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■MSMMMi TERRORS OF THE OCEAN. Torpedo Beats and Torpedo Boat Destroyers. Of the torpedo boat the public has • fairly accurate notion, and knows that her chief purpose is to plant one or more fatal stings against the sides of an enemy, but the torpedo boat de stroyer ranges, in imagination, all the ■way from a counter-mining machine to something just short of a good-sized cruiser. The torpedo boat destroyer is really a magnificent torpedo boat of Kreat speed, better sea-keeping quali ties and with a battery of rapid-firing guns of from five to eight six-poundors. 8he is built purposely with an 'out ward appearance closely akin to her natural quarry, that she may the better approach unsuspected within striking distance. Bhe also carries a torpedo ontlit. and in her the battleship and the cruiser have even a more danger ous enemy than in the simple torpedo boat, for where the small craft, by ■tress of weather, limited speed, or restricted endurance must halt, the destroyer may continue with all the more certainty of carrying out its murderous missiou. Of the eleven boats on which we may count in a short while, two of them may bo classed as destroyers, the Farragut and the Bowan; two of them as thirty-knot torpedo boats, the Craven and the Dahlgren, and the rest as torpedo boats of ordinary •peed. * The Farragut, Rowan, Davis and Fox are building on the Pacific coast; the first by the Union Iron Works, of San I rancisco; the second by Moran Brothers, of Seattle, and the last two by WoltF & Zwicker, of Portland, Ore gon. The Dahlgren and Craven are bnilding at the Hath Iron Works, Bath, Mo.; the Morris, Talbot and Gwiu at Herreshoff’s, Bristol; the Mackenzie at Charles Hillman's yard, Philadelphia, and the McKee at the Columbian Iron Works, of Baltimore; •nd it is of interest to note that these last two boats are of the type recom- ! mended by the chief constructor and ®ngiiieor-in-chiof as the most readily susceptible of rapid duplication in event of need. miniature engines, capable of develop- ing within the limited space of an average-$ized cheese-box, a driving energy of thirty horse-power. With that force turning its twin screws, the miniature craft can be turned for a mile and a half at the rate of thirty- five miles an hour. Compressed air is the motive power; and it is crowded iuto the ten-foot boiler of this small bout till a pressure of ninety times that of the air wo breathe is reached. The explosion of that boiler is a dan gerous possibility to be guarded against. Besides the boiler compart ment and the engine compartment, there are four other subdivisions! One for the carriage of that murder ous load of 220 pounds of gun cotton at the bend, and the others for regu lating the air supply to the eugines and for maintaining the torpedo at premise of absolute destrut; of prompt detection; but f ills with a reasonable he for the wounded and the the larger craft. Death lies precious oldest all times on board a torpedo Ixvu war times. The crew must facefdh by the destruction of the boat;f»th by foundering; death by the wing of the throbbing boilers or puK steam pipes; death by collision; Jeath by the premature bursting of #ir own petards. She must face tgtorm of light projectiles every moA battle ship can send from her bales, one- pounders, six-pounders ai galling guns, all of which may tig dehth, and, with the exception jlthe gat- lings’ bullets, all of whinhay pierce the sides and boilers of afof these boats. When running at topped, the boats quiver from stem tojlrn with a wearing vibration hard to sir in com pany with the nervous^nsiou of serious work. Down idhe stoke hold the firemen, before blinding glare of the white-hot fujuces, feed the ceaseless voracity dthose blis tered mouths with endlef shovelings of coal, that the pressnrotay be kept up to supply the greed dthose driv- A 1'EltFECT TVPE OF THE TORPEDO BOAT DESTROYER. depth of submerg- biiSU O any determined ence. When attacking vessels at anchor and likely to be protected with tor pedo nets, the nose of the torpedo is fitted with a cutter; and no ordinary fabrication of steel rope and chain could withstand the ripping force of that instrument backed by the rush ing force of nearly 1200 pounds. The torpedo is ejected from the tube by the discharge of about four ounces of powder. In passing out, a little ing engines lying just behind in the next compartment. The air is full of dust and grime, and one’s head swims because of the heat. In the engine room the roar is thundering, and the parts move back and forth, up and down with the velocity of 800 changes a minute. A stray shot in there, well placed, may burst a cylinder teeming with the pressure of more than 200 pounds of scalding steam or liberate the hammering weight of a driving piston and send it tearing through Discn ABOINQ A TORPEDO FROM THE ROW OF THE V. 8. TORPEDO BOAT STILETTO. In a prolonged conflict, that typo will survive that can be easiest re placed or repaired, and from all we know now of the complicated nature •n«l time demanded in building ar mored ships, it is easy to see the po •ition torpedo vessels of all sorts will fill. They may be called the mo ment’s most effective fighting machine, bnt can hardly be confused with the greater defensive qualities of the battleship. The whitehead torpedo is no longer the secret mechanism it was some vears ago, owing principally to its general adoption by nearly all naval ~ ain 3. • 6 m !^ e I n . l “°J lole . uce of ffany tons of rending, torpedo has divaeff HS& enginiei, out jar, are running at full speed. When clear of the boat a few yards, a safety device drops from the noseband leaves the plunger bared to detonate ie fighting charge within. Striking ship from ten or fourteen feet below ie water line, it will tear a wound with such awful force that the heavi- t of armor must yield. In the hands of either the ignorant or heedless, the modern torpedo is a menace to friend or foe; but in the bauds of the skilled and resolute, it is the wickedest implement of warfare —wicked in threatjand wicked in deed. It is to bear the modest burden of a half dozen such “babies” that the largest of our torpedo boats are built. The torpedo boat or the destroyer is anything bnt a thing of beauty. Their sea-green hulls, the absence of bright work, the presence of those torpedoes, and a knowledge of their somber mis sion of stealth and destruction, stamp with them the impress of something akin to official piracy. There are no odds offered the enemy. It is not a struggle between equal powers where skill and facility of handling may win with open honors. Instead, it is a case HORSES BRAVE IN WAR.! HOSPITAL SHIP SOLACE READY FOR WAR. [She has been painted white with a green s r pe along the water line. Three largo red crosses are on each side of the vessel.] #4; Hi Kr ' sor ~> roj t mk 8L r,V-r ?Z$£tEL~Xy Yi im A TORPEDO-CATCHING NET. (Tbc shield Is a false outer steel wall and protects the United States warships from the dangerous and numerous Spanish torpedo boats.) jjowerB, and its inside workings are commonly understood by all well -versed military and naval men. A knowledge how to work it, though, is .snother matter, and, briefly, it may be •aid that every torpedo of the White- head type has its own individuality, its own idosyncrasies; and it is the -duty of every qualified torpedo officer to learu the characteristics of those ‘•steel babies” that some day may win Aim glory. The largest of our torpedoes, the «ighteen-inch, so kuowu because that at its greatest diameter, is a blunt-head ed, cigar-shaped body of steel a trifle ©ver sixteen feet long, propelled by of a giant and a pigmy armed alike with one common implement capable of ruining either. The weaker, though many times more agile, cannot take the chances of equality; but, instead, must creep upon the adversary and compel his surrender only when the sense of his dying condition is borne in upon him with the force of that one conclusive blow. What are the chances of succor offered in return? The tor pedo boat has done her frightful work, and now is too small to bear or save the hundreds she has doomed. She has not only subdued, but she has poisoned her victory with the venom of desertion. In turn, she faces the MARTIAL SPIRIT THEY DISPLAY WHEN THE BATTLE IS ON. that must be faced for the safe car riage of those other forces she has at her command; and to the youngest officer in the service may fall the honor of that accomplishment before which even a battleship might hesi tate. The work cut out for the tor pedo boat is quite akiu to that of leading a forlorn hope; but when the time comes good men and cool in plenty will be found ready to forget themselves and laugh at death in even this dread service for our flag’s de fense. Torpedo warfare began daring the American civil war, but so crude were the early torpedoes and so little op portunity has there since been to study the action of modern torpedoes in ac tual war that naval officers all over Europe have looked forward eagerly to a war between the United States and Spain as an object lesson. That the torpedo years ago passed the experi mental stage and stands to-day as the most wonderful and terrible of mod ern engines of war is not to be doubted, but it has had no real test of its power. Not one torpedo has been fired in war fare by any of the leading naval pow ers in more than twenty years, and so great has been the advance in torpedo construction within this time that the early tests are of little value to the present student of naval affairs. Since the torpedo became a machine of precision it has been used in war fare only by insurrectionists'and weak Nations. The war between China and Japan three Vears ago gave some idea of the value of the torpedo, but neither its full value nor its plaoe could be de termined in that 'short and unequal contest between two half-civilized Na tions. . Thirty-seven torpedo attacks have been made thus far, sinking a dozen ships and damaging one other. Six assailant boats have been lost. It !• Remarkable How Quickly The) Adapt Themselves to the Military Serviee-Churire of a Riderless Steed at Murfreesboro—Answer Bugle Calls. “It is remarkable how quickly horses adapt themselves to the mili tary service,” said an old soldier. “Every artilleryman knows that they learn the bugle calls and the evolu tions quicker than the men, as a rule, They soon acquire a uniform gait, which is about the same as what we call the route step or the usual march ing step. If the horses did not ac quire the same gait as the infantry, there would be varying distances be tween the different arms of the ser vice—that is, between the infantry and the cavalry, artillery, and the commanders and their escorts. In the drills in the artillery service the horses will preserve their alignment as well as the infantry rank. “I shall always remember one illus tration of this trait which I noted at a very exciting and critical moment of a battle during our civil war. In order to save some of our infantry from be ing surrounded and captured, the commander of one of our batteries quickly mounted the cannoneers on the guns and put the whole battery at a dead gallop across a stretch of mead ow about balf a mile wide. I was quite accustomed to such sights, but when that dashing company was half way across the field I noticed the in spiring array, and for a moment was lost in rapt admiration of the magnifi cent picture. Every driver was ply ing whip and spur, the great guns were rocking and thundering over the ground, and every*horse reeking with foam and full of animation and excite ment was straining every muscle as he galloped forward, yet a straight line drawn along in front would have touched the noses of the lead horses in front of the six guns. That was an artillery chai'ge, one of the most thrill ing sights in the evolutions of war. “It is surprising how quickly horses learn the bugle calls. Let the first note of the feed or water call be sounded, and instantly there will be a stamping, kickingandneighing among the horses. Once, during a terrible night storm in earnp, our horses were seized with such terror that those of nearly every battery broke loose and scattered about. Tbe next morning there was a wild rush among the ar- igrymenio capture horses for use. AllvIul^BSwKMk-#, and the horses re fused to be caught^ An officer ordered the bugler to give tbs feed call. Horses from every direction came dashing in to that battery, and the rush was so great that it was with dif ficulty the men could get out of the way of the eager horses. “When it comes to a battle a horse seems to know everything that is go ing on and the reason for it all, and does his duty nobly. He enters into the spirit of a battle like a human be ing. He shows no fear of death, no sign of being overcome by panic in all the wild tumult of the battje’s roar. A horse in one of our batteries during the Murfreesboro fight was hit by a piece of shell, which split his skull so that one side was loosened. The driver turned him loose, but he walked up to the side of the gun and watched the firing, and when a shot was fired would follow it with his gaze as if to note its effect on the enemy. Whpn a shell would burst near by he would turn his head and look at it. When he saw the team be had worked with being driven back for ammunition, he ran to bis old place and galloped back with the rest. When au officer pushed him aside to have another horse put in he gazed at the new one with a most sorrowful expression in his eyes. Then he seemed to realize that the glory of battle was no more for him, aud he walked away and lay down and died. The officer declared that it was a broken heart, not the wound, that killed him. “During a fierce charge of Con federate cavalry at Murfreesboro an officer was killed and the cavalry driven back. The horse the officer bad ridden was a magnificent animal, and he had not been taught to retreat. Riderless he kept on his way, and as he dashed through our battery the sight of him was indescribably grand. His nostrils were extended wide, his eyes fairly blazed, aud he clutched the bit determinedly with his teeth as he came on like the wind, with his saddle flap# flying, until he looked as if he were himself flying instead of wildly running. Every one gave him room as he dashed toward us. An officer shouted that he wouldgive$100 to any one who would capture that superb animal, but all seemed too much bound up in admiration of the noble beast to make the effort, and he sped on and disappeared in the blue distance. ” An Ancient Cnitom. i From Republican Traveler, Arkantat City, Kan. Pilgrimages to some shrine of St. Vitus to cure the disease known as St. Vitas'' donee are no longer made. The modern way of treating this affliction Is within reach of every household, as Is shown by the experience of Karl A. Wagner, the eleven-year-old son of George Wagner, of, 615 9th Bt., Arkansas City, Kan. The fath er tells the story as follows: “Over a year ago,” he says, “Karl was taken with St. Vitus’ dance and continued. to grow worse daring five months he was under a physician’s care. His tongue be came paralyzed and we could not under stand <k word he. sold. He became very thin, lost the use of bis right leg and seemed doomed to become a hopeless in valid. We had about given up hope when Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills for Pale People wore recommended to my wife by a lady whose daughter had been cured of a simi lar affliction by the pills. “I bought a box of them at once and soon noticed a change for the better in Karl’s con dition. I was so well pleased Chat X bought more of them, and when ho had taken five boxes the disease dis appeared . A Hopeless luvalid. “That was six months ago and there has been no return ot the disease. The cure was effectual and permanent, and I feel satisfied that no other medicine could have pro-* duoed so marvelous a result. We feel re- ■ jolced^ver the restoration of our son and cannot help but feel that Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills for Pale People are the most re markable medicine on tbe market.” No discovery of modern times has proved suoh a blessing to mankind as Dr. Will-, lams’ Pink Pills for Pale People. Acting directly on the blood and nerves, Invigor ating the body, regulating, tbe functions, they restore the strength and health in the exhausted patient when every effort ot the physician proves unavailing. These pills are sold in boxes at 60 cents a box or six boxes for fa.60, and may be had otall druggists, or direct by mall from Dr. Williams’ Medicine Co.. Schenectady. H. X. WHERE SHAMROCK GROWS WILfit His Yearn. Mrs. Flint (skeptically) — H’ml What kind of a job do you want? geldum Fedd (with surprising candor)—Any kind of a job dat I can’t git, Mum.—Puck. Tbe rapid growth of the finger naila is supposed to indicate good health. i Unique Distinction Claimed for Grind* stone Point in Maine. There is a firm belief at Gouldsboro, Me., says the Sun, that the only place in the United States where the Irish shamrock grows wild and hides itself away among ranker vegetation, after the manner of all genuine shamrock plants, is on Grindstone Point, a bald bluff which makes out from the south shore of the town and stands facing Bar Harbor, ten miles acress the bay. At present the rough pasture land pro duces a big crop of summer cottagers, and is worth anywhere from 8500 to 81,000 an acre; but when Mooney and Maloney went there seventy-five years ago, they brought the whole point for “three p’un’ ten” English money, and everybody who knew of the transac tion declared openly they had been cheated out of 815, which they would need later on. The manner of their arrival on Grindstone Point was peculiar. The millionaires from Boston and New York who came here now ride on spe cial trains or embark on steam yachts built for speed and comfort. Mooney and Maloney reached Halifax' from Cork on an emigrant ship which wan thirty-five days on the passage. From Halifax they worked their way to Pic- tou, and hired out before the mast on a schooner bound for Boston. The schooner carried the usual cargo of oats in the hold and grindstone on deck. When the craft had been out a few days a leak started, and the great mass of oats below decks began to swell. As she was nothing more than a Yankee craft, made of hard pine, and old at that, she couldn’t stand the strain which the oats exerted, and she began to split open lengthwise, like a pea pod. With water running in and swelling the oats below and with fifty tons of grindstone on deck to drive her to the bottom, the senooner was in great danger of going down with all on board, when a southeast gal* came ilong and drove her head first on the sand beach lying under the bluff. Mooney and Maloney escaped to land, but the rest of the crew, together with the schooner and cargo, were lost. The vessel was lost in June, 1832, and the following autumn Maloney sent home to Ireland some leaves from the first shamrock plant, perhaps, that ever took root on American soil. He had brought a few sprays with him in a box mixed with damp moss, and when he found he was safe on land he set out the plants on the west side of the point in a small depression which is now known as Shamrock Hollow. Mooney and Maloney named the whole headland Shamrock Point, and the name would have held If It had nit bean for the grindstones. The vessel soon went to pieces under the blows of the sell, and the broken timbers and oats were ground to pulp or drifted away and were lost. The grindstones stayed where they fell. Grindstones were high and hard to get In those days. Therefore, when the inhabitants alongshore learned that a cargo ot grindstones had been dumped down on the point and could be had for the tak ing away they came and supplied theii immediate needs and laid in a stock for future use. It was in the nature of things that a point which furnished ready-made grindstones should be call ed Grindstone I*olnt, a name wnicb the summer residents use today, and which appears in all the deeds and on the maps. i v». *