Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1899-08-10

saw in one of the boats belonging to
Billy White, who then kept num-
Der of sl1iffs and sailboats near the
Charlestown bridge. MufHing his oars
with pieces Of old shirts, he rowed
quietly out into the shadow thrown by
the black hulk Of the Constitution.
Gliding up to the side of the vessel, he
stopped near the war ropes amidships,
and, securing his boat, nimbly climbed
up on the ships deck. There was no
sentinel outside, the rain had driven
him to shelter, and Capt. Dewey safely
reached the shelter boards which
had been placed under the spirit the
day before. There was still danger in
the execution of the plan, for the Co
lumbus' ships light and that on the
Independence We're thrown on the fig
urehead as precaution against any
such attempt.
Lying down, however, on his back,
hidden by the shelter boards, Capt.
Dewey could still, by reaching out and
up with one hand, reach the neck of the
figure with his saw. In this cramped
position he worked three hours on the
sticky southern pine, and finally got
the head off, not the entire head, for
well up on the back of the jackson
head, and the portion sawed off was on
a plane with the mouth and ears. This
was, however, enough for the intended
purpose. Then, after surrounding the
difficulties of the return, such as find
ing his boat nearly full of water and the
tide so low that he had to wade quite
way through mud to the shore, the
o(1xv
safety.
One can now but family imagine the
tremendous cry which went up on the
discovery of the Disagreement. Wings
howled with delight. Middlesex was
wild with joy, but from the navy de-
partment in Washington came storm
of vindictive protest. Try as the au-
thorities would, however, no trace was
found Of the man who did the deed.
Excitement had not yet subsidized when
Capt. Dewey decided for some reason
that it would be good thing to present
the head to Jackson himself, and, ac-
cordingly, set off for Washington with
it. In Philadelphia he met Wiley p.
Mangum and John Tyler, who had been
appointed by the president to investi
gate the affairs of the United States
story was too good to keep; so he told
them. Continuing then to Washington,
he arrived there in February, and for
two months tried to see the president.
President jackson was seriously i'll
with hemorrhages of the lungs, and
| could not see Dewey. Vice President
Van Buren, had known Dewey's father,
who was an artillery captain, and he
L.
Dewey told the story, and Van Buren,
enjoyed the joke of it most cordially.
He advised Dewey to take the figure
head of jackson and give it to the sec
rotary of the navy. On this advice
Dewey acted, but Secretary Dickinson
did not regard the matter as a joke.
On the contrary he was angry and
| threatened to have Dewey arrested.
| But Dewey quietly said:
you can have me arrested on no
| charge save that of trespass, and I
should be tried in Middlesex county,
where the offense was committed. Any
Middlesex jury would give me damages,
and applause, too"
That settled it. Dewey was not ar
rested. The fgurehead was accepted
and remained in the Dickinson family.
1t is now in Brooklyn. Capt. Dewey be-
came known throughout the entire
country as ''the figurehead man." He
was banqueted by wings in Baltimore,
Philadelphia, New York, Boston and
wherever he went. And now he has
gone beyond the vale. He was the first
popular Dewey in America.
SMITH D. FRY.
A German army officer estimates that