DEWEY V. NELSON.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 293, 11 December 1899, Page 5

DEWEY V. NELSON.

The following" amusing comparison between Dewey and Nelson appears in the . VNew Brunswick Sun":—When we come, to compare the hero of Trafalgar with the hero of Manila we see at once the superiority of the live ..admiral over'the one who rests in St. Paul's Cathedral. Admiral Dewey may "be described as j a neat fighter. He .Knows how to take car© of his ships, his men, and himself. His cruisers came out of the great Manilla seaflght all clean and nice. Nelson ship% after the battle of Trafalgar were much, battered and bruised. Their decks were covered with blood and bodies and broken things. For .it must.be admitted that Nelson was an imprudent fighter. • Instead of operating at' a distance of twoand- a- half miles he took his ships'' ' SO CLOSE TO THE-HOSTILE FLEET/ that the rigging touched, and so did the guns and the men. So it happened, that.--while Dewey fought his great battle without losing a man, Nelson had some 1 200Okilled and wounded at Trafalgar and per«V haps half .as many in. the Battle ■of the Nile. All these lives would have been saved if Nelson had remained a few miles . from the French, fleet, and there wouldnot have been nearly so much of a mess on the deck.. Nelson was himself a victim to this carelessness. At "Aboukir he was wounded in the head, arid someone else had to wind up the fight for him. He fared still worse at Trafalgar, for he' was shot there by a man with a musket. This shot was at close range. Probably the distance of a bare hundred yards would'have, saved Nelson's life and enabled him to take part in a popular de- ? monstration in honour of his victory* - This -is where Dewey has the advantage,., of Nelson. Not only has Dewey :■-.s"■ SAVED ALL HIS MEN, >4 including himself, but he has organised his sea fight.so not to interfere with' tife regularity of meals on board ship. Nelson never thought of that. He perhaps had some rum served before the action, but ; history does not record: that when the * fight was on he ever paid the slightest attention to meal time. Admiral Dewey, ; after two hours of his marine promenade, remembered that the, breakfast hour had arrived, and moved off to a retired place ,' for a quiet meal. With such «. commander there is no danger.of a man-of-war's crew going on strike for shorter houra in the middle of an important battle. } Now, we have looked carefully, over the record of Lord Nelson's battles, if hey were undoubtedly great fights, of the : rough, rude and dangerous soft that prevailed "in his day. But we regret to find . no proof that he ever so far remembered i his.duty to himself and his men as"to" adjourn a sea fight for breakfast. *