The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1907-03-13
BEAT THEIR GAPT0RS.
Curious Contest That Occurred
% a British Frigate.s )
ALL MIGHT BATTLE OF SONG.
I =.

80 Ill q iaiat
The Grew Of an American Privasser,
Prisoners on Board the Leander, out
sang the English Tars-An odd In.
eidsnt Of the War Of 1872. .
A curious defiance Of captors by
their prisoners was that Of the crew
of the American prlyateer Prince dc
Neuchatel when confined on, board the
British frigate Leander. Toward the
close of the war Of 1872 the frigat,.
had captured the privateer easily
enough and, taking her crew on board.
gave them quarters in the cable tier.
making them stay Inuth6se confined
quarters among the spare cables from
O'clock every Afternoon until S
O'clock the next morning. To While
away the long hours of their confina
ment In the dark and dismal hole the
captiFes one night began to sing I'D
chorus Fonsing songs which told Of
American naval victories. 4 5aei
The eaptainl Of the Leander sent
word that such, concerts were not a t
all to his, taste, and must be STONED +.
This set the Yankees to singing louder
than eVor Then the captain picked
out six OF the best singers In his crew
and. joining dozen more to them for
the chorus stationed them at the
hatebway, and ordered them to sing the
Yankees down. $500
The British choir started IN with a
song descriptive of the capture of the
Chesapeake by the Shannon. The
Americans waited in silence until the
British song Of victory was ended and
then burst forth with that grand old
sea song, "The, Constitution and the
Gnerriere," telling how
The first broadsIde we poured carried her
malnmast by the board,
Which made this lofty trigate look
abandoned. oh!
Our second told 50 well that her fore and
And we doused the royal ensign neat
and handy, OIL
They fairly made the timbers of his
majesty's frigate ring as with one
mighty shout they ended with the line.
The Yankee boys for fighting are the
dandy, ohF'
To this the British singers retorte,l
with song composed in honor of the
taking of the Wasp by the Poictiers.
and in return the Americans gave them
"Bainbridge's Tid-Re-I," which tells
how the Java was taken and has such
pleasing little verses as: 1i5 SILK orf
For now. my hearts, we've played our
Proud John once more we've RumBled.
1t may be said a bull he made
On Yankees when he stumbled. oh! q
And II he comes to run his huns
Wen give proud John roasting, obi
And so the battle of song went on I'm.
tii the British, running out Of ballads
celebrating their victories over Amerii
cans, began to sing 1.-The Battle of the
Nile" Britannia Rules the Waves"
etc. At this the Yankees cried out,
Not fair"t and claimed the victory,
as their songs of victory over the Eng
lish had not begun to be exhausted,
Thereupon the British band OF song
withdrew, acknowledging their defeat,
while the Americans continued theff
saengerfest with such roaring ballads as
The Yankee Man-pf- War, and when
the Yankee Thunders Roll ...,.,
It was now past midnight, not soul
aboard the frigate had had a wink OF
sleep because Of the bolsterous con!
cert, and the British captain determin.
ed to try another mode OF overcoming
the Americana He ordered a5filei of
Marines with, LOADED muskets, to the
hatchway, and shouted, down, to the
singing sailors that II they did not stop
their racket the, marines you'd fire
down into them ,''''H go
Fire away. my hearties!" shouted
back the elated Americans as they bur.
rowed. .beBeatha the cables You may
.killus, hut yGu'naspoi your best bower
cable in the, doing o., it, eeim ian,
The captain bad seriously intended,tg
shoot down among his prisoners. He
thought better of It and withdrew the
marines, whose departure was the sig.
nal for more cheers for the stars ana
stripes and the roaring ont Of another
ballad abusive of the British.
All that night they sang, and surely
old ocean never before or since saw the
spectacle OF a British frigate pIinglng
through the waves, taut and trim ana
still in his rnajesty's service, while
from her ssHths surged out over the
dark sea chornses which defied thl
British power and sang Of British dc
feats,
That captain was pretty good sort
Of fellow. His name was Sir George
Collier. and he deserves to be remem
bered. AS things went in those days.
If he had had bis prisoners soundIy
logged the next morning he would no.
have been thought to have exercise
undue severity. Most captains wonll
have done at. least that, even II they
had not ordered the marines to fire
into the cable tier. AS 1t was, Sir
George transferred the captive Amer.
leans to the first homeward bound
British man-of-war he met and declar