The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-04
CAMBRIDGE,

"APTAIN BAINBR1DGE, com
 mander of the unfortunate war O ship "Philadelphia," while in the Tripolitan prison, contrived to have a note conveyed to the commander of the American squadron. This note was written with lemon juice and became visible before the heat of a lamp or candle. It recommended that the "Philadelphia" be set on fire or blown up.
 The suggestion was acted upon as this hazardous enterprise; one was to be burned. Two ships were chosen for thi shazardous enterprise; one was to fire the Philadelphia" the other was to cover the retreat of the Americans should 1t become necessary.
 The two ships selected for this dar- ing deed were the Intrepid and the Siren. Night was chosen for the de- struction of the Philadelphia and has been described as night of rare beau ty, being mild and balmy as a breath of spring, though 1t was in the wintry month of February. The sea and the harbor had the smoothness of a noun tain lake in summer and over land and sea the light of new full moon fell, making all objects visible" It was 10 o'clock before the Intrepid reach ed the entrance to the harbor, In which was seen the Philadelphia. She was ly- ing across the harbor, and, just be- , yond her, were corsairs, gunboats and a few galleys. The Intrepid steered straight for the frigate Philadelphia; her officers and crew, with the ex- ception of the men who handled the steering wheel. lying prone upon the ships deck. The Philadelphia was crowded with Tripolitans As the In trepid approached @ Tripolitan sentinel from the Philadelphia hailed her. The pilot at the wheel replied that she was & trading ship from Malta and had lost her anchors. "The pilot begged permission to lie by the Philadelphia till morning, which was granted. The ruse was perfect. A line was thrown out from the Philadelphia to draw the supposed Maltese ship closer. Slowly was the Intrepid drawn alongside. Not a word was uttered by the Americans, and not a man rose from the deck Nearer and nearer the Intrepid ap- preached her prey, till she lazily struck inc side of the Philadelphia. Then the sentinel. looking over the sides of the Intrepid. saw that he had been duped, and ordered her on.
 But 1t was too late. "Amerikanos,' was the cry of alarm that shot through the Philadelphia from stem to stern. and from deck to hold. Decatur then quickly gave the signal, and up sprang the "Ameri- kanos," and plunged like living torrent over the sides of the doomed Philadel- phia American sabres flashed in the moonlight everywhere, and American throats nearly burst with the loud cry of triumph. Over the sides of the Phila- delphia crawled the Tripolitans like rats leaving sinking ship. Some escaped to land, many others were drowned. In two minutes the deck was cleared, and in ten minutes the ship was in the pos- session of the Americans. Not shot had been fired. As 1t was deemed im- possible to bring the Philadelphia out of the harbor combustibles, from the Intrepid, were brought. and the noble ship was set on fire and burned like |. tinder: the flames followed the rigging. made inhammable by oil and tar. and sprang upward like fiery serpents, and hissing like colossal rockets. As the AmericAns moved of from the burning