THE NAVY'S MINIATURE SEAj A Great Tank In Which Models of New Warihlpa Are to Be Tested. Close to the waterfront at the gun factory in Washington the first experi mental tank for the navy Is beingrapld ly completed, and by the time bidders have submitted proposals for the con struction of the big battleships and monitors recently called for it will be ready to test miniature models of par afflne and wax representing the pro posed new additions to the country's fighting strength on the sea. Therfc is no tank in the world equal to this one in size, equipment, and completeness of its electrical devices. It is longer and wider than the best owned by for eign countries, and covers an area of water fully capable of iloating some of the largest torpedo boats. It looks like an Immense natatorium, and, in fact, would make an excellent one. The plan of having a big tank, housed over, with brick sides and con crete bottom, in which little models of all new ships to be built for the navy should be tested, was suggested some years ago by Chief Constructor Hlch born, who had noted the excellent re sults obtained in Great Britain and France by testing designs of new ships before their actual lines were decided upon by constructing small models and having them towed through the water at given rates of speed. The resistance offered by the models to the water formed a basis on which close esti mates could be made of the probable speed of the actual ships when in ser vice, and faults in designs could be readily detected and corrected before the vessels were completed. Two years ago congress appropriated SIOO,- 00(1 with which to build a tank, and under direction of Constructor Taylor the work has so advanced that It will be available in a few weeks. When a new vessel is to be built, a model is made of it about eight feet long, care being observed to have the lines accurately moulded. This model is made of wood and covered with a mixture of paraffine and wax. to give it a smooth surface. Running the en tire length of the tank, several feet above the. water, is an electrical trolley apparatus, to which the model is at tached and by which it is drawn through the water at certain fixed speeds. The waves created and their character are noted, and the distur bance caused abeam and the general effect produced on the water by the vessel are clpsely watched. Where de fects are apparent, the designs of the proposed vessel are altered to correct them and by this means the construc tors can estimate accurately just the amount of steam power required to send a vessel of a certain displacement and design through the water at a giv en rate of speed. Models are now be ing made of the three new battleships, which will be the first tested in the new tank. It is expected that some valuable lessons will be learned from the experiments by which improve ments may be made in the plans of the ships. The Secretary of the Navy. The navy of the I'nited States struck the first blow in the war for Cuba'k SKC'T JOHN 11. I.ONO. Freedom and it was a blow which amazed the world. Later the battle of Manila Hay was equalled by the utter destruction of the Spanish l-'leet off San tiago de Cuba. JcAm 1). I.Ong, ex-Gover nor of Massachusetts, is Secretary of the Navy and to him goes glory as well as to Dewey, Sampson and Schley. Enaign Powelson. Ensign Powelson, of the St. Paul, the young officer whose expert evidence was an important feature of the Maine Court of Inquiry, has distinguished himself again. Mr. Powelson com manded the gun which disabled the Spanish torpedo boat destroyer Ter ror, recently, by one of the most re markable shots in the naval history of the war. His gun also fired the shell from the St. Paul which exploded di rectly over a Spanish cavalry force on shore, scattering them in all directions. Ensign Powelson, when war was de clared, was transferred, at his request, und that of Captain Sigsbee, from the Fern to the St. Paul. Reflection* of a Bachelor. No man with a full beard knows what it really means to blush. Some women never know when their husbands' wives need a change. When a man quarrels with a girl ind doesn't want her to make it up ho begins to call Iher "my dear child." The first time his wife cleans house every man makes up his mind that 11 she ever tries it again he will leave her. As long as a girl has time to remark about men having nice names she hasn't given up all hope of getting married. Of the total population of Bombay which 4a nearly n million, the greatei part la crowded Into on area of foui attuare miles. REP \TRED THS WORK OF FIXING THEM UP DONE "WHILE YOU WAIT." Tlie Vulcan Is A Floating: Machine Shop, Fully Equipped To Repair Any Damage Done to Sampson'* Fleet—Carries Tools and Machinery Worth tt.'iOO.OOO. The queerest vessel in the United States navy, if not. indeed, the queer est afloat, is the aptly named Vulcan. She is literally a floating machine shop, thoroughly equipped with all the tools and appliances to be found in any shop ashore where the work ol' repairing machinery to vessels is done. She may not win as much popular glory as her armed sisters, she may not pre sent so gay an appearance, and she may not do such deeds of daring, but she lias her mission to fulfil, and she will not be found wanting. The real heroes of war are not al ways to be found on the quarterdeck. Did you ever think of the men buried away down in the stifling bowels of the ship, the men who see nothing of the battle, but upon whose efforts the ac tion of the ship entirely depends? That's the way it is with the Vulcan. Her labors will probably be unpraised and unsung, but they will be none the less valuable for all that. Her mission is to remain with the fleet and repair any damage that may be done to the other vessels. For this work she is thoroughly prepared. Her equipment includes nearly a hundred tons of tools and machinery valued at $300,000. If you have ever visited a naval re pair shop and can imagine the scene transferred to shipboard, you can get a fairly good idea of what the Vulcan looks like. There are plate bending rolls and punching and shearing ma chines that can bite through an inch of solid steel. There are lathes for turning castings of nearly any size, there are planers, <1 rills and milling machines of compass enough to meet almost any demand, and there are blowers to supply the several forges and to draw foul air from between decks and send it through the ventila tors above. She can even make small rapid fire guns. There are pipe cutters, bolt cutters, forges and grindstones, and a good sized cupola for the melting of suffi cient metal to make a heavy casting. A supplemental electric plant has given excellent lighting facilities throughout the ship, but principally in the work shops situated on what Is termed the third deck. There are also evaporators and dis tillers of a capacity equal to a daily output of quite ten thousand gallons of water, several times more than the needs of the Vulcan could demand. She has two steam cranes, with ten foot arms that will lead to the hoist ing drums amidships and to the cranes to the hatches. These cranes are specially designed for removing weights from the men-of-war and for transferring machinery to the disabled ships. And, lastly, there is a mag nificent little foundry for manufactur ing castings up to a certain size. Of course, skilled men are required to perform the work of repairing ma chinery, and the best machinists and mechanics in the service have been assigned to the Vulcan to perform the work for which it has been fitted out, and this brings to light a condition of affairs quite as unique as is the ship herself. There is no mechanical plant in the country that admits of such a variety of accomplishments as this one. The variety of departments gives the Vulcan more chief petty officers than any other ship known. A dozen such officers is the usual complement for a war ship, but the Vulcan, out of her entire crew of two hundred men, has ninety-two men who have the right to wear double breasted short coats and officer's caps. No vessel that has yet started out for war has carried such a large com plement of well-trained and educated men. The repair ship has on board some of the linest engineers in the country, and among the number is a Providence millionaire and a college professor, who entered the service of their country as soon as it was known that the United States was to have a floating machine shop. Chief machinists, expert boilermak ers, moulders, brass finishers and elec tricians: copper-smiths, carpenters, joiners, ship-wrights, plumbers—all have the rating of first class pet ty officers. The Vulcan's cap tain is Lieutenant Commander Ira Harris who has been general manager of the Chicago Drop Forge and Foundry Company, and of like concerns in Kansas and Cleveland, O. The chief engineers are Gardiner Sims, the head of the Armington & Sims Engine Works, of Providence, R. 1., who has thirty of his best mechan ics aboard, and Professor Aldrich, of the University of West Virginia, one of the best electrical experts of the country. Frederick C. Neilson, son of Medical Inspector John L. Neilson, United States senior medical officer at Cbarlestown, is an assistant en gineer. The leading mechanics have quarters in the old passenger state rooms, and will live very comfortably. Officially the Vulcan is described as an engineer's repair ship, but Engineer in Chief Melville, who was responsible for her purchase and transformation, sets the mind at rest as to her position in the navy by calling her a floating machine shop. The Vulcan was for merly the merchant steamer Chatham. Shortly before the war commenced Hn glneer in Chief Melville recommends! to the department that two vessels be acquired which could be transformed into engineers' repair ships and at tached to the North Atlantic and fiy 'n* ttuadrons WON HIS LEAVE OF ABSENCE | It Had Been Ketused Hut lie JOot It Uy a Perilous Kxplolt. There is a young soldier from Bing hampton in Captain Hitchcock's com ' pany of the First Regiment, New Yu:k ; Volunteers, at Governor's island, who i won a much desired leave of absence one day in a novel way. This young soldier wanted togo over to New York for two days in the worst kind of a way. Some friends from home, whom i he hadn't seen since he marched out ! of Binghamton with his company near ly two months before, were coming i down for a visit and had invited him |to spend the time with them. As he hadn't had any leave either at Camp Black or at Governor's Island up to ! that time, he felt sure that there would | be no difficulty in getting it then, and, , accordingly, he putin an application j for forty-eight hours. In just one hour he got his applica i tion back, marked "Refused." There ; was no explanation of the refusal, and j the young soldier was disgruntled | about it and went off to sulk. The next afternoon there was a ; heavy windstorm. It blew great guns j on Governor's Island, and many things | that were not secured were blown out i into the bay. The most serious dam age done, however, was the snapping of the halyard on the big steel flagpole on the parade ground and the sudden de scent to the ground in consequence of the American Hag. Officers and men regarded this as an evil omen, and, despite the fact that the wind was still blowing a gale, they ran out on the pa rade ground to rescue the flag and see what could be done toward fixing the broken halyard. "I want a man to shin up that pole ■ and fix that rope," said the officer of | the day, who was one of the Lieuten ants of the company. "Who will do it?" The first half of the flagpole was solid enough, but up toward the top it was bending in the wind like a slender branch of a tree. It was a smooth climb, too, and it was evident that it would take a pretty good man to make it, and a pretty strong one lo hang on after he reached the lop. For a mo ment after the lieutenant called for a volunteer there was silence. Then a soldier stepped forward and aid he'd make an attempt. There was a burst of applausa from the others as he tied the end of the rope around his waist. No one who heard him doubted that he could make the climb, as he had served six years in the navy before joining the National Guard. Half way up, the soldier stopped and yelled down that he couldn't go any further. "The wind's too strong," he shouted. "I can scarcely hold on now." "Come down, then," cried the Lieu tenant. When the soldier reached the ground the Lieutenant turned to the men and said • irnnT Tobnrro Spif ami Smoke lour l.ile Amty. To quit toba-eo easily nml forevor. be waj? netic. full of life, nerve and \ take No To- Bae, the wonder worker, that makes weak men strong. All druggists, 50c or $I • Curt' ru-iran teed. Booklet ami sample free.. Address Sterling Kemedy Co , Chicago or New Voile ■' IfffjlOW arc the chil- i lmm lmm I dren this summer? )\ , 1 IH I Arc they doing } l8 =« l well? Do they { \ get all the benefit they / 4 , should from their food? }• i Arc their cheeks and lips } of good color? And arc 1 j 1 they hearty and robust ins l everyway? t \ If not, then give them / \ Scott's Emulsion | ,' of cod liner oil V ( > phosphites. / ! It never fails to build I , 1 up delicate boys and girls. £ ,» It gives them more flesh < > and better blood. £ ' > It is just so with the ' ■ ( baby also. A little Scott's » ■ Hmulsion, three or four 1 , , 1 times a day, will make ', < > the thin baby plump and <" ► It , " ', /£vfwwf ur nishes the ( ' ' > young botJy ■ ' fl r~rT ' ust t ' ie material ' ■ ,' win necessary for «, ,> QIJ j I growing bones < • ant l nerves. ,' I All DruKeists, coc. and si. l' ' i ni'n'g n*n | 1 fCATHARTIC CURE CONSTIPATION 25c 50c ALL DRUGGISTS HAVE NO AGENTS "TT*H when ami ~J«7T. Surrey Harneee.Prlce, |16.00. W«*on«. Send for Urge, free No «o«Surre» - .. « M - 11 ' f0 ' 136 CaUlogu. of all our m,I M . .bad. ELKHART CABEUfiE AND HABHIM MFfi. CO. W. B. PRATT* let'y, ICLKBABTi XMk Cure QonstS" pMlmn I and \f-:t cure iii« •••;:- wenee;. Tlw*-.w ans j ' iii of thoiM t»4" I'-MVli;::'.!i< n : | lo.w yf ujipftiti*, >;.u:r t 1:, c.nUul toi;..!'.-, iruu'; 1 , pivl;>ir,::ion, toi,l lYe!, «]«.•!.;iin. «• - ba.-l.act.o, N i-, .:; ; juun.Kce, pile- 1 , juilor, ;'tiu:h, irritability, nervousness, lioa.hoho, turpi J liver, h«nu t burn, foul bieath, sdeepk-.iriiie.-.), druw.si nc:'s, hot skin, cramps, throbbing head. Ar ° a su " a c —• £S BHOIO for UuiJtilifiaiian Dr. J. Ayer's Pills are a specific for all diseases of the liver, stomach, and bowels. "1 suffered from constipation which as sumed such an obstinate form that I feared it would cause a stoppage of the boweU. After vainly trying various remedies, I be gan to take Ayer's Pills. Two boxes effected a complete cure." I). BURKE, Saeo, Me. "For eight years I was afflicted with constipation, which became so had that the doctors could do no more for me. Then I bewail to take Ayer's Pills, and soon the bowels recovered their natural action." WM. H. DELAUCETT, l»oraet, Out. THE PILL THAT WILL. "Will any other man try It? We must fix It, boys, for the Hag can't fly until we do." Two or three men sniil that they would ilo It willingly, if they could, but they were sure they couldn't climb a quarter of the way up. Then the young soldier, who had been sulktug because his application for leave had been turned down, stepped forward and said: "Lieutenant, I made application for forty-eight hours' leave yesterday and it was refused. I want that leave bad ly, and if you'll promise to get it for me I'll make a stagger at this job. I never shinned up a smooth steel pole, but 1 have climbed trees, and think 1 can do this Job." "1 can't promise you the leave," said the Lieutenant, "but I'll promise to do my best to obtain it for you." "That's satisfactory," said the sol dier, and a moment later he was going up the pole, the end of the broken hal yard tied around his waist. He went up very slowly, resting every few feet and finally reached the top. His com panions below were too scared to ap plaud, for the top of tlie pole was bend ing first one way and then another in the gale, and it looked as though the young soldier might be blown from his perch any second. But he wasn't. He wns earning that much-desired leave, and he succeeded in slipping the end of the rope through to the pulley block andbringingit down with him. Then he was allowed to haul up the flag himself, while the other soldiers cheered him. Thorough ly exhausted, he went back to his quar ters, where, an hour later, an orderly handed him a paper, informing him lhat, on the recommendation of Lieu tenant Blank, seventy-t\fo hours' leave of absence had been granted to him by the Post Commander, Colonel. Bar ber. The MlnlH