Admiral Dewey was a great stickler for truth. He has stated of
himself, “There is nothing that I detest so much in a man as
lying. I don’t think a man ever gained anything by telling a
lie.” A blue-jacket says of him, “We had not been at sea long
with him before we got next to how he despised a liar.” One of
the men was brought before Dewey, and told of being “sunstruck.”
“You are lying, my man,” said Dewey. “You were very drunk last
night. I don’t expect to find total abstinence, but I do expect
to be told the truth. Had you told me candidly that you had
taken a drop too much on your liberty, you would have gone free.
For lying, you get ten days in irons.”--JAMES T. WHITE,
“Character Lessons.”
(1939)
See LOYALTY, SPIRIT OF.