I WORLD'S BIGGEST CANNON |
,<!>
TO PROTECT NEW YORK.
1 The largest gun ever built is now
being constructed at the Bethlehem
(Penn.) Iron Works. This enormous
piece of ordnance will weigh, when
completed, 126 tons. It will exceed
by six tons weight the monster gun
which Krupp, of Germany, exhibited
at the World's Fair, in Chicago, and
in length it will be nearly five feet
longer than the German gun.
This monster guu is being fabri
cated under the War Department. It
is the biggest order ever given to any
establishment in the world.
The great gun is being built under
the superintendence of John F.
Meigs, formerly a Lieutenant of the
United States army and a standard
artillery authority in this country.
With him is associated Captain E. L.
Zalinski, United States army (re
tired). The Government inspection
work is in the hands of Captain Ira
McNutt, of the ordnance corps of the
army. All three gentlemen are on the
ground and personally see to every
detail of the immense undertaking as
it progresses.
jThe intention of the War Depart
ment, it ia aunounced, is to mount the
great piece on a specially built founda
tion on Romer Shoals. The protec
tion for this gun will be a turret,
which will wholly inclose the crew
and the greater part of the gun. From
its position on Romer Shoals the great
piece of ordnance will have a full
sweep of the channels leading into
New York Harbor. There is not, it is
declared, a vessel afloat to-day with
armor of sufficient strength to resist
ft •jOaißgfißiiilMlß—
BIGGEST GL'N IN TIIE WORLD TO PROTECT NEW YORK.
It will weigh, complete, 126 tons, anil Is six tons heavier than the giant gun shown by Krupp at the World's Fair at Chicago,
It will Do mounted on u special foundation at lloiner Shoals, In the lower Bay. No vessel could resist a shot from it.
its shot. John F. Meigs estimates
tliat a blow from the new gun would
have a striking energy equal to that of
a 2000-ton ship when running at full
speed. The shot from the gun, he
adds, would smash, crack and batter
down any armor which it would be
possible for a ship to carry.
The caliber will be sixteen inches,
tho length, from breech to muzzle,
will be forty-nine feet two inches.
Through the breech in a vertical line
the gun will have a measurement of
exactly five feet. Mr. Meigs com
putes the weight of a shot for the new
gun at a little over 2300 pounds. That
means more than a ton ot metal. The
heaviest shots fired in England have
not weighed over 2000 pounds.
The powder charge for the Ameri
can gun wdl weigh nearly 1000 pounds.
Provided extreme elevation for range
could be obtained, a shot from the
New York Harbor gun should be able
to travel more than sixteen miles.
The greatest known range ever at
tained was from the famous "jubilee
shot" in England. The distance
measured about twelve statute miles.
The United States has never before
attempted any heavier piece of ord
nance for coast defence than a twelve
inch gun. The weight of a piece of
the latter caliber is approximately
fifty tons. In the sixteen-inch gun
there is observed a jump of seventy
six tons increase in weight.
The first ingot for the new sixteen
inch gun was cast recently at Bethle
hem. It was for the tube forging and
weighed 82,800 pounds, The jacket
forging is also out. It weighs 90,000
pounds. Under the contract made
with the War Department the Bethle
hem works will turn out all forgiugs
for the great gun. The tempering and
annealing process will also be applied
at tho Bethlehem shops. When all
the parts are out, the tube, jacket and
hoops will be shipped to the United
States arsenal at Watervliet, We6t
Troy, N. Y. There they are to be as
sembled together, and the gun itself
rifled and made ready for service.
All metal used is fluid compressed.
The specifications which are being ad
hered to demand the most exacting
physical tests. Specimen pieces of
metal are taken from all forgiugs, are
subjected to elongation, breaking and
bending tests. Finally every part of
the gun must be of forged metal. Tho
tube, for instance, has been cast and
rough bored, it will next have a man
drel introduced through its length and
then be placed under tho hammer.
For this latter stage the Bethlehem
works have the largest hammer in the
world. It is capable of delivering a
blow of 120 tons, or some ten tons
more than the famous Krupp ham
mer.
The building of the new sixteen-inch
gun is an expensive undertaking. The
gun itself will cost about $120,000.
For single guns the average cost to the
Government for all fortification work
in this country is roughly SIOOO per
ion of gun.
ret T wnn 8 ■ ° f gUUccarri e *nd tor
ret will bring the cost up to as much
again as the weapon, while the cost
for foundation will, it is estimated,
round out a grand total of at least
$300,000. The foundation for the six
teen-inch gun will require a depth, it is
said, of fifty feet if earth be the basis.
This foundation must be constructed
of concrete.
IDAHO'S WOMAN GOVERNOR.
For Two Weeks Miss Margaret lieeve
Filled the Executive Clialr,
The news that for two weeks a
woman had filled the executive chair
of the State of Idaho—a thing unpre
cedented in this country's history—
created no end of lively comment
throughout the Northwest.
The woman is Miss Margaret Reeve,
who for several years has held re
sponible places about Idaho's State
building, having for the last four years
been private secretary to the Gover
nor.
When Governor Steunenberg and
Secretary of State Lewis were called
to the northern part of the State on
business of tho greatest importance in
connection with tho State's vast do
main of white-pine timber, they were
at their wits' end to know whom they
could safely leave in charge of State
matters during their absence, as At
torney-General McFarland had pre
ceded them from the State.
It seemed for a time the trip would
have to bo postponed, or that one of
them would have to remain behind,
when Secretary of Stato Lewis sug
gested to tho Governor that Miss
Reeve be left in charge. The Gover
nor was almost stunned by the bold
plan, but Miss Reeve had proved her
self most efficient, being familiar with
all the routine work in the building,
and the Governor consented to the
plan, and Miss Reeve was left at the
State house clothed in full Guberna
torial authority, which she exercised
in a manner that not only gave satis
faction to the Governor, but has won
her great distinction.
Before the Governor and party had
been absent twenty-four hours matters
of great importance were brought to
Miss Reeve's attention. The Gover
nor and Secretary of State had left a
number of important blanks to which
they had attached their signatures,
and it was left to Miss Reeve's dis
cretion to issue them or not—requisi
tions, applications for extraditions
from Governors of other States, and
many other matters.
She sought legal advice, but the at
torney informed her she must depend
upon herself, as lie did not "care to bo
mixed up in the acts of any female
Governor." When the Governor re
turned he was surprised at the amount
of exeoutive business his fair substi
tute had turned out, and frankly ad
mitted the excellence of her judgment,
MISS MAROAHET REEVE.
although in one instance—the case of
an application for extradition—he said
he would not have issued it until ho had
given the protestants a hearing. He
has announced his determination to
defend with vigor every act of "Gov
ernor Roeve," including those quoted.
Currpntu in the Atlantic.
Experiments have been going on for
the past two years for the purpose of
trying to learn something of the
characteristics of the Atlantic ocean as
a great moving body of water. As a
result the whole Atlantic is shown to
be slowly circulating round and round,
like an enormous pool.
ELECTRIC CABS IN NEW YORK.
Horseless Vehicles Have Become • Fix
ture In the Bl| Cltr.
Electric cabs, hansoms and broug
hams are a success in New York, so
ELECTRIC HANSOM USED IN NEW YORK.
much of a success that the company
operating them has just given out an
order for 100 new vehicles. During
June, the first month of their opera
tion, a total number of G32 calls were
reoeiveil, averaging between thirty-two
and twelve per day, carrying 1580 pas
sengers 4603 miles at rate 9 similar to
the horse-cab system, and each month
since that time has seen a steady in
crease in the service.
The best results obtained from these
vehicles show that about 1.25 horse
power is supplied for a propulsion of
2000 pounds over ordinarily level roads
at a speed of ten miles an hour. This
consumption of power is a trifle over
two and one-third times that of similar
work on rails, which indicates that the
equipment of the battery is carefully
adapted to the total weight of the vehi
cle and just sufficient for practical
traveling capacity. The maximum
weight of a battery for a hansom weigh
ing 3000 pounds is 1200 pounds for a
distance of twenty-five miles at the
maximum speed of twelve miles or at
an average speed of six miles.
A vehicle to travel twice this dis
tance could readily be built, but it
would need to be twice its weight in
order to accommodate twice the bat
tery equipment. This type of vehicle
is constructed with the view of a speed
of from six to twelve miles Jau hour,
but a vehicle can be built to approxi
mate thirty miles an hour, although it
would necessarily be made as a racing
apparatus and not fit for street worl'.
Two one-and-one-half horse-power
motors, weighing 172$ pounds each,
are found sufficient for a hansom, and
are operated at a maximum speed of
1350 revolutions per minute.
Largest Cant Iron Pipe Ever Moulded*
The largest pipe ever cast was turned
out at Bessemer, near Birmingham,
Alabama, the other day. The pipe was
FIRST 72- INCH PirE CAST. .
seventy-two inches in diameter on the
inside,and seventy-six and one-quarter
inches in diameter, outside measure
ment, and twelve feet six inches long
over all. The metal in it weighed 20,-
000 pounds. The seventy-two-inch
pipe was moulded for the New Orleans
& Northeastern Railroad, to be used
for culverts under their tracks. • A
small river can flow through one of
these pipes. It is as large as the great
sewers of Paris which were built of
brick and stone.
A Church Literally Founded on a Bock.
The tenth anniversary of the Pres
byterian Church at Waterloo, lowa,
was celebrated a short time ago. There
would be nothing remarkable about
CHUBCU MAD® FROM A BOCK.
that, only that the church is part df a
solid rock, having been cut out of a
big boulder ten years ago.
Qeneral Boulanger's black charger,
on which he hoped to ride to a throne,
now draws a Paris cab.
Little Girls' Frocks.
Little girls' frocks follow the styles
of their mammas in the blouse effects.
They also have the double skirts. A
pretty one, the upper skirt being half
the length of the under one, has the
edges of both trimmed with rows of
narrow satin ribbon. The silk of the
gown has a light foundation with a
tiny polka dot of a delicate color. The
puffed sleeves come just below the el
bow.
The First Woman Lawyer.
The first woman lawyer to practise
in British dominions is Miss Edith R.
Benjamin, LL. 8., of Dunedin, New
Zealand. Her university career was
one of great distinction, and when she
graduated this year in law, she came
out first in jurisprudence, constitu
tional history and law, Roman law and
equity, and was bracketed first with
another in criminal law and real and
personal property.
Decrease of Sang Birds.
The rapid decrease of English song
birds is now attributed not only to
their being killed for millinery pur
poses to supply the demand made by
English women, but to their being
used for food. An English traveler
asserts that in two or three Italian
cities he saw, within the space of as
many days, some thousands of dead
English'songsters exposed for sale in
the provision shops. It is southward,
cf course, that they fly as soou as
there is the first touch of frost, and
then they meet this melancholy fate.
A Champion Breadinaker.
Mrs. Clem. B. Lincoln of Plattsburg,
claims to be the champion breadinaker
of Missouri. She has enough blue
ribbons, medals and like trophies to
make her claim to the honorable dis
tinction a very strong one. It is a
matter of serious doubt if any other
woman in the state can show half as
many trophies for excellence in the
same line. Mrs. Lincoln is the wife
of u well-to-do farmer. Mrs. Lincoln
made her first showing of tine bread
some years ago at the county fair at
Liberty. She has not won her medals
without competition, for there are
other women in the state who know
how to make excellent bread. She
has been a frequent exhibitor in Kau
sas City, where she has always won
first prize. Her supply of blue rib
bons is the source of much pride to
her, and the people who have had the
privilege of eating the bread she bakes
claim it is even better than it looks.
Recently Mrs. Lincoln won the first
honor at the fair held at St. Joseph.
She has three little girls who are
learning to make bread, and she ex
pects them all to be prize winuers.—
Chicago Times-Herald.
Nuns on Bicycles.
Speaking of bicycles reminds me of
their latest uses in London. Hospital
nurses mounted on "safeties" are not
unusual sights in our most crowded
thoroughfares, and with their gauze
veils, demure bonnets and jangling
steel chatelaines, are rather weird,
though not always unpleasant, spec
tacles. The latest members of the
divine feminine to take to the insidi
ous wheel, however, is a certain com
munity of nuns that lead their se
cluded livos behind the high brick
walls of a convent in one of the West
End suburbs. There is always a cer
tain amount of romance and "tlie
world-forgettiuff-and-bv-the-world-for-
got" atmosphere about a convent.
Folded,prayerful hands,quietly serene
faces, gentle voices and midnight
vigils seem to breathe of all that is
reposeful and devotional. Now, how
ever, in the lovely grounds where at
other times the nuns walk and tell
their beads is heard the sound of the
bicycle bell, and from the mother su
perior down to the youngest lay sister
all ride bicycles,of course in the strict
seclusion of the convent walls.—Lon
don Letter to New York Mail and Ex
press.
She Had No "Scolding Lork*,"
Some people are absolutely devoid
of tact. One of these is a youthful
matron, who, wishing to make lier
very dearest frieud—another young
matron —a birthday present, decided
on the purchase of a handsome pair of
shell side combs.
Nothing could have been more ap
propriate for the blonde tresses of her
frieud, and the giver felt much pleased
with her selection when she went to
call on her to give her the pretty or
naments.
"I thought you would like them,"
sho said, when her frieud had admired
them and thanked her rapturously,
"you will find them so handy to fasten
up your scolding locks."
"What do you mean?" asked her
friend, in a surprised tone.
"Did you ever hear of scolding
locks? They are the short ends of
your hair that are always flying loose.
They bother one so much, but side
combs keeps them in order, besides
being very becoming ornaments."
"So you think I have scolding locks
—then I must be a scold. Thanks,
awfully, dear, but I don't believe I
need any combs. Keep them for your
own scolding outfit," and the face of
the "dearest friend" clouded with
anger.
"Very well. Just as yon like.
Good bye, dear," and the donor of
the combs snatched them up and car
ried them home, where she had a tit
of hysterics. And all because she
needed a little tact.—Chicago Times-
Herald.
The New Hut*.
The new hats are nothing if not
smart, with all their diversified shapes
and bewildering styles of trimming.
An attempt to choose a suitable hat for
divers occasions among all this con
fusing variety is pretty sure to result
in a failure, for they are so widely
different in shape that it is difficult to
decide which is the most becoming.
There is everything between a small
bonnet and a large hat in all the odd
fantastic shapes imaginable.
Toques, both large and small, made
of shirred velvet, are prime favorite.".
The brim may be plain and the crown
shirred, or the reverse, as is the most
becoming, and again the entire hat
may be made of shirred velvet. Vel
vet hats in any shape and size are in
vogue, and they are plaited, shirred
or plain, as you fancy.
Little dressy bonnets have em
broidered crowns of velvet in some
light color, with a finish of black
around the eilge. And the small jet
bonnet is here again, glittering with
every kind of jet. Some of the new
bonnets have strings, but it is entirely
a matter of choice whether you have
them or not.
Braided felts and braided effects as
glossy as satiu form some of the new
hats, and feathers predominate in the
trimming. There are the most fascin
ating pokes among the large shapes,
and there is, too, the low-crowned
hat with a decided brim, trimmed
with innumerable ostrich feathers,
which stand up and spread out on
either side, or curl over in the more
natural way, as if they were ready to
fall off. Two shades of velvet are
used in the large hats, one for trim
ming, which is sometimes in strong
contrast with the other, and an oc
casional velvet hat in some bright color
is covered with black lace. Wide
spreading bows in front trim some of
the hats, and one of the trying novel
ties of the season is a Wedgwood blue
felt with a "beefeater" crown trimmed
with three shades of the same blue
velvet and pheasants' tails. Birds of
the pheasant tribe furnish a variety in
hat trimmings this season, and owls'
feathers, too, are used.
The largo toque with a full, irregu
lar brim and trimmed with ostrich
feathers, is one of the most popular
styles of the season. Boat shaped
felt hats trimmed with fancy ribbon
and stiff feathers are also fashionable
for morning wear.—New York Sun.
Fusli inn Notes.
Waists of plaid velvet come with a
satin stock.
Misses' sweaters are fastened on
the shoulder.
Moreen petticoats of light weight
are suitable for girls.
Barre or bayadere novelties in wool
en dress goods are popular.
Cloth blouses are trimmed with
satin ribbon or steel buckles.
A new style is to have one's vel
vet coat trimmed with fur in a very
original way. I saw a black velvet
jacket trimmed with sable, the latter
material being used in bows on the
shoulder and at the belt, while the
belt itself was of the fur.
Quite a new fancy is to have a fur
trimmed toque to match the set of
boa and muff. Muffs promise to be a
very important item, too, and will be
worn without reference to other ar
ticles of dress. The newer ones are
quite large, and I noticed the preva
lauce of gray.
Coats single or double breasted are
equally la mode, and many of them
are decidedly longer than they have
been, but with one and all outdoor
garments the very high collar is in
dispensable. Indeed,in dress as well us
mantles there is u decided favoring of
Medici styles.
The smooth finished cloths in black
and also in all the new fashionable
colorings are pre-eminently handsome,
both in texture and weave, and the
choice as to color is almost unlimited.
Many of the expensive patterns are
deeper in tone than they have been for
several seasons past.
Black materials will be greatly fa
vored during the winter season, and a
special and very elaborate display of
elegant black fabrics is made at the
various importing houses. Many fancy
weaves are shown, but the standard
black textures brought to such ex
quisite perfection have their own de
cided attractions.
Heliotrope combined with red is
among fashionable color mixtures.
Green,hyacinth blue and yellow is an
other French melange. Mentally con
sidered, these combinations suggest
anything but harmony, but the best
shops and importing houses show |
these and endless other seemingly j
crude and very inmtistic groupings oi
color. I
A CELESTIAL FOOTBALL TEAM.
Club Which Would Prove Formidable to
Almost Any Team.
China is not a country in which one
would naturally expect football to be
popular, but the game has at last
been introduced among the celestials,
and a team has been organized which
is said to be the strongest football
club in the world. The men who
form the team are natives of north
ern China, and are typical of the re
markable race of giants produced in
that part of the world. There is not
a man among them who is not aix feet
high, and several of the members are
three inches taller,while their average
weight is about 200 pounds.
When playing, the celestials give
vent to their feelings in the most pe
culiar noises, frequently shrieking
with delight. Their yells of triumph
which resound through the air when
ever the ball goes through the oppo
site goal are likened, by one who has
heard them, to the "plaintive cry of a
pig that hns been speared." The
"charging" is generally done with the
head.
The only precaution taken by these
giants in regard to their physical
strength on the football field is for
the preservation of their pigtails,
which are cared for as though they
were worth a thousand times their
weight in gold. With this exception,
they throw caution to the winds, and
devote themselves with all their
strength to the play.
The great drawback to Chinese foot
ball is want of discipline. Every man
considers it his duty to instruct his
colleague what to do, and one-half the
team yells to the other half all the
time the game is in progress.
An attempt has been made to bring
about a foreign tour of the Chinese
footballers, but has not yet been suc
cessful. In the event of such a tour,
the team will take with them their
own doctors and cooks.—London Tit-
Bits.
FUNERAL-WEDDINGS.
The Strange Custom Oba«*rv**<l by a Tribe
of Farther India.
Among the Slian Karens of farther
India funerals are made the occasions
of grand wedding festivals, in which
all the marriageable young men and
women of the village are privileged to
participate. As it is not always con
venient to hold these interesting cere
monies at the exact time a villager
may die, it is customary to deposit the
corpse in some temporary resting
place till the marriage market is fa
vorable to giving it obsequies worthy
of its former estate. Consequently
six months or a year may frequently
pass before the memory of the dead
Karen receives the honor which is its
due.
When a good time comes for wed
dings the remains are taken from their
resting place and set upon a platform
which has been prepared for them,
and the eigible bachelors and mar
riageable young women are invited to
come and compete in a marrying
match. The "funeral service" is then
begun with a chorus of men celebrat
ing the beauties of Karen maidens in
The girls respond in a draw
ling falsetto. The bachelors, each in
his turn, begin usually for the sake of
peace, with the most muscular maiden.
If oue of them is rejected, he waits till
his turn comes again, and addresses,
if he sees lit, some other girl.
The girls receive the proposals in
perfect self-possession, and respond
io them in phrases like those with
which they have been addressed, the
models of which have come down
from old times. Rejections seldom
DJCUI - , except when a man makes a
mistake and applies to a girl who is
known to be reserving herself for an
other. The "funeral service" goes on
ia this way till it is plain that no more
alliances can be made, when it is
closed, and the body of the deceased
is buried. The matches thus made
ire binding, and no other way of mak
ing them is in favor.
Her Kuse.
"Well," said Miss Twitters, "I
think I am safe now."
"rfafe from what?" asked Miss Kit
tisb.
"Burglars."
"Were you in danger from burg
lars?"
"I think I was. Everybody is, more
or less, especially an unprotected lady
in a big house. I've been afraid of
burglars ever since John and his wife
went West and left me by myself."
"What have you done to insure
safety?"
"I have bought four men's hats, of
different styles and sizes, and I have
hung them on the hat-rack in the hall.
When Mr. Burglar surveys the array,
he will decide that there are too many
men in that house to make his exploit
as safe as he might wish, and he will
goon to some other house. I rather
flatter myself that this is a pretty good
plan. Dou't you think so?" Harper's
Bazar.
An Klephant Kace in Ceylon*
An elephant is a heavy looking ani
mal but can be very quick in his
movements. There was an elephant
race recently at N invar a Eliya, Cey
lon, in which nine elephants took part,
and in which an elephant belonging
to the Buddhist high priest of Kandy
won easily. A local paper says:"The
race was won in heats and was most
interesting to watch, the animals seem
ing quite to understand what they had
to do, and moving regularly under the
guidance of^their respective mahout or
rider."
Molecule* in (ill*.
It lias been calculated that the num
ber of moles in a cubic inch of anv
gas is 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,001),
and in each of these molecules there
are several atoms moving among
themselves »t the raie of 70 miles a
minute.