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Show REAR ADMIRAL UPSHUR. The death of Rear Admiral John Henry Upshur at the great age of 94 removes one of the few remaining links that connect the old American navy with the new. Upshur was a graduate of the naval academy in its early days and began his career as a sea fighter aboard the wooden warships which have since given place to the monster engines of destruction constructed of ! steel. He was with Commodore Perry when the latter opened up Japan to the commerce of the world and lived long enough to see the Oriental country become be-come one of the first-class powers and possessing warships which any naval commander would be proud "to command. com-mand. He served in the Mexican and Civil wars and received his baptism of fire at Vera Cruz under the redoubtable redoubt-able Perry. His entire career while on the active list of the navy was full of notable incidents and when he retired in JSSn there was naught to be said against him, Unto few men is it given to pass the ninetieth milestone on the journey ot life, but many of those who breathe salt air in the strenuous days of their youth frequently retain a remarkable hold upon existence. Not so many years ago Rear Admiral H. O. Selfridge died in Washington after almost reaching the centurv mark. He entered the navy in ; 9,-20 and at the time of his death his ' son, another Rear Admiral H. O. Self-I Self-I ridge, was also on the retired list of the j navy. The latter is still living. He had a narrow escape from death in the '. Potomac river half a century ago, when i one of the first submarines, a cigar-j cigar-j shaped affair, went down and failed to i come up. Tf we remember correctly j there is, or was a few years ago, a man j living in Brigham City who was with ; Selfridge at the time. While the elder : Selfridge was still alive the army also had a representative nearing the century mark. Major General D. H. Rucker, born in 1S12. Rucker outlived Selfridge. Self-ridge. being AS at the time of his death, if we are not mistaken. Speaking of Rm.-kert recalls the fact ithat he was in command of the expe-1 expe-1 dition sent out by Jefferson Davis, 1 (hen secretary of war. to distribute pigs, j 'ducks, chickens, milch cows, etc., at the frontier posts in order that they might become self-supporting. Rucker made the trip from Fort Leavenworth to San Diego and used to relate his experiences ex-periences with great glee in his later years. Rear Admiral Upshur, who has just died, was also a great story teller and loved to talk of the Prry expedition expedi-tion to Japan. What an exchange of yarns must have taken place when these old heroes chanced to meet, as no doubt they often did. What a rare privilege to listen to incidents that do not find their way into history, but are much more interesting because of the living presence of those who took part in them. |