Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-11-06
HISTORIC SHIP norrrxG AWAY.
ONO OF Commodore Perry's Lake Erie
Fleet Rapidly Decnying.


Fleet Rapidly Decayfng.
From the Chicago Post.
Buried deep in the sands at the edge Of
Spring Lake. near Grand Haven, Mich, lies
the hull of the old sioop Pcrcupine, which
was one of Lieut.. Oliver Ii. Perry's fleet in
the battle of Lake Erie. The old boat is
nearly gone. She has lain there since ls,3
wien she went out of service, and was
beached by gang of men who had tried
TO rig her up as lumber lugger. ID. NJ
Ferry, later United States senator from
Michigan. owf.ed the land where the dis
couraged sailors flung the hull, and he left
her there to work deeper and deeper into
The sand. She is just at the end of one of
his docks now; but he knew the honorable
part she had played, and while he lived he
refused to move her.
When Perry came to Erie that March cav
in 1Sl.;, the British being i'm command of
the lake. and hourly menacing Ohio and
Michigan, the tirnbers of the Porcupine
were swaying with the wind in the forests
ashore.
Two gunboats Were building at Erie when
Ferry arrived. but there was nothing TO
protect them while building. nor to arm
them when completed If Barclay had been
disposed he could have sent men ashore In
the small boat any night and burned up
ships and shipyard. But ne needed vessels
himself, and was willing TO let the Ameri-
cans build them for him. Perry sent work.
men to the forest, cutting oak walnut and
poplar. and oxen hauled the timbers 10 the
beach. He sent other men to Buffalo, to
Commodore Chauncey on Lake Ontario
and to the Secretary of War at Washing
ton. pleading for men, for arms, for ammu-
milton, for sails, and for iron.
Day and night The work went forward
The Lawrence and the Niagara were finish
ed. The Porcupine, the Tigress, the Som
ers, the Trippe. the Caledonia, the Scor-
picn and the Ariel were nastening to COM
pieti IN; and the energy of Perry was bring
ing equipment and men from every direc-
ticn. He enlisted men for $40 a month I'm
after the battle" BY August he had a fleet
in the harbor and 800 men to man it.
The wish to engage so often shown NV
the British when Perry's ships were at
Erie, was no longer manifest now that he
was on the lake. Perry sailed TO Put-in-
Bay. and August 10 his lookout saw the
topgallant sails of the British squadron Iie
weighed anchor Immediately and sailed TO
meet the enemy, whose ships were the De-
troit, the Queen Charlotte the Lady Pro-
vost, the Hunter. he Chippewa and the
Little Belt. Barclay had fought under Mel
son ct Trafalgar. and no fresh-water sailor
should daunt him.
But "Perry's luck wen; with the Yankee
lieutenant The wind was with the Ameri-
can vessels. Their commander flung the
banner, Don't give up the ship from the
main OF the Lawrence, and outran his fell
lows in his eagerness for the fray The De-
troit hau long-range guns. and Perry sig
Daled for close action. He drove headlonp
iEto the enemy's line and raked him with
beth broadsides. But the big Lawrence
was crushed. and Perry. assisted by the
chaplain and purser. fired his last gun and
went In a rowboat to the Niagara. Across
the open space between them ne stood I'D.
waving his pennant and defying a shower
OF canister that Barclay sent after him
till he reached the second frIgate Thea he
caught the wind again and swung for a
second time against the line. The Detroit
and the Queen Charlotte became inextrica-
bly, entangled, and Perry's broadsides tore
through both of them. The little Porcu-
pine, disdainng to shorten sail, ranged
through the Hunter. the Provost and the
Belt so close that the Kentucky rifemen
Gen Harrison had sent on board could kin
the British gunners at their work
AT 3 pm. the flag came down from the
fore OF the Detroit, and In less than five
minutes two more struck their colors But
the Chippewa and the Little Belt cut and
ran ana The Porcupine went after them 1t
was stern chase, but she won it, and thev
came back side by side-the stars and
stripes above them.
we have met the enemy and they are
ours. wrote Perry, and sent the dispatch
to Harrison.