Show REHABILITATING OLD IRONSIDES Under an act of congress Old Ironsides Is to be rebuilt once more and refitted for sea service serv-ice The work Is to bo done whore she was originally orig-inally built tonand the money Is being r raised by the Massachusetts State society United r States Daughters of 1812 through an appeal to patriotic Americans for tho preservation of this historical object lesson which will once more cruise under Old Glory as a training ship for naval apprentices The original plans of this old fighting ship were recently unearthed In tho East Indian Marine Museum Salem Mass and will ri play an Important part In the rebuilding In 1830 It was reported In the newspapers that It was the Intention of the government to L r destroy the Constitution together with a number of other ships But tho very announcement met with a public clamor of disapproval as did Secretary of tho Navy Bonapartos recommendation recommenda-tion late last year that she be used tor a target The Constitution was built In Boston In 1797 a frigate of 1576 tons and designed to carry 45 guns She was one of the first ships to seo active service in the war of 1812 Small wonder indeed that tho New Englanders were moved to recite the career of the famous old ship to tho navy secretary Inasmuch as It Is the only real relic ot that branch of American arms that preserved the United States In her second war with Great Britain 1 The Old Ironsides remained In active commission until the advent of tho real Ironclad when sho was used for auxiliary purposes At last having no utility oven as a training ship her destruction was ordered and had been begun when the wave of popular dissent voiced In tho poem of Oliver Wendell Holmes forced the navy department to desist Since that time she has been lying in the Boston navy yard her decks roofed over like a nondescript building |