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Show Admiral Schley t T IS pitiable that the great sailor has been JL called, and that so suddenly that he had not time to send even a good-bye to those he loved. For five and forty years he served his country, in every sea he carried his country's flag, and everywhere with honor. He went on an errand of mercy to the rescue of a lost band in the far north; in the face of three mngniflcent ships, either one of which could have sunk his in fifteen fif-teen minutes, he demanded ot Chili some prisoners prison-ers whom she was holding, and stripped his decks for action if the demand was not complied with. And he was a most significant factor in the greatest sea triumph of our nation since the Kearsarge sunk the Alabama. He was a brilliant bril-liant scholar and statesman and had he been a better politician would have been nominated for president. Personally he was the kindliest and most courteous of -gentlemen, and we suspect that it was for this, linked with his great service, that he was given command of the warship that bore the body of Ericsson back to his native country. Most public men have double reputations with the public. The men of the South hold that Stonewall Jackson was one of their very greatest generals, but when they say that, they add in the same hreath that he was a Puritan, a Cromwell, one not easily reached, not cordial when met. Napoleon Na-poleon was the most imperial of men, but when he walked along the ranks of his grenadiers, pulled their whiskers and called them "jolly dogs," they were ready, every one, to die for him. In the height of the Santiago battle and race, the head of the yeoman the 'man who calculates calcu-lates the distance an enemy is away was shot off, only a few feet from where Admiral Schley stood. The seamen picked the body up to throw It overboard, when the admiral stopped them, saying, "So bravo a sailor shall be buried with all honors." When in this city he was asked what was the most striking incident of that day of days off Santiago. He replied: "It was when the Viscala i called for help, and some boat loads of the Brooklyn's crew went to their rescue. The fight A-and A-and excitement had known no abatement for two hours, but those boat crews all fell into even stroke as perfect as though out on drill." The great features of the fight he let pass, but the work of the tars he gladly exalted. His was a lofty soul and his body goes down to the grave with a whole nation as mourners ' around it. |