The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-07-07
BIRTHDAY OF JOHN
 PAUL JONES, TERROR
 OF THE BRITISH COAST.

Yesterday was the 168th anniver- sary of John Paul Jones, the Scotch
 man who fathered the Am erican navy and the hero of many thrilling ex- pIoits along the British coast in the days of the American revoluti on. There is a, certain similarity between the warfare carried on by the Scotch man against his native land and that now being waged by Germany against Britain. The American admiral was the terror of the British coast towns and of English shipping, and many
 merchant vessels fell into his hands. In all his raids and attacks on n1er- chant vessels, however, Jones paid due regard to the sanctity of the lives of noncombatants. He was a chivalrous and gallant as well as brave and resolute commander. Dur ing his raid on WhitehaVen in TITS his men plundered the mansion of the Earl of SeIkirk, but Jones after ward returned to the Countess of Sel- kirk the family plate and other treas ures, paying his men the value or them out of his own purse His let ter to the countess, on returning her property, reflected generous and noble spirit which gaIned the admtra- ton of many Scotchmen, who had previously denounced him as pirate
 The real name of the admiral was John Paul, and he was born in Kirk ham, Scotland, July 6, HAY. His
 
 farmer and gardener. He commence ed his career on the sea at the age of twelve, as a cabin-boy on the. Friendship of Whitehaven, trading to Virginia After completing his ap- prenticeship he made several voyages to the West Indies, in connection with the Slave trade, but soon became dis gusted with the traffic in human be- ings and abandoned it. He was the, possessor of a handsome fortune. ac- scording to some accounts, while oth- CT historians say he was living in poverty at fredericksburg, Va, when Lexington and Concord were fought. He immediately drew up plans for an American navy and proceeded to Philadelphia, where he was cordially received by the congress. In 1777 he was put in command of the Ranger, and crIised about the British Isles, inflicting great damage on shipping, capturing merchantmen, occasionally descending upon towns and otherwise terrifying the people along the Eng fish and Scottish coast.
 It was in 17T9, when he was in command of the Bon Homme Richard and a small squadron. that Jones he had aopted that name upon en- tering the American service -achiev- ed his greatest fame as a sea fighter. Off Flamgorough Head he awaited the Baltic and merchant fleet. numbering forty-one sail, and conveyed by the Serapis and Countess of Scarborough The merchant vessels succeeded in gaining shelter beneath the guns of Scarborough Castle, and the two Eng fish men-o'-vvar engaged the Bon Homme Richard and it's accompany ing ships The Countess of Scarbor-l ough soon surrendered to an Ameri- can vessel, but the Serapis, command ed by Capt. Pearson, made a gallant fight, and for a time seemed on the verge of victory. t'I have not yet be- gun to. fight was Jones defiant an swer when. as his ship seemed about to sink, Pearson asked him to sur render. An explosion on 3tl1e Serapis finally forced Pearson to4 Surrender, and Jones and his crew boarded her, the Bon Homme 7Richard sinking soon afterward.
 After the battle Jones went to France, where he was ionized as a hero, and presented with sword by Louis XIV. In 17s8 he became. rear admiral in the Russian navy, but soon retired and returned to Paris, where he died in 1792. His body was removed to America ten years ago. and in 1913 all that was mortal of Paul Jones was laid to rest in a, crypt under the Naval Academy chapel at AnnapoIis