The San Francisco call., 1906-09-30

and inefficient Perry was only ~
years old and had never before even
witnessed Il naval engagement, let
alone having participated IN one As
he sailed toward the British PerrYs
ship was in the van The scorpion was
not far away and the Ariel on Ms
weather bow The Caledonia came next
to engage the Hunter. tnen the Niagara
to meet the queen Charlotte, with the
Soners. the Percupine, the Tigress and
the Trippe in the rear to give battle to
the other British ships.
1t was almost ON the stroke OF noon
that Perry opened fire with his twelve
FOUNDER giving the signal for the
others OF his fleet to begin action In
the meantime the entire British feet
had concentrated it's fire on Perrys
flagship- Shot after snot crashed into
its huh. Great gashes, were rent In its
sides ShrOuds. halyardS and canvas
were slit into ribbons. Still Perry
pressed closeF-so close that Barclay
thought he intended to board the De-
troit. The little sch0Oners Ariel and
Scorpion. ON the weather bow, did their
best. but without purpose The Ma
CARA was too far away to be OF any
assistance and the Caledonia was kept
busy with the Hunter. Perry empttel q
his guns time and time sgain. and theN
Detroit in turn kept UP steady stream
OF firing
Raked fore and aft the Lawrence
still made a plueky nght. one after
another her guns were dismOunted-
Her bulwarks were beaten in The
shot passed through her sides like
needles through saiIcloth. Heavy
smoke hung over the decks. which
were strewn with dead seamen and
slippery with blood. flle sails and rig
ging were hanging in tatters over the
side. The yards were splintered- The
rudder was in atoms. Still the
faint Lieutenant Yarnall the second
time appealed for officers.
This was after an hour and a halfS
lighting. There was but one gun left
OH the Lawrence and not enough men to
man it. and SO Perry. an officer and the
chaplain served it till a shot dismOunt
ed 1t. AT half-past two in the after
noon the Lawrence was entirely dis
abled. with only eighteen of her crew
remaining alive. But Perry did not
despair Forest. the second officer, saw
sire Niagara in the distance
That brig does not help US, said hes
see how she keeps or.
Perry took in the situation at a
glance.
"TIl fetch. him." he, cried. and spring
ing into small boat and wrapping
around him the flag bearing the words
of Lawrence be was pulled toward the
Niagara The shot fell all about him.
but he reached the ship in. safety. AS
ne mounted the deck of the Niagara
he looked back and saw the Lawrence
drop her cOlors. while family there
came to him the cheers of the British
seamea.
Perry took immediate command Of
Fthe Niagara. and. without a moments
loss Of time. bore away for the British
line, again with topsail spread and his
signal for close action flying. The
breeze had freshened. and the Niagara
cut through the waves. splashing the
water before its bow As the vessel
approached the Detroit that ship tried
to come about 50 it could present its
starboard broadside to it's enemy The
Queen Charlotte was under the British
flagship's lee, and, as it did not follow
the maneuver with sufficient alertness,
the two vessels fouled-
At this psychological moment Perry
passed under the bows of the Detroit.
almost poking his guns upon her deck.
and poured into both English ships a
broadside of grape and canister. Sim
ultaneously his port guns played into
the Provost. while the American ma
rines with their muskets cleared the
British ships of every living creature
above rails Then. passing adroitly to
the leeward of the ships. Perry emptied
his starboard broadside into the Queen
Charlotte and the Hunter. some of the
shots going clear through the former
into the Detroit. The small ships OF
the American fleet now came up. firing
into the British vessels and completely
disabling them In a few minutes
every English gun was silenced. The
Queen Charlotte struck her colors
closely followed by the Detroit. the
Hunter and the Lady Provost. and in
seven minutes after Perry broke into<
the line all the British colors were
down.