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Naval heros tomb gets swabbed |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Sunday, 07 November 2004 |
By Molly Knight
Sun Staff
November 7, 2004
It is a burial place fit for a king -- an ornate marble sarcophagus, decked in bronze, sitting in the center of an underground tomb.
But the crypt of John Paul Jones, located beneath the Naval Academy chapel in Annapolis, has not always been given the royal treatment.
Since 1913, when the Revolutionary War naval hero was laid to rest in the crypt, thousands of tourists have walked its marble floors, dragging in dust.
Curious schoolchildren have run their hands along its smooth marble walls, leaving behind dirt and wads of chewing gum.
Uncontrolled humidity has corroded the bronze dolphins and sea plants decorating the sarcophagus, turning them the color of moss.
Just when it seemed the crypt would continue to suffer at the hands of time, the academy's Class of 1955 stepped in with a generous gift: funds for the first large-scale renovation of the site since its construction.
Begun this month, the two-phase project -- scheduled for completion next fall -- will cost approximately $700,000. The first phase will install a new climate control system and modern lighting. The second will clean the crypt.
"We're here to make sure he [Jones] is comfortable -- not too hot, not too cold -- and has enough light to read at night," Lewis Meadows Jr., a supervisor with the contractor, C&C Construction of Newport News, Va., said with a chuckle.
On a recent afternoon, Meadows and his crew had turned the typically quiet crypt into a busy construction site.
Workers had torn a circular hole in the ceiling to install the new central air and heating systems. During this part of the project, which will last until January, the crypt will be closed to the public.
To create an ideal climate to preserve the marble and bronze sarcophagus, workers will set the temperature in the crypt to 75 degrees Fahrenheit (plus or minus 4 degrees) and the level of humidity at 50 percent.
Although they will keep the blue-colored lights that illuminate the 21-ton coffin -- giving it an undersea look -- workers will install additional lights above and below it.
Meadows said he admits it can get a little eerie working there in the early morning, but he is enjoying the opportunity to improve the burial place of such an esteemed naval warrior.
The second phase of the project -- for which the academy has not yet awarded a contract -- will be a thorough cleaning of the sarcophagus and the many artifacts on display in glass cases lining the crypt.
Those artifacts -- including Jones' sword and a famous bust of the commander by Jean Antoine Houdon -- have been temporarily relocated to the nearby academy museum.
According to Jim Cheevers, curator of the museum for 37 years, the crypt project is long overdue.
"The last time we really went in there and cleaned and polished was in 1974," said Cheevers, who often takes academy visitors on a tour of the tomb. "It's a highly trafficked area, and it's really in need of a good cleaning."
This is particularly true, Cheevers added, given the crypt's status as a national treasure.
"It's one of the fanciest burial places in our country," said Cheevers. "Jones had no choice in the matter ... but we know from his own writings and reputation that he was a little on the vain side, so I doubt he'd complain about where he's buried now."
Often called the Father of the Navy, Jones was born in Scotland, but immigrated to America at age 26. When the American Revolution broke out in 1775, Jones -- already a skilled sailor -- became the captain of the Continental Navy's sloop of war, the Providence, the following year.
He went on to win several fierce sea battles with the British, including his most famous as captain of the Bonhomme Richard.
Before capturing the vessel Serapis, Jones is said to have cried out, "I have not yet begun to fight."
Despite his heroic status, Jones died in relative obscurity in Paris in 1792 and was buried in an anonymous grave in St. Louis Cemetery.
Four years later, the French government sold the cemetery, and a home was built over Jones' burial site.
It was not until 1905 -- after a six-year search -- that Horace Porter, the American ambassador to France, discovered Jones' remains. When Porter opened Jones' casket, he found the body of the commander perfectly preserved and wearing a hat with the letters JP on it. An autopsy confirmed it was Jones.
With the help of President Theodore Roosevelt, Porter arranged for Jones' remains to be taken by ship to the Naval Academy, where he was reinterred in the crypt in 1913.
Since then, Jones' tomb has been a destination not only for tour groups, but also for the academy's midshipmen and their families.
Vice Admiral John T. Parker, a 1955 graduate and Annapolis resident, said he and his classmates had talked for some time about trying to restore the crypt.
"The crypt was deteriorating, and we realized something needed to be done to stop it," Parker said. "We hope to have it very much in the condition it was in when it was first opened and have it look great for another 100 years."
Parker said the class plans to have the crypt in good shape for the academy's 150th anniversary celebration in July.
All in all, Parker said, Jones wound up in a magnificent place after more than a century in an unmarked grave.
"If you think about it, most of us get buried in a churchyard somewhere," Parker said. "But this man was of so much value to our nation that he was afforded a resting place more expensive and impressive than most places in the world."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-ar.crypt07nov07,1,6660829.story?coll=bal-local-arundel |
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Taphophilia?
taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)
ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"
DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries
Quote Repository
“The final reward of the dead - to die no more.” Nietzsche
Shirtless and Sculpted
The Men of Mortuaries 2008 Calendar is now available! All sale proceeds benefit KAMMCARES, a breast cancer foundation.
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