The Republican journal., 1909-08-19

S. S. Delaware. It is the bust 81 81 II Il
dian chief, with visage grim and warlika
but with certain nobility of feat,,rs,
with which artists are fond of invest;n, :.
Indian subjects. Him the cadets. ;nd,,f
ging fancy that he exercised control
over the marks that they received ana
that, therefore, the imperious LOOKING
savage was to be propitiated, used to 80
lutte when they passed. The custom al.
though in contravention of regulations
came to be such an iron bound one thai
the authorities were forced to prohibit Il
by general order. The little daughter
of one of the officers, who had been
brought up in Japan, was once observed
to PROSTATE herself before the frownincr
warrior, as she had seen the folks in her
early island home do before the image of
Buddha.
On board the rehabilitated United
States frigate Constitution, at the
Charlestown Navy Yard, are kept the
fgureheads and bow-screws that have
decorated that historic craft in the DAYS
of its glory. One, however, that was
the object over which a large number of
people worked themselves into FRENZY
of political excitement, is lacking. That
one was bust of Andrew jackson.
which because they deemed it an uncom
plimentary likeness of their hero, Of
Tended many of his admirers. Repeated
attempts We're made to detach it from
the bow of the old frigate. One of the
despoilers having worked half the night,
being forced by danger of discovery to
drop into the water and escape, aban-
doned his task all but accomplished. An
effort made in 1916, as ''Old Ironsides'
low Oft n OWL f,,1
the likeness, good or bad, of "Old Hick-
years an offer was made to sell to the
taken from the bow of the Constitution
some half century before The naval
authorities, however, were not convinced
that the carving was the lost figurehead,
and the offer was not accepted.
One of the finest figureheads in its dav
was that of the clipper ship Western
Belle. 1t was full-size figure of wom-
an with her left arm outstretched. car
rying in the left hand few spears of
wheat. Her right hand gathered the
folds of her skirt, the drapery of which
considering that the material was wood,
was admirably executed. From the gen.
eral outline, no less than from the care
less curl lying along the breast, it is sus-
pected that the carver had worked in
marble, or was a natural genius His
name was Sampson-he neglected to cut
his first name on his masterpiece-and
he lived and toiled in Bath. Maine, the
home of American shipbuilding, where
the Western Belle was built in 1876. His
handiwork was carried by Bath built
ships to the most remote parts of the
world and it is related that South Sea
Island chief was SO impressed with the
Yankee carver's skill that he sent him a
commission by a friendly skipper to
make him set of idols to meet the
theological needs of his heather subjects.
The Western Belle is spending the even
ing of her days as coal barge, but the
lady who graced her prov has retired
from the sea and now occupies place in
garden. One of her peculiarities was
detachable arm-the one in which she
held the wheat. During voyages it was
unscrewed, so that the seas might not
break it, being replaced when the ship
was about to make port. This was not
altogether unknown in the more elaborate
of the old wooden figureheads, especially
on men-of-war, where danger of shatter-
ing was greatest.
Two figureheads which recall sad sea
stories may be seen, one in front of
hotel at Virginia Beach, near Norfolk.
1t is the image of a woman with be-
seeching upturned face, and it was wash
ed ashore some years ago from the
wreck of Norwegian vessel that went
down with all hands on board. The
other, in the Essex Institute, Salem,
Mass, is also relic of wreck. 1t is
the form Of woman, holding before her
a medallion on which is a painting, sup
posed to represent Thomas jefferson;
but the name of the ship whose dark fate
it mutely records will probably never be
known, for it was picked up on the shore
Of Cape Cod after heavy storm, and
it's antecedent history is in the keeping
of the inscrutable sea.
The custom of naming ships for noted
women had quite a vogue with British
owners and builders. and in most cases
the bows of these ships were ornamented
with carved and painted hkenesses of
their patronesses. The clipper Lady
Havelock had for figurehead a woman
dressed in a gracefully flowing robe, and
bearing roll of parchment in her hands.
The Lady Jane Grey was similarly
adorned with her ladyship's effgy, while
Florence Nightingale and Jenny Lind had
namesake clippers which bore their like
nesses to many strange ports.
Carvings, more or less faithful to the
life, OF relatives-mostly women-of
owners or captains were common on
whalers and other ships that made long
voyages. Busts and half-length figures
of military and naval heroes, statesmen
of renown, and distinguished citizens
often appeared on warships. There was
vessel-and it deserves to be better
known-in the early American navy,
bearing the name and fgurehead of
George Washington. 1t was a frigate of
war, and to it fell the fortune to be the
first craft to break out the Stars and
Stripes to the breezes of the Bosphorus.
1t was there, however, or a sorry errand,
but one which had a brighter ending than
beginning. Having been sent to convey
to the Dey of Algiers the tribute then
paid by the United States as the price of
immunity for American shipping in the
days before the Algerian pirates were
properly thrashed, it had been calmly
ordered to be the bearer of the Dey's
tribute to the Sultan of Turkey. Not
wishing to break off the relations which
the United States, like other Powers.
was willing to undergo humiliation to
sustain, the George Washington's COM
mander complied. 1t is recorded that the
sultan treated his American visitors like
gentlemen, heard with interest the news