SPERRY AND THE SPANISH WAR

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 272, 10 August 1908, Page 9

SPERRY AND THE SPANISH WAR

MISSED THE GLORY BUT- DID THE WORK. : A former rmyal officer of the United States, who speaks of a' closri personal relationship .with Rear-Admiral Sperry, writes of him as followsAs to the reason why ho receives the appointment to the Fleet, sines neither political nor family influence hns anything to do with it, and sinco ho in a manner niissedtho chanco to earn glory in tho lata war with Spain, tho circumstances arc perhaps worth explanation. In tho first place, Sperry had tho good luck to entor tho scrvico very young, so that his retiring ago comes quito later than that of his classmates, tho majority of lvhoin aro already retired. Then ho had tho common sense and brains pecessarj; to graduate from ,tho Academy l ar,-ay' up in tho singlo numbers of his class. Thus you seo right at tho start ho got into ships to bccomo a rear-admiral early and to stay late.

His Phlegmatic Way. . His start in active scrvico was as romantic'a?,-, the start of a harrowing dime novel, although,. I never could, persuado him-to view it in that light. Ho started for tho China station on tho corvette Sacramcnto, and they got along all right until somewhero near tlio mouth of tho Hooghly River on tho way to Calcutta, when tho ship went ashore at night..in a fog 'and was a total wreck. No .lives.-'.wqje'f lost and 110 c!oth?s • were. saved, ./so. {\ll .iliajijds camo homo rich only in experience; " If I werb commissioned to write Spcrry's biography, I could 110 doubt rake up-lots of such material '.of harrowing interest to tho peoplo who pass their lives at home, but in order to be truthful I should havo to get my , detailed facts ■ from tho fountainhead, and right, thore is wlioro 1 should- meet with defeat, for tho reason that all such episodes would appear to him as too commonplace to bo worth even recalling. Sperry is phlegmatic. 1 doubt much if ho took his shipwreck any more seriously than a person would who stepped in a mud puddle. It was all over as soon as his pyjamas got dry. The day that 110 got married you would have thought that it was his sixteenth experience instead of his first one. Appearances aro often deceptive, and tho matter-of-fact air may como from absolute vacuity of mind, but such an accusation can hardly be laid' at his door. His inn'ato mathematical talent sent him repeatedly to tho Naval Academy as • an instructor in higher mathematics. Only tho best talent in tho service-\jould ever be picked for President of tho Naval War College, and he servod in that capacity for three years, relinquishing it to go as tho naval member of tho last Huguo Conference.

As Orctnanca Officoiv I havo said that lie missed tlio glory of the Spanish War. So. ho did, but lie by no means missed the" hard work of it, for as ordnance officer of tho Now York navy yard ho had anything but a sinecuro. To tho ordnance officer falls all the details of fitting tho vessels out with their entire artillery outfits. Thero was scarcely a day for moro than' six months then that at least a dozen of tho purchased yaehts were not at tho docks to bo armed and started off in a hurry, but not a mistako must bo mado. This only in addition to the repairs and equipment of tho main fleet.

\ I saw Sperry at his work often iirthoso days, and it was a ioy to tho spirit to see tho machino work. Thero. was a tanglo in "tho thread every fivo "minutes',_ but it camo straight in a moment, and without a stop in tho regular motion of the shuttlo. Ho is going to handle tho fleet of battleships in exactly tho samo way. It is' not merely a matter of navigating some twenty old vessels in company. Thero is tho comfort, tho well-being, the training, and tho. steady enthusiasm of fifteen thousand people, to bo maintained. It takes a stoady hand at tho wheel, and solid sense, .unaffected by what is called tho exalted position, to carry tho cruiso to a successful finish. Trust Sperry.

Method of Appointment. But how did ho securri tho appointment? Notwithstanding tho dispatches that state that it has just been determined after consultation, there aro all tho finger-fnarks of a long and well-developed plan of tho naval authorities. In tho first, place, it _is easily, seen what a superb training experience has been gained by everyone connccted with tho fleet. This training has been necessary and ■ as' useful to the future division commanders as to anyone olse, and in ordor that tho divisions of the fleet should continue to benefit it goes without saying that the commands should pass to tlioso who have had tho training in succession.

The four rear-admirals chosen to tho command were, of course, carefully chosen 011 tho scoro of ability rather than of availability. Of tho four, thrco must retiro from active servico under tho ago limit beforo really much could bo realised from their full fleet training. It ;must nbt be forgotteil that in addition to j the massed fleet tliero aro four moiy activo divisions in . tho Pacific, to bo commanded, and a new battleship division almost ready for assembly hero at home. Just prior to the sailing of tho fleet from Hampton Roads, it will bo remembered that tho elder captains were relieved and replaced by younger meiL but there were two exceptions made. Captains Wainwright and Schroeder both. belonged to tho category of older captains, and wore near their regular time for advancement to the n'.-ado of rear-admirals. As Ernns and Thomas retiro, Wainwright and Schroeder come naturally ahcßd to fill tho vacanies in division command, all , the better fitted lor tho positions from their fleet experience. Sperry has the great advantage of eighteen months of active service still ahead of him in addition to his natural seniority. Thus tho solidarity of the divisional and fleet command is maintained, nnd tho ofiigiency of tho iloot Btoadily advaneos.

It is only now that/evoryono is beginning to wake up to tho fjict that • tlio cruise of tho fieot has not boon a more experimental procession or a. travelling show, but a thoroughgoing tuning up of an already welltrained mass; so lycll-tvained that tho fleet arrives in nioro effective condition than when it started. Sperrj;' will increase its efficiency beyond tho slightest doubt. Of course, there is tho other factor in this extension of tho cruiso to the uttermost ends of tho earth, that Americans take to heart. Wo know that /the ships and tho men aro a.ll right. Socially, also, when it comes to showing tho national character, Wo want to aliow at equal advantngo. 'At this end of tho lino no hotter representative could bo chosen than/.Sparry. No 0110 could talk with him two minutes without being impressed with .respeefc for his courteous dignity, his familiarity with all the matters that are of interest in world progress, and lie possesses to the full that quiet assuranc.o of the Anierican who needs 110 affectation to impress liis_ critic. A bettor oxamplo of quiet, impressive American character could not havo' been cliosen. Take it all in all, tho coming extension of tho cruise may serve as an invaluable lesson to tho far-away world as to what kind of peoplo tho Americans realty are, not what hide-bound foreign writers' think wo are.