[to be continued.]
[CAPTAIN LEARY'S SAMOAN EXPERIENCE.]
SOME STIRRING INCIDENTS IN RECENT AMERICAN NAVAL HISTORY.
BY FRANKLIN MATTHEWS.
CAPTAIN LEARY AT SAMOA.
No man can deny that there are times when war, with all its horrors, is necessary and honorable. One of these times is when war is waged for the rights of common humanity. Some of the most stirring episodes in our history have been associated with this kind of noble effort. Many a time have the decks of our men-of-war been cleared for action in such a cause. Many a time has some one of our naval officers, thousands of miles away from home, with no means of asking for instructions, taken action which meant warfare, with its loss of life and great expenditure of money, simply because he knew he was doing what was right, and really was acting for the civilized nations of the world. We thundered at the gates of Japan. We have fired on and punished pirates. Only recently we cleared our ships for action in the harbor of Rio de Janeiro. More than fifty years ago one of the bravest men that ever wore the naval uniform of the United States defied the power of Austria in her own waters because she would not give up an American citizen confined on one of her war-ships, and the roar of "Old Ingraham," as he ordered his ship cleared for action when he knew that in a fight he would probably be beaten, was heard around the world.
Most of these "minor episodes" of our navy have been associated with the misdeeds of half-civilized nations. Occasionally one has had to do with a nation of first rank. One of these was the stand of Ingraham in Austria. I want to tell of another deed which, in my judgment, was as important as that of Ingraham, and which came within a hair's-breadth of involving us, in 1889, in war with Germany, then, as now, a nation of great military prowess. It is a story the full details of which have never been made known, and one that should make American blood tingle with pride. The story reveals the heroism of one of our naval officers who has always refused to exalt his part of the work, saying he merely did his duty; he did not hesitate, even if war with Germany should result, to uphold the honor of our flag, and to protect women and children and the sick and infirm in the name of humanity.