The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1919-11-30

| interested in results than In persons
all this is true: yet these qualities
merely concealed what was, at bottom,
generous, kindly, and even a warm
hearted character.
Admiral Bayly was so retiring and
so modest that he seemed almost to
have assumed these exterior traits to
disguise his real nature. When our
men first met the admiral they saw a
man who would exact their last effort
and accept no excuses for failure:
when admitted to more intimate assoc
| citation, however they discovered that
| this weather-beaten sailor had a great
! love for flowers, for children, for ami
mails, for pictures, and for books; that
he was deeply read in general ntera-
! ture, in history, and in science, and
;. that he had a knowledge OF their own
country and it's institutions which
many of our own officers did not pos
Sess.
| Americans have great reason to be
proud of the achievements of their
| naval men, and one of the most praise
worthy was the fact that they became
| such intimate friends of Admiral Bay
! ly. For this mans nature was so
sincere that he could never bring him
self to indulge in friendships which
/ he deemed unworthy. Early in his
4
bluntly that any success he ard they
might have in getting on together
would depend entirely upon the man
! ner in which they performed their
| work. II they acquitted themselves
creditably. we'll and good: If not. he
should not hesitate to find fault with
them. 1t is thus a tribute to our Off
GERS that, in a very short time, they
and Admiral Bayly had established re-
| lafi iob vs. ri
but affectionate.
| Not long after our destroyers arrived
/ at Queenstown most of the British de-
| stroyers left to re-enforce the hard
driven flotillas in the channel and the
| North sea, SO that the destroyer forces
under Admiral Bayly became almost
| exclusively American.
"My Americans" Said sayIy.
The admiral watched over these
ships and their men with the jealous
eye of a father, He always referred to
/ his command as my destroyers" and
my Americans" and woe to any one
who attempted to interfere with them
or do them the slightest injustice,
/ Admiral Bayly would fight for them.
| against the combined forces of the
whole British navy, like a tigeress for
her cubs He constantly had a weather
eye on Plymouth, the main base of the
British destroyers, to see that the yes
sells from that station did their fair
| share of the work.
Once or twice a dispute arose be-
1 tween American destroyer com
mander and a British. In all such
cases Admiral Bayly vigorously took
the part of the American. You did
perfectly right" he would say to our
men. and then he would turn all his
guns against the interfering Britisher.
Relations between the young Ameri-
cans and the experienced admiral be-
came so close that they would some
times go to him with their personal
/ troubles; he became not only their
commander, but their confident and
adviser.
| There was something in these bright,
young chaps from overseas, indeed. so
different from anything which he had
ever met before, that greatly appealed
to this seasoned Fnglishman. One thing
that he particularly enjoyed was their
sense of humor. The admiral himself
had a keen wit and a love of stories:
and he also had the advantage. which
was not particularly common in Eng
/ land, of understanding American slang
and American anecdotes. There are
certain stories which apparently only
an upbringing on American soil quail
1 lies one TO appreciated YET AdnnlraI
Bayly always instantly got the point
He even took a certain pride in his
ability to comprehend the American
| joke.
/ One of the regular features of life
at Queenstown was a group of retired
| British officers-fine, white-haired, old
gentlemen, who could take active
part in the war, but who used to find
much consolation in coming around to
smoke their pipes and to talk things
| over at the Admiralty House. Admiral
BayIy invariably found delight in en-
! coura ging our officers TO entertain
these rare old souls with American
stories; their utter bewinledrment fur
nished him endless entertainment The
climax of his pleasure came, when,
i after such an experince, the old men
would get the admiral in a corner and
/ whisper TO him: What in the world
do they mean %