History of the U.S. Naval Academy - Chapter 03 (Notes): Schools of Naval Warfare

              .....-, . training'ship.
. iiiaian waters, anfi "^
-i, trie Azores and Madeira,
-.".i cruising around Europe.
T Lieutenant Walter J. Sears, of the San Fran­cisco,
has been requested by the New-York State
Society" of the Son^ of the American Revolution
,;.to devote as much time as he can spare, while
pthe cruiser is in European waters, to finding tUe-grave
of John Paul Jones, the hero of the flgho
between the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis.
It is the intention of the society, if the last rest­ing-
place of the gallant Commodore, can be found,
;to mark it .with a suitable rnnrn1 ">itfft-B ;
ros-lirain and
THE BTOKli OF ADMIBAL VEBSON AND HIS FAMODS
GROS-QBAIN COAT.
From Anxerican Notes aiid Queries. /
The wbrd gros-grain, as applied to heavy
silks, is a well-known word in comnjeroial cir­cles,
but it ia not generally understood that
there is a direct connection between this
wordnand''grog," which is the sailors' name
for a mixture of rum and water. The facts
are as follows: Edward Ye mm, of the old
Staffordshire house of that narao, was put by
his father, who was secretary of state to Will­iam
and Blary, into the British navy, and after
distinguishing himself under Sir George
Kooke and Sir Charles Wager, both in the
West Indiea and the Mediterranean, and rising
to the rank of rear-admiral, lie was suddenly
appointed vice-admiral of the blue while a
member of parliament from Penryn, near
Falmouth. and selected to command the
great expedition which was sent out in 1739 1
to break up the power of Spain in the Carib­bean
and the Guli of Mexico. He attacked
Porto-Belio on the 20th of November in that
year, and after a furious engagement,
which lasted two days, '.took the place with
all its treasiires and munition of war and
two Spanish liue-oi'-bnttle ships. A number
of American colonial troops served under .
him, and- the great victory made him as !
popular in the American colonies a*' in
Europe.
The seat on the Potomac, afterward owned
and occupied by Washington, was nanied Mount
""ernon in honor of him. Ho afterward quar-iled
with, the government and was struck from
.e lists of the navy, as was alleged, for his too
great severity toward his men, though really
because of his too small respect for the lords
jof the admiralty. /In the British navy he was
fcdored as the chief who first ordered^ rum and
prater to be regularly^ served out to the crews
Bf his squadron. /St began this practice on
|>oard of his own shirt, the Bedford, his flagship
at the ( capture of Pjrto-Bello, and as he had
ae<juifled }t$ nicknaaje of "Old Grog" from his
haSit if Walking the! quarter-deck in a ''gro-gram"
cloak, this endearing epithet was be­stowed
by Jack Tar on the new beverage,
rograni" was the English corruption of
fgros-grain." the name given in France to a
eavy stuff of silk and wool with a rough
Inotted surface; the same name that now is
ven to heavy silkT) j-,/, }|
1759-^CouiUlOUOru Joshua Barney, distin­guished
American naval officer, born in
< Baltimore; died 1818. (Commodore Bar-
<< ney left his father's farm and went to sea
^ while a mere lad and at the age of 16
navigated a vessel. He served on the
Hornet and Wasp and commanded vari­ous
ships of war during the Revolution.
He was sayetal times taken prisoner by
the British. At the close of the war he
renounced the service, but entered it
again as a privateer In 1812. He Uter-ward
commanded the Chesapeake flotilla
and was severely wounded at Bladens-burg,
Md., during the Brttjsh attack on
Washington. For gallant conduct dur­ing
that battle the city of Washington
^presented him with a sword.)