The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, July 22, 1896, Image 6
A WOMAN'S
INFLUENCE.
CHAPTER XVI?Continued.
"I suppose that is a rebuke to me,"
Margaret made answer to'the Doctor.
"You see, I am always ready to improve
everything and everybody but myself."
"Whioh needs improving sadly," interposed
Brian, entering at this moment.
"I have a scolding for you, Margaret.
I thought "
"I know," answered Margaret, rather
contritely. "I am really very sorry.
D$ct6r \Vilson has excused me, and I
have promised to do better for the future.
So no more, please."
. "No more. That is always your cry
when you need a lecture. I see you and
"Wilson are friends already. I thought
you would be. Effects of kindred tastes,
where did you walk this afternoon? To
the end of creation?"
"Oh, no. Only within the bounds of
New York. I was not gone so very long,
really; but I decided to go so late
that "
"Another inopportune decision. I won
der when you are half way to heaven II
you won't turn back and try the other
plaoe, just to differ from the rest of the
world. "Wilson, behold the very incar-1
nation of self-will. Leaving out this
little failing, she deserves Bertie's eulogies,
and I am wonderfully proud of
her."
"Very consoling. I thank you, sir.
For reward I'll give you your dinner. I
dare say you are ready for it."
"Decidedly, Margaret. I had a
wretched lunch and my appetite is now
In prime condition. I wish Wilson would
make a like admission just to keep me in
countenance. I don't expect much from
you. Shall we progress?"
"I have been telling Mrs. Leigh how.
much I admire your charming home,"
remarked "Wilson when they were comfortably
seated about the table. "I
have always had a prejudice against
apartments, but this one has thoroughly
converted me."
"I like them," said Brian, following
Wilson'6 glance around the room.
"" Tkio
AlUOIl mure mau u uvuoc. J. 11.a
one was my choice, though Margaret
gave me the cue. I must let her have
the credit for all these fixings, however.
This room was much more empty when
we first moved in; now it seems real
homelike. It is astonishing what a
woman's hands can do."
"Astonishing," repeated Wilson, musingly.
"Don't make me bewail my lonely
estate more deeply, I beg of you.
Think how these delightful rooms compare
with my dull quarters. No wonder
you don't care to show yourself there.
You are such a stranger that I was wondering
to-day what you do with yourself."
"What?" repeated Margaret in hei
own mind, while she gave Brian a rathei
searching glance.
He pretended not to see it, however.
"Oh, I'm around generally," he answered
rather unsatisfactorily. "I don't
find any difficult^ in occupying my time.
I'll run in upon you some night. Though
wunc iz> u^ic
"You will be taking her about a great
deal, of course. Under those circumstances
don't consider me. i hope you
like sight-seeing, Mrs. Leigh. Otherwise
you must find it extremely tiresome.
Or perhaps you are one of those
fortunate individuals whose endurance
Is always equal to the emergency."
"Endurance," repeated Margaret,
starting from her train of thought. "Do
you know, Doctor, I think endurance is
nothing more than determination or
will. It is with me, at least. If I make
up my mind to bear a thing I always
bear it, and if I don't, I don't. You
seem amused, Brian, but I'm sure you
can say the same thing if you would.
When I was a child I used to pinch my
arm to see how long I could stand the
pain without crying, but a reproving
tap from my old nurse sent me into
spasms of weeping. That was all will,
you see."
"All will," repeated Brian. "I thank
you for telling us, Margaret. I can
imagine how you tried that poor old
nurse. . What are you intending to illus*
trate?"
"Simply that our "wills have everything
to do with our feelings. Dr. Wilson
, wants to know if I find sight-seeing
tiresome. I am afraid I do. But I like
It, and so I quite forget that the hard
pavements tire my feet most dreadfully,
and that when I ride I'm jostled almost
to death. Really, Doctor, you may say
what you please about your wonderful
,city, but I think its streets are an everlasting
disgrace to any civilized town."
"I have nothing to say In their defense,"
admitted the Doctor, with a
laugh. "They are bad. Does your idea
of endurance extend to social duties
also?"
"Yes, certainly. Why should they be
called duties, I wonder? I have a special
distaste for that word. It carries with
it the sense of obligation, and obligation
is always disagreeable."
"Always?" questioned Wilson, rather
quizzically. "I dare say you are right,
though. Duty can be most unpleasant.
We are queerly constituted at best."
"I think we are rather natural," added
Margaret. "It isn't to be expected that
we -women should like to do what wtf
feel we ought. Just put must before a
request and it grows disagreeable immediately
for me. I might go to a ball
and dance all night with a raging headache,
but I wouldn't think of going to
church ia the same oonditioru I'd be
much too ilL I'm giving you a dreadToi
example, am I not? Well, I can only
advise you to do neither as I say nor as I
do."
"I always thought you religious, Margaret.
"
"You have never thought anything of
the kind," returned Margaret, meeting
Brian's mischievous eyes. "Why should
you think so? Simply because I'm a
woman. \v hat a reason, j ueiieve tne
world does think religion was made fox
women rather than men, though it is the
men who really need it. Poor women !
They are obliged to walk stiff and
Btraight in a certain heaten track. They
mustn't do this, they mustn't do that,
and they mustn't do the other, until they
are so encompassed by a wall of musts
or*/I mnatn'fij tKnf T ,1 1
IWJV4 amuoiu x V? UUUCi 11117 11 itVU
uny individuality left."'
"Thank heaven you haven't lost your
individuality yet, Margaret. Wilson, you
were regretting your lonely estate
awhile a^o; after listening t>> such remark*
from the mouth of one woman,
beware of all others and rejoice at your
escape."
"Come, Doctor," said Margaret, bofore
Wilson could r?p!y, "we will go to
th^ parlor, and I promise to be very
quiet and sedate l'or the rest of the evening.
No doubt, you will find Brian's
conversation much more instructive and
entertain jog."
"WTien TVilson had taken his departure
an hour or so later. Margaret turned to
Brian with the remark:
"I am so glad you brought him, Brian.
I like him so much."
"Then I don't believe I'll bring him
again. I'm jealous of him. But, seriously,
Margaret, he is quite a fine fellow.
I wish I were half as fine. You
should have heard the nice things he
said about you. He is very anxious
tli^t you should see more of New York,
and he mentioned several places that I
had forgotten abcut. He says you would
like to see them, and so you shall. I've
left you very much alone lately, but I
intend to be more attentive hereafter."
He knew that Margaret was pleased,
from the happy light that stole into her
eyes.
r believe tnat I shall be glad of the
day I met Doctor'Wilson, "thought Margaret,
as- she crept into bed an hour
later.
CHAPTER XVII.
A LIFTING OF TUE CI-OCDS.
To Brian, the knowledge that Mar
garet had not lost all teeiing ior nim,
and that her faitb in him was strong*
notwithstanding his many falls,
brought new strength and courage.
With the power of strong determination
he seemed to be gaining a victory
over that old habit. Not an entire one,
of course. Margaret could not expect
so much. Sometimes a friend could
lure him away, but this was seldom,
and never since their talk in her room
had he lost the entire command of himself.
Under these circumstances Margaret
felt her heart considerably lightened.
She could look forward more hopefully
to the future, and her letters took on
something of her own cheerful spirit.
Brian could not fail to see the change,
and it was equally apparent to Wilson,
in his few brief visits. He only dropped
in upon rare occasion? how, seldom
stayed long, and always claimed that he
was too busy even to find time to see
his friends.
"I suppose we must accept your excuses,
Doctor," Margaret replied one
evening to his usual plea. "Can't you
teach your patients some idea of the fitness
of things? Why should they all
get sick together? I think a few mighf
wait until the others are well." ,
"So they might, Mrs. Leigh, if they
could see the matter from your point of
view. Unfortunately, however, illness;
like time and tide, waits for no manj
We have had a very trying winter, an<J
pneumonia is very prevalent. That has
added considerably to my labors. I confess
I am thoroughly tired out when
night comes, and only too glad to creep
into bed."
"And sleep in the comfortable sense
that your rest i^ well earned."
"Yes," he laughed, "though that is no
proof against its being broken. The
only time my profession brings a regrel
is when I hear my night bell jinglinfl
and I am called from a delightful
M
"Just as I've always said," observed
Brian, with a side glance at Margaret.
"A doctor's life is ail work and no
play.".
"And you like the play best; don't
you?" she rejoined, quickly. "Still, play
or not, Brian, it is a very noble profession,
and when I was a child I always
declared I should be a doctor's wife."
There was a decided question in the
eyes she fixed upon him.
"Poor Margaret," he replied, joinind
in Wilson's laugh. "What a miserable
concern you managed to get Only the
beginning of one."
"Don't ba so generous with your sympathy,
please. A beginning is better
than nothing. An acorn is only the beginning
of an oak, but we don't desplsd
the acorn because it is not an oakyet"
Wilson, as well as Brian, caught the
delicate emphasis on the. yet, and he
answered with a half smile:
"Brian will become an honored member
of the profession before his days are
ended. I predict that, Mrs. Leigh."
"Ah, I have quite decided it," re-'
turned Margaret promptly. "Brian
knows that as well as I do. I
couldn't have all my childish calcula-!
tions upset I used to think Uncle
Stephen the very personification of all
things good and noble, and I wondered
then if his son were anything like him.
V-.. T VrUn ??
iuu acc x uuu uuu
"And now, Margaret, that you have
met him?"
Brian came behind her chair with
this question. She glanced back at him
and smiled.
"I never form an opinion of a booh
after reading only its first page. I must
go deeper to see if it will realize or disappoint
my expectations. Besides, 1
don't air my views in public. Speaking
of views," she continued more lightly,
"I have some I want to show you, Doctor.
You must promise to think them
very beautiful, or I shall be disappointed.
Brian, will yon get flieia,
please?"
At this request Brian got out a small
folio of wood cuts and pen pictures of
various scenes about Elmwood and th<
surrounding country. They were all
excellent, and Wils. n's appreciation was
was warm enough to satisfy even Margaret's
enthusiasm.
"Do you wonder that I am proud ol
Elmwood?" she asked, after an animated
description of several of its finest
points. "Do you wonder that I should
love it so dearly? My wonder is that
Brian doesn't care for it as I do, for he
was born there. I think he has the
least bit of fondness for a Bohemian existence.
I am sorry for him, because I
do think it a most unsatisfactory sort ofi
life. I agree with George Eliot that
we all should have one home spot that!
shall stand clearly out in memory, ana
to which our minds and hearts may al-i
way6 return, no matter how far we may1
have wandered from it."
Margaret broke off with a sigh "This,"
ahe added, taking up another picture iD
some haste, "Is a side view of The CeJars,
Colonel Barton's home. Brian and 1
were speaking of Bertie when you camd
in. Ho has finished his book and tha
publishers predict a great success for it."
"Yes, I read it in the manuscript some
time ago. I thought it excellent. Bertie
16 fulTof p!uck anfl deserves success.
By the way, I met him to-day. He was
in cheerful spirits. He tells me he has
a charming wife. You know her, of
course, Mrs. Leigh,"
"Almost like a sister, I may say. I
hear from her quite frequently. She
writes very delightful letters. " She i3
constantly expressing the fear that I
shall become so infatuated with New
York and its pleasures that I shall forget
what she calls their rural delights.
I try to convince her that there is no
danger of that."
"No. J fear you are too firm in youi
opinions ever to be converted, no matter
how earnestly we may try."
As he spoke, Wilson left the table anil
drew a chair close beside her, and Brian
busied himself in gathering up th?
scattered pictures.
"I acknowledge that I Ijke your city
the least bit better than I did," admitted
Margaret, "but further than that
I can not go. I lorgot to tell you that
I saw your little cripple to-day. J
should think she was very ill."
"Her life is a matter of but a few
w.-eks at most," was his answer. "J
thank you i'or your interest in her."
"Please don't thank me. I'm wonderfully
self-satisiied, and I may begin
to think 1'v.e done something meritorious.
Brian, do corno from behind my
chair. You make me think of Satan.
Get in front ot mo. please,"
f "Thanko for your compliment You:
j candor is really lefreshicg. I want to
hear about the new unfortunate. I
guessed from your face at dinner that
you had been on some errand of mercy."
"I am 6orry my face can not keep a
secret better. Don't persuade Dr. Wilson
that I am an indefatigable St. Elizabeth,
ever bent on charitable missions,
when I ata merely a young woman who
wants?who doesn't quite know what
she wants."
"Doefn't she? I think she |ucceeds
very well in getting it. If you will
play St Elizabeth, I suppose no words
of mine will have any effect I can
only mildly hope that you will not quite
kill* yourself. But seriously, I do not
like to think of you going arouna in aaj
sorts of neighborhoods and meeting all
kinds of characters. Of course, wherever
"Wilson recommends, is all right.
Don't go entirely on your own judgment,
though. I shudder at the
thought."
|TO BE CONTINUED.J
SABBATH SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
JULY 26.
Lesson Text ,4 God's Promises to
David,'* 2 Samuel vlL, 4-16?
Golden Text: Psalm lxxi.,
1?Commentary.
4. "That night the word of the Lord cam?
unto Nathan." David had a son called
Nathan, in whose line was Mary, the mother
of our Lord (II Sam. v., 14; Luke iiL, 31),
but this Is another Nathap, who was a
prophet in the time of David apd . is first
mpntinnart in rprc? 9. nf thiq n.hftnfpr nnrl nf.
terward over twenty times in this book and
in I Kings. The greatest thin? about him
was that he was a messenger for God. In
verse 3, however, ho seems to have given a
message from himself which was not in accord
with the mind of God. To be always
under the control of the SDfrit of God, and
speak only the words of God. and do only
the things of God, is a life that was seen
only in our Lord Jesus Christ.
5. "Go and tell my servant David, Thus
saith the Lord." Arain in verse 8 the Lord
says, "'My servant David." and in verses 1921,
25-29, David sneaks of himself ten times
as "Thy servant." In Isa. xlii., 1, God says
of His Son, "Behold My servant!" To be a
whole hearted bond-servant of the Lord
Jesus Christ is the highest position in the
line of work for God that He can enjoy. As
to fellowship and real commuuion. we are
His friends, but as to service may we be true
servants.
6. "1 nave not dwelt in any house since
the time that I brouclit up the children of
Israel out of Egypt." As David dwelt in his
house of cedar and had rest from all his ene
nnes be oontrastea his surroundings witn
those of the ark of God dwelling in a tent
and had it in His heart to Duild a house for
the ark. Nathan's word, "Do all that is in
thine heart, for the Lord is with thee," was
very enoouraging. but the Lord is now talking
differently to David. The wisdom of the
best of men is not always the wisdom of God,
and many a work that looks srood is not a
part of God's plan, or if it is the time has not
come foi it.
7. "Spake I word with any of the tribes,
saying. Why build ye not me an house of
cedar?" It"is not for the servant to suggest
to his Lord what should or should not be
done. The servant is to be "willing and
obedient" and "ready to do whatsoever our
Lord the King shall appoint" (Isa. i., 19; II
Sam. xv.. 15). If we thus hold ourselves
ready t? yalk in Hi3 ways, that is all Ho
asks of us. ~ -*
8. "I took thee from following the sheep
to be ruler over my people, over Israel." It
is well to remember whom we were and what
tor TTArn tchpn find pjillftrl na. It in
well to continue little in our own sight and
never think auything of ourselves. When
called to special service for Qod, wo must
bear in mind who oalls us ("I took thee.")
and that He has in view for us .some special
work. In this case it was to be "ruler over
Israel."
9. "And I was with thee and have cut off
all thine enemies and have made thee a
great nacSfe." See how Qod did everything,
and every Instrumentality was simply that
tfhich Qod saw fit to use. Whatever was
done He was the dooer of it (Qen. xxxix.,
22). I rejoice to believe that God has a prepared
life for each of His children, and a
prepared service for every moment of that
life (Eph. ii., 10), and if wo are only willing
and cheerfully subject to Him He will work
it all out to a glorious consummation.
10. "Moreover, I will appaint a plaoe for
my people Israel and will plant them " etc.
The fact that when they are thus planted
they will move no more nor be afflicted any
more is in perfect accord with many similar
statements, such as Jer. xxxi., 38-40; xxxii.,
41; Amos ix.. 15. and still awaits fulfillment.
All events which to us may seem and may
no jar m me iuture art) iu mm, wu? aeea
the end from the beginning, a present reality
and are as sure of fulfillment, however unlikely
it may seam, as if actually accomplished.
11. "Also the Lord telleth thee that?that
He will make thee an house." Tho word
"house" may signify a dwelling, whether
tent, temple or palace: also a place containing
anything, or one's family or posterity.
The following verses show that here it means
posterity and kingdom.
12. "1 will set up thyseed after thee, and I
will establish his kingdom." The Apostle
Peter, filled with the Spirit, said on the day
of Pentecost that God, had sworn with an
oath to David that of the fruit of his loins He
would rais? up Christ to sit on His throne
(A.cts ii., 30), and the next verse in Peter's
sermon says He would be raised from tha??
dead. To Abraham were promised the land
and the prosperity as the stars aad as the
sand, and now to David are promised the
kingdom, the throne and the king.
13. "He shall build an house for my name,
and I will establish the throne of His kingdom
forever." The church which is being
now builded together for a habitation of
God, through the Spirit, upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets (see chap*
m r\ t 4u~
ler ill., oj, jwus vurisi xximseu uuiuy iuu
chiei cornerstone (Epb., ii., 20-22), is never
called a kingdom, but is on elect company
out of all Nations to rule with Him in His
kingdom. The kingdom will have Israel,
all righteous, for its center and Jerusalem,
the throne of the Lord, for its capital (Isa.
Is., 21; Jer. iii., 17).
14. "If He commit iniquity, I will chasten
him with the rod of men," etc. Bishop
Horsley gives this reading: "Wben guilt is
laid upon Him." And Dr. Clarke says, "In
suffering for iniquity." Of Solomon it
might be said, "If he commit iniquity," but
not of Christ, and we have already proved
from Peter's sermon that the seed referred to
is Christ and not Solomon.
15. "But My mercy shall not depart away
from him, as I took it from Saul." Whatever
reference there may be here to Solomon it
can only be as typical of Christ in the matter
of the kingdom. David evidently understood
it of some one in the far future. See
the last clause of verse 19 and note these
various readings. "This is the m;mner of
the man who is God the Lord" (Luther).
"And this is the law of the man," tne Adam
(Kennieott). "Anil this is the arrangement
about the man" (Horslev). Stier's comment
is: "Thou speakest of an eternal kingdom
in which no man can oe king. He must be
God and man because He Is to bo My Son,
and yet He is to be King for ever and over,
which belongs to God alone."
16. "Thythrono shall be established forever."
Gabriel said to Mary that her Son
should sit on the throne of His /atDer David
fT.nko i.. ?2. 321. nntt this agrees with Isa.
is.. C, 7. See in verses 23, 24, of our lesson
chapter the story of "the jverlasting
Nation." Head Jer. xxxi., 35-37, and bo
simple enough to believu that God means
what He iays. The only soi'ition of the
eastern <;uestion is the restoration of Israel
and the return of their Messiah. Bee Isa.
lxii., 0, 7.?Lesson Helper.
Fratricide Runs in the Family.
The Hignights and Bentleys, of Leslio
County, Kentucky have been a bad set. Last
October M. It Bentley, a mem our af the Legislature,
was killed in a duel with pistn's.
but ho "got" his man, "Bige" Hisnitrht, before
he fell. Elishu Hignight was present,
*nd has been on trial at Havden for complicity
in the killing of Bentley. After two
weeks' trial he has been cleared. Bentley.
goveral years ago, killed his brother, aad
"Bige" Hignight was also a fratricide. Moses
Hignight was shot from ambush last week
and killed, while Elihu, who was with him,
escape! uninjured.
BELOW DECKS.
HOW AMMUNITION IS HANDLED
ON A MAN-OF-WAR.
Just What Will Happen Under Her
Water Jjine When She Goes
Into Battle?Is Directed
From Midair.
OF all the ships of the new navy
the Texas, which anchored at
the Brooklyn Navy Yard last
week, iB in some respects the
most interesting. A great steel fort
spans her deckw. At each end of the
citadel is a tnrret, and in each tnrret
a twelve-inch breechloading rifle, a
magnificent monster of destruction,
an engine of war that would be terrible
if we only knew just what it would
accomplish in an emergency aimed
against men and cities and ships inrrrv
T?T"D1
A13U U X XV/ X14U
stead of steel plates and wooden backing.
The Texas isn't as heavy a Bhip
is the New York, for example, but her
redoubt makes her a battle ship, and
the New York remains with ail her
perfection only an armored cruiser
*fter alL If the Texas is only second
jlass among battle ships, by reason of
her tonnage, she iB, nevertheless, th e
pride of her officers and crew, and
would undoubtedly give a good account
of herself in battle.
There is a certain fearful curiosity
to know just what will take place down
in the submarine wells, cells, magazines,
engine room and stoke boles of
this steelcastle of the deep, what vast
Inin fc TTT111
eucigico lUtti/ lia,0 la.ia
suddenly be released when once the
order to prepare for action has been
signaled through the ship. In old
times the commander of a frigate stood
on the bridge with his glass nnder his
arm and gave his orders in full view
of his meD, who cheered and "went at
Nowadays, in the chilled steel oell
tailed the conning tower, far removed
above the smothered din of the decks,
with no ears to hear and no eyes to
see him, he puts his ears to the speak*
ing tube, and fifty, sixty, seventy feet
| below him, here in the iron box oalled
the shell room, there in the seething
pit called the fire room; here in the
i dungeon of the engineers, there in the
I torpedo rooms, far away in the very
bowels of the ships, where the high
| explosives and mines are stowed, flies
the mysteriotiB messages,rousing every
man and every engine to utmost efforts.
I In the long steel gallery, -suspended
between the sweat boxes, called the
fire rooms, of the Texas, is the central
station. Here a midshipman may
connect the conning tower, or the
tiller room, or the redoubts, with any
other part of the ship. There is no
such thing as shouting an order. The
fnrnaoes going, the engines clanking,
the tramp of hundreds of feet waking
sullen echoes from resounding metal,
the chain trolleys bearing their perilous
burdens of shell and powder and
gun cotton, traveling harshly alone;
the mysterious awakening of the complicated
automata hidden away in
every nook, the sliding of the loading
trays from the ammunition hoist to
the breeches of the great guns, whose
muzzles, forty feet away, are even
now threatening to shatter the air
with the hoarse earthquaking, sea
maddening roar of a discharge that
will do murder twelve miles away?
amid all this diabolical saturnalia what
chance would an old fashioned speak
ing trumpet nave?
The central station, in which these
speaking tubes are concentrated, must
be carefully guarded. A steel pipe,
twelve inches thick, carries them under
the protective deck. Once there
they are safe. The side armor, which
distinguishes the battle ship, is, in
the Texas, twelve inches thick, covering
two-thirds of her length amidships.
The walls of the conning tower
are only nine inches thick, but its
diameter is so small, comparatively, as
to make walls of that thickness practically
impenetrable. With the shell
and round shot, grape and rifle balls
impinging, bursting, battering on
these circular wallB, the fighting boss
of the ship, perched there to overlook
| the enemy and direct the progress of
K' | #
^ -
TWELVE* IXCn SHELL BEING SWUNG INTO
HOISTING WELL.
(Showing trolley for conveying shell -join
magazine.)
the action, feels secure in his ability
to reach and rally the toilers under
him, for he knows that every tube that
leads from him to them is guarded by
1 _-K -A - .1 11_
tweive-inca sieex wuiia.
The order to clear for action having
been given, the eight fire rooms, down
next to the %keel, with only a few
inches of steel shutting out the cool,
rushing waters, into which many a
fireman would already like to plunge,
are crowded with half naked men,
forcing to still greater fervor the fires
beneath the four double-ender boilers
of the Texas. There are, perhaps,
fifty of these men, and thanks to their
exertions, the temperature of these
fire rooms is already 130 degrees.
There are eight men in each of the two
engine rooms nearby?sixteen fierce
looking heroes, each working in a
pair of trouserscut off below the knees,
as if his life depended on it. Many
other lives do. There are two machinists
and four or five oilers in attendance
on each of these engines.
"Without her engines the Texas would
foil a n^oTr +/ ? fKa firof nrmrTrinred
cruiser that came along, swift to circle
i about the helpless leviathan, ready
now and then to pour in broadside
i after broadside, any one of which
might disable the 12-inch guns and
pierce the magazines. The engine is
the master maohine, and everybody m
the Texas realizes this. There are
ninety men in the engineer's force,
and all but twenty of them are on duty
at the fires, engines and boilers.
sTtorpedo gun.
Bnt what of those twenty ? What a
iatemi ana all important labor is
theirs! Some of them, by the glow
from the glass cased electrio light
boxes, let down to them from above,
are raising slowly out from the magazine
bind the deadly treasures of high
explosive, shell and cartridge. Here,
the mines are making ready, there the
torpedoes are preparing, and yonder
in the shell room the vast missiles to
be hurled from the throats of the 12inch
guns are being hoisted through
the wells to the loading trays far
above. Were the dynamos to stop and J
these light boxes to become suddenly ,
dark, what a horror of black muck ,
would envelop these toilers and para- ,
lize every energy of .their frames. It
was such a casuality as that which
~j A v.~
caustiu wie uuuibiuu xu tuc uuruur ux
Havana some weeks ago by which a
Spanish cruiser went down, with her
cr?w and captain, ""
Let'sTpok* at t?e steam steering engine.
There are six wheels by which
the Texas can be directed in her course.
There is one in the chart house on the
flying bridge, just over the conning
tower, for steam steering. There's
another in the conning tower, for use
in action; a third on the after gun
deck; a fourth in the steering room,
away down in the after hold. There's
a big hand wheel in the steering room
for use if the steering engine breaks;
a wheel on the steering engine itself,
in the tiller room. Once disarranged
or broken, the steam steering engine
is disconnected and the hand wheels,
any one of them, brought into imme- 1
diate use.
n :
11I
AMMUNITION HOIST?FOR SIX-INCH GUN. 1
Bat take a look into the compressor
room, where the air is compressed by 1
6team for the torpedoes. Like all ]
these vital elements, this room is down i
below the protective deck. The tor- ]
pedo charge is confined at a pressure i
of 1350 pounds to th6 square inch, and '
when desired a pressuie of 2000 i
pounds can be [obtained. The first 1
will send a torpedo four hundred ;
yards at a speed of thirty-two knots {
an boar. Eight hundred yards range i
may be reached, but without accuracy i
of aim. Through the submarine tor- i
pedo room proper into which the i
three prisons open, the submarine 1
mine room is reached. Here also the j
trap doors over the gun cotton and j
torpedo head compartments, each i
reached by a shaft, are to be seen, i
Just forward i6 the fore hold, where <
the wet stores, lumber, spare gear and !
beef are stored. <
Down in the shell room, twenty <
feet below the sea level, eight men 1
would work in time of action. It is I
six feet wide, 6.6 feet high, and some ?
twenty feet long, a steel tunnel, shut
in by the wooden partition of the
i varions ammnnition compartments;
here at least wood may not be dis
placed by steel,owing to the danger of
concussion. A preat square shaft runs
! far up between 6teel walls to the redoubts,
from which the twelve-inch
guns are fired. Down this shaft comes
a cor, on which a 6hell, with its firing
charge of 425 pounds of powder, must
be loaded. The steel itself would be
no mean burden, with its bursting
charge of twenty-five pounds of explosive,
for it is thirty-four inches
long, 11.96 inches in diameter, and
weighs 350 pounds.
A giancc at the thermometer, -with
the lire-rooms on each side of us going
full tilt, shows 122 degreep, but
the ei?ht men at work here don't seem
to mind it. -They can hear a deafening
din around, above, and below them,
yet they can tee nothing but the hoist
and the loading tray and the chain
trolley along which they prupel, by
hand, the cradle that carries the shell
from the magazine to the open door
of the hoist. There is nothing for
them to do but work; if the ship were
sinking they wouldn't know it?without
that warning whisper through the
tube.
The ammunition hoist room proper
or handling room, on the after plat.*
/ /
Kfc* . /
... ,x .
form deck, ia immediately over th?
matinee, for which it ia a coyer. It
is cut off from the berth deck above
by the battle platea, weighing about
1000 pounds each, and handled !by
steam gear, l'he water line is ten feet
above. Every hatchway on thia protective
deck, which covers the ship's
vitals as a cuirass covered a warrior of
old, is supplied with these 6teel plates,
water tight, which isolate every room
and compartment below from the gun
deck and crew space above. It ia the
machinery, not the men, that must be
first considered. From abreast the
fipper end of the vertical armor, which
does not cover the ends of the Bhip,
this protective deck begins to drop
down over the precious storehouse of
mechanism amidships. Where it was
only two inches thick, horizontally, it
is now three inches thick, inclining
at an angle of seven to ten degrees.
All the work of the battle ship is
down in her midst. The forward end
of the ship is used for stowing only.
But this concentration Amidships is
curiously contrasted with the still
more crucial rule in a battle ship that
she can conquer only by division. Divided
by innumerable water tight
walls apd bulkheads fhe stands; united
in one whole she would fall.- New
York Herald.
Lived Like a Pauper, Died Kiel).
Miss Elizabeth B. Cook, of Bridgeport,
a little hamlet in Fayette County,
Penn., always lived as though she
were a pauper. Kecently she died
without medical attention or friends
present, and the exact circumstances
of the death are not known. She was
found lying upon the floor some time
ftff.AT hpr rlflftt.h Dr. H. .T. Enclifih
was made administrator, and he got a
firm of attorneys to look aroand and
see what her few effects amounted to.
The inventory of the estate shows that
she was the owner of over $22,000 of
bank stock. She also had over 828,000
in cash on deposit, and was the holder
of ten shares of stock in the Pittsburg,
Virginia and Charleston Railroad Company.
Nearly $2500 in gold coin and
8100 in silver coin and bank "notes
were found sealed up tight in an&ld
fruit can in her home after her death.
The property will go to nephews,
neices, and grandnephews and grandnieces.?Philadelphia
Times.
A Frog a Foot and a Half Tall. j
The king of frogs was catight re-|
cently at Kahway, N. J. He weighed
ten and three-quarters pounds. His;
right leg weighed 2? pounds, and his|
left leg*2} pounds. He was eighteen;
inches long and twelve inches wide.
COMPARATIVE SIZE OP THE BIG FROG AXEj
A SILVEB DOLLAB.
The width of his month was eight in*!
shes, the length of his leg 13} inches.!
The biggest frogs on earth are fonndj
in this conntry. Nowhere else are
Frncra un larrrA o. fpfttnrfi of SWftmn and
ve>" ? g.
marsh life. A year ago twelve enor>
mous American frogs were sent alive
toEnrope, where they excited mnch
wonder, bnt none of them was as large
as the Rahway frog here described.
A Belie of Washington.
There is a movement on the part of
juite a large nnmber of the residents
of Princeton, N. J., to rescue from
oblivion the ancient structure in
which George Washington resided
inring the summer and fall of 1783,"'
when Congress was in session at
Princeton. It was in the old Berriem
maneion at Rocky Hill that Washington
lived and from which he wrote!
bis farewell address to the army. Ani
organization has been formed by the
leading people of Princeton and other
towns in the State known as thej
Washington Headquarters' Associa-l
tion. At a recent meeting a Board of/
P?nnlAAo tttoo fnAm fl>C>
XiUDVV/eo W 4*0 UWVIWU VMW , I
aent Revolutionary families of thej
3tate. Measures were taken looking i
to the purchase of the old mansion 1
md two acres of land adjoining, and
it is proposed to restore the building
ind make of it a museum of Washington
relics. At present the building is
in a dilapidated condition and is subject
to further destruction by the
blasting that is continually going on
in the quarries of the Rock Hill Stone
Quarry Company, located adjacent.
It was resolved to offer the company
51500 for the building and two acres
Df ground, and to refuse to accept the
building on any other conditions than
that it remain on its present historic
lite.?Atlanta Constitution.
A Heavy Injunction.
Mr. Lenrner (going very fast and
Tinnhlp tn stnn r?r tnrn^ ? "Fnr lifflrpn'p
sake, parson, take that rock out of the
way, quick!"?New York Truth.
The area of the coai fields of the
United States is almost 200,000 squaremiles.
.
CURIOUS CANINES.
An Odd Breed of Three-Legged Dogs
Owned by a Cincinnati Maq.
An odd breed of dogs is to be found
in the kennels of C. W. Linn, at Cincinnati,
Ohio. There are six of them.
Five have only two legs each. The ?
sixth has a growth about six inches
thbee-leoqed dogs.
long from the left shoulder, which waa
evidently designed for a leg, but which
ends abruptly where the foot should
begin.
The father and mother of the family
are about five years of age and were
born of perfeot parents. Their deformity
has not been accounted for
any more than have those deformities
that go to make up the many monstrosities
of the animal kingdom.
There have been bred seventeen
puppies, four of which have had three
legs, but the third was in no case perfect,
though one had a foot of five
toes, shaped very much like an ele
phant's. Only one of tbese nos lived.
Of the last delivery of four the two
with three legs died soon after birth.
The two-legged dogs have a peculiar
excrecence where the forelegs should
start from the body, but there is only
a bit of cartilage to be felt under the
skin.
This led to a report several years
ago that the dogs had been skillfully
mutilated. But thAe is abundant
testimony that they were born so,
while some of the pnppies that died
were dissected in the presence of a
committee of eminent surgeons and
physicians.
The two survivors of the last litter
are also evidence in themselves that
they were born with their present deformity.
i
The dogs are intelligent and have
been trained to many little tricks.
They move ereot on their hind legs,
but when desiring to move a few
inches thev push their bodies along
wjtn tneir nind legs witn uttie jumps.
The breed of the dogs is a cross between
a shephard and a water spaniel.:
Mr. Linn is a bachelor, a brakeman
on the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Day- .
ton Kailroad. He has independent
means and has bred the dogs as a
scientific and philosophical pastime. {
He treats his pets with fatherly consideration,
and in some' particulars
they are like spoiled children.
Mr. Linn exhibits the dogs only to
those whom he believes take a scientific
interest in them. -New York
World. 'At ? " I
Af'
To Amuse Their Victims.
English dentists might do worse
than adopt the action of their colleagues
in Vienna. These practitioners
have formed a society whose members
are to be instructed in the art of
pleasing conversation with which to
beguile their viotims during operations.
Anecdotes and jokes will make
a running accompaniment to toothstopping,
one suggesting another in
the most natural manner. Extractions
without gas will be the occasion for
bad puns, for the pain cansed by the
paronomasia will obliterate that
caused by the forceps. This scheme
should commend itself particularly to
Scotch patients, who will thus have
the joke and the surgical operation at
the same time.?London World.
"
Sawing a Church Asunder.
In order to enlarge St. Agnes's Boman
Catholic Church, which stands on
Masonic avenue, between Page and,
Oak streets, it has been literally bi
THE CHUBCH THAT WAS SAWN ASTTNDEB.
3ected. The western portion has been
' moved twenty-five feet further west
and the intervening space is now being
pieced out. The insertion will
double the seating capacity of the
church.?San Francisco Examiner.
He Knew the Princess. b
A London paper says that sometime fl|
ago the Princess Maud went shopping H
strictly incog. While she was walk- H
ing along tne street, she was accosted H
by a little street arab who was the H
happy possessor of a pair of large pa- H
thetic brown eyes and a tangled crop H
of curly brown hair. He was busily H
engaged in the absorbing task of earn- H
ing his living (and, perhaps, someone H
else's as well) by retailing "fresh H
spring dowers, penny and tuppence a H
bunch." The Princess stopped by
aim, and while choosing some flowers
she was a little startled by the lad say- |H
ing in an excited and familiar whisper:
"It's all right, miss, I knows yer; but B
I'll keep it dark and won't split on
yer." Tke Princess smilingly shook H
he/ head in denial. "Yes, I do
knows yer (more emphatically); "yer SB
Priucess Mawd; I twigged yer di*
recvly."
A Town Under One lloof.
There exists in Wieden (borough of HI
Vienna) an immense house called BS1
"Freihaus." This colossal building
has thirteen courtyards, thirty-one
staircases anil 2112 ^habitants. It
has its own postman, and the letters BB
if they would reach their destination,
must bear the Christian name, snrname
and also nickname of the addressee,
the number of his room, stair- HH
case and courtyard.
The city of Poughkeepsie, N. Y.,
has been presented with the sum of
850,000 by the children of the late^^^H
John P. Adriance for the purpose of^^H
__