Milford chronicle., 1885-04-24

out topllghtS until morning.
The Milford at once pursued, and
with a good deal of ardor When
morning came the nimble Paul was
there, but his booty was safe some
where on the water beyond the hori-
zon line. His armed companion, through
blunder, was captured, but Paul's YES
sci safely sped away, helped by storm
that broke in the afternoon. All Of Paul
Jones' prizes found good friends who
took good care Of them; and how COM
Portable the clothing must have made
our troops Poor fellows they were
no doubt shivering badly.
The man who aa lieutenant first ran
up to the masthead the old American
naval flag had the honor of sailing un-
der its successor, the 'Stars and
Stripes" adopted by Congress the l4th
Of June. 1777.
It was the first American frigate, the
Ranger, that Captain Paul Jones now
sailed from our shores. Reaching
France, he finally sailed for England,
and made daring voyage through st.
Georges Channel, along the shores Of
Scotland. And how he stirred up the
British lion by his bold attacks here and
there He did much damage, and cap
tured various prizes-a war ship, the
Drake, among them,
The lion foared, and called Jones
'pirate," " and other nice names, but the
man under the "Stars and Stripes" was
not to be stopped by lions thunder:
Paul Jones' words TO the commander
Of the Drake at the time of the action
were characteristic.
There was the saucy Ranger near the
enemy's shores, waiting for the Drake,
that had been sent after her. Up went
England's colors above the Drake. Up
went the Stars and Stripes above the
Ranger.
"What ship is that ?" bawled an
officer of the Drake,
''It is The American Continental ship
Ranger" promptly came the reply.
eve are waiting for you. The sun is
but little more than an hour from set
ting. It is therefore time to begin"
Begin they did, and end they did, the
Drake hauling down her flag.
The Ranger went to America, but
Jones remained on the other side of the
Atlantic, and in France sought for an
other ship, France being our friend. He
wrote to the king, among other efforts.
Jones found one day an almanac, and
in it were "Poor Richards Maxims," by
Benjamin Franklin. One of these said!
''If you wish to have. any business done
faithfully and expeditiously, go and do
it yourself. Otherwise, send some one"
Struck with the good sense of this ad-
vice, Jones went personally to court
and obtained his Wish-a ship, the
Duras.
1t is well for every young person
and old one, also-to remember that ad-
vice: "Go and do it yourself"
Paul Jones so fully appreciated Poor
Richards help that he christened the
ship again, changing the name Duras to
Bon Homme Richard.
One memorable action occurred be-
tween the Bon Homme Richard, carry
ing forty guns, yet poorly equipped for
battle, and the Scraps, OF forty-one
guRs, o very fine British frigate. The
battle occurred off the English shore,
only three miles away. The sea was
quiet, a mild wind lightly filling the
sails Of the two vessels. The sun had
gone down, but the moon had majestic
ally moved up into the heavens, and in
her clear light the sea glittered as if Of
polished silver.
There were many spectators on the
shore, and they watched the nearing
vessels slowly sailing in the weird moon
light. How hushed and glorious was
that moonlight scene The tardily-
drifting vessels, their whitish sails, their
dark hulls, grim with the concealed can
non, gave a strange interest to the
picture.
"What ship is thatP" asked the Sc
rapis.
"What is it you say?" replied the
Bon Homme Richard.
The Scraps was angry.
"What ship is that ? Answer imme-
diately, or I shall fire into you"
Quickly the aspect of that hushed
moonlight scene on the ocean was
changed. A terrific roar burst upon
the night, the smoke from the guns
rolling up from the hull of each vessel
Paul Jones threw out his graphing
irons, and bound the vessels together so
that their very yards were entangled.
The ships separating, the irons were
thrown for a new grip, and the vessels
were so close, it is said, that "the gun
ners, in ramming down the charges.
often ran their ramrods into the port
holes of their adversary"
Captain Jones boarded the Scraps,
but was driven back.
''Have you struck your flag ?" asked
Captain Pearson, of the Scraps.
GfNTo ruou tho vocr1Ouon ffT houo nok
yet begun to fight"
The Richard had been seriously in
jured below the water-line. Through
these gaping wounds the water poured
IN. The ship was thought to be sinking.
While water below threatened to drown,
fire broke out above. Must they burn,
or must they drown?
To put out the fire, Jones set to work
the prisoners who were on board, placing
some of them at the pumps.
The English boarded the Richard, but
quickly retreated. Terrible was the loss
of life when a hand grenade thrown
from the Richard ignited a quantity of
cartridges that the powder-boys of the
Scraps had left on the deck. The pow
der from the trampled, broken cartridges
readily kindled, and the explosion was
awful. The mainmast of the Scraps was
broken by Paul Jones' shot, and came
crashing down into the fiery whirlpool
of death below. Flames sprang out here
and there. Captain Pearson knew that
the end had come, and pulled down his
flag.
Paul Jones in the affair had displayed
his usual pluck and persistence. At one
time, some of his men besought him to
strike; but Jones afterward wrote, "I
would not, however, give up the point"
The result was that Pearson did give it
up.
What made the terrible confusion of
the battle still worse was the coming up
of an American vessel, that strangely
began to pitch shot into the Bon Homme
Richard. This serious mistake was re-
Deatad