The Osceola times., 1882-01-14
THE END OF OLD lRONSlDES.
The Frigate Constitution to be Broken up
after Eighty-four Glorious Years.
y. Y. World.

y. Y. World.
On Thursday last the friqate Constitn-
ton, the "Old lronsides' Of gloriou
memory, was put ont Of commission apd
laid up in ordinary at Brooklyn navy
yard after an eyentul existence OF
eighty. four years. She now takes her
place in Rotten row." where she will
drop to pieces in slow decay unless il
should be resolved to break her up aud
convert her timbers into relics. As 10
this il may be well to say that the "Old
Irousides" of to-day is in reality a mod
EN- vessel, the only remains Of the
original ship of 1912 being the mizzrn-
sheet btts--twO pieces OF live oak, hard
as iron. The Constitution was built
under the rder of congress of March
27, 1894 providing for the construction
of six vessels, three Of them to be of q
very heavy class. This was the iuuudd
tion Of the present navy, the vessels o'
the Revolution having been dispO0ed of
in 1883. The CONSTITUTE, n was buiit at
Hartt's yard, in Boston, where Con-titu-
lion wharf nov stands, at a cost OF 1902
us, her frame being of live oak and her
planks bent on without steam, as it was
thought that process sOftened and weak
tnel the wood. Her keel was laii i'm
1904, and it was intended that she should
be the first vessel of the new and yerma-
nent navy, but the United States
destroyed at Norfolk, April 20, lSol)
and the Constellation (broken up IN
1854 bat now. we believe, represented
by razee ship Of the same name) pre-
ceIed her, being launched July 10, l198
and Septemher Z. l.a!, Whn- the Con
stitution did not leave the ways until the
2lst Of October. she was modelled by
Joshua Humphries and built by George
Claghorns and Mr.. llartt. Admiral
Preble, in his History of the Flag" SAYS
that Commodore Samuel Nicholson. who
had superintended her construction. left
the ship.ysrd to 20 to breakfast, leaving
express order not to hui-t any flag over
her until his return, intending to reserve
that honor to himself Buta shipwrlght
and caulker. one of the .workmen em-
ployed on her, named Samuel Bently,
with the assistance of another ar,i-ai
named Harris, bent on and hosted the
stars and stripes to the disgust Of TIE
comm ,dore who had, however says
Preble, the satisfaction of being IN tir-i
to command her, and she ,sa- ,i'" nfst OF
,ba ,e,,, fri...t.-- to carry the hNeen star
and tifteen stripes under canvass upon
the deem blue sea" Mr. LOSING rrryr
an tins point was corrected in the Word .
in January. 1879. but its contemporaries |
have followed the earlier aud inaccurate .
version The ironsides, Is she was oon
dubbed from her siaunrhness, went un .
her first cruise in July, l79S but dii not /
see active servic until August - lSH I
when. as the flag hip of Commodore /
Edy rd Pre- lie, she took part IA /
the homhardment Of Thpol lyin- /
for three-uuarters of an hour with I
in musket shot OF the Mole. ami /
pouring destructive ire upou /
The town batteries. She was als1 in the 1
action Of September 3, when she was /
severely pounded by the seventy gun- /
trained on her. Thereafter the Consl !
tuition was engaged in cruising rutil the |
war of 1872 broke ont, when-July Il
she sailed fiom Annapolis sunder the com /
mand of Capt Isaac Hull Ga the l'th /
she was almost surrolndeu by the Brit l
ish snuadron under Broke, and bad 10 I
run for it, only succeeding IN getting
away the next night, the chase having 4
been unusua ly ex'iliug; owing to the |
Eghtness of the breeze, both pursueis I.
and pursued had to put out Their boats I
and tow the vessels along. Running IN /
10 Boston for 3 few days Hull again set /
sail on the 2d of August AID on the 18Th T.
met the Guerriele, Capt. Dacres, which |
hove TO to await an c gagement At |
the Gnerriere opened fire at long range, I
the Con ,titution closed with her soon
after 6 and in half an hour the Engll-h /
vessel surrendered. having lost s. men
To Hulps A. The Guerrero was So TER
ribly mangled the next day she was
abandoned aud blown up. The Honsti-
tuition carried the heyier metal-oi guns, /
"a and 32 Founders, to the Guerrere's ~ |
Is and 32-pounders. Hul's picture is ia
the governors room at the city hall. :
The late Ogden Hoffman, who was
midshipmau with him, used to tell an
old story of the engagement He said
that AZ the ships drew near each other
an officer came in haste TO Hrll TO ask
for orders to fire Not yet" was the
quiet response. As they came still
near r and the British vessel poure in
her ire the first lieutenant Of the Con-
stitution came on the poop and begged
permission to return the broadside. say
ing that the men could not be restrained
much longer. "Not yet" was the reply.
Still nearer the British ship came, and
the American prisoners who were in the
cockpit of the Guerrero afterwards "a Il
that they began To beleVe that iheroWh
countrymen were afraid TO measure their
strength with the enemy, and this
thought gave them more pain than the
wounds which some OF them were suffer
ing from. In a moment the Guerrero
vallantly came forward, showing her
burni he'd side, and as the swell carried
her close to the very muzzles Of odd
Ironsides," Capt. HUI, who was then
omit fat and dressed in full tiphts, bent
himselftwice to the de,k, and with
every muscle and vein throhhlnF with
excitement, shouted ont: Now, boys,
nour il into them That broadside set
lied their opponents, and when the
SNAKE cleared away their commanders
tights were to be seen split from waist