32 • Friday, November 25, 1983 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Uriah. Levy, USN, Corporal Punishment By ALLAN BLUSTEIN Chaplain, Sinai Hospital For those who want the finest custom furniture at... AFFORDABLE PRICES )i( The simplest cube to the most intricate wall unit built to your specifications by meticulous craftsmen. Selections for every room in your home or office in fine woods, laminates, marble, glass and specializing in... 'OUTSTANDING LUCITE DESIGNS • Uriah Philips Levy was born in Philadelphia in 1792 to a family distin- guished by its American patriots. His brother, Cap- tain Jonas Levy, highly praised by General Winfield Scott, was named to the position of military gover- nor of Vera Cruz, Mexico. Robert P. Noah, a cousin, fought with the U.S. Army in Mexico while other rela- tives were active in several branches of the military forces. Uriah, enamored of sail- ing at an early age, ran away to sea at the age of 10. Rising rapidly in his chosen career, he became a sailing F,;4140dg agfitta4G 354-4126 • • • • • • lb • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • • •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • YOU HAVE THE VERY BEST WHEN YOU CALL US • • • We take no short cuts with Your household items • DRAPERIES • BEDSPREADS • BLANKETS (Cleaned or Laundered) WINDOW SHADES • LAMPSHADES • PILLOWS VENETIAN BLINDS (Cleaned, retaped & re-corded) ANY OTHER ITEMS YOU MAY HAVE — IF IT CAN BE CLEANED, ) WE'LL CLEAN IT AND CLEAN IT PROPERLY „et ylfoyuorue'xreistminogvdinrgapweeriecsantorfeitmaankoethaenrdwirned-ionwstaolrl 1‘1.1,4W1 room. I We Remove & install 1 DRAPERY CLEANERS 891-1818 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • master rharg Suburban Call Collect • • All that the name implies." VISA & MASTERCHARGE • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • master in the U.S. Navy at the age of 20 and a mid- shipman (without benefit of training at the Naval Academy) some four years later. In 1816, he was commis- sioned a lieutenant and in 1844 was promoted to cap- tain. Because of his disci- plinary problems, peculiar mannerisms and overall pugnacious bearing, he saw little active duty during the years froin 1827 to 1857. In 1855, the Navy tried hard to drop him from its lists along with 200 other officers. His record, aside from six court-martials, indicates that he was a superior sailor, humane disciplinarian, progress- ive officer and courage- ous patriot. His troubles with the Navy seemed to stem from the fact that unlike his other "gentle- men" contemporaries, he's risen front the ranks, relying on his own abilities and talents to get the jobs done. Pouring additional fuel on the fire was the fact of his "Jewishness." Testifying at one of his frequent court- martials, the Secretary of the Navy, George Bancroft, remarked, "I perceived a strong prejudice in the serv- ice against Captain Levy, which seemed to me, in a considerable part, attribut- able to his being of the Jewish persuasion." His "Jewishness" also got the hot-headed officer involved in nothing less than a duel to the death. The dashing young officer had just returned to his hometown of Philadelphia in command of the frigate, Franklin. Itching to celeb- rate his good fortune, he took a young lady to the formal military dance at Patriot's Hall. While on the dance floor, he inadver- tently jostled a Lieutenant 4 . 11. 11. 11111 Best Wishes For A Healthy and Happy HANUKA MR. and MRS. MARVIN M. TAMAROFF and Family TaMaROFF I Buick Honda 353 1300o 28585 Tolegraph - Across from Tel-12 Mall --,Near 11 Mile ■ Th URIAH LEVY RABBI BLUSTEIN William Potter who took umbrage. After several provoca- tions, among them being called a "dirty Jew," Levy could take no more of it. He retorted something to the effect that Potter was a dis- grace to his uniform and country. Shortly thereafter, Levy was challenged to a duel by Potter. Both men travelled to New Jersey because Pennsylvania had banned dueling. Several paceoffs later, after Pot- ter had fired and missed while Levy had fired into the air each time, the former insisted on con- tinuing the duel even though all could see he was no match for Levy. Finally, goaded on by the taunting Potter, Levy shot him dead. Prior to that deed, Levy had recited a Jewish prayer asking that he not be forced to slay his opponent (pray- ing also of course that his opponent not slay him). Levy's brash style got him into hot 'water near Vera Cruz as well. Posted to the U.S.S. Vandalia in order to "police" the Gulf of Mexico in efforts to quiet Mexican abuse of Americans through insult and robbery, Levy's ship accidentally scraped a French man-o-war, damag- ing it slightly. After a heated exchange between the French com- mander and himself, Levy asked for and got an apology from the Frenchman. Levy's adroit seamanship had av- erted a major accident be- tween the ships and the French commander, to his credit, finally realized it. Perhaps, Levy's greatest accomplishment as a naval officer came about because of the then current practice of flog- - ging sailors with a cat-o- nine tails as a discipli- nary measure. Since he could not abide whipping of sailors as part of the Navy's "Code of Con- duct," he never once re- sorted to the lash on his ships. Once, a cabin boy aboard the Vandalia required discipline so Captain Levy had him tied to a cannon while daubs of tar and par- rot feathers were stuck on his buttocks. Levy had in- tended this (and not whip- ping) to serve as an example to the crew aboard his ship. Upon reaching port in Florida, Levy was promptly hustled off to another court-martial. Ignoring his convincing argument that what he'd done was substantially bet- ter 'than beating a sailor half to death, the court found the "Jewish" upstart guilty and ordered him cashiered from service. President John Tyler, in reviewing the verdict, found for Levy and ordered that he be suspended for one year only. The year stretched into a decade while Uriah Levy lived at Monticello (Jefferson's Home), Va. During that time, Levy lent his considerable support to a law sponsored by Senator John Parker Hale prohibit- ing corporal punishment in the U.S. Navy even though only a handful of officers were for it. Long advocating such a prohibition, Levy had written about it exten- sively, as well as practic- ing it during his own commands. He also found time to publish "A Manual of Informal Rules and Regulations for Men-O-War." At long last, the Navy remembered the all-but- forgotten Captain Uriah P. Levy and assigned him to command the Mediterra- nean Squadron flagship. Further honoring this val- iant fighter for just causes, the Navy accorded him its most exalted rank for that particular point in time — the rank of commodore. Commodore Levy died in 1862 (one year after the outbreak of the Civil War), fully recognized as the man who almost single-handedly had brought about the abol- ition of corporal punish- ment in the U.S. Navy. Most remarkable of all, he had accomplished the feat in spite of "starring" in no less than six naval courts- martial. Successful Ships TEL AVIV (ZINS) — Is- rael's successful merchant marine now includes 105 vessels operated by 8,800 personnel. Some 26 percent of the sailors are non- Israeli, including 50 percent of the technical officers and 30 percent of the ships' of- ficers. In 1981, the fleet did $1 billion in business. The newspaper Haaretz noted that despite attractive pay and generally good ship- board conditions, it is dif- ficult to find qualified Is- raeli sailors. More people die of over- eating than starvation.