The Brussels Post, 1891-7-24, Page 22
that ileums of the Ocean SteamshIpsi
Ilereef Notes on the 'Vessels of an
Earlier Perim,.
WREOKS AND OTHER OASUALTIES.
The Coutnat amen in Which These nen.
eters or tee peen Are Constructed
—The ante eraieit tins Ream -
en mane or the Ocean
Liners.
ferhaps the finest illustration of the in.
emu -tire and constructive genius of man to be
ound in the world to.thay is one of the
euperb steumatips which have of Into yeers
reduced the vest Atlantic ocean to little
more then tan Anglo•American lake. Take,
for instance, any one of the met recent ad-
ditions to the splendid fleet of omen " grey•
hounds," it seems hardly possible for even
the most brilliant imagination to conceive of
a human structere more perfect in all thole
details that together constitute the acme
of safety, speed mud luxury. If other
steamers may with sufficient aceuracy be
called floating hotels, this one might with
equel propriety be termed a floating ;club
house, as well as a hotel of the highest class.
For the purpose of this article a brief sur-
vey of the dimensions and equipment of
such a steamer will make a good starting
poin t.
Her length is, say, 590 feet, breadth 08
feet, depth 40 feet, She is, in fact, one of
the largest vessels in the world, her die -
placement, when fully loaded, being not
less than 10.000 tons, a figure surpassed, if
at all, only by one or two of the huge Italien
ironelads recently launched,
It is not easy to eive any just conception
of what tbe above dimensions mean, or to
help those who have never seen one of these
floating palaces to realize the enormous
amount of constrective talent, adaptive
skill and (trial° feeling, as well as money,
that they represent. In the words of the
Engineer : "It is perhape because it seems
almost imposeible to do so gigautic a sub-
ject justice, that the literature, if we may
use the word, nf Atlantic passenger stem.
ships is deplorably meager."
Nothing that art and- science can do to
render the ship beautiful without and with.
in, luxurious, safe and swift, is left out of
amount. In addition to being ininutely
subdivided by athwartship bulkheads, there
is e longitudinal bulkhead renning fore and
aft, and tot -ming a mighty backbone that
gives additional rigidity to the whole strue.
tore, greatly increasing the security ie
event of accident. Furthermere, the doom
closing the different oompartments can be
shut instantly from the flying cleck by ,pul•
ling small wi te ropes, while there are
automatic arrangements by which these
doors will dose of theinselves if the water
rises, unduly in the bilges.
As to the fittings and furnisaings that
contribete to the ease and comfort of the
fortunate passengers it wonld require
columns to describe them. The chief arch-
itectural feature in such steamers is, of
course, the saloon, which becomes a
banqueting hall of almcst awsome bril-
liancy. The length often exceeds sixty
feet, and the breath ie but little less.
Fancy so vast an apertment being at one's
command in mid -ocean I
Standing under the lofty dome of many -
colored glass and gazingabout at the multi-
tudinous mirrons, the golden figures of era
tons, nymphs, aud mermaids disporting hi
an ivory sea, the richly -carved cabinet work
in English oak, and the great round ports
in their elaborate setting of rich brass
pouvif work, one cannot quickly grasp the
idea that all this splendor is eimply part of
a vessel—of a ferry boat plying between the
old world and the new. It eeems to belong
more properly to the palace of some 'nighty
monarch.
The same feeling is produced by the
sumptuous staterooms with their wide four.
post bedsteads of gleaming '
brass the
spacious library aboi
unding n books, the
gorgeous smoking room fit for a prince's use,
and the other departments of this ocean
monarch on board of which the population
of a goetasized town might stow .away Mita
fortably, for her normal carrying capacity
is 300 saloon paeseegers, 175 second class,
and 855 steerage, makingeop with the 168
engineers, etc., in the engine room, the 40
sailors in the forecastle, the 25 cooks in the
gallery, and the 00 stewards in the pantry;
nearly 1600 souls ; 3000 tons of coal and
4000 tons of cargo being carried besides.
Here then we have excellently illustrat-
ed the utmost that man, so far at leash, has
aehieved in the line of naval architecture for
the passenger service. Competing lines Will,
no doubt, make it their business to see the
latest addition to the fleet and go one better.
They will, perhaps, succeed in effecting
some further improvementa but it is nos
likely that much antecedent to Bellamy's
ee. D. 2000, at all events, we will have any
such marine monarch as that outlined lathe
following words :—
" She will be over a quarter of a mile in
length; and will do the passage from Sand y
Hook to Liverpool in thirty-six hours, being
one night out. alio will he driven by elec.
trinity, and in such a fashion as to keep rail-
way time, despite fog or storm. Passages
eon be secured by flash photo. Eclison's
patent, and the ticket will include an opera
stall, ora concert ticket, or a seat in a church
pew—the opera]) ouse, concert hall 0ml:church
being. all on boned. A 'covered ring for horse'
exermse will also be provided, and a racing
track for fast trotters, A base hall ground
and tennis meets will also form a portion of
the attractions. For business men a stook
exchange will be operated, the quotations
being posted from the tickers every two
minutes, on the vibration syseem. The
leading pepers of eel countries will be re.
printed each morningby the electric retie°.
tion system. A spacious eonservatory, °en-
training the choicest flowers of all climates,
will afford an agreeable lounging place, and
bougeets will be provided gratis."
A remarkaltle feature about the develop.
meet of ocean steam navigation is its we
Mending rapidity. Putting aside the Savan-
nah, which was really n sailing ship with
steam merely as en aeljtmet, awl which
made the trans-Atlantic trip in 1 819, the
first omen steamer was the Royal William,
that crossed from Quebee to London in 831,
using coal all the way, and taking nearly
three weeks to make the paesage, abe was
o paddle steamer of 800 tons burden, a
clumsy craft that tvould nowadays be eon.
sidered fit only for a cool hulk. Six years
leter the Groat Western appeared, anti on
her first voyage out down the record to four.
teen drys, sulesegnently reducing it to twelve
tlays Fuel a ball. She, too, was a paddle
steamer, and her dimensions were quite re.
• epectable, her length being 231 feet, her
breitath 134 feet, find her tonnage 1120,
But if it were possible to take the Geertt
Western, in her tame the wonder and pride
of two continents'and to place her beside
the Fume lefsmarele, the Teutonic, the City
of Para'
( the Alaka, the Etruria, 8.1' any
other oftho ocean greylionnils of Our (ley,
how pitiably insignificant sho Would seen),
end yet the vast gep between the two vee.
eels has been closed in little more than half
O century. Many were the centurim re.
geircel to develop the inodern broughem out
of the lumbering obariot, or the swift -sail.
ing packet ship out of the slow:movies gal.
ley, hut sixty yeas have stalk:Led to give us
e degree of perfection in ocean steamships
that even in this ago of inechneileal nutevels
is nte, easy to imagine being aerpaesee
As one looks at it steamship, stately,
strong, stnench and swift, ti question
What will be her el thnate fete 110 very apt
to coma into the ;land. To all appearances,
barring, of course, destruotion by shipwreelt,
collision, or fire, she might last for a centeiry
or more, and if so, how varied and interesting
would be het• history. The main object of
this article is to offer some 5001 01 ;waver to
this very question,—and in endeavouring. to
point out whet becomes of ocean steatalups
I will ewe with some of the eaeliest in the
fleltet.
a,
e Royal William (1831), already leen-
tioned, after making her successful trip
across was sold to the Spanish Government
and her ocean career abruptly *lewd. The
Sirius 1 1838) also made only oee voyage,
and that proving unprofitable waS placed
upon the channel service between Cork and
Dublin, where she ran for many years, The
Great Western (1838) completed thirty.seven
round voyages, and was then sold to a West
India company, for whieh she did good
service until 1857. The Liverpool (1 838)
after making six voyages from the port that
gave her birth and name to New York and
back was purchased by the Peninsular and
Orieetel Company, in whose hands she was
wrecked off Cape Finistetae.
.A. still worse fate betel the President.
This finestearner was launched at New York
with great eclat, in December, 1839, and
started on her first trip in August of the
following year. She made good time across,
and great hopes were entertained concerning
her. But they were doomed to speedy
blight. In April, 1 84 1, she sailed from
Liverpool bound to New Yrk, and was
never heard of again. Other vesseis reported
icebergs abounding, and strong gales preva-
lent, and no doubt these two perils of the
sea combined for the destrnetem of his un-
fortunate steamer whose mysterious loss
proved so serious 4 h141.0 to the pioneer cone
pany to which she beloneed that it withdt•ew
Iran Liminess and sold e the remnant of its
fleet to the Belgium government,
Indeed, it would seem as though some
malign fate persistently followed the en.
deavors of those in the new world, who
sought to bridge the Atlantic, with lines of
steamships affecting repine communication
with the continent.
In the year 1 847 the United States entered
this great and promising lield of enterprise
by the formatiou of the Ocean Steam Navi-
gation Company, which contracted to carry
the mails between New York and Bremen:
Their first steamer was the United States, a
2000 ton side-wheeler that made elle passage
in thirteen days. But the demand for pas-
senger and frieght accommodation was then
so slight that she did not pay, and after a
few roun d trips was sold in Bremen. A year
Item the New York and Havre Steam Navi-
gation compony was established and suttee
dized by the American Government at the
rate of el50,000 per annum. This company
owned four good vessels, atngingarom 1700
to 2800 tons, ,viz.: The Washington, Herr-
mann, Franklin and Humboldt, the latter
being the largest steamship built in America
up to that time. For some yeers matters
went smoothly and prosperously. Then
followed a series of misfortunes.
• In 1 SS the Humboldt was totally wrecked
oftthe entrance to Halifax harbor, not far
from where the Atlantic met her disastrous
doom some twenty years later. In July Of
the following year the Franklin wentashore
on the southwest of Long Islend, where part
of her truss and walking beam may still be
-seen, if they have not disappeared quite
recently. In order to prevent their coneract
with the government being canceled the
company thartered steamships to maintain
the line until two now ones could be built.
These were ready in 1856, awl weracalled
the Felton and Arago. They were about the
some tonnage ae their unfortunetie, prede-
cessors, but their passenger accommodation
was for supeiror. Yet in 1861 the line Was
withdrawn. The cause was taeo•fold. In
the first place the steamships were required
for government service, the war of the re-
bellion having broken out, and in the second
place the competition' caused by the more
economical sorew steamers of the North Ger-
man Llo.yds rand Hamburg Packet Company
could not be profitably withstood by the
tamer and more costly' salewheelers.
.Almost equally unfortunate, although
even more deserving of permanent sucee s,
was the second venture made by American
oepitalists to secure a due share of Man
transportion, viz : the famous Collins oi: Unit.
ed States ;nail line. This was organized by
Edward K. Collins, the enterprising head
of a company rammng a line ot packets be-
tween New York and °Heat's. Impress-
ed with the success which had attended the
operations of the Cunard line, he promoted
the establishment of a rival line., after two
years of heroic exertion he had the satisfac-
tion of 5851 sufficient capital and four
flue steamers. The first of these to mil from
New York was the Atlaneic, which setefer,th
on April 27, 1840.
The Collins line had a most liberal Mb-
sidy front the' Government, athounting to to
less than e8e7,000 yearly, conditioned on
the steamships melting 26; voyagee yeanly;
Full of hope and pluck and Yankee daring,
the company threw down the ganntlet to its,
Englieh rivals by endereeking to .melte the
fastest pamages between. the two countries,
and there at once ensued a struggle for
supremacy which two !ahem followed
with the most ebsorbing interest. No
Inodein contest between ocean greyhounds
ever evoked as =eh eecitement as:did the
rivalry between. the Cunard and Collins
champions, evhich Went on for full ten years,
from 18110 to 1860. The Collins boats wore
named the .Atlantic Pacific, Arctic, antt
Maio, and were all Acme the same chine -
rams, viz.: 270 feet long by 45 feee beam,
the thenege being 2860, anti the mode of
of propatel on, pad d 1 e evh eels. Tbey surpass.
ed in size and etyle, and in speed, else, Mitt
steamshipeafloat (Atha thee of their launch.
ing. Of the four the Arctic proved herself
the fleetest, her best record being from New
York to Liverpool in the then unequaled
time of 0 days, 17 hours and 12 minute%
Teking the average of the whole year the
advantages am to speed between the two
competing lines lay with the Collins vessels.
Yet somehow or other, despite the bre.
limey of their achievements, and the mote
mous subaidy granted thein, fortnne chime
favor them nor theft' owners. The Aretlo
wee lest with most of her paseengers, the
Paoffio mysteriously disappeared, and the
Atlantic and Baltic, on the breaking up of
the coinpany, were broken Itp theineelves,
land eold for old iron,
.As the time-honored boat of the famard
coinpatty is that they have eever lost to Ship
nor killed a man the Timken— whet 1,c'
001)108 of ocean steronshipe—ean affect them
only as regards the disposition they netke
Of VeSSOIN no longer nempetent for their
trans-atlentie traffic. An Inquiry made of
the general Intenager hoe brought out the
THE BRUSSELS
VIRMINOVIMP
informatioe that 1,50, if not three, of the old
stemma have been lengthened and 10.
tOginet1 and ere now sailing in the Bed Star
line, Two more after being tripled are
yenning for the Canadian Pacific+ Ieailway
Company between Vaticouver and Japan,
(mother Waa sold to 14 Spaniall company, and
sthll .i,lirootto
erturneit into twin screw and
maLI o
leying, while others still have
Ibeen put on their Mediterranean serviee, or
converted into eago boats.
In the same way mine of the White Ster
Compttny's ships have left Atlantic °Oran
for othee spheres of operation, the Oceanic,
Belgic and Gaelic; being employed in the
trans -Pacific service of the' Omidentel end
Oriental Steamship Company of San Free.
cisco, and the Ionic, Dome and Coptic in the
Shaw, Swill ei Albion Company's line rum
fling between London and New Zealand.
But there remain yet other answers to the
question in ma title which have so far been
110 more than hinted at. The ultimate fate
of every steamer, no In ttter how huge and
splendid, must be either to founder In mit!.
00000, to beat out her brains upon some
pitiless reef, or to be ignominiously broken
up in the ship -knackers' yard. This latter
end indeed was that which befell the vast
Great Eastern, the gemtest and the most un-
fortunate of steamshipe, I remember well
her stately entrance to Halifax harbor, and
my childish wonder as to how she would
everget out again, for spacious as the h
iar-
bor s, it seemed all to narrow for her to
turn Inc and I could not surpress a pang of
regret a little while agowhen the news came
that, after so mealy vicissitudes, the miglity
structure was to be broken up for old Leon.
Yet if it could have been of any avail to
her the Great Eastern might have taken
comfort from the knowledge that at Wool.
wich, in the yard of Messrs. Castle, ship
breakers in ordinary to the admiralty, there
stands a wood p.1 le 180feet square and 110
feet MO, which is composed of the timbers
of no less than 120 ships that at one time or
another formed part of the wooden (or iron)
walls of England, Into this stupendous
pile havegone thestotateak, or oaken timbers
of many a famous mompawar ; the Coiling:
wood, the Edinburgh, the Repulse, the Lora
Warden ; as also of the Admiral Hood, that
never left the Medway after she scan Winch-
ed until she went to be broken ep, and the
Bulwark which—for some one had earegious-
ly blunderecle-was never lanuchea at all,
but broken up on the stocks.
In the office of this establishment may be
seen many interesting relics of renowned
marine werriors of the poet. The mantel
pieoe is supported by the two figures of At-
tu( from the gallery of the Temeraire—and
is itself made of mahogany from the Royal
Albert, 'ohristeeed by the Qeen in 1,356.
Above the ohimney•piece is bhe figure -head
of •tlic Galatea, the frigate that carried the
Duke of ,Edinburgh around the world. But,
to the never -ceasing regret of Mr. Castle
there is no relic of the Arethusa, that famous
frigate having all unknown to him been
consigned to the oblivion of the wood pile
miler the pseudonym of Bacchus for some
ocettlt reasons of the admiralty.
There yet remains for treatment the more
sambre parts of my subjece, viz.; that which
deal e with the loss of ocean steamers through
foundering, straneing, collision, or other
catastrophe. Here we enter a region oldie.
aster and of mistery that has always had a
peculiar fascination for Mankind. With
what intense interest the details of some
pitiful shipwrecks are read in our news-
papers I How the people of a port will flock
to examine o steamship that has been towed
in disabled—having, perhaps, escaped ex-
tinction M ehe salty 'depths only through
the chance arrivelof thnelysuccor 1 and with
what pelpitating eagerness they will teat
from day to day for news concerning some
steamer thee is long overdue, and for ought
they can tell may never report herself again!
The recorcrof the disasters that have within
the pest half ceetury befallen the multieud-
Mous steamers plying between the United
States end Europe would be a, long end
curious one. The ill.faied President would
stand at the head, and then would follow
the litimboldt, the Franklin, theAretio and
oehers that have been already mentioned,
tee list growing rapidly as the steamers
muleiplied until it reached our own time.
Of course, however Lit is possible to refer
to only a few of the Inosenoteble at present.
There wen the City of Boston, for instance,
11101 30 the early parr of I868 steamed out of
Halifax harbor with a number of the most.
prominent Merchants in the maritime prov-
Inns on board, end concerning which no
faittest clua has ever been diecovered since.
11 waS months before the families of those on
board, welting in the long drawn out torture
of uncertainty, gave up all hope of their
loved ones. More than once a, cruel runme
threw them into nannies of gladness only by
ite speedy refutation to cast them back into
still ehaeper sorrow.. I was a boy at school
then; and one day there.came to the waiting
city Ole report thee the missing steamer had
made the Azores with all well on board. No
eonner did it reach the ears of our worthy cad
teacher than, despite his dislike of holidays,
he at mum aisipissed the school end hastened'
off tcajeite the general eejoioing, Butales
only when the sea gives up her dead will the
secretof the City of Boston's lossbe revealed.
Another wreck that stirred the city of
Halifax to its tleptlie, although none of her
people 'greatly sufferedby it, was that of the
stemnee Athtetie, wItich took plebe on the
1 iae of April; 187:3, and was, as regards loss of
fe,theinosedisastrons that has ever occurred
In the North AmeriaoM ooaob. The 80008
teas MeligherleIslantl, near the moutlt of the
harbou of Halifax, forwhich port the sieemer
'was Matting, and the time :3 o'clook in the
inornitig of a tempesteloui day, The vessel
struck full ou a rock about fifty yards dis-
tant front the island, then swung round and
heeled 'over with her deck nearly perpendic-
ular and facing to seaward. There were 057
persons on board, Hundreds of these never
reached the upper deek, and ofthose that did,
the pitiless breakers with tieappeneable fury
matched!sway. snore after score as they swept
over the Ifastennking steamer. Owing to the
position of the vessel the boats could not be
lowered and etto only chence of escape was
to leap into the boiling ad and battle for a
landing on the rocky beach, The brave,
hardy fishermen of the neighbothoocl, headed
by their minister, to splendid type of mum -
lar Christianity, thc Rev. Mr. Ancient, per•
formed prodigies of heroism in resetting the
unfortnnate castaways, bet after all their
egarte, when the muster roll was called, it
was found 1101 110 loss than 545 (souls heel
perished.
In the course of the same year a fine veg.
aol WaS also lost on the Nova Scotian coast,
namely tho City of Washington, W111011, [atm
having been ene•cloped in a dense fog for
Itemise dem wane name° on this reefs off
Little Point, Ebert, Sholburneon the 510 of
July, .(es the stranding happonee in the
day time and in fine weather, the passengers
and crew munberieg 576 in all were got to
land in (meaty,
Some of the disasters which ban befallen
omen steamships Mem been of a eery mit
one Dearaoter, The Arizonan feev yew ago
crashed into am iceberg off leteleewfoundlancl.
coast receiving ta groat gapieg wound in her
how that would have been Raid but for the
blessed water tight compartment; eystem,
tharks to 11411011 8110 wao enaleed to reach 4
haven of safety without the lose of alifo, The
POST
superb City of Pelee while nt full speed in
inidocean the year lettere last was seetlenly
taliaken from 0) 011) to Stern by a treniendoue
, explosion. One of the engin; a 1)01 in 8(150
emyeterioua way " gone to smash," rending
'a great hole through her bottom, Ned wen
I only the compartment system and 10 11111013'
arrival of another sts linel 905011 10(1 hle
;nettling of me more to the longtime ing het
' of hot:rote of the sea, in whiell the awful
catestrophe ot the Utopia in Gibraltar Bay
is the Intest end one of the most 0990111115
Tben there 00118 00 ex trnordinary found-
ering of H. el, 8. Eurydice in 1178, which 50
strengely parallelled ehe shilling of the
Royal George a century or more before,
The Ienrydico was coming into port witll
every atitch of canvas set, for the clay was
fine aud bright. Sinidenly a wicked imeall
mul1 her on the quarter—she heeled over
until her copper allowed 111911 rtbove the
brine, the open ports reuelity received the
sparkling waves, and, before a tenth of
those on board reelieed their peril, she liad
disappeared from sight, carrying down with
her hundreds of sailors hopelessly imprison-
ed between dodo.
I have purposely left teethe last a reference
to thee scene of shipwrecks by the score
whose name comes at once to mincl when
one thinks of omen disasters. A.s n, fruitful
cause of cetaatrophe to life and property
Sable Island enjoys an unquestionable pre-
eminence. Upon its bars and among he en-
tangling shallows many a fine vessel has
gone to hopeless tuin, The island bas been
no respecter of the different degrees of
dignity in =wine circles. Thme jaunty little
fishing smack and the big, broad imposing
ship of the line have received precisely the
same treatment at its bands. Among the
most notable wrecks, as shown in the very
clever chart prepared by Mr. S. D. Mac-
donald, F. G. S., have been those of
the transport Princess Amelia in 1802,
of II. M. S. Barbadoes in 1812, of the
French frigate L'Africaine in 1822, the
steamships Georgia in 1S613, Ephesus in
1806, State of Virginia 1n1879, and Amster.
dam in 1884, a sombre and startling record
for a sand bank little more than twenty
miles long by one and a half wide 1
It would be easy to expand this (article
indefinitely. The question as to what be.
comes of ocean steemships is a large one,
and I cannot pretend to offer here more than
a, parted (lamer, The time must eome
when the " oceae greyhounds" and "float-
ing palaces " of to -day will be no longer
equal to the severe requinnents of the trans-
Atlentie service; What will become of them
then) Pethaps even those who own them
could not answer that question now, but
Id t us hope that in their case it will be long
before they fall into the hands of the men
who tio not hesitate to convert such mon-
archs of the deep into firewood and old iron.
J. MACDONALD °NEM.
In Prince Edward leland.
Writing to the Country Gentleman hem
Kings county ender date of June 13 J.A.M.
says : " Thelongdrouth came to an end last
night, and the parched growl(' got a, soaking,
which if much further delayed would have
been too late to do any good. 1 thought I
never heard eweeter music than the pater
of the rain -drops on the shingles. Prayer
For rain was offered in our church yesterday.
The drouth lasted six weeks, excepting
one slight rain on May 12. I have never
seen such a parched surface at this time of
the year. Grain sowed a fortnight since has
not yet broken ground.
" The geestion whether e crust on a culti-
vated surface, acting like a board to conserve
moisture, is more advantageous than an inch
or two of fine earth acting as a mulch, is
still an open question. Going along the
road one day this week, I saw a men sowing
barley on a spring -fallow. I askee if he
was not tieing a risky thing in flowing ie
such a dry time. He replied that there was
O crust on the surface, and tvilen the harrow
broke the crust it was melee unclemeath 1110
had no fear of sowing his barley in this
(noise ground. I sai(h 'Don't you think
that if the surface was kept iine and mellow
the ground would be much moister than
under a crust like that?' The manshook
his head; he didnot think so. This man
did not underatend anything about soil
water and capillary attraotion ; his know.
ledge was derived moiety from . observation.
Yesterday I was harrowing a piece of land
with barley.. A crust was on the; surface,
like thee of my friend. I was surprised bo
find that where the herrow broke the cruet
the land was quite moist, There is no dont%
that a crust on the surface acts liktee. beard
in conserving moisture; but then it would
never do to coyer a growing crop with
boards, meoh less allow a gust to, form on
the surface with the intention of keeping
down the moisture ;rising from below.
Farmers are aboub. through with the
sating work; many hove not yet sowed
barley,. however. A good: deal of berley is
raised in these parts, end it ia 101104 a con-
Venient and benefieial, crop. Baxley is one
of the hest crops to seed with;•and it givee
opportunity to °leen , the soil. 1 finished
get- 11 in my crop yesterday evening. My
method is to let it tollow, oets. T,he oats
;are grown on sod broken tater being two
years in grass or pasture. ;The 0e1 stubble
ts plowed early in sprieg, iteant the last of
April, not very deep. This is then harrow;
ed ea often as there la time (many good barley
growers do not harrow at all). About, the
mitidle of June this hind, what'll I term n
spring fallow —if much over. run with quitch
grass or other noxious weeds that -cannot be
subdued by the haritewseie 'again' plowed,
the seed sowediminediately, in the '1a051119.
tuened earth et tiee rate of two •bushel, to
the acre, and a peek of a timothy • with a
veteiety of °levels, and all harrowed therongla
by wi th a spring-hatroW until melloived tn
the bottom of the furrow dad finished with
the roller. If the land is free from quitch
gram or other strong perennial weeds, there
is no need of a second plowing. I pee on
the time' hermit straight across the furrows ;
ie
n eticil the diso 'generally goes to the
bttont ofh mthe furrow, or it ie kept on till it
does. The biarley is then sown bronelcoat
a
nd covered with the spring.tootheff fioat
hom,row 1 finct that clovet end timothy
grow finely With barley.
Without the Children,
011, the weavy, solemn silence
Of [thong(' without the children 1
Ch. tl Le avengeoppressive stillness
Where the children come n more 1
Alt 1 the longing of the elooplese
Eor tee 0110 000 or the children ;
Ah 1 the longing of the fame
Peeping through the opening door—
Faces gone foe evermore I
8100150 11 is in welt° et midnight
And not hoar tem childere breathing—
Nailing be t Ilos ohntleol: ti eking,
tricking, liable by the door.
Strange to (we the 111 go demos
Hanging up there all the morning ;
And the waters—all 1 their pater,
We will how it novel. more
On our hoaterforsalcen floor!
Whae is home without the [Nihon
'TM the earth without lie venter°,
And the sky without its sunsbine—
Lite leNvliliorod to the ore 1
lito we'll len,ve thM &entry dotted,
And eve'll follow the Good Seephore
're the getener paanreseernel,
Whore the Lambs lutve "gone URN,'
With the Shepherd evamora 1
YirONDERS XSOHANIU4.
An electric, drill in an Idaho mine recent.
ly performed the feat of boring 11two.ineh
hole thretigh twenty feee of solid goinite hic
four home.
An (death: tratisier table, seventy feet
long mut with a captivity of 225,000 pounde,
is now in nse in the Denver amps of the
Union Paeitio Bellamy.
Since the enemas of the electrically pro.
palled beets on the Thames the demand for
them i very large, end builders 'have dilli•
Getty in keeping up with the orders,
The preteens and volume of natural gas
around Findlay, O., have fallen off recently,
and it is feared that within a short dine
there will he no gas for manufaetnring pur-
poses.
The band saw ie fast superseding the cir.
cuter saw for all lands of work. The latest
apple:talon is made by the tailors, who
using it with great seems for witting Moth,
A German professor bas diecovered a
curious gaseous compound made up of oxy-
gen and hydrogen. It dissolves meads, and,
with silver and mercury, it forms powerfel
explosives.
Electric coal cutters are rapidly replacing
hand labor in many mines. Not only is it
possible to do the work more cheaply, but
there is a decided saving of coal, due to the
small height of the undercut.
A Pittsburg man has designed a pleasure
boat to be made of aluminum. It will have
O screw propeller, and although it will
carry six peewee, it will not weigh more
than frotesixty to seventy pounds.
An English firm has established near
Dieppe a faetnry for the produetien of in-
candescent lamps, The faatory covers an
acre of ground end is mad to be the first of
its kind in France established for commer-
cial purposes.
The Massachusetts Legislature has
pressed 0 law prohibiting the erection of
buildings over 850 feet in height above the
street, except in the case of grain elevators,
sugar relineries, steeples, towers and purely
ornamental structures.
The big dein on Housatonic river, in Con-
neatiout, which Ni es swept away by 01000)101
in Jannery last, is being replaced by e, new
structure 680 feet long, twenty-two feet
high, and slightly curved in plan. The cost
will be about 51300,000.
Slate is extensively used for electric
switch boards, and although it is liable to
fractme, yet an electric construction coin-
pnny recently drilled 12,000 quarter -inch
. holes in a slab fivemightlis of an inch thick
and containing but twenty-two square feet
of surface.
Movements of England's &v -v.
The British earships Hercules, Sims and
Spartan have been ordered to duty on the
North American coast The Hercules is
one of England's largest ironelnels. The
Sims and Spartan are two of her fastest
cruisers. The orders referring to the above
mentioned vessels folldw a series of recent
British naval orders which have caused it
to be observed in American naval pirates
that Great Britain is quietly replacing all
her ships now on the American coast by the
most powerful war vessels she can spare.
The Hercules relieves the flagship Bellero-
phon and the Sims and Spartan relieve the
Emerald and Comes, both inferior ships.
The Hercules brings out from England
Vice•Admiral Hopkins. This officer will
command all British warships now in or
ordered to American waters. Two Bede.
tional cruisers have been selented to relieve
the gunboats Ready and Thrtish. An
armored cruiser will relieve the Tourmaline.
11 10 declared in weleinferined Government
circles that the British Admiralty proposes
to offset in fighting efficiency ehe new ves-
sels of the TJnited States navy. To do this
the Admiralty will send over vessels to ie•
crease the fleet in American waters in pro-
portion to . the growthof the new navy of
the United States. Beitish nevoe °Stars
believe that by reasen ce her greet size the
Hercules is a more powerful vessel than the
new American armored cruiser -Maine will
he. With elm possible exception of tile
Itliantownoah, they say the Hercules is more
than a match for any of the American.war-
ship nove in commiseiene Tbe.Britiste fOrce
in American waters wilein etrtere be, larger
than at any dine einee ehe,oivil w,ar, It
has been constantly increasing until now
it has pastime& formidable. proportions.
Besides increasing her naval fere°, Great
Beitain, during, the, past ,three yearsyears
hes incretteed-by eueatalf the strength of
her temps in.the West Indlies,. :
,
' • ' The Life ..of Man: '
.
The aim tef all study, of, all teadieg,
was to give e true aceoent of the life df man,.
its nature, coneuat, Mins, All other. gees -
tions were oonteined in this one and sub.
ineinate eo it. ,Here them questions were
investigated scientifically, yet also flame the
Christian point of VISW. In stedyieg
nature of objects we did not ignore the
revelation t,1 God, and,. in the words of the
Apostle, 'we had Mee ramouncement of a
:prinelplewleica would prove a stefeguitle tor,
out: life. In tee first, place we werq
ed' thee life was, acetone not enjoymentor
receiving, bItloing ,end giving. en the
0500114 plam, .11 we . etetion li the imam ta
the Lord esas1-71,1)0 is, the ramp:hien .of
the authority pf oup Tecirel, in nnIon with
Him; in short, in the.spirie of Cerise, receg•
nizing, lace Hinaa, 4ivine ,ordee, knowing,
es He did, that this ewerld WaS pet, the
deyills, o1 o world of ebence, or of merely
inechanical laws, but a hiving kiegdom antl
fitntilytinder the Government of God ; fur.,
titer, , that ger reattion to elod in • Christ
W40 a filial relation ; and finallye that our
work on ;earth 5048 1101 0 merely earthly
emploement, byt a vombion of God, thee, as
Christ came clown from, Heaven not to do
His own will, but the will of Him that sent
Him, 00 We were also sent Otto the world
to do the special work to which He called
us, and for which He prepared us. Them
principles, the preacher remarked, were
universal-4May applied to Nvhat we called
things secular tae d 0011195 sacred 1 to smell
things as well as great. These wore the
principles which would make all life erue
and calm, and strong and progressive, which
would produce the only life which meld
satisfy the Gott...like within us.--(Professer
IVibIloan Cloral (of Trinity College, Toronto.)
Tho Londoit Times priats the fol.
10501119 despatch from Calcuttas : "It is all.
nolin cad Olathe members of tholoproey corn -
mission, who ereno w pursuing elite r research.
0001 0111110, hnve made the important discov-
ery thee the leprosy bacillus can be isolitted
and cultivated ortifieinely. A rabbit was
innoculated and killee after some days, teed
distinot leprous natubee were totted in the
body. It is anted that ,tee bacillus lute
never before grown outside the Minuet
body," TNTOW that the (looters hnve
orod tha bacillus the next thing 111 order
will be to flnd ont seine way of 501111)0 an
ond to him without at the same time terna
Mating the petienffs life,
JULY 24, 1891
ANOIENT HOUSES.
helms Which Prove the Luxury or lowly
Roman ill, bitil1101AM.
The diligence with which, in meent yeare,
the work of exeaveting antee»1 ciao; and
011)118 has been pewee ted has given ma meat
valuable inforillatimi coneerning 1110 Waits
;tee lionsehold equipments of the maim
world, but it, tenets still open thee question,
deeply interestieg to andante, 801101110S, and
entiquarians, if not to the general milaie,
munely, whether the tun:lents attained a
higher degree of civilization than the prem.
ent generation pmeesses. That it Is a prob.
letn thet elan never be decided does not
check the discussion, nor does it detract
from the interest that it excites among e
special class.
Ignoring the comparative degree of In-
tellectual developments attained by tho
ancients and the moderns, (thout which one
eould argue forever, the (motion of pro-
duction in material (natters affords more
substantiel basis for decision. For instance,
wo now have ft very good idea of the con-
struction end furniture of a Roman house,
and ib is easy to conjecture how the Roman
citizen of wealth lived and had hie being.
Among the mose interesting of these devel-
opments are the excavations of Roman
villas in England.
The history of the Romans in Britain is
but, fragmentary, but it is well known that;
the island was once One of the moat impute
tent provinces of the empire. Hadrian vis-
ited ie. Constantine Was declared emperor
by the soldiers at York, and the Romans
fought to retain it with a courage and tena-
city that showed their appreciation of its
value. That the wealth and civilieation of
Britain have not been exaggerated by the
conjectures of historical writers 10 110,5- sufli-
ciently proved.
At Woodchester, in Gloucestershire, a
Roman villa of the grand type has been laid
entirely bare, and the magnificence of its
mine shows that it Wail equal to many e,
modern palace, although this was merely the
residence of a private citizen. Everything
ia on a great scale. There are Si tting.rooms
fifty feet square, roamed about corrts or gar-
dens, themselves 150 foot square. The floor
are splended testelated pavements; the wall
are covered with fresco paintings, and scat.
toted about are feagmenta of marble groups
and statues, nth Sarnian ware, and numerous
other evalencee of art and luxury.
In Britain, as wellas elsewhere, wherever
Roman dominion long rested, enough is left
10 halicate that the wealthy Roman citizen
mond cam and plenty that the world was
unfamiliar with after the fall of the Roman
empire, until the Venetian merchants began
again to accumulate from every region th
products of taste and luteny. Although
the rich ol , Romans lacked some things
that arena, '011 inventions, yet their houses
were in many respects superior to the best
of to.drty. They were larger, built with
more solidity, and adorned with nmre taete
and richness. Very few modern mensions,
after 1500 years, would remain in as good
preservation as are the Roman houses found
in Britain. And if they reached such splen-
dor in Britain, which was merely a peovince,
what must they have been in Latium, which
was the seat of empire ?
The ancient architeut 9101100cl and the
andent uontractor built for all time. We'll
wager our last sesterce that there were no
Buddensieks in Rome. When Cicero gave
O dinner party he did not stand in mortal
fear of the reef felling in or the walls tum-
bling down on his ...pests. Seriously, when
ene contemplates the magnificent architec-
ture of the Romans, whether expressed in
houses, or bridges, or aqueducts, though
exposed to the decay of many centuries, he
cannot withhold admiration for the solid
character of their work, nor mon he avoid
reflection that NVO Americans, and English
and Germans, and others have many things
to learn that were known well enough 2000
years ago. •
A RAILROAD AOROSS AUSTRALIA.
-
The TrailliCoUlluenial Line Is MekIng Good
Orogrese.
The transcontinental line of railroad is
making good. progress and before a greet
while people of Australia hope to be able to
cross their continent front south to north
through the regions which for so many years
were unexplored, The Transcontinental line
follows in the main the course of the over-
land telegraph. In the south 695 miles of
the road are already completed between the
Port of Adelaide and Angle Pool. In the
north the railroad has been completed frent
Port Darwine south as far as Pine Creek.
The part of the line still to be built be-
tween Angle Poet and Pine • Creek is LOOS
mike. Of this part et is expected that 280
miles of rails; will be adaed to the southern
end of the line tied 130 miles to the north-
ern end thisyeer. No ;reap difficulties are
expected ein the remaining portior. Most
of the coantry through which the road will
pass can &tammi altendmet supplies of water
by, artesian wells, and is capable of being
highly deeelopecl by means of irrigation.
Australians believe a' new era will dawn for
their cmitinent upon' the completion of this
mite through its centre.
Self Supporting.
1 It is pletteane and hopeful to note teat so
Many young Women are learning to value the
meheal powers and the education that will le
make, it possible for theta to support them-
solvee '1 100 necessity for doing so should
arise. The, cloeightere of oemparaeively
wealthy men are not infreinently found as- '
slating their' fathers in the office or counting
amom ati typeverliers or anomie tants.
Mnny so 'called fainlicilable ladies make `
thee own dreeses and' hats, we are told,
having gaite thimigh a regular murse of in-
struction in the art of millinery rand dress.
making, , An instal= reeently came to the
notice of the writer that has in it a lesson
for women 'who given° thought to the state
of dependenee to which they would be re-
duced if their parents or husbands should
die, laving them unprovided for.,
A ledy who had a beautiful home and
three little childece, and whose huSband Wila
Supposed to be comparatively wealthy, ono
(ley fouled herself a widow end almost pen- .
lakes, heranisband heving engaged in tut-
fortueutte speculations just before his dealt. ;
The ladies' fronds W0r0 profuse in their ;
offers of sympnahy, while wondering " what •
in the worlt1 she would do now,"
She knew jest whoa sho t10.
111011111 8110 1110 opened a millinery earth-
lishinent that at oleo became very popular
anti profitable, for the bonnets the had worn
in the past liael been such models of elegrome
that her fashionable friends were glad to
take advantage of her good Mao. They
never dreamed that ohs Mal made those
bonnets herself, nor did they know thee she
Intds r.1
p011Tettottelloyil giv en herself a Very good bust -
:elle was mccessful atom the lira; and the
praises alto reatived for her cleverness and
geed some wouM have turned the head 01 15
less seesible woman.
Mon's yaws end their faults are alweys
More than they are willing to 0W11.
13'