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Show Tlie Grand Old Hartford. Thoso who delight In war and bloodshed, blood-shed, with their accompaniment of thrilling stories of heroic, decdn, or thoso, oven, who would have all International Inter-national and domestic controversies settled by arbitration havo reason to revoloe thnt when Congress, a few years ago, had Inserted a provision In the naval nppropratlon bill that ro-pairs ro-pairs to all woodon vessels should bo discontinued, It excepted tho famous old ships, Hartford and Kcarsarge. Slnco then the Kearsargo has met tho fato of so many other ships, having bosn wrecked on a reef In tho Caribbean Carib-bean sea. But tho old Hartford, In commission, with her olUcers and crow on board and In their distinctive nnd fascinating uniforms, and the ship with her lofty and symmetrical masts and spars nnd her sails furled, and overy ropo 'In place, has boon most Interesting to visitors during her recent re-cent visit to tho navy yard. Sho Is now on, tho records as doing duty la the coast squadron nnd has left tho nnvy yard nnd gono to Annapolis. Tho old ship Is a different looking vessel, so far ns tho Interior Is con-corned, con-corned, from tho ono which Farragut commanded at the battles or. the Mississippi river In 18G2, and nt Mobile Bay in 18C1. And yet, although thflre 's llttlo loft of tho old ship beyond nor keel and frame, sho has not lost her outward Identity, nnd nny of thoso who woro familiar with her In tho days of tho civil war would rccognlzo her now. She was originally n steam vossol, or sloopof-war, of 2,900 tons displacement nnd was built at Boston in 1858. Sho has tho samo graceful nnd symmetrical lines that sho presented pre-sented on thnt hot summer day whon she Iod tho wooden fleet past tho guns of Fort Morgan, In 1864, at tho battlo of Mobllo Bay, whon Farragut won another an-other of his great victories nnd coined the phrase that has gono down Into history, when ho cnlled out to tho commander of tho Brooklyn (who had hauled his ship out of tho lino when ho -aw ono 3f tho monitors go down by nn explosion of n torpedo). "Domm tho torpedoes; go ahead 1" Tho famous fa-mous old ships hnvo nil gono except tho Hartford, and sho Is destined to remain alloat so long as sho enn be kopt in a seaworthy condition, bo as to romlnd tho present nnd futuro generations gen-erations of tho kind of shlp3 nnd the manner of men their nncestors "oro In tho days when ruep nnd ships ")ro needed to presorvo tho nation. |
