in imposltives II saw
faults or virtues I must not particularize
IN short, | must tell about the fleet without
telling about It, and give a general impres.
,Ion with most of the impressions left OUT
I shall deal, then, rather with the bu
nanities Of the fleet rather than with its
mechanics with its aspects rather than its
votentlalities. And with one particular shin
rather than with many.
BATTLESHIP A MAN
II has been said that a modern battleship
ma machine. 1t is not, 1t is man His
ayes may no longer have the vision of
youth, but he sees through a hundred pairs
whose vision is twenty-twenty magnifed
many diameters by lenses exauisitelv adj
justed; his hands may not be large or
strong, but they have within them almost
q gods power to destroy.
1t is as il his brain had multiplied his
eyes and made telescopes OF them. had in
creased his body to an ominous and beauti-
ful abomination, displacng 80, 900 tons and
had heightened his arms and strengthened
his hands until they could reach out clear
away over the rim of the world and there
smash and crush and tear and kill
1t was twenty years since had set foot
on a battleship. There was something
familiar about him and something strange
4 II was like meeting promising friend of
your bOyhood after he had grown into a
man G will not bessie warships nor be-
her them. They are menu He had grown
eldeTi wiser. grayer, stronger, broader,
taller and swifter. And though neither OF
Us had forgotten the best nor the worst of
those things which we had once had in COM
mon, he eyed me askance, and | felt en-
barrassed and shy.
SEA LIFE NOW MORE KIND
The officer of the deck spoke to a seaman
And by the tone of the voice | knew that
friend battleship had not only grown
Il stronger and greater. but so sure of him
self that he could afford to be more cour-
teous and more kind. Things happened A
Il meal came and went. one threw dice for
the cigars one lost. One listened and one
talked, and one began to associate in the
back Of ones head this face with the right
Z ful name of its owner and certain insignia
with the office of the wearer.
No two faces of the uniformed men
around the long, narrow table of the ward
room mess were alike. But they were all
( fine, clean-cut faces of vigorously educated
E men in the pink of physical condition. Like
X all travellers. they were broad-minded. and
Z like all men who have been brought up
among true values. they were without
sffectation of any kind
No two faces were alike and no two
( men, think at that long table came from
the same city or even from the same State,
and yet with certain strongly marked and
fine identities the service had stamped
them all.
..a WHAT SERVICE MEANS
These men were telling and thrilling
answer to those who raise objections to
universal service. They were the proof
that by training and self-sacrfce sectional
lines and jealousies may one day be abol-
ished among us. And that no man, ere his
suspicious are laid, will need to inquire
whence another man comes.
Let me try to show you wha; I mean.
From the tones of their voices | tried to
guess the localities from which they came.
II played this game with civilians /
should hit some bullseyes, but here in
every instance my shot flew wide of the
mark. | guessed that this man was from
South Carolina Iowa was his State. An
other I credited to Maine; his birth had
done honor to New Mexico.
All this puzzled me- and | sought a sou-
| Uiy nj he
credit, because the chaplain, who so re-
sembled the others in breeding, courtesy
and common sense, had begun his naval
career as an enlisted man. but gave An
napolis a good deal of the credit. and the
rest l gave to the service itself.
The Identities were of the sort that
should like to see stamped upon the frame
work of the average man, upon his face,
upon his body and upon his manners They
were the identities which result from learn
ing good habits at an age when the average
boy is learning bad habits; which result
irom travel, from standing up straight, from
having normal vision and always looking
people in the eyes, which result from
common devotion to something which is big
ger than any individual which result from
Individual responsibilities almost contin-
uously borne so that one infinitely greater
responsibility can be borne in common.
NO TWO ALIKE
yet no two OF them were in the least
alike. The executive officer would command
staggering salary as the head Of depart
ment store; the navigator's passion was for
great circles and the stars and clay pigeon
shooting there was one who dreamed or
palllstics as all dreamed of their wives
and their babies and their sweethearts. And
there was another, by no means the oldest, a
long, driving man with a face like an
eagles, whose passion was for the ship
and for every rivet, screw thread, lens,
she'll cannon, torpedo and character that
made the ship efficient and terribe-and
whom all revered.
As for the chaplain, il he ever goes to
Billy Sundaying in my town l shouldn't
wonder If l hit the trail. 1t was he VINO
when one complained that they had among
them nine daughters and but three sons
'eomforted them by stating that daughters
90 not come home smelling OF liquor and
cigarettes.
BATTLESHIP A CITY
] have said that a battleship is a man
~ is not. 1t is city.
That II is a walled city, defended by
terrible cannon, every man knows. so
snail not here and now speak Of the magic
eyes with which It sees the approach OF the
enemy the thick armor with which 1t repels
MS blows, nor Of the terrible cannon with