ing a new thing, the
College specifically had poached its building from another manor. It
stood upon the grounds of the Naval Training Station, for apprentices,
which considered itself defrauded of property and intruded upon by an
alien jurisdiction--an _imperium in imperio_. The two were not even
under the same bureau, so the antagonism existed in Washington as well
as locally; and now a Secretary of malevolent neutrality. Truly some
one was needed "on deck;" though just what he could do with such a
barometer did not appear, unless he bore up under short canvas, like
Nelson, who "made it a rule never to fight the northwesters." And such
was very much our policy; reefed close down, looking out for squalls
at any moment from any quarter, saying nothing to nobody, content to
be let alone, if only we might be so let. Small sail; and no weather
helm, if you please. One most alleviating circumstance was the
commandant of the training station, the local enemy, one of the born
saints of the earth, Arthur Yates. Officially, of course he
disapproved of us; professional self-respect and precedent, bureau
allegiance, and all the rest of it, were outraged; but when it came to
deeds, Yates could not have imagined an unkind act, much less done it.
Nor did he stop there; good-will with him was not a negative but an
active quality. What we wanted he would always do, and then go one
better, if he could find a way to add to our convenience; and when we
ultimately came to grief, after his departure, he wrote me a letter of
condolence. Altogether, while clouds were gathering in Washington, it
was perpetual sunshine at home as to official and personal relations.
I have no doubt he would have drawn maps for me had I asked it.

None the less, trouble was at hand. In 1886 we had a session which by
general consent was very successful in quality, if not in quantity,
lasting little over two months. Our own bureau controlled the
ordering of officers, so it swept together a sufficient number to form
a class. We had several excellent series of lectures: on Gunnery in
its higher practical aspects, by Lieutenant Meigs, who has since left
the navy for a responsible position in the Bethlehem Iron Works; on
International Law, by Professor Soley, who under the next
administration became Assistant-Secretary of the Navy; on Naval
Hygiene, by a naval surgeon, Dr. Dean; together with others less
notable. All these had been contracted for by Luce. Captain Blis