The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-06-01

fire RATS, saturated with oil, were
directed against them; but in spite
of these obstacles the indomnitable
Commanders pressed on, destroying
the iron clad ram Manassas" and
compelling the rebel Forts Jackson
and St. Philip, and the City of New
Orleans, to surrender.
This is but an outline of the most
important work done by our navy.
Many instances of individual hero
ism might be given. Lieut.. Cush-
ing, with a handful of sailors in
steam launch, made a night attack
on the rebel ironclad Albemarle, in
the Roanoke river, and exploded a
torpedo that sent her to the bottom.
The monitor "Weehawken" was at
tackled, on the coast of Georgia, by
the rebel ironclad Atlanta" which
had just been completed at Savan-
nah, and sent down to annihilate our
blockading vessels, while several
river steamers, loaded with pleasure
seekers, followed to witness her vic
tories. Three shots from the Wee
hawken" ended the battle, the AT
lanta" striking her colors upon
receiving the third. In less than
| fifteen minutes after the Atlanta"
opened fire she surrendered. Captain
Winslow, in the 'Kearsarge,' after
brief engagement, sank the famous
rebel cruiser Alabama" which had
practically driven our commerce
from the ocean. And nowhere in
naval history can there be found a
more heroic figure than that of Far
ragut, lashed to the shrouds of his
wooden flagship, the Hartford"
| forcing his way into Mobile Bay,
I through passage lined with tor
! pedoes, one of which sent to the
| bottom the monitor "Tecumseh"-
crowning his victory with the cap
| ture of the rebel ironclad "Tennes-
! see, the strongest vessel ever
! fitted out by the rebels,-and seating
! up the port of Mobile against block
ade runners.
The final blockade of all the
/ southern ports by northern vessels,
which prevented the South from
sending abroad her rice and cotton,
and receiving supplies from Eng
| land, did much to hasten the end of
the war.
For about twenty years after the
close of the Civil war this country
paid little or no attention to the
matter of naval armament, but .C
eventually awoke to it's need, and
Dewey at Manila in '9S, and Schley
and Sampson at Santiago, with their
gallant men, sons and grandsons of
the blue and the gray, made the
world realize that we had a navy and
that the American battleship and
the American sailors were second 10
none. All the world realized that
we had become one of the greateSt
world powers. To-day our navy
though reckoned third among the
navies of the earth, yet considering
its officers and men in actual con
fiict, stands second to none.
When our forefathers in 177G
gave us this nation they gave us ouT
flag with it's thirteen stars symbolic
ing the original thirteen states. Al
the beginning of the Civil war there
were thirty-three stars in the tiag
and at its close, that number haG
been increased to thirty-five. To
day our flag has forty-siX stars, and
while honoring those heroes of the
Civil war, we give thanks thai
through their efforts, every star il
that field of azure is as fixed anC
Interchangeable as the very stars II
. Gods own armament.
We honor to-day the memory o
Jones, Perry, Decatur, Hull, Porter
, Farragut, and scores of others whose
! names have come down TO us al
! heroes in the service of their coun
( try. But none the less do we homo
the unnamed heroes; the men be
/ hind the guns who unselfishly anC
unflinchingly gave their lives 70
J their country; heroes who sleep IL
, unmarked graves beneath the blu
: waters.
And more especially to them d.
[ we make this floral tribute of mower
( plucked from the hills of loyal OLE
= Wayne county. And perhaps tn
spirits of those sailor lads are look
ing down upon this scene and saying
r 1--WE were of those, who, dying 70
their country, still live in the heart
= OF its people," With these flower
I we send our love. honor and respec
4 for the dead, and our hopes, prayer
. ! and sympathy for the living sailor.