| Show closed her career in glory final chapter in history of proud yankee clipper one which seamen of all nationalities will hail hall j as a fitting and proper end in these days wl en every item of the history of the old american square riggers Is precious it Is a hap py moment when somebody turns up who can add to the story storye E B debes of the bethlehem shipbuilding corporation at fore river Is ont of these with a history of his own almost as picturesque as that of the ship he knew says the boston globe he came from a small town on the southeast coast of nor way when he was a boy th the e pride of the town was a smart old yankee clipper ship it helped to build up the thrill the boys got out of her to know that she was popularly called the little hell and her master captain ing ebret hsen was known as the devil of the north sea theae thee things are compliments among bardy people the titles meant that the captain was aas a sail carrier and a driver the ship was no place fora for a soft man but to ship in her meant that a man was proud of his hardness and feared g that a sail carrier or a bucko mate could hand out captain Is gone years ago and his son Is now a shipmaster through this connection with his boy hood home mr debes was able to write the final chapter in the story of the nightingale she was as lost in a gale on the banks of newfound land in 1892 1802 a fact apparently not known to copt arthur 11 clark who wrote the clipper ship era mr debes shows that he Is a true seaman and a true horseman norseman for he says I 1 take great pleasure in the fact that she went down in harness and without los loss of life and that she did not share in the fate of many a proud yankee clipper of being reduced to a coal barge wallowing along at the end of a tow line the nightingales story Is romance from start to finish she was built in portsmouth intended to be a pas ship and to carry tourists to the worlds fair at london lonon in 1851 in her original plan she was all staterooms and saloons and was lux furiously urious ly outfitted she was 1 1006 tons register regist er feet long and 38 36 feet in beam with a depth of 20 feet she carried for a figure bead head a beautiful bust of jen jeri ny lind rind the swedish nightingale for whom she was mas named when she was nearly completed her owners fell short of money sim S lim uel hanscom her builder went right alon 1 with her however and abd corn com his contract she was launched during the year 1851 she was finally sold to sampson tappan for and put into trade as one of the great fleet of racing clippers clipper in 1852 she was in the ocean race of seven american and british ships from china to eng land the race that was never de coded capt samuel matter mather had bad her for the years that sampson tappan owned her she made a number of fast passages though she does not hold the records sampson tappan sold her to a salem firm which sent her to rio there she was bought and put into the african slave trade under the brazilian flag and on april 21 1801 1861 in the harbor of balenda near the mouth of the congo river she was captured by the U S S 8 saratoga which found 1000 slaves aboard of her the slaves were liberated and the ship was brought to new york by a prize crew in the ship was sent to the boston navy yard at charlestown Charles town at that time her figurehead wasa was a ing meant to represent the head bead and neck of an american eagle it was removed from the ship and was mounted outside the door of the coni vom 1 s office after the civil war ar sh she e was sold to N Norwegian or owners and she sailed un der the flag of godway for the rest ot of her life |
