Evening Star Newspaper, June 15, 1895, Page 15

THE EVENING STAR, ROYAL SOVEREIGN, England. vELLONA, England. SIEGFRIED, Germany. NEW YORK, United States. PELAYO, Spain. STROMBOLI, Italy. BRANDENBURG, Germany. DISPLAY AT KIEL A Great Naval Demonstration at the Baltic Canal Opening. THIS COUNTRY WILL RANK FOURTH Something About the Vessels Repre- senting the Various Countries. MODERN SHIPS OF WAR ———— UNE 19TH—-BAN- quet at 6 o'clock at the city hall in Ham- burg; at 9 p.m., fes- tivities in the basin of the Alster. “June 20th—Begin- ning of the sail through Braunsbut- tel sluice at 3 a.m.; after 2 o'clock, ar- rival at Holtenau (near Kiel); at 5 o'clock, reception by his majesty the em- ‘peror and king on board the yacht Hohen- zollern. In the evening, ball at the Naval Academy. “June 2ist—At 11 a.m, festivities at ‘Holtenau; at 2 p.m., naval parade; at 8 p.m., banquet at Kiel. “June 224€—Naval maneuvers. Departure.” Such is the provisional program of the festivities which will signalize the open- ing of the Northern Baltic ship canal next week, as told in an official note from the German ambassador at this capital to the Secretary of State. It is a plain, unadorned statement of what will undoubtedly be one of the most memorable naval events of the age. From a commercial standpoint, the establishment of this deep waterway between the Baltic and the North sea is an event second only in importance to that of the Suez canal. All the leading nations of the world have accepted Germany's invitation to join her in celebrating the occasion, with the result that the opening ceremonies, it is expected, will be marked by the greatest naval pageant in the history of the world. Nearly one hundred warships of all classes, all of the latest design and type, from the leviathan first-class battle ship to the most diminutive torpedo boat, will take an active part in the ceremonies. The list of vessels to be present embraces the finest specimens of the navies of the worl including the best ships in the British ani Italian navies, having the heaviest armor and armament afloat. This vast assem- blage will form a grand marine picture. Russia and France. Great Britain, “Italy, Austria and the United States will be particularly strong in their representation, especially the first two named countries, which will send their finest ships in command of officers of the Dighest rank. Russia and France show no Special interest in the occasion, and both Will be outclassed even by the United States in the number of marine representatives. Germany's program is not yet completed, but her plan is to have all her available sbips at Keil on this occasion, nurabering at least forty of all classes, being more than the combined fieets at the Columbian naval review in this country in 15¥3, in- cluding the thirteen ships of our own navy. Emperor William has taken personal charge of the arrangements for the cele- bration, and he will be in supreme com- mand of all the navies assembled there. He will have the assistance of princes, grand dukes and potentates of all kinds and degrees. Each of the foreign squad- rons will be in command of the highest ranking officers, Austria iolicws Germany in the matter of rank. Her fleet will be in command of Admiral Grard Duke Karl Stefan, whose exalted rank will probably secure him first place in command of the foreign fleets, notwithstanding the much superior fleets of Great Britain and Italy. The British fleet will be in command of Vice Admiral Lord Kerr and Rear Admiral Alington. ef ral Accini and Rear Admiral Grandville will be in commend of the Ital- jan fleet. Inasmuch as the Italian vice ad- miral is the senior in rank of the British vice admiral, it is also possible that the Italian squadron may be given precedence over the British. The other squadrons are commanded by rear admirals. Rear Admiral Kirkland, who will com- mand the United States fleet, has held his present grade, the highest known in our navy, less than a year. He is probably the junior rear admiral present, and that fact may put the United States vessels near the end of the naval procession. The entire assemblage will be directly in command of the German emperor, and all the foreign commanders will get their crders from the royal yacht Hohenzollern, which will be his flagship most of the time on this occa- sion. ‘The total tonnage afloat will probably exceed that of the entire United States navy during the civil war, and the men on board the various ships wil: equal, .if not exceed, the strength of the regular army of the United States today. This Country Fourth. According to advices to date at the Navy Department ,the relative strength of the navies present will be in the following or- der: Germany, Great Britain, Italy, United States, Austria, Russia, France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Roumania, and Turkey. Germany wiil be represented by her entire available navy, including about twenty of her largest and best equipped vessels. No list of her floating representatives has yet been furn: hed. It will comprise, however, els in commission not on duty tant foreign stations. They will be in command of Admiral Knorr, though his majesty will be In supreme command, as lord high admiral. He will use the battle ship Brandenburg and the royal yacht Hoh- enzoll his flagships, alternately, as ch is one of the orld, is So44 feet feet draught, 9,812 and ery heavily ar- verful battery, in- ad eight battle ships of th and strength € rledrich ‘There vy Jen and Wurt- s 2 ship many pedo boats. lass will be repre- ywerful steel and 15 knots $ feet beam a ugat, of a complete t es in depth and 0.4 of two covered barbettes of el, and of a 1.37-inch steel deck, for the seconda 7 Her battery sitss guns in the forward lar gun in the aft barbette. eight vessels of. this ci; navy. They of the new c: Great Britain's Display. Next to Germany,Great Britain will make the finest display, and her ships will prob- There are 3 in the German re destined for the protection al. ably lead all the others in size and power, except those of Italy. The Royal. Sovereign will be the British flagship. She will be ac- companied by three sister ships, the Em- press of India, Repulse and Resolution. These four are battle ships of the first-class. ‘They are 380 feet long, 75 feet broad, 14,150 tons displacement, 15,000 indicated horse pewer, 27.6 feet draught and 18 knots speed. They each carry four 13.5-inch and ten 6-inch rifles and seven torpedo tubes. Each has 650 men and officers. These ves- sels are of the latest design, and represent the highest type of naval architecture in the matter of offensive armament and de- fensive armor. = Next to them in fighting wbility comes the protected cruiser Blenheim, prototype of the Blake, well known in this countr. as the finest ship in the Columbian revi She corresponds in all essential particu- lars to our crack ship, the New York, and an excellent opportunity of comparison of the two ships will be afforded on this oc- casion. The New York is conceded to be the Blenheim’s superior, however, in the important matter of speed and the amount of metal her guns are capable of throwing at a broadside. The Blenheim has two light masts, is 375 feet long, 65 feet broad, 25.9 feet draught, 9,000 tons displacement, 21,411 horse power aid 21.6 knots speed. Her main battery consists of two 9.2 inch and ten 6-inch rifles, and she has four tor- pedo tubes. Her complement of officers and men is 560. Great Britain's represen- tation will also include the Endymion, a protected cruiser, slightly smaller than the Blenheim; the Bellona, a partly protected three-masted cruiser of the schooner type and of 20 knots speed; the torpedo vessel Speedy, of S10 tons displacement and 20.2 knots speed, and the dispatch vessel En- chantress, of 1,000 tons displacement and 13 knots speed, making in all nine vessels. Italy Well Represented. Italy will also have nine vessels at the celebration, nearly equaling those of Great Britain in general effectiveness. She, too, will have four battle ships present, the Sardegna, Re Umberto, Ruggiero di Lauria and Andrea Doria. The Sardegna, which is the flagship, is 410.1 feet long, 75.6 feet broad, 29 feet draught, 13,500 tons displace- ment, 17,500 herse power, and twenty knots speed. The Re Umberto is 400 feet long, 76.10 feet broad, 30.2 feet draught, 13,375 tons displacement, 19,500 horse power, and eighteen knots speed. Each of these ves- sels has four 13.5-inch, eight 6-inch, and sixteen 4.72-inch rifles, and each has a com- plement of 673 men and officers. The Ru- glero di Lauria and the Andrea Dorea are practically sister ships, differing only in minor details. They are 328 feet long, 65.7 feet broad, 27 feet draught, 11,000 tons dis- placement, 10,500 horse power, and seven- teen knots speed. Each has a complement of 485 men, and a main battery of four inch, two 6-Inch and four 4.72-inch rifle: "These two vessels carry the heaviest guns known to the service. The two protected cruisers Stromboli and _ Etruria comprise Italy’s cruiser display. The Stromboli has two military masts, is 282.2 feet long, 42.8 feet broad, 19.6 feet draught, 3,475 tons dis- placement, 6,252 horse power, and seven- teer. knots speed. She carries two 10-inch and six 6-inch rifles, and has five torpedo tubes. Her complement is 322 men and officers. Two torpedo vessels, the Aretusa and the Partenope, with a speed of twenty knots, and the royal yacht Savoia, of 2,850 tons displacement and fourteen knots speed, complete Italy’s representation. Vessels From This Country. The United States and Austria each send four vessels, but those of the United States .are superior to those of the Aus- trian navy and easily entitle her to prece- dence. This country will be represented by four of the finest cruisers in any navy, viz., the New York, Columbia, San Francisco and Marblehead. Pending the completion of our foar big battle ships, the vessels named are among the best we have afloat. The New York is a steel armored cruiser of 8,500 tons displacement, 16,500 horse power and twenty-one knots speed. She is 380.6 feet long, 64.10 feet broad and 23.4 feet draught. She has a main battery of six eight-inch and twelve four-inch rapid fire guns. She is the best all-around fight- ing machine In our navy today, and is ably commanded by Capt. R. B. Evans. The Columbia, Capt. Sumner, is one of the few cruisers that are provided with triple screw propellers, among the others being the Minneapolis, the French Dupuy de Leme and the German Kaiserin Augusta. The Columbia is 412 feet long and 58 feet broad and of 7,475 tons displacement. She is known as a “commerce destroyer” or “pi- rate.” Her heavy armament consists of one eight-inch gun, two six-inch and eight four-inch rapid fire guns. She is protected by a slopmg armored deck four inches thick at the sides and has a double bottom, minutely subdivided into water-tight com- partments. The engines and machinery are also protected by patent fuel, which may be packed around to the thickness of five feet. She has a speed of 22.8 knots and a steaming radius of 16,000 miles. The San Francisco, Capt. Shepard, is a protected steel cruiser of 4,083 tons displace- ment, 10,400 horse power and 20.2 knots speed. She is 310 feet long, 49.2 feet broad and 18.9 feet draught. Her main battery consists of twelve 6-inch guns and four 6- pounders. She was launched in 1889 and is the oldest of our quartet at Kiel. She is elegantly appointed, however, and was se- lectel by Rear Admiral Kirkland, com- manding the squadron, as his flagship in ference to either of her larger consorts, and Columbia. Neill, 1s a 2,000- jorse power and 7 feet long, 37 aught. Her main e-inch rapid fire She will be the u United States fleet to take part in the opening procession through the canal, the draught of the other three belag too great for them to enter. The jepth of the canal will ultimately be thirty feet, but it is not much over half that lepth throughout at ee proc! Austria, Russia and France. Austria’s contingent Includes the armor- ed cruiser Kaiserin and Koningin, Maria Theresa (flagship), the protected cruisers aiser Franz Josef and Ku'serin Elizabeth, nd the torpedo vessel Trabant. The flag- chip has a acement of 5,270 tons and a ed of 19 nots. ‘The other two cruis- ers are of 4,050 tons displacement and 19 knots speed.’ They are powerful ships of modern design, and compare favorably with the American cruiser San Francisco. They each carry two !.4-inch and six 5.9 inch rifles and six torp tubes. The Tra- bant is of 530 tons displacement and 20.8 knots speed. Russia sends three ships, under command of Rear Admiral Skuidiov, as follows: Bat- tle ship Imperato Alexander II, 8,000 tons displacement and 15 knots speed, with two iumphal canal 12-inch, four 9-inch anl‘eight 6-inch rifles; the armored cruiser Rurik, of 10,964 tons displacement and 18.5 knots speed, with four 8-inch, sixteen 6-inch and six 4.72-inch rifles. and the coast defense vessel Grozi- astchi, of 1,492 tons displacement and 15 krots speed, with a main battery of one 9-inch and one 6-inch rifle. France makes a poor display, considering her great naval strength. Her fleet will comprise the battle ship Hoche, of 10,650 tens displacement and 16 knots speed, with a main battery of two 13.4-inch, two 10.6- inch and eighteen 5.51-inch rifles; the ar- mored cruiser Dupuy de Lome, of 6,300 tons displacement and 20 knots speed, and the protected cruiser Surcouf, of 1,818 tons dis- placement and 20.5 knots speed. The bat- tle ship Hoche has the same displacement as the Indiana of our navy, but has less horse power. The Dupuy de Lome is a triple screw cruiser like the Columbia and the Minneapolis of our navy, but does not ap- proach them in speed or general efficiency. Rear Admiral Menard will command the French forces. Other Countries Represented. Spain sends the battleship Pelayo, the armored cruiser Infanta Maria Teresa of 6890 tons displacement and 20.24 knots speed, and the cruiser, Alfonso XII of 3,090 tons displacement and 17.5 knots speed. The flagship Pelayo has two military masts, is 385 feet long, 66 feet broad, 24 feet draught, 9,02 tons_ displacement, 9,600 horse power and 16.7 knots speed. Her main battery consists of two 12.6-inca, two ll-inch, one 63-inch and twelve 4.72- inch rifles. She has seven torpedo tubes and carries a complement of 5t5 officers aud men. Sweden’s display will consist of three vessels, as foliows: The coast defense ves- sel Thule of 3,135 tons displacement; the coast defense vessel Gota, of 3,100 tons dis- placement and a speed of 16 knots, and the gunboat Edna, of 640 tons displacement and 13.5 knots speed. The two coast defense vessels carry two 10-inch and four 6-inch rifles. Denmark sends the two protected cruls- ers Heckla and Geiser, both fine ships of 1,300 tons displacement and 17 knots speed, with Rear Admiral Brunn in command. Roumania also sends two vessels, the cruiser Elisabeta of 1,263 tons displace- ment and 18.5 knots speed, and the train- ing brig Mircea of 400 tons displacement and 8.5 knots speed. Norway’s navy is comparatively small. Her representatives will be the protected cruiser Viking, 1,113 tons displacement and 16 knots speed, and the gunboat Sleiprer, of 580 tons displacement and 12 knots speed. Portugal and Turkey will each be repre- sented by but one vessel. The flag of Portugal will fly from the armored cruiser Varco de Gama, of 2,422 tons displacement and 13.2 knots speed. This vessel carries two 10.24-inch and one 6-inch rifle. Tur- key’s representative, which will be the weakest armed warship present, is the cruiser Heybet-Nouma, of 1,900 tons dis- placement and 14 knots speed. A recapitulation of the program_shows that aside from the eight or ten German battle ships, there will be present at least twelve vessels of that class, together with three coast defense ships and two triple- screw cruisers, in addition to numerous armored and protected cruisers, gunboats, torpedo boats, dispatch vessels, etc. Facts About the Canal. The legislation for connecting the Baltic with the North sea was enacted in 1886, The first spadeful of earth inaugurating the work was turned by Emperor William I at Hottenau, near Kiel, on the 3d of June, 1887. The canal is 98.6 kilometers (61.27 miles) in length. It begins at Holtenau, on the bay of Kiel, and terminates near Brunsbuttel, at the mouth of the river Elbe, thus running clear through the prov- ince of Schleswig-Holstein from northeast to southwest. Both openings are provided with huge locks. Near Rendsburg there is a third lock, connecting the canal with the old Hider canal. The medium water level of the canal will be about equal to the me- dium water level of Kiel barbor. At the lowest tide the profile of the canal has, in a depth of 6.17 meters (20 feet 6 inches) be- low the surface of the water, a navigable width of 36 meters (118.11 feet), so as to allow the largest Baltic steamers to pass each other. For the navy, 22 meters (72.18 feet) of canal bottom are provided, at least 58 meters (190.20 feet) of water surface, and 8% meters (27 feet 9 inches) depth of water. The greatest depth for merchant vessels was calculated at 6.5 meters (21 feet 3 inches). The estimated cost was $37,128,000. Two-thirds of the cost is defrayed by Ger- many; the remaining one-third by Russia. ‘The time saved by a steamship sailing from Kiel to Hamburg via the canal, instead of through the Skaugh (the strait between Jutland and Sweden), is estimated at two and one-half days. The time of passage through the canal, including stoppages and delays, will be about thirteen hours. In time of peace the canal is to be open to tcen-of-war, as well as merchant vessels of every nation, but in time of war its use will be restricted to vessels of the German navy. Many vessels have been wreckad and many lives lost on the Danish and Swedish coast, in waters which need not be navigated after the canal is opened to traffic. Its strategic importance to Germany will also be great, as it will place that country’s two naval ports, Kiel on the Baltic and Wil- helmshafen on the North sea, within easy access of each other. —— A STORY OF ECKELS. He Remembers With Gratitude the Man Who Was Kind to Him. “Cast thy bread upon the waters and It shall return to thee after many days.” It would appear in what follows that the bread returned in time for the second gen- eration. Many years ago, as related to a writer for The Star, Controller Eckels was a small boy in Ilinols. At this early age he had a taste for trade. His father was well-to-do, but the coming controller had a strong notion of making money for himself. The easiest avenue of commerce which opened to his young feet was the apple trade. He was but eight years old at the time, and it was his wont to occasionally wend his way to a farmer of the neighbor- hood who had an unusually fine brand of apples, and buy a basketful, and then sell them at a ripe advance over original cost. In this way young Hckeis amassed a boy- ish fortune. There was one thing which he always recalls to the credit. of the farmer. It would seem that the old agriculturist had a warm place in his heart for boys, and he always gave young Eckels about twice as many apples for his money as the market naturally called for. In fact, he sold apples to young Eckels for about thirty cents on the dollar, and this low rate en fruit very much assisted the youthful merchant in making. - as stated, was long ago. The old farmer has been dead these years, but he has a son older than Controtier Eckels, who is now practicing law in New York city. And a good lawyer he is; capable, thorough and honest, although not, haps, grow profession. When Eckels became controller of the currency he was aware of the where- abouts and professional fortune of this son of the old farmer who had so favored him in the apple business. In memory of the farmer's generosity Controller Eckels has seen to it that a great deal of the New York law business which had its emanation in his department has fallen into the hands of the son. It may be safely and conservatively said that as tre direct result of the father’s liberal- ity this son in the last two years has made several thousand dollars, ‘and thas been brought into a law practice which will swell his professional earnings for years to come. Bread on the waters in the guise of former apples, which might in the ag- | gregate have cost the old farmer father a doliar is today returning to the son to the extent of thousands of dollars. SUBSTITUTES FOR HORSFORD’'S Acid Phosphate Are Dangerous. Becavse they cost less, many substitutes are of- fered, some of which are dangerous, and none of Which will produce the same effect as the genuine. Invist upon having ““HORSFORD’S,"’ whether buy- ing a bottle of Acid Phosphate or “‘phosphate’’ in a glass of soda, OVER THE ICY SEAS Prof. Hazen Favors the Idea of Bal- looning te the Pole. THE ONLY PRACTICABLE SCHEME Propelled After the Manner of a Bicycle and Rudder Steered. ENS 2 o-ER DY DiA YY. 8 Written for The Evening Star. HE PLAN FOR gig reaching the north pole by balloon is, in my opinion, the only practicable one,” said Prof. H. A. Hazen of the weather bureau yesterday. “I see that King Oscar of Sweden has contrib- uted 30,000 kroners to help out the project of M. Andree, who Proposes to start on his aerial journey from from the islands to the northwest of Spitzbergen. For certain reasons which I will presently mention, I think that his choice of a point of departure is a bad one. ‘To begin with, however, I would like to state why I regard other methods of at- | taining this object as not feasible. “It has been quite generally assumed that there is in all likelihood an open sca around the pole. This notion has no foun- dation save in the imagination of theorists. In a modern map of that part of the world you will find that Lockwood of Greely’s party is credited justly with having reach- ed the farthest north, at Cape Britannia. He got there by skirting the land. An ex- ploit of even greater hardihood was that of Markham, a British naval officer, who, having arrived at the shore of the palaeo- erystic sea, started acro$s it directly to the north. In his account of the trip he says that he was obliged to cover fifty miles in order to accomp}ish ten miles of northing, owing to the mountains of broken ice over which he and his men had to climb. The difficulties were so stupen- dous, in fact, that he was.compelled to turn back before getting quite so far as the latitude of Cape Britannia. “Lockwood, in 1882, was only 341 miles frem the pole; but, though this distance seems so trifling, a journey over it would hardly be practicable in, all probability for men startling fresh and with plenty of provisions. For my own. part, I do not believe that it will ever be aecomplished. It may fairly be assumed that the broken ice masses of the palaeoerystic sea extend all the way to the pole, the region sur- rounding which must present an aspect of extreme desolation. In latitudes so far north as those reached. by Markham and Lockwood there is no animal life what- ever, save a few flying waterfowl in sum- mer. That extremity of the earth’s axis is Interesting from the scientific point of view, but not otherwise presumably. The Starting Point Important. “Now, where is Andree to come out on his balloon journey? In the neighborhood of Iceland there is a permanent low-pres- sure area, and the tendency of the winds is to blow around that area in a direction opposite to that of the hands of a clock. The circuit of these winds reaches as far east as Norway. If Andree trusts himself to this current, he will be carried westward and not northward. A similar low-pressure area is in the vicinity of Bering sea, with @ corresponding air-current circulating about it. Obviously, then, the start by bal- loon ought not to be made from either of these regions. This question of a starting point is extremely important. I should rather be inclined to recommend Hudson's bay or, else the islands in the Arctic ocean off the Lena Delta and the north coast of Siberia. “I am not attempting to speak with au- thority, because these matters have not been studied to any extent. Recently the ex- plorer Nansen started to reach the pole by lavnching a stanch vessel from the Si- berian coast and deliberately getting him- self entangled in the arctic ice pack, with. a view to taking advantage of an ocean current, which he expected to carry his ship northward to the pole, and eventually across to Greenland. The finding of drift- weed and various other things unmistaka- bly of Siberian origin on the shores of Greenland has given rise to a belief that there is such a transpolar stream from Siberia to Greenland. If this idea is cor- rect, Nansen has an excellent chance of attaining the long-sought goal. His vessel is constructed mainly for the purpose of re- sisting the presSure of the ice, and he has plenty of provisions. The drift referred to may be due in part to air currents. If so, the islands off the Siberian shore would certainly be a good point of departure for Andree. These islands were made famous by the tragic fate of De Long and his ex- pedition. “Our problem is to reach the pole by bal- loon. It is a proposition wholly different from what it would have been a few years ago. What would have been a suicidal pro- ject then may be considered practicable now—simply because we have learned how to make gas bags which will not leak. To speak more accurately, we know how to make balloons so near to absolute tightness as to lose only one-half of one per cent of their contents per day. Until recently a silken gas bag for aerial. navigation was ecnsidered to be well made if it lost only five per cent per diem. The improvement kas been brought about by employing goldbeaters’ skin, which js obtained from the intestines of the ox, as material for the envelope. The Proper Style of Balloon. “Let some rich man furnish $200,000 for the purpose and I will guarantee to reach the pole. I should take four balloons. But $70,000 would be sufficient for carrying out such a plan as that of M. Andree, with good prospects of success. Were I in his place I should procure a balloon that would hold 200,000 cubic feet of pure hydrogen gas. It would have a lifting power of 14,- 000 pounds—that is, it would carry that much weight. The gas bag would be sey- enty-four feet in diameter and as nearly spherical as possible. A spherical balloon can be made more uniferm in shape than one that is like a pear, so that it bas a less tendency to rotate. These airships gener- ally tend to spin in the air, probably be- cause there is a greater bulge on one side than on the other. “Our balloon ought to have some sort of a propeller. The dirigible airship is no longer a hope of the imaginative inventor; it is an accomplished fact. At Meudon, in France, successful experiments were made recently with a balloon equipped with a steam engine, which traveled at a moder- ate rate of speed into the teeth of a wind that was blowing twenty miles an hour. Before long airships run by steam will have become familiar and will excite no more astonishment than the telephone and the phonograph, which would have been regarded as wonders inconceivable a gen- eration ago. The future of aerial naviga- tion lies in this direction. and not toward aeroplanes or other such devices for so- called flying machines. “The tremendous strides recently made in the scieace of aeronautics are not gen- erally realized. We have learned for the first time how to make a gas-tight balloon —cbviously a prime requisite for success in navigating the atmosphere. Next, we have demonstrated the practicability of propel- ling the airstip. Propulsion once accom- plished, there is no difficulty about steer- ing. You cannot steer a balloon that is merely drifting with the air currents. For the same reason, you cannot exercise with a rudder any control over a boat that is drifting with the current of a stream, But give to the boat even a little power of propulsion, and you can steer. The same proposition applies to an airship. For want of better means, I would equip my pole- bound ballcon with propellers which could be worked with the feet like a bicycle. To go straight against the wind would "be too laborious, but I could tack. If I could go only two miles an hour my rudder would act. A Trip of Only Thirty Days. “The distance to be traversed from the islands off the Lena delta to the pole is only a few hundred miles. Going at the rate of only two miles an hour, it would be practicable to reach the destination and return within thirty days. But, with a strong and favoring wind, we might get there in a couple of days, or even less. Having attained the goal, any wind would carry us southward, for we should not be obliged to back to our original point of de- parture. The party, I conceive, ought to consist of six men. I would take with me a second and smaller balloon, the neck of which could be attached to the neck of the larger gas bag. This secondary balloon might have a capacity of 40,000 cubic feet, but it would be empty at the start. “It is very important for the aeronaut, when he finds the wind against him, to be able to rise above the unfavorable current. In a higher level of the atmosphere he may strike a favoring breeze, which at an ele- vation of a mile and a half is likely to blow at a tremendous rate—perhaps forty or fifty miles an hour. Hitherto the trouble has been that, owing to the greater tenuity of the atmosphere above, the gas would expand as the balloon rose, and escape out of the neek. This ioss of precious gas is Prevented by the smaller bag, which re- ceives the gas that escapes from the bigger one, On descending to a lower level the gas thus saved is returned to the large balloon simply by pulling down the little one, when the hydrogen which it contains obeys the law of nature and ascends into the great bag. “I have said that our big balloon would lift 14,000 pounds. Let us suppose that the trip to the pole would require thirty days, during which we would lose one per cent of gas per diem, or twice as much as the due allowance. This escape would signify a loss of 4,200 pounds lifting power. We have left, then, 9,800 pounds. Six men would weigh 900 pounds. Add for balloon, outfit and propeiler, 1,100 pounds, and for a boat, 500 pounds more. Suppose that each of the men consumed five pounds of food and water per diem. That would make thirty pounds a day, or pounds for thirty days. Sum these items up, and you will have a total of 3,400 pounds. So you would start with 6,400 pounds of ballast. A part of this ballast would ccnsist of the empty smaller balloon, which could be eut up and thrown away piecemeal in case of an emergency. The last thing to be sacrificed would be the boat, which would be the hope of safety in case the air ship collapsed and fell into the water. Many aeronauts have been reduced to the extremity of cuz- ting away the basket and holding. on to the ring of the balloon. “We should require as many as six men, in order that they might take turns in operating the propeller. A start might be made conveniently from _80 degrees north latitude, which would be 700 miles from the pole. I have said that no great speed would be required. In case of a head wind we could throw out an anchor and wait for a favoring breeze, or we might rise to a higher level and find a current going our way. At an elevation of one and a half miles the winds are apt to blow at a rate ten times as fast as near the surface of the earth. With breezes not extremely unfa- verable, we could run straight to the pole. Give me a steam propeller and I would go up humming.” * RENE BACHE. es When Polly Wants Her Way. From Life. “I wish you wouldn't,” said Polly, dole- fully. “Wouldn’t what?” I asked. “Wouldn’t be an editor and have to work at night.” “What is it now?” “What is what?” “What is it you want me to take you to?” “Nothing.” A pause. “Only the Wheelers are going to have a dance Thursday night, and I thought—perhaps- ” I smoked on. Polly viewed me in ag- grieved silence. “I wish you would take that horrid cigar out and talk to me.” “My dear child,” I began. (This is a form of address I invariably ,use when about to say something disagreeable.) “My dear child, I have many times explained to you the impossibility of my leaving the desk in the evening, even for you. On a paper like ours,” I continued, lapsing into my professional tone, “with an extensive circulation and a high standard of excel- lence to maintain. ia “Oh, bother the paper,” said Polly. used to do it.” “True; once or twice——” “Exactly seven times!” “Or thereabouts, I have disregarded my duties and left my labors to Wilson. On each of these occasions the paper has suf- fered. The last time the circulation fell off nearly one-half.” Polly eyed me suspiciously. “I don’t see any fun in being engaged,” she said, as I thought, somewhat irrelevantly. “Then let's get married,” I promptly sug- gested. Polly paid no attention to this, rightly regarding it as merely an attempt to change the subject. é “Well, I suppose I shall have to go with Mr. Weld, though he’s a horrid old stick!” “Has he asked you?” “Still, it would make Minnie jealous, and so——" I sat up and removed my cigar. “Polly,” I said, “rather than oblige you to undergo the torture of being with that empt. brained ass, I'll take you myself, if it an- “You nihilates the paper!” Polly perched herself on the arm of my chair. “You're a dear old goose,” she said softly, A Bee et. Se, ver Ve “Of course, dear,” she whispered, after a while, “I wouldn't have gone with him even if he had asked me.” “Polly, didn't he ask you?” Thefe ‘was no answer. I couldn’t see her face, but I noticed a convulsive movement of her shoulders and thought I heard a ressed giggle. sed her sternly. ——— When She Would Marry. From Frank Harrison's Magazine, This is what a young lady is reported recently to have said, apropos of marriage: “Well, no, I don’t know if I would marry for money alone; but if a man had plenty of money, allied to a sweet disposition, and a mustache that curled at both ends, and. nice blue eyes, and a social position; if he had a distinguished status in a profession, or even as a merchant, and his father was rich and his mother and sisters aristocratic, and he wanted to marry me, and he would promise to let me have my own way in everything, and keep me liberally supplied with moncy, and have a splendidly-furnish- ed town house and a handsome country residence, was liberal about diamonds and other gems, also about the milliner, never grumbiing, and I really and truly loved him, I shouldn't consider marriage a draw- back.” SS ge As the Waiter Translated It. From the Chicago Tribune. Guest—‘I would like a nice round steak, rare done, and some fresh, fried potatoes. Waiter (in stentorian voice)—“Carnage in skillet! Fried Pingrees on the side!” THEY MADE IT UP BY ALPRED HENRY LEWIB. Written Exclusively for The Evening Star. “The eastern notions of the west,” said the old cattleman, “is away off its reserv: tion. I frequent hears people discussin’ of the west like it was murder, straight, an’ lynchin’ for place, from one Christmas to the next. This yere is a heap erroneous, an’ most likely the distinguishin’ feature of the western camps is their heavenly calm. Now an’ then some little dissension as to rools in poker er the title to a steer will spring up an’ bullets for a minute may ockepy the air like swallow birds. I've knowed seven people quit Wolfville for the realms of bliss, all in one day, an’ Wolfville warn’t no metropolis neither, but I recalls this now as mighty onusual. Generally the number is two, three being quite a shipment. = “It ain’t allers people shoot when they urges, an’ my mem’ry can round up a heap of instances which begins in some steep an’ declivitious oratory an’ has its wind-up in scenes as would soothe a child to sleep. I might relate an accident in p’int. “It was about eight years back in his- tory of that camp an’ you could a-throwed a rope ‘round Wolfville, it was that small, an’ drug it with a pony. It was some effervesent though, an’ among other im- provements it had a dance hall, which was owned by one Colonel Boone. This yere Boone was called the king of the cow- boys, but wherefore outstacks me com- plete. As a fact, Boone wasn’t king of nuthin’. “There was a big crowd in the dance hall the night I thinks of, an’ ail sorts of games, from monte up an’ down, was goin’, an’ at the back end a jim-crow nigger was aimin’ to sing some. Down near the front by the bar stands a tenderfoot, an’ he’s so fortunate as to be some five drinks ahead, an’ is loudly makin’ of communication to aman. This yere shorthorn don’t have no gun, it bein’ law to give your Gatlin’ to the barkeep the minute you comes in. While he’s _ makin’ some views known to his comdder, I beholds a littic, ugly man stand- in’ near him with his gun on, an’ havin’ idees for harmony, this yere person, who was bowled up all similar to the shorthorn, lets on he likes to hear the nigger. This man’s name is Nine Mile Peter, an’, onless my men'yr is shootin’ at the wrong target, altogether, he makes a record of two men when he’s dep’ty marshal of Red Dog. Anyhow, Nine Mile -Peter has filed the sight offen his six-shooter years before, an’ was regarded bad. All on the sudden he gets mighty ombrageous about this tenderfoot’s talkin’, an’ wants him to de- sist a lot. “ ‘Stick a period in this yere pow-wow,” says Nine Mile Peter to the tenderfoot. ‘I wants to hear this yere nigger sing.’ ““This yere conversation is goin’ on," says the tenderfoot, his five drinks a-imak- in’ of him soopercilious. ‘There’s no hob- bles ontd you; if you're jest sobbin’ to hear the nigger sing, go for’ard an’ hold him in your lap, if you wants to. But don’t hand no bluff about this talk I makes, or I'll chore call it.’ “If you disturbs me a-listenin’ to this melody,’ says Nine Mile Peter, ‘I'll jest crawl your hump; that’s whatever.” “*Them people who is heretofore blind enuf to plan sech frivolities with me,’ says the tenderfoot, ‘is now looked on as luc! to be alive, so don’t go temptin’ fate by a pesterin’ of me none, ’cause the outlook’s dark.’ “With this Nine Mile Peter, thinkin’ tis’ down to cases, jumps back an’ starts his gun, but it somehow sticks in the scabbard an’ he don’t get it at first. I looks to see the shorthorn canter right off, ‘cause he didn’t have a six-shooter, but he don’t. He Stays right thar an’ begins to talk. “You're mighty brisk with your 45,’ he Says, ‘when you sees I ain’t got none. I reckon if I had a gun now I could make you yell like a coyote.’ ““All right,’ says Nine Mile Peter, ‘if you ain’t got a pistol you get one quick. Fill give you ten minutes to heel yourse’f, Whereupon we sees about yellin’,’ and with that he pushes his gun into the scabbard again an’ looks at the shorthorn. “Well, jest as sech things happens, right as Nine Mile Peter promulgates this Boone is goin’ by the tray of drinks, an’ stuck in the waistband of his leggins is a Colt’s .45, the same bein’, for reason he don’t dis- close, his constant practice. As Boone chasees by the gun is stickin’ out plenty temptin’, an’ the shorthorn makes a swoop an’ gets it, an’ with the same motion p’ints it at his foe’s stomach an’ says, mighty cheerful: “ ‘Now, get your stack right in, son, I’m heeled.” “Nine Mile Peter begins to turn green at this, an’ seein’ the tenderfoot's got the drop he don’t move, which is all proper enuf, too. “I never knowed but one man who has the nerve to pull his six-shooter at close quarters when the other man has the drop. An’ I've knowed men as bad as Clay Alli- son, Mace Bowman an’ Billy Bonny who cheerfully refrains therefrom. Cape Will- ingham pints his gun at Tom Harris once with Tom's back his way, an’ Tom turns eee oy makes it a stand-off. Cape didn’t ave the nerve to shoot, an’ he Panhandle sheriff, too. He ears “But to return to Nine Mile Peter, an’ that sot of a shorthorn. Well, the tender- foot continues to stand his hand; Nine Mile Peter don’t do nuthin’, while Boone sets his tray onto the bar an’ dances ‘round the rim of the rumpus a demandin’ of hts weepon. “ “Whatever is the row about anyhow?’ says Booné, strayin’ off about eight feet, mighty oneasy for fear he gets hit; for it’s people who ain’t in it, like Boone, gets creased frequent. “Why, nuthin’, says the shorthorn, ‘only this yere Cimmaron allows he'll run this baile, a regarding of it as easy probably, which he’s fooled a lot.’ ““There you be agin’, says Boone, ‘aimin’ to shed blood an’ no reason at all. Now, both of you come up to the bar an’ take a drink on me en’ that ends it.’ “So the tenderfoot an’ Nine Mile Peter gese toward the bar, a eyin’ of each other like two cats, an’ the tenderfoot still claims the gun. “Gimme my gun,’ says Boone as he sets up the bottles. “Jest tickle me to death by takin’ this war eagle's first,’ says the tenderfoot, look- in’ at Nine Mile Peter melovent and pour- in’ out his nose paint. “So Boone gets Nine Mile’s gun, who gives it up mighty sulien an’ then the shorthorn passes Boone's. “T'll see you again, says Nine Mile Peter as he walks off. “Which I'll shorely see me heeled, too," says the tenderfoot. “Well, the thing makes some talk an’ most of us sorter allows as how their next interview will be some somky, The tender- feot goes out to his camp, which is two miles away, an’ Nire Mile Peter he stays in Wolfville, but ain’t sayin’ nuthin’, one way cr the other, The tenderfoot don’t show up in Wolfville for four days, which he afterward confides in me is doo to fear excloosive. “TI was as much afraid of killin’ him as gettin’ downed myse’f,’ he says, ‘which I allows I'll be lynched if I do.’ “But one Sunday he gets so sick of him- se’f for bein’ afraid to come he goes jest as far tother way, an’ makes up his mind mighty ferocious to hunt Nine Mile Peter up an’ have the exercises over; so that Sunday afternoon he belts on a eight-inch Colt he’s got an’ comes into town. Wolf- ville ain't got but one street, an’ as the shorthorn comes in one end Nine Mile Peter, who ups an’ says, in a tone which As soon as the tenderfoot shows up every one sorter gives the dooelists the cause- way to themse’fs. The tenderfoot walks along up a watchin’ of Nine Mile Peter, who is standin’ on the opposite side, Neither makes a move for his gun. When the tenderfoot is straight across he stops an’ squares ‘round an’ looks at Nine Mile Peter, who ups an’ says, in a tone which is so cheerful it sends a pang of disap- pointment like the bite of a snake through all as we peers from the winders: “‘Nine Mile aims to get him off his guard an’ then he'll Grill him,’ says Dan Boggs. ‘I've seed the trip made with more cunnin’ people than that shorthorn.” “It looks like the tenderfoot thinks so, too, for he hesitates a minute. Then sorter erowdin’ his gun ‘round to the front where he can get it easier, he started. He never takes his eyes offen Nine Mile Peter, an’ I can see he’s nervous; if Nine Mile sneezes or even shifts his feet he'll begin to shoot. But Nine Mile never moves an’ keeps on smilin’, an’ wher® the shcrthorn comes up quite close he sticks out his hand to shake. The other is still lookin’ for a dead-fall an’ gives him his left hand mighty cau- tious. My regards for the shorthorn be- gins to go "way up yander. “Any man who ties that tenderfoot down’ll have to sabe his business,’ says Be 28 “Well, they two shakes hands an’ we watches, an’ then they turns an’ comes in, an’ gives their guns to the barkeep an’ orders a drink. “This yere town of Wolfville is all play- ed out,’ says Bill Tutt, sorter discouraged, and somehow we all felt the same way. But he takes a drmk with Nine Mile Peter an’ the tenderfoot, an’ Nine Mile says: “I was drunk the other night, an’ I un- derstand me an’ you has trouble. What- ever do you think yourse'f? “TI ain't allowin’ it amounts to much,’ says the shorthorn; ‘it ain’t worryin’ me Lone.” “So then they gets mighty friendly, an’ oes to playin’ seven-up for the drinks, an’ sech is their exaltation a findin’ that the other ain't aimin’ for trouble, they gets two drinks each game. Of course, the one who lose, he sets ‘em up, an’ the other does the same from mere hilarity. They gets so drunk finally they don’t know their Politics nor religion nor nuthin’. Nine Mile even assails the very nigger he wanted to hear sing for persoomin’ to be in the same saloon with his friend, the tenderfoot. ~ “IT can stan’ niggers all right mys’ef,’ says Nine Mile Peter, ‘an’ I likes ‘em, for I'm a southern man an’ un'restan’ niggers, but my friend’s a gentleman from the north an’ niggers don’t go none in his, while I’m aroun’. You can gamble he don’t have to like niggers while Nine Mile Pe- ter’s with him.” “Well, son, they pervades around the camp an’ gets awful drumk—these two sots—and when the tenderfoot gets tired he goes an’ sleeps with Nine Mile Peter, an’ they keep this up for four days and nights, It was a marvel to Wolfville at the time the amount they all thinks of one an- other.” ————_—_ The Telephone in England. Some one in the Chicago Tribune thus de- scribes the telephone service in England: “You ring and say, ‘Are you there?’ ‘Are you there?’ is the answer. After assuring the young woman that you are thers, she asks you what number you want. You tell her. Then you ring off and go out and transact some business. The same morn- ing, if you are lucky, there comes a ring, and then, ‘Are you there?’ You assure the young woman, on honor, that you are real- ly there; she thanks you, and then says, ‘There you are.’ ‘Are you there?’ This time it is the man you want to talk to. ‘Are you there? This time you are an- swering him, for no self-respecting Briton will talk over the line unless all the cere- monicus details have peen carefully carried ovt. When each becomes convinced that the other is present in person, why, busi- ness can proceed. But the service you get is bad, long distance and all. I have al- most yelled my lungs out trying to talk to a man in Paris, and resvits would have been almost as unsatisfactory if I had siuck my head out of the window and simply hollered across the channel.” soe Briefs From Willvilie. From the Atlanta Constitution. Our town recorder has just fined a man $10 and costs for whipping his wife. Our experience is it's always safer to let the wife do the whipping. It’s certainly cheaper. Our new history of the war is selling slowly. Some people still insist in believing that the war is over, though most of the colonels are still living. We are now postmaster, tax assessor, town marshal, clerk of council, county surveyor, road overseer and justice of the peace, and we are almost making enough to keep the paper in ink and the family in groceries. From Life. & the Country, Roads ace Not Improved,