New-York tribune., 1893-11-26
To the Editor of The Tribune.


to put him in command of a force to reduce the
pirates of the African coast 1t was in reference
| to his commission ranking officer or all American
ships n European waters that Paul Jones wrote.
when demanding salute from French Admiral:
| Il take the liberty OF inclos.ng commission as
| respectable as any the french Admrai can produce
| He got his salute.
| Mr.. Kipling also gives indications Of regarding
Paul Jones a prvateer AS matter OF fact.
| by an act of Congress a prvateer was forbidden
| to hoist his pennant In the presence OF naval
officer OF Paul Joness rank without permission,
and one OF them attempting II In a French port
without Paul Jones's permission was peremptorily
called down" by the American commander
Paul Jones the same sort OF a pirate that
Admiral Gherardi is. commanding the Brook
| lyn Navy Yard And II Paul Jones was pirate
General George Washington must have been a
guerilla chief and doubledist!led traitor besides,
as he had actually held and fought under COM
mission in the British Army. while Paul Jones's
| first commission was given him By the American
Congress at the outbreak Of hostilites.
| This ballad" shows also that. Mr. Kipling
has invented Il new sort Of pirate. he has likewise
introduced a ship Of n rating hitherto unknown In
| the navies OF the world He speaks Of seventy
three" Mr.. Kipling has evidently been deceived
BY Thackeray's pleasantly:
They hanged fat Jack and logged J!mmee;
But for little Bill. they made him
The Captain OF n seventy-three.
Little Bill had previously from the main
to gallant mast
Jerusalem and Madagascar
And North and South Amerikee
II Mr. K!pling will shut his eyes and try to imag
Inc the very comical effect Of a ship pierced for
scventy-three guns any odd number Of guns,
he will certainly laugh The bare idea would make
a craven image smile Seventy fours. Mr. Klplng,
seventy y-fours-whlch ships commonly carried eighty
guns. however. We further instructed in this
ballad that when Paul Jones wished to disguise the
II. t.ff.l.
on his bow gun ports" What pity he did not
put them his guns in battery! 1t isn't like Paul
Jones his two bow guns and let his sixteen
or eighteen In broads!de show plainly-and why
didn't he simply lower his portds? But il Is
founded on fact and printed In book, and vouched
for by Mr. Rudyard Kipng. nobody dares to con-
tradict. The skipper though. who tells the tale.
plains that he couldn't fight Paul Jones because
OF the falling light. and IA rough beam sea-" though
he hued the pirate once. This was queer conduct
the skippers part. When Captain Pearson gave
up the Scraps. and got a baronetcy In exchange 1t
pitch dark-and Mr.. Kpling records the first
instance where British captain hesitated 10 fight
account OF rough weather They minded
fighting while rolling their yariarms in the water
nor did the Americans mind either And although
the British at that time did not often hull their adj
versaries. aiming rather at the masts and yards.
yet the skipper having hued her once. there seems
no good reason why he should not have continued
to hul her-which. II kept up long enough, VIII
make any ship full OF holes.
II Is. however. when describing the battles OF mod
ships OF that Mr.. Kipling shines with efful
gence In the Ballad Of the Clampherdown he
rivals Scheherazadc Translated in plain prose. the
fight runs thus THE warship Clampherdown." by
which Mr.. Kipling describes a battleshp with a
hundred-on gun forward and another big aft |
sights light cruiser. armed with "a dainty Hotch
kiss gun Now. one would think that the only |
thing for the light cruiser to do was to take TO |
her heels-as her regulations doubt, prescribed
and Mr. kipling Is careful to inform that she |
was quite able to run away. But what does she |
in the premises? She boldly proceeds to tackle the
a parallel to this would be for a |
ten-year-old boy to offer battle a professional |
pugilist But the cruiser It turns out, had in her
dainty Hotchkiss gum" Il weapon that never was
on sea or land. No gun before contrived by the |
hand OF man ever did as much this IIotchkiss
toy did. and few such guns would put n
stop TO forever with 1t the light cruiser
whipped the big batteshIp-bu; we are anticipating.
The battleship opened fire at miles' with
her hundred-ton gun This surprising conduct was
followed by the inevitable consequences Never
having practised shooting at floating target
miles Of naturally the guns crew didn't hit any
thing or In any way impede the course OF the light
cruiser which came stcamlng on wallop the
But after twice firing at n seven
mile range the hundred-ton gun went all pieces
pr. Mr. Kipling expresses II. Dropped like a
lily on its stalk Thus Mr.. Kipling shows. as
,ther nautical experts have done. that these big
uns of no great account-aithough none of them
have been unucky as TO give out At the second
Ire This indicates fraud the part Of the ord
lance people who supplied the hundred-ton lily
Nj this time the dainty Hotchkiss gun had been
,aying with fearful effect upon the battleshp, ard
lad knocked her deck beams and some OF her
rmor plates into scrap iron The first lieutenant |
ONES to the captain and makes the proposition
hat they shall rest
for an hour or twain,
And botch the shattered plates again.
he notion of stopping the fight in midoceGn for
he purpose Of rveting armor plates In place
Id not strike the captain favorably. probably
ecause there were armor plates among the
stores. to say nothing OF the
opular prejudice In favor Of putting a ship In dry
ock while doing such work. But the chief rea-
on seems TO be that the light cruiser was having
hings all her own way. and had no mind to let
he battleship rest an hour or twain" However.
fairs In the Clampherdown were going from bad
worse, and when the lieutenant announced that
G could hear the hiss OF the helpless RAM" II
Ill be admitted that such conduct the part
the ram-which Is not given to hsslng-night
ell appall the stoutest heart Not The cap
lin merely said, Turn and CO." He evidently
new the lieutenant was pulling leg" in sailor
nguagc and IL encouraged In his fbbng would
port that the binnacle dancing polka, or i,
IL flying bridge had begun To crawl. About this
me. the battleship executed manoeuvrc hitherto
In naval warfare. She turned COM
ctely around and begun to back UP hind foremost
ward her antagonist. making play. meanwhile
ith the big stern gun--like the Mamelukcs. who.
lllne to break the solid squares OF the French
fan,ry. turned their horses heads outward and
reed their kicking steeds against the wall or
,yonets. But this unparalleled feat did no good
hatevcr, the dainty Hotchkiss gun continuing TO
than a match for anything on the Clamp
'rdown.
The captain of the bat.leshlp behaved as extraor-
narlly In this emergency az one could imagine.