Page:Men of Mark in America vol 1.djvu/199

Rh reached the Straits of Sundra six days after the great eruption of Krakatoa, when the accompanying tidal wave swept into the sea the large town of Anger and all other settlements in the vicinity; and he rendered such assistance as he could to the Dutch authorities. Proceeding to China, in 1885, he was present at Pagoda Anchorage, Min River, when the French fleet, under Vice-Admiral Courbet, sunk the Chinese men-of-war, destroyed the arsenal, and demolished the forts on each side of the river.

He was promoted captain. May 5, 1892, and in the same year was placed in command of the protected cruiser Philadelphia, the flagship of the North Atlantic squadron. In 1896-97 he commanded the battleship Oregon. At the beginning of the Spanish-American war, in 1898, he was made a member of the board of strategy, but was soon ordered to active service in command of the protected cruiser Newark, and in the same year to the famous battleship Oregon, and to the command of the special service squadron to the Pacific. After touching at the principal ports of South America he reached Manila in March, 1899, and relieved Admiral Dewey, in May of that year as commander-in-chief, temporarily, until the arrival of Admiral Watson. October 10, 1899 he was promoted rear-admiral, and took charge of the navy yard at Norfolk; in 1900 he was transferred to the command of the New York navy yard. In April, 1903, he was commander-in-chief of the North Atlantic fleet which command he held until retired for age on March 31, 1905.

Admiral Barker was married in 1894 to Ellen Blackmar Maxwell, widow of Reverend Allen J, Maxwell, who died in Lucknow, India, in 1890.