Evening star., 1926-04-04


the memory of John Paul
Jones in commemorative eX-
erCises at Annapolis, where the body
of the famous sailor diplomat lay in
state in Bancroft Hall. For more than
=, century the remarkable career of
the great sea captain had been clothed
in comparative obscurity. The title of
pirate was still coupled with deeds of
rare distinction when his name was
recalled. and men thought of him as
a daring privateersman at the best.
His very burial place was unknown
for II full decades until the siN-year
search of Gen. Horace Porter revealed
1t in squalid quarter of Paris.
Yet John Paul Jones, in his short
span of 45 years, had risen to meteorlc
heights He was the first American
naval commander to hoist the stars
and Stripes on an American man-o'-
war, and the first to receive salute
to il from n foreign power. He was
the only American commander VINO
ever landed a hostile force on Euro
pean soil
Not once in his brilliant career had
he fought on a ship worthy of his
genius but the Bon Homme Richard S
Nctory over the Scraps ranks with
" greatest epics of the sea. Cath
= inc the Great made him vice ad
miral and Russia bestowed on him
imperial decorations and distinctions
of the highest rank. France kniShted
him: Louis NNI bestowed on nm, in
Commemoration of the Scraps fight, a
gold mounted sword. \ week before
his death he was toasted in Paris as
the coming admiral of France
Denmark pensioned him for conspicu-
Gus services. The American Congress
extended 10 him the privileges of the
floor of the Senate and House, passed
a resolution of thanks TO him, voted
him gold medal, and, on the eve OF
his sudden death. had confirmed the
appointment of Admiral John Paul
Jones" as United States Commissioner
to treat with the Bey of AlGiers for
the release of captive Americans.
Washington. Napoleon and Benjamin
Franklin had paid him the highest
tributes as a sailor and diplomat; and
he was a brilliant figure in the courts
of Europe.
Then came the ineXplicable lapse
of the great sea captain into more
than a century of obscurity. broken
now and then by some reference TO
b his "acts of piracy.
To Gen. Horace Porter is due, more
than any other man. the lifting of
this veil, although just before his
systematic and exhaustive search of
six wears for the resting place of
u
cess in 1905, the publication of Buells
Paul Jones, Founder of the Ameri-
can Navy" created Il furore with its
brilliant exposition of an almost
legendary character.
In 1862 the st. Louis Cemetery
had been officially designated as
place of burial for bodies of foreign
Protestants in Paris. Tia cemetery,
Porter finally Learned, had been
ip Whom site
was finally determined, it was found
that it had for years been used as
common dump pile and "A degrading,
squalid spot it had become.
& = =
THE story of the final and positive
Identification which led to the
triumphal return of the dead hero's
body to Annapolis is a remarkable one.
Drs Captain and Pappillault, eminent
professors of anthropoloSy in the
EcOle des Medicines of Paris, accom-
plished this difficult task after weeks
of painStalSing measures. The body,
clad in a fine linen shirt with pleats
and ruff1es, was found in a leaden cof-
fin that had been filled with alcohol.
The state of preservation was so re-
markabe that Gen. Porter spoke of
having easily fleXed the knuckle
Joints of the right hand. The hair.
long and dark, was slightly tinged
with gray. Measurements of Houdon's
bust were then compared with those
of the head.
Jones had joined the Masonic Lodge
of St Bernard at kirkcudbright in
1910, while then in command of the
merchantmen John, at the age of %.
In his honor the Lodge of Les Neuf
Soeurs in Paris had commissioned
Jean Houdon to execute bust OF
Jones when he was at the peak of his
fame. and James Madison had pro
nounced it an exact likeness. The
measurements were found to be eX-
traordinarily alike A linen cap.
found in the coffin, bore the initials
i. r. =
Then. TO establish the identity be-
yond Cavil a truly amazing operation
was performed-an autopsy of a body
that had been inferred 1l5 years be
fore. This revealed a spot on the left
lung. clearly due to pneumonia, healed
but surrounded with fibrous tissue.
While in the service of Russia, Jones
had developed pneumonia on an in
SpeCtion of the fleet in 1888, and still
suffered from the effects on his return
to Paris Still another verification of
great importance was the evidence of
inteTstitial nephritis, for Jones had
shown unmiStakable symptoms of this
addition, no scar of a wound was
found on the body, and the great
sailor, despite stormy career When
naval battles were often fought at
pistol range, had run the Samut of
boarding parties. flying splinters and
falling spars, and a hail of musket
and gun fire. unScathed.
The measurements further showed
body feet, inches in height, slender
and eXqusitely proporlioned, and there
was abundant testimony to these and
his facial features in the writings OF
men who had known him.
Upon receipt of the first convincing
advices of Gen. Porter. President
Roosevelt acted with vigor. Congress
appropriated the necessary funds and
in due time squadron, with Rear Ad-
mtral Charles u. Sigsbee in command,
of ,.he Brooklyn, Tacoma, Chattanooga
and Galveston, steamed east for Cher
hourC. There it was greeted by a
French squadron and feted in Paris.
); = x
ON July G, 1905, the anniversary of
~ John Paul Jones birth at Arbig-
land. Scotland, in 17t7. two companies
- American Marines and 500 blue
jackets, escorted by two batteries of
French field artillery and two battal-
ions of infantry, marched through the
packed streets of Paris. Solemn Serv-
ices were held az the American Church
of the Holy erinitY. Ambassador
Robert MCCormit-S, Gen. Horace Por-
ter and Assistant Secretary Of State
Francis f. Loomis, the las TWO belng
special ambassadors representing this
country; Senator Henry Cabot Lodge,