The Darlington herald. (Darlington, S.C.) 1890-1895, February 18, 1891, Image 1
THE
DARLINGTON
HERALD.
VOL. I.
DARLINGTON, S. C., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1891.
NO. 24.
2!
An English penny-In-the-slot machine
company has been mulcted in damage!
by the victim of a machine that didn’t
Work.
t The high schools in Germany seem to
be regarded as superficial. A paper
been signed by 407 German university
professors declaring that the education
now given in high schools affords a poor
foundation for scientiflo medical studies.
| The Philadelphia Record suggests a
fruitful subject for speculation in an
{article in which it gives the names and
'addresses of more than 200 women of
E hiladclphia, most of them young, who
ysteriously disappeared last ^year.
Mexico's tariff of $2.50 per hog has
failed to suppress the American imports
Af that article of food, remarks the
Boehm Cultivator, but it has sent up the
price in the City of Mexico from eight to
twelve cents per pound.
The New York Independent remarks:
Political observers in Europe hail the
year upon which we hare just entered as
destined iu all probability to be a year
of peace throughout Europe. There are
^o war clouds in the sky that can now
bo discovered.
Major-General O. O. Howard has un
dertaken mission work in New York
since he was stationed at Governor’s
Island in command of the United States
troops, according to the Chicago Timm.
He and his son have been teaching Bible
classes in a miserable room over a stable
In Elizabeth street. He is now trying to
buy a deserted church in Chrystie street
for thp use of the school and for services
for adults. The General contributes
$1000, and asks the Christian public to
help him raise the balance, about $17,-
000.
The new Anti-Kidnaping League’s
National Committee recently issued in
New York an address to the public
stating that many sane persons have been
proved in court lately to be illegally im
prisoned in lunatio asylums, and that
such imprisonment is easily inflicted
without trial and hard to escape from.
They say that rich people whose property
is coveted and persons whose spouses
wish to get rid of them, are specially
liable to kidnaping. The committee
asks all who know of such cases and all
who feel themselves in danger of such
incarceration to write to the Secretary,
Miss C. C. Lathrop.
Says a writer in the New York Prtu:
Annuities on the English plan are be
coming quite a feature of insurance now.
1 believe there is no large corporation in
this country which makes a specialty of
annuities, but several of the leading old
line insurance companies have taken up
that line of business also, and by the pay
ment of certain lump sums they will guar
antee you ccrttun yearly payments, which
will give you a fixed income for life. I
hear men of considerable means talking
about applying for annuities to make
{them easy for the remainder of their
Jives. Bachelors, who have no one de-
pendent upon them for means of living,
are well disposed toward the annuity
plan, but men of family prefer to insure
their lives for the benefit of those who
. will survive them.
f Collector Phelps, of San Franoisco,
Cal., in testifying before the Con
gressional Committee, spoke of the
opium smoking of the Chinese and of
bow they had introduced the habit among
white people. He would have a stringent
law against the sale or use of the drug.
A new law would be useless, declares
the Report. The old law and public
opinion have already greatly reduced the
wse of opium. We mean that the habit
Is not spreading nearly as fast as it wu.
It is a vice that cannot be practiced in
secret. The fumes of the drug are too
penetrating for that, while the apparatus
Is clumsy and not easily carried about at
concealed. So morphine and the syringe
have succeeded opium and the pipe.
The morphine habit is frightfully
prevalent and will spread. No con
gressional committees or laws will stop
ft. It seems destined to be the national
vice.
In the record of railroad accidents it
is apparent, observes the New Orleans
Picayune, that several have been due to
the inefficiency of some at the telegraph
operators employed. At its Imt session
the Georgia Legislature took the matter
up, mainly at the request of the Macon
Division Order of Railway Telegraphers,
passed a law providing that in the future
all railway telegraph operators must be
not less than eighteen years of age before
they can accept such positions, and,
furthermore, they must paasaa examina
tion as to capability before the chief train
dispatcher of the road upon which em
ployment U sought. A delegation of Ten
nessee operators will present and pash a
similar measure before the Legislature of.
that State. They claim that the passage,
of these bills means the disappearance of!
the boy operator and a eorrsspondiag
decrease in the number of eookUuta re
sulting from the employing of tnefficlaot,
immature and inexperienced
telegraphers. It would be well, H is
contended by the promoters, if not only
Tennessee, but every State should adopt
such a law.
THE BROOK’S BOWCV
Through all the drifted mows
That fill the woodland nook.
In lisping music flow*
The dark, unlilied brook.
While winding swift along
Upon Its ioy way.
Its song is but the song
It sang in rosy May.
, Ah, happy brook, to ting, #
While winter days depark
The melody of spring
That ripples in iteheartl
S. K. Mnnkittrick, in Harper’e Weekly.
THE LOST DIME.
BT JENNIE P. ARNOLD.
I was sitting in the parlor of a New
York friend,indulging in an after-dinner
chat, when the subject of horse car
ytrikea was mentioned and my friend re
marked; "I believe I understood both,
sides of the story pretty well, for I was
conductor on the — a venae line for near
ly a year.”
“You a conductor t” I mid in surprise,'
“I never knew that before, but then,” l
added, “as eur acquaintance extends]
only over a little more than two years
you might have been a highwayman be-,
lore that for all I know to the contrary.’’.
“I hardly think a car conductor can
be classed with that fraternity, though
perhaps some of the bosses think they
ere little better, when they abuse them
of having so much of the company’s
money stick to their fingers; but I never
speculated in Wall street or bought a.
brown stone front with my accumula
tions in that line. I came to New York
about four years ago with the promise of
a situation in the office of the — Avenue
Horse Railroad Company, but there waa
no vacancy at that time, and, as nothing
better offered, I accepted a place as con
ductor while waiting; but nearly a year
passed before they were ready for me in
the office, and in the meantime I had an
opportunity of learning considerable of
the ins and oute of the business. 1 added
something to my knowledge of human
nature if not to my bank account.”
His oldest child, a bright-eyed, mis
chievous little sprite of eight years,
came up at that moment and laid her
cheek against his shoulder, while her
hands tightly clasped his arm.
“Ah, Puss!” he said, catching her up
and giving her a toss in the air, then
setting her on his knee ss he resumed:
“You’d be surprised at all the ingenious
devices to beat a conductor out of a
fare, from the well-dressed gentlemen
who have left their pocket books in the
other trousers’ pockets, to the half-
drunken bummer who never has another
pair of trousers to leave a nickel in, but
who rides as far as he can and when put
off for non-payment of fare, hails the
next car and so keeps on until he reaches
his destination. But the toughest of all
is when a woman claims to have lost her
purse, or something of the kind, and
her helplessness appeals to a fellow’s gal
lantry. I used to ring in a fare out of
my own pocket at such times until I
caught some of the schemers laughing at
my softness, then 1 decided I wasn't so
green as to get sold that way again.
The company was very strict, it wu
all a fellow’s place was worth
to let any one ride without
paying fare, no matter what the oircum-
staaces; our orders were to compel
women, as well as men, to leave the car
unless they paid. If we felt in the least
lenient in enforcing this order we could
never tell which passenger might be a
“spotter,” or how soon we might get
called into the office and discharged.
I’ll never forget one case of the kind. It
was a cold day in December, and the
President of the road was in the car;
what he was there for I never knew, but
he occasionally rode up and down, for
inspection, I suppose. At Grand street
two nicely-dressed ladies got on, who
paid their fare out of well-filled purses;
not a very common occurrence where
ladies are returning from shopping at the
Grand street bargain stores, eh Fannyt”
with a laughing glance at his wife, who
was rocking in an easy chair with the
bab", a fine plump little fellow a year
old, in her lap.
“You ought to know best,” was the
response, “seeing you had a year to
study up the subject.”
“1 shouldn’t have noticed these so
particlarly only for what followed. At
the next crossing a woman wu waiting.
I saw that she was young, wu dressed in
black, and had a very ud expression.
She bad a large bundle and fceble-look-
ing baby in her arms, while holding to her
dress wu a thiee-jear-old toddler with
round rosy cheeks and bright blue eyu.
I stopped off to help the woman on and
took the little girl in my arms. I always
had a soft spot in my heart for children
of the genuine sort, not little old men
and women. My fnenda used to chaff
mo on liking pretty little girls bettor
than I did the big ones, and I think they
were shout right. This one wu so
bright and pretty I wanted to give her e
hug end Mu, but 1 bed learned that it
isn’t always wise to try it with the little
girls any more than with the older
“•I yikes to wide I” the little puu
■aid, looking up into my face all smiles
and dimples, and showing her pretty
white teeth between her rosy lips, ’ll
makes my tootsies told to walk,’ holding
up her plump little foot poorly protected
from the cold pavement by n well-worn
“ ‘Well, you shall get them all idea
end warm,' I said, making room for her
beside the stove. The mother dropped
into a seat with a sigh of weariness, and
placing her bundle on the floor shifted
the baby to her lap to relieve her tired
arms. I wu called away to attend to
other pasungers, and returning held out
my hand for the mother’s fare. The little
girl wu holding out her poor worn little
shoes to the fire.
“ ‘It’s dood and warm here,’she uid,
with a face all smiles and dimples, u I
stopped beside her.
' * ‘That’s right, get all warmed
through,’ I said, patting her on the head,
then turned to the mother again. She
had shifted the baby to her left knee
and was carefully searching her pocket)
a troubled, anxious expression came
over her face, then one of alarm fol
lowed.
“ ‘I had a ten cent^iiece in my pocket-
book,’ she said, looking up, ‘but I can’t
find it; I’m sure I put it here; I’m
ifraid,’ and her lips trembled and her
eyes began to fill with tears, ‘I’m afraid
t’ve lost it.’
“Her distress wu so evidently genuine
( could not believe she wu playing off
is so many had done before, and I uid
pleasantly: ‘Look again, madam, you
•rill probably find it somewhere,’ and I
turned, catching the eyes of the presi
dent watching me sharply.
“The woman turned her pocket in-
fide out, got up and shook her dress,
(hen looked carefully over the floor, u
lid several who sat near her. I stopped
ihe car to help ou and off several
pasungers, then came back to the
voman. She looked greatly troubled,!
md I could see only restrained tears by
{reat effort.
“ ‘I cannot find it,’ she said looking
pp at me with trembling lips, 'I saved
jt out on purpose for this ride, aud putJ
t in my pocket-book just u I started,
tut it’s gone, and I must have lost it.’ ”
“What was I to do! The woman
teemed honest enough, yet I had seen
fibers equally so who proved to be im
posters; then there were the sharp eyes
pf the President upon me, and if I
altered in my duty off would go my
lead, with no chance of the promotion
l wu hoping for.
•“The rules are to put off all who do
lot pay,’ I managed to say with assumed
irmness, while all the time I felt u if I
would like to pitch the Presideut off necc
md heels instead of the woman. 'I’m
wrry, madam, but the rules must be
>be;ed.’ 'I know it, I know it,’ she
laid piteously, 'but if you would let me
ride up I could pay you when I come
tack; I shall have thq money then,’
pointing to her bundle of work to prove
ter statement; 'It’s such a long way, and
I’m so tired,’ she pleaded, and there wu
the chubby, dimpled face of the little
girl smiling up at me all the time.
“I felt u if I would like to kick my-
telf as I turned away; if I only dared ap
peal to the President, but not none of
ihe men were supposed to know him,
md I felt as if his cold eyes were pierc
ing me through and through u if he de
lighted iu tho test I wu passing
through.
“ ‘Hang the old rascal,’ I said to my-
telf, ‘I’ll have to put the woman off, but
[’ll slip a quarter into Puss’s hand so they
can pay their fare on the next car.’
“ ‘I’m sorry, madam,’ I tried to say
Irmly, but the sad, pleading look almost
broke me down, ‘the rules must be
cbeyed,' and I reached up to pull tho
bell rope; but in an instant the younger
of the two women, of whom I have be
fore spoken, caught my arm.
“‘No, nol’ she cried with flushed
cheeks aud indignant eyes, and before I
knew what she intended she emptied her
pane into the woman’s lap and passed
quickly out of the car. A perfect shower
of coin—several dollars, at leut, fell rat
tling down, a part falling on the floor,
i stooped to pick it up, when the elder
lady dropped several more pieces into
the woman’s lap and followed her eom-
panion. The poor woman looked up,
lumb with amazement, then covering the
money with one hand, dropped her face
on the baby’s head and sobbed so she
ihook from head to foot. The little girl,
teeing her mother’s distreu, crept up
close beside her, and with her little arms
ibout her neck and her cheek nestled
igainst hers tried to comfort her.
“ 'Don’t kwy, mamma,’ she pleaded,
‘I’ll be so dood, don’t kwy.’
“I don’t believe there wu a dry eye
In the car; tha women didn’t hesi
tate to carry their handkerchiefs to their
•yes, but the men looked out of the win-
lows, drew their hats down over their
lyes, and soma blew their noses vigor-
»usly, the President giving the strongest
blut of ail. As for myself, I just rung
In a fare out of my own pocket,and went
cut on the platform, thankful that it wu
i cold day I could use my handkerchief
freely.
“At the next street the President got
tut, and u he pused the little girl he
•topped and patted her rosy cheeks, with
■ome pleasant word, and slipped some
thing into her hand. A moment later,
vhen I had occuion to pus through the
sar again, the little puu held out her
shabby hand: ‘Bee!’ she cned, with her
pretty face radiant with delight i ‘O see
my bright, now penny I’ I looked, it
n» • five dollar gold piece.
“The mother noticed it for the first
time.
“ ‘Where did you get it?' she asked,
in astonishment.
“ ‘ ’E big man dlv it to me,’ the little
cue answered.
r ‘ 'Oh, sir, do you know who It wait’
the mother said, appealing to me. 'It
must be a mistake.’
“ ‘Not a bit of it,’ I answered, almost
u delighted u the child, herself, 'it wu
the President of this iced; heeould give
ber a thousand such pieces and never
feel it.”’
My friend’s little Elsie had been sit
ting very quietly in his lap Ustoning at
tentively to his story, and noer u he
paused eagerly.
“ ‘And the little girl—did you ever
see her again, papal’
“ ‘Yes, Pussie, 1 think I’ve seen her
several times since then,’ he uid, with a
merry twinkle in his eyes and a peculiar
smile under bis heavy moustache. 'I
think I see her now,’ catching up Elsie
aud giving her a hug and a kiss, 'yon’re
the little girl, yourself, Pout’
“ ‘Me, papa!' she cried, bounding to
her feet and catching ber father by the
ihoulders, ‘and wu the lady my
mamma!’
“ ‘Just your mamma and no one else,’
wu tho reply, with a smile at the child’s
unazoment. ‘She used to ride fre
quently on my car after that, and I al
ways carried a pocket full of bonbons
tor you, Pussie; we soon got to be
the best of friends and of course ms mini
had to get acquainted a little
with me on your account. Then I learned
she had been a widow for a year and wu
trying to support herself and two chil
dren by doing plain sewing, which hardly
gave her enough to keep soul and body
together. At lut the baby died and
mamma had a long illness from the grief
and over-work: just then I received my
appointment to the office with twice my
old salary, and I finally persuaded mam
ma to let me take care of both of you;
though mamma says I courted you In
stead of her, and married her so u to
get you.”
I caught the quick interchange of
glances, the look of pride and affection
which took in wife and baby, and the
the happy content in the faoe of the wife,
and felt sure there wu room in my
friend’s heart for all his treuures.
“Well, now that’s a nice little story,”
Elsie cried delightedly, putting her
plump bauds on either cheek and draw
ing her father’s fact down until aha
could kiss it, “and you’re the darlingaal
old papain the whole world!”—Ifeu York
Pott.
A Remarkable Checker Player.
James P. Reed, now in thia city, la
one of the most brilliant checker playere
n the world, having vanquished, among
others, Charles Barker and the famous
“Ajeeb,” one of the attractions at the
ixposition held herein 1889. Of course
It is always interesting to read of such
men u Professor Anderson, Paul Murphy,
fames Wylie, Dr. Richard Yates, Bteinita,
Junsberg and others noted in the “chess
md checker literature” of Europe and
America, and besides these two games of
sheas and checkers are purely games of
mental skill. However, it wu not our
purpose to write a dissertation on the
mental discipline of this highly intellec
tual recreation, but more particularly to
call attention to the peculiar character
of mind displayed by Mr. Reed iu play
ing ten games at once without ever see
ing the boards. He sits with his faoe to
the wall and he knows the boards u “one,
two, three, and so on.” If he is to play
irst he calls his play on board number
“one, two, three,” and so forth, in their
regular numerical order. After a play
is called he simply holds that play and
position in his mind, and the same is true
of all other plays. At any stage in the
game he can stop and tell just how the
men are placed on any one board or he
can go back and trace all the games
through from tha beginning, or if any
ona of his opponents has made a different
play be will give the proper reply.
These things are referred to because of
the belief that in some way they are con
nected with the mystorlout arithmetical
power displayed by Zerah Colburn and
George Bidder, prodigies in their day.
[n reading the accounts of their wonder
ful handling of figures they explained
that the number* they wanted appeared
to come instantly into consciousness, or,
as they expressed it, they just “saw the
results.” One of the boys was asked if
a certain large number is “prime or
composite” and if “compoaite” what
were the factors. Almost instantly he
told the factors, and it required a long
time for the able mathematicians to tost
the truth or falsity of his reply and they
found the result he gave as being the
only correct one.—Kantat City Timet.
Indian Dncorative Art.
When the Sioux go on the warpath,in
anything like reasonable weather, they
exercise great economy in dress. They
paint their ponies with red and black
paint in crosses. They also wear their
hair loose and flowing and put a li'nral
allowance of red and black paint on
their faces. Decerative art prevails
largely in their make-up. Bugs, reptiles
and animals, as nearly at the rndely
artistic mind of the Sioux can contrive,
are painted on their foreheads and chins,
while a cross of red tad biaok paint
adorns each cheek—Btnttr Republican.
CHILDREN’S COLUMN.
THE SNOW-BIRD.
When all the grouud with snow Is white,
The merry snow-bird comes,
And hops about with great delight
To find the scattered crumbs.
How g lad he seems to get to eat
A piece of cake or bread!
He wears no shoes upon his feet.
Nor hat upon his head.
But happiest ia he, I know,
Because no cage with bara
Keeps him from walking ou the snow,
And printing it with stars.
— [Harper’s Young People.
«r ——
. HORSE SENSE.
A great many horses are fed on the
streets from “cat-bags” drawn up over
their noaee, and wabbling about in a
manner which must make it very un
comfortable to eat one’s dinner in that
way. A bright horse down in “Pie
alley” the other day had nearly reached
the bottom of hia bag. It Wabbled
awfully, bat the oats were sweet and
he was hpngry. In front of him stood
a wagon, and tho wagon had a wheel.
Happy thought. He walked up to
the wheel, rested his canvas bur ket ou
the top of it, and finished hi* dinner
to the last oat in a comfortab’.e, leis
urely manner, and with a tw; inkle in
his eye. If that was not a trinmph
of mind over matter, what is't—[Bos
ton Herald.
THE SPIDER MONKEIf.
The spider monkey is remarkable
for its long and prehensile tail which
moves abont among the b ranches of
the trees as if there wore ai n eye in the
tip of it.
Should tho monkey dis cover some
prize, sucli as a nest of t iggs, or any
little dainty which lies in a crevice too
small for the band to enU r, it inserts
the end pf this extremely useful tail
into the cranny and books out the de
sired object. Spider mon key is cer
tainly a very appropriate m ime for this
animal, for it* head is so small, its
body so short (measuring less than a
foot), its limbs so slender, and its tail
so limb-like, that anyone .seeing it is
immediately reminded of .the long-
legged spiders that Seattle so awkward
ly over the ground.—[Detroit Free
Press.
AN INSECT GOLIATH.
The bird spider of tropical America
grows to be three inches in breucRb
and as much as four and a half in
length, being the largest of the sever
al hundred species of spiders known
to naturalists. Its nests resemble
those of the large caterpillars of France
aud Spain, and consist of a white
silken tissue of several thick layors (
and strengthened by very strong
threads capable of arresting the flight
of any small bird. In the centre of
this nest are placed the eggs, 1500 to
2000 in number. The creature is very
powerful and is provided with for
midabio instruments of attack, en
abling it not only to destroy small
birds and tho young of larger species,
a* some writers have maintained, but
large lizards aud reptile*.—[St- Louis
Republic.
A LITTLE GIRL WITH TWO FACES'
I heard a strange thing the othor
day. It was of a little girl who had
two faces. When she is dressed up in
her best clothes, when some friends
are expected to come to tea, or when
the is going out with her mother to-
call on some neighbors, she looks so
bright and sweet and good that you !
would like to kiss her. With a nice 1
white dresa on, and perhaps a blue
sash, and pretty little shoes, she exr
pects her mother’s friends will say:
“What a little darling 1” or, “What a
sweet face, let me kiss it I” And so
•he always has a nice smile ou her
face, and when she is spoken to shti
says “Yea, ma’am,” “No, ma’am,”
when she oqght, and “Thank you,"
very sweetly, when anything la given
her.
But, do you know, when she is
alone with her mother, aud no com
pany it expected, she does not look at
all the same little girl. If she cannot
have what she would like, or do just
what she wishes, she will pout, and
scream, and cry, and no one would
ever think of killing her then.
I also know a little girl who has
only one face, which is always as sweet
aa a peach, and never sweeter than
when she ia at home, and her mother
wants her to be as useful as she can
and help her. I think I need scarcely
aak you which of these little girls you
like best, or which of thorn you would
like to resemble.—[New York Wit
ness.
THE TORPEDO BOAT.
A MODERN ENGINE OF NAVAL
WARFARE.
Torpedoes are Divided Into Three
Classes—The Boats That Carry
Torpedoes and Thetr Equip
ments—The Speedy Cashing.
An Men for Yonr Feet.
Shoeman at Field’s: We have many
complaints about tender feet and sore
ankles. If people who suffer in this
respect will take a flat sheet of rubber
and cut out two pieces largo enough to
fit inside of the shoe solos they will
find immediate relief.— [Chicago Tri
bune.
A man was recently sent to prison in
New York City because he could not
famish $600 bonds to keep the peace.
As there was no one to furnish it for
him this was practically imprisonment
for life, so after a couple of months the
man wu called up and discharged.
There is no part of the naval equip
ment of nations that is more interesting
to the people than the torpedo boat, and
its peculiar duty. ’ Yet, with the excep-
tion of some slight use on the Danube,
thirteen yeara ago, the torpedo in it*
present form hss never been in action.
On that one occasion, moreover, ths
effect was chiefly upon the minds of the
combatants. Each was in such terror of
the torpedo boats of its adversary, that
the result was achieved through feat
rather than fighting. Yet we may safely
assume that the torpedo boat may be re
lied upon as a practicable weapon of
war.
The boat at present in use, whose main
duty is coast and harbor defence, requires
an auto-mobile or self-propelling tor
pedo, which shall run for half a mile
under water, and be exploded by con
tact with the enemy’s ship.
Torpedoes themselves may be divided
into three classes. In the first are the
fixed torpedoes, which are planted at the
bottom of the water near harbor en
trances, and exploded by electricity.
The second includes movable topedocs,
which are dependent upon connection
with a fixed base. A coil of fine wire
concealed upon the torpedo unwinds as
it advances, and by means of electric in
fluence the operator can make it stop,
start, turn to right or left, and finally ex
plode at will. The third class embraces
the strictly auto-mobile torpedoes, of
which there are two kinds, the White
head and the Howell.
The Whitehead torpedo has been
adopted by all the naval powers of Eu
rope. Its body, which is cigar-shapcd,
is of polished steel plate, about eighteen
feet long and fifteen inches in diameter
midway. Near the atern is a diaphragm
and a small screw propeller. The body
of the Whitehead torpedo is divided
into three sections. The front portion
is devoted to the storage of fifty pounds
or more of dynamite, which is dis
charged by contact with the hull of tho
vessel destined for destination. In the
central section is a very compact engine,
which has nearly 100 he,rse-power, and
is usually marlo-of phosphor bronze. In
the last sectictn lies tlie stored power,
which is air compressed to a pressure of
1500 pounds to thfa square inch. Ex
periments made in Portsmouth,England,
have established 'for the Whitehead tor-
pedo a speed o{ about thirty-five miles an
hour when ittf s set for a 500-yard flight.
The torped or a used by the English Gov
ernment am made at the Arsenal qt
Woolwich,, on the Thames, and cost
about JEf/lCi each.
The Hc>weU torpedo is au American
math Aie. It resembles the Whitehead,
but /differs’from it in its means of pro-
F Jition. Its motive power is furnished
’t>j a fly-wheel, to which rapid motion is
given just before it is to be used. The
amouut of power stored in the wheel is
astonishing, and, by its force, the tor
pedo can be made to perform a flight of;
nearly two miles. Great nicety-of finish
is necessary in order perfectly to balance
the machine, which would otherwise be
torn to pieces by the vibration of tho
wheel, enclosed as it is in the torpedo,
and running at the rate of 1200bturns a
minute. The Howell torpedo leores no
visible trace of its flight through the
water, and is, in this respect, superior
to the Whitehead, whose course is plain
ly discernible by the bubbles of exhaust
air which rise to the surface. But, on
the other hand, the spinning of the fly
wheel in the Howell torpedo it accom
panied by a tremendous noise, caused
by the exhaust steam which is used to
give it the requisite speed.
The mode of using the two machines
is the same. Iu the side or bow of the
vessel is fixed a tube contalning:the tor
pedo, which, when it is on a line with
the object to be destroyed, is projected
by a charge of slowly buringqpowder, or
the release of a quantity of compressed
air.
The boats used for carrying torpedoes
are more complex in cowtruction than
the instruments themselves, and have .re
ceived much attention from naval de
signers. They are divided into two
chases. A boat which can bwcarried by
a ship belongs to tho smaller clJm, and
is limited in length and displacement by
the capability o( the ship which is to
launch it. Such torpedo boats are from
seventy feet to fifty-five feet in length,
from seven to eight feet wide, and dis
place ten to'fourteen tons. They are ex
pected to work only a tew hours, and
carry a crew of not more than six men.
The engines and other equipments of
the second-claes boat are more simple
than those of the larger, and up to the
present time they have always been fur
nished with single screws which give n
speed of seventeen or eighteen knots an
hour. They are used as adjuncts to
larger ships, and in an engagement are
expected to harass the enemy by attack
ing from several points at once. The
battleships Maine and Texas are to be
furnished with two of these second class
torpedo boats.
L Boon after the saqqndidoM boat emg)
raw use, fuimu Twenty-live yean ago, K
was seen that a larger boat for harbor de
fence was desirable, and to meet the de
mand the British Admiralty built the
Lightning, the first of her class. Bhe
was eighty-five feet long. Since then
these sea-going torpedo boats, as
they are often called, have been increased
in length to one hundred and fifty-five
feet, and in displacement to one hundred
and sixty tons, while their range has
been increased from harbor to coast de
fence. They are also fitted with twin
screws.
Since the success of the torpedo ser
vice depends on “dash,” it is clear that
the highest possible speed is desirable.
This has been developed with such suc
cess that, in a recent trial of first class
torpedo boats built upon the Baltic for
the Italian Government, a speed of nearly
twenty-seven knots an hour was ob
tained.
The sea-going torpedo boat No. 1,
named tho Cushing, recently built in
Bristol, R. I., for the United State*
Government, affords the best example of
vessels of her class. Although she is the
first ever built iu America, all the ex
perience of foreign builders has been
utilized; and it is thought that some im
provements over all others have been in
troduced.
The Cushing is 198 feet long, and fif
teen feet wide, is furnished with twin
screws driven by quadruple expansion
engines of 1800 home power combined,
and shows a speed of twenty-three and a
half knots light, and twenty-two and a
half knots loaded. The hull is of the
best quality of plate steel, and it is all
galvanized to prevent damage by sea
water. The Cushing is heavier by sever
al tons than her foreign predecessors,
and does not for that reason show such
high speed. It was thought best to
sacrifice something of speed to durability
aud strength. Bhe is about one knot
less fast than the best record of foreign
boats of her class, while her accommo
dations for officers and crew and her
manceuvreing powers are far superior to
theirs.
The Cushing is required to carry four
Howell torpedoes, to hare space for two
tubes used in discharging them, and for
a crane of a capacity of 1500 pounds' lift-
used in hoisting them out of tho water
after experiments. She must carry three
machine guns on deck, and a magazb ^
in which ammunition for the torpt
and the guns may be safely stored. _
engine for hauling up the anchor ^
properly placed, aud she mus‘ ^ csrr y ft
full electric plant, that is ^ m dynamo
with its engine and con'_ |Cctiou% wUh
which to light the vess'^ and form9e ^
two electric search
The propelling power must develop
force enough drive the boat teventy-
two knots hour, aud maifataia a roa-
souabl.u rate of speed for a distance of
301)0 miles, which means room for a
large stock-of coal, and all othen engine-
room equipments. Besides all this, she
must have quarters for four officers aud
a crew of sixteen men, who mOKI bo pro,
perly fed and supplied with water, which
is distilled on board the vessel at . thq.
rate of ten gallons an hour. Space there
must be, too, for clothing, provisions
and medicines, in fact, everythin that
is found on a ship of five thousand tons,
though in reduced form.—/Youth't Com
panion.
The Czar’s,Interview With a Nihilist.
Btepniak, the famous Russian Nihilist
snd novelist, now in the United State*,
is one of the most Interesting personal
ities in London, where he resides, and
has done much by his writings to show
us the seamy side of life in Russia. In
his career as a Nihilist he has had many
hair-breadth escapes, and when you
look at his pate, impassive, Slavonic
face, you caamce that the risk of death
has bad •* terrors for him. On & recent
occaaioa he waa asked his opinion of the
preeeat Csar, and replied: “I believe
Alexander 1H. to ba an honest and good
man, but ” and he paused signifi
cantly. A few yeara ago, a* many will
remember, the banquet ball of one of the
Imperial palaces was blown up by dyna
mite. The ornamental work in the ceil
ing required.*ome alight repairs. The
workman who came to do these brought [
with him,* small infernal machine which
was timed to explode shortly after the
$URI0US FA8T8’
A beggars’ journal has been started at
Paris.
Canes have gone out of fashion hi 1
London.
A new map of Chins has been ordered
by the Emperor and the surveys have al
ready begun.
An enterprising New York undertaker
has made a hit with tennis burial suits
for small boys.
Flute* found in the pyramids of Egypt,
played 9000 yean after burial, show that
the Egyptians had our teals.
Long coats came into fashion daring
the reign of CharlesVil. of Fiance be
cause His Majesty had a pair of iU-ehaped
legs.
It is stated that while foiMgnera in
France number three per cent, of the
population they are eleven per cent, of
tho convict class.
Mention is made of beets of the *89
crop lately proved by table use to be
fresh as ever. They weie kept buried in
dry sand in the cellar.
San Francisco ia ia a snowless region.
The snow that fell there in January,
1883, was the first that the people had
seen there for seventeen years. j
A defaulting broker in Cincinnati,
Ohio, who escaped from a conatable, had
the impudence to telephone 4iat fact tc
the authorities and then left for parti
unknown.
A crap was caught in the harbor of
Victoria, British Columbia, that was
three feet six inches around tho waist.
It was presented to the ftuaeum of
Natural Scince.
A jeweler says that it ia a rare thing
for him to sell a solid gold watch-chain.
Everybody buys the plated article nowar
days, even these people who are well
able to afford the solid.
An interesting sight in some of the
cemeteries of Kansas is the pine-board
advertisements of undertakers and tomb-
one manufacturers tacked up on trees b-
entc/prising advertisers.
.A botttq 'thrown into
Njveir.’Der 24, 1887 ^ ft £ m thfl ^
•°niG, ^out 40^ ^ out ^
l neatly hashed ashore on a little islet in
the Oarribean Sea, 6300 miles away.
Some yean ago Lady Assington phil-
knthropicaliy sent twenty-four British
families to the Cape Colony in South
Africa, to found an improved colony.
She bought land for them, but the result
was a failure. The men would not
Work. 1
A New Jersey inventor has perfected
an ice locomotive to be used on icefields.'
It is hung on runners, and ito driving 1
wheels arc cogged. Its inventor hopes
to get it into service with the ice
cutters; aud to live to see it pulling traina
of ice-ladeu can over the frozen surface
of the Hudson.
Stanley says that certain portions of
Africa will always be worthless on to-
count of the ravages of the grasshoppers.
In one instance he saw a column of young
grasshoppers ten miles broad by thirty
long marching down a valley, aud when
the grass was fired agaiast them they
were thick enough to smother the
flames.
Sixty the Average Age er senaters.
More than half of the constitutional
convention of 1787 were men who had
not reached the age of forty-five, while
there are only seven men who are not
past forty-five among the eighty-eight
members of too United States Senate to
day, and four of these come from
the younger States of tho West, where
there are fewer old men than in the East,
Maine and Vermont having, according to
the census returns of age, m>re than six
times as many males past the age of
•ixty proportionally as Colorado and the
Dakotas.
No less than thirty-seven of the eighty-
eight Senators, or nearly half of ail, are
past sixty, and nine of them beyond
•evenly, as three others will be within a
few months. Mr. Morrill has a colleague
from Ohio who, like him, waa born in
1810; two who were born in 1816, and
three in 1818. Three of theee have, like
him, sought and obtained re-elactions
commsoeement of a large family dinner- | 8fter the y were P*’* seventy. The aver-
party to be held there that evening.
This he intended to place in a small
niche which he made for the purpose in
the-ceiling. He was standing upon the
ladder with the bomb in his hand, when
in walked the Cxar himself. He began
to talk, and asked the mechanic about
his life, whether ha was married, if he
had children, and convened with him
kindly for some time. It was a terrible
lituacion for the Nihilist, who was quite
charmed by the manner of the terrible
White Czar, whom he had come to as-
laasinate. His impulse waa to confess
ill, but his oath of allegiance to his cause
deterred him, and when the Czar de
parted, having given him some money,
no adjuated the bomb and left tho palace.
That night was one of great anxiety to
»U the Nihilist* in the plot, and when
the explosion was heard at the right
time it was thought that all the guests
lad perished. But it happened that the
Duke of Edinburgh arrived at the palace
half an hour Ute for dinner, and tho
bomb exploding belore dinner had com-
tnenccd, a chance unpunctuality pre
vented a fearful Xn^dj^—Onee-a. Wttk.
age age of all the Senators falls only
about a year short of sixty.
In the Supreme Court the change has
been equally remarkable. Since Pierce a
day but one roan has been placed upon
this bench who had not passed tho sge ol
forty-five, while of the twelve appointees
during the past two decades no less than
four were more than sixty when they
took their scats. Of the eight judge*
left after Mr. Miller's death one is seventy
years old, one is seventy-four and one is
von ty-seven —Century.
r
Man s Face.
The two sides of the humau face are
not exactly alike, and a German biologist
asserts that the lack of symmetry is, as a
rule, confined to the upper parts of tho
face. In two cases out uf five the eyes
are out of line, and seven persons out of
every ten have stronger sight in one eye
than in the other. Another singular fact
is that tho right ear is almost univer
sally shorter than the left, not only a
little shorter, but enough to show even
in inexact measurement.—tif. Louit Re
public,
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