The Republican journal., 1892-09-22
"Old Ironsides."

MA
Special Cores pondence of The Boston Journal
PORTSMOUTH, Y. H., Sept. II. Most of
the thousands of pleasure seekers who
have dropped down the swift Piscataqua
this summer on their way to the hotels
and cottages which dot the green shores
of Newcastle and Kittery, and crown the
rugged cliffs of the Isles of Shoals, must
have noticed just where the river broad
ems opposite the city huge yellow shape,
half house, half vessel moored to the
granite sea wall of the Navy Yard. How
many Of these passers-by have guessed
that the ancient hulk, which in its dis
torted and forlorn condition suggested
nothing SO much as Noah's Ark, was the
most famous and the best loved ship
which ever sailed the waters of the West
ern Hemisphere?
New York, Washington. Chicago have
all in turn envied Portsmouth the posses
sion of the Constitution. and have sought
to secure it. But here Old Ironsides still
stays, and here it promises to stay in
definitely Nor is its tarrying place an
obscure OF unworthy one. 1t lies in Il
broad and deep land-locked basin, scarce
ly more than a mile from the open sea-
and in the heart of a region rich in natur-
Ill UtdutN dlltl lllSlUllt lldtlllltuS IuNttt't.
no locality from the Penobscot to the
Chesapeake is more closely interlinked
with the glorious annals OF the American
navy than this valley of the Piscataqua.
From the forecastle of the Constitution
one can see, some three quarters of a mile
up the river, the point where John Paul
Jones built the first line Of battle ship
constructed on the American Continent,
an ,.ti11 IN,
qua mechanics laid the keel of the kear-
sarge, that gallant little corvette which in
1864 showed John Bull that Yankee ship
wrights had not lost their skill, nor Yankee
tars their daring, since 1872.
Why Old Ironsides was sent to this
quiet harbor is Known only to the inscrut-
able wisdom Of a former Secretary of the
Navy, but here it las been snugly lying
since 1882 In that year, having been
condemned as unfit for further service as
a practice vessel for the Naval Academy
which had been its duty during and after
the Rebellion-the Constitution was
brought to Portsmouth as a receiving
ship. Its stout maS1S were removed,
lighter ones substituted, and great many
Widowed roof built over the spar deck,
fore and aft, to protect the prentice boys
and landsmen from the weather. But
hardly We're these changes made before
the ship was placed in commission, and
the only service which it has since rend-
cred has been as a temporary shelter for
the crews of other vessel undergoing re-
pairs.
But, though thus seemingly neglected
and useless thing, Old Ironsides is, in
fact, the chief pride and glory of the sta
ton. Day and night the ship is vigilant-
~ guarded, to see that no harm comes to
it. During certain hours the gangway is
open Up the ladder come trooping gay
parties of visitors from the neighboring
hotels or the town across the river. Kind
ly watchmen. some OF whom have grown
old i'll l'nce sam sea service. pilot the
strangers through the cavernous gloom of
the low Ell decks. the labyrinth of the ward
rooms and the spacious cabins where in
years gone by COmmOdoreS innlmerable
have sat and clatted and dined with Am
bassadors of Kings. There is very little
about these apartments to suggest their
former maSmticence. Only few pieces
of battered furniture remain. Over in
the corner, by the great square window
where Hull OF Stewart may have written
their laconic dispatches to thrill the coun-
try with the news of victory, perhaps a
bright-eyed apprentice is ticking away at
a typewriter, and in the after cabin which
serves as the watchme S home. the broad
table is Uttered with the Boston dailies
Outside of the officers quarters the whole
ship has painful look of dilapidation.
There are broken spaces i'll the bJllwarks
where man can tear away tistful of
rottlng wood. The paint within and
without is blistered and discolored. For
ward in the eyes Of the ship are four
huge black cannon on ther carriages. but
they are condemned pieces. only waiting
Il chance to he sold, and no part of Old
lronsides' original battery
One thing is bright and fresh in the
aged bulk, however. 1t is the inscription
in gold letters above the wheel Just be-
fore the mizZenmast-''Do Give Up the
Ship. These words of the gallant Law
renee, who was a Lieutenant on the Con-
stioution before he took command of the
ill-f ated Chesapeake promise to live for
ever i'll the traditions of the American
navy. 1t is only the constant presence
and vigilance of the watcllmen which pre-
vent the old ship from being carried away
piecemeal by relic-hunters. AS it is these
vandals have sadly cut and hacked tie
fine carvings at the gangway and other
portions of the vessel are also disfigured.
But the genuine original ii lbers of the
Constitutions if any, indeed, are safely
hidden away below the water line. 1t is
said that the only remaining portion of
the upper works OF the ship which were
i'll it when it was launched at Boston in
1891 are the stout bits to which the miz-
zentopsail sheets were fastened. They
stand in the deck near the wheel, and look
as if they might he rounding out their
century. They have not escaped unscath-
ed, however. 1t is related that some
years ago certain Naval Constructor con-
trived to have a piece of the wood remov-
ed to make IA snuff box for a high digni-
tary, and the wound is shown. cleverly
patched by new material
Landsmen looking at Old Ironsides
wonder how this bluff bowed monster,
with its tea kettle sides and bullying quar-
ter galleries, ever developed the wonder
full speed which has hardly been matched
by the swiftest sailing vessels to this day.
But the ungainliness of the old frigate is
all above water. Below, it's lines are
those of a modern yacht. AS England
preserves Nelson's Victory, SO America
will keep her equally famous Constitution
always atioat, to show future generations
how sea fights were fought and won in
the good old days before sailors turned
coal beavers and steam killed seamanslip.
But if Old Ironsides is to be preserved,
speedily. Already it is with fear and