Admiral Dewey 167 



felt to reflect honor upon the whole and to have 

 been participated in by every one. Dewey's captains 

 could not have followed him with the precision 

 they displayed, could not have shown the excellent 

 gun practice they did show in short, the victory 

 would not have been possible had it not been for the 

 unwearied training and practice given the navy 

 during the dozen years previous by the admirals, 

 the captains, and the crews who incessantly and in 

 all weathers kept their vessels exercised, singly and 

 in squadron, until the men on the bridge, the men 

 in the gun-turrets, and the men in the engine-rooms 

 knew how to do their work perfectly, alone or to 

 gether. Every officer and man, from the highest to 

 the lowest, who did his full duty in raising the navy 

 to the standard of efficiency it had reached on May 

 i, 1898, is entitled to feel some personal share in the 

 glory won by Dewey and Dewey's men. It would 

 have been absolutely impossible not merely to im 

 provise either the material or the personnel with 

 which Dewey fought, but to have produced them in 

 any limited number of years. A thoroughly good 

 navy takes a long time to build up, and the best 

 officer embodies always the traditions of a first- 

 class service. Ships take years to build, crews take 

 years before they become thoroughly expert, while 

 the officers not only have to pass their early youth in 

 a course of special training, but can not possibly rise 



