Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-05-21

, ants had been detached to man several
prizes. and thus Dale only. with a few
inexperienced subordinatcs remained.
lie commanded the gun deck. and from
the moment he the last hail
of the Serapis with a broadside. till he
dropped exhausted from his wound on
board that same ship asscommander,
he fought like II demon.
There wcro other sources Of danger
eraver thar the Serapis-firc and wa
tcr-thc ship was filling-and there
were more English prisoners running
free thar all the crew of he Bon
Honlme Richard. Dale. with rare pres
ence of mind. told the prisoners that
the Scraps was sinking and tina their
only hope was In keeping the Richard
afloat. Pistol in hand. he set the en-
tire mob to work at the jumps, and to
fighting fire. We have another in
stance of Dale's GOODNESS. When tho
Scraps lowered her %colors. he was sent
aboard, and received the surrender Of
Captain Pearson on her quarter deck.
JUS, then an officer came up and in
formed Pearson that he still had three
guns and could send the Richard to the
bottom of the sea. The captain re-
piled. call the men on-thc shin has
struck" Then" said tho officer. "Ill
go below and call them off" Dale in
,erfercd: mo, you will come aboard
with me" But for Dale's ready wit II
is not doubted that the surrender
would have been disreEarded and the
Richard would have had a different
history. Dale was then placed in com ,
mand OF the Serapis. and 1t was not un-
til everything was over that he realized
he was wounded.
He next served on the Trumbull. and
was again captured. but only after one
of the bravcst fights ever put up. Fiji
ty men. IL crippled ship with twenty
eight guns. held out against a thirty
fNSn rIIn shin with nSa ti,,nS ~. ,,,.t
men. and a second ship almost as
strong as the Trumbull. until a third
came up. Then il was sink or sur
render. and Dale was one of the leaders
OF those fifty heroes. After his ex-
change he was made captain of an
armed merchantmen and served till
the close of the war.
When tho United States Navy was
organized in 1894 he was appointed
one OF the six captains. and later be-
came commodore. It was under this
title that he commanded our fleet in
1901 on our first expedition against
Tripoli. His flagship was the old Pres
idcnt. soon after this he resigned
from active service. but always took a
great interest in naval affairs. He
rounded Il seaman's church in his adopt
cd city. Philadelphia, and always had
tho sailors and their welfare at heart.
The friendship between Dale and his
w oliOIS AltIlN lue
days when humiliation, ~nsubordina-
ton. and often insult had made Jones
despair of success, Dale's sympathy and
veneration and his unfailing faith In
him helped to brighten the hours for
Jones and knit moro closely the ties
between them. We are told that while
in public the strictcst etiquette was OBJ
served, In private they were like two
brothers. and Cooper mentions the fact
that Dale In his later life often spoke
OF his old as Paul" And
tho loyalty and answering devotion
OF the lieutenant was cqualed by the
gratitude and love of his captain whose
thoughts even in his last hours went
back to the dcath-riddcn gun So. Of
the Bon Hommc Richard, and the man
who had helped him win his best bat
ties For, Jones in his will b]cuueathed
his sword of honor. that had been given
him by the King Of France, to Dale
Richard Dale-my good old Dick-be-
cause ne more than any other helped
me 10 win it,"
intcS Family Not Extinct.
Editor of The Observation-Disclosures
your account of the Yates family in
your genealogical notes in The Tines
Dispatch Of Sunday, April 80. you say:
AS far AS we know the Yates fam
lily is extinct. II we are mistaken we
hould like to be corrected
There is "A tradition in my branch
of the family that in 1850 three Yates