The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1898-04-15
French service had made him partially.
insane. That he fired into the Bon
nomme Richard was proved beyond any

French service had made. him partialIy
insane. THAT he fred into the Bon
doubt. 8, ~ VAN s. ~" w
To return to the story of what han.
lened immediately after the conclusion Of
the battle between the BOnhomnle Rich
ard and the Scraps, the facts may best
pe given IN the words Of John Paul Jones
himself. In his report he says: =
i had yet two enemies to encounter fnr
more formidable than the Britons - /
mean fire and water. The Scraps was
attacked only by the first, but +. h K,
was assailed by both. There was five
feet Of water in the hold, and though II
was moderate from the explosion Of SO
much gunpowder, yet the three pumps
mat remained could with difficulty only
Keep the water from gaining. The fire
broke out in various parts Of the shin
IN spite Of all the water that could be
thrown Immediately to quench it, and
at length broke out az low as the powder
magazine and within few inches of the
powder. In that dilemma took out the
powder upon deck to be thrown over
board at the last extremity, and it was 10
o'clock a. IN. the next day, the Oath, be-
tore fore the fire was entirely extinguished.
with respect to the situation of the B. b
H. the rudder was cut entirely off the
stearn frame, and transoms were almost
entirely cut away. the timbers of the
lower deck, especially from the main mast
to the stern, being greatly decayed with
age, were mangled beyong my power of
description, and person must have been
an eyewitness to form a Just idea of
the tremendous scene Of carnage, wreck
and ruin that everywhere appeared. HUI,
pect of such finished horror, and lament
that war could produce such fatal con-
sequences
After the carpenters, as well as Capt.
DE Cottineau and other men of sense,
had we'll examined and surveyed the ship
(which was not finished before 5 in the
EVENING", l found every person to be con-
x!nfed |, that it was impossible to keep the
b: h X: at1oat, so as to reach port if the
wind should increase, it being then only
a very moderate breeze. I had but little
time to remove my wounded. which now
became unavoidable, and which was eff
fected in the course of the night and next
morning. was determined to keep the
B. Il. afloat, and, if possible to bring
iher into port for that purpose the first
lieutenant of the Pallas continued on
board with party of men to attend the
pumps, with boats in waiting ready tC
take them on board in case the water
should gain on them too fast. The wind
augmented in the night, and the next
day, ON the 25th, so that it was impos,
sible to prevent the good old ship from
sinking. They did not abandon her until
after 8 o'clock. The water was then up
to the lower deck, and little after 10
saw with inexpressible grief the last
glimpse of the B. h r."
The Bonhomme Richard had gone into
the fight with a great American ensign
four times as long as it was broad, float.
ing in the breeze. 1t was shot away
during the conflict, and lay floating over
the stern for time, but it was rescued
And when it was seen that the old ship
was past saving, the battle-torn flag was
hoisted to it's old place, and with that
fluttering in the brisk air the famous old
ship sank out of sight.-John r. Spears
in Current Literature.