The Irish standard., 1905-04-29
RoBBlNG The DEAD
Washington Officials Would De-
spoil Barry of His Glory.
Timely Article From the Pen of
Myles j. Murphy.

~ AO0 Os N VI Huy.
A couple of weeks ago cablegram
from Paris announced that the coffin
containing the body of John Paul
Jones, of Revolutionary fame, had
been discovered. No mark on the
coffin or inside of it afforded the
slightest positive proof of the remains
| being those OF the great sea fighter,
yet the finders were able to adduce
sufficient proof from the size and char
acter of the body to positively inden-
tify is as the corpse of the hero they
We're seeking.
Following the announcement came
a message from the officials at Wash
! ington congratulating Ambassador
| Porter on his success, and the latter
lost no time in writing back that he
was pleased to receive congratulations
! of the finding of the body of the
Father of our Navy" Poor Jack
Barry! The people of his adopted
country are not content with robbing
him of his glory by neglecting to even
mention him in the school and other
histories of America, but now they
| also wish to steal away his glory as
the founder of the American navy.
There is not the slightest wish on
my part to detract in the smallest de-
gree from the fame of the great Paul
Jones. On the contrary, l am de-
| lighted to think that the country for
which he fought so we'll has at last
awakened to the fact that it has been
shamefully neglectful of it's illustrious
dead. 1t forgot his existence, too,
when he was dying of want in Paris,
and it is high time that some repara-
tion was made for the neglect Too
memory of John Paul Jones, but it is
not necessary that it must be done at
the expense of Commodore John
Barry, and it would be crime on the
part of the Irish portion of the popula-
ton if they allowed the enthusiastic
admirers of Jones to do so.
A few facts about the careers of
both men will suffice to show how lit
tie claim can be made for Jones to the
title of the Father of our Navy" and
how much Barry deserves 1T. To be-
gin with, John Barry and John Paul
Jones received their commissions as
officers in the Continental navy on the
same day, December Z, 1875. Barry,
however, was commissioned a captain
to command the Lexington, while
Jones was only given the rank of a
lieutenant, and assigned to the Alfred
This latter information we get from
the dairy of Jones, himself. With
this fact we can dispose of the claim
that Jones was the founder or father
of the Continental navy, as Barry out
ranked him at the commencement and
neither had anything to do with the
founding of the Marine Committee.
which established the navy.
At the close of the Revolutionary
war, but two ships remained and these
were in such wretched condition that
they were condemned and the navy
was abolished. This closed the career
of Jones in America, and he then tried
to establish fur trade between China
and the northwest portion of the
United States, but the project was a
failure. He was then offered post
in the Russian navy with the rank Of
Vice-Admiral, which he accepted and
served with distinction in the Turkish
war of 1887. His success aroused
much jealousy in Russian naval cir
cles and as the Russian court was as
active in intrigues as it is today, Jones
| soon found his position little too un-
comfortable to be tenable and he re-
signed, though urged by the Empress
Catherine to remain. He went to
Paris, where he died on July 1S, 1892.
Two years after the death of John
Paul Jones, or to be exact, on July 1,
1894, John Barry was sworn in, the
I first of six captains for the new navy,
with the rank of Senior Captain. His
commission was the first signed by
Washington as president of the United
1 States. On the 9TH of August, 1894,
Barry received an order from the Sec.
retary of War, authorizing him to
superintend the construction of the
| first ship of the present navy. He
went to Georgia, where he selected the
[ live oak and other timber for the con.
| struction of the vessel, and then
watched its progress with jealous care
until it was launched. He was then
assigned to the command of the ship
which was christened the United
States. Thus was built the first ship OF
our present navy. Jones was dead two
years before it's keel was laid, there
fore he was never connected with our
present navy. AS the navy in which
he fought and Of which he could in nc
wise be called the founder, or father,
ceased to exist long before the first
ship of the present navy was designed
and as he died before the act authoriz
ing the establishment of navy was
I h,, tho JJpi+od S+otoe Cop