Evening star., 1925-04-19
15Oth Anniversary of Historic Rid
Of Paul Revere Is Observed TODAY

havens in the bays Of the coast I'll
government Of Massachusetts voted :.
equip an expedition of land and So.
forces to destroy this fort. Their pre-,
aration totaIed 10 vessels with s.
mounted guns and , 900 sailors. Wit!
20 transports TO boot. One historian
claims that it was the strongest an,
finest naval force furnished by New
England duEing the Revolution. J,
cost 1,739,174 pounds and was PLACED
under the command of Commodore
Dudley Saltonstan.
A land force of 200 was unde
Brig. Gen. Lowell. with Paul Rever.
in command of the artillery train.
The wall of the fort had risen onl!
5 feet, only two British guns had beeI
mounted, and only four of their boat
were in the bay. Americans so great
ly outnumbered the enemy that, With
combined land and sea attack. the
capture of the fort would have proved
an easy matter. But Commodore Sal.
tonstall refused TO let his boats par
ticipate in the movement against the
fort. and in the general confusion that
followed orders from commanding Off
GERS seemed unavailable, and men and
lesser officers did what seemed the
wisest, which to many was to return
home.
* x x
IT goes without saying that an in
vestigation followed and that Off
GERS to blame for this outright failure
were punished. Among these names
was that of Paul Revere, and serious
charges were lodged against him, ap-
parently by those who wished to in
jure him. The first trial left his name
and honor smirched with the shame
of Cowardice, so Revere demanded
from the court another trial, which
still did not vindicate him. He then
demanded a court-martial and had the
satisfaction of obtaining a complete
vindication of his conduct.
At the close of the war Paul Revere
returned to his work in gold and sill
yer, after he had sought in vain for a
Government position in connection
with the engraving OF the currency
for the new Government. 1t was for
tunate that he failed thus to obliter-
ate himself, for later he opened a bell
and cannon foundry in the north end
of Boston, where he made brass can
non bolts, spikes and other compost
tions.
Paul Revere soon learned that the
casting of church bells is a delicate
and intricate art, whose perfection
comes only with much practice, after
one has come to know that copper
from different mines possesses differ
ent qualities; that the proportion of
tin to the amount of copper can hold
no fixed ratio, therefore, that thick
ness of the bell must vary with the
size, and that the adjustment of the
bell must be made with greatest care.
His first bell was a failure when
judged from tone quality, but his mas
terpiece, out of some &c bells cast,
still sounds with mellow resonance
from the massive tower of Kings
Chapel.
The bells cast by Paul Revere and
his son bear an inscription to that
effect with the date of the casting, so
that they can be distinguished from
those cast later by another son, Paul,
after his father was done with such
efforts.
There hangs in the steeple of All
Souls Church on Sixteenth street one
of the bells cast in the Paul Revere
foundry, Boston, by the son of Paul
Revere in 1921. 1t was warranted
for one year, but is still in perfect con-
dition. It's rich tones float out from
the steeple every Sunday for the morn
ing service, and again at 4:45 each
Sunday afternoon.
How altogether fitting that on this
sesquicentenary of the ride of Paul
Revere, in the Old North Church i'm
Boston, there is being held a service
in commemoration of his dauntless
patriotism in which Mrs. Nathaniel
Thayer of Boston. the great-grand-
daughter of Paul Revere, will have a.
part and Charles Gates Dawes, Vice.
President, of the United States and
great tgreat-grandson of William
Dawes, jr., wifi make an address,