OCR Text |
Show j ADMIRAL SIR JOHN FISHER. , Commander ' of Bxitish Navy Un-j Un-j known to the World. Ask the -ordinary individual the name of the commander in chief of the British army and he will promptly answer Lord Roberts, and express surprise at your asking such a question. But hardly anyone any-one outside of the navy knows anything of the man who would bo called upon to command our fleet in case of war. This interesting and highly responsible individual indi-vidual is Admiral Sir John Fisher, known throughout the navy as "Jacky Fisher," says London Tid-Bits. In the service he is regarded as a strong and able admiral. The officers of foreign navies respect him for his strategical stra-tegical skill and technical ability in handling han-dling a fleet. In a sense he may bo said to hold the greatest post in the British empire to whieh a subject can aspire. His work is more responsible than that of the prime minister, because he is the first man in the fighting fleets, "Whereon," "Where-on," as the articles of war say, "under the good providence of God, the wealth, peace and safety of the country doth chiefly depend.'' The strangest thing about this man who bears upon his shoulders the weight of the British empire, is that he is not an Englishman at all in the strict sense of the word. His father was a captain in the Seventy-eighth Highlanders, who settled set-tled in Ceylon, and his mother was a Shanghaiese woman of high rank. Thus he has a strain of Oriental blood in his veins. It shows very slightly in his face, but only those who have lived for some time in the east are able to detect it. A Typical Briton. In appearance he is a typical British English admiral, of bulldog tenacity, with a simple, bluff, hearty manner. Many are inclined to regard him is sullen, sul-len, but this is because he is naturally silent, with a horror of notoriety. In a career extending over a period of forty-nine forty-nine years, he has never spoken or written writ-ten a word for publication. That is the reason, no doubt, why those outside the service know hardly anything about him. A well known naval writer, in describing describ-ing Sir John Fisher, remarked that he had risen by the "dint of sheer brain power, continuity of purpose, clear sight-edness sight-edness and conspicuous ability to the position po-sition he now holds." Although the son of an obscure man, he has attained the highest rank In the naval service through his own individual efforts and dogged perseverance. ' He entered the navy in 1S54 and four years later occupied the post of lieutenant. ' He had seen much active service, having taken part in the Crimean war of isr.5, the China war of 1S59-G0 and the Egyptian war of 1882. He slowed the sternness of his nature after the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882. As captain of. the Inflexible he had the task of organizing a police force and repressing the disorder and looting jfter the capture of the city. He shot the j guiltv at sight and restored order in a . few "hours. He caught many of his ( friends and even officers of his own ship among the looting party, and although j they begged for mercy he had them court martialed and severely punished. Several years ago he was at Lisbon with a squadron. squad-ron. The relations between this country and Germany were decidedly strained. Just before the English fleet left, a German fleet of twice the strength entered en-tered the harbor, , with the idea of impressing im-pressing the Portuguese, and drew up in double line off the town. Fisher exchanged ex-changed salutes and then led his vessels out of the harbor at full speed between the two German lines, with only twenty or thirty yards clear on either side. It was a maneuver that might have wrecked a dozen ship3 and only a man of iron rerve could have carried it out successfully. success-fully. But he had trained his squadron well. Not a single vessel swerved a yard from the wake of his flagship. Amazed at his daring, the Germans cheered as he passed by their ships. In 1S90 Fisher was promoted to the rank of rear admiral, while from 1809 to 1903 he held the responsible post of commander command-er in chief of our most important fleet, the Mediterranean, when he became second sec-ond navaf lord of the admiralty. Although all his subordinates respect him. and manv admire him, it cannot be said that they" all love him. Stern and a hard worker, with no pleasures excepting an occasional dance, his entire life is devoted de-voted to keeping the British navy in perfect per-fect readiness to fight an enemy in any v.o i-nrM at a mnmont's notice. His Regular Habit. Sir John rises regularly every morning at 5 and works on until 8 or 9 o'clock at night. In this connection he is fond of telling a story of an old boatswain who served under him in several ships. The boatswain eventually retired on a pen-: pen-: sion, and Fisher paid him a visit at his I country cottage in Devonshire. He no-1 no-1 ticed a man servant about the place, who 1 seemed to haye nothing to do, and asked ! his host: . I "What on earth do you want him for? I "Well, sir," said the boatswain, very gravely, "he has to call me every morning morn-ing at. 5 o'clock and say, 'Admiral wants to see you, sir. I roll over on the other side of the bed and reply: 'Tell the admiral ad-miral to go to Jericho.' Then I go to sleep again, feeling good. This happens half a dozen times a day, and I feel better bet-ter every time. I've been waiting twenty years for it." Favorite With, the Queen. Although- stern toward men, he is pleasant to women. He never goes into port if he can help it without giving a ball on his flagship. He was a great favorite fa-vorite with Queen Victoria, and was deeply deep-ly attached to her. When the French Admiral Ad-miral Gervais visited Portsmouth some years ago with his fleet. Fisher was told off by the admiralty to do him honors. The queen called him to Osborne and said: "Sir John, we have sent for you especially to ask you to be very nice to Admiral Gervais. as he was so very kind to us when we were recently at Cimiez.' "Madam." replied- Jackey Fisher, gallantly. gal-lantly. "I will even kiss him. if your maiesty wishes it." Sir John Fisher has just been appointed naval commander in chief at Portsmouth. |