Show V NEU A 7 ti JI 1 1 0 mg ra 03 e MX 0 C ak 61 6 1 4 mg 2 zvy Z ral 0 a ya sy by ELMO SCOTT WATSON WATON waga niagara rat a 4 ship almost as famous as old ironsides in tho the an annala nalOf 0 abo tl american ravy Is to be saved from froin the destruction which 11 ha been threatening her in late years if the ambition of a group of patriotic citizens of ohio and pennsylvania la is realized for this famous brig which was Commod commodore oliver hazard flagship at the battle of lake iak erie brie in n the barof 1812 lias bof i fallen on evil days day and is s slowly rotting away at aih municipal pier at erie brie pa however 4 at W meeting held in cleveland Clev elarid recently through the initiative of frank wilford Wl lford an all esria ohio attorney the perry niagara memorial association was organized with the cole purpose of restoring the niagara gara boore before it itis Is too to late the charter members of the association who f have Joined to says save therold the jold brig include CLEVE LAND theodore laburton li 0 Burton fi urton bupt supt it G jones B E IL baker prost president dent of the plain dealer publishing company congressman charles A mooneye J K nutt president enc of th the union tr trust u st company RL bev Rev joseph bishop p of ottha catholic adio diocese epie ot Clevela n i prie PA W D Kt riney superintendent of i parl and congressman muton milton W shrove A J S white alte managing editor of the div rl patch heralda roy hev burt burton boyd ja yd Attorn attorney vy A 39 president dem denv ot of abi the per on perry r y victory memorial mein in 7 common loam judge WB Thon thompson ipsen BAY OHIO Mayor T B D alexander john D day hotel owner webster P huntington k secretary bethi of bf the thi perry vl Victory etor memorial commas lon TOky h thio OHIO congressman james T begg sidney frohman president 0 of th the kind A dauch paver paper company i t ORM OHI OGeorge L fi hardy secretary of the tha toledo petco port commission carl public II if ar rian XU bralo W J conners conner publisher of the but alo courier and i IC elyria ohto attorney fore fr A ALT anae y kraz united senator t si tys f M t the cleveland meeting of or the charter rhem mem f arfi bers a committee composed of mr wwiford allford as j atterman at fred charles charlea of the cleveland plain pin in i iealer dealer and W A kinney superintendent of parks and public property of erie pa P was up Polli pointed ted to carry on the plans for the restoration stor atlon now lies m in the mud the brig was built in erie brie and returned there after jie battle then it sank bank in n misery bay but was raised and rebuilt by the state of pennsylvania in ake the year 1913 tor far he perry centen dial andradi and madi mad a triumphant tour of the great lakes it was then given to the city of erie by the state and since that time has boa been maintained as aa a free museum visited every year beir by thousands of patriotic pilgrims lak lack of finances finance however bo w ever have prevented the city from keeping tt it in seaworthy condition and it now lies iles on the mud in the harbor and lo Is leaking badly badii according to mr allford Wl lford an will be made to raise a fund of by popular subscription to restore the historic one hundred four teen year old brig with something left over for an endowment fund title to the ship will remain with the city of erie brie but the association plans to borrow the vessel from the city for an annual patriotic cruise among the lake erie cities each bummer amer where it con can be visited by thousands as an object lesson lessoning les sonIn I 1 history and patriotism patrio since the victory which perry won in this chip was such an important one in our national history the association believes bel lees that patriotic at americans rier icons everywhere will be glad to share in the responsibility of saving it not only was the battle of lake erie in which the old niagara bore such bach a proud part a an n im i one because of the results of perrys vIct victory nry but it was also one of the most romantic incidents in our history the youth of the commander the apparent hopelessness of his task the desperate nature of the fighting the abr thrilling illing incident of his transfer from the sin shattered lawrence to the niagara which proved to c e the turning point in the battle and his laconic mes sage cage to general harrlson harrison announcing his victory all combine to make tt it so go control of lake erie eric vital here to 19 the story of that battle with some details which the school histories do not give when general hull bull surrendered at detroit t in 1 11 july 1812 it at once became apparent that i control of lake erie was going to be a vett factor in tl ti war between great britain and he united suites 01 ties immediately both americans and british ngan N bt gan construction of bf war vessels and there soon developed if A thrilling race with time i there was feverish activity in the british mp i yards at malden maiden opposite detroit and far to io the 41 5 east in the harbor of the little town of erie there were even more anxious moments mol vents for upon i oliver hazard perry a native of rhode isla island cd ya who had bad reached the rank of commander although not yet twenty eight years yeara old rested the cespon A sivility lity for building and manning a fleet which p y could successfully cope with the naval power that w great britain wits waa preparing to place upon the lake t 11 i when he came to erie eric ordy only the materials mate for i his bis swi ships ware were there pod and those materials were the t tinker 0 i of the forest ballora ballor naval fe tores guns and ammunition had to be i brought from distant points over roads jj A which were better than were mere trat iol letter bif ap I 1 after letter hii he wrote to hla superiors in the east wi beg ug tor foi more men more mo more re i 1 I anoney more of everything which b h would wold need CT 1 y filka sg A A fl 1 al 1 ZI M al 0 1 V lk S 1 13 ak n r j Q N for 10 a v 4 X 4 arzil 0 A INK W I 1 ar 77 7 77 if he were to cope successfully with a powerful enemy A lesser man than ferry would have despaired but lie be refused to be daunted by his handicaps and so after months of labor the last of his ships were launched at the month of cascade creek and on july JQ Q 1813 he fie found himself in command of the following follow ing the brig lawrence his flagship 20 guns the brig niagara 20 guns the brig Caie caledonia donla three guns the schooner arlel ariel four guns the schooner hooner pc scorpion two guns and two swivels the stoop sloop trippe one gun the tha schooner tigress one gun I 1 the schooner porcupine one gun and the schooner somers one gun irked by shortage of men lie ile had his fleet now but not enough sailors to man them I 1 think of my station he wrote in one letter the enemy in rig sight t the vessels under my command more than sufficient clent find and ready to make sail gall and yet obliged to bite my fingers with win vexation for want of men but i after many delays thi the arrival early in august of cupl jesse duncan elliott El llott second in command with men enabled perry to venture out into the lake he reached sandusky august 17 an and d was met there by general harrlson harrison who ca come me aboard the lawrence lawrenc to confer with perry on the fall campaign then he sailed out into t the he lake to look for the imely on the morning ol of september 10 1813 the lookout on the lawrence snug out sail hot hoi and in the distance off put ln in bay the americans americana baw the long awaited british fleet advancing in faultless battle array commanded by robert II 11 barclay who had fought with nelson at trafalgar and lost an arm in that historic engagement the enemy consisted of the ship detroit 19 guns guna one pivot and two howitzers howit the ship queen char lotie lotte 17 guns and om howitzer the brig lady provost 13 guns and one howitzer the illg hunter 10 guns the sloop little belt three guns and the schooner chippewa one gun and awo two swivels awl vels strength of fleets compared of the relative strength of the two fleets bancroft the historian says in ships the british had the their vessels being st stronger and their theft forces being more concentrated the american gunboats gun boats at the right of the american line separated frombach fro tro meach other by at least leaea a halt half cables length were not near enough for good service in the number of 0 guns the british bed 43 S the americans 64 in action at a distance the british Brit tab who had if 35 long rana rane guns to 15 had greatly the advantage in close cloge action the weight of metal would favor the americans american the commander had men from the tha royal navy 0 canadian sailors ballon and sol sel diers mostly regul regulars arp and some indiana making with their officer a little more than men of whom at lensi least were eil efficient lelent the american crown crew of 0 which about one fourth were from rhode island one fourth regular seamen american and cosmopolitan about one fourth raw volunteers from pennsylvania ohio but chiefly kentucky nod and about one fourth blacks numbered on the toll roll but of these were sick nick nearly all allot of whom were too weak to come on deck so that the efficient force of the squadron was a little less thin than As the american fleet advanced to attack led by the lawrence the detroit opened fire its Irs phot fell short but the second went crashing through the lawre lawrence n ce and before the ther other 0 american vessels could come to his bis support the long guns of the enemy were centered with deadly effect upon perrys flagship it was vias struck many times before iii be could got get close enough to open fire effectively and even then with the niagara and other ships hanging back hla his ship seemed doomed to destruction as the th combined british fire ralfred bet british strike colors color for nearly two hours the battle raged furiously until the lawrence Ln lay jay on the waters a dismantled wreck her rigging shot away her spars battered into splinters all of her guns but one dismounted and hr hor decks slippery with blood strewn with the dead and dying the musts masts carty carrying ing the stars and stripes and the blue flog flag bearing the large white letters dont give up tip the ship I 1 the dying words of capt jamea jame 9 lawrence for whom the gags flagship bip was named were shot down but perrys sailors raised them again on spars for ita kinelly perry saw that his cause was hopeless if he remained on the lawrence with the aid of a tev men who were not yet disabled he be loaded the remaining gun gria dragged it forward and fired a last shot at the british then telling those left on board to keep the te stars aud and stripes floating to the last he gave orders for a boat to be lowered to carry him holhi to the niagara in which he proposed to carry on the fight De descending Kending into this hast and u carry carrying lug with him the blue he fee was rowed amid a storm of toilets tc lets and aid grapeshot grape shot to the approaching niagara where he ae raised his banner and bore down swiftly upon the enemy in the meantime the flag on the lawrence had been shot away for the last time and seeing it fall the bril british tash raised a 0 cheer but just then the niagara supported by the other vessels closed in on the british ships and their guns raked the detroit the queen Cb charlotte arlotte the lady provost and the little belt within a short time the british ships struck their colors the battle was wa over and defeat had been changed to victory perryt perrys laconic message on the decks of the lawrence the survivors of the crew raised the stars and stripes again and in the cabla of the niagara commander perry sat down to write a letter to general Hard harrlson sor and this was the ali message which midshipman hugh nelson page of the arle ariel who had been selected to bear it carried to the commander of the Amet american lean military forces cw n aqwa lik y awn awk vaa 1 j aa elj 0 raf back in the ilie little towo town of sandusky the inhabitants listened to the roar of battle that came across the waters with anxious bearg an and wonder it if perry perri won it meant peace and security for them ai if the won it m meant eatie a british invasion an the onslaught of th their air kavage allies led by tecumseh against the towns of ohio so there aas aa rejoicing when 06 of midshipman page brought them the news of a glorious victory one by one the british ports porto on lake lak erie fell into the gands of the am americans orleans and tho hostile stilli arms no loher longer vexed erles erlea brand W pause find and forest fainted bordera lor dera |