Show to save hu 0 r ju X 0 1 X r tv J X fu j T drw H TT 2104 Tr af by ELMO SCOTT WATSON HE INIS niagara ara a ship almost as famous as old Irous ironsides ides in the lie annals of the american tavy ravy is to be saied from the destruction which has been threatening her in late years it if the ambition of a group of patriotic citizens of 0 ohio aud and pennsylvania Is realized for this famous brig which was commodore oliver hazard perrys flagship at the atie cattle battle of lak e erie in the war of 1810 has fallen on evil days and Is slowly rotting away awn Y at the municipal pier at we erie pa ia however no wever at a meeting held in cleveland recently through the Initia initiative the of frank wilford an cyria E ohio attorney the perry niagara memorial association was organized r with the sole purpose of restoring the niagara before it Is too late the charter members of the association who have joined to sate sae the old oid brig include CLEVELAND CLEVELA 1113 congressman theodore E burton supt bupt it G jones E H baker president of the plain dealer publishing com company parly congressman charles A it mooney rooney J it nutt president of 0 the union trust company lit rev joseph bv bishop of the catholic diocese ot of cleveland ERIE PA NV D kinney superintendent of parks and public property congressman milton W shreve AL A J white Vhf te managing editor of the dis din patch herald rev nev harry clarry burton boyd attorney A E D sisson president of the perry victory memorial commission LORAIN OHIO common pleas judge W B n thompson PUT IN DAY BAY OHIO mayor T B alexander john D day hotel owner webster F secretary of the perry victory memorial commission SANDUSKY OHIO con congressman ressman james T degg bee sidney frohman president of the blinde dauch dalich paper company TOLEDO OHIO george U hardy secretary of the toledo port commission carl public librarian br arian arlan j cufr BUFFALO alo JV J conners publisher of the buffalo courier and express ELYRIA OHIO At attorney torner frank wilford ilford AT LARGE united states slates senator frank B willis at the cleveland meeting of the charter ment mem bers a committee composed of mr wilford as chairman fred charles of the Cl cleveland ekeland plain dealer and W 1 D kinney superintendent of parks and public property of erie eric pa was ap pointed to carry on the plans for the restoration now flow lies in the mud the brig was built in erie and returned there after he ac battle then it sank in misery buy bay but was raised and rebuilt by tile alie state of pennsylvania in the year 1013 for the perry centennial and made a triumphant tour of the great lakes it was then given to the city of erie by the state and since that time lias bas been maintained as a tree free museum visite eatery aery bear 3 car by thousands of patriotic pilgrims alig tack inck of finances however have ted the city from keeping it in seaworthy condition and it now lies on the mud in the harbor and Is leaking badly according to mr wilford in an attempt will be made to raise a fund of by popular subscription to restore the historic one hundred four teen tean year old brig abrl with something left over for on an endowment fund title to the ship will remain with the city of erie but the association plans to borrow the vessel from the city for an annual patriotic cruise among the lake erie eric cities each summer where it can be visited by thousands as an object lesson in history and patriotism since the victory which perry won in this ship was such an important one olie in our national history the association helleen heli hel lees ees that patriotic airier leans everywhere will be glad to share in the responsibility of saving it it not only was the cattle battle of lake erie in which the old niagara bore such a proud part an important one because of the results of perrys perry s i victory but it was also one onet bof the mot ro rom mantle incidents in our history the youth of tile the commander the apparent hopelessness of his task the desperate nature of the fighting the thrilling thrill ing incident of his transfer from the shattered 1 ed lawrence to the niagara which proved to be t the he turning point in the alie battle and its his laconic message to general announcing ills his victory all combine to make it so control of lake erie vital here 1 the story of that battle with some details which the school histories in do nut not give eive when general hull surrendered at detroit in july 1812 jt it at once became apparent that control of lake erie was going to be a vital factor in the war between great effrain ond and lie he united states immediately both amer americans ic ans find british began construction of war vessels and there soon developed a race with time there was feverish activity in tle brill british sh shipyards P at malden maiden opposite detroit and far to the east in the harbor of the little town of erle erie there were even more anxious moments for upon oliver hazard perry a native of rhode island who vilio had reached the rank of commander although not set twenty eight years old OIL rested the responsibility ity lity for building and manning a fleet which could successfully cope with the naval power th that at great britain was preparing pre parin to place upon the take lake when he came to erie eric oray oi jy the materials for ills his millis fillips wore were there and those materials wore nere the un hen timber of the forest shipbuilders Ship builders sailors bailors Bai nal lors timal fc tores guns and ammunition had to be brought thither from distant points over broadd which were little better than mere trails letter ietter after letter lie wrote to ills his superiors in the east begging for more men more supplies more money iloie more of everything which lie would need no W A WP mw N 1 1 11 as 0 AP it if lie he were to cope successfully with a po powerful erful enemy A lesser man than perry ferry would have despaired but lie he refused to be daunted by his handicaps and so after months of labor the last of ills his ships were launched at the lie mouth of cascade creek and on july 10 1813 he found himself in command of the following the brig lawrence ills his flagship 20 guns the brig niagara 20 guns the brig caledonia three guns the schooner arlel ariel four guns the cleooner clio oner scorpion two guns and alid two the sloop trippe one gun tile the schooner tigress one glin the schooner porcupine one gun and tile the schooner somers one gun irked by shortage of men ne lie had ills his fleet now but not enough sailors to man them think of my iny station lie wrote in it one letter tile the enemy in sight the vessels under my command more than sufficient anti and ready to make sail and yet obliged to bite my fingers will mith vexation exa tion for want of men nut but after many delays the arrival early in au august ot of capt jesse duncan elliott second in command with men enabled perry to venture out into the lake lie ile readied reached sandusky y august 17 and was met there by general harrison arrison II who cattle cams aboard the alie lawrence to confer with perry on fin the tall fall campaign then lie sailed out into the t he lake to look for the ilie enemy on the morning of september 10 1813 the lookout on the lawrence Ln wrence sang out sail lie ho and lr in the distance off put in kay bay tile the americans baw the long ion awaited british fleet advancing lit in faultless battle array commanded by robert 11 II barclay who had fought with nelson at trafalgar and lost an arm in fit that historic engagement the enemy consisted 0 of the detroit 10 19 guns one pivot and two howitzers howit the ihla hit queen charlotte IT 17 guns and one howitzer the brig abrl 9 lady provost 13 guns find and one howitzer ho the lie brig hunter 10 guns the sloop little belt three guns guas end and the ilie schooner chippewa Chippe wn one gun and two swivels strength of fleets compared of tile the relative strength of tile the two fleets bancroft the historian says in ships the british had tle the superiority th weir clr vessels belne being stronger and their forces being more concentrated tile ilie american gunboats gun boats at the right ot of the american line separated from each other oilier by at least A half cables length were not near enough tor for gool good service in the number of guns the british had 63 the americans cl 51 in notion action at a distance the british who had 33 35 long range guns to 16 15 had greatly the advantage in close action the weight of metal would favor the amerl cana the britch commander had arn mn n from the royal navy no 0 canadian sailors Bai lors and soldiers mostly re gillars and some indians making with their of ficerA a little more than men of 0 whom at least beitat at lio were deficient eKl clent tile the american crews of 0 which about one fourth were from rhode island inland one fourth regular seamen american and cosmopolitan about one fourth raw volunteers from pennsylvania ohio but chiefly kentucky and about one fourth blacks numbered on the muster roll 00 but of these 16 were sick nearly all ot of whom were too loo weak to come on deck so that the ancient force of the squadron was a little less than As the american fleet advanced to attack led by the lawtence La the detroit opened fire its first arst shot foil fell short but the second went crushing through the lawrence and before the other oilier american vessels could conic come to ills his support the long iong guns of the enemy were centered with willi deadly effect upon perrys flagship it was struck many times before lie ile could get close enough to open fire effectively and even then with the niagara and other ships hanging back his ship sec seemed med doomed to destruction as tile the combined british fire raved her british strike colors for nearly two hours hour the battle raged furiously until the lawrence lay jay on the waters a dismantled wreck lier her rigging shot hot away her spars battered into splinters all of her guns but one dismounted and her docks decks slippery with blood strewn with the dead and dying the musts masts carrying the stars and stripes and the blue flag hearing bearing the he large white letters dont give up the ship the dying words of capt james lawrence for whom the was named we were re shot down but perrys sailo sailors rs raised raise d them again on oil spars for flagstaffs flag staffs finally perry saw that his cause was hopeless if lie remained on the lawrence with the ald aid of a bev men nn n who were not yet disabled lie loaded tile alie remaining gun dragged it forward and fired a last shot at the british then telling thoe tho e left on board to keep the stars and stripes floating g to the last he gave orders tor for a boat to be lowered to carry him to the niagara in which ile he proposed to carry on tile fight descending into this lw and ad carrying with him the blue fops ak lvis lmos rowed amid a storm of tia grapeshot grape shot to the approaching niagara where lie he raised ills his banner and bore down swiftly upon the alie enemy in the meantime tho the flag on the lie La lawrence arence had been shot away for the in last st time and seeing it t fall the britini brilli li raised a cheer cut but just then the niagara supported by the other vessels es sels closed in on oil the british ships and their gins rah raked ed the detroit the queen charlotte the lady and the little celt belt within a short time the british h ships struck their colors the battle was over and defeat had been changed to victory perrys L laconic message on the decks of if the lawrence the sur survivors lors of 0 the crew raised the stars and stripes again and in the cabin of the aniag niagara a ra commander perry sat down to write a letter to general and tills this was the message which midshipman dilugi blugh nelson page of the arlel ariel who had been selected to bear it carried to the commander of tile the american military forces cray M aw f civita tr uvo ci ris ray hack back in fit tile hie little town of sandusky the lahab stants listened to the roar of battle that came cama across the waters with anxious fear and wonder it if perry won it meant peace and security for them it tile british won non it meant a british invasion anti and tile the onslaught of 0 their savage allies led by tecumseh against the towns of ohio so there was rejoicing when the arrival of midshipman page brought them the news of it 11 glorious victory one by one the Bri britini tili ports on lake file eile fell into tile hands of the americans and ant hobt hostile arms do longer vexed eries erics broad ex e vause pause und and forest fringed borders |