HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Signal, 1898-6-16, Page 2tegliglegligligeotatienoelielitegeeneedleallebeediggegginlikedalennannidella len
THE LAST VOYAGE OF MARTIN VALLLANCE :
A SEA,STORY OP TO -DAY.
By JOHN ARTHUR BARRY,
Author of "Steve Browse Searle," '• In the Greet Dem,' etc.
Although subsea to Intervals cid there came to my ear6 the faint report
of a gun then •notber, and another.
bearing something in. ties sound of
them in my ears of quick impatience
and distress.
Rapidly the smother thickened se.
brooding 'redeem the girl bed regained
much of her (beery. hopeful nature.
sad weed to keep me sweet and plea-
sant company whilst we sailed tbe brig,
acanetimes into the small hours. Then, forgetting aught else. I pulled madly
when she went telco. after giving me toward.' the noise of the shots -all the
11 guide 1 had. for the brig was by this
time ieviaible; and but for those dull
echoes out of the mist 1 should have
been quite bewildered -aa likely es out
sweetheart's -for that such abs was I king away from in plea o to the
more than hoped. altbougb neither time Bele. And born I blessed the Vets
nor place served to put.tbe matter to once of mind in my darling that had
the test. Of seeing the' Major again I usduced last to think of the only poo
all ex tatibn. aille mods of indloating her where -
bad quite given up pec Means! Even when •curably. close
Helen, as she told me. bad not another alongalcle almost bitting bar, w thick
relative in the world. Clearly. et tha wars the tog, testator the report over-
h ead 1 meet have missed the vessel.
As I 'timbered ern deok • dim figure
came swiftly towards me, making with
wids.opsn arms as Lf to embrace ms
then all at once, with • quick cry. it
seised both my kende, exclaiming. "Oh.
I thought I had lad you. and it near-
ly killed me I" Then. still bolding my
bands and teaching and sobbing hys-
terically. abe led me aft, and brought
food and drink to me. all the while. by
turas. upbraiding beraelt for sending
a hand to swing tbs yards and lay
down for a brief reit with Nan at my
feet. 1 would go over all our talk to-
gether, treasuring up every kind word
• very deep and moving glance of my
very first opportunity 1 must .marry
bee and take bar home to tbe vicar-
age. What abotild we do fora living'
1 never in this connection thought of
anythingthe Major might have tett."
Well. tre wee a farm that 1 was to
have worked, had I not chosen Wasiak
• livelihood instead on "these barren
!Saida of validating toew•" The lease
would sbortly be ap, and I could re-
sume it for myself and Helen; and it
would to hard Indeed it I couldn't
kaock tome kind of a support out of me w' such an 'Minaret, and giving
it without having to cows to the old _thanks. to God for wy safe return. And.
woe for beip; ).1.1"1why. tai-thanks.
1t mode me proud and hippy
to see stash depths of emotion stirred
'for my take in one usually so calm
and self-poreassed. Bub not until I
found bee at last, s.iottied and tran-
quil would 1 tell ber•tbe result of my
trip. and then not in full. although
I think I need not have feared. had 1
so wiabe.l seeing that for a time all
things seemed swallowed up in deep
ttibrnktalneia for my rescue and un-
harmed presence beside her.
But what -of the _Antelope t What
awful misfortune could it be that had
overtaken her. to tend that ghastly
boat -load of corpses to ram the sea
unburied? Whatever it was. it must
have twee diameter. ewldes and.eiellees.
tear a mamma it at ruck me ,.just pos-
sible that this very boat might wave
been lowered for me when 1 fell over-
board. and that the ehip bad failed to
pick ber up. But on going back and
thinking over the state of the weather
at the time 1 saw U was well-nigh in-
credible such • thing could bailee.
And surely I must have seen some-
thing of them nett day} 14o. 1 felt
certain in my own mind that the An-
telope bad come to grief in home terrier
ly complete manner -a foreboding. as
you will see later. Cully realised.
A day or two after this incident,
whilst at work in the galley. I beard
Helen, at the wheel. cry out and paint
away on the port. bow.
Jumping on to the forecastle -head.
I saw • vessel which, like the Aurora.
bad altered her course to speak us.
This one. however, had crept up dur-
ing the night.. unperceived until now.
We still kept otitT distress -signal flying
-not so much witb the hope of .peak-
ing ships and burrowing men to to
obtain iooformatt.ion ree4ecting the
long -bat. Truth to tell, I think we
were getting a little cerelese as re-
garded the keeping a strict lookout,
eetpscially atter our experience with
the Aurora. hvtasntly, to get the
loan of _men from any ordinary ve..srl
wee well-nigh hopeless; and. unaided.
I began to think that our chances of
arriving at Ce etuwn, or anywhere
ells. were quite problematical. even if
the weather bold as fair as it had done
for so long. which was quite too much
to expect.
Within the last few days we had.
too. struck ao easterly current, and
tbe Hebe's drift o' nights was pretty
ooneiderable. Clipper as abe was. the
brig. udder her present ansae was
heavily handicapped. Not, even with
alder •low Trow the big orchard at
-Birch Grove ought to keep ua!
And so I dreamed, building my cas-
tles
artles to tbs air. Romance! Why. air
and ocean to tbese days were filled
with the glamour of it -and of my new
love!
We were very much together during
this time. How could it be otherwise?
And the more I saw of her the more l
discovered wbat • fine cbarseter it
was; what a noble soul and stainless
mind ag inti tfioi-i, id tight tnd'8tgntty
to tbs beautiful being that I felt my-
self gradually gaining possession of.
But always -although le talking to
you of bar I hive called her "Helen"-
it- wan l+etweeo us, MIs.7orteaoue and
Mr. Vallance. Most punctilious) did
MierwMier ftp appearances; and if our
eyes now and then spoke • language
u.nmlatakable. they were quickly low-
.,ered. 8(111. otteo. when her sift whits
hands met mine as we pulled en a rope
together, aha the breeze brusbed a
stray curl of hair across my cheek -
attest. I say. dtld 1 feel the need of self-
control merge into a very torture of
refraining from taking that graceful.
yielding form into my arms and then
and there declaring my Iovs. But ever
1 fiercely fought against such tempta-
tion and -beat my heart back into sub-
jection. gaining the victory. lookitig at
the last to my reward.
About this time it was. that being be-
aimed one evening. I sighted on our
starboard beam a boat •bout three-
quarters of a mile away. The Hebs
herself was motionless, or nearly so;
but tbs boat seemed drifting astern.
pretty quickly, probably In the set 01
some small current. In Helen's eyes.
se abe gazed. there was a perfect fev-
er of ayml•ethy and pits._ And I could
see that she yearned as it were. to
the right of tbe helpless. tossing
thing and presently she ipdkb, almost
i. reit nati nnt_ an low as to prie
vent me catching her exclamation: If
there should be any one sick and help -
1•.e -nigh deed in her r' And I knew
by the lab she gave as she turoed her
eyes away that she was thinking of
ber father.
It was a mad thing for me to do.
but I ct.uld not stand idly by and wit-
ness her distress. so I mid: "If you
will help me to lower tbe'dingey, I'll
pull over and see if there is anybody
in her."
to a moment gibe jumped to the dav-
it -Calls; in another four or five 1 was
pulling across the calm water. And
then it seemed to suddenly dawn on Helen for • relief at the wheel, could 1
ber what a fatally foolish action ber sail her day and night. In fact, I nev-
silent turging bad led me into: and
I saw ber wave her hat. and beard her
voice coming to me in recall. But al-
ready I was half -way ; and. determin-
ed to allow eo room for atter self -ac-
cusing' or regrets. I kept steadily on
cabs 1 was alongside the little dere-
lict.
Looking over into her. I saw some-
thing that made me start back with
fear and loathing; for there. prone 1n
tbe bottom. lay Iota bodies. theft fea-
tures
entatres rundistiDguLi6able from decay.;
and. worse than all, scattered about
there wets terrible egos that. before
tbeir own deathe they had been driven
to the last dread resort of the casta-
way. Bet for there ghastly. mutilat-
ed fragments. there was not • thing
in the bat with the corpses say her
ars. Two of tbe men lay under the
midsreip thwarts. nearly, doubled up,
as if their lasts memories had been.
speema of agony ; s third was right ie
the Bowe, eyeless from attacks of sea
leirda-.s shocking and a heart-rending
spectacle -with features run together
and discoloured until tbe face seemed
a biderme putrid mask. mocking all
eeutblrence of 'humanity. The fourth
corpse lay right aft on the gratidg. in
much similar case to the etber, only
that in his hand he grasped a hare
.heath -knife All tour, from their
clothes. were men before the mast.
There most i could too easily see. have
been others. Ugh! it was a gruesome
eight ; and giving the boat it above oft,
I had elip;ed my oars to return, when.
clueing to my push. she ams round,
r•tern towards me and. to my unutter-
able horror. I read on it LIN words,
".Aietel London."
I think. without using any extrava-
gant figure of vetch; 1 may say that.
sa my eyes caught the above inscrip-
tion. my very soul shook within me at
Abs ws &sal eserine isteaeot raised by
it. But what could 1 dot There was
tbe lioat sod eta burden floating soft-
ly away ! If b had possessed an ase.
er any tool whatever fitted for the
work i would have pursued it. and
driven a bole through iia bottom. and
lot three rotting tonnes sink to the
.:rpths below rather than wander the
naso to mush terrific guise. Rut 1 had
nntbing: and the idea of gropisg for
bar plus beneath 'bet festering masa
repulsed my ia►aginatien to the verge
of retain,. And now `lancing to-
ward* the Hobe. I enticed with a
thrill of alarm bow distant ops appear-
ed to he looming tndistinetl . • pale
&muss.'. the vert phantom of a ell,
afilhwert a m4A. that was feat rising off
MN- oily water. {Wen s• i stared
to make me earetul ; and tbat last en-
peria°oe 1 Wby, even still, o' nights.
I awoke wet with cold sweat, aftett
dreaming that 1 was in the dingey.
lashed aloogaide the other boat, with
her dreuitul. grewaome crew of dead
and rotting men. whilst through tbe
Dare afar off came to me Helen's voice
crying faintly and more faintly ea we
drifted away from each otber.
CHAPTER VII.
As the (srqueutine drew clamor, she
let go the &beets ul her three fore and
alt topsails, letting them hang tohe
w
erotrees in greet bunches 01 sere"aa
Then. squaring her ton -yard& and haul-
ing bee treeuendoue boom amidships,
she by stationary, or nearly en, not
a hundred yards away. ling end beavy
se she was, ber crew head ed her like
• top. Of hilly 1200 tone burden, she
was down the water aft, witb a sheer
in her from the elliptic stern to well
forward of the fure-rigging. curving to
• fine, free, gamecock -headed, graceful
bow, which, added to her immensely
lofty, raking meets and spreading
breadths of anvas, gave her in some
measure. to my eye, in spits of the
red ensign, styeauy ng from her hal-
yards, tb' air of (great bird of prey
about to 4rnunoe on tins naked, defence-
less Bebe.
All at once, aruidetlips gun her decks,
I'aatre st eight of istenetleag that made
my heart jump hallway to my mouth.
The object, wee the stern til a boat,
with on it a large gilt rising sun -an
ambient the reemory of which f was
not likely ter Yorget.
I said nothing to Helen. wbo. having-
helped
avinghelped n1e4to back our main -topsail,
was now standing tear me; but tak-
ing tbe gusset, tried to make the thing,
out ilium plainly, Yea there was no
doubt about the dgtiee; but then oth-
er boats besides the one might carry
such a mark. And. owing W tbe deep
shadow cast by the main -boom and
part of the sail. I could observe only
a portion of the stern; the rest lay
•host in darkness.
er seriously attempted to do so.
From aleft 1' could now ase the
stranger plainly -a huge mass of can-
vas that at first it rather puzzled me
to define. ao bizarre did it look. But,
presently. as sbe swam more plainly
into view, 1 made her oft to to a four -
masted larqueotine. with enormously
square fore -yards and towering main.
mizzen, and jigger masts. clotbed in
great atretcbes of fore and aft canvas,
whilst from letween them. and off her
bowsprit and jib -boom. sprang regular
flights of staysails and fits -on the
whole a very remarkable figure of a
ship. 1 had, however. seen the rig be-
fore. mainly in tinter -vessels hailing
from Puget Sound or Vancouver, and
bad never felt any inclination to be
shipmates with three loft] -toot banes
cue a draft that a jib might shake all
the .tick+ out of at once. Aa 1 watched
her she tufted till all her widespread
wings fluttered and shook like those of
tome monstrous sea -fowl preening it-
self ; then jibbing, she hoisted British
colors and beaded straight for the Bebe,
although on the other tack rhe would
have passed quite close enough to speak
ua.
Scanning the eastern horizon. I saw
athwart the aky a faint stain of smoke,
evidently from a steamer. but too tar
away to tell just yet in what direction
Me was travelling.
For the last couple of days we had
leen steering a south-west course. the
wind allowing ua W look up no high-
er; and that morning. for the
first time I bad noticed aucb
a marked fall in the barometer as
ret me seriously thinking of obtaining
help to pub a.p extra reef or two
in our topsails, and also get the dingey
on board, tor we had let it tow astern
ever since my mad trip after the dere-
lict boat. At the best ours was only
higgledy-ptg`ledy mast of avetgatioe;
and although far trims tired of it in
such swtany as my beautiful shlp-
matele. i would have been heartily
pleased to use tour or five strapping
A.B.'s dumping down their round-bot-
tomed
ound-bob
totted bags in the Hebe'■ forecastle,
swarming up her ratlines, and patting
all abe could arry on her. However,
the vestal and cargo I had by this Ume
got to look neer sa • kind of trust
cam®1tt«1 to my ears for Helen and
myself, and 1 ors aOWnninod to take
no risks. Help I sassed. mast 'case
at lase.. It only byPorting me et �stlmm�siast01 vepooi' ria
meanwhile i would do the test i e eW.
without killing nes If by saeus.aserr
Lehner and wvronrrrryy. 1'ral). i had seen
enough et .ceepls awful work lately
HOW sus IRB COILED,
GREATEST DEFECT FOUND IN THE
MODERN FIGHTING VESSEL.
rm.deg ten ster1ay reel-t'kaare. Ar sa
esveratlr •• alai' • Nose sad gee •
'scree lever Se n4 Pessary•
Tito ingenuity of inynton has been
&unset eshauated in their Worts to
perfeot the protective character of
obit*, to secure the greatest anapest
of destrudiv power in the eine and
projectile force of the big guns with
which they are armed. and to increase
„The barquentine was strongly man-
ned. for fully five and -twenty faces
peered at us over her bulwarks. And
such faces were they that, as [glanced
at them. I made up me mind at owe.
in This caae at least, to forego say mania
application tor assistance. There was
not a single white man emoaget them
-American negro.&. Yanakaa. Malays.
-sad_ half -tastes ed vl;J pg, grades of
yellow, from that of - er-eeddts-
the deeper tit of a roasted coffee -lean.
No, no. I wanted no such cattle as wards me I saw that it reklly was tbe
these on board the 'Liebe I old Major himself.
On a small monkey -poop, but Lot The barquentioe's gig werewith three
wich hahs was (leash iwe and aft• stood hands in her. Ili for the man. erten-
• wimp of three men all whites, who
devoured the Hobe with their eyes.had already covered halt tbe distance
staring aloft and around in a gage between the vessel and the Hebe'■ din-
that came always hack and settled on ger; but who. of oourwe, stood no show
Helen sad myself and Nan. who ss �a Ost such odds. and .wee being rep'
was her custom now.,ys•ben anything overhauled. Asking Heleo to teed
was to be seen, stood near us, her two
fore -feet cocked up on the brig's rail.
sad by tbe expression of ber knowing
face criticizing the stranger with
might and main.
the speed of the s'ar'is to the games- Is order to extort sums violent emotes
mum at the least possible expense' and in the baby. They treat the baby
with the least posslble danger to the
intricate machinery of the vast co-
sines by which they are propelled. As
approximate degree of perfection bets
beim reached in ell these particulars.
but there is toe question which bee
received 000aiderable •ttentioo that
has aM yet been satt.fsctorily solved.
and that is the problem of coaling titres baby'& attention to estabtiab rslatioa
floating fortresses. Many attempts
have been made to overcome the 411(1-
i.
•..;__ sa_s lbs inthe MaU lin► LLia re -
VA Neat so far >ilq_elMee sest%l sola-
tion or problem In rinten towed.
Tile New BaIi's fol
The tattier of the few baby takes
the child in • w* that militias ids
almost to be called the new father. IIN
views the baby wltb absolute renew.
nese "I am usable, quite unable,.' IIs
amid, in an iutervtew, "to treat the new
baby with eves occasional lightness.
That is why 1 hate to have wy to ty
das4ls. shake, or Uckls it. It sasws
to be the desire of relatives and fiends
to go through roma violent cunturtte*
in a apecal way. and that special way
is •a extravagant way, but there is
ao r'essoo wits the baby sbeids1let
is treated soberly, Like antbody area
"These people, wbo thus trifle with
the baby's nerves, are nol so math
interested in the baby es they are i
tbsuwelves. They seek to attract the
THE FORTS OF SANTIAGO,
Which have been silenced by the United States Ships.
right -at- t e tatfrail. I bent another
line to the one already fastened to the
painter. and telling Helen to run be-
low and bring up the big express rifle.
1 let the dingey drift down towards
r who. f '.midi ass, was ga►
-ire: we r•111I strong And now that I
had a good view of hie face Doming to'
the Ins, and keep veering it out. I • da noon in London. As this u a m -
caught up the rifle, sed taking earefet y
aim, so 55 to injure none of the. men, ductio sod absurdum. we have to look
I sent a bullet clean through the tout- for the limit, which does, in fact, exist,
tom of the pureeing boot. making the to the principle that as one moves
white chips fly where it struck.
westward the time geta earlier. and
"11410 I" &booted ooe of the men
in response to mix hail of ' Harquen-
tine. ahoy!' " What'. the matter with
the brig f Where's your crowd got to f
And what do you want C'
The speaker wale • tali. saeburned.
not ill-IookfDg imri. nit11 black mous-
tache and whiskers, clad in a sack suit
of gray tweed. wearing a Cape "smash-
er" hat o1 soh telt, and puffing lei-
surely at a big cigar. lie might have
been an American or an Englishman
from his speech; as a matter of tact,
he was, as we learned later, an Atrr
ka°der-father and mother D0tch-
Algos Bay.
Very shortly I gave them tbe head -
Imes o1 our story ; asked the usual don of loops and curves, witb here and knew what tee sun was doing until he
question about els boat; and explain- there a tunnel. The chief difficulty reappeared on Lb, eastern limit of the
ed that I'd be obliged for aa much help in runningthe railroad is due to the
Tom-
as' would shove another reef in our known world, bringing with ban Tues
topsails. way in which the rain case down. hay morning. Its evident, there -
As i finished the man. without giv- A recent book of traveL "A Run Round fore, that while tbe am was in the
ing me any answer, turned W the oth-
er'; and the three conversed appar-
ently with some little excitement, to
Judge from their animated gestures.
Then tbe tall one shouted: " No, I bav-
n't seen may boat like the one you
describe; but we'll keep a good look-
out. Who did you say was in her when
she went adrift 1"
-r WHERE VIE DAY BEGINS.
Proof Teat Then. 1. Sawa a riser is lir
World ie sere eeesaltled.
Bpsiag that as ens moves westward
the time gets earlier and earlier, so
tbat when it is Woodsy noon in Lon-
don it femme time us Monday menthug
in America, it follows that, if this
princ(ple wers`ioo L►itbont tinct
it all the way round tbs world, at
tee same moment that it was Mon-
day noon in London it would terTale
so twenty-four hours later -le., TOW
Tb Be Continued. ea one moves eastward gets Tater.
Before the circumnavigation of the
A WET COUNTRY. globe then ease no difficulty. When
on a Monday tier suo stood over Loo-
1erkable tiMrlewee of a Trate is die don. it was M.00day noon in London. As
61as.1 of Ceylon. the sun moved (to use the popular
The railroad obi -h. with its branch- phrase) westward, and stood • little
se. connects Colombo, the capital of later over Dublin, it became Monday
Osyiod. with the interior of tbe island.' noon in leedin, and so on until be
is remarkable for the engineering skill reached the western limit of the
shown is Ito Mee streetipe. -esti feriae- -known world -eaewn -the
prosperity. it makes an ascent of over that limit that was the end of
thirty-five hundred feet by a soccer- noon for that Monday, and nobody
Now. i had not mentioned that any
one aR all was in her. And my eye
wsodereng ,whilst he spoke, over the
barquentine, 1 noticed that tbe main-, the engineer to push for the tunnel,
gaff had been quietly lowered until I Just as the train entered the Wri-
the
uo-the sail completely bid the boat; and Del. down came a huge masa of rock.
this rendered me more than ever sus-' which carried away the embankment.
picious that there was something ss well as the last car d the train -
wrong. However, I replied that it was $ goods van fortunately. Close lie -
just possible that Major Fortescue, the 1 bind the tunnel the ends of the rail
owner of the brig, might have been in I were banging Irre over a precipice. and
the long -boat. I a similiar eco lition existed not far
'' You ain't sure stout the matter, ahead.
then, eh!" asked the tall man. A messenger came down from $
" Well, no." I said ; " we can't be sure planter's bungalow Movie the tunnel
as nobody saw him go overboard. Still,
there's every chance he did manage
tea pick her up and get into her."
At this they bad another confab, two
of them apparently urging the speak-
er to do something that went against
his grain. As they sponte tbey pointed
to the brig repeatedly. It was all very
curious': and I would have given much
tor a clear view of her decks. beginning
to suspect. as I did. that they had the
boat and were simply arguing as to
tbs advisableness, or otherwise, of
sticking to it.
The vessels had by this drifted an-
other hundred yards away from each
other; and i was keeping an eye to the
group aft. when all et once *startled
exclamation from Helen drew my at-
tention to a mail* on the forepart of
the harquentine. Then in another mo-
ment 1 saw a man, clad in a suit 0f
bright blue dungaree, shake himself
clear of the crowd, knock a couple of
thews bead wet beet, and jumping on
to the atrenger'a rail. plunge overboard
and ewie, for the Hebe.
" Martin I Martin 1" suddenly *cream-
ed Helen. grasping my arm with both
hands. "it's my father!"
For a saeoad I was thrown all aback
with diehelief, for I has not *sen the
man's face, so quickly had the occur-
rence taken place. And how Helen could
he so sum of the thing bothered ma.
Rut she kept repeating. ' it's my fath-
er I my father r with a very 1°a10-
enoe of certainty that there wee no re -
misting. Gleaning at the bead of the
swimmer, bobbing up and down In the
little waves, my first notion was to
jump for the dirttey'a pais/of. ally
tt late itis beat awl small to the
alas asafetana. [tot east thee iso
Mood the hargoentlss birettas Mr
gwarter boat, and by tin siosta sad
tem -&ads, plainly audible at that short
dletaDer, 1' Mai Dat that. at all flak.,
the eseapivel one was to be eaptered
and heenght hook again. es, psomlog
FUTILE EXPIIIRMENTS.
gr+ moutat of nanny hes
spent in experimenting with new de-
vices for coa4ing vessels. but as yet no
process wimp* rapidity is • tactor has
been discovered. The coaling of
the ',metre." describes what the rain unkocen sl.yas between went and east,
did to a train crawling up the noun- he dropped the attribute of making
tainstde•the time at all places directly tinder
On December 27, 1P9R, eleven and a I hos rays Monday noon and took to
hall inches of nip tell in twenty-four I himtwlf the attribute of making it
bonze. The engineer c1 a train saw
that beyond a certain tunnel the line I Ttswday 00001
was washed away. He stopped the As the confines of the world were
trate and the passengers got out. One pasted further eastward and west -
01 sb-in. seeing Moot* rolling down d,
the mountainside above them, advised warresiectivsly,
THE UNKNOWN ABYSS
where thin change of attribute bed to
be made got narrower and narrower,
until, when the globe was circumna-
vigated, the plaoe of change became
simply a line. phis line masts and is
the place where the days begin. As
the ream crimes this remarkable spot
tbe time junto! twenty -tour hours on-
to my that nater was accumulating v"ard-fronoon on cos day to 00011
1n the cutting in frt. and that if �the °art dmay. The sititLion of the
eit,
broke through the debris wbich served line has been located quite fortuit.one
as • dam. it dould *ash the train out Iy-tamely vile
the ciruumatance wbo+
of the tunnel. The Iwasengen bash tber shy given mans war flat reaob-
creed to leave the cars and i walking bey civitbpetl mea jsrarseying from
through the water 1n the cutting foetid the east 0r from the west. Tbe diecnv-
tt up to their breasts. erer brahglet with him the almanac
from whence be came and it he came
from the west the time in the new
country would be later. and if be
rams from the met it world be ear-
lier than the time in the country he
came from.
,lmerica was reached by civilized
ma° voyaging westward, and China, by
of the present upper suspension bridge man traveling eastward, and the re -
will he by far the longest steel arch anit is that thin line that marks wbere
in the world. He span is PBI feet, and eke days begin linea Mtweeo the
its rise in the centre, tram. the level two in the Pacific ocean, end esin-
etead of being a straight line, zig-
zags about. dividing islands wbirb'bap-
paned to be discovered frout the east
from those which happened to be die
covered from the west.. There most
still be many islands in that ocean
wbere it L not yet decided to which
side of the line they belong. and
w•h' re if one were put down on. wouId
not know whether it were to -day, to-
morrow oTeeterdacy. There most also
Ire many Islands there which.
baying been permanently ocoopied by
civil ted people, change theiir da
from time to time, so that a ship call-
ing there coming from China might
arrive os Tuesday, while another ship
arriving at tbs saws time from Am-
erica would arrive on Monday. There
nowt he people living ao near this
Ilse that by miry a few ml lee they can
leave today rift got Tato to-morrew,
or by going bock an filed yeaterday.
Bow convenient for trotdeleaotto sp.
prtatarent. I
Mea other 'echoes eosaidaratioad
*Mil 10 one. but liaise said enough to
sWw-what everyone does sot mar-
bled realise -that there is a plate la
Ms wadi whom tho dare hero.
•
between themselves and the baby. 'l hat
la not the wary to take the baby se-
away;
eroa aly; it is sottish sad superfici&l._jr
am so much lstereate 1 io the 1104 tisk
1 eb not feet that there a1,
tedious between it and me. With tom'
with grown people, I f
both give and receive; 1 leave to dp_
with them because I wish to establish
• reciprocal relation. , Hut 1 take the
baby absolutely, I Sever think of i
ships for fuel is tennestilmohering. N ' feelings tar r0KitoI- Was; but
the coal ne deposited is-Tiaskers. sod od Its good and its fuatnra, sod, there
the primitive means employed do cot
bear witness that the matter has re-
ceived the attention that it demands.
though there have been some improve-
ments made in leseeoing the expense
and time necessary to fill a war ship's
bookers with coal.
But when the imps neaente.4t._wss
Mee in other respects are eopsidered.
the manner of coaling is almost as
crude as when tbs sail power was tint
atq+erseded by at•sw. r
Amuog the mechanical inventions for
this purpose is a barge provided with
square boxes that wilt bold about
forty tons each. These boxea or com-
partments are arranged no that they
can be separately raised by mechanical
means above the level of the ship's
port. The .coal is then diacharged
through a chute into the &hip. This
device can hardly be said to be beyond
the experimental stage. The great
trouble is not in finding a device that
can load the coal onto the ship, but in
taking care of it or stowing it away
atter it is on board. Coal cannot be
received on bard any more rapidly
than it can be stored. The amount
of cal that can to stowed away is
about • ton per man per hour.
WOMEN A8 COAL HEAVERS.
1s the Wset Indies they hes. not
even advanced this far. and more prim-
itive method, than the one described
are still in vogue there. Tbe work
is done exclusively by negro women.
who in a slow and measured tread file
to and fro over the gang plank. each
carrying about • hundred pounds of
a b.aket ea her head. In the
Mediterranean ports the wore done
in much the same way. exoept that men
instead of women do the work. .1A
great deal has been said and many
suggestions hare been made. on this
subject by naval constructors. who
al.preciate the deficiency in the present
mode of bunking war ships. and who
aro earnestly looking for sons. arrange-
ment that will expedite the present
tedious and inronveniert way of accom-
plishing this work. It is said that in
the newest and latest improved war
ships, the demand for space 1s never
satisfied. Naval officers have already
learned that the cooling operations of
• great war ship is of vast importance
sa a modern battle ship or cruiser is
as dependent for efficiency oncost as
ole ammunition.
ONE GOOD DEVICE.
NIAGARA'S GREAT STEEL ARCH.
The steel arch bridge, now in course
od construction tierces the gorge be-
low Nlagarn Faille. to take the place
of the piers, MO teat, making its 'rest-
art knight above the surface of the
river 1112 feet. The next longest steel
arch beloogw to a bridge at Oporto.
Portugal where the span is 546 feet.
At Gerahit in Fresco there is • similar
bridge bev i •s • span Mint 541 feet, and
a rise in the centre 0f 170 feet. about
20 feet greater than that of the Niagara
bri4ga.
ANCIENT REt'ORiiB.
The authentic records of the Chin-
ni* rase, began about 4,000 years ago,
though the traditional history extends
back much further. As a matter of
tart. however. the ridable record of
(Idea dose ext go beak further thas
MOB B.C.. and i4 u believed by doom
oingl°•l authorities that the Cinemas
salmi ds not antedate those of
The earliest dye's: et Mina. trristai
Ms, dates bass Mg a. R. to no A . pt,
sed the long list of pomading dysert1M
1s Ieltu►ed to love little hotted, foss-
dhatise than in the hoopinatiora of the
Cbiaese blaner1aos
L`o Roc
tura, I let it alone as much as 1 can. 1
know that ,tee Dares. in spite of all
that L can do, talks sad laughs to it
tare much. and .a 1 keep away Iron
It as much as possible. noontime'
whoa it is lying alone in its crib aa4
I•.paas the open dour. 1t yells to lair
with all tfin force el its to ootha-old
lungs. and waifsala to euis� 16; tTir1;
do not. although 1 love soiling mon
in the world than to look at it wittiest
speaking as it lies quietly he its crib.
1.laaw 1Jlst ethers a;cite it so natsef
that it is my owti nsiwoob is t(dd leo XPi `
future weakness and hysteria.
"When I do go to ass it 1 look at it
with anxiety, sweet satiety, but yet
anxiety rather than delight, for 1 a1-
, mass .lhink_lbes of its 1l 17 A od
whop 1 am alone, too, atter m work, I"
think d it* future. bow iia life would
Is affected by casualties which might
happy... _
1 was told the other day." maid the
vintor. "that the doctor bad said that
it was necessary to shake the baby o-
casluainly for the sake of its digestion
and that emsequlently. you bad in-
formed
o-formed the nurse that she might agi-
tate it gently oo,vv and then, bat nev-
er to do so when the baby wanted it.
and always to stop wbse the baby le-
gan to ebow pleasure. for then the
nervosa excitement would be too
great."
The father ambled a 11/Sedif4-
senile. Of cowrie.' he med. "people
will burlesque and parody anything
they can. Parody is easy. 1 oftem
indulge in parody myslf, but never
dein matters in which I am'prof ouudly
interested or which $re very imi.ortant.
What f really said to the nuns was
that she should not make the doctor's
deed -nn tieues-foril1egeinrtses-
citeenent o1 the baby • that .he should
not um the plea of the baby's diges-
tion
igertion as an excess for satisfying her te-
pL6 leve tenderness toward the belplets
Little creature.
"Tbe present nurse loves the baby.
That. in itself, is no fault, but it leads
to • lot of senseless babble and harm -
fit: gesticulations. 1 have to watch has
carefully. but abe is preferable to the
last nurse. wbo took no interest of
any kind in the baby. The last nurse
seemed really rather inhuman about
it. She seamed to see no more In the
baby than she would have seen in •
piece of clay, and such insensibility
points to too small a caul to have a
bah intrusted to.
"Ws must," ootinued the father.
tarnbng to the graudmother, "get s
larger crib for the new baby. la the
morning when it wakes op and finds
itself .onarrowly'c•l'in'd. cribbed, eos-
tined' that it can't dart its strengthen-
ing little neck from side to side with-
out bumping its blooming head. it it
peculiarly inclined to protest."
Yea." answered the grandmother.
"amid when i take it out of the crib
and put it on t4. bed 1t rolls over is
physicallee and bowls with freedom
and delight. Ohl Ohl toe deer little
thing I And the doctor said it ought
to be rushed upend down the ball for
its digestion@ alike. And the pour
little thing doe. look fro esthetic is
the morning with that bandage arouse
its head to keep iia ears down!'
The visitor emboldened by the trend
of the ggracdmother's remarks, said to
the father: "How do you prevent tbs
new baby from enjoying itself ? I
have remarked that it etretcbea its
neck in evident delight in its muscles
and gives vent to deep and rhangilif
tones. indicative of interest in the de
velopment of its throat; that it la°Rhs
and smiles whenever it sees anything
which le not black."
The father didn't feel that it was
necessary to answer what seemed to
him a frivolous question. bot a little
later he confided to the visitor the deep
and growing horror he felt 101 indivi-
duate who could not take serious things
seriously.
"Apropos of your recent question. I
may nay that It Is not remarkable that
the baby takes delight in itself. f
Mout at present it 1a out the only thing
it baa to be joyous about," ,
This remark ed the father might went
to indicate that be blinswif telt that
his own method 1. trafalsg a new baby
had elemsmta of somberneaL Rut M
every deep and serious religion -aid
the father's attitude toward the 05
baby la distinctly religiose -there is e
amber shims 1..
One of the most popular devices for
loading cosi is what in known as the
s.if-ek'.bargiag barge. whish. in ocm-
parii with others, is regarded as be-
iag elsoesssfol. In these barges the coal
is draws out and anted rep an incline
piens to an altitude that will permit
delivery through chutes into the porta
of a ship. Ibis is doge by means of
endless carriers or conveyers that are
run by steam. One engineer and his
aasiatant can manage to operate one of
three barges. and can handle from
eighty to a hundred tows an hour and
stow it &waiy- in the bunkers.
VDALING WIIiLle 'UNDER WAY.
Another device [mown as the Tem-
perly transporter has been in tree in
France, and bas been Iceman to stow
on board a war ship going at a rate
of seven knots an hour a hundred tons
d coal in three bout. While the
transfer was being made the ship and
the transporter were kept apart by
their beim"' and prevented from .ep-
arating by cables. The above are holy
a few o1 the modes of devices now in
use for loading cal on • man-of-war,
and naval inventcws are taxing their
ingenuity to invent some process by
which the tedious end inconvenient
modes may be anperseded. As neces-
sity is the mother of invention. the
probability is that before another de-
cade this great obstacle in the way of
naval progress will be removed, and the
coaling facilities of our iron war shite
be as efficient es tb tr shooting or
nailing facilities.
WHERE FLINTS ARE CUT.
It may surprise you to beer that In
spite of the mlllioos of modern gens
and rifles nowadays turned out the an-
oient Matlock is not quite • thing d
the peel. Then is still in England at
tent one msaufsetory of flints for this
use. The Biota are all made by hand,
being no the operator's knee end
ebt with • hemmer to the proper
slags. Of course. • number et these
filets are end for tin asking. These
go principally to countries like g/sls
and Italy. where the duties ea winter,
amebas sad wax mmthss area high
se to eesvert thea from the obsolete
amensit they are in Wait Brit•ls te
a maltreat lsznry, de that Hint and
stool are ares
A PAIR Ola INNOCENTS.
Meads said the father, wbo
ss lrooeat ea lea auride
olsorinserd sow of
with that yoang mea in
evening. Why didn't you tit
healsden Wm,w`n he mid you rode
tegio
etroneladsing by berth 00114 w
I Md tom. end also aloe looked as is^
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