The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1879-10-16
JOHN PAUL JONES.
THE FIRST AMERICAN NAVAL HERO.

I battle OF the feyOlutlon, lllat oI oouH
Paul Jones, III the Bon Homme Richard,
agaist the British man war, Scraps.
An account of the life of John Paul
Jones will SO soon after the centennial,
/ be read with decided interest. Born IN
! Scotland and on the sea coast, he early
evineed the life of sailor. His father
John Paul, was a gardener. His mother
was q Welch Jones-intellectual, poeti-
cal, and romantic-and her son, as usual,
in nature, partook chiefly of his mothers
qualities. At the beginning of the revo-
! luton he lived on his farm in Virginia.
Thence early writer's termed him ''the
naval rebel of Virginia" and Washing
| ton claimed him as citizen of that state,
and alluded to the fact, when after the
war, he conferred upon him the decora-
ton of the order OF Cincinnati.
He volunteered and entered the ser.
vice of the young navy, and in the en-
rollment of officers he was made first OF
the lieutenants, and, as such, he assumed
tue compound name of John Paul Jones
the latter in compliment to his excel
lent mother-and was generally known
! as 'sPaul Jones'" In his rank and ca
pacity as premier lieutenant, he hoisted
with his own hands the first flag of the
new nation on board the Alfred, his ship
of war-then floating in the Delaware.
At later period, when commodore, he
was the first man who personally hoisted
the American flag in Europe, off the
coast of France. He was made captain
and placed in command of the war vessel
Ranger. He suddenly made descent
upon the coast of Scotland, and burned
Whitehaven and the shipping; took the
fort, and spiked its forty cannon before
daylight; and when the people came
down to the shore, at the ringing of the
church bells, and fired musketry at him
and his men as they calmly retired in
their boats, he simply raised his hat and
! fred q pistol as return salute. He
then landed upon the estate of the Earl
of Selkirk, in the hope of his capture, to
aid in ameliorating the cruelty practiced
upon American prisoners; but his lord
ship was absent in London. The sailors,
however, insisted upon plunder-at least
the silver plate in Selkirlz Castle. To
prevent mutiny he was compelled to
comply. He requested the steward to
give him an accurate list of the silver
articles, and wrote polite note to the
countess, explaining the necessity of the
ungallant act. but that at fntrro day
every article should be returned. He
kept his word faithfully, having bought
of his mutinous crew the silver at its
value, and at q future day returned it all
to the castle, with a poetic letter to her
ladyship, which was answered by Lord
Selkirk, recognizing the integrity of
Capt. Paul Jones. BY absence in Lon
don, the Earl not only escaped capture.
but from being present at the sanguinary
battle between the Ranger and bis maj
esty's ship Drake, named after the great
admiral of Armada fame, which vessel
was captured by Paul Jones. These
sudden and astounding events passed
through Great Britain with wonder and
alarm, and "Paul Jones the pirate" was
spoken of in more bitterness than the
''arch-rebels" Washington, Adams and
Hancock. Commodore Paul Jones was
the only man-in valor audacious, as in
action skillful-who carried the war into
Scotland and England.
After Gen. Burgoyne's surrender of
his army, Franklin, warm friend of
Paul Jones, joining with Deane and Lee,
persuaded Louis XVI, and his Prime
Minister, the Count de Yergennes, to
aid the Americans by the great treaty of
alliance, etc., February, IT'S; also con-
senting to furnish in France three vessels
of war, to be commanded by Paul Jones,
with the rank of commodore. His ves-
sci was old and decayed, and not sea-
worthy as fighting ship. The commo-
doro hoisted the American flag the first
time it was displayed in Europe. and
changed the name of the ship, the Duros,
to that Of the Bon Homme Richard, in
compliment to DR.. Franklin and his
popular almanac. In addition to the
stars and stripes, Paul Jones had an
especial battle flag of cream colored
bunting; device, a coiled rattlesnake,
with head erect and forked tongue pro-
truding: motto, "Touch me and I
strike" similar to his native thistle
motto, "You shall not touch me with
impunity."
Another of the vessels was the Alliance
commanded by q rival, Capt. LaHdais,
and we shall see how he proved his
treachery. The third vessel was the
Pallas, and gained its own separate VIC
tory, the captain being faithful. About
the middle of September, 1779, this lit
tie fleet entered Bridlington Bay, York
shire. A few miles from that roadsted
extends out into the ocean the peninsula
of Flamborough Head, where the ancient
Danes first landed for their piratical
incursions. Across this rocky and high
Gifted peninsula, and near the mainland
they made deep intrechment, miles il
length, to prevent any attack from the
inhabitants. The military work still
remains, and is called s'the Danes Dyke
to this day, even after so many centuries.
On the rocky healland the Danes
placed flaming beacon, hence the word
Flameborough. The chalk cliffs here
and on the cliffs are more than 400 feet
high, and many wonderful grottoes have
been formed by the ocean during its
tidal power for thousands of years.
AS you round Flameborough Head