The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-07-23

L
/ alive. explaining that it would be much
more TO our advantage TO carry her
visible prize into n French port
The British afterward declared that the
Drake was of inferior force TO the Rang
er, but having the prize in port the guns
on her deck We're able to speak more
eloquently as TO her force than they had
been able TO do in defending her
But when Jones as ship captain is
mentioned the mind newt bly, turns to
the bloody fight between the Bon Homme
Richard and the Scraps. As the battle
ragged time came when the Richard had
five feet of water in her hold and the
walls OF the ship, Splintered by the heavy
shot of the enemy were flaming up, while
every cannon on her was silenced except
three small nine-pOunders located on the
quarter-deck- But in the meantime Jones
had laShed the two ships together with
ms own nands. ana ne was now ilghIlhg
on, hoping against hope to clear the deck
of the enemy by means of the musketry
in the hands of the French marines.
i was IN the main top at the time
wrote Lieutenant Nathaniel flaming.
but ] could distinctly hear amid the
crashing Of the muSketry the great voice
of the commodore cheering the French
such fmprecations upon the enemy as /
never before or since heard in French or
any other language. eXhorting them to
| take good aim. pointing out objects for
direct example by taking their loaded
muskeJs from their hands into his and
firing himself. In fact, toward the very
| last he had about him a group of half
dozen marines who did nothing but load
mOdore. who fired them from his own
shoulder, standing on the quarterback
rail by the main topmast backstay-
/ 1t was instant death TO any Englsh
sailor that tried TO touch A brace. sheet
or halyard- Their anchor fluke being
ldshed foul in our mtzzen chains, they
repeatedly tried TO set their men with
hatchets to cut it clear and in that way
drift clear of us, but the commodore
watched his fasteninRs all the time. 1t
was against the enemyS men that tried
this that his own fire was mainly direct
I
of the enemy's men shot in these attempts
and firmly believe that the commodore
shot many of them himself.
While Jones was flashing the two ships
! together he lost his cooked hat overheard.
\ midShipman brought him another
Never mind the hat he said laugh
ing Put it back in the cabin III fight
this out in my scalp I've a mind TO
peel my coat, too! And if l could I'd fight
In the buff, like the gundeck hearties-
In the buff meant stripped TO the
Then he called Lieutenant John May
rant "a South Carolinan. he). and told him
to stand by to lead boarders to the deck
Of the enemy Mayrant went among the
crew, selecting men who had been IN
until Jones saw the enemy flinching from
the forward deck, and shouted in CHEEKY
Now is your time, John! Go in
And at that John Mayrant yelled Re e.
the deck of the Scraps. Seeing this dash;
Captain Pearson with his own hand
hauled down the flag of the Scraps
woundsNshe was actually sinking at that
time-yet she had conquered and could
and did control the ship that had de-
stroyed her.
To the dead Of the Richard, Jones gave
was left flying. and as she went down
by the head the last vestige of her that
was seen was this fluttering ensign. 1t
was flag with a story When Jones was
fitting out the Ranger at Portsmouth, N
their best silk gowns TO make an ensign
for the ship. AS the gaff of the Ranger
il received the first salute ever given
and it was this flag that waved in tri-
umph when Jones announced to an as
tOnished world that a new sea-faring ma
ton had been born
Jones was what may be called an all
round seafaring man. He began his ca
reer as a captains apprentice at thir-
teen. At seventeen he was second mate.
and at eighteen he was first mate ana
owner of sixth interest in the St
Georges Packet. a. ship in the West In
dian trade In this capacity Jones made
two voyages to the coast OF AFRICA Tor
cargOeS of slaves. If we remember that
Newport r. /, at that date made boast
Jones engaged will be seen as the people
Of that time saw it But Jones had had
enough of it after two voyages. and
tinue in il Jones sold out for 5000 and
started for home on another vessel.
y
out and all hands but Jones and five
sailors died. With the five sailors Jones
navigated the brig safely TO port For
this he got command Of a new ship-the
JOhn-and was made supercargo as wen.
with 10 per cent commission on al
profits. without investing a penny he
was a shipmaster Of good fortune and
good repute before he settled down as
a Virginia planter.
How he made money in later years is
told in a number of anecdotes Thus.
saw that whale oil was selling at a very
low price in the United States In France
and the Netherlands. owing to the fact
that the war had stopped all fishing,
the oil was selling at extraordinary prices.
Accordingly. Jones. who had kept track of
mercantile matters, as well as some oth-
ers. shipped several cargoes of oil 10
Europe in partnership with some of his
friends. and cleaned up more than $4,000
by the speculation.
As a Virginia planter Jones was slave
OW ner. Lord DunmOre carried off all the
slaves but two who had followed Jones
to the war and sold them in the West
Indies: Jones was glad to sell what was
it, for tobacco worth $500. but he after
ward sold the tobacco for ESQ, thus COM
ing out better than he had hoped
In the meantime he had decided that
slavery was wrong. 4 have struggled
so long and so desperately for the cause
of human liberty in general and the
rights of man at large that i can no
longer bring myself to a dlsSnctIon 5as stsd
two slaves he had taken to the war
But while Jones was an eager and
successful speculator. he was typical
sailor in his Hberality. For instance
when he took command of the Ranger
at Portsmouth he found that forty-three
of the crew had been shipped under
terms. stated on printed hand bills posted
about town. which offered recruits more
money than congress had authorized him
to give. The amount which the men eX-
pected exceeded by $T35 that which con-
gress would allow. Calling these men
to the capstan. Jones told them the facts
and then paid them the difference out
of his own pocket. Before he was done
with this ship Jones advanced several
thousand dollars for the benefit of the
men and government And when he was
acting as United States envoy for the
collection of prize money that was due
to American sailors and held in various
capitals Of Europe he charged neither sal
ary nor commission for his services,
though he was very successful in his
mission and was employed for several
years in the work
one story shall stand for many that
show the tact Of the man. Having re-
turned to Portsmouth after making his
name famous he was asked to address the
people on Thanksgiving dav SO he told
Of the town. Il years old. but small and
slender for his age. who had sailed in
the Ranger In France Johnny had at
.Nafe-a- e