Smyrna times., 1940-06-27

team. And there had been the
greatest honor of alas Senior
Lieutenant he had accompanied
President Woodrow Wilson on his
trip to visit the Pacific Fleet on
the West Coast, the first visit Of a
President there conveyed by the
entire Atlantic Fleet, and on that
journey she had gone too.
Asks Retirement
And now all that was over. He
had to retire JoSephus Daniels,
Secretary of the Navy, wrote him
saying that the exigencies of the
service demanded his marked me-
chanical experience, but all could
avail nothing. The resignation
had to be accepted. The career SO
full of accomplishment and prom
| Use seemed to be at an end.
What followed was ten years of
hospitals and radium treatments.
Year after year saw an increase of
invalidism. He kept going as long
as he could. An old friend in the
village had a work bench and he
would hobble over there as long as
he could keep on his feet. Medical
care took money. His wife sold
her jewels and spent her modest
fortune. While they could hardly
make both ends meet, he would
ask her for a quarter and leave the
i house in the late evening. One
night she followed him, and saw
him buy some left-overs of meat in
a butchers shop, and then make
his way to an alley in which some
cats were gathered. He stood and
! fed the poor animals that nobody
cared about, and when she came
up to him he introduced her to his
"old warriors" as he called them.
During this same period he kept
up his interest in music, attending
versity. But, at last, he came to
the time when he could not walk,
and then began the long days of
painful inactivity. But out of that
final and apparently tragic period
came his great device, his final Of
fering to the Navy and the nation,
an accomplishment with promise
for the saving of many lives.
The name of this unsung Amer
lean, the man who made the diving
bell possible, is Lieutenant Hugh
j. Finn. His memory deserves
well of his nation, and the story of
his struggle and his courage is a
tale that cannot be told too often.
He served his country well in war,
but he stands as one of the achiev-
| ing heroes of peace which has its
victories no less than war. He has
helped to remove one of the fears
of men, and that is an act deserv-
ing of any honor we can bestow.
In deep sense, this story is one
of great faith and great love.
suppose that few of us can i'm
agine what those ten years of Suf-
fering meant to Lieutenant Finn
and his wife. He had proved his
talent and the years ahead seemed
more than bright with promise.
She had competent inheritance
and such beautiful possessions as a
woman loves. They were couple
with the world for their asking
Then suddenly the blow struck.
His career was ended as sharply
as though cut with knife. Little
by little, the money went, until
the last jewel was sold, and the
young wife had to take what work
she could to pay the increasing
bills Yet through it all they were
brave together. Their love stood
the strain, so that when all else
seemed to be lost. the inner and
precious thing did not die. I think
that it is worth remembering that
human love can be like that As
Mrs. Finn herself has said: He
and l were tapping deep wells of
faith to continue at ALL" And it
was out of that love and faith that
he could call upon the strength for
his last burst of achievement.
J Life seems dreadfully cheap to-