HONORS TO THE AMERICAN NAVY 



91 



and to the desires and aspirations of 

 mankind. 



THE TOASTMASTER 



A stream can rise no higher than its 

 source. Just as everything of which 

 the human mind can form a picture — 

 ■everything that has dimensions, every- 

 thing from the largest planet of space to 

 the ultimate atom of matter — is but the 

 tangible expression of the thoughts of 

 the Creator, so is every great human 

 undertaking but the manifestation of the 

 master mind that leads. Now the spirit 

 that prompted a mere lad of the Virginia 

 mountains, in 1858, to fight his way 

 across the Western plains so that he 

 might acquire a residence in the Terri- 

 tory of Utah and secure an appointment 

 to the Naval Academy, is one that leads 

 to success in any chosen profession. The 

 fortitude that enabled the young cadet to 

 remain true to the old flag when the 

 nearest and dearest of kind cast their 

 lots on the other side is worthy of the 

 emulation of American youth. The 

 physical and moral courage that enabled 

 the young officer to volunteer for a haz- 

 ardous service, and to lead his landed 

 force from the sea front into the very 

 muzzles of the firing guns at Fort Fisher, 

 to pause long enough to staunch the flow 

 of blood from a wounded leg, to press 

 forward, to see his command shot away, 

 to be one of the first seven men to break 

 through the stockade, fall with the other 

 leg pitifully shattered, to receive a third 

 wound, and to half rise and shoot dead 

 the man on the parapet who had several 

 times wounded him, and then to be car- 

 ried from the field as the flag of victory 

 rose through the smoke of battle and 

 waved its beautiful tresses over the 

 : broken ramparts of a defeated foe, fitted 

 Tiim to become the commander of the 

 greatest fleet ever assembled under the 

 •orders of a single man. Fighting Bob 

 Evans is no misnomer — it was bravely 

 won. And, Admiral Robley D. Evans, 

 we know that that indomitable spirit of 

 yours is as ready tonight for a "fight or 

 a frolic" as it was when you started 

 across the plains in 1858, as when you 



charged at Fort Fisher, as when you 

 stood upon the bridge in Chesapeake Bay 

 and headed your magnificent armada 

 toward the Pacific. The American peo- 

 ple, and especially the National Geo- 

 graphic Society and its guests, know 

 you, honor you, and love you. The 

 Commander of the Fleet — Admiral 

 Evans. 



REAR ADMIRAL ROBLEY D. EVANS, 

 U. S. NAVY. 



I often regret that the course at An- 

 napolis is not changed. I think naval 

 officers ought to be taught to speak 

 rather than to fight, so that they can 

 answer on an occasion of this sort prop- 

 erly the wonderful descriptive list that 

 has been given to me. I think probably 

 I had better not say anything, and let it 

 go as Professor Moore has put it. 



But I cannot let this occasion pass 

 without a word as to the Navy. I am 

 not foolish enough for one moment to 

 believe that my personality has anything 

 to do with all this. It is because I have 

 the honor to be an officer of the great 

 national service It is because you all 

 love the Navy and appreciate the im- 

 portance of it, which I pray you will do 

 later on to a greater extent than you do 

 now, that I have received the invitation 

 to attend this dinner. So, as there are 

 many Members of Congress and Sena- 

 tors here tonight, and as you say you are 

 going to reorganize the Navy, according 

 to Mr Weeks, I hope you will remember 

 to put in some law by which naval offi- 

 cers shall be taught to speak. 



My education in life has been along 

 the lines of doing what I am told to do 

 without answering back. Therefore 

 when the President ordered the Atlantic 

 fleet to go to California, I did not ask 

 him why he wanted it to go. I doubt 

 if he would have given me a satisfactory 

 answer if I had. 



I will only delay you a few moments 

 to say a few words under one or two 

 different headings and on the question 

 of this reorganization. 



If you reorganize the Navy, do it 

 wisely, and remember that for command- 



