Evening star., 1919-11-30
A DMitAI4 BAYI.l was wonderful
~ ly quick at repartee, as our men
~ found when they began Gosh

~
~ found when they began Gosh
ing him on British peculiari-
ties, for as naval attache he had tray
eled extensively in the United States,
had observed most of our national &C.
centricities, and thus was able prompt
ly "to como back" In such contests
our men did not invariably come off
with all the laurels Yet. despite these
modern tendencies, Admiral Rayly was
\ conservative of the conservatives,
having that ngrained British respect for
old things simply because they were
old.
An ancient British custom requires
that at church on Sundays the lead
Ing dignitary In each community shall
mount the reading desk and read the
lessons Of the day; Admiral Bayly
would perform this Office with a sim
pllcity and q reverence which indi
.ated the genuinely religious nature
Of the man. .,.
And in smaller details he was like
wise the ancient, tradition-loying
Briton. He would never think OF
writing q letter to an equal or supe-
rior officer except in longhand. to use
typewriter for such purpose would
have been proclamation in his eyes. I
once criticised q certain admiral for
consuming an hour or so in labori-
ously penning a letter which could
have been dictated to stenographcr
in a few minutes.
'How do you ever expect TO win tho
war if you use UP time this way?' 1
asked.
"Td rather lose the war;" the ad-
miral replied, but with q twinkle in
his eye, than use a typowriter to my
) chiefsw
Our officers liked to chaf the ad-
miral quietly on this conservatism
He frequently had number OF them
to breakfast. and upon one such occa-
sion the question was asked as to
why the admiral ate an orange after
breakfast, instead Of before, as is the
custom in America
II can tell you why said Com
mander Zogbaun,.
Well, why is it?' asked the admiral
Because that's what William the
ConQueror used to do.
II can think of no better reason
than that for doing It," the admiral
promptly answered. But this remark
tickled him Immensely. and became a
byword with him. Ever afterWard
whenever he proposed to do some-
thing which the Americans regarded
as too conservative. he would say:
''You know that this is what Will
lam the Conqueror used to do"
Yet in one respect the admiral was
all Amerlcan: he was hard worker
even to the point of hustle. He in
sisted on the stricteSt attention to the
task in hand from his subordinates,
but at least he never spared himself.
When he arrived at Queenstown,
few months before our destroyers put
In, he proceeded to recognize Adml-
rally House on the most businesslike
basis. The first thing he pounced upon
was the billiard room in the base
mcnt. He decided that it would make
an excellent plotting room and that
the billiard tables could be transform
ed into admirable drawing boards for
his staff; he Immediately called the
superintendent and told him to make
the necessary transformations.
"All right" said the superintendent.
Wen start work on them tomorrow
morning"
''No. you won't" Admiral Bayly re-
piled. 1--WE propose to be established
in this room. using these tables. to-
morrow morning. They must be all
ready for use by s o'clock"
And he was as good as his word;
the workmen spent the whole night
making. the changes.
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