The Pomance of Ship
■ v r. i. =---f
g\ figurehead/
|Tecumseh,"The Cod of 2.5
1
“Capt. Dewey’s Card
RthkHWi- 3 ra I fi n
U.S.S. OlumpiQ
:_-1898 s r
I JJi* SJS. JjS T «»1
"AGiqa.ntic lmaqe of Andrew Jackson"
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
the eastern seulioard, and partic
ularly In New England, there's
rejoicing among some of the old
salts who are survivors of the
days when “ships of wood with
men of Iron" sailed the seven
sens. For yachtsmen are reviv
ing the custom of placing carved
figureheads on the prows of
their boats and once more these
symbolical adornments are nos
ing Into the wind as white-sailed vessels skip
along over the blue waves of the Atlantic.
Time was when the art of carving ships' figure
heads gave employment to many skilled work
men. In Boston alone there were no less than
six firms engaged almost exclusively In supplying
such emblems. That was In the old days of the
great windjammers, when the swift Yankee clip
per ships were the greyhounds of the ocean. In
those days elaborately carved and gaily painted
figures of angels and cherubs, beautiful women
In (lowing robes, generals In uniform, Indians In
feathered war-bonnets and fringed garb, stern
statesmen, kings and queens and gods and god
desses were set beneath the bowsprltssas em
blems of a tradition that had endured since first
men went down to the sea In ships.
But when steam and steel replaced wind and
wood, they took away much of the romance of
the old seafaring days and with it the traditional
figurehead. Today they are (“O temporal O
mores I”) “landlubbers" In that you are more
likely to find them In museums or set up on ped
estals on private estates or In public parks than
you are to find them In their proper place at the
how of a sea going vessel. They are also “col
lectors Items” In that they represent examples
of so-called “American primitives" or "American
folk art," sharing that distinction with such
things as cigar store Indians and cast Iron deer
and dogs for lawn ornaments. (Incidentally,
when those artisans who carved ships' figure
heads were thrown out of work at the end of
the clipper era, they turned their talents to carv
ing wooden Indians for the traditional sign of
the tobacco store and this helped keep their art
alive for many years.) As collectors' items they
frequently have a value attached to them greater
than their makers ever could have dreamed they
would have and as relics soaie of them have
had more romantic histories than ever they had
while they were voyaging on the waters of the
world.
One of the most romantic Is that of the figure
of Andrew Jackson which once adorned the how
of the U. S. S. Constitution, the frigate affec
tionately known to all Americans as "Old Iron
sides,” and it was just a hundred years ago, In
18:14, that this figurehead was the center of a
hitter political row. “Old Ironsides’’ had no less
than Bix different figureheads (luring her long
and honorable career, but the Jackson figure
had by fur the most Interesting history.
Built In 1797, the Constitution bore first a bust
of Hercules, typifying the strength of union and
the (lower of the new nation and carved by the
Skillings brothers of Boston, renowned makers of
ships' figureheads. But when, under the com
mand of Commodore Ulchard Preble, “Old Iron
sides” sailed Into the harbor of Tripoli to at
tempt the conquest of the Barbary pirates, the
figure of Hercules suffered severely from the
effect of hostile shots and it was replaced by a
figure of Neptune, said to have been taken from
the wreck of a vessel In the Mediterranean.
During tlie second administration of Andrew
Jackson, the Constitution was sent to the
Charles Town navy yard near Boston to be re
built and reconditioned. At that time the dis
pute over the United States hank was at Its
height and when the "solid men of Boston" heard
that Jackson had signed the order for removing
Its deposits to state banks, they were furious.
Their anger was increased wlien they learned
that L. S. Beecher, n famous Boston carver, had
been commissioned to make a full-length statue
of Jackson as a figurehead for "Old Ironsides.”
They tried to get Beecher to cease work on the
figure hut he refused unit feeling became so
Intense that Ills half-carved block of wood was
removed to the navy yard where he finished Ills
work under the protection of a guard of marines.
The Whigs raised a terrific uproar over the
matter, saying that no living man save perhaps
James Madison, the father of the United States
Constitution, should be accorded the honor of
having his linage adorn the ship named for that
document and some of the sailors around Boston
declared that Discing an etflgy of a landsman on
The Head Restored
the old frigate was an insult to her. Despite all
the objections, the Jackson figurehead was put
In place. But that didn’t end the matter.
One dark, rainy night a sailor from Cape Cod
named Samuel Dewey (whr.se grandson was des
tined for future fame as the "Hero of Manila
Bay") rowed out to where the Constitution was
riding at anchor between two other ships. Scram
bling up over her bow. be *ei to work to saw
off the head of the offending figurehead. But.
because he was in a hurry and the light was so
poor, he made his cut Just beneath “Old Hick
ory's" nose and not at the neck as he had
planned. But he succeeded In making his escape
with the head and the Whigs were Jubilant while
the Democrats In turn raised a terrible uproar
over the “outrage" that had been perpetrated.
Dewey next went to Washington where, after
exhibiting It to the leading Whigs, he carried it
tied up in a cloth to the Navy department where
he sought an Interview with Mahlon Dickerson,
secretary of the navy. Then, according to a con
temporary account, he was admitted to Dicker
son's office, with the following result:
“Have I the honor of addressing the secretary
of the navy?” asked the chunky sailor.
"You have, and as I a;u very busy, I will
thank you to be brief," answered the secretary.
“Mr. Secretary, I am the man who removed
the figurehead, and 1 have brought it here to
restore It," said Captain Dewey.
“Y’ou are the man who had the audacity to
disfigure ‘Uld Ironsides?’ ” asked the secretary,
in an angry tone.
“Yes, sir; 1 took the responsibility.”
“I’ll have you arrested!” said the secretary,
reaching out for the hell to summon a messen
ger.
"Stop, Mr. Secretary 1” answered the resolute
sailor. "Y'ou, as a lawyer, know that there Is
no statute against defacing a ship of war, and
all you can do Is to sue me for trespass, and
that In the county where the offense was com
mitted. If you desire It, I will go back to Mid
dlesex county, Massachusetts, and stand my
trial."
"Y'ou are right," said the secretary, after a
moment's reflection; “and now tell me how you
took away the head."
Dewey told the story, and Dickerson asked
him to wait until he had stepped over to the
White House and showed the head to the Presi
dent.
When President Jackson heard the story and
saw the head, he burst Into loud laughter.
"Why, that Is the most Infernal Image I ever
saw," said he. “The fellow did right. Give him
a kick and my compliments and tell him to snw
It off ngnin."
When the Whigs came into power later, Dewey
is said to have been rewarded with the appoint
ment of a postmastership in a small Virginia
town nnd to the end of his days he enjoyed the
distinction of having been "the man who cut off
Old Hickory's head.” To add to that distinction
he lmd printed on his visiting cards a picture of
a hand-saw under which were the words: "I
came; I saw; I conquered!”
The subsequent history of the Jackson figure
head Is shrouded with mystery. According to
one account, the head was restored and fastened
on with an unusually large bolt to prevent a
repetition of Dewey's feat. Tills figure, it Is said,
graced the ship for 40 years and had a narrow
escape from another "outrage" at the beginning
of the Civil war. Southern sympathizers planned
to seize It as a sort of mascot for their cause,
but were foiled by Gen. Benjamin F. Butler
who marched the Eighth Massachusetts regiment
to Annapolis and had “Old Ironsides" towed
down Chesapeake bay to the protection of the
guns at Fortress Monroe. After the Civil war,
the figurehead wa9 presented to the United
States Naval academy at Annapolis and Is pre
served there today.
Another story Is that a new figurehead of
U.55. Franklin,
-1815
Fiqure-Head of
■the Caroline
Jackson was made fur the Constitution after
Dewey had decapitated him and that it is this
replica which now stands on the academy
grounds. The head which Dewey carried away,
according to this version, did not turn up, de
j spite the rewards that were offered for it, until
many years later and this original, which sold a
few years ago for $15,000, Is now In the pos
session of a private collector.
The Andrew Jackson figurehead, whether the
original or a replica, is not the only famous one
at the Naval academy in Annapolis. Even richer
in tradition is that of a scowling Indian chief
tain—"Old Tecumseh," the “God of 2.5”—which
stands in front of Bancroft hall. This figurehead
originally graced the bow of a ship-of-the-llne,
the Delaware, built in the navy yard at Norfolk,
Va., in 1817 and was supposed to be a likeness of
Tamanend, the most famous of chiefs of the
Delaware Indians. (He was also known ns Tam
many, and as such became the patron god of the
New York political society.)
At the beginning of the Civil war the Dela
ware was out of commission at the Norfolk navy
yard. When the navy yard was destroyed in
1861 she was scuttled and burned, but after the
close of the war what remained of her hulk was
sold to wreckers, who raised and broke her up
for copper in 1S66-'(V7 and the ligtirehcnd was sent
to the Naval academy, where after occupying
several sites finally In 1909 was placed on a
pedestal facing Bancroft hall.
Gradually the tradition of "Tamanend’s" mys
terious power of imparting knowledge was estab
lished. Also by tills time lie had been renamed
“Tecumseh" by the middles and had become the
"God of 2.5" (tlie passing mark at the academy).
Later his powers were Increased and he was
charged with gaining victories for the navy
teams. As the regiment of midshipmen departs
for the big games each platoon gives a "left
handed salute" to him that the Navy may win
that day. Another ceremony is centered around
“Tecumseh." When the linal examinations are
concluded the graduating class gathers before
him to read its class history and pay final hom
age to his steadfast uid.
In more recent years the ravages of time were
threatening “Old Tecumseh," so a movement,
sponsored by the class of 1891, was put under
way to replace the wooden figure with an exact
replica in bronze. This was done about five years
ago but even though tlie midshipmen now toss
their pennies before a bronze “Old Tecumseh"
as they pass Bancroft hall and Invoke his aid In
the imminent quiz, the original wooden figure
head Is still carefully preserved at Annapolis.
It has distinguished company in one of Ore
clan design which once graced the British ship
Macedonian until that vessel was captured by
Stephen Decatur, while in command of the
U. S. S. United States during the War of 1812,
one of a bust of Benjamin Franklin, which
adorned the U. S. S. Franklin, launched in 1815,
and another, taken from the Spanish Don An
tonia de Ulloa, destroyed hy Dewey at the battle
of Manila Bay. Dewey’s flagship at that battle,
the Olympia, had an Interesting figurehead. It
was a bronze winged goddess of victory, holding
nloft an eagle, nnd It was designed by the fa
mous sculptor, Augustus Saint Oaudens.
Tlie Buffalo (N. Y.) Historical society has a
notable collection of ships’ figureheads, one of
the most famous being a bust only 19 inches
high. It Is a smiling woman, wearing a coronet
and Is supposed to be a portruit bust of Queen
Caroline of England, since It was the figurehead
of the steamer, the Caroline, which was built
in the early part of the Nineteenth century. Dur
ing the Upper Canadian rebellion of 18.87. the
Caroline was said to have been lo the service
of the rebels and one night she was towed from
her moorings In the Niagara river, set on fire
and set adrift. The charred timbers of the ship
tloated over Niagara falls, and were dashed to
pieces on the rocks. But by some strange quirk
of fate the smiling face of Queen Caroline sur
vived the perils of both fire and water and was
found comparatively uninjured In the lower
Niagara river near Lewiston.
O by Wnttrn Ntwip»p»r Union.
Howe About:
Protection for All
Destroyed Illusions
Coal Oil Johnny
<f). Bell Syndicate.—WNU Service.
By ED HOWE
T AM a man of peace, but when
* the provocation is sufficient, be
lieve In a fight; even In shooting.
Robberies of banks have become
so common that In many towns
alarm systems have been Installed
to summon, on occasion, citizens
with arms in their hands. I am
cheered frequently of late by hear
ing of bank robbers being shot
down In the streets.
It is not for the greatest good
of the greatest number ttiat an
armed loafer, with murder in his
heart, should demand money belong
ing to industrious citizens. The
majority of meu do not approve of
such methods, therefore are not
only wlthlu their -tghts in stopping
such outlawry, but are to be highly
commended. An occasional man ly
ing dead in *ie streets, if discov
ered In violence, is as tine an exhibi
tion of morality as assisting the un
fortunate.
I believe congress has violently
assaulted the rights of conservative
citizens who represent the majority.
1 'ur country, our homes, our places
of business, are as clearly entitled
to protection as banks. Measures
sufficiently vigorous to be effective
should be resorted to in protecting
them.
• • •
A writer in a Baltimore paper
says the trouble with Americans
now Is. they are suffering from the
destruction of their old Illusion of
superiority and infallibility. Hav
ing been blown completely out of
our serene confidence that one of
ns could lick thirty-seven French
men, it was Inevitable that we
should begin to doubt that we can
lick any Frenchman at all. We have
been suddenly and frightfully con
vinced that wo are no better than
so many foreigners, whereas, for a
hundred years, we have been as
suring ourselves that foreigners are
low and feelde fellows. What won
der, then, that we have fallen far
into the dumps?
Americans were originally In pos
session of a virgin continent, which
they exploited with unprecedented
speed, and making many mistakes
on the way. The resultant colossal
wealth naturally gave us the Im
pression that our business acumen
was prodigious. Everything con
spired to maintain us in the opin
ion that the American Is In all re
spects the most potent man who
walks the earth.
Then came the crash of matter
and the wreck of worlds in 1929.
Suddenly It was revealed to us that
some of the most aweinspiring fig
ures in the American business world
were In reality appalling chumi*;
that many political demigods really
knew no more about statecraft
than the average barber does about
geometry, and that there is, with
possible exceptions that may he
counted on the fingers of one hand,
not a really competent Interna
tional banker In Wall Street. The
country swarms with smart young
salesmen, hut the wise old heads In
the business world are few In num
ber, and far, Indeed, from being In
control. Naturally, our first reac
tion was a stunned bewilderment
that swiftly passed Into paralyzing
fear, and everybody bawling absurd
ly for help.
• • •
So figure In history has Im
pressed me more than a man called
l.'oal Oil Johnny. He was a fool
fellow living In average American
fashion In Pennsylvania. Oil was
found on a piece of wornout land
he had fallen heir to. Taxes had
not been paid In years, but the final
limit had not been reached, and re
demption was possible.
The oil discovery made Johnny
rich, and he at once moved to Sew
York, where he became the most
reckless s[>ender the world had up
to that time known. Because of
his unexnmpled folly, he became
one of the world’s most fnmous
men.
One morning he awoke to find
himself stripped, forsaken and for
gotten, except that we say now he
was the greatest fool In all history.
I don’t know about that. Have
not many millions been equally fool
ish all over the world In the past
dozen years? The men who loaned
billions abroad In the first years of
the wnr; was even Coal Oil
Johnny equally reckless or foolish?
book at the appropriations of con
gress in the past dozen years ; were
the financial operations of Coal Oil
Johnny worse?
Instead of noble monuments to
Wilson, Harding, Hoover, Borah,
Norris, Brookhart, or the I.a Toi
lette boy, I think there should be
erected monuments of a disheveled,
dissipated, careless man, and la
beled : "A Typical American: Hon.
Coal Oil Johnny, of Pennsylvania.
Remember what a fool he was, and
try to be wiser."
• • •
On a certain day In history the
Russians were fighting against
Frederick the Great. The next day
the Russian armies were ordered
hy their chief Big Man to fight for
Frederick. ... As a subject I have
often rebelled against the orders
given me by rulers, believing they
frequently order big things done
for petty reasons.
Up z/te Ama3orv
Tempting Morsel to Native Appetites.
Prtptred by National Geographic Society,
Washington, L>. C.—WNU Service.
PAltA, Brazil, at the mouth of
the Amazon river, Is the
threshold of the vast Amazon
valley and regious as yet unseen by
explorers.
It is a colorful city. The mar
ket square where throngs of house
wives and servants come to select
the day's menu front gorgeous piles
of fruits and vegetables, the eal
cimined walls, the outdoor murals,
and even the roofs of the city, as
sail the eye of the visitor from the
somber North. Colors may scream,
but never clnsh In Para. A house
of shell pink may abut a neighbor
of orange or of cobult blue, and the
result, under magic skies, Is har
mony.
Founded In 1015, Para looks
every day of her 300-odd years, and
belles her looks. Aside from a few
churches. It is doubtful whether
there are many buildings really old.
Crosses and weeds lift defiant heads
from the crevices of roof tiles and
the cobbles of the streets and
blotches of mold and lichens creep
t inexorably over the walls. But
these bespeak the exuberance of the
Tropics rather than senility. The
mellowing effect, however, Is the
same.
Notwithstanding her age and her
population of more than 236,000,
I’ara Is still beleaguered by the
jungle. She is at once In and of
the Jungle. While she must light
ceaselessly to prevent recapture of
her streets, even her houses, It Is
to the forest that her nonindustrial,
nonagrleultural people owe their ex
I stenee.
Wild rubber for a time made
I'ara's name a household word In
the Industrial world. Rubber has
since fallen upon lean days, but the
people have merely turned to other
gifts of the forest, though less effec
tively. Warehouses that once reeked
..f crudely smoked latex now are
heavy with the sickly sweet, copra
II ke odor of Brazil nuts, or are
piled high with conical bales of
piassaba.
Clean City; Poor Water Supply.
The city Is clean, neatly ordered,
and up-to-date, despite an economic
depression that has endured for
more than 20 years, since 1910,
when the rubber boom burst like an
over distended toy balloon. There
are tramways, motor cars, tele
phones, motion-picture theaters, and
parks that are a delight to the soul.
Yet there must needs be a fly In
the ointment. The water supply
still dribbles Inadequately from
three old tanks set together on an
irou tower half-way up from the
docks. Only he who, soaped from
head to heel, has had the bath
shower suddenly sicken and die can
Justly appreciate the Joyful spurt
from a faucet with 75 pounds pres
sure behind it!
Here the traveler takes a twin
screw triple-decker, blunt-nosed and
square of stern, perfectly designed
in the Netherlands for the comfort
of the Amazon tourist. A crowd
packs her decks, a blast from the
whistle starts an epidemic of bnck
patting, some tears, and a general
rush for the gangplank; and when
the confusion subsides there are left
a mere handful of passengers. Here,
as at home, the bon voyage Is a fet
ish, though with more reason In a
region where all travel Is by wa
ter nnd cities are days Instead of
hours apart—where the Journey
from Bara to Manaos, for example,
requires more time than the passage
of the North Atlantic.
Cool Cabins on the Steamer.
Wherever privacy Is not essential,
solid wood Is replaced by wire
screen In the construction of the
cabins to permit a maximum of
ventilation while assuring protec
tion against mosquitoes. Even dur
ing the day. therefore, the state
rooms are comfortable unless struck
by the sun. However, most of the na
tive passengers use them merely as
dressing rooms and spend much of
the day as well as the night In their
hammocks, which are slung In a
place especially provided on the top
deck.
Tlds custom may account In part
for the fact that a passenger In pa
jamas Is considered fully dressed.
Rut If he appears In shirt sleeves,
no matter how Immaculate, he Is
thought Ill-bred.
The first day you stream north
ward along the eastern shore of
Jngunr Island, round Its point Into
the vast expanse of the Bahia de
Mnrajo, and lose yourself In mo
notony. Upstream and down, only
the Indistinct blending of sky and
water mark the horizon; to right
and left, a level blue line of tree
tops Indicates the position of the dis
tant shores, all details are obliter
ated by a haze of water vapor that
make binoculars useless for study
ing even the nearer Islands.
Little left to look at besides the
brown river Itself, Its surface
whipped by the trades Into short,
choppy waves, you follow the lead
of the native passengers nnd turn
In for a siesta.
Many Stop* for Fuel.
Just before sunset you enter
Breves strait, one of the numerous
deep, narrow, winding channels
through which the tide ebbs and
Hows between the Bara estuary
nnd the Amazon proper, nnd which
dissect the terrain Into a maze of
Jungle Islands. Here you tie up at
a small place to take wood for the
boilers.
.So Insatiable are these Inin maws
that wood stations have become typ
ical Institutions of the low country
nnd account for most of the steam
er's sto[is during the first two days.
For hour after hour, sometimes far
Into the night, men nnd boys with
coppery torsos gleaming with sweat
run across the plank In endless
line to dump ten-stick loads with
resounding thumps on the steel
deck.
Mid-morning of the third day you
pass the little whitewashed town of
Gurupa, ntop the high right blink,
from which steps descend to small
piers. At one side are brown walls
of an ancient fortress, and a mil
dewed church on a green, close
cropped lawn. You are now In the
Amazon proper, though this part Is
only a channel around the south
east side of Gurupa Islam!.
Above Gurupa, the Xlngu dis
charges waters collected on the
plateau of central Matto Grosso, hun
dreds of miles to the south. Some
where near its sources the gallant
British explorer. Col. p. H. Fawcett,
disappeared In 1025.
No mntter how many travel books
he may read, the newcomer to the
Amazon Is never prepared for the
reality. He Is Impressed according
to mood. He may turn hls gaze
ahead to a distant horizon with no
thin hazy line of shore Intervening
between blue and brown, and let hls
Imngtnitlon wander the width of
the continent, to where the river
takes Its source In Andean snows
within sight of the Pacific; or he
may look into Its depths and see
only mud. :
Plenty of Life In the River.
Actually, the river teems with life,
unseen though It may be. Its drain
age claims 748 different kinds of
fish—nearly a third more than Its
closest competitor, the Congo—In
cluding fnmlllar little guppies, elec
tric eels, four-eyed fish, murderous
piranhas, and the gigantic plrarucu,
whose dried flesh In hales befonls
the air of every ship's hold In Ama
zonia. This monster, with maxi
mum length of 15 feet nnd weight
of 410 pounds, Is easily the Inrgest
strictly fresh water fish extnnt; yet
It Is only a flyweight compared with
Its mnmmallan neighbor, the man
ntee, which may exceed a ton. Thus,
nmong all South American animals,
the palm for sheer bulk goes to the
gentle river cow.
After eight (lays the steamer
turns from the Amazon against the
coffee-colored tide of the Bio Negro.
The change from brown to black Is
sudden and startling. No more so.
however, than the arrival, eight
miles farther on, at a modern city
of 42,000 set In the midst of a
jungle.
Manaos lies 4f>0 miles from the
nearest railroad, and that Is but
a moribund line around the rapids
of the upper Mndelra; yet one finds
well-paved streets, electric lights,
tramways, automobiles, and the best
Ice cream ever tasted. There Is even
a magnificent opera house, though
It stands empty, a sad monument
to the heyday of rubber, when for
a moment manioc and pirarucu
yielded to champagne and pate de
foie gras. But the biggest and taM
eat structure of all Is the brewery,
a veritable skyscraper as buildings
go In Amazonia.