A GREAT MAN'S SON.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 610, 13 September 1909, Page 9

A GREAT MAN'S SON.

AND THE MAGIC SHIP, AT THE KING'S WHARF. (Br Gyro.) that; her name' Was really tho Magic,' The'.- scerr. '.plates on. oiie side, showed E-N-C-0 , and the. rest was lost in the dazzle of a small.winter sun.. .On the; ~ other-side ono presently caught . . N-T-E-R, to that it tss quite spme .time be- „ fore' the whole name—E-n-c-o-ii-n-t-e-r—was royealod, On board of hsr .(thanks to tho good officers of Mr. Cccil Palmer, of tho Navy.League, who seems to bo nevor weary in vyeH-doing) the writer had tho pleasure . , of -meeting a great;raan'« son. Ho is tho captain ortheilSncouiiter,, and tho beat dis- , ciphua,THm on tho : Atntralisn: station. But .'he..ii ratfear more than that. Ho is tho son ': ,6f fi:(Tery .'distingni«tcd ■ admiral, and - it' is ■ alao, quite likely .that when the Great Black _Trqublß occurs lirthe North'Scn 110 will bo an -admiral himself—a fijditing" admiral .right .-in- : tho thick of things. I'hillip Howard Colomb is the namo in full, ~w. was. off.'to. Trontham raccs.in : half;&h hoiir, so' plainly tho cbnvcrsatipn had , to;hurry. and wo travorsod Woi-hai-wei, and , ; that:, rather ,fashionablo placo Port Arthur, inybM.ut teu.minnks. ,|iln ,tho succecding five i minutes' wo walked clean' through Manchuria 1 andyßlsd. sottlfttj. "tho ranKcs.of various' kinds' ' of naval jguns, • ■ Thsn J: spoko of■ tho lato-Vleo-Admiral 'Colomb's work on steam con.strtiction,.' and the captain took : down tho familiar; blue-coverod v work from' . his: : littlo , library., Wo turned : up, tho plates, and looked; at tlib designs wherein'the pa'ralyaiMs; nar.ll •: typos' of: to-day were foreshadowed , : nearly thirty "and j tfarh'cd '.against." .vllicrc; they ;.werp--thb;'ad-iniral's lyi6';*ahip;whibh he christened ■ (for, tho purposes' of -bis book) H.M.S. Out- ;> rag_equ3,And thcrej too,was'' liis 'tjrpical- . . crilistir—H.M.S/,Ramshackle. ":And ! his scout HiM.S.. Bantam.-- It may havo • been about'f{:this \ stage','thatftha interview.' faded 'out,;not' ■that;'l '.was -bundled, .'ajhoi*e r b'y ,tlio• quartor- - ma-steiy-.but ■ v- ■ Outrageous , ~ r .. • Ramshackle . ■-.■■■:■ : Bantam.-.-..: that js' tho . very finest kind of descriptive wnt- ,' is ,impr<fejonism^Claudo/Monet pic-: ,v turosy 'inK. ;v ri AriH ih/'tha fif^tuminut«s ! .precGding ; tho/captain/s start iv for.' Trentham I > think ; I must havo been .an : ;abscntrmind'cdr : bpggdr'?:in ■"Sho ,'Conversation", r havin", been entirely wrapped' up: Ut : tho -o' g«od l-journqlists wero ■>.; lost j to':,the world through' having been mado" admirals 1 Cy/rFpif they write Very : well,.do*\ those ad* mirils.; ; :Thoy.: ,d<>; not. ..conipasa . tiheir effects y Syith'J.th'e : r ßondrpiis .march"..flf..;t)io;'<lictionary ■ "soiheloyed ;of-colonial /writers, 1 . but / they y'.'ar-. ■ riT«j!'''and that ij:more than' a'hiere pedlar of words can ever hope tq do: ,"Admiral Fremantlc, for (who was tho:late ViceAdmiral Colomb's friend), lias-drawn littlo, i poir.pictures'of. Wellington, and,the Manu.V kau bar, and' man-hirntS' in-tfio'.hjish at Opotikij'.'.whieh have never bdeiv equalled by any. wntw,": In;the aamo'-book-he Has'r;drawii.' a.:sketch, ; of' ,: a''gr<:'at,' silen't' sea, 1 ' and'-tho . Amodr River rolling into it. He , -:j "you morning ' perfectly—half a; Vv gSlf,- r tne ' big''sea.a ;littlo yellow and a Blue, and ,four. British ships in .like ; fli^xpn : ;ajpoud^after;avpwr;'little ; Russian': . ' 'brig jsUggeringvawiy jihto-.thoi(halloVa -;by: ■, ' That'was the »oa : of, - Okhotsk in -1854r '. A poorer iiaturo would aaVfcJ'chafed-afebeing'stuck- away at:,the 'baek :Md: ; of.Ask':while':bMers;W picking'up.,the : goltlep' nuggets 'of and-prpTO%n' ! in ■Crimea... But.if there had been anj 1 tinge of f ; r soft'I'o'f.V'tbiiQg'jn>:his i feeKngs;ho.''cauld'; f ; ;-;n(>y(^5hi»yp;:'3MIp^Kiit.\ihpnimg;';#iid,',whffli' the great man .who drew tho-picture. The admiral-does -tho 'same 'thing : ;.with rCßpcot to . the Gulf of-Guinea in 1875, whon the troops . of tho Apostle of tho .Thorough Preparation were being put ashore to reduee-':tho King • of Ashanti- .Of' .tjuf.'-fftilr' principles.,of laid-.'dowiKbyi,Clsusowitz":(who ) -"!By.vthe.'.way.i: , ■ has'fsaid Alio last mihtaigt . : GafriSt J^'dlßeloy,";'tho'; ii'postl«- I'efcrroiii to',': ■ keep,y,tho. offcnaive.- * '-flotilla . of : ■ 'Tommies,'V >...whosft lawling.|-AdmiralFr,e-, :maatla.r.'d6scribo3,v),'Mrned,Xnbt: only - ppwdet t andrshot'but.-nTOdlcs.and',thread,'.quinino-and.' mcdioirfal baYks, -didncs,- cummerbunds, ■ fiarin^i(ve|tsi;andf ( ma£be and.'spcc-. i:,:i.tacl4j.:!:-And,;a» you .watch,:it all being .put /, nshprp - (in Admiral Frcmnntlo's peti-pictnro) v: ypfl.seem'.tof feel ■ also .sbmo'.'intenso'; siense.'''of heatrrthb copper sun being 'gradually oc,':;''clna«l bolnnd'banks of tropical.vapours,' and. .tfco'bhie sea;taking 'tint: tha.tropic3.7 ; ;'; And :then.there succeods, tho-paddles of, the boats putting, off rhythmically to the. chant ofitno Kni ncgroes . .who arb'-doing thbirowing. ..' Jla—ma—comagcni „ ' .■ -"J-?, -'... Comagen a.fomagen— fi-.\Sla-r-mor^oniagcn^. •_.■ J<X ■: s ' ; . Poor canoe man / '. . Npt all tlie'admirals. havo 'choseu'the.Hojii' make their. , iontribution to; -litcraturo. ..-Indeed;.'.they ; [ ; :hmbstly just as:any:bitizen;.Shuiistthe, v'Mentipn' .of '.his day's'' work'-aftor office hours. I i admiral Kennedy, for, instance,, kept open V ji'oiise -for years; to' fishermen , and stal-: •kers. Of such subjects he charm- - mgly,. and once; ■ in' presenco ; of a fishing . party; bcin'g' asked : to':giva''a,,seiitinient: : .bn his' ; own-hobby ho took a :Slojd instrument and>carvod-.oii his dining-room wall : as followi: .' The. angler tuormng,': ~Dlsfurblng:'tlib' wholo household ''.v"-: , 'Mv- Hi''comethlback "in'the ''evening .'when— , v'■ ..The',6meU ,o£ whisfc'j;, lsrliipon: nim;; : truth is not ili him...-'':. , In the" case ; ; ; onthe,: : ipur:\of\thb imoment;oiieipercciycs ,plainly that/ aiiotheKgood jonrnii list,,was Jost - to the ,world through -tho ' misfprtilno' of hav- ,' iug-been-mado-an'ndnliral:'■: ■ ■/! y.Ofithe .few-'admirals'Hvhb l; have ! written on '■ war—such wars as thoy thomselvca,havo seen v;,. —1 J,think I: recalled,: ! with'Ksbm'e - crtreme definitfon/'thafc- mbrtiing' in I 'th'e "cabin'"bf the Encounter -a - certain Admiral 'Downright, • whose exploit sent all tho war correspondents r;|V i pff^'ibs'''dteti9ifaryjm^ti^Vi r ot.^'.biis^' ( . iug \-brds.",'.. It. was a . question of taking •: HiM.'S., Alexahdra-and : ing^:ijhips:,'ofthe' 1 , .through <, v the ' strait; ' across . . which / Leander ., 1 . swam !to seo Hero. - For. somo, reason or ! an:,V othbr, . that strait had itobd .for ages like a ■ bogey in , a- child's dream. /, Goodness only ' !■ : kn6W,V,what, would ; happen if - British - ships V wont through' teejie. ; Yet' Admir'al-iDown-:?:,vright;;.whoso:real .name,-byvtlio way,..was Sir ; :Gob{freyl'Hornby,';ise<!ms;:.tb I ..havP, found,, it ,: simple, and Ins littlo picture of how it all - tjUxned out is an elfcctivo one. - Ho says. ''.ifflt; was snowing at the. time, and,' as : ■ , the; ships, steaming eight :knots, 'entered . • the strait,.. the■ -fleet was..formedin single lino ahead, with the-Temerairo '<lfcadirig: - At ,eight ; Cableß.from;the'forts ■ the, isccond watch was called, and. the gtlns " loaded, and- .run out. Twenty ■ .: 1 ■ mihiites'. later the. charges' -' wore ■ dravvnarid sent below, tho gun 3 'turned inboard, aiid. the tompions replaced: Beside the bold lines of that canvas—a Leijhcen cauvas : is it not ?—all the "pciiv piitliring" of.Vwar-corresponclents,' -word-, merchants, cto,, which took place when the lieift.;passed thej Dardanelles, .scenis pale an'd laelfkctive As:.' this-article began with a ship at the ; King's 'Wharf, ihd has r.ow got', as far as the : f Diird.'iiielles, via tho ;sca' of Okhotsk, it, is '. phiiii to. bo ,• seen, that .she 'was indeed tho \'" Alai;ic: Ship ..and not- tho 'Encounter Vat ,all.. : It.-u-as as if Aladdin 1 , had conio through tho. '. Biifoko of tho captain's good Egyptian' Cigarettes, and rubbed tho magio lamp, so that a ■procession :';pf '.■.famous-: admirals - r stalked thrdiigh tho cabm.V'But so many ' :. : :of : ;them, and tho,captain's half hour' ''before ; , hOi'svent to ,Trenthain!'-:was. so small that it : V . was'.bnly: iri the, last itn'b' minutej that tho :: ; conversation - arrived; at what 1 hav» always: • ' takon to bo ono of our,, greatest admirals— ..Captain Colomb's father. • . ;,' Of.-^ll3 ~various writings, his advocacy of r: the "blue-water school," and. till. that;sort.:of v. ;.thihg,'.many-people are aware.: But-it'is no doubt only a-much smaller circle of rcadora ' ; who know how tho lato Vice-Admiral Colomb ■> ■ ''"jaiibd-'intb" popular historical, accounts : df the battle of- Trafalgar, and,., figuratively' :: speaking, shot the timo-lionoured legends of

historians-suoh as : James and- Captain 'Ma-han-to pieces. If Nelson had made the approach at Trafalgar as Jlahan and others represent hp would not only have been a very poor admiral, hut ho would havo been doing something which, in 'the stato .of the wind and with pad sailers' like the old,"wooden Walls,"- would have been impossible. It was in 1895 that 'Admiral Colorab -threw this bomb in'among the historians, and, on the centenary of 'lWalgsr, in ■ 1905, • the question was revived and somewhat. ftorcoly, discussed in. tho columns of -tho London: " Times." But tho position taken up by Admiral Colomb was never shaken. , '' Somehow, : when the half hour's talk on tho Encounter camo to an end, one could hardly help fooling that he had bten quite close to the : »caW of the mighty—thero - had been spfccoh'with the" son of a remarkablo man who will probably bo also , a -vory, : distinguished naval commandor in the stirring times to como. • ' "Words, words, words," wrote' a correspondent of one of the fine little bits of idealism which one "J. Q. X." sometimes contributes in The Dominion, and, perhaps, tho foregoing- will seem' to that correspondent words, words also. And tho moro especially as'-of' the-various things which-..w0 talked, about and wbch would havo raado a good nowspaper article in tho; usual: sense—airblasts, guni, elevations, 'dotters, gauges, De Bang# pads, Dreadnoughts, strategy, finance and;! frozen moat —I' romombor not a word. But; there: had - occurred, as N it; were,'.' a'.small visi&n.of cood men, and, como to think of it, there .mucrTreal wholesome pleasure in our. "little realms of mako-believc.