BANQUET. 257 
ADDRESS OF BRIGADIER GENERAL WILLIAM WEIGEL, U. S. ARMY. 
Mr. Toastmaster, Mr. Secretary, guests,and gentlemen of the Society, I assure you 
that if I had been aware of the fact that I was to be called upon to make a speech, I would 
have had something up my sleeve, like my dear friend, the Admiral. I think that the 
toastmaster saw that he had one “land-lubber” in your midst who could not very well 
get away, so decided to call upon me, or else he saw in me one of that remnant of the 
United States Army left after Congress got through paring it down. 
The Navy has a great advantage over the Army in one respect, that is, no one, not even 
you gentlemen who have been long associated with the Navy, would think of going to Wash- 
ington to ask the Secretary of War to appoint you admiral of the fleet or captain of a 
ship. The average layman looks upon a ship as a mystery and with fear; he does not want 
to tackle such a job. This is not so with the Army. We have too many “born Napoleons.” 
You can find them on every corner, clamoring for command, in time of stress. What 
they lack in knowledge of the art of war or as tacticians, they count upon being covered up 
by politics or the press. Whether successes or failures, the press makes them heroes, and 
in time they, themselves, come to believe that they are such. They know how to get promo- 
tions, and when the medals are given out they know how to get them. 
Now, gentlemen, I want to say one thing about our Navy. If we had never sailed our 
ships farther than along our coasts, and then scrapped them, the country would have been 
well repaid for the money spent in the development of the great industries which you gentle- 
men represent. 
Our great industries in steéls, in metals of all kinds, our improved production, would 
never have been at the stage of development at which it is at the present time, if it had not 
been for the exacting demands of the Navy in connection with the building of its ships 
and vessels. 
I could go on and say many things about our sister service—it has always been good 
to me, it has always been good to the Army—and we of the Army are always inspired and 
proud whenever we see the old stack coming down the bay. I am going to give you one 
little instance. 
One of the proudest days of my life was when dear Captain Hayes, the new chief of the 
fleet of the White Star Line, asked me for advice in regard to the sailing of his ship to the 
other side during the World War. He was captain of the Olympic when I put 9,000 of my 
command aboard at Pier 56, New York City, on May 5, 1918. He consulted me as to 
whether I wanted a convoy. I told him that he was master of the ship and that what- 
ever he said went, and that he was to run the ship without any interference from me except 
to bring us into the war as quickly as possible with all reasonable thought for the safety of 
the troops. He stated that he did not desire a convoy, so we sailed without making any 
plans for such assistance. We pulled out about 2 p. m. on May 5, 1918, and made over 
500 miles per day. On the morning of the 10th, as I was on the bridge with the captain, 
he looked through his glasses and said: “There they come; there are your destroyers.” 
Pretty soon the fleet of destroyers arrived, and it seemed that every man of my command 
gave one great hurrah. Our men had been drilled daily in taking their proper places on 
deck with their life preservers and how to use the small boats in case of accident. At this 
