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.