The San Francisco call. [volume], January 22, 1910, Page 6, Image 6

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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6
THE VAN BRUNT CHILDREN IN SCOTLAND
Two journeys in Puzzleland havo
already been published on the chil
dren's page, the first journey being
through tho United States nnd tho.
second a trip^ through England.
Today wo are publishing an In
teresting account of tho "children's
journey through Scotland., The
nsimos of 10 places, in Scotland nrfi
buried in tho story. The first placo
'hidden Is Glasgow, which is buried
in the phrase, "Douglas go'walk
ing." The>thor places arc hidden
in a similar manner. . If you, aro
not acquainted with the names of
places in Scotland,,' get your geog- .
raphy or nn" atlas and study the
map carefully nnd you : wlll find it
..he'lps you out very much^ln solving
tho -problems-, of the journey in
Puzzleland.".
|~^ OB and . Susie Van Brunt hadal
|^j:. ready traveled through England
'-and tho United States when their
parents decided, to take them on'a trip
•through Scotland. They went (Irst to
stop at the homo of their cousins,
Douglas and Mabel MacDougal, in Edln- .
burgh! and Bob proposed at once that all
four children should go for a tour of
the-.'' : t0wn..,,; The '".'Scotch cousins hesi
tated,','for they were not accustomed to
as- much liberty as American children,"
but when Bobi took the matter in his
ownihands and said, "Mayn't Mabel.a nd
Douglas Jbq walking,,' Auntie?" their
[mother .consented at once. Before 1 they:
started "Mabel^changed her boots, be
cause; she? sn id "she had. been wearing a.
slipper, that ;dld? not fit the heel and she j
[.\u25a0was affaidjher. anklo wouldturn. ..When.
\u25a0 they at ; last; got out on. tlie : streets and
, began', to' see ..what the >big; Scotch city.
was ; really : like they were so interested
that ; it } was ' quite . dark . before they
;turned^toward,liome.' ;\u25a0/ '.•",'
;'.'XWhen '.they' reached - the' house they :
were; very 'hungry, and; were glad to get
~a~ whiff of 'things cooking as they :
passed , the -kitchentdoor/: "
"Um !> fish : for supper,'' .said Douglas;
'.'Our; cook.^Mrs. Merdumi :; fries fish like f
\u25a0 nobody 'else.''"; I know you'll like tht>m."
.'Just", then Mrs. ' MacDougal : . began
sniffing, vigorously arid; looking .-very,
'worried. . A , strong : odor of \ some thing.
COMMODORE PERRY'S GREAT VICTORY
P- :-\u25a0\u25a0•-:\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0 -\u25a0' .-.- \u25a0-.-.- \u25a0 \u25a0:;\u25a0 -\u25a0.;-\u25a0;\u25a0\u25a0: ' \u25a0\u25a0- \u25a0\u25a0-\u25a0\u25a0../. \u0084... •\u25a0 \u25a0 '
"TT" MOKG those of the American
;*/ ' \'; past whose lives were! .spent in
,"/\u25a0\u25a0. \u25a0 -iA'.the'; cause.of a grateful republic '.'
"; thename'of 'Oliver Hazard Perry
holds an; honorable : place. ; He was born '"
\u25a0at;, Sout h' Kingston," Washington coim
ty, .IL; Li ;August .21, . 1785,; the' son of
Christophei-yUayniond Perry .'and Sarali '
"Alexander. • A picturesque place is 'this '
6ld|town on Narragansett bay,' opposite
> Newport.';'^? '.•>.';•; \u25a0.'/,;.:.'\u25a0 '•\u25a0\u25a0\u0084••\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0':" »\u25a0 \u25a0-."\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0-' \u25a0 "\u25a0 .'\u25a0•-'\u25a0'; •"•
:.^ He was caref uly. trained'by his Chris- ,
: tian-, mother, 'who, as one writer put.it .
; "fitted .'\u25a0'\u25a0; him'. to;_ command To thers" by
teaching -him yearly to .•..'•obey."..'-; Like
; Franklin, \u25a0\u25a0>' and /, other ; great ;
•"Anieri'jans, ': the i Bible .was his fayori te'S
book in; youth.: In his boyhood »days in
t\e; pr ivate ; scl^ols of -Newport. .To wer
' 1111 1 and . Kingston , he, made | rapid ; prbg-
Iress.'ii'i Injnavigatioht/ahd;,' mathematics
he excelled all , others for.) miles, around.,,
; - He 1 was a- pupil, of i.the celebrated.C ount\u25a0 !"
: RochaTibeau. i.At .the ageiof 11! he was
conflrtfied ;ln tho .Episcopal church.'vlln x
>. 1797i.V'e find- him at:. Warren, ;R.:l... with
his, father, who supervised ;tlie;buiiding
rof lithe , frigate - General -'Greene.;^ On
\u25a0', April J,' 1799, vthe one : wlfo was destined
to be tHe- hero of Lake Erie was com
missioned a midshipman in the United'
States -navy. i ; IleVvisited, the .West > In
\u25a0dles^and, cruised on ; the
'Essex,' Adams and Constellation. \u25a0* Wo
Vwill now look at him; during. the second
war? with- England. •He -had * rendered
good, service in the war. -with Tripoli.
' On) January, 15,. 1807, he l»ad been com
"{mlsaioned-commander," and of this »! he •
was : j ust ly, proud. ; Much ; of tho hardest
lightlngvdurlng the war of 1812-1815
wasdoneon the lakes; - •;. ;
The Americans 1 were at a loss to iin-.
derstand the disappearance of the Brit
ish' squadron from Erie while Perry ,
was 'getting his ships over, the bar
there, late in July. 1813. , ;
I .When Captain Perry's squadron liad
begun to r .cr uise Aon .the lake the rea
son was .learned.^ The British 'com-,
marider,; Captain Robert- Ilerlot; Bar
clay,, a seasoned, oflicer, who had- been
with Nelson at Trafalgar,. was \u25a0 waiting
• for '< the (completion of his. largest ship/
the i Detroit. '
When Captain Perry stood across tho
. lake, to the Canadian Bide and recon
noltered "Maiden he found the Brltlsli
ships. anchored under the ruins of the
fort there, while. the new ship was still
up the Detroit river, where she was
- 11 1111111 111111 1 1 1 1 'i!lß|liip(y MffKilJiitiM^i iittiiyjlw
. On August 10 he was relieved of the
anxiety occasioned by luck of men by
the arrival from Lake Ontario of Cap
, tain Jesse D. Elliott and 100 men, This
reinforcement 'brought his' complement
up" to 532 men for his nine vessels.
; Only a few ftf his men were sailors,
but; P>' ', incessant drilling Perry had .
brougiit; them all: up to a. fair degree
of proficiency in handling the guns.
tOfvhls, ships only two were large
enough to be termed war vessels.
Till-: SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SATURDAY, JANUARY 22; jglO.-rTHK^ JUNIOR CALL
burning- came from the. kitchon, and
Mrs. MacDougnl exgused herself while
she went to discover ; . the cause.
"Mrs. 1 Merdum has lot the. bannock
burn," \u25a0 said \u25a0\u25a0 Mr. MacDougal jovially.
"She's. a good cook,; but sometimes she
forgets about things." .
Just then .Mrs.. MacDougal came back
and'assured'them that it was nil right,
as only one biscuit had boon burned.
Tho next day they started out "to .do
some shopping and Mabel; said that she
supposed they had seen - much", hand-,
somer clothes in the United States and
England than those in the Edinburgli
shops. , ' , .
'•\u25a0; <,';W> did not expect to find silks arid
velvets in great variety," said Mrs. Van
Brunt; ; "blit,:Mabel, gingham from Scot-,
laud Is sent all over the world and sold
at the; highest prices.".
That afternoon they went :to visit
some of the famous -Edinburgh build-;
ings,,- and y the next morning .they left
the cityiand started out to see some, of
the Wild places of: the country.
These were the brigs Lawrence (his
flagship) and Niagara, , to the^ command
of which} Captain:. Elliott was' assigned.
These vessels- were 110 feet long and
were about as . large as the ' larger
Vdown east" coasting schooner of'two
masts. They carried '20 guns, each,
chiefly of short range. The other nine
vessels in Perry's fleet were either con
verted merchantmen or gunboats carry-
Ing but one or, two. guns each.
While the British had but six vessels
to Perry's nine, they had the advantage;
of guns ; of longer range, concentrated
in heavier hulls. Their larger ships,
the new Detroit and the Queen Char
lotte, could deliver an effective fire on
the Americans when beyond their
: fang®. Tills was decidedly proven in
battle. In tho weight of metal thrown
tho two lleets were about equal, but in
tho rango the British had a decided ad
vantage.
Here Captain Perry waited a month
for the British fleet to give him battle,
making, his harbor at Put-In bay, a
group of islands several miles from
shore In ' tho , west end of tho lake.
When Barclay, had finished
equipping his new. ship and 'had every
thing.in readiness in 'his fleet, he stood
out, from" under the guns of the Detroit
river forts and* sought tho 'Americans,'
It was early in the morning of Sep
tember 10, 1813, that the masthead
lookout on tho Lawrence saw the sails
of the Mritluh ships us they stood
southward toward Put-In bay, and hln
shout of "Sail ho H was the signal for
the .American ships to clear for action
and stand out into the lako.
On the above dale Perry was commls
"Over^thero," explained their guide,
whose name was llarry Leyden, "are
some of the highest and wildest moun
tains in Scotland. That big one which
peeps up above the others they call
Mont Rose, because of the brier roses
that grow there so abundantly."
The party climbed higher and. higher
until theyseemed to bo swimming in
air. Neither Bob nor Susie had ever
been so far above the earth's surface,
and they were glad when it was timn
to leave the wild heights, which were
used as game preserves,' and go down
to the more: settled part of the country,
which is kept for farming.
It was next decided 'to make !<\u25a0 visit
to the home of Bobby Burns and to
some others of the Scottish poots and
prose writers. ' \u25a0 A:
"Papa, is Leydon going with us?"
asked Susie, who was very fond of , the
guide. .
; "No," said Mr. Van Brunt, "that won't-%
be necessary, and I am sure he will be
only too glad to get back to his family
siohed captain, v rank given a worthy
American at a proper time.
The morning was overcast and the
wind light. The opposing squadrons
did not near each other until after .
10 o'clock. Meanwhile Perry- -"had
made every preparation for a sanguin
ary encounter. A religious service was
held on the flagship, at which the
young commander of 28 and his equal
ly young subordinates, stood with
bowed heads offering up a prayer to
the God of battles*. In his prayer he
asked God to ;.be with .the young re
public. His prayer- was ; answered, .as
was that of Commodore Maedonough
upon a like -occasion -on Lake Champ
lain. , \u25a0'\u25a0•' \u25a0••.\u25a0'. ' ; , ,'-: v.'.-' :/; :'' . . '.'\u25a0 ./ '
Then the decks were wet down and
sanded to preveni; the men- from slip
ping.; when the"-,planks- should be wet
with blood. The guns were' loaded, the
men were at their .places, and' as the
opposing columns neared each other
in, the light breezes the crews strained
their eyes for the- first puff of .'smoke,,
that should tell of the opening of the
battle.
It came from a British ship before
the Americans were within range. At
last, when the breeze ha-d fallen to a
whisper, the, Detroit drifted within
range of the leading American ship,
the :Lawrence, n.nd opened x>n her a
deadly fire with 17; long guns. To
those the Lawrence could oppose only
one gun of equal range. Sho was, there
fore, helpless, without breeze enough
to maneuver, and the British command
er was ablo to knock her to pieces in
detail.
. This he did In a cannonade that last
ed from 11:45 in the morning untli after
2 o'clock in the afternoon. The scenes
of carnage on the deck of the Law
rence were terrible.
At last but 14 men in the entire ship's
company of more than 150 remained
unhurt, every gun was silenced, the
rigging had been shot away, the spars
were in splinters and the hull was rid
dled, with shot.
Viewing the wreck of his ship and
seeing;" that the Niagara which hod
fallen, far astern was now coming
up with a new, breeze, Perry decided on
the, bold expedient of shifting his flag
to her. ' ; ,
This was the brilliant stroke that
won him fame. ''With matchless courage
he shoved off in a four oared boat from
the side of his battered ship and made
his way' amid a storm of. hot grape,
canister and. musket balls to the side
of the Niagara. The British directed nil.
their available, fire on the little boat.
One shot shattered an oar, another went
through the boat. Perry coolly toofc
off his uniform coat and stuffed it into
the hole to keep the boat ujloat. A lino
In un old song goes:
He i»ulli'»l off Ills coat,
And be plugged up 111* Imml.
Ainl away tie went tailing in Uiv uifl sunAc
Arriving at the Niagara, Perry hoist
in Edinburgh." -
"No, sir," said Leyden, "I haven't any
family, and I like you folks so well
that I'll stay right with you if you'll
lot me, and won't charge you anything
but my expenses.",
So Loyden accompanied tho family on
the rest of their trip, -which was most
Interesting, and then came . homo to
America with them as general 'Utility
man, in which capacity he proved most
helpful.
Names of the 'hidden.-p laces in the
journey '.through Scotland will be an
nounced next week. '
The hidden statos and cities in : last
week's puzzling journey through the
United States were: Ohio, Canton,
Lowell, Concord, Bangor, Richmond,
Nevada, Salem. Erin, New York.
The/hidden cities- in' the .journej
through England. were: Reading, New
castle, York, Manchester, Windsor,
Le'eils, Aldershot, ;Bath, Brighton, Lon
don and Oxford. ' .
. cd his pennant' arid a special flag -lie'
had brougHt from the Lawrence, having
on a blue ground the words of the
heroic commander of the ill fated Ches
apeake, "Don't give up the ship." .
Then lie headed' the Niagara straight
for, the enemy's line, as Nelson '.had
headed for the Spaniards' at Trafalgar.
This move ' had been*'prohounced "su
perb" by students of naval warfare. '
Its results wore to turn the tid« of
tlie battle and bring speedy victory,
for in tacking too close with him the
British ships Detroit and Queen Char
lotte fouled one another. While they
lay crippled Perry' maneuvered to-4ii
point where he could rake them while
.out of their range. The other Ameri
can vessels closed' in, and in ,15 min
utes after; Perry had. made his dash to
the Niagara's side tho British flag was
struck and the, battle won.
Captain Perry then' sat down, ori\the
quarterdeck of the' Niagara and wrote
one of the most- famous, battle reports
since Caesar's. It-was written in pen
cil on the back of an old letter, ami
was directed to General William Henry
Harrison, who was In camp on the
south. side of the lake, with an army
intended for the relief of Detroit. It
ran: "We liave met tho enemy and
they are ours. Two ships, one brig, orto
schooner and one sloop. Yours, with
very great respect and esteem, O. H.
Perry." : . '
This was the first time in history
that a' British squadron, in its entirety
had been surrendered. By effecting its
capture Perry became famous in a day.
Not only was Captain Perry an ardent
church member, but like Commodores
Docatur, Preble, 1 Tucker, Jones, Chaun
cey, Lawrence and Whlpplo he was a
member of a Masonic lodge.
He died of yellow fever at the Port
of Spain, Trinidad, August 23, 1819, and
was buried there. On December 4,
1826, his remains were brought to Now
port, where a suitable monument marks
ills last resting place as evidence of a
grateful nation. He has left to poster
ity a nam»vthat will live as long as
the American navy rides tho sea.
Cpmrades
To complain is not a fault of ago
alone; It is a favorite pastime of youth
also. ,A writer In the Argonaut tells
the following story of an incident in
a western university: The dean of
the institution was told by the stu
dents that the cook wan turning 'out
food not "lit to oat." .
The dean summoned the delinquent,
lectured him on his shortcomings, and
threatened him. with dismissal unless
condition* were bettered.
"Why, sir," exclaimed; the cook, "you
mightn't to place so much importance
on what the young 'men. tell you about
my meals! They coma to mo Jn. just
the same way übout your lectures."