LUTHER WELSH, LTJG, USN
Luther Welsh '09
Lucky Bag
From the 1909 Lucky Bag:
Luther Welsh
Kansas City, Missouri
"Lutz," "Pee Wee"
Our class baby—who grew up. A weeny-teeny little man with a grandpa's face and a brain that would do credit to a Webster. Long before little Luther appear in Crabtown we had all heard of the infant prodigy down in Missouri and his ingenious stretching machine with which to do five feet at the physical exam. Although he added a cubit to his stature in order to enter the sacred precincts of the Naval Academy, Rhinehart lets him have his uniforms for half price, and still makes money. Left the Red Mikes Second Class year for a fling at Society, and rapidly worked his way into the hearts of the fair ones. Shaved (1). Started out as a savoir, but borrowed a sweater and a pair of running trousers, (2), and became an athlete. Returns home languidly after the first hour of an examination and tries to look surprised when the marks are posted and he finds he made a 3.9. A man, and a true savoir.
"Golsquizzle it, what kind of a gadget is this?"
Three Stripes. Lacrosse Team (2). Captain (1). Star (4, 3, 2, 1). Crew (4, 3, 2, 1). Masqueraders (2, 1).
Luther Welsh
Kansas City, Missouri
"Lutz," "Pee Wee"
Our class baby—who grew up. A weeny-teeny little man with a grandpa's face and a brain that would do credit to a Webster. Long before little Luther appear in Crabtown we had all heard of the infant prodigy down in Missouri and his ingenious stretching machine with which to do five feet at the physical exam. Although he added a cubit to his stature in order to enter the sacred precincts of the Naval Academy, Rhinehart lets him have his uniforms for half price, and still makes money. Left the Red Mikes Second Class year for a fling at Society, and rapidly worked his way into the hearts of the fair ones. Shaved (1). Started out as a savoir, but borrowed a sweater and a pair of running trousers, (2), and became an athlete. Returns home languidly after the first hour of an examination and tries to look surprised when the marks are posted and he finds he made a 3.9. A man, and a true savoir.
"Golsquizzle it, what kind of a gadget is this?"
Three Stripes. Lacrosse Team (2). Captain (1). Star (4, 3, 2, 1). Crew (4, 3, 2, 1). Masqueraders (2, 1).
Loss
Luther was lost on November 8, 1916 when he and his pilot were "on an experimental bomb test flight at Naval Proving Ground, Indian Head, Maryland, were instantly killed by the premature explosion of a bomb in their plane."
Other Information
He graduated number four in his class and was assigned initially to USS Missouri and later to USS North Dakota. "He was detailed to the Bureau of Ordinance for temporary instruction at George Washington University in 1911. Later he continued his course at various steel plants. In 1913 he was promoted to Lieutenant junior grade, and became aid on the staff of the command of the Third Division of the Atlantic fleet. He was assigned to duty at Indian Head in March this year."
He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
From researcher Kathy Franz:
His father was Luther, a fire insurance agent, who died in 1903. His mother was Agnes, brother John, and sister Judith. His parents are buried in the Washington Cemetery, Independence, Missouri.
Luther graduated from Central High School in 1905. He was athletic editor of the 1904 yearbook when his sister Judith Joyce was associate editor.
Luther was appointed to the Naval Academy by Congressman E. C. Ellis.
From the Kansas City Star, January 22, 1905:
WHO CAN HELP HIM GROW?
Luther Welsh must be 1 1-8 inches taller by June 15.
How to grow more than an inch in six months is a problem that confronts young Luther Welsh of 2838 Troost avenue, who recently won appointment to the United States naval academy at Annapolis. He will be admitted provided he grows something more than an inch and an eighth by the time the entrance examinations are held in June.
Luther Welsh declares that he can do it, but just what course to pursue to be sure of the result is a question that interests a great number of his friends as well as himself. The little High school boy receives letters daily bringing suggestions in the art of growing. Physical culture instructors guarantee to increase his height from three to five inches. Facetious suggestions, too, are made, among them getting a bump on the head and stone bruises on the heels. One man suggests lying in bed for days “to allow the cartilage cushions of the spine to become distended.”
Young Welsh’s hopes of growing are based on a course of gymnastics under a local physical instructor and on the exercise gained in carrying newspapers. He has been growing at the rate of two inches a year and to grow an inch and an eighth in five months would mean considerably more than a doubling of that rate. Can he do it? If he succeeds it will be a clear case of the will controlling the physical functions that are generally supposed to be beyond its zone of influence. Such a result would be in accordance with certain doctrines of such scientists as Darwin, Huxley and Herbert Spencer, whose theories of evolution maintain that it was the will to fly that gave wings to lizards, making the race of birds. Similarly, horns came to cattle and spurs to chickens.
Young Welsh says that if he had doubts as to his ability to grow the required inch, he would by that token fail, but believing implicitly that he will make the required growth, as he does, that faith will help him do it. He is one-fourth of an inch taller when he arises than he is after carrying his papers. One physical specialist declared that he should abandon the jaunt with the papers, as “it jars him down” too much, while another declared that the exhilaration of open air exercise more than compensated for it. He took his choice and decided in favor of the walk.
Luther was under the instruction of an osteopathy and Y. P. Rothwell, director of the Kansas City Athletic club. With the aid of weights and various machines Luther was literally stretched an inch in one month. He went to the preparatory school in late April and took his examination on June 20, his 16th birthday which was the minimum age limit.
In September 1910 Luther was on the battleship North Dakota during the explosion which killed three men.
In November 1911 he was detailed to a special two years’ course in ordnance and gunnery at the George Washington University in Washington, D. C.
In July 1914 Luther commanded the F-8 which won the gunnery trophy in the submarine class. He received a letter of commendation from Secretary Daniels.
His engagement to Sallie Kavanagh of Boston was announced in June, 1916. The marriage was to take place on November 22.
Photographs
From the Kansas City Times on November 9, 1916, via Kathy Franz.
High school yearbook staff cartoon, 1904
From his high school yearbook
From his high school yearbook
Related Articles
Clarence Bronson '10 was also lost in this incident.
The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.
The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.
The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.
January 1910
January 1912
January 1913
January 1916
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
