The Savannah morning news., 1903-08-09

corners to Detroit of their heroic old
enemy.
In my last letter I referred to James
A Whistler and James Cooper the
former being James Abbott McNelll
Whistler. ana the latter James Fenni-
more Cooper. 1 might have added the
name of John Mcintosh kell, VINO en-
tered the Naval Academy as John heli
SO graduated in 1S41 and became a MID
sbipman under that name, which ne
retained in 1861 when he entered the
Confederate Navy, in the official rec
ords of which he stands as John heII.
But Scharfs History OF the CohIeu-
crate Naval Forces" gives his name as
John Mcintosh Kell. 1t is these
changes of narne that puzzle students
Of history. Gen. Henry II. Boyce mas
a very excellent Geographic sketch OF
paul Jones-The Man." the Rather
of the American Navy" in the Navy
League Journal for July and August.
But his true name was John Paul, who
became a Jones after coming to Amer
lea Later on the John was dropped
and now il is Paul Jones. he was ap-
pointed d Lieutenant in the navy on
Dec. %, 1T75, as John Paul Jones. l
have before me as l write fac sim
lie of the commission issued to capt.
John Paul Jones, on oct. 10, 1116, by
Congress and signed by John Hancock
as its president. The neglected grave
of this herO-buried at the expense or
France-in an old cemetery at Paris,
has recently been discovered, and at
this late day there is talk of removing
his remains to the United States for re-
talrial with due honors. He died in
1892 of dropsy of the chest.
The Home Magazine of Washington,
D. c., has been giving historical
sketches of South Carolina and North
Carolina, and the August issue begins
The Story OF Georgia" by John Cor
rigan. The matter is familiar and so
are the illustrations of Oglethorpe, of
Tomochichi and Nephew, of the Pulas-
XII monument, and the old state capitol
at Niilledgeville. - l see from the
Everett Republican that my venerable
brother Col. John A. Lancey of Chel-
sea, Mass, has been celebrating his
three score and twelve years by a So
cial gathering at his residence in Ever
EFT. He was an officer in the famous
First Maine Heavy Artillery, a regi-
lnent that lost more men than any 9TH
er in any army during the Civil War.
He was wounded at Petersburg and
carried from the field. He was a brave
soldier and fine officer, holding four
commissions and engaging in eighteen
peace a good citizen, his comrades were
delighted to honor him on his birthday
And this leads me to refer to the
Sunday Telegram splendid newspa-
per of Portland. Me, in which illus
trated sketches of regiments and of
officers appear every Sunday, The
Maine Heavy Artillery" being the last
of the series. Georgia complains that
her war records are meager and unre-
l. IL i
papers and as able writer's as any state
and can publish just such illustrated
sketches as the Portland Telegram is
giving its readers. Then there should
be at the State Capitol a room for a
historian to use in gathering up and
preserving in scrap books all such his
torical and biographical sketches and
illustrations. Georgia is behind other
states in this work.
am always glad to hear from Vet
eran M. r. Tunno of Savannah be-
cause he reads my letters critically
and in kindly spirit, and like a true
officer and gentleman" he comes to
me with his corrections in a courteous
manner rather than attack my state
ments in the press. When men adopt
the latter course, and descend to
blackguardism. and bring my family
name into a discussion of a purely ed
itorial character. they drop beneath
my notice Veteran Tunno correctly
thinks I was wrong in stating that
Col William Whistler who died in
1868, was the father of the famous ar
tiSt James A. McNielI Whistler, as
Mrs Tunno knew his mother in 1859,
at which time she was a widow. In
my haste, and being quite i'll last week
wrote father" when it should have
been grandfather" Col. Whistler's
son, George w. Whistler, born in In
diana, but appointed to West Point
from Kentucky, graduated into the ar
tillery in 1919. He was a fine engineer
and served mostly on typographical
duty. In 1888 he resigned and be-
came a civil engineer of high repute
in this country and in Russia, espe-
cially in railroad and canal enter
prises. His last work was as super
intending engineer of the st. Peters,
burg and Moscow Railroad, in Russia,
his death occurring in the former city
in April, 1S49, when he was only As
years old. Mr. Tunno is justified in
calling my attention to the error be-
cause his good wife is, by marriage
kin to the Whistlers, her cousin, Miss
Ida King of Brooklyn, N. Y, having
married DR.. Willie Whistler (brother
of Artist Whistler), who was a sur
geon in the G. S. A. Artist Whistler
used to make fun of his being obliged
to "fess" in Chem" at West Point
and in consequence "step down and
out" This reminds me of one of the
old songs at West Point, called "Jor-
dan" on examination day, the second
verse of which Whistler used to re-
peat as applicable to his case:
ION examination day, second class
men say,
They will all Tess" in Chem ac-
cordin':
But just let Shunk* ask, If vapor is
a gas
And we're safe to keep on this side
of Jordan"
$Lieut. Francis ]. Skunk, assistant
professor of chemistry.
Sidney Herbert.