Evening Star Newspaper, October 21, 1893, Page 20

20 THE EVENING STAR: WAS ‘ SILVER SENATORS. A Macedonian Phalanx Opposed to the Repeal Bill. STEWART, TELLER AND COMPANY. Sketch of the Men Opposed to Mr. Voorhees. THEY ARE HARD FIGHTERS. Written for The Evening Star. ERE THEY SIT bunched together mear the main en- trance to the Senate chamber. They are a Macedonian phalanx known as the silver Senators. What care they for angry pro- test from eastern and middle states? They laugh at them. They are not the represen- tatives of those states. They listen to the appeals of the states lying close to the backbone of the continent—states that have honored them and look to them for protec- tion. Whether their views are broad and Statesmaniike is not = = poe them. They resent the viti eres! of the peovie of Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, Montana and outlying sections. It is to these people that they look for political preferment and not to the people of the east. Indeed, as they say, the sufferings of their people are far more poignant than the sufferings of others. Nerved by the cries of their constituents they have deter- mained to fight the Voorhees bill to the last. They have power to defeat any action by ~ and they intend to use it. There is no doubt about it; they mean it. The most of them are comparatively young men and have the physical endurance to carry out their intentions. The rules of the Senate favor them. With two of their mumber in the House they can filibuster indefinitely, while their opponents must maintain a quorum to do any business whatever. Senator Stewart. Senator Stewart of Nevada is the Alex- ander of this phalanx. He occupies a seat at the head of the main aisle nearest the door. His very figure, let alone his record and attitude, is a protest against any ac- tion. He was a farmer’s boy and had cut the leading swath over many an acre of timothy. He has been a miner and has used the pan and worked the rocker in California and Nevada. He has been a lawyer in mining camps and he was once Drosecutin and afterward an wal of California. Anon, he spirit in the development of ited Comstock Lode. The Senator death more than once in his early There is no doubt of his determina- tion and the rigidity of his backbone. Tall, erect, gray-bearded and gray-headed, ali that he wants is a scythe to give him a Fesemblance to Father Time. Aroused in debate, he is the most striking figure in the Senate. He has not yet concluded his speech on the silver question and the Lord alone knows when he will finish it. One ludicrous incident of the speech wili bear Fepeating. After detailing the legislation as to gold and silver for years, he suddenly turned toward the democratic side and said: “And now you propose to introduce this ‘Trojan horse into our midst.” Before the sentence was concluded the @oor opened and Col. John R. Fellows@en- tered. Stewart was facing him with both hands uplifted. Fellows seemed somewhat @umfounded. Entering the cloak room in Spparent excitement he turned to Senator Blackburn and said, as he dropped on the Sofa, “Who told Stewart that I was born in - Near Stewart sits his lieutenant, the ever ready Senator Wolcott of Colorado. There ig a Bourke Cockran look to his face, al- though it lacks Cockran’s heavily lidded eyes. His shoulders’ are broad; his chest expansive, and there is something of the Norman horse in his composition. He has & pleasant face, with varying expressions. It is hard to tell at times whether he is rul- ed by a spirit of humor or whether his in- tellect 1s dripping with sarcasm. All we know 1s he is the best hand-to-hand fighter among the stiver men. Rather neglige in ress, his appearance ts highly creditable to his tallor. But Wolcott has an intellect and a diction in full consonance with his dress. Whenever it is known that he is to speak the galleries are always crowded, and they well may be, for he made nis Teputation in the Senate by writing his hes and committing them to memory. This was probably owing to a lack of con- fidence. Since then he speaks extemporan- ously, and produces even a greater im- Dressio: n. Near him sits his colleague, Senator Tel- ler. He wears spectacles; his features are Senator scller. sharp and his physique thin and wiry. He tombs his hair a la Andrew Jackson. He Wears a frock coat and biack clothes, and bis shirt front is hidden by a large four-in- | band black tie. Senator Teller, while a talker himse'f, appears to take delight interrupting others. He teases his oppo- mt by putting pat questions, Woe to the man who has not facts and figures for his issertions; Teller will turn him on the first dpportunity. Like Stewart, Teller was born gn a New York farm. He never held an pice until he was elected to the United tes Senate. He was President Arthur's Secretary of the Interior. Not twenty feet from Senator Stewart fits a rotund, roly-poly gentleman, with an wxpansive shirt front and trimmed goatee, tnd a round head inclined to baldness. His tair and beard are gray; his eyes are black tind snapping. He has a broad forehead, an pansive chest and smali hands and feet. le has the most pleasant face of any man B the Senate. Even in repose it bears the mpress of good humor. Very few men in the Senate have had a more varied career. (his gentleman is the Parmenio of the vhalanx—Senator Jones of Nevada. He is }s interminable a talker as his colleague, ind even more Interesting. He has had bractical experience in mining camps, and Yas won and lost fortunes in developing ines. In his early days he was a promi- tent figure on the Comstock Lode. Like itewart, his fund of reminiscences seems Rexhaustible. He always keeps in touch vith the people. Born in England. he Is horoughly cosmopo'lian in nature. He can tum the latest pop ‘ar song, appreciate a mperfine juba, diagnose the latest scien- ffic discovery and discuss the most ab- Ytruse theological problem. He is a thor- ughly equipped man of the world. He can ‘lace himself en rapport with clown or ingmaster, divine or general, whenever he deases. Plausthle. engaginz in manner, @able in conversation and dignified in de- bate, there is no better representative of the sliver interest in the Senate. He thor- oughly understands the needs of the people whom he represents, and neither power nor persuasion can drive him from his ground. Near Senator Stewart and on the same row sits a young warrior in a pepper-and- salt suit. He has a black mustache, thick black hair and black eyes. The face is. Frenchy, and recalls pictures of St. Just. The figure is sturdy and full of activity. This gentlemag is Senator Dubois of Idaho. Born in Illinois, he is evidently a descend- ant of the French-Canadians who explored the country with La Salle in the iast cen- tury. Dubois served two terms in the House as a delegate from Idaho. He was once marshal of the territory, and as much as any other man was instrumental in se- curing its admission as a state. He did not shine very brilliantly on the floor of the House. Quiet and reserved, he had very Uttle to say. Transferred to the Senate, however, he has taken a commanding posi- tion. Aggressive in debate, he hews to the line, regardless as to where the chips fall. His speeches have been short, compact and very telling. Above ali, he is wary and watchful, and ever in attendance on the sessions of the Senate. He apparently has little veneration for the hoary antiques of the chamber, and less veneration still for Precedent and etiquette. He talks like a man fresh from the people, and assumes that as such he ought to receive the same consideration and the same courtesy as the older Senators. This shocks the nerves of the antiques, but it undoubtedly fastens Senator Dubois in the affections of the peo- ple of Idaho. He is fighting for their in- terests, and is the last man to listen to any compromise that does not provide for the free coinage of silver. Near Dubois you see a stern, clean- shaven face, with a strong chin and per- . Senator Peffer. spective faculties well developed. The clean-cut lips curve upward and the eyes are hidden behind spectacles. The hair %» brown and there is plenty of it. This gentleman wears an old-fashioned stand- up collar, with a black cutaway coat and black trousers. He is Senator Allen of Nebraska, who Is evidently destined to be the leader of the populists on the floor of the Senate. He is a young man, full of energy and extremely demonstrative when- ever the occasion warrants. Eminentiy Practical in discussion, he has a judicial mind and states shis propositions with ciear- ness and precisio&. He fills his place in the silver phalanx without swerving. Tall, muscular and direct in manner, bearing and e, he has already attracted the attention of the galleries, and in time to come will undoubtedly become very popu- Allen presents a marked contrast to Sen- ator Pettigrew of South Dakota, who is a year younger. He has dark auburn hair and a Conkling lock falls over his hich forehead. He wears a Byron collar and dark clothes. Plain and unassuming, ‘his face indicates clear perception and the shrewdness of a man who wins his way on the border. He is a private in the silver phalanx, and one implicitly trusted. He has made few speeches, but the few have been applicable and to the point. Mr. Pettigrew's colleague is James Hen- derson Kyle. This gentleman is a Congre- gational preacher. The office of Senator sought him and not he the office. He made a Fourth of July speech so well seasoned with piety and patriotism that it attracted universal attention in South Dakota. Its legislature was then squabbling over the selection of a United States Senator. The fame of Kyle as a speaker soon became a factor in the fight. The democrats turned in with the populists and ended the con- test by electing him Senator. In the Senate he has been reserved and modest. No man is more courteous in his treatment of the antiques. He gracefully gives way to them on questions of etiquette, and when he has anything to say he says it with the fervor which characterizes men of his cloth in the west. He is in the phalanx to stay. Thoroughly imbued with the silver prin- ciple, he fights for it with the philosophical firmness of a Buddhist. Senator \vorhees. Seated in front of Senator Stewart is Sen- ator Power of Montana. The face is thin and white; the features sharp and refined and the figure angular. The iron-gray hair is parted in the middle. Senator Power is said to be one of the keenest men in Mon- tana. His face certainly tndicates ability of no mean order. While not showy on the field of battte, he is apt to make himself felt in a council of war. His judgment is good and his manipulation of adverse cir- cumstances much better. Power is one of the most trusted men in the phalanx. Mon- tana may repay him by re-election. Seated to the right of Pettigrew is one who ought to have been with Leonidas at the Pass of Thermopylae. He is an un- Cemonstrative private in the silver pha- lanx. This is Senator George L. Shoup of Idaho. He is tall and of spare figure. He has a grayish mustache, and a small quan- tity of gray hair fringes his head. He has a slight stoop when standing, and withal bears a striking resemblance to Senator Galiinger of New Hampshire. Last of all comes the successor of John J. Ingalls, the redoubtable Senator Peffer. His length of beard has given him a national reputation. His head is very small and his body very thin. A Kansas democrat once spoke of him thus: ‘He resembles a shad- dock stuck upon a pin.” Although a plain country editor when he entered the Senate, Peffer has undoubted intellectual ability. He reminds you of a trim -craft without rudder or center board. To keep her to the wind you have to use an oar. The oar is not aiways in place, and the ship backs and falls off at times in an unexpected manner. As a member of the silver pha- lanx, however, there will be no shifting of the oar. The craft will keep on her course and round the buoy in fine style. Such is the silver phalanx pledged to go to all lengths to prevent the passage of the Voorhees bill. Its operations are, of course, aided by silver Senators from the south and elsewhere, who are not pledged to so radical a course. AMOS J. CUMMINGS. ie A Temporary Inconvenience. From Puck. ‘here ain't but three lumps in the house, cap—you kin have 'em as soon as them gents gits through with ‘em— they've got ‘em marked, an’ they're shakin’ dice with "em!" | Visitor to World’s Fair._“The fair | really the elghth wonder of the world.” Young Chicagoan (reflectively). — “What |are the other seven? Oh, yes—the Audi- torlum, the Masonic Temple, Armour’s slaughter house, the water works, the town of Pullman—why, I don’t see how you make out seven. is When the halr hegina to fall ont or turn gray, the scalp reeds doctoring and we know of no better s,ecitic than Hall's Vegetable Sicilian Hair Renewer. PELAGIC NOVELTIES. Strange Creatures Brought Back by the Fish Hawk. HOW AND WHERE THEY LIVE. Lobsters and Crabs of Many Differ- ent Kinds. STING-RAYS AND SWELL FISH. HE AQUARIA AT the fish commission e building—always one of Washington's most attractive shows from the point of view of visi- tors—have been ren- dered more interest- ing within the last few days than ever before by a brand new collection of fishes and other wa- ter-dwelling crea- tures fetched by the steamer Fish Hawk from the ocean and from Chesapeake bay. One of the freshly-obtained curiosities is a sting-ray about three feet long. It was captured in the Chesapeake, where the water is pretty salt—a formidable creature, truly. More than half of its length is tail, and this appendage is armed with a strange ivory weapon, sharp-pointed and with many barbs. When the animal is alarmed it thrashes around with its tail, and woe be- tide the luckless fisherman who gets stuck with it in the leg. A “sting,” properly speaking, the weapon is not; but to all intents and purposes it is quite as bad. The slime that covers it poisons the wound and causes gangrene. It cannot be drawn out on account of the barbs, but must be cut out. The writer once met a man who had stepped on a sting-ray’s sting while walking in shallow water. It went through his foot. The ani- mal to which it had once belonged was long dead, so that there was no slime on it; but the victim nearly died all the same. While wading in the shallows haunted by these unpleasant creatures, it {s not uncom- mon to see a portion of what looks like the bottom glide slowly away. The effect is the reverse of agreeable to the observer. But, of course, this animal is a mild creature compared with its near relative, the true devil fish of tropical waters. The stories told of the ferocity of that monster ray are appalling. It weighs a ton or more when full-grown, and is said to have run away with small vessels on occasions, having be- come entangled in the anchor ropes. The sting-ray in the fish commission aquarium looks harmless enough as it lies on the bottom of the tank motionless. But its eyes are wide open and bright, showing that it is quite alive and on the alert. The fish has somewhat the appearance of an exaggerated flounder. It attains a length of eight feet, though specimens of that size are rarely seen. All fishe>men regard sting- rays as their deadly foes and kill them when they can, as they do sharks, often torturing them inciaentally. Quick Tempered Crabs. Likewise from the Chesapeake are a num- ber of fine big blue crabs of the edible spe- cles. They get along excellently in confine- ment, and, though they have a reputation for combativeness, it is not observed that they fight very much. Spider crabs, on the other hand, soon die in the aquaria, and the case is the same with the little hermit crabs, which occupy the vacant shells of various mollusks. The hermit crabs are the most quarrelsome creatures imaginable, and are forever indulging in pitched battles with each other. In the Chesapeake region, by the way, the fishermen have a very odd method of keeping blue crabs alive and fresh for bait. They dig a good-sized pit, and in the bot- tom of this they excavate a smaller hole. Into the latter they put the crabs and cover them with boards laid across at the bottom of the upper pit. Then they fill the pit with earth, ius the crabs are actually buried in a chamber, where they have space enough to crawl about a little, surrounded by cool earth. Under such conditions they will stay alive and well for many days. Seven brand new lobsters are tenants of another aquarium. The do not live long under such conditions, though nobody knows why. It is the same way with a familiar fresh-water crustacean not unlike the lobster structurally—namely, the cray- fish. Both crayfish and lobster seem to re- quire moving water for health. The former is not found in ponds, but only in running streams. Maybe their breathing has some- thing to do with the problem. Sometimes the fish commission gets the lobster for its aquaria from the market—all alive, oh! Yet another aquarium contains a lot of fiddier crabs, collected by the Fish Hawk. They are funny creatures to be sure, and will bear watching by the hour. One pecu- liarity of theirs is that one of their claws is huge, nearly as big as the whole body, while the other one is quite small and in ordinary proportion. The use of this big claw has been a subject of dispute for a long time, but an eminent naturalist has recently hit upon a new and interesting theory. He calls the little animals “sun- worshipers,” because it is when the sun shines brightly that they love to come out of their holes in the mud-banks and scam- per about. While doing so, this expert al- leges, they hold the big claw so as to shade their eyes from the glare—meanwhile em- pone the small left-hand claw to pick up In one of the aquaria there is a whole basket-full of fresh-caught eels; one of them about four feet long. Fishermen ap- preciate them, though the women visitors do say that they look like snakes. No diffi- culty is found in keeping them in confine- ment. They will live in any moist medium apparently, fresh water, salt water, or mud. No little ones have been hatched and reared at the fish commission's stations. The manner of their propagation is as yet in dispute; but there is no doubt that they breed in the sea always. It has been as- serted lately that only eels of one sex ever leave the ocean and ascend the rivers. In the Manner of a Balloon, Among other fishes in the new assortment at the aquarta are little mummy-chogs,strip- ed mullet, tantog, menhaden and swell fish. The last named have a peculiar fashion when caught of puffing themselves up by swallowing air until they look like smail balloons. This may be merely a mannerism of theirs,but it has all the appearance of be- ing done out of sheer ill temper. Get one on your hook—they are a great bother to anglers in southern waters, forever taking hold of the bait when game of size and worth is sought—haul it into the boat and immediately it begins swelling itself until It looks ready to burst. Stick a pin in it and it collapses just like a balloon under similar circumstances. The animal is very ugly, is not good to eat and has nothing to recommend it ex- cept Its eyes, which are of a most beauti- ful blue—bright and of the hue of the sky itself. Which reminds one to speak of a curious disease that attacks many of the fishes in the aquaria. Their eyes become inflamed, the cornea turns white and opaque, and the poof creatures are blind. In an advanced stage of the complaint a fungous growth develops on the eyeballs. Nobody knows what causes the trouble, though there are several theories. The tantog seem to suffer from it particularly. There is no reason apparently why fishes in general, as to thelr eyes and otherwise, should not enjoy as good health in these aquaria as in their native haunts. The water Is kept aerated by means of a jet of air projected Into each tank by a power- ful force pump. This is found to be a more satisfactory plan in most instances than supplying fresh water. A few of the tanks, on the other hand, are what are termed “balanced” aquaria; that Is to say, the vegetable life and animal life in them’ keep each other going, the plants yielding oxy- gen and feeding the fishes, and the latter giving off carbonic acid to feed the plants. The only other element required is sunlight, and plenty of it. But the fishes in confine- ment have to be treated very gingerly. If brook trout, for example, are allowed to gorge themselves freely with meat for only a few days their eyes burst. One of the aquaria is filled with growing salt water plants from the Chesapeake. They form quite a marine garden, beauti- ful to the eye and interesting to the student of nature. Another tank of fresh water Iholds a lot of voung catfish about four thches long. at the They were hatched and reared fish commission, of the a whiskers and all. larger fishes in other receptacles are eyed enviously by visiting small boys, who, accustomed to angle for much lesser fry in the Potomac, $e Sure, that it would be great sport to ropa line for drum or tantog into the Fisheries at the Fair. The fish commission has been quite sur- prised at the success of its marine aquaria at the world’s fair in Chicago, viewed mere- ly as a biological venture. Of course, no doubt was fas that they would do well, but they have so far exceeded expecta- tions that the salt water fishes have ac- tually done far better than the fresh water forms. Whereas among the latter there has been considerable mortality, as was expected, scarcely a death in months has occ! in the marine tanks. When it is considered that the fresh water aquaria have been supplied with that element in an unlimited stream from Lake Michigan, while the salt water has had to be brought all the way from the Atlantic ocean in vessels transported on flat cars, the result certainly seems astonishing. The presence of parasites in the fresh water has been chiefly accountable for the mortality among the fishes native to that element. Such destructive organisms ap- pear to be far léss numerous in “the briny,” and do not do such deadly work at the expense of poor finny victims. The accepted treatment for fresh water fishes that are infested with parasites is to put them into salt water for a few days. At the hatching stations for trout and salmon the young fry are regularly “salted,” as the term 1s, once a week. The current of wafer running through the troughs in which they are kept is cut off for a while, and into each trough, holding twenty or irty gallons, are poured two gallons of a turated solution of salt and water. At the same time the sides and bottoms of the troughs are scrubbed with brushes to remove the accumulated slime. This process gets rid of much parasitic life, and the salt water serves incidentally as a tonic for the little fishes. Salt, of course, is an excellent disinfectant. Marine parasites generally cannot live in fresh water. When a ship from the ocean goes up a river and stays for a while, the barnacles and ship worms on her bottom get sick, die, and fall out of their shells finally. On this account such a vessel will often be found surrounded by shoals of fishes in a stream, such as perch and ber rong feeding on the disabled mollusk: and by scooping with a hand net be- neath the hull the energetic sportsman can make a fine haul sometimes. —————— HOW THEY WORK IT. The Way Actresses Often Secure Free Advertisements. From the Kansas City Times. "A telephone message received at the Times office at 12:15 this morning an- nounced that Lillian Lewis, who is the star of the company playing at the new Ninth Street Opera House this week, want- ed to see a reporter. There was trouble in the company, it was announced. In answer to the call a reporter went to the Centrop- olis, where Miss Lewis is stopping. He ‘was shown to parlor G. A rap on the door brought a query as to who was there. Then the door was slightly opened and Miss Lewis peeked forth. “Wait just a minute untjl I get some clothes and my slippers on,” she said. “I want to see you badly.” The reporter waited for about two min- utes and then heard: ‘ou can come in.” Miss Lewis was found with a large fur cloak wrapped about her. The dress she wore trailed the ground. “I didn’t bother about my slippers,” she said. “It doesn’t make much difference.” As the actress took a seat a bare foot peeped out from under her dress, but was quickly withcrawn. The $30,000 diamond garter lay on the floor near the bed. "m in a peck of trouble,” she began. “Marston says I cannot play ‘Therese’ Fri- day night. ‘Lady Lil’ has caught on and now he says I must play it during the en- gagement. Isn’t it horrid? I am going to play ‘Therese,’ however, or shut up the house. ‘Therese’ is a grand play and just suits me. All the company like it. But I have to undress in one scene and Mr. Mars- ton says he doesn’t like that.” “But isn’t Marston manager of the com- pany?" asked the reporter. “He he is,” answered Miss Lewis. ‘He's my husband, too. It's awful! He must let me play ‘Therese.’ While he ob- jects he cannot occupy these apartments. Marston Is jealo Yes, he is jealous of Emile Zola. That's the trouble with him. Here is a horrid note he sent me a while lowing is a copy of the note: “Therese Raquin” will not be played Fri- day night. “Lady Lil" will be the play. oe arrangements accordingly. L. MARS- TON. “What do you think of that?” asked Miss Lewis. “It makes me mad. When I got it I sent a message to him that he won't like. I tell you I sent him an answer such as he served. I am going to be seen tn ‘Therese’ Friday night, and that's all there is of it.” Calling a bell-boy, Miss Lewis had him open a bottle of beer in her room. She drank a glass of this with apparent relish. For ten minutes she told of how well she had been treated by newspaper men—how Col. Alden J. Blethen of Minneapolis had de- voted considerable space to telling of her abilities, and how Maj. Bittinger of St. Jo- seph had given her an editorial, interview, criticism and free ad. all in the same issue of hi# paper. “How long have you been in the busi- ness, young man?” she asked, and without waiting for a reply she went on: “I have never met you before. I have so many friends among the newspaper men. ‘As the reporter went away Miss Lewis called after him: “Be sure now and state that I will play ‘Therese.’ Get it in if there is only one line of It. Inquiry at the office of the hotel as to who sent the telephone message was an- swered by the statement that it was done by direction of Manager Marston. He sat in the corridor while the reporter inter- viewed Miss Lewis. All of which goes to show that actors and actresses are devilish sly. ——--+ 0+ -____ SHE CALLED TIME. And the Hammer Fell During His Re- marks, From the Chicago Tribune. “What a curious wooden hammer, Miss Lilian!” “Yes. It was presented to papa many years ago by a lodge of some kind that he was presiding over at the time. I suppose he used it when he wanted to open the lodge or call some brother to order.” “Speaking of lodges, Miss Lilian, what do you think of men who join them and neglect their—er—wives and all that sort of thing?” “I think they are not doing their duty, Mr. Spoonamore.”” “S-so do I! We agree exactly on that. A man who would abandon the society of his—his wife, you know, to go down town four or five times a week, and meet a lot of other men, and go through the mummery they call initiation, and smoke cigars, and eb good time—why, it isn’t right, you now.’ The young woman toyed with the little wooden hammer and said nothing. “And that’s why I feel bold to say, Miss Lilian, that I think you and I would—h'm— would never have any disagreements if—we should—because that’s the way I feel about it, and—and I've never talked this way to you before, you know, for I wasn’t exactly certain whether—and all that sort of thing. When two persons agree on things like this, it stands to reason that there might be other things they would also—and you haven't known me a great while perhaps, but I feel that you're the only woman in the world I want to marry—.” Here the hammer fell. see. Nothing New. From Puck. Charley Footlights—“Why, Wing! What are you doing away out here? What's a- foot now?” Wright Wing (between his teeth)—“Our Entire Company.” ‘Tue guaranteed cure for all headachi es I romo-Seltzer. Trial bottle 10c. aroused @ boy. of the Revolution and of Secreta: ‘Thompson, who had probably been bothered state of however, committee on naval affairs during a large part of my co you know, during three Congresses, Jen brains.” HINGTON. D. ©, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1893—TWENTY PAGES. OUR NAVY IN 1893. Secretary Herbert Chats About Its Condition and Needs. AMERICANS NATURAL FIGHTERS, The Wonders of Our New Guns And Modern Powder. THE SECRETARY ON VESSELS. Written for The Evening Star. N A BIG ROOM ON the second floor of the east side of the biggest granite build- ing in the world, sur- rounded by the models of ships, at a big desk, sits a big man, boiling his big brain over some of the biggest questions of the United States. I refer to Secretary Hilary A. Herbert, the head of our great Navy Department. Ten years ago we had one of the poorest navies of the world. Now we have one of the best and the Navy Department is the most wide awake and progressive of our government establishments. It has vast foundries and manufactories under its control. It spends millions upon millions of dollars upon ships and armor every year. It is buying the best brain the United States can give and it has its agents in every part of the world inventing and studying how to make new guns and other instruments of destruction. It is the most wonderful establishment in the United States government,and the mat- ters it deals with reach to the ends of the earth. Already some of the biggest gun boats are on their way to China. Only a few months ago we were on the edge of @ war with Chile. What we are to do with the Sandwich Islands is still a live question, and the excitement of the troubles in Rio Janeiro have scarcely died away. The im- Svery day, and’ the personality’ and: views of the man who presides over it are full of interest. The Secretary’s First Naval Studies, I spent an hour with him this week at the depa:tment, and continued my conversation during an evening which he then fixed for me at his home. I know but little about think my first interest in the navy by a book which I It was entitled “ such an im upon a time I wanted to go to time to this I have read an of Indiana was then Secretary, and it was Cremeans colenrgaeniss toed fees aa kressman, called upon an that I wanted to know som: as to the condition of the navy. I said that I thought our cities along the coast were in an unpro- tected state, and that we ought to have ter ships and better guns. ry by young Con my statement. ened to gressmen before, li As I finished he rather pompously, but confidentially, told me that I might rest easy about the matter. And that our torpedoes had then reached such a gree gi that if the ships of all the world could come at once within the range of those we had planted along the sea coast we could blow them out of the water. I remember that I went away from the de- oie af with my mind considerably re- lev pedoes then doubtedly have bad a different opinion.’ I did not know as much about tor- as I do now, or I should un- “4 interest in the navy, pen 1 was connected with the ngressional pei I was, chairman of that committee including the last America Against the World. “How does our navy now compare with the other great navies of the world?” “Very well, indeed,” replied the Secretary, “or it will do so as soon as we have finished the ships we are now building. We now stand fifth or sixth among the great navies of the world. The greatest naval power on earth is Great Britain. She has nearly half as many naval officers as we have men, and her total naval service includes about 100,000. She has 275 ships in commissio1 she is making others, so that next year she m and will have about 42 effective ships afloat. Her colonies are such that the very exist- ence of her government depends upon a great navy, and the new ships which she is now building will cost, it is said, more than $100,000,000. Next to England as a great naval power is France, who has some of the biggest gun boats and best armored ships of the world. Her naval service in- cludes vast numbers of men, and the same is true of Italy and Russia. Next to these powers comes the United States or Ger- many. It is a question as to whether Ger- many or the United States stand fifth in rank among the navies of the world. In of that day. HE as as a bab; from the time it is teniten leaves gun, it were, on the muzzle.” until and it steadily push charge trom powder bed Our Wonderful Guns, “Is it much more effective than the pow- der of the past?” I asked. “Xes," replied the Secretary; “I can hardly describe its power. Some of the pro- Jectiles we now use weigh as high as 1,100 pounds, or half a ton, and the guns which shoot these great masses of steel and balls sé guns, Steel flies from the muzzle of the gun at the rate of 2,100 feet per second and goes thir- teen miles before it stops. Take your pen- cil and estimate what those figures mean. A ton is @ good load for a team of horses. Four charges of powder for one of those guns would be all that the horses would pull. Two of those projectiles would ‘agon load, and to carry off the gun itself, were it loaded upon wheels, one hundred and thirty would have to be | the screws. some respects we are superior to pacidly “cdvancivg, however, aad our navy rapidly advancing, however, a been the creation of practically only the last ten years.” Americans Naturally Fitted for Naval Warfare. “What kind of naval officers do Ameri- cans make? How do we rank among the nations as fighters on the sea?” ‘I believe the American is naturally fit- ted for naval warfare, and I believe we have all the elements of a great naval pow- er. I do not think it a necessity that we should surpass the world in this regard at present. The development of our vast in- terior resources will consume our best ener- gy for a generation or so to come. But when we go out of our own bou! when we become a great sea-going people, our navy will increase as our interests de- mand protection, and we may eventually become the greatest naval power of the world. Our Navy in History. ‘As to our natural ability in this Secretary Herbert went on, “look at our history. At the beginning of the revolution England was mistress of the seas. During the first two years of that war our navy made up of what we could buy, build or borrow, captured more than 267 English ships, and acquired for itself a reputation as one of the naval powers of the time. In the war of 1812 we started out with about a dozen and a half ships of war to fight England, who then had more then 800 ships, of which a large number were effective cruisers. There were all told fourteen duels between single ships in that war, and in ten of these the Americans were victorious. In two of the remainder the honors were near- ly even, and in only two out of the fourteen were the British the victors. At the begin- | ning of the late civil war the government ‘had only ninety vessels afloat. At its close its navy contained 770 ships, and it stood out as one of the greatest naval powers of the world. Its battles changed the navies f the world. and some of the greatest of inventions have sprung from Ameri- horses hitched to it. Twenty-one hundred feet per second is at the rate of almost a mile in two and a half seconds. If that velocity could continue the projectile would go on at the gate of about twenty-three miles a min- ute. It would cross the Atlantic in less than “in leat than a day. Thebe a day. These called the thirteen-inch guns. Four @re to be placed on each of the ships, ee oe form a part of armament o} ey indiana, the Oregon “There is no doubt of it,” was the reply. “Experiments show that we are doing #0. The gun manufactory at the navy yard here is one of the finest in the world, and a man from one of the big establishments Europe when he visited it the other said he had never seen anything equal it. We can turn out guns v since its “em number of fine Gun Works and Torpedo Factor- tes. “Are our naval factories such that we are needed, and with the great forging works which we now have at Bethlehem and at the Carnegie works near Pittsburg we are in the position to create as great a navy as the future may demand. What we now need is more battle ships. We need plenty of good torpedo boats to defend our har- bors, and my idea of the navy is that it should be large enough to command peace and protect American citizens in their oday is of rolled or hammered steel, to which we have added about three per cent of nickel, with such success that our plate is supe; rior to any other armor plate of the world. A Word About Torpedoes. “Is the torpedo of much value in the na- val warfare of today?” I asked. “I think there is no doubt of that,” re- plied the Secretary. “All of the great na- tions are adding torpedo boats to their naval forces. England has nearly 2 and is building 2% more. France has 1 and it building 4. Russia has 150 and is butiding more. Germany has 108, and the other powers are well equipped. At a test of tor- pedo boats last summer in England twenty- four torpedo boats attacked a squad of crutsers and gun boats. The result was that after seven days’ trial these had destroyed one battle ship and six cruisers, and eich- teen out of the twenty-four torpedo boats were destroyed. Of course there was no ac- tual destruction of these vessels, id the torpedoes were s0 fixed with co! le heads that no real damage was ie. It was, in fact, like the firing of a blank car- tridge, but the effect could be scientifically estimated from the torpedoes having struck the ships. The result of the trial was as I have stated, and the estimated value of the battle ship and six cruisers destroyed mounted to about $9,500,000, including 2,050 Con. The value of the eighteen torpedo boats was only $1,800,000, and the men de stroyed would have been only 360. In other words, the torpedoes did about five times as much damage in proportion to their cost as the battle ships and cruisers. The tor- pedo vessels which are now being built abroad are fast, and they range in size from 700 to 90 tons. They will go from nineteen to twenty knots per hour. The torpedo boats are from 100 to 200 tons in size, and they will go from twenty-three to twenty-nine knots per hour. Twenty-nine knots is more than thirty-two miles, and these boats fly through the water at the speed of the average railroad train. The tor loes used are the auto-mobile tor- and they are about eleven feet long with a diameter of seventeen inches, “They yng as soon as they touch the ship, and they are so made that they can be sent as straight through the water as a ball from a gun. They are fired by powder or compressed air, and compressed air is the motive power which runs the engines im the torpedo and it_by means of ‘They go from the tor- pedo boat at the rate of about thirty miles per hour, and they run by the air power contained within them a half a mile with “This is the Whi “ the itehead torpedo. The Howell torpedo is propelled by the gyratory motion of a wheel within it which is set inning before the leaves the low about electricity in the use of tor- pedoes?” “The Simms-Edison ti is worked by electricity. Some of these are stationed off from the shore and connected by electric wires. They are propelled, steered and ex- ploded by electricity. The power comes from a machine on shore or on a ship. We have not found them as efficient as the Whitehead torpedo, ahd it is with the Whitehead and the Howell that our best experiments have been made.” “How about the dynamite cruiser?” “You refer to the ‘Vesuvius.’ This is a boat of $30 tons. It was finished :n 1890 and it is armed with three dynamite guns. each of which is % feet long. These cuns throw shells of dynamite weighing as mucn as 500 pounds each, and each gun can be dis- charged once every two minutes. The ship has two engines, each of which has nearly 4000 horse power, and in addition to these dynamite guns it has a light battery con- sisting of three 3-pounders. It has a speed of twenty-two knots per hour and carries between 60 and 70 men.” Our Big Battle Ships. “Can you give me some idea of our big battle ships, Mr. Secretary?” “We have three battle ships building of the first class, each of which is 10,200 tons in size, and one ship building which is 11,300 tons. We have also the ‘Texas’ and the ‘Maine,’ which range between 6,300 and 6,600 tons in displacement. ‘The ‘Iowa’ is 1190) tons and is one of the largest ships in the world. With its full coal supply it will have a displacement of over 12,000 tons, and it is to have a speed of sixteen knots per hour. In order to give you some idea of one of these battle ships this vast vessel is plated with Harveyed nickel steel, 14 inches thick, with a wood backing 12 inches thick. She has turrets which are armored with 14-inch plates, and she will be equipped with four 12-inch together with a number of 8- inch and 28 rapid firing and machine guns. She will have 11,000 horse power, and she will have cost when she is completed in 1896 more than $3,000,000. Russia has a new ship called the ‘Rurik’ which has 33.50 horse power, while the ‘Indiana’ and ‘Mas- sachusetts’ have each 9,00) horse power. Tne armor on these two last vessels ts 18 inches thick and they are to cost not more than $4,000,000 apiece. We Need Battle Ships Hoat: “Are we not spending a great deal on the navy?” x “Yes,” replied Secretary Herbert, “but : i it ag i HI H r4 Hl , i a E i il i i j | i i £ j l f ; 5 i ? ' i i g if | : ever shee ber come Albury, on New South Wales-Victorian J a dozen prevent the Royal Tar her voyage. The Royal Tar is and was for many Tike in Sydney. it on strike Z Offered, from which a first-class crew was r to see the do fi gia aa jl only a few Gays fm cen t's aur lana oe emigrants were in the best of —— confident, individually and col the man who has got the race. No — dnd <p or ered the ing vent. Al Soy f appearing to regard meer 3 of sympathy, the members of xpedition extended their pity to ‘vere compelled to remain in this played-out country.