Evening star., 1925-04-19

The measure of the value of this
famed ride of Revere's is found in the
fact that, after the redcoats had de.
stroyed what powder had not yet been
concealed in Concord, they began an
exhausted return march to Boston,
harassed along the whole route by
determined and. angry farmers, so
that it was necessary for the British
to send out to meet them and conduct
them safely within their lines a de
tachment of the main body of their
troops. Soon $4,000 minute-men sur
rounded the capital and held Gen.
Gage prisoner under siege. And the
value of the midnight ride becomes
clear.
1t appears that Paul Revere served
as express without compensation until
after the ride of the 18th of April,
but after that he sends in regularly
Dill for his bearing of messages,
which the Assembly as regularly re-
duced in amount. Revere had a large
FAMILY to support Q6 children in alb,
ana the interruption to trade due to
the punishment of Boston interfered
with MS business to a great degree.
Ihat Paul Revere was versatile as
we'll as thrifty is shown by the many
new industries that he directed from
this time on. He was ever on the
alert Tor interests suited to his crafts
manship, and he applied for and Sc
cured the contract to engrave and
print the first paper money issued bv
the revolutionary. government of Mas
sachusettS. The paper which he sun
piled for this issue was so thick and
stiff that the British, with a never.
falling aptness for descriptive terms.
called the bills "the pasteboard cur
rency of the rebels A charge for
materials and work on this order was
cut from 6S to so pounds by the Con-
gress.
THE next public service which he
was asked by the provincial Con-
gress to perform held in it's core no
slight touch of humor. 1t would seem
that as late as the close of the year
1115 there was in all the colonies only
one powder-making factory. So the
provincial Congress sent Paul Revere
To- Philadelphia, where this factory
was located, to study the plan of the
equipment and to secure the recipe for
the manufacture of the powder. He
went armed with the most disarning
letter ever carried by a would-be man
ufacturer to the sole owner and mo-
nopolist in the business. The letter
read, in part. as follows:
Mr. Oswald Eve: A Powder Mill
In New England cannot in the least
degree affect your manufacture nor
be of any disadvantage to you, there
fore you will cheerfully & from Public
Spirited motives give Mr.. Revere such
information as will enable him to con
struct the business on his return
home. 1t was signed by Robert
Morris.
/. When Revere arrived Mr.. Eve
scented competition and at first re-
fused to permit his visitor even to en-
ter the factory. but later relented on
that point while he refused to divulge
any trade secrets. Unfortunately for
his greed, Revere was gifted with keen
observation and possessed working
knowledge of chemistry, so that he
carried away with him. the desired in
formation.
An abandoned factory at Canton was
rebuilt and Paul Revere was soon sup
plying the Continental Army with tons
of powder. Leaving a AIR. Crane in
charge Of the mill, Revere, upon the
evacuation of Boston by the British,
was made lieutenant colonel of a reg
iment of militia artillery, stationed at
Castle Fort, to defend the harbor of
Boston. He chafed under this inactive
post, and was glad enough to take
part in the campaign against Penob-
scot. That incident runs as follows:
Yankee privateers had done severe
damage to British shipping in New
England waters, and the forces of
the King decided to prevent further
destruction by building a fort at Pc
nobscot, on the Maine coast, where
guns could be posted to destroy the
booty.laden ship~ - they sought their