Evening Star Newspaper, June 14, 1890, Page 8

8 — THE EVENING STAR:‘ WASHINGTON, D.C.. SATURDAY, —_ NEW NAVAL VESSELS. The Speed and Armament of Some of Unele Sam’s Fine Ships. GREYHOUNDS AS FIGHTERS. ——.__ ‘The Element of Speed in the New Navy— How Ship iders are Incited to Do ‘Their Best—Premiums for Extra Speed and Penalties for Delay. —_—o—— HE tendency of modern naval con- truction is toward speed, and all other qualities are, to a certain ex- tent, being subordinated to this highly important element. That it is ef the highest importance is not doubted by any who have investigated not only the pro- gress but also the necessities of the civilization which demands the instatlment of such large and expensive establishments as are now the vogue. In the case of the swift ocean racers, the “greyhounds of the sea. atlantic liners are called, the matter of speed is not so serious a problem as it is in the men- of-war, for in the former everything is made to stand aside that a knot or two may be gained. There is no limit to the space that is given to the propelling powers, the engines being monsters of mechanical construction. Bat when a naval architect is designing a fight- ing ship be has to confine himself to a very limited amount of room for his engines and boilers, and consequently he has, to a certain extent, a margin of etlicieacy beyond which he cannot go. Nevertheless the records that have been made of late, both here and in Europe, in the way of rapid wave cutting, have shown that men-of-war can be built that will be able to show their larger brethren—or rather, sisters —of the ocean pretty races ata pinch. And this fact is by no means unimportant, as there is more than a matter of pride involved, inas- much as it is a very definitely understood idea that these merchant liners are built with an idea of their being pressed into the service of the governments under whose flags they sail iz case of warlike urgencies. GRATIFYING SUCCESS. Speed, therefore, is of the utmost import- auce in the construction of that class of ves- sels known as cruisers, or commerce chasers, and the trials of the new ships that have been recently built for the United States navy have shown that this government is in a fair way to possessing one of the fleetest navies in the world if the present style of ship building is kept up. There is no doubt that this is due in a very large measure to the policy adopted of late of building the ships under private con- tracts, and offering the constructors high pre- miums for extra speed of the vessels. In this way there is added a monetary consideration the fleet trans- | upon almost any vessel that the government shes to bnild. An exception to this rule was found not many months ago in the case of the bids opened for the construction of the two | 3.000-ton cruisers, These vessels were adver- tised in June of last year, to cost not exceed- | ing $1,100,000 each, “but when the bids for them were opened at the depurtment in Cramps) dared to undertake the work, and their proposal was so high that it could not be accepted. They bid on each cruiser at a price of #1,250,000, but the department concluded that this was too high a price to pay for the vessels, and so it was decided to build the cruisers at the navy yards at Brooklyn and Norfolk by day's labor. It wil be interesting and instructive to note the difference, if any should exist, between the performances of these vessels when com- leted and those of asimilar size that have een builtat private yards, and a lesson may be drawn from this experience to guide the naval authorities in their distribution of work in the future. It is not to be expected that the eruis- | ers in question will be constructed in as short a time as those buat under contract, as there isa total lack of the element of risk that im- pels every contractor to do his fastest work. ‘THE VESSELS IN EMBRYO. These cruisers, which have not been named, and ara known by the authorities as Noa 7 aud 8, are in a fair state of advance- ment, although but little progress can ba seen by the uneducated eye. All that is vi je of No. 7. at the Brooklyn yard, is a few red steel rods and bars of a curved and bent shape, fastened together ina long scooped shape, without any semblance to the beautiful lines of a vessel. “But a great deal of work has been done in designing the beams and shapes that are to go into the ship and putting up the special tools that are required to make some ofthe parts. A number of minor contracts have been let for various materials to be used in the cruisers, including those for about 2,284 tons of steel! to be put into the hulls. These cruisers are to be exact duplicates of each other. As estimated by the naval con- structors, their tonnage will be 3.183, or six tons less than the Boston and Atlanta. They are twin-screw steel cruisers, with heavy protective deck, great speed and heavy batteries of rapid-fire guns. They have poop and forecastle decks, with an open gun deck between and bridges along the tops of tho hammock berthings connecting the poop and forecastle. The principal features are: Length on load line, 300 feet; breadth, extreme, 42 feet; mean draft, 13 feet; displacement, 3,133 tons; tons per inch, 20; indicated horse power, 10,000; speed in knots, 19. CAPACITY AND ARMOR. The bunker capacity is 556 tons of coal, the normal supply being 400 tons. At a speed of twenty knots such a ship could steam 2.59 days, consuming 214.3 tonsa day. At twelve knots, to what was formerly s mere matter of pro- which is an average speed, she could go for GEMS OF PUREST RAY. Stones Worth Fortunes and Where | so""tnst They Are Found. DIAMONDS AND RUBIES. How Precious Stones Are Cut—Bleache | ostrich egg, w! ing and Dyeing Gems—Some Wonder- ful Sapphires—Emeratds ‘Turquoise From Mammothw’ Teeth, ——_.—_— large diamonds possessed by the ancients is that they were accus- tomed to apply to such stones a rather extraordinary test. It was believed in their time that a real diamond, being itself the hardest thing in nature, could not be broken by a hammer upon an anvil, | Accordingly, it was customary to determine the | quality of diamonds brought for valu [seeing if they would withstand trial.” So said a jewel merchant to a Stax reporter, and added; “Of course, in nearly every case the diamond would be shivered upon the anvil into a thousand pieces; it was simply an accident when such a result did not follow. For this gem, though harder than any other known substance, is none the less brittle on that account, readily split- ting if rightly struck, A few years ago, when the historic Koh-i-noor had just been recut, the jewel was placed for a moment in the hands of Renjamin Disraeli, who let it drop from his fingers ‘upon the tiled floor of the room in which the occurrence took place. His heart leaped to his throat, and there was the biggest kind of a fright for a moment among the courtiers and others who stood around lest the diamond should have been broken. If it had fallen so as tostrike in this or that par- ticular way it would have been smashed to a certainty, and ever so many thousands of pounds would have vanished into nothingness with the destruction of one of the great gems of the world, Fortunately it suffered no harm, It is worth saying, parenthetically, that the Koh-i-noor has itself suffered some of the mis- fortunes which it brought upon its owners through so many centuries, Originally weigh- ing 703 carats, if was reduced by an unskillful Venctian lapidary to 186 carats, thus sacrificing nearly three-quartet its original dimen- sions, And so clumsily did the lapidary per- a stone looked more like a piece of glass than anything else. Subsequently it was recut and now weighs only 106 carats.” HOW DIAMONDS ARE CUT. “That seems a woeful diminutio®.” “You; but you must remember that the dia- mond cutter’s art is of very modern develop- ment, The ancients did not understand it to any extent, In polishing such of their diamonds as survived the hammer and anvil test they were content to merely rub down the angles of the rough stones and polish off the natural facets. To them the notion of losing by cutting even one-half of the weight of a gem would have beon horrifying. Diamond cutting, as it is now practiced, was first tried in Bruges abont the year 1456 by a man named Louis Berquem, who was the inventor of the facet idea as a matter mathematical, Toward the THE CRUIS ER BALTIMORE. fessional strife; and adding the element of | penalties for non-completion, and equivalent | penalties for lower speeds than are guaran- teed, the result has been almost phenomenal. A ship that can make an average of twenty | knots an hour for four hours may well be | classed among the swift vessels of the world, for that is as fast.if not faster,than the average ; speed of the transatlantic steamers. In the case of a cruiser this high speed does not need to be maintained for any long period, for in ease of a tight the hot work would be done in @ very short space of time. A contractor who | is sure of being able to produce a vessel that | will make this speed need have no fears about undertaking « government contract unless he is so slow with bis work that his time penalties eat up his profits and speed premiums. 1 has been the great trouble with th turers in their work of building n: and the records of the department are thic with examples of rash bidders who have for- gotten to take time by the forelock in their work and have consequently been wrecked by | the heavy fines that have been imposed. The Baltimore ranks just now. pending the trials of the other cruisers of her own class— the Philadelpina, Newark San Francisco— i a3 the swiftest of the new steel vessels recently | bailt for the navy. She is just now sailing northward along the A coast with the | Borth Atlantic squadron as its flagship, but Fumor asserts that she may soon b the ocean as the flagsbip of the European sta- tion. iu order to show the nations over there that the squadron of evolution was not ail that we have in the way of the ne This beautiful vessel is a the fact that we are now eng ® swift navy rather than a fi, y- Z001 example of 1 in producing hting force. Sho wouldbe of immense service if she ever in- } duced her antagonist to turn tail and run away. for there are very few vessels afloat that | But could hold their own with her in a chase. inacombat with a heavy battle ship, sue those with which the English and’ F Bavies abound, she wo nd but a sorry show. She has no armor whatever, her only Protection from the shot of the foe being a curved inner deck of steel over and around her “vitale”—i.e. her machinery and boilers. Ou the curves this protective deck is four inches thick, but at the top or crown it is but two and ehaif inches. The coal bunkers are over this dec The kee! of this ship was laid in 1887 at the Cramps’ ship yard in Phila lelphia, and she was launched about a year and a half ago. When she was tried she developed great speed over her contract agreement, and the builders received large premiums on the horse power developed—over one hundred thousand dol- lars, The ship is 315 feet long, 45 feet in extreme breadth and 15% feet in depth. Bhe displaces 4.413 tons, and her twin screws and triple horizontal engines were expected to develop 10.500 horse power and to make a speed of 19 knots an hour. On her official trial, however, she ran at 20.1 knots. Her main battery consists of four 8-inch and six 6-inch beeech-loading rifles, mounted en eschelon. The Sinch guns are placed fore and aft, two in a set, and have a wi range. The 6- inch guns are in broadside mount The secondary battery comprises four 6-pounders, two 3-pound: nd two I-pounders rapid-fire guns, four mm. revolving cannon aud four gatiing guns. The ship was authorized by the act of August 8, 1386, and the contract with the Cramps was signed December 17. 1886, the vessel to be completed within eighteen months, to cost €1.325,000, She was about twenty-one months waderway. HANDSOME FURNISHINGS. The Baltimore is fitted out for use as the flag ship of a fleet and her furnishings are sup- posed to be more magnificent than those ever before put into an American man-of-war. Every detail about the vessei is of the most Tasteful order, the carpets, chairs, tables and other domestic articles like that being of costly and elegant manufacture. It is estimated that this part of the ship cost the government up- ward of £15,000. ‘the rooms de voted to tue uses of the officers, and particularly that set aside for the admiral, a cut of which is here | shelf for 160 feetin the middle of the ship, shown, are as cozy and neat in their appoint- ments as those of any handsome house on shore; so that no oue is longer disposed to sigh for the sad lots of the poor fellows doomed to follow the sea on account of their quarters, CRUISERS NOS. SEVEN AND EIGHT. But the example of the builders of the new cruiser Baltimore in making more money om speed premiums than they made om the construc many other firms, and thus it is now not at all dificult to obtain bids from responsible firms | that have caused her to be dubbed a vessel of of the ship has encouraged | 20.92 days without recoaling, and at eight knots, the supposed minimum speed, she would last for 52 days, cruising in the meantime 9,982 knots in the aggregate. The armament of these vessels consists al- most entirely of what are termed secondary batteries, although one set of guns has been called the main battery, for the purpose of dis- tinction from the other. The main battery consists of ten 4-inch rapid-fire guns mounted in broadside style, except two on the rear deck, which are given plain mountings, without pro- tection. There is one 6-inch breech-loading rifle mounted in the bows behind a shield. The secondary battery consists of two 6-pounde rapid-fire guus, two 3-pounder rapid fires, one 1-pounder, two 37-millimeters revolving can- non and two gatlings. THE MONITOR PURITAN. There is about two years more of work to be done on the monitor Puritan, the keel of which was laid in the year 1875, before she will be ready for sea. She is essentially of the monitor type of vessel. but has peculiar modifications the “low free board, barbette-turreted, coast defense” type. This means that she is de- signed for harbor work, short cruises and heavy fighting when in close quarters. She started in the celebrated Roach ship yard Chester, Pa., but upon the failure of that firm she was taken into the government yard Sa sa at Brooklyn and a little work done on her at rare intervals. During the administration of Secretary Whitney she was towed down to Norfolk with the idea of her being finished there, and for a time she remained there. but | she was afterward towed back to New York, where she now lies receiving her finishing touches. Since she was started she has been } greatly changed in plan, with the effect of in- creasing her armameut and armor protection, and of giving her officers and men more com- fortable quarters. Her original dimension: however, remain the same. Length, 291 fect: breadth, 60 feet 1; inches; mean draft, 18 feet 24g inches; displacement, 6,060 tons. The main change consisted in substituting four 12-inch guns in barbette turrets for the four 10-nch gung in roller turrets that were part of her original design and of giving her 4 superstructure between the barbettes instéad ofa hurricane deck, The barbettes are the main feature of the reconstructed vessel. They were designed by Naval Constructor Philip Hichborn, after extensive study and observa- tion, during his trip abroad for the department, a well as consultation of the highest authori- ties of Europe. Ky means of these turrets the axes of the guns are placed 1034 feet above the water, allowing them tobe fought in much heavier weather than would have been possi- ble with the rolier base turret The fixed barbettes have steelarmor 14 inches thick, ed by 8 inches of wood, two 20-pound plates and a system of horizontal and vertical The guns are inclosed in sloping le shields of steel 8 inches thick, The secondary battery consists of six 4-inch rapid- tire guns, two on the main deck. pro’ oe a 4inch armored barbette built in asa part of the superstructure. Four of these guns are on top of the superstructure, protected by shietds, ‘Then there are two 6-pounder rapid-fire rifles, four 3-pounders, four 37-millimeters revolving cannon and two gatling guns. HOW THE PURITAN IS PROTECTED, The ship is provided with eight boilers, and these are now being fitted with appliances for forced draft, With the natural draft the vessel will develop 3,000 horse power and will | make a speed of 12 knots, while with forced draft sne will develop 4,000 horse power aud a | speed of 13 knots. ‘Tbe bull is protected by an armor belt 5 feet 7 inches deep, going 14 inches j thick toa point below the water line and | thence tapering to 6inches at the armor thus protecting the engines, boilers, maga- zines, shell rooms, &c. Immediately forward | and aft of these points the belt is reduced in | thickness to 10 inches for 20 feet and at the ends to 6 inches. The armor is strongiy backed by wood lagging and a system of rigid frames and girders. Over the main deck are two thickuesses of one-inch armor, This mon- ster, armed with the sharpest of teeth and covered with the heaviest of steel plates, will carry 450 tons of coal. és | She has all of her ‘ines and boilers and is | complete as far as her hull construction is con- | cerned, but her armor and turrets are yet to | be built and her interior fittings and joiner work are to be putin place. Contracts ha’ | been let for « part of the steel required for the | Temaining parts of the vessel, and it is thought that in two years more she will be ready to be put into commission. Hav's’t You Hap Tre to write a series of by | end of the seventeenth century experiments were made in the bleaching of colored dia- monds white by means of such chemicals as a distillation of antimony; but no way was ever found of preventing the ‘color from returning after awhile. Amsterdam is the great dia- mond-cutting workshop of the world today, 10,000 Hebrews in that city being more #8 directly engaged in the parinea ybody knows that only diamond will cut diamond, and for the purpose diamond dust has to be used, mostly made from imperfect and unmarketable diamonds known as *bort,’ pounded up in a steel mortar. A dia- mond to be cut is first stuck in a lump of ce- ment on the end of a short stick, the cement having been softened by the heat prelimina- It becomes fastened solidly in the cooled ent aud then it is ready for work. Suppos- ig that it is a big stone, it is likely that pieces will have to be chipped off it here and there in order to dispose of flaws. On an average a large diamond loses from one-third to two- thirds of its weight in this way. Frequently the chips thus obtained can themselves be cut into smaller gems with profit. A little steel chisel introduced into a nick skillfully made with andther diamond performs this operation, called ‘cleavage.’ It 18 a ticklish thing and must be performed with great care, lest the stone be ruined by an unintended break. The next thing is to grind ‘the facets by contact with another diamond, wettiug the opposing surfaces from time to time with the tongue, so that they may not get too hot. After this they ave polished by flat wheels carrying diamond dust, which revolve 2,000 times & minute, the ator adjusting the edges and planes of the facets to the wheel with his fingers and keep- ing the wheel moist with olive oil.” ARTIFICIAL GEMS, “What is the most beautiful form of dia- mond?” “The ‘brilliant’ by all odds, ‘This shape is like two cones united by their bases, the upper cone being cut off at the top by a plain surtace of some size and the lower cone coming almost toa point, The older style, known as the ‘rose cut’, isa low pyramid, flat on the bottom, Several sorts of precious stones are burnt to bring out their colors. Among these he oriental carnelian. found in the Bombay presidency, Likewise the Brazilian topaz de- rived its pale red hue from fire. Before bein sent to market it is rolled up in a sponge av burned. Asimilar process is employed apon rubies, sapphires and amethysts for removing spots that interfere with the play of light in the stones. The dyeing of many sorts of gems, chiefly by cooking in honey, was known as an art to the ancients, and modern chemists have many devices for that purpose. Agate, for in- stance, can be colored to any shade that may be desired, Within a few years real diamonds have been produced artificially though so smail as to be of no value commercially. Also rubies have been manufactured by melting up num- bers of little ones together in the crucible; but although the uovelty caused a big scare among the gem merchants for a time, these artificial jewels have never found many purchasers, The origin of the diamond has never been sat- isfactorily accounted for. Good authorities are now of the opinion that the stone, which is known to be composed of pure carbon, was formed at the beginning by the decomposition of vegetable matter. Besides the ordinar: colors seen in diamonds—blue, white and yel- low—there are green and red diamonds; the red ones are particularly rare and valuable. In Brazil diamonds were used by the gold bunters, before their value was discovered, as counters in playing cards, just as in South Africa the children first employed them as playthings.” RUBIES OF THE WORLD. “How about rubies?” “The ruby is the most valuable of all pre- cious stones, though most people are not aware of the fact. It, like the sapphire, almost wholly of alumina. Usually rubies are found loose in the sand with which they have been washed outof the rocks, The finest of them have always come from Burmah, the king of which—until the British overthrew the mon- archy—called himself ‘Lord of the Rubies.’ He owned enormous quantities of them and great jars in his palace at Mandelay were filled with rubies, Many, doubtless, were cabbaged by the | English troops when they captured the town | but it is supposed that nearly all were secreted | by the natives. The Burmese king would have had very many more big ones were it not for @ law which declared that all above @ cer- | tain size should be handed over to him as tribute, ‘This naturally served as jan® incitement for miners to break up any good-sized ones they came across. | A five-carat ruby today is worth ten times as | much asa diamond of the sume weight, whil one of ten carats unexceptionable in color is | simply priceless. “In the Russian regalia is one | of the finest rubies in the world, the size of a pigeon’s egg, which was presented to the Em- press Catherine by Gustavus of Sweden in 1777. A former king of Burmah had a perfect ruby the size of a pigeon’s egg that he used as an ear drop. The two most important rubies ever known in Europe were brought to England in 1875. One of them was cushion shaped and weighed 35 carats; the other was a blunt drop of 47 carats. Both were recut, the smaller one subsequently selling for $50,000 and the larger for $100,000, The necessities of the Burmese government threw these beautiful jewels upon the market.” SAPPHIRES, OPALS AND EMERALDS, “Do any equally valuable sapphires exist?” “Oh, yes. Among the celebrated sapphires of the world was one seen at Ava by the En- lish ambassador a few years ago, which was a flawless stone of a beautifal blae we: carats, One of the loveliest sa) in exiat- ence is in the collection of minerals in the Jar- rapbs in competition for Tux Srar’s | Prizes of $100, $50 and gui SHARD COKE says of Preston's “Hod medicine and found i+ SexaToR Ricuakp Coxe | pon Boe tied this very Cures headache, sbsolutely harmless; relieves in fifteen Opale— | tested by form the work that when he was through the : is composed | clination is unavoidable, In 1878 blue sapphire was found in Ceylon that weighed 23, pounds, or 4,500 carats, but it was not pure. most remarkable emerald of antiquity belonged to the Emperor Nero, who was very near-sighted. ‘The stone to be shaped like a concave lens, tyrant found that it as- sisted bis vision materially ut the gladiator shows. He supposed that it was a magical = on this account, At all events he was the t person to adopt the single eye-glass, which has since become so fashiouable abroad. The natives of Peru are said to have formerly paid religious hoi e to an emerald the size of an ich was only exhibited by the ‘asions of high festival. This ‘Emeralds’, as it was called, was Pizarro with a hammer and broken up. The turquoise owes its color to the presence of phosphate of copper. Most gems of this sort are obtained from northeastern priests on occ: Goddess of NE REASON why you never read of | Persia. It is said that the shah possesses nearly all of the very remarkable ones in existence; the best of those found he always keeps. BULLETS COVERED WITH MOSS ‘re thrown with slings to break off the pieces of turquoise from the inaccessible rocks which usually contain the matrix, A substance often sold for turquoise is otherwise known as ‘odontolite’ or ‘fossil turquoise,’ and is in fact the tooth of the extinct giant elephant known as the mammoth, Great quantities of mammoth remains are dug up in Siberia, where the mighty beasts used to roam, In 1795 the entire body of a mammoth was found frozen in asolid cake of ice on the shore of the Arctic sea, where it had doubtless been preserved in this curious way for thousands of years. it was chopped out the flesh was still fresh, In the opinion of many people the opal is the most beautiful of gems, Its substance is traversed by a multitude of little fissures, which give rise to the ‘diffraction’ of light that makes the wonderful play of colors. Pliny tells of an opal the size of a hazel nut that be- longed to Senator Nonnus. Mark Antony wanted the stone and exiled the senator be- cause he would not give it up. But Nonnus Y bebagihye exile with his treasure to living in Rome without it, The two biggest opals known were found in the Hungarian mines in 1866. Both were pear-shaped and weighed respect- ively 186 and 160 carats, Perhaps the finest opal of modern times is the one which be- longed to the Empress Josephine and which was called the ‘Burning of Troy’ from the red flames so vividly shown upon its surface.” sacra Nb saci MUSIC THAT MAKES FUN. Mr. Hub Smith Discourses Upon the Art of Writing Comic Songs. ES, the writing of comic songs is purely a spasmodic art,” said Mr. Hub Smith, author of the deathless “Tale of Woe,” to a Star reporter the other day. “I never think of sitting down to writeasong. The spirit just comes upon me and I dash it off. On an aver- age it takes me about fifteen minutes to pro- duce a comic song, if I am in the humor for it. Take the ‘Song That Breaks My Heart,’ for i stance. The way I came to write that was this: “J had been made exceedingly tired by peo- ple who asked me if it was really true that I sold the ‘Tale of Woe’ for $15; there was hardly an hour in the day for months that new ac- quaintances did not put this query to me. Now, it happened that my friend Morsell, the tenor, and I were both to sing ata dinner party of the Gridiron Club on a certain night. I could think of nothing new to give the boys and I told Morsell that I thought 1 should have to fall back upon some chestnut. Hoe said that he was going to sing a pathetic ballad entitled *The Song That Touches My Heart.’ [ left Morell and on my way home met'a man who asked me the old question as to whether I had really sold the ‘Tale of Woe’ for $15. I told him how fatigued this oft-iterated inquiry made me and he replied that he should think such asacri- fice ‘would break my heart.’ Going along to- ward Pardise Flate this phrase hung in my mind in connection with the name of the song Morsell had spoken of singing. An idea struck me and by the time I had reached my house I had the in my mind which is now that of ‘Song ‘That Breaks My Heart.’ Upon reaching my room with the jingle in my head I sat down at the piano fora moment, ran it off on the keys, and then, standing up by the side of the piano, I wrote the whole song on ascrap of paper Cire upon the instrument, including both words and music, That night I ‘sang the thing at the Gridiron Club and sold the song to Morsell for €25 be- fore Lleft the dining room. Lasked Francis Wilson to sing on the stage, but he would not, because he said it reflected upon the ‘Tale of Woe,’ which was the best comic song he ever had. So I took it to Russel of the ‘City Directory,’ and he made a great hit with it, HOW IT I8 DONE. “My way of writing a comic song ie this: I e @ little vase, into which I put all the scraps of good humorous rhyme that I can find in the newspapers and clip out. Never do I think of going at the thing as if I had so much work to do, On the contrary, I wait until a fit seizes me. I get home jn the afternoon after my day’s work, let us say, and happen to have nothing on my mind to bother me. The humor catches me and I pitch into the vase at random, taking out the scraps of rhyme one by one and trying if I can find anything that a jingle will set itself to in my head; May bel will try a dozen before I strike a tune that I like. Once having caught one I sit down at the piano and play it, After I have written it out it may turn to be a good thing or a bad.one, If it is good I send it to a music publisher and offer it to him for so much money and a royalty. When I began to write songs I was very will- ing to receive trom the publisher whatever he thought the merchandise was worth, but now I put my own price on what I have to sell. A really good comic song I ask $150 and a royalty for. The royalty usual is 10 per cent on all copies sold, Suppose the song is retailed at 40 cents, I get 4 cents a copy, which may mount up to 9 good deal if the thing proves a popular success. The first 300 copies printedare sent around as complimentary. to the newspapers and to the publishing houses, which latter returns favors of that sort in kind, so that there is among them a sort of exchange system. To introduce a song to popular notice, the most desirable thing is that it should be sung on the stage by a min- strel or opera comedian. Therefore the song writer does his best to induce some such per-| former to take up his production. No very great musical skill is essential to success in the field of comic song writing. There are men who produce successful songs by whis- tling the tunes for some one who knows how to write down. I often sit down at the piano and improvise jingles by the hour, and that sort of music is always running through my head. One thing is certainly to be said in its favor and that is that it sells much better than music of a more classical order. : THE DIFFERENCE RETWEEN JINGLES AND MUSIC. “Phis interesting fact is not at all relished by musicians of the higher grade. They send every case it is returned with a polite note saying that not one song in 1,000 pays for the cost of publication, and that a respectful de- “We recognize the | merit of your production,’ says the publisher, ‘but we’ cannot eit «unless you will pay the cost of publication.’ ‘he successful writer of comic songs has no difficulty in vending his wares, and the chances are that he gets a royalty even on the first three hundred copies, which is not ordi- narily the case with published music of other sorts. I met a swell musician at a dinner once and he got quite excited in discussing the trouble of selling good music. ‘How in blank,’ he said to me, ‘do you get money for your blank jingles when we musicians are uactu- ally obliged to pay, by gad! for having our work printed? I replied that so long as things were as they were I was very well satisfied to stick to comic song writing and leave the work of classical composition tc more dis- tinguished composers. By the way, I am go- ing to New York in the fall, with ‘iew to m; contemplated debut upon atage, and Para- dise Flats on G street, which have been for three years past the happy home of several jolly bachelors, will break ap. Idon’t know what the fellows will do; but dare say they will go and get married or something.” ee Individuality in Typewriting. ‘Times. ‘A lady complained to Postmaster Notsinger the other day that an enemy had troubled her such a large “Er writers cannot be to ana Ge cocapaeen little wane virions ighing 951 | insulting messages,” remarked Dr. Nofsinger. and catch words ’ When | - Ff JUNE 14, 1890-SIXTEEN PAGE GAMBLING ON THE SLOPE. How Chinamen Spend Their Leisure Time in San Francisco. No one who has ever read Bret Harte is likely to form an incorrect impression of the gamb- ling propensities of the “Heathen Chinee,” but just what they do and how they do it, in order to get money easily—and lose it more so—is largely a mystery to those residents of the far east who do not often come in contact with the almond-eyed orchids of the Pacific Slope. A gentleman recently returned from that Mongol-infested region remarked the other evening toa Sram reporter: “Whenever a Chinaman—we never speak of him that way in California, we call him a China boy—when- ever he gets through his work he packs off to Chinatown, He may have to be at work again at 4 or 5 o'clock next morning, but he won't get back from this re- sort until about midnight. or even lor2o’clock in the morning. They must go to Chinatown, though, once a day. it they do there goodness only knows. They probably smoke opium, drink Chinese gin and play | games, They are natural gamblers, and they | will sit over a game for hours ata time, put- | ting up their wages, They are great domino | players, but they don’t play as we do, Their dominos are larger than ours and have Chinese characters on them, The mode of play is de- termined by the fall of three small .dice con- | tained in a litte chinacup. Another of their | games is the celebrated ‘tan,’ often called | “fan-tan.’ This is a percentage game, some- what like faro, LOTTERY DRAWING TWICE A DAY, “Twice every day the Chinese lottery is | drawn. This is the biggest piece of gambling of all. Itis very simple, but wonderfully fas- cinating. One can buy tickets of almost any China boy. They are simply square pieces of paper on which are drawn a pumber of squares, about forty, perhaps. You pay a cer- tain amount, from 10 cents up, and buy as many squares as you like by marking them off, ‘That is, you can buy ten squares for 10 cents or the sauie number for 80 cents, only you in- | crease your winnings as you increase your ‘stake, You select your ten squares in’ any order you chose, in rows or series or scattered all over the paper. The drawing is done, as I have said, twice each day in a_ little house down in Chinatown, weil guarded from the police, There is a great square of paper, an enlarged fac similie of the ticket, and on this a blindfolded China boy makes ten marks at random with his pen brush, which is some- thing like an artist's crayon stamp. He may | make the spots in rows or in any order that | may ben his fancy. When he has done this | the sheet is hung up on the wall and the boys crowd around it to see what they have won, for the principle of the marks on the bij not strike a single square or you may strike halfa dozen. Up to tive youget nothing. If qo strike five you get your money ba: rings you in—on a basis of an 80-cent afew dollars, seven means nearly a hundred dollars, eight several hundra, nine a couple of thousand, while if ee should be so lucky as to strike all ten, which very seldom happens, you soe about $4,000 in return for your 80 cen’ THE ay “Of course the chances are against you, as they are in any lottery, but the odds are so great and the price is so small that folks do not think of the percentage of risl Many white people put up their squares every day, while nearly every China boy has a ticket tucked in about his clothes at almost any time. The lot- tery is prohibited by law, but it is played, just the same, twice aday. Asystem of sentinels is kept up, so that the officers cannot approach the house without warning being a When they arrive everything contraband is put awa: and there is nothing to bang suspicion upon. Sie! Stes TEACHING DOGS TRICKS. A Trainer and His Methods—Some Points About Feeding Dogs. Seated beside a rude trapeze which was sus- pended from two uprights in the deserted sum- man, the animal trainer, He was teaching a small terrier the trapeze act; that is, making it stand on its hind legs in the trapeze while he swung it to and fro. As the reporter ap- proached the professor ceased operations for a moment and called Monkey, for that was the dog’s name, from the trapeze. ‘Few people in this worl said Prof, Shadman, “realize how interesting this business of mine is, Few are in it, for the simple reason that not many possess the knack of imparting knowledge to dumb animals, Iclaim that a dog trainer is born and not made, and I found this out when Iwas very young. My father before me was quite a dog trainer, and at an early age I com- menced to train animals, A dog trainer, first of all, must have decision of character and strong will power and a pleasant voice, ANY KIND OF Doo, “People seem to think that one breed of dogs is more desirable for training than another, This is not so, All dogs possess more or less intellectuality. The moment a dog is brought before me I can distinguish whether or not he can be trained. he first thing I do when I set about training a new dog is to learn its nature, ‘This I do by constant association with him, thereby finding out his temperament, or in other words, to see if he is nervous or excitable, to handle him accordingly. Many trainers in interviews with newspaper men, as I have seen throughout the country, claim that the whip is not necessary in training a dog. Now, in @ great measure, this is so, but sometimes the whip is necessary, but only in cases where the animal is rebellious and refuses to do its work, then I think asharp cut will be beneficial. Animals are much like people and frequently an animal is indisposed to work owing to some ailment. In cases of this kind the dog should be petted and not whipped, for I find that en- couragement and. kindness after doing an act is lasting and willseldom be forgotten. It really hurts me when I stop and think of the many valuable dogs that are ruined by overfeeding. Any one who bas studied the animal as I have knows that naturally itis gluttonous and will eat anything. Too much meat is a very bad thing to feed dogs on and usually ends in the auimal’s death or some akin disease, WYDROPHOBIA DELUSIONS, “Just now,” continued the professor, “I see by the papers that there are s good many cases of so-called hydrophobia. Now, I do not be- lieve that there is any such vromg, decd hydropho- bia, Of course, a person bitten by a dog might worry themselves into a stage pronounced b; physicians as hydrophobia, but 1do not be- lieve that a bite will less the dog has eaten some decomposed ani- mal matter, which may add blood poison to the for any length of tit “How often should dogs be fed to keep them healthy?” asked the reporter. “‘About once a day and his food should be cut up fine, ravenously. Bones should also given, for they clean the teeth and regulate the bowels. A little raw liver now and then is good medi- cine and should be given at least once a year.” you not?” asked the scribe, “Ob, yes, I can train anything,” said the professor, ‘‘but the hardest of all to train isa monkey. Many people think that monkeys are easy to train, but this isa mistake. They have no mind and while they will probably through a trick two or three times succonaully the next time you call upon them they wil have forgotton all about it. But there you will have to excuse me now, I want to teach this dog the trapeze act.” "9 ___ Her Duel With the Doctor. y From the Wiener Tagblatt. An extraordinary duel is reported to have taken place in Vienna. A few days agoa girl, aged nineteen, challenged a young doctor, who had offended one of her friends and refused to apologize. He by two seconds, serves, and when net reine threatened to horsewhip him publicly. Sieecuttatensesees an s room in s Vienna suburb. All the rules for a duel with swords were strictly observed. I that is the official list, The lottery is based on | sheet | coinciding with those on the tickets. You may | mer garden at Kernan’s Theater soveral days | agoa Stan reporter found Prof. W.8.Shad-| their champions were awarded handsome } | ! we any fatal effect un- | wound, Why, Ihave been bitten fifty times | by vicious dogs,” continued the professor us he | their MSS. to the publishers and in almost | exhibited the scars, “but 1 never was injured | because they always devour it | “You train other animals besides dogs, do | CLAMS FOR A CENT APIECE. Fresh From Norfolk Bay, With a Dash | '['!* ¢8*42 ef Sauce Thrown In. “Clams—cisms! Lubbly, elegant, fust clams—fresh out ob de water, fer apiece!” The aged colored man halted his queer- looking double-decked wheelbarrow by the Sutterside and proceeded to open a few sam- ples of his stock for a fat and perspiring person in a seersucker coat, who laid down a nickel and remarked that, in his opinion, clams were ® very cooling and healthful diet at this season of the year. “Yes, sah, dat dey is,” responded the vender, inserting an oyster knife between the jaws of clam No, 1, “You'll find dese yere ones spe- cially fine, sah, Dey's fresh cotched.” “Where do you get ’em?” asked the enstomer, Feceiving a dripping mollusk on one shell and gulping it down with relish. “Dey all comes from Norfolk bay. sah, Folks cotch ‘em by wadin’ among de seaweed. Dey tread fer ‘em wid bare feet an’ when dey feel surcpin wid an edge on it—de clam am always | edge-up in de sand an’ mud—dey reach down | an’ pull him ont. De clams wot are cotched in dis way are sentto Washington by steamboat | and are sold at de wharf heab in big lots to we wholesale dealers. We gemmen dat se!l on de. street buy ‘em off de dealers fer fo'ty cents « hundred. Acent apiece we get fer ‘em, and! Gat makes six cents profit on every dime's wull | we sell.” | “And how many can you sell in a day?” “Well, dis am ‘2 o'clock an’ I've done sold two hundred a’ready. De ones you is eatin” am de last ob my stock, and I'm goin’ now fer two hundred mo’. Afo’ night dem will be all sold, an’ dat will make two dollars and fo'ty cents profit on de day's wuk. Dat’s mo'n J kin earn at laboriu’; but de plant am wath sum- pia. The old darkey gazed with the proud air of one who bas possessions upon the dilapidated double-decked wheelbarrow, with its fringe of empty clam shells. and went on to say: “In dis hot wedder clams won't last fresh more'n twenty-fo’ hours, an’ speriunce has showed me dat folks can’t be educated to like stale ones; if aey could, it would save me lots | of money. ‘cause second-hand clams am much cheaper dan dose jus’ out ob water. De only | expense I hab, besides de cost price ob de clams, is fer sauce. I use up a quart bottle ob sauce on ebery fo’ hundred clams. Five cents a quart it costs me; but people will hab | lux’ries, Black pepper, white pepper, salt an” vinegar is what it is made ob, an’ customers am allowed to squirt it on de clams jus’ to suit demselves. Hit pays to be liberal in business,” toe HARDLY AN ERROR. How the Fencibles Appeared to Kansas City Eyes. The Kansas City papers appreciated the Fen- | cibles, as the following “favorable mentions” would seem toindicate: The (lobe said: The Na- tional Fencibles, Washington, D.C.. much her- alded, marched on to the ground to the tune of } “Yankee Doodle,” and when dismissed the “Star Spangled Banner” sounded, but was al- most drowned by the cheers given the Fenci- bles for their notable drill, They marched on to the ground amid cheers—a very whirlwind of enthusiasm—and having been presented as ready for drill, the company was put through forty movements with great rapidity, accom- plishing each with an accuracy that elicited many outbursts of applause. The company in its green uniform, gold trimmed, presented a magnificent appearance and every man looked every inch a soldier. Their drill was a marvel of accuracy, the wheeling, alignments and the manual of arms being especially accurate and | given with a nicety that scarce left au oppor- tunity for criticism. The company c: to the contest in great shape and very stylishly. They were accom- panied by three barouches, drawn by splen- didly harnessed horses aud the carriages were occupied by the following ladies: Miss Gertrude Peck, spsasor, assisted by Misses Bettie De Gaines, Mamie Childs, Miss Hyde, Effie Franklin, chaperoned by Mesdames Peck and De Gaines. At the conclusion of the drill the ladies were saluted a la militaire and quality | | bouquets by them. Forty movements were executed in forty minutes, one per minute, the Fencibles beat- ing the time allotted for their drill by five minutes, The Journal said: Company B, first regiment, Kansas City, Kan., did not enter the list at noon. ‘The National Fencib! { Washington, D. C., came to their testing at 2 o'clock, and for fifty minutes put up a drill which would be difficult to impcove. ‘The work was rapid and accurate, the rapidity of Capt. Domer's orders being es- pecially commended, thus enabling the com- any to complete its drill in fiftecn minutes less time than the best record yet made at the encampment, Its line in wheeling was fault- less and there was scarcely a perceptible error in the whole drill. The general opinion is that this company will carry off first money for the maiden drill, oe A TAX-TITLE GENIUS. The Schemes of “Gray and Frazer to Swindle Millions From Investors. The sunlight shed in New York during the last few days upon the affairs of the United States Land and _ Invest- ment Company scems to have withered the three-million-dollar tree pianted by Will- iam E., otherwise Edgar, Gray in some Penn- sylvania tax titles, and watered by the Napole- onic genius of Rudolph Gordon Frazer until its spreading branches promised to cover #20,- | 000,000 of water rights owned by somebody else out in California. The subscription books were open Wednes- | day at the office of the American Loan and Trust Company for the #750.000 of 6 per cent trust certificates of indebtedness which “con- servative investors” have been so eloquently urged to buy at 97}4. Nobody subscribed. ‘The developments of ye day were not calculated to increase the confidence of investors in the hew gilt-edged security. Young Napoleon Frazer had already admitted that the onl, basis for the nearly $3,000,000 of securities which he was floating for the investment com- pany was a lot of tax titles to Pennsylvania lands, for which he alleged £46,000 had been paid, and a claim to a controlling interest in a | paper company, which in turn claimed an in- terest in certain California water rights which are in possession of another company. Yester- day it turned out that the Pennsylvania titles were originally held at 26,000 instead of $46,009, | and that even the $6,000 was never paid to the | owner, but that the deeds were stolen outright, and furthermore that the lands since then have again been sold for taxes. Besides this, the lands are several miles from any railroad. no paying coal or iron mines have been devel- oped on them, and it is said that it is at least doubtful whether any such mineral riches exist, 8. Q. Mingle of Williamsport, Pa., was the! nian who owned the Peunsylvania tax titles. The company agreed to take the lands for $6,000, and asked Mingle to jet them have the deeds for submission to theirattorney. Mingle | gave up the deeds, which were already signed, | but in which the name of the purchaser was | b After being put off by the company | from day to day for a while Mingle soon found out that the deeds for this 6,000 acres had been put on file in Bellefonte, Pa., and that a mortgage was already recorded against them. Mingle hired a lawyer and began pro- ceedings for fraud. It was discovered that the blank deeds which Mingle had given up had | been filled in with the name of a Mr. Van) Vechten, of New Jersey, and that Van Vechten had transferred the property to the investment company, which thereupon posed as an inno- cent third party and detied ail efforts to dis- lodge it. Mingle had the satisfaction, how- ever, of keeping one officer of the company in Ludiow street jail for three months. Meantime the investment company failed to pay the taxes on the land, and some two years ago it was again sold for taxes. Gray formerly lived in Washi: yn, came of a well connected family, and bad before this been convicted of forgery to quite a jarge amount. ee HUNDREDS OF WIRES STRUCK. Terrific Thunderstorm at Harrisburg and Cable Box Demolished, great alarm. A high telegraph pole in front of | the Western Union telegraph office having on hundred feet trom the ground the cable box, containing 132 wires, was struck ‘tning.’ The blaze a cent | J RAILROADS. T De STEEL RAILS. In effect RAINS LEAVE WAS CORN OF 6TH AN For iy SOENY RY T EQUIPMENT, 2M STATION, AN POLL ORS ly to Colum! 10 Lows, with Slecping Care from ittebure te Oo- lumbus: datiy, except Satuniay, to Clucaro, with jeer % Chicaga St Louis, Chi- ting Car Herrisbia " 7:40pm. daily, with Bicep te < 4 St. Harriebure "with pers for Louisville and Meuipbia Pacific Ba- 2000 p.m. dally, for Pittabung and the West, {hovueh Sleeper to Pittsburg, and Pittebung hicaso. BALTIMORE AND POTOMAG RAILROAD, a Capendaie an, i incare pts ERAST, 0, 3 On sunday, io, 1 10-00 and m man Par o'40'am. dary, Sunday. Por N York only Limited Eajveas with Dining Car 3.00 B. cially ry ADFLYIA ONLY Pest express 8:10) a.m and 400 pm daily, xi Sunday or Dor iiosion witiont pm. Brooklyn, N.Y. a sey City with of Brooklyn Annes, afford. ine direct trausfer to Fulton street, avoiding double ferringe actos New York city For Atiautic City, 11:40am, week days, 12:20pm. opt Si WASHINGTON 1 We Check eta Us and residences, 4. K Woub, General Manawer. Gener Passciger Agent, Beene, ay exprene 9-0 ouls apd Bai au " annati, Bt. 1 Labapolia, express ions between Washincton and Balti- S30 atm, 12:40, 3°25, 4:32, 6-20, Poms Sundays, 8:30'am., 110, Bo, 48 6:20, 1100 p.m. Trains jenve Bal 5400, 6 rT more, 9:00, W. 1100 timore for Washington, crs 50 3 iv, 4 00, Leave Anunj= Pam. Sundays, politen Brauch, 16:30, vad the Metre t am. For Pr Slaticus oUly, and to-80 ” ad Way Stat For Gaithersburg aud wate 10:00, t11:00 am, t1.00, 13:00, 10:00, t11 200 For Boyd's ren 00 p.m. Church tra lenv day wt 1:15 etropolitan Brauch, , 6:80, b¥-30, T1130 ae, Hagerstown, 111-0 a.m, and 15:30 pan. artive from Chico dally 11:45 a2, and rom Cincintats aud St Louie daily 3-30 Vo pm. trom Pittsburg 7:10 aiu., 5.5 NEW YORK AND PHULADELPHIA DIVISION For New York, Trenton, Newark and Elizabeth, "1000, 00 ath, "2:00, 2 Butet Parlor Cars ou ail Sleeping Car on tue 10-30 p.m. open t&, °4 05, t8 :00, *10:00, °12:00 noon, pan. 2 vlely» 20, 86.) 5 wd "10:50 Dei, Wilmaugtou and Chester, °4.05, 2:00 noun, *2:50, "4:50, °6:15, and Points between Baltimore aud aud (7-20 au, 119210, *4.o0 8 + ‘ae n rm deiphia, tate to00 rains leave New am, "2200, ‘0. leave Philadelphi tho “1133 a, Washington, “9 00 p.m aud *L for Washington, in THO, 4, ©, tic City, 4:05 am. and *1 tSuuday. '*Daily. §%i 1 te oby Union Transfer t offices, 619 aud 1301 B CHAS. 0. SCULL, J. T. ODELL. Gen, Manacer, AND DANVILLE Ral R™ MOND LROAD CO. Schedule im effect MAY 11, 180. 8:50 an.—Fast Ten! ail, dousville, Charl Ly anpdria and ‘Ly 1, uoxville, Chu Bleep Waustingtum to lowe, Ge Mail daily for Culpeper, Chai ake aud Ohio’ Kot An Chi Birmingham, Mout and Chat- auton te Ai ATkauaes pouute, y, for Manassas, iy for Lynebbure, rlotte, Columbia, * Uriesns, Lexus Y rt 1 SP halisburs. Also Washington to Augus aud Charlotte. _ retiring leave Kour wie daly ane vig Wesiigton 8-30 pau nu the south via Charlotte, Dan- Juehbuty arrive in Washington 6 mee. b burg Unie ; 1 sylvauia ave. aud at passenger station, Pe Tailroad, 6th aud Bi sts, my 10 JAS. L TAYLOR, Gen. Pass. Agent. OCEAN STEAMERS. _ HORT LOATE TO 1 OLDDEUISCH NDON, ib LL Blears Uavres, Brem & rave, Wed., Juue”» 11 Jahn, Wed, 4uly ward a be ng to location , Zd Catt 860 8 bert age at low tales Api P, Yo Penh ave, NCHOR Lt A ATL Liv KVICE. Saturday from New York wo GLASGOW AND LONDONDERRY. Cabin ety Galamow oF Loududerrye Bu Passage, *, $28. Beloou kxcursion Lickcts at Keduced Kates, Traveers' Circular Letters of Credit and Dratts for ay amount issued at lowest current rates, For Books of Tours, Tickets or turtier information Apply HENDERSON BROTBEKS, New York, or MOdS, 921 Foun. ave. aw, Washington MBUKG-AMEKICAN PACKET COMPaNY. EXPRESS SERVICE between NEW YORK, SOUTH- AMPTON apd HAMBURG by the maguificent new twip-screw steamers of 10,000 aud 12,500 to LINb HOLDS TRE 16,000 horse power. THIS RECORD FORK FASTEST TRIPS TO AND FLOM BOUTHAMPION AND THE CONTINENT, equal ty SIX DAIS TWO HOURS to Queeusiown. ‘hteamers safety. speed gud comfort. Throws and Pars, Apply to r. DROOP, Penn. ave.. Was 0 UNARD LINE—STATE ROOMS CAN BE werved at the Warhinaton avis: Bret-clame S60 up; ‘secon ‘5, CHAS. LDU BO LY wt. ie tops. nem 8800 Caen, ae RE os aud 20. ta, at jaccommedations, food tlle. Rates trom be 8100, according We location of room —————— ap seem, od eters __HOUSEFURNISHINGS. Coouse Br Gus.