The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, October 21, 1896, Image 2
\lecle
CHAPTER 1
ALL AT SEA.
"A sail on the larboard bow!" shouted
the lookout, clinging to the fore-topgallant
stays of the armed cruiser Sea
Hawk.
"Can you make her out?" called up
Captain Ralph Denham, a tall, wellfcuilt,
handsome young man, in the undress
naval uniform peculiar to Colonial
officers in the service of England.
This was in the year lt>%, when the
*.<?<. ViotTiPiion fho ninthpplnnr! Jtnr! th?
WV V ?? W? VUV |
American Colonies were strong; out- i
Bide foes forcing them to unite for mu- :
tual protection, and causing them to j
overlook the differences that were yet
to rend them asunder.
In reply to the Captain's question, I
"Can you make her out?" the lookout
took a longer and more careful view of
the strange craft that had attracted his
'attention; then he called out:
"She lies low down, sir. Seems to
have rakish masts, and is heading to*
wards Montauk."
fc As the reader knows, Montauk is the
extreme southeastern peninsula of Long
Island whprfl the rliffs riso boldlv ud
from the s?a, and -where, even at this i
early date, fires were kept burning at
night for the guidance of ehiDS sailing
into the Sound, or seeking from Atlantic
storms the protection of the Great
Bay to the north.
Captain Denham turned to the
smooth-faced young man standing near;
and in a voice in which authority and
courtesy were blended said:
"Lieutenant Dayton, take a glass, go ]
aloft, and see if you can make out the
etranger."
"Aye. aye, sir!" replied the handsome (
youth, and, taking a telescope from the
stand at the head of the companionway,
he sprang into the mizzen-mast
shrouds and went up easily and swiftly
till he stood on the topgallant-yard,
with one arm thrown lightly around the
stay.
There was a soft, warm breeze blowing
from the south. It scarcely ruffled
the surface of the sea, but it filled the
tipper sails on the tapering masts, causing
the stately vensel to glide with a
Wonderfully graceful motion, as if propelled
by some invisible power.
"Well, Dayton/ called up the Captain,
who was now standing impatiently
by the man at the wheel; "what is she?"
t "A war ship, sir," replied the young
officer.
"Her flag?"
r "She fli< s none. Every stitch of canvas
is spread, and she comes from the .
Bouth."
"i-i
Ana lb LUUKiug jur -uuuuiui\:
^ "Yes, sir."
"That is very stranje," muttered the
Captain.
He took a turn on the quarter-deck,
then picking up a telescope he looked iD
the direction of the 6tranger. now visible
to the unaided eye as a white epech
on the far-off horizon, where the blue
eky and the blue ocean met.
After an eager survey of some min- i
Tites the Captain called out to Lieutenant.
Dayton again:
"Did you ever see the Adventure Gal- i
ley?"
"Yes, sir," was the response. i
t "Where?"
"Last year, in New York." The Lieutenant
looked again at the strangei '
and added, with some excitement: "And
that is the Adventure Galley or hei
ghost."
"All right, Mr. Dayton," said the 1
Captain. "Come down."
The young officer descended with o ,
speed that to a landsman would have
seemed downright recklessness.
But there were no landsmen on the
Sea Hawk.
Her crew, one hundred and thirty in .
number, were all in the prime of life.
Stalwart, bearded and bronzed, yet as
neat in their attire as if ready for in- ^
epection.
The uniformity of their drecs would '
have told the stranger that they were ,
not mere sailors. But even the unpracticed
eye could see this was not a
merchant ship.
Every pin was polished; every brass
article shone like a mirror; every rone
was taut and in place. The decks were ]
as clean and white as a good housewife's
kitchen floor, and such parts a? \
were painted looked as if they had just !
been under the brush.
About the masts, in well-oiled racks. 1
were boarding pikes ranged ready tc 1
hand, arid beneath them, with grappling
hooks attached, were neatlj
coiled ropes.
On either side there were ten port '
holes, through which?now that the ''
ports were open?twenty great guns 1
iogkod ^ut.
]/ But theSe formidable weapons were j
dwarfed by a long brass swivel guD 1
amidships, which must have been the
particular pet of the sailors, for its exposed
surface shone like a mass of gold.
Briefly, the Sea Hawk was a cruiser,
fitted out under the directions of Colonel
Richard Livingstone?then in command
of the New York Colonial militia
?and intended to destroy the pirates,
who at that time were plundering the
neighboring seas, and even making
marauding expeditions into the peaceful
bays and harbors on the coast.
Two years prior to the date of our
Btory, Colon'-l Livingstone had commiseiiined
Captain "William Kidd to protect
.the comrnervo of the Colonies from
piracy, out as that gentleman sailed
away and was never sten again, the
general belief was that Captain William
Kidd had gone to the bottom in some j
Btorm, or, still more sad, may have
have fallen a victim to the pirates he
was sent out to suppress.
1 One thing was certain, the depredations
on the 6eas still continued, and,
as a consequence, the Sea Hawk was
fitted out and placed under the com
miiuu m>: giuimii yuuug suiiur, captain
Kali h Deuham, of Sag Harbor,
Long Island.
At that time New York was comparatively
of much le-s commercial importance
than a* nrncont. otuI 1J>? hava of
eastern lvong Island were more ire<iuently
visited by ships than the beautiful
harbor into which the Hudson
empties.
The Sea Hawk wns now on her return
from a cruise to the West Indies; and as
the officers and most of the crew were
4 ?.Unf cfill /.ollml ** T)?t* llimn.
11 I'm \> uttw aic oitii JUC liuiuj'tons,"
on Long Island, they hailed with
delight, the lirst glimpse of th<> bold
blue headland of Montauk, that told
them they were nfar tho loved ones
and the delightful land of tJaeir birth.
Under Captain Denham's direetiCns,
tho Color, al flag of New York was run
up to iho foremast head, and from liio
jnizzen gatY the royal ensign of England
iiuttered in the fcreeze. - . _
... j :4 *' i,: . . . .
f.* > ^5V
By this time the strange ship?heading
evidently for the same hnrbor?
came so close that her blar-k, well-moddeled
hull could be distinctly seen
above the water line.
The open ports showed fifteen guns
on a side, and by the aid of glasses her
decks could be seen to swarm with
armed men.
"That ship is a stranger in theso
parts," said Captain Denham, addressing
Mr. Hedges, the first officer.
Mr. Hedges was a middle-aged, slowspoken
man, with a bright blue eye and
a sturdy figure, such as we always associate
with the model sailor.
"She looks to be a stranger," 6aid the
first officer, with the judicial deliberation
that distinguished all his sayings,
"and if she were a foe, I must confess
that she'd be about as ugly a customer
to tackle as ever came into these
waters."
"Strange that she does not show her'
colors," said Valentine Dayton, the second
officer; "if she's a friend she needn't
be ashamed of them."
"And she isn't ashamed of them, my
boy, any more than we are. See; there
goes the Union Jack to the peak. Ah.
I feel easier to know she is a friend,"
said Mr. Hedges.
"If she were a foe she would hoist a
black flag," responded Capt. Denham,
with a light laugh, "and she would prefer
to flaunt it in the face of a fat merchantman
rather than in the beak of the
Sea Hawk."
, The men not on duty eagerly watch< d
the stately stranger, and they saw in
her what delights the sailor's heart more
than the most exquisite form can the
eye of an artist.
To make amends for his tardiness in
showing his colors, the stranger, byway
of salute, dipped his flag three times,
nnd the Sea Hawk speedily responded
to the courtesy.
It is customary for ships at sea to
learn each other's names, the ports
^ at* on/? fKnli*
uUili wint'il iugj cancu unu uivu ucounations,
by means of Hags used as signals,
but as the headland of Montauk
loomed out of the sea, and both 6hips
were making for its eastern extremity,
with 1 he chances of their soon anchoring
side by side, this formality was dispensed
with.
The sun was setting as both ships,
now not a half a mile apart, headed
down the bay.
The wind was barely sufficient to
force them through the mirror-like water
at a four knot speed.
The scenes on either hand were Inexpressibly
beautiful and animated.
The islands, rising in dark emerald
masses from the lighter green of the
bound; the snores, wooaea aown to xne
water's edge; and the forest-crowned
hills mirrored in the placid expanse
were of indescribable loveliness.
Over the forests the blue lines of
smoke marked the peaceful settlements.
Here and.there a white house could
be seen near the shore, with a rosy orchard
in the background, for the seasou
was spring, the last week of May, when
Nature in our zone is in her loveliest attire.
Nor did the two stately ships, with
their clouds of snowy sail, alone add
animation to the bay.
On the south shore the long, red canoes
of the Montauks, then a powerful
tribe of Indians, could be seen darting
back and forth under the impulse of
long paddles, while to the north, in
short punts, tho Shinicook braves could
be seen trolling for the bluefish that
had just come into these waters.
.Nor were tne smaller craus 01 me
white settlers wanting.
Like butterflies, graceful yachts
skimmed over the waters of the bay, and
as they neared the ships the crews
waved their hats and exchanged cheery
salutations of welcome and thanks.
At length Shelter Island was passed,
and the Sea Hawk and the stranger,
which had no name visible on stern or
bow, cast anchor a few hu dred yards
apart.
CHAPTER IL
ON 6H0RE.
Away from Lone Island the charming
town of Sag Harbor is but little known
to-day; yet at the time of which we
write it aspired to rival New York, and
it had the advantage of an earlier settlement.
Its schools and cnurcnes naa a locai
celebrity, and its sailors were accounted
the most skilful and daring on all the
:oast.
The residence of the leading man?
though in a community where all were
ambitious and of a descent equally good,
2ach thought himself a leading man?
ivas just outside the village.
Squire Cundit's homo was certainly
nore pretentious than any other building
within miles and miles. -?_
It was a cluster of low buildings all
joined by covered passage ways. Tho
irst log hut built on the site with an
juter block-house pierced for muskots
svas now used as a kitchen. The next
building was a one-story frame, with a
roof and quaint gables, and to this
structure additions were made to suit
the wants and tastes of the proprietors.
Squire Condit was a rich man. He
paid light taxes on hundreds or productive
acres; he owned four whaling ships,
and was interested in half the vessels
sailing on the Sound. He was a justice
af the peace, a deacon in the church,
and altogether a prosperous and most
important personage.
Squire Condit's family consisted of a
wife then aged forty-five, and fifteen
years his junior, and a daughter, Ellen,
aged nineteen, a beautiful, well-educated
girl, who was the toast of every
gallant in the colony to whom wealth
1,1 ^^4. on IncnfforiihlA
ill a uriuu ^uuiu nuu mv **** *uwu..v.??v
objectica.
l'erhaps Captain Ralph Denham might
be considered a member of Squire
Condit's familv, for though not related
by blood he was a son by adoption.
There had been a great deal of mysterv
about this samo llalph Denham;
we say "there had been" for now that
Ralph was a man of twenty-six and well
known and beloved, the lact that he appeared
as a child in charge of a foreignlooking
stranger who abnndoned him
was forgotten, or if alluded to by somo
old dame it was only to show that genealogy
was not always essential to success.
The old squire loved the boy as
though he had been his own son, and ho
educated him to tho best of his by no
means limited ability?though there
were gossips who hinted that Ralph's
guardian got money for his support from
people beyond the sea.
Between Squire Condit's residence
and the village was the fine oi l home of
l'octor Hedges, the brother of the first
officer of the Sea Hawk, and the uncle
of Valentine Dayton, the second officer
of the same ship.
It was often mentioned as pomething
rf>mn Hfiihio thsit. Doctor HodcreS and
Squire Condit, two of tho richest men
on tho island, and certainly among its
foremost citizens, should each have only
one daughter and no son.
Lea Hedges was a great beauty, and
some of tho old maiden ladies who professed
to be very often shocked at tho
girl's dashing ways, thought it was the
greatest of pities that Leu Hedges w;n
not a buy.
Bhe could handle a boat or manage a
horse as well as any man on the island. |
8he wa? thoroughly fearless Ui hef t-'PEAz
Ing and her going. Ard though ehe
often set the idle tongues of the gossips
to wagging at what they considered hei
mid freaks, she was beloved for her
nobility of heart as much as she was
admired for the rare beauty of her person.
It might be added that Lea Hedgesthanks
to the teaching of her father,
who was thought to be a prodigy oi
learning, was thought to be a young
lad}' of phenomenal acquirements, but
at tnaL Lime euucuiiuu uui ^vudiuered
essential to the gentler sex, there
being a very general impression that
"schooling" t nded to give women airs
unfitting the subordinate place Heaven
intended them to occupy.
The moment the Sea Hawk was
sighted, the men in and about Sag Harbor
forsook their work; the women sped
out of their houses, and the children
stopped their games and ran down to
the white shore.
"While the anchors were being dropped,
the old sexton rang the bell on the
white steeple, and over every building
~c :^ n cViato
K)i iiLijJui Ltmuy a xjaj^ was iaiocu ku ouvtt
the joy of the villagers.
A flag of purest silk was run up from
a staff in front of Squire Coudit's mansion,
the old gentleman performing the
work with his own hands.
"It's the flag Ralph gave me before
he sailed," said the Squire, addressing
his wife and daughter, "and I am sure
the dear boy will recognize it."
[to be continued.]
(>'ame Bird Shooting.
Field training is quite as essential
for the master in learning to bring
down the game as for the dog in prop
erly rinding it. ao Kina ox targes
shooting will take the place of practice
on actual game. A man may shoot a
shotgun capitally over a trap, and yet
fail miserably in tbe field; and, contrariwise,
I have known good field
shots who, when placed before a trap,
misBed glass balls or clay pigeons with
the most consistent regularity. ui
course trap Bhooting can accomplish
something in the way of teaching the
tyro to handle a gun properly, but,
considered as mere practice, it is a very
poor substitute for field shooting; and
considered as eport, it has no rank
whatever.
If one wishes to "keep his hand in"
during the close season, the most efficacious
plan is to shoot at a target
with a rifle. This, indeed, is excellent
practice at all times as an aid to wing
shooting, though seemingly the two
are so very different. The value lies
in this, that rifle shooting teaches one
the necessity of accurate aiming, whiah
the bird shooter is apt carelessly to
overlook, and corrects tbe tendency to
jerk the trigger prematurely, which
persons of a nervous temperament are
prone to acquire, particularly in woodland
shooting. Many a man, under
the stress of the oxoitoment incident
to the flushing of game, acquires the
bad habit of habitual and almost involuntary
snap shooting, regularly
pulling the trigger as soon as the gun
is at shoulder, though he may be fully
&ware an instant later that the aim
was nowhere near the bird. Rifle
practice, better than anything else,
will tend to correct this, teaching the
almost automatic mental mechanism
that governs one at the moment of
map shooting, to demand at least an
approximately aocurate aim before releasing
the trigger. Of course no successful
handler of the shotgun expects
his aim with this weapon to be absolutely
rifle-like, but the more nearly
one approximates that standard the
fuller will be his game bag, on an
average, at the close of the day.~
Harper's Weekly.
Vegetable Freaks.
We who live in the temperate zone
are accustomed to Nature on her best
behavior. We see her orderly ways
in the woods, where pines and oaks,
poplars and maples, alders and willows,
and other forest trees have
roots that grow down into the ground
and limbs that grow properly up and
out into the air.
But elsewhere Nature has other
moods and methods. In a tropical
forest there is none of this air of dignity
and good principle. The odd
pranks, the wild absurdities, the vegetable
freaks, which she is there guilty
of, make a difference that is astonishing.
Trees apparently grow upside down,
and assume all sorts of eccentric
shapes. Great dragging vines sprawl
over everything, twisting and distorting
the poor tired trees until they are
crippled for life with what looks like
rheumatism. The heavy rains and the
hot sun make the plants grow rapidly,
and there are fierce fights to see which
shall win a little space in all that tangle.
Such pushing, such climbing!
Then there is the orchid, clinging
fringe like everywhere?frail and lovely,
swinging back and forth in the
soft air; but it has no conscience. It
will not do a stroke of honest work,
and is determined to live on some one
else, in which it certainly succeeds.
And there too is the wild pineapple
(called in the West Indies the "pine"),
which takes root in the rich mold lying
on the upper sides of the largest
branches of the migntiest ana oiaeec
of the trees. Where its diverging
leaves start a cup is formed, which
catches the rain and stores it up for
the dry season. In this water little
tree frogs and small crabs live, and it
is told that years ago one of the expeditions
sent against the fierce miirooners
in the mountains of Jamaica would
have perished from thirst had it not
been for the little "pines" and their
tiny reservoirs.?St. Nicholas.
The Indian Tried i'epper S'nuce.
My 9ister and I taught school one
winter in adjoining districts in Brown
County, Kansas, closo to the reservation
of the Kickapoo Indians.
One member of the tribe, old Joe,
- -U - f.-il I n TV TO II tf
j U fjUliUCM, UHIU4VW ?V1IW..|
a frequent visitor at the farmhouses in
the neighborhood, where he used
every means at his command, except
work, to secure the gratification of
his fondness for civilized cookery.
He was taken in to dinner one da,y
by a kind-hearted farmer at the hotel
of the little country town. Joe noticed
there, among other things, that
the men all made tree with the pepper'
bottle. At the first opportunity he
helped himself to a liberal portion
and took a spoonful of the mixture.
Instantly clapping his hand over his
burning mouth he sat for u little time
with tears running down his face. As
soon as he could catch his breath he
exclaimed: "Heap good!"?Wash'
ington Star.
I Standard Oil Company to Control Ire.
Tt is rpoorted that tlie Standard Oil Com
Ipany wilf enter the ice business next season
with a view of gaining complete control of
tliut industry.
i
^ NEW WONDERS.
MARVELS DESIGNED FOR THE
PARIS EXPOSITION OF 1900.
Huge Surveying Tower?A- Great
> Globe?An Enormous Hole in
the Ground?Largest Tele
scope In the World.
; "1^ "T OVELTY is the note of the
i \ times and Paris strikes the
1_\ note. It would be hard in'(?
' deed to provide posterity
\ with a better illustration from which
j to gauge the taste of the world's pub1
lio during the declining days of our
oentury than the scientific and engineering
eocentrioities that will mark
this exposition. We of to-day are
i lovers of wonders. We will find
enoagh in Paris four years hence to
tickle us to the end of our days.
Wonder number one will provide
I i
jjj, i! ii 11'IIs' <-?i
I
EXCITING RIDE IN MTD-AIR.
an aerial journey more than 900 feet
above the earth! The Bcheme ie to
awing a midair suspension railway
from the top of the Eiffel Tower to
the summit of the distant Trocadero,
from which will be hang by rollers
chairs making the journey back and
forth.
Think of it! The Eiffel Tower is
985 feet high. It will give you some
notiou of what that means to recall
the copper cap on the top of our
Washington Monument is only 555
feet from the ground.
Imagine 6uch a trip! Some folks
found the journey round the Ferris
I wneei at our world's rair a nervous
ordeal. Compared with this aerial
cable line, the Ferris Wheel ia positively
ridiculous as a harr 6tarter.
If shooting through the clouds ip a
cane bottomed chair i3 not sensational
enough to stir the blood of our modern
novelty lover, let him enter the surveying
tower, which will be built close
by. There is nothing particularly
startling about the suggestion of a
surveying tower, vou say. Just wait
till you hear all.
You will enter a leaning cylindrical
tower about fifty feet high and made
of tempered steel. It locks like nothing
more imposing than a metallic
Tower of Pisa. You will find a circular
seat inside, capable of holding
about twenty persons. You will sit
down and probably grasp the railing
pretty tight, meantime holding your
I breath.
When the seats are all filled you will
suddenly shoot up into the air for a
distance of two hundred feet!
You will then discover that your
tower is made of concentric eteel tubes
that telescope into each other, and
Hi
- ^ li "
rnorosED surveying towek i
that you are at the npex of the inner<>?,!
r>rtw nnnprmost section.
But the big tower will not stand
straight up. It will bend over, rainbow
fashion, in a long arc, with you
dangling nt the end of it, for all the
world like a fish at the end of a swaying
rod. Then it will revolve slowly
from it? base, swinging you in a wide
circle over a large section of the exposition
grounds, and finally land you
on a stationary tower, down which you
drop by an elevator to tho ground.
The scheme of this tower was chosen
as the most startling of five hundred
remarkable suggestions. One of the
rejected schemes, by the way, was to
build a temple of literature out of
bricks composed of the compressed
pulp of rejected manuscripts. The
idea appealed strongly to the imagina inno
<->f tiu* maiiAc-prs. but the sensa
y T
tional features of the telescopic tower
prevailed.
The third wonder is the great globe,
120 feet in diameter, that will exhibit
the entire geography of the world in
the minutest detail. The exa^t means
by which the visitor is to be brought
in front of any particular spot on its
surface he wishes to investigate is not
yet finally decided. The latest plan
is to encircle it with a railroad, npon
which will run a regular train of cars.
It is calculated that this train will enable
you to outdo Phineas Fogg's marvellous
feat with a very large margin
to spare. You can go round the
world in sixty seconds!
Marvel No. 4 is an inverted Eiffel
Tower. In other words, it is an enormously
deep hole in the ground. This
will lie on the opposite side of the
grounds and its bottom will be reached
, by a series of elevators.
The depth that it is proposed to sink
this 9haft is 1000 feet. It will be
lighted from top to bottom, and the
/
construction of the cruet upon which
the city of Paris stands will be exhibited
and described in detail.
One will pass through all ranges of
temperature in descending this deep
v pit. It is promised that every variety
r of climate, from torrid to Arotio, will
be encountered, though just exactly
how this happens is not yet fully described
by the management. Frequent
_ stopping places are to be provided so
. fhnf vnn can linger in any temperature
that fancy dictates, and at these points
attractions consistent with the temperature
are to be provided. Tte
lover of geology can here get the moat
.exact data pertaining to hie scientific
hobby illustrated in the most
effective possiblo manner.
The construction of this big hole
will be one of the greatest feats, from
a scientific point of view, of the exposition.
The most distinguished mining
engineers in the world have been engaged,
and the problem of ventilation
is likely to cause no end of trouble.
It is not as an engineering feat,however,
that the shaft will appeal to the
biggest publio. Taken in the oonection
with tbe Eiffel Tower, the wonder loving
will be enabled to travel two
thousands vertical feet Within the
period of and hour without climbing
one step.
But the fifth and greatest wonder of
the exposition is to be a telescope.
Need it to be added that it will be
the largest telescopy in the world?
The object lent) ot the Paris Exposition
telescope will be four feet, three
inches in diameter. Fifty-one inches I
Think of that! The largest telesoope
dow in existence is me jjick, wuubu
object glass has a diameter of thirtysix
inches. The second largest is at
Pulkowa, Russia, with a glass of thirty
inches. The third is at the University
of Virginia, with a glass of twenty?six
iDchee. Harvard has the fourth largest,
with a twenty-four inch glass and the
fifth in size in the world belongs to
Princeton College. At the present
time there is making in Cambridge,
Mass., a glass which has been heralded
around the world. It is for the great
Yerkes telescope, and its diameter will
be forty inches.
Thus will the Paris Exposition telescope
eclipse by eleven inches the dia>'?
'i. (,i j
I'
^ I
FOR THE l'ARIS EXPOSITION, 1900.
| meter of the greatest telescopic object
I rrlnaa r>f tho wnrlf] !
It will, so it is claimed, bring the
moon within one mile of ue !
The telescope is to be 180 feet long,
and is to be rigged so that 61)0 persons
can simultaneously view the heaveus
with it. The image is to be received
on a level mirror seventy-five inches
in diameter, and from that reflected
upon a screen..
The revelations of the starry mysteries
that this gigantic telescope is ,
expected to make will thus be given
not to a solitary astronomer, to be by ;
him sent forth to the world in his own
good time and to the benefit of his
fame alone, but directly to the public,
and bd.v of us may be fortunate enough
to be personally present at stellar dis* .
coveries of vast importance. <
These are the five great wonders oi
the Paris Exposition.
But it is four years off yet, and who
knows what those four years may produce?
The Herald will doubtless yet
tell its readers of other marvels
equally great or mayhap greater than
these with which the Capital of Novelty
will signalize the close of the
greatest century of the world's history.
Paris may yet give ns seven
TrnndAro ?Vow VnrV TTnrold.
LARGEST WAR VESSELS AFLOAT.
England's Two New Cruisers, the
Terrible and the Powerful.
England's two new protected cruisers,
the Terrible and the Powerful,
the largest war vessels afloat, have recently
undergone their official speed
trials. They are sister ships, built on
the same plans, but by different constructors.
The estimated cost is
83,300,000.
The Terrible is 538J feet long over
all, 71 feet wide, and 43 J feet deep
from the'upper deck to the keelson,
displacing 14,475 tons. The measurements
of the Powerful are practically
the same. The tonnage is almost
double that of our Columbia, which is
116 feet shorter and 13 feet narrower.
Thfl Terriblfl is about as loner as the
St. Louie and the St. Paul of the
American Line, but is eight feet
broader aDd measures 2800 tons more.
It is 62 feet shorter but 6 feet broader
than the Ounarders Campania and Lucania,
and measures 1500 tons more
than they. It is 27 feet shorter, 13
feet broader, and measures 4500 tons
more than the White Star steamers
Majestic and Teutonic. The European
war cruiser that comes nearest it in
displacement is the 11,000-ton Russian
Rurik. The Terrible's engines are intended
to furnish 24,660 horse power,
giving a calculated speed of twentytwo
knots with natural draught.
The armament consists of two 9.2inch
guns, weighing 22 tons each,
placed in barbette turrets, covered
with 5-inch armor; of twelve 6-inoh
? ? J in 3 I
rapia-nre guile, Eixieau lz-pouauers,
twelve 3-pounders, and nine machine
THE TERRIBLE, GREAT BRI
guns. The larger guns are above the
protected deok, the ammunition being
convoyed to them by armored elevators.
There are also two torpedo
tubes at each end of the vessel. A
turret protected by 10-inoh armor
shelters the commanding offioer in ac*
tion. The masts are hollow, with am*
munition elevator? to supply the
fighting topa.
HANGS OH TO THINGS.
The New York Zoo's New and Rare
Klnkajou.
There is a new animal at the Contral
Park (New York) Zoo. He has a series
of names and a long tail, with which
THE KIN'KAJOf.
he Langs on to things. The name by
which he is best known is kinkajou.
He is sometimes called a honey bear,
thongh naturalists say that he is more
nearly related to the raccoon family
than to the bear tribe. The Zoo people
have placed him in the monkey
house, and he appears to be at home
there, although he does not make a
monkey of himself.
The kinkajou comes from Central
and South America. He is as large as
a big cat, and seems to be a cross between
the 'possum, the coon, the bear
and the monkey. His tail is longer
than his body and is prehensile. His
tanguo is loup, and is used for dragging
insects and other kinkajou delicacies
out of crevices.
The kinkajou lives on mice, birds,
eggs, honey and fruit. Bananas and
oranges are particularly desirable from
his point of view. The kinkajou can
jump from one tree to another, if they
arc not too far apart, and after the
jump he wraps his tail around a limb
and swings as safely and contentedly
as if in a hammock. During [the day
tirao he sleeps, wrapped up liken bull. I
At night he is lively, find tbe monkej* I
at the Zoo have already entered a |
complaint about hia nocturnal habits. ; <
A CAPITALIST'S CABIN, 9
Built It With His Own Hands and In
Prefers It to a Mansion. |H
Over in the Berkley Hills, says the
San Francisco Chronicle, Captain P. H
R Thomas, President of the Standard BE
Soap Company, has been busy for sev-j H
eral years building a log oabin. Ev? H
fjma
A CALIFORNIA CAPITALIST'S HOME. i
ery stroke of the work, even to cut*
ting down the treee, has been per*
formed by the well-known capitalist
himself, and to-day he celebrated th$
completion with Admission Day exercises
which were held at his palatial
home, La Loma Park. , .
Captain Thomas not only built the
cabin, but lives in it, although hi^
handsome hoase stands within a etone'a
throw of the novel dwelling. Fire or
six years ago the work of building wae
begun. The tiees which Thomas cat
down to make the logs were the euoalypti
growing on the land surrounding
the cabin. Ihey were allowed to
season, and then the log house was
fairly started. Ever sinoe, the old
war veteran has steadily pegged away
at the task during his hours of leisure
from business. Several little thingd
are yet to be done within the cabin,
but Thomas has already moved hie
bed into it and sleeps under a drapery
of Old Glory.
The log oabin has been erected with
two floors and oontains four main
rooms., Three are on the first floor
and one comprises the entire upper
TAIN'8 GREATEST CRUISER.
floor and is the room where Thomas
ependa moat of hia time. The three
room8 on the lowei floor are deoorated
with United States flags, war emblems
and bric-a-brao of various kinds.
The hall above is fitted up with all jB
the possessions whioh are nearest the
Captain's heart. His sword and old flj
uniform hang in one corner and flags I
are draped around the walls. On one H
wall hangs a large oolored pioture of flj
the aerial railway with whioh the I
"soap king" expected to connect San B
Francisco and Oakland, but for which
the Board of Trustees refuse a frau
chise. One feature of the room is the w
large log fire place whioh has been
carefully tiled. Captain Thomas oon* I
sidered this the hardest work in build* K
ing, and spent several months in fitting I
tho tiles. The logs are ohinked with
plastering and the living-room of the H
Captain is as snag as one in a modern I
dwelling. "It is comfortable," says fl
Thomas, "and I Jike to be here when H
I am through with my business " &
Captain Thomns is one of the best Bj
known and wealthiest citizens of H
Berkely. He is a pioneer of Oalifor* B
nia, and erected the first building oa
the West Berkely shores, where his
soap works now stand. Hj
Tho Thriving Alaskan Reindeer. s9
The schooner Ida Sobnauer has Bl
arrived from Port Clarence with s Q
cargo of ivory and whalebone. She
brought one passenger, J. 0. Wedstad,
superintendent of the Government
station at that point, who is bound for
Washington. 99
The reindeers introduced into
Alaska some years ago from Siberia
are reported to be flourishing, the H
herd numbering exactly 1200. Fool
hundred and fifty of these are at Port Mj
Clarence, where an increase of 182 la
reported this season. The animal*
are prospering tinder the care of IM
Laplanders who went north under HQ
contract to the Qovernment three Hjj
years ago. Wedstid's mission to the BH
capital is to draw up another oontraot. D|
He will also recommend a plan whioh,
if carried into effect, will be of mucb fl|
benefit to the Northwest Territory.
The plan in brief is to establish ?
number of reindeer relay stations tc Hi
bring about communication with thf
extreme north; even Point Borrow. B|
the northernmost settlement, to be
included. This can bo done at nmaU Bfl
- ? ? **A?n nnrl twill
be of inestimable benefit to fishermen,
whalers, revenue cutters and miners, IH
particularly the latter, between Ccok'f Bfl
Inlet and the Yukon. No ontlaj Dj
would be required except for the IH
station buildings, as the animals art
trained and the Laplanders only toe MR
glad to see each other.?Tacomt
A Picture oi the Near Future. rBH
A practical invention for family exlursions."?Fliegende
Blaetter. 3HM
I