Perth Amboy evening news., 1905-05-16

The date of his birth is 1892. When 26
years of age he assumed the name OF
John Paul Jones, for what reason it is
not known.
A daring, reckless fellow was this
John Paul, one that never knew when he
was whipped, kept on fighting when the
odds seemed dead against him, and-this
the distinguishing thing-winning vic
tory out of it all. 1t is hard to get the
right estimate of the man. and one won
ders what Time will do with his record.
what she will finally judge him. For
long the English called him naught but
pirate. renegade, %fllibuster; Americans
of note did not yield him unanimous
tribute. One that has made a careful
study of his career gives this conclusion
of the man: His devotion to the flag
of the United States is as unquestionable
as his daring. He declared that America
had been the country of his fond cleo
ton since the age of -. His zeal for
glory may have been allayed by a strain
Of restless vanity, like that of other
great seamen. but his conception OF
naval strategy and his appreciation Of
the value of intellectual culture for naval
officers are far in advance of his age and
profession %
His work is, in brief. as follows: At
the age of IL he went to sea. sailing from
Whitehaven. On this first voyage he
visited America, the land whose flag he
presently was to sail under, Before he
was 20 he served as mate on two vessels
engaged in the slave trade. but their
traffic was not to his liking, and he start
ed to return to England. sailing as a pas
senger. Two of the officers died on the
way, and Jones was called upon to make
use of his knowledge of the art al navi-
cation. He brought his vessel safely
into port. and the owners were so well
pleased they made him a master and
sent him out to the West indies.
In 1873 a brother died and left an es-
tate in Virginia, which Jones took
charge of, at this period adding the Jones
to his name. In Its congress began to
equip a navy and Jones was made senior
first lieutenant. The following year he
sailed from the Delaware river in the
Alfred" the plan to attack New Provi-
dence. But the expedition returned, and
then he was given command of the sloop
Providence. In a six-weeks' cruise he
showed great skill in evading the
stronger enemy, in capturing prizes and
doing no little damage on the Nova SEQ
tian coast. Later in the Alfred he made
another successful northern venture.
In command of the Ranger he sailed
for France. in November, 1777, and the
American commissioners at the French
court authorized him to distress the
enemies of the United States by land or
sea- which he Immediately proceeded
to do with might and main. The Eng
lish were amazed at his "piratical acts"
he took prizes in ST. Georges channel,
tried to burn the shipping at White
haven and cut off the supply of coal for
ireland. attempted 10 capture the earl
of Selkirk. Finally he sailed away,
among his prizes a British man-of-war
the Drake. But 1t was his fight when in
command of the Bon Homme Richard
that won him vote OF THANKS from con-
gress and a gold sword from the king
of France. On September rs, 1779, oc-
CURED the notable encounter between
the Bon Homme Richard and the
Scraps, the latter a convoy for a fleet
of British merchantmen. Jones vessel,
which had been coasting along the
shores of ireland and Scotland. fell in
with this ieet off Marlborough Head
The two ships began battle at 1880 on a
moonlight night in the sight of thou
sands of on-lookers. Each lost half her
men before the Scraps surrendered.
John Paul Jones, having the rank Of
real admiral, died in Paris in 1892.
HENRY HOWARD.