1 TERRORS OF THE OCEAN. I M Boats and Torpedo Boat Of the torpedo boat the public has a fairly accurate notion, and knows that her chief purpose is to plant one or more fatal stings against the sides of an enemy, but the torpedo boat de stroyer ranged, in imagination, all the way from a counter-mining machine to something just short of a good-sized cruiser. The torpedo boat destroyer is really a magnificent torpedo boat of great speed, better sea-keej)ing quali ties and with a battery of rapid-tiring guns of from five to eight six-pounders. She is built purposely with an out ward appearance closely akin to her natural quarry, that she may the better approach unsuspected within striking distance. 3he also carries a torpedo outfit, and in her the battleship and the cruiser have even a more dauger ous enemy thon in the simple torpedo boat, for where the small oraft, by stress of weather, limited speed, or restricted endurance must halt, the destroyer may continue with all the more certainty of carrying out its murderous mission. Of the eleven boats on which we may count in a short while, two of them may be classed as destroyers, the Farragut and the Rowan; two of them as thirty-knot torpedo boats, the Craven and the Dahlgren, and the rest as torpedo boats of ordinary speed. The Farragut, Rowan, Davis and Fox are building on the Pacific coast; the first by the Union Iron Works, of San Francisco; the second by Moran Brothers, of Seattle, and the last two by Wolff it Zwicker, of Portland, Ore gon. The Dahlgren and Craven are building at the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Me.; the Morris, Talbot and Gwin at Herreslioff's, Bristol; the Mackenzie at Charles Hillinan's yard. Philadelphia, and the McKee at the Columbian Iron Works, of Baltimore; audit is of interest to note that these last two boats are of the type recom mended by the chief constructor and engineer-in-chief as the most readily susceptible of rapid duplication in event of need. DISCHARGING A TORPEDO FROM THE BOW ' OP THE V. S. TORPEDO BOAT STILETTO. In a prolonged conflict, that type will survive that can bo easiest re placed or repaired, and from all we know now of the complicated nature and time demanded in building ar mored ships, it is easy to see the po sition torpedo vessels of all sorts will till. They may be called the mo ment's most effective fighting machine, but can hardly be confused with the greater defensive qualities of the battleship. The whitehead torpedo is no longer the secret mechanism it was some vears ago, owing principally to its general adoption by nearly all naval powers, aud its inside workings are commonly understood by all well versed military and naval men. A knowledge how to work it, though, is another matter, aud, briefly, it may be said that every torpedo of the White head type has its own individuality, its own idosyncrasies; and it is the duty of every qualified torpedo officer to learn the characteristics of those "steel babies" that some day may win him glory. The largest of our torpedoes, the eightesu-inch, so known because that at its greatest diameter, is a blunt-head ed, cigar-shaped body of steel a trifle over sixteen feet long, propelled by A TORPEDO-CATCHING NET. shield is a false outer steel wall and protects the United States warships from tljo dangerous and numerous Spanish torpedo boats.) miniature engines, capable of develop ing within the limited space of an average-sized clieese-box, a driving energy of thirty horse-power. With that force turning its twin screws, the miniature craft can be turned for a mile and a half at the rate of thirty five miles an hour. Compressed air is the motive power; and it is crowded into the ten-foot boiler of this small boat till a pressure of ninety times that of the air we breathe is reached, ■llie explosion of that boiler is a dan gerous possibility to be guarded against. Besides the boiler compart ment and the engine compartment, there are four other subdivisions. One for the carriage of that murder ous load of 220 pounds of gun cotton at the head, and the others for regu lating the air supply to the engines and for maintaining the torpedo at any determined depth of submerg ence. When attacking vessels at anchor and likely to be protected with tor pedo nets, the nose of the torpedo is fitted with a cutter; and no ordinary fabrication of steel rope and chain could withstand the ripping force of that instrument backed by the rush ing force of nearly 1200 pounds. The torpedo is ejected from the tube by the discharge of about four ounces of powder. In passing out, a little trigger or clip turns on the power for the engines, and, by the the time the torpedo has dived, the engines, with A PERFECT TiTE OF THE TORPEDO BOAT DESTROYER. out jar, are running at full speed. When clear of the boat a few yards, a safety device drops from the nose and leaves the plunger bared to detonate the fighting charge within. Striking a ship from ten or fourteen feet below the water line, it will tear a wound with such awful force that the heavi est of armor must yield. In the hands of either the ignorant or heedless, the modern torpedo is a menace to friend or foe; but in the hands of the skilled and resolute, it is the wickedest implement of warfare —wicked in threaten d wicked in deed. It is to bear the modest burden of a half dozen such "babies" that the largest of our torpedo boats are built. The torpedo boat or the destroyer is anything l>ut a thing of beauty. Their sea-green hulls, the absence of bright work, the presence of those torpedoes, and a knowledge of their somber mis sion of stealth and destruction, stamp with them the impress of something akin to official piracy. There are no odds offered the enemy. It is not a struggle between equal powers where skill and facility of handling may win with open honor?. Instead, it is a case of a giant and a pigmy armed alike with one common implement capable of ruining either. The weaker, though many times more agile, cannot take the chances of equality; but, instead, must creep upon the adversary aud compel his surrender only when the sense of his dying condition is borne in upon him with the force of that one conclusive blow. What are the chances of succor offered in return? The tor pedo boat has done her frightful work, ind now is too small to bear or save the hundreds she has doomed. She has not only subdued, but she has poisoned her victory with the venom of desertion. In turn, she faces the promise of absolute destruction in case of prompt detection; but ths blow falls with a reasonable hope of relief for the wounded and the living from the larger craft. Death lies precious close at all times on board a torpedo boat in war times. The crew must face death by the destruction of the boat; death by foundering; death by the bursting of the throbbing boilers or pulsing steam pipes; death by collision; or death by the premature bursting of their own I petards. She must face the storm of light projectiles every modern battle ship can send from her batteries, one pounders, six-pounders aud guns, all of which may bring death, and, with the exception of the gat lings' bullets, all of which may pierce the sides and boilers of any of these boats. When running at top speed, the boats quiver from stem to stern with a wearing vibration hard to bear iu com pany with the nervous tension of serious work. Down in tha stoke hold the firemen, before the blinding glare of the white-hot furnaces, feed the ceaseless voracity of those blis tered mouths with endless shovelings of coal, that the pressure may be kept up to supply the greed of those driv ing engines lying just behind in the next compartment. The air is full of dust and grime, and one's head swims because of the heat. In the engine room the roar is thundering, and the parts move back and forth, up and down with the velocity of 800 changes a minute. A stray shot in there, well placed, may burst a cylinder teeming with the pressure of more than 200 pounds of scalding steam or liberate the hammering weight of a driving piston and send it tearing through every neighboring part with the stun ning violence of many tons of rending, ripping force. Such are the odds that must be faced for the safe car riage of those other forces she has at her command; and to the youngest officer in the service may fall the honor of that accomplishment, before which even a battleship might hesi tate. The work cut out for the tor pedo boat is quite akin to that of leading a forlorn hope; but when the time comes good men and cool in plenty will be found ready to forget themselves and laugh at death in even this dread service for our flag's de fense. Torpedo warfare began during the American civil war, but so crude were the early torpedoes and so little op portunity has there since been to study the action of modern torpedoes in ac tual war that naval officers all over Europe have looked forward eagerly to a war between the United States and Spain as an object lesson. That the torpedo years ago passed the experi mental stage and stands to-day as the most wonderful and terrible of mod ern engines of war is not to be donbted, but it has had no real test of its power. Not one torpedo has been tired in war nOSriTAL SHIP SOLACE READY FOR WAR. [.Shu has been painted white with a green sr pe along the water line. Three liirg.' rod crosses are oil each side of the vessel.l fare by any of the leading naval pow ers in more than twenty years, and so great has been the advance in torpedo construction within this time that the early tests are of little value to the present student of naval affairs. Since the torpedo became a machine of precision it has been used in war fare only by insurrectionists anil weak Nations. The war between China and Japan three years ago gave some idea of the value of the torpedo, but neither its full value nor its place could be de termined in that short and unequal contest between two half-civilized Na tions. Thirty-seven torpedo attacks have been made thus far, sinking a dozen ships and damaging one other. Six assailant boats have been lost. X-Kays In War Hospitals. A Milwaukee man, one Lyade Bradley, appears to be the first man to use the X-ray in the war hospitals in case of hosti ities with Spain. The great ease with which a bullet or splin ter could be found in the hu nan body with this strange light commends its use at ouce. It would seem that the Government officials would ap prove of its adoption. According to Mr. Bradley, it would be a very sim ple matter to provide for the ray on a war vessel, but the introduction of a machine on the field would be attend ed with considerable difficulty. For instance, a small engine, boiler and dynamo and the machine itself would have to be put 011 wheels for field service. This outfit, however, would be much lighter and more easily transported than would l>a imagined, and the one Mr. Bradley has designed could be built in a week. Mr. Brad ley has long been an enthusiast in the use of the X-ray aud has done some excellent work with it. In case of war he proposes to build a machine and offer his services to the Govern ment. Blending Odors. Recent experiments have demon strated that odors can be mixed ac cording to the law by which colors are blended. One odor completely masks another because of its intensity, but by reducing this intensity the other odor can be felt. Any two odors can be mixed so as to produce the effect of a simple odor. HELPS FOR HOUSEWIVES. Makes Meat Tender. Do you love to have your meats ten der? Then never allow them to boil when cooking in water. Tough meats become tender by proper cooking, while the reverse of this is equally true. Indeed, hard boiling in salted water will toughen the best piece of meat ever sold. Consequently, always let the kettle simmer on the back of the stove, and any meat will generally become nice and tender. Loops of Kl<l Gloves. Loops for hanging up garments are always wearing out and breaking,par ticularly on heavy garments. The best way, of course, is to have hang ers—or forms—for them, but if you haven't them you can make a service able loop by cutting a strip of kid from an old glove, roll in it a piece of coarse string and sew the edges of kid neatly together. This loop, sewn se curely to place, will staud any amount of wear and pulling.—Detroit Free Press. Facts to Be Remembered. All dry materials should be sifted before measuring. A cup holding just half a pint is the standard measuring cup. A cupful is all the cup will hold without running over—full to the brim. A scant cupful is within a tourth of an inch of the top. A tablespoonf J1 of flour, sugar or butter is a rounded tablespoonful. A teaspoouful of salt, pepper and spice is a level teaspoonful. A heaped spoonful is all the spoon will hold. Half a spoonful is measured by di viding through the middle length wise. A speck is what you can take on thu tip of a penknife. A Good ltemedy for Burns. If our readers are not familiar with tlie fact that common baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) is a particularly good application to any comparatively slight burn or scald, then, if used when such an accident occurs, they will probably receive the full value of a year's subscription to our paper. The way to use it is to sprinkle the burn as well as the cloth to be ap plied, freely with the soda, wrapping the injured part with the cloth and keeping it well soaked with cold wa ter. It may be well to repeat the ap plication, as the water washes the I soda away. By this treatment scalds | that are pretty severe are relieved i from pain in the course of six to ten hours. It gives relief at once. Paste this up in the kitchen, if you are forgetful, and be sure to have some soda on hand for burns only. When you need it you will want it very badly. The writer knows from experience.—Farm, Field and Fire side. Good Tiling* Made of Clieefle. Cheese is justly a highly appreciated food. It has many possibilities. At dinner, the cheese course is usually served just before the dessert. It often is a pleasant accompaniment to chicken salad. In London,cucumbers are served with cheese. An appetiz ing dish at a littlechatiug-dish supper was made of cheese crumbled. One recognized a seasoning of mustard, pepper, suit and vinegar. Cheese Tarts—Ordinary puff paste I tarts are filled with creamed cheese, the recipe for which is given below. Cheese Omelet—Melt two table spoonfuls of butter, four beaten eggs, four tablespoonfuls of cream, pepper, celery salt and nearly a cupful of grated cheese; fry, fold and serve. Fried Bread and Melted Cheese— Dip Slices of bread into two beaten eggs and four tablespoonfuls of milk; fry carefully in butter. Slice (thin) cheese and place on the bread. Stand in the oven until cheese melts. Cheese Straws—Four tablespoon fuls of grated dairy or Parmesan cheese, four tablespoonfuls flour, pep per, salt, two teaspoonfnls of water, the yolk of one egg, roll out. The straws must be cut iu narrow strips, bake on greased letter paper. Scalloped Cheese—Butter a small baking dish. Use alternate layers of breadcrumbs and thinly sliced cheese. Dot the former with bits of butter and chopped celery, pepper and salt. Add a cupful of cream and a beaten egg. Bake in a hot oven. Cheese Cakes—Cook one-half a pint of milk curd, one cupful of cream, one cupful sugar, one-half a pint measure of cocoanut, and the yolks of four eggs, until thick. When cold, add one teaspoonful vanilla or almond extract. Fill patty shells and bake. Creamed Cheese Melt one-half pound of rich dairy cheese and one tablespoonful of butter, then add the yolks of two eggs and six tablespoon fuls of cream,.well beaten, celery salt, and a dash cr white pepper. To be served on dainty squares of hot but tered toast. Cheese Sandwiches—Mix thorough ly one teaspoonful of mayonnaise, one cupful of grated cheese, the yolks ol three hard-boiled eggs; butter the bread very thinly, and spread ditto, fold or roll the sandwiches. Slice brown bread very thinly-, lightly but tered. For the tillijg, mix chopped olives and cottage cheese, or dairy cheese and salted almonds. Iu other sandwiches the bread is first spread with sauce Tai tare and next with cheese. Very delicious are those made of cheese and walnuts. One half cupful of English walnut meats, one cupful of cheese, a dash of red pepper, a little salt, chopped, »a little mayonnaise dressing mixed with it. Spread ou thinly sliced bread. An other combination filling consists of Neuchatel cheese, lettuce and mayon naise STRANGE MONSTER. THIS. Living Below Ground, It Needs Neither Light Nor Air. That an animal may live nearly two hundred feet below the surface of the earth without a bit of sunshine or the smallest opening for the admittance of fresh air seems an incredible thing, but Cornell University, at Ithaca, N. Y., has just reoeived scientific proof that such a thing is possible. The proof, too, is conclusive, for it is the possession of the animal itself and a AN UNDERGROUND MONSTER. {An animal that lives nearly two hundred feet below the surface of the earth without a bit of sunshine or fresh air.] careful and accurate description of its manner of living and the method of its capture. The animal referred to is a species of the salamander, but it is much dif ferent from the little red lizard-like animals that are often found in mud puddles after a hard rain. Indeed, it could not live for any length of time in the open light and air like the sala manders with which we are acquaint ed. The bottom of an artesian well 181 feet deep which was recently bored at San Marcos, Texas, seems to be the only place where the little creature has been able to exist; at least, the only place where it has ever been found. The three specimens of this won derful little animal, which has been christened with the scientific name of Typhlomologe—the name seems as strange as the animal—were given to the Cornell University Museum by Hector von Bayer, architect and engineer of the United States Fish Commission. It is said that only six of the species have ever been found, and that these have all come from the same artesian well. As it has several peculiar char acteristics heretofore entirely unknown to scientists to have existed in living animals, the typhlomologe is the most important and interesting of all the remarkable tailed bactracliians. The illustration gives the reader a good idea of the appearance of the ani mal iu a general way, but a close ex amination shows the most striking peculiarities. Its skin is pure white in color, and there is no external eye whatever. Its legs are unusually long for such a small animal, the propor tion being greater than ever before known anions tailed batrachians. The Difference in Men. Some men always have a job, whila others are always looking for one. Willie Boler, of Atchison, has had steady work for several years, al though he is deaf and dumb and has no legs. His brother Joe was a great big fellow and perfect as to speech and legs, but never had a job in his life.—Atchison Globe. Poor Curlottn. Tho latest news which has been given to a sympathetic world concern ing the condition of poor, mad Car lotta, the ex-Empress of Mexico, is FORMER EMPRESS CARLOTTA. that she has never rallied from the shock which dethroned her reason at the time when her husband, Maximil lian, was shot and that her health is in such a state, she can survive but a short time. A Valuable liecruit. General Goklbraiilo— 4 'So you wish to enlist in the Spanish infantry, do you? Have you good qualifications?" Spanish liecruit—"l have a record of thirty minutes in the six-mile run." Qeneral Qoldbraido— 4 'Excellentis simo perfecto! I will make you an in fantry captain and you shall lead your soldiers in glorious retreats. Excel lenzal There will be a few Spanish left after a fight."—Judge. SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS. Astronomers tell us that in our solar' systems there are at least 17,000,000 comets of all sizes. There is enough salt iu the sea to cover 7,000,000 square miles 'of land with a layer one mile iu thickness. In' Germany peroxide of hydrogen is said to be mixed with various drinks, in order to give them the mellow flavor of age. The hydra fusca, a sort of polypus, may be turned inside out like a glove, and will continue to live and eat as heartily as ever. It has been proposed to equip Lon don policemen with portable electric batteries to feed electric lights on their helmets. A curiosity of the Stockholm expo sition is a pine tree section four feet in diameter from 60 or 70 miles north of the Arctic circle. The world's useful fibers number 1018, according to a catalogue by the department of agriculture, about 30 being used in the United States. In French trails, a mixture of ten parts of air aud one part of acetylene has proven suitable for ordinary gas engines, giving three times the energy of ordinary illuminating gas. A single bell is made by a German manufacturer to give more than one note. A number of dents divide the bell into sections of different sizes, aud each section, when struck, emits a tone corresponding to its size. The fact is stated that in a single one of the staudard locomotives em ployed by a leading rnilroad of America there are, counting individual rivets and bolts, though not nails in the cab and tender, over twenty thousand pieces. The gradual cooling of France is proven by its vegetation. The Ital ian poplar, common in early French etchings, is now seldom seen in the country, while the lemon has disap peared from Languedoc and the orange from Koussillon, and the northern limit of many plant species has shifted far to the southward. A noiseless aud more efficient flame for incandescent gas burners is pro duced by giving the air aud gas a rotary motion to thoroughly mix them as they are admitted to the bottom of the burner, the mixed air aud ga's then being heated by means of corrugated rings in the burner, which draw heat from the flame above. Sunken iron ships which are too deeply submerged to permit of the descent of divers to make connections for raising them can be lifted by means of powerful electro magnets attached to lifting ropes, the magnets being lowered until they strike the wreck, when an electric current is applied through wires to cause them to grip the boat. Don't Cross Your Leg*. Don't cross your legs! Not only is it bad form, but is one of the worst things in the world for a man or woman. It is particularly injurious for women to sit with one leg swung over the knee of the other. Man}' have often wondered how in the world they have contracted a splitting headache, or why their feet get so cold at times. These two troubles aud a score of others are due solely in many cases to the common habit of seeking comfort by crossing the legs. Cold feet, varicose veins, headache, ulcers and countless other troubles from the improper circulation of the blood in the lower limbs arecaused I>y the pernicious habit of crossing the legs. If you cross your right leg over the left knee you will notice that the whole weight of the suspended right leg is sustained by the left knee, which places all of the pressure against that under part of your right leg between the calf aud the kneecap. Now, any school text book on physi ology will show that just in the very spot where all the pressure is placed there is a large number of large veins, nerves and arteries. The mere fact of putting undue pressure against this spot in either leg has the effect of crowding all these tissues together, aud the circulation of the lifegiving fluid is materially in terfered with. Of course, the absence of a plentiful supply of blood to the legs and feet causes them to become so susceptible to the cold air that the least draft csuses the feet to become annoyiugly cold.—Journal of Good Health. A Very Old Violin. Mr. Taylor Buttrill of Jackson has a violin that is 183 years old. It ha been in his possession some twenty years, and is considered by first-elas> musicians to be a valuable anil high toned instrument. It was manufac tured iu 1715, and is perhaps one among the oldest ot its kind in the south. Mr. Buti ill prizes his violir very highly, and as he is one of those "back date" musicians himself he sometimes takes the bow in hand and knocks oft' "The Arkansas Traveler' and"The Old Cow Crossed the Road' with a degree of satisfaction that conic hardly be obtained from a violin oft later date thau 1715. While he is uol what would be considered an exper' he can knock a tune out of that old violin that would surprise the natives. —Jackson (Ga.) Argus. ISounil the Earth. The time required for a journei round the earth by a mau walking dai and night, without resting, would bt 428 days; an express train, 40 days souuil, at a medium temperature, 3i 1-2 hours; a cannon ball, 21 3-4 hours light, a little over one-tenth of a sec ond; aud electricity, passing over i copper wire, a little under ouo-tentt of a second.
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