A GENIAL ADMIRAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19094, 12 August 1925, Page 14

A GENIAL ADMIRAL.

"SMILING SAM" ROfiISON.

SCOTTISH-IRISH DESCENT.

! CLAIMS A HIGHLAND CLAN. A steel-grey man of middle-height, whoso face bears the mark of mental con- • sntration and heavy responsibility, whose language in " plain American" without 4 trace of the " silver tongue," but whose geniality is the natural expression of a ight heart—such is Admiral S. S. Robison, Commander-in-Chief of the United States Battle Fleet, which dropped anchor in the Waitemata yesterday. His soubriquet is " Smiling Sam," and it is probably due to all that implies that there ik so happy a spirit on the California. One should judge that thp impress of the personality of this kindly human man upon ill those within his command makes for ;.hat efficiency which owes its quality i.o willing service aud respect. " I have never been in these waters before," he said, in an interview, " but before setting out on this cruise I felt that already I knew your people and the people of Australia through the many slouch-hatted Anzacs I had see in Lon don. One could never forget these splendid men, who&o physique proclaimed the development of new types of the old stock.- They impressed mo as seasoned men, a little bigger in frame than the average Englishman, . and with longer faces;" . -%. People o1 the Same Stock. These remarks prompted a query as to what he thought of the Australian people as a type. He replied that it was not easy to generalise on such matters. "To tell tho truth," he said, " I felt so much at homo in Australia, and I felt so much at homo when I drove through your city to-day, that it hardly occurred to me to look for racial types. AmOng people speaking the same language and of precisely the samo original stock, ono does not make the same observations one would in a country of different race. " One thing that did strike mo to-day, however, was the large number of faces with Scottish characteristics. I understand that Dunedin is your typically Scottish town, but I have no doubt that tho Scottish strain is strong up here. " As a matter of fact," he continued with a laugh, " X am a kind of Scot myself. My people belonged to the Irish branch oi the Scottish family, and it is claimed that we belong to the Clan McKinnon, renowned for having the ugliest tartan in tho Highlands." He chuckled merrily and admitted that the accent which he had picked up in his native state of Pennsylvania had drowned any suggestion of Scotland. It was clear that his pride in being an American does not obliterate a pride in his ancestry. " OroBS-sectlon of United States."

Discussing the personnel of the fleet the admiral said it could be. vegarded as a fair cross-section of the United States. The officers came from every State, for nominations lor the Naval -Academy were in the hands of congressmen and each congrcsman had the same number of nominations. The recruiting of the men embraced the wholo country and the compliment of each ship was fairly representative. Comment was made by the interviewer upon the fact that there seemed to bo fairly marked differences in accent among the officers, the soft Southern drawl contrasting with the -harsher, voice of the North. " Not so great differences as there used to be," said the admiral "More and faster means of communication are removing the reasons fo? differing dialects and m America they are sloughing off. The New Englander, perhaps, proclaims himself by his tongue but in the middle States and the West there is no difference except in the choice of slang." ; Touching upon the cruise he said ha had been surprised and deeply gratified at the wonderful welcome of Sydney and Auckland. In both cities the shores had been thronged with people. Warships were no novel sight and he interpreted the presence of these great crowds as a compliment to the United States itself. " These ships are a piecj of tho United States and the welcome of tho crowds I feel is a tribute,to it," lie said. "And I should like to say that we ara anxious for your people to visit tho ships. We want them to come on-board and meet our officers • and men. Official functions are important'but comparatively few peoplo can attend them. Twentyfive thousand people came on the California in. Sydney and we shall be happy if as many visit us here. It is the personal touch that' counts so much in •friendship.'? J ' C'.* Ho mentioned that he had taken trio California and three other ships to Sau Francisco tc, meet the. Special Service Squadron •of • the Royal ' NaVy, and a happy three days had been spent. The ships paired off in a, fraternal way. the California and Hoodhob-nobbing " together. It was a' custom among navies and he desired to establish -the same relations with Auckland.