Show god of 2 by E 8 WATSON N 0 of r haleber learning in the united to tradition stronger and more religiously observed red than in the two service tc bools the united states unitary acad eay at west point f and the united naval academy at annapolis md corn day at Anc apolla 18 occasion for one interesting eihl botlon of that after the last member ot the class ha hla diploma the bands of the secretary of the nav and returned to his seat the solemnity ot the occasion Is sudden ly broken at a signal every graduate rasps to bis feet aud a sec ond later the clr overhead Is fitted with white objects they are their white cap which iliev have hurled aloft thus their promotion from in the acad emy to ensigns in the navy but most interesting of air annapolis traditions anre thoe which cluster around a curious statue there it Is the figure of an gindlin chieftain the cock serious patron of the mid dies old tecumseh the god of 25 all who enter the academy are warned that the great indian chilel frowns on skeptics but will smile on all believers in his power it Is said that in return for a respectful salute he will grant a parsing mark in exam nations which in the navy Is rated as sla and the midshipmen file past the stem figurehead of wood pen cles and invoking him to aid them this statue has had an interesting history until this year old tecumseh was a wooden indian that Is to say he was originally the figure head of an american warship ohp delaware but last mav the wooden statue was replaced with one of bronze originally too his name was tamanend Tam instead of tecumseh away back in 1817 the name dela ware was selected by the era of ahe navy for B shin tribe line which was laid down nt the disport Gi sport gayy yard in norfolk va after con suiting se natora and represent a tires from delaware it was decided that the most appropriate figurehead for the n v vessel was that of the als chief of ahe delaware in deans tamanend Tam the gentlemen from delaware then informed the navy eliat the name of Taro Is held in the highest veneration among ohp in of all the chiefs and great men which the lenape atlon ever bad he stands foremost on the list all we know of tamanend Tam therefore Is that be was i ancient delaware chief who never had his equal he was in the highest degree endowed with wisdom virtue prudence charity affability meekness hospitality in short with every good and nohle qualification hit a enman being may possess he was supposed to have had an intercourse with the great and good for he was a stranger to everything that Is bad the delaware with the great indian chief poised on her bow was a wooden vessel of 2633 tons displacement mounting 74 guns and with a corn of and dpn launched in 1820 she served in bedl and brazilian waters at the beginning of the I 1 war the delaware was opt of at the norfolk navy yard when the navy yard was destroyed in she was scuttled and burned but after the close 0 the war what remained of her hulk was sold to wreckers who raised and broke her up for the copper in and the figurehead was sent to the naval academy in the old naval academy taman and had a place near the lyceum a building devoted to gunnery and cloan to the department of seamanship cheb the old building was torn down the figurehead was moved to the seamanship building in it was placed in the gymnasium and later placed a pedestal facing bancroft hall gradually the tradition of his kovs cerious power of impairing knowledge was established also by this time he and been renamed tecumseh seh by the middles and had become the god of 25 later his powers were increased and be aas charged with gaining vie for the navy teams As the regiment of midshipmen departs for the IK games each platoon gives a lefthand salute to him that the avy may in that day another ceremony 18 centered around when the final examinations are concluded te graduating claw gathers before tin to read its claa history and ray aal homage to his steadfast aid in the archives of tho navy Is an unpublished manuscript the private journal 0 laput S 0 glowan U 8 avy dated 1841 43 recording an of almost a century ago which earned abe del ware a reputation for favors ath the powers that be and helping promotions this journal recently to the navy contain an ac count of an official valt to the delaware as she lay off annapolis and its result which the la geet promo on 0 officers which had ever taken place la abe navy lieutenant rowan said the last saturday in july 1841 we got under way for annapolis we arrived there on the fourth day having to anchor at least flie mites from the city commodore morris who bad been n ashington for some weeks came off and informed us that the president and sec and heads of departments ministers distinguished citizens and naval officers would visit the ship in a few days during this interval our first lieutenant who Is a man of energy did all in his power alth the able of the officers to put the ship in the perfect condition of a man of war the officers and crew were thoroughly exercised in every depart meni of ship a duty until the ship ana in better order than anyone I 1 had ever the honor to sail in ahen the steamer reached ohp gangway lieutenant allson who was to receive the president at annapolis informed the first lieutenant that the president was not on board ohp corn eodore then ordered all the honors to be paid to the secretary of the navy which were intended for the president except the number if guna and the substitution of the american at the main for the broad pennant mr george C badger then as sec rotary of the navy led the way and was followed by webster cruttenden granger bell senator preston and nu berous other members of boch houses their ladles ns well as other dla citizens when the corn pany had all reached the deck of ship the dropped astern and B salute of 17 guns was alred and the men ordered down the officers all came forward and were severally introduced trod to mr badger by the commodore refreshments were furnished in the port cabin and mastromoro oro and efter the retreat was beaten the officers devoted themselves to the company tak ing pains to show them everything the people went to dinner to the in finite interest of our visitors all of whom were delighted with the fare as well as apparent comfort of jack when en hour ha elapsed the drummer beat to quarters for action instantly all were firing in apparent con fusion for arms cartridge boxes etc and all of which delighted our vis igors in a few minutes all was quiet and silence the ship the divisions had been reported clear for action and the officers and men stood in their places anxiously waiting the order to anre presently the order was given in detail to toad and the firing commenced from each deck in admired confusion their fancy to th amount of three rounds of blank cartridges we ceased firing and secured the guns and while all hands were called 0 o exercise sail for the amusement of the nobles a small detachment was busy in spreading tobies on the gunde cli sunroom and poop cabin by the time exercise of sails was fin dished the collation was ready and the whole party divided and filled the tables and no doubt gratified their pal ates equally with their curiosity while on board about lour the steamer tool the party back to annapolis where an extra train was in waiting to convey the highly party hack to washington they left us with the assurance that their visit would be highly advantageous to the service the promotion of many old and meritorious lieutenants was no doubt the consequence the long hoped for trade t rade of admiral will no doubt grow out of this visit in recent years it wa discovered that the ravages of time were threat enns to destroy old tecumseh croci time to alis heroic efforts were mada to lengthen his life but flolly it becane apparent that e could not stand much more exposure ta th elements then the class of 1891 got busy they decided to replace the wooden figure with an exact replies of bronze which should not only be a memorial to all members of that class but which should continue to b an inspiration to all future midshipmen in the academy they raised funds to have the work done and received subscriptions varying from SS to along with the subscriptions usually came letters recalling fond memories of midshipmen dais at annapolis one anonymous subscription was sent with this mes base well 1 got ten demerits for hanging a light on old tecumseh one dark night BO I 1 guess it s up to me to give him ten bucks now the bronze which was used in the cast of the new statute was obtained from historic ships and from trophies of many wars and naval demonstrations so the old tecumseh who was last slav at a ceremony in which charles francis adams secretary of the navy and rear admiral samuel nobl superintendent of the academy took a leading part and who will stand guard over the destinies of an fn hire midshipmen Is not only the patron saint of the naval academy but Is also a visible symbol of the long and honorable record of service of the united states navy the original old tecumseh how ever Is not the only ship figurehead which Is preserved at the naval academy it also owns one of grecian design which once graced the british ship macedonian until that vessel was captured by stephen while in command of the 0 S S united states during the war of 1812 and one of a bust of benjamin franklin which adorned chec S S franklin launched in 1815 but more interesting than either of these because of the exciting history it had was a fig which once had a place at the bow of the famous frigate constitution ution the old ironsides of song and story the first figurehead on the constitution when she was launched in boston in wa was hercules with his club this was shot away during a battle with the barbary pirates la tripoli and was replaced with a figure of neptune during a part of the war of 1812 old ironsides had only a small billet head then in 1814 when as a result of the stirring poem written by oliver wendell rolmes the ship was being re fitted in boston a full length statue of andrew jackson was ordered for a figurehead this caused a great political furore jacksons opponents were enraged over what they called the presumption ot putting the likeness of old hickory on the famous vessel and declared that no living man with the possible ex of jamea madison the father of the constitution should have such an honor one dark night after the figurehead had been placed in position a young named dewey rowed out to the ship boarded t sawed off the head of the statue lust below the nose and carried it away in a big ilia friends hailed this fea as a great and dewy Is said to have carried the head to washington with the intention of presenting it to jackson himself eventually the figure was restored and a new head fastened on with a bolt of huge sla so that no other randal could take such liberties will it as dewey had taken it Is this nt figurehead which Is now one of the most cherished possessions of the naval acad by ann i bair fcc |