Evening star., 1938-05-22
HE AR is OF GA K
L. S. Navy Sailed Wooden Ships Long After
They Had Become Obsolete as
Weapons of Defense.

this period and for IS years more.
bluffing cur way over the Monroe
Doctrine. with no force adequate to
answer any challenge. and not even
facilities for the care Of the wounded
should occasion arise.
That the tempo Of the time was
laissez faire is shown by the makeup
of the diplomatic and consular corps.
No career men then! Vote-getters
represented Uncle Sam in nearly every
foreign country.
OUCH was the type of consul in
- Callao on day when the Pensa-
cola was in port.
Officer coming of in shore boat.
sir" announced an orderly. Rank
of captain, sir"
Captain. you say?" exclaimed the
Pensacola's commander.
Aye. aye. sir"
A perplexed naval officer went top
side-perplexed because the only naval
captain known to be on the South
Pacific at that time was on the Lam
AdStCls SIdllOllNd az pal dlSO
AS was the custom. the man in uni
form was piped over the side, and the
"Old Man" of the Pensacola glimpsed
the features of a United States Consul.
He led the way to the after cabin.
where a lively dialogue ensued, and
these facts emerged from the colloquy:
The Consul. appointed to Office because
of valiant service for the party while
editor of Western newspaper. decided
that his rank entitled him to a uni
form. and he sent home for an illus
trated catalogue. He submitted his
selection to tailor in Lima. who ere
ated fair imitation OF the garment
on exhibition.
Following an exchange Of compli-
ments and words that were not at all
complimentary. the Consul returned
in the shore boat. wearing mutt fur
nished by one of the officers. and leav-
ing his pretty uniform behind
To prove that statements concern
ing apathy OF the American people to-
ward maritime and foreign affairs
have not been exaggerated. another
factual aneodote will be related. It
concerns q morning newspaper, pub
lished in one Of the big cities Of the
Central West. a newspaper with q
large circulation in several States.
which is evidence that 1t reflected the
opinions of Its readers.
ON MARCH IS. 1889. Samoa was
" swept by the worst hurricane ever
known in that latitude In Apia Har.
Dor at the time were the United States
warships Trenton. Vandalia and Nip
sic. the German Adler and Eben and
the British frigate Calliope. So sud-
den was the onrush of wind and water
that only one vessel-the Oalliope-
was able to hoist anchor and put out
to sea. As she passed, the Yankee
sailors on Trenton manned the yards
and cheered. Then their vessel was
caught by . giant breaker and hurled
onto the beach. to be followed by VAN
dalia, Nipsic and the two Germans.
More than so American sailors lost
their lives
An Associated Press correspondent,
who happened to be In Apis at the
time. made his way to Auckland. New
Zealand. and four days later he filed
a 6,000-word story Of the catastrophe.
It is as graphic . story of the sea ~
ever was written. The New York Trib-
une editorially pronounced 1t the equal
of anything written by Victor Hugo In
"The Toilers Of the Sea-
This story commenced coming 10
newspapers Of the Midwest at 10 pm.
The telegraph editor Of that one
journal, which led all others within .
radius Of several hundred miles.
glanced at the sheets and tossed them
into Q wastebasket. Damn marine
(see WOODEN sIIHe. Pass CD