Evening Star Newspaper, December 28, 1895, Page 18

18 THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, DECEMBER ‘28, 1895-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. THE BRITISH NAVY ————— Ships Deemed Formidable Pronounced Rotten Tubs. THE VENEZUELAN WAR PROBLEM A Popular Impression of England’s Naval Strength. GREED AND CORRUPTION (Copyright, 1895, by Bacheller, Johneon & Bacheller.) I: IS SIMPLY AMAZ ing to note the com- ments and‘ statc- ments now current on the subject of the British navy. That this Veriezuelan busi- ness has given a tre- mendous importance to England’s naval armament goes with- out saying. But the superiority claimed for our cousins across the sea amuses even themselves. For it has been krown during the past five years, and fiercely disputed about, that jobbery and corruption are rife throughout the ad- .miralty, and that the huge armed craft now the boast of Britain are, in one or two well-known cases, terrible only to the 2ye. ‘To what extent incompetence and greed have sapped the vitals of the seafaring strength of our kindred time alone can tell. But that serious concern exists on the subject is a well-known fact in London. ‘The trouble dates back to the admiraity scandals of five years ago. It was alleged at that time, and Mr. Chamberlain was one of the loudest denunciators, that the navy seemed to exist for the sole purpose of yielding a profit to certain favored tirms of shipbuilders and various companies form- ed for the sole purpose of making money out of munitions of war. On this subject Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, Bt., K.C. B., the bravest vice admiral in the British service, and the man who was commander- in-chief of the Mediterranean station a Earl of Clanwilliam. few months ago, has uttered many warn- ings. He was examined by a parliamentary commission last year, and pronounced the naval supply service utterly rotten. It even appeared that the projectiles supplied for the famous and unlucky Camperdown were wretchedly deficient In strength and stinted in caliber. The after barbette on the Camperdown was temporarily disabled because the contractors In their greed had substituted an alloy for the specified metal. It is upon these huge cannon that the navy absolutely relies for the effective opera-ion of naval campaigns, and already three on three different men-of-war have had to be entirely overhauled and repaired. A Typical Case. Perhaps the most typical of these cases of Incompetency and corruption is that of H. M. S. Magnificent. That boat was long in course of construction in Chatham dock- yard, and gave the admiralty no end of trouble. The first row grew out of the dis- covery of substitutions in her armor plates. The great London firms which have. the ear of the naval office relied upon their in- fluence to hush up the matter, and the After Barbette, H. M. S. Camperdown. truth has never fully come out. But if the judgment of the Earl of Clanwilliam be good for anything. the ship will have not one-half the effectiveness in action claim- ed for her. She is “side heavy,” and large- ly the product of cheap and unskilled labor brought into requisition during a strike. Trouble From Strikes. In fact, half the trouble occasioned dur- ing the construction of England's naval armament 1s caused by strikes. So grecdy are the British contractors that they force down wages to a minimum, and seem to have no concern for the safety of their country. As a result, skilled labor has drifted away from the mighty dockyaris sto foreign countries. The Clyde and Glas- gow are today the scenes of fierce strikes, and all attempts to settle them have been fruitless. The British cabinet even lately brought pressure to bear upon the fron- masters, owing to the fact that numerous vessels are nearing completion, and that !t 1s highly important that they be afloat with as little delay as possible. But It was all to no purpos ¢ men are still out. There is one v nehed January 31 last, upon whi whole naval estab- the S, Dreadnought. lishment looks with pride, It fs H. M. 3. Majestic. She took the water at Ports- mouth, and in less than a week there was trouble. As usual, the contractors had been at their old trick of substitution. Two of the great guns turned out to be ab- solutely unmanageable. The makers de- clared that the difficulty was due entirely to the incompetence of the officers, but the latter angrily denied this. Finally, an in- vestigation Was ordered, and the result ts still awaited with interest. ‘The same state of things exists all along the line. The troutle appears to grow out of the existence of a ring which has man- aged to crowd out all competition in the awarding of contracts, Some hot heads ven go the length of charging that me -ungratified. bers of the admiralty beard are secret members of the firms who do most of the naval business. Be this as it may, there have been many and fierce contentions on the subject. Mr. Labouchere, as late as the Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, Bt., B.C.B last session of parliament, introduced a bill for the complete investigation of the entire naval supply branch of the public service. The matter was hushed up, as usual. Another source of trouble in the British navy is the favoritism alleged to be prac- ticed in promotion. The miserable incom- petence of a young commander who stranded H. M. S. Howe olf the coast of Spain is still remembered. Oddly enough, all attempts to court-martial this youth proved abortive, and he was given another big ship. The Howe crawled miserably home, and hae been on the sick list ever since. No serious naval officer has much confidence in the ship. The Dreadnought. It must be admitted, however, that Brit- ain boasts some vessels that are really models of their class. The most conspicuous of these nought. It is understood that certain novel contrivances have been introduced into her equipment that may open the eyes of the naval experts of the world should she engage in acticn. Much curiosity has been expressed by American naval officers on this subject, but so far it has remained Any secrets which may exist on the subject of her armament are well kept, indeed. Our cwn sea dogs profess to have little concern regarding the Dread- nought. She has attracted no particular attention, but we may see Rer in Amer- iean waters any day. It is understood that she may be ordered to Venezuela. It seems to be overlooked that the much- talked-of additions to the British navy during recent years are largely experi- mental. That is, they are constructed for the sole purpose of testing new theories in naval armament, and very often these are found impracticable. Great Britain makes it a rule that her navy shall equal the combined strength of the two powers next in naval rank to herself. This obliges her to be perpetually building. The result Is that huge vested interests have grown up around the naval industries. The expendi- tures must justify themselves by a con- stant resort to new models and recent in- ventions. Hence the extraordinary exper- imental activity of the British naval estab- Ushment. This activity leads to a general impression that an immense amount of formidable work is being accomplished, when, as a matter of fact, most of this labor is found to have been superfluous. Another characteristic of the British navy is its air of mystery. The outside world is supposed to kncw nothing about what {s going on. The impression is sedu- lously conveyed that the secrets are simply terrible, and that England could blow up the whole earth by simply touching a but- ton. But no evidence has yet advanced that these horrible things really exist. In a word, the British navy is a vast and formidable Institution. It can wreak ter- rible destruction. But the notion that it is invincible is silly. It is well known to be honeycombed with corruption. It lacks freedom from irritable and incompetent control. In appearance it Is as formidable as was Robinson Crusoe when he went about his island armed to the teeth. But in action there is good reason to believe that surprises await it and the world. BEES ee DICKENS AS A READER. His Style Was in Striking Contrast With That of Thackeray. From the London Dally News. It was a new thing for an author like Dickens to read in public from his own works, and there were many even among his own friends who feared that the ext periment might be a failure. It was, in fact, a splendid success. The author of the “Christmas Carol had every possible quality which could be needed to make a great popular reader. He had a mag- nificent voice, capable of expressing every mood of human emotion without any ap- parent effort or strain. He had a strik- ingly handsome face, with eyes that light- ed like stars. He was a natural-born actor—probably the best amateur actor ever known in England. As an after-din- ner speaker he had no equal in his own time, and has had, so far as we know, no equal since. When such a man came to read a story like the “Christmas Carol” one can easily imagine the effect upon a popular audience. Or, indeed, it may be that we are not quite right in this—perhaps ng one who did not hear Dickens read the story could imagine how the reading went_home to the hearts of all the listeners. It is not likely that we shall ever listen to such a performance again. The reading was thoroughly dra- matic in the best sense of the word. Dick- ens acted all the parts. In some of the readings—especially in that from “Oliver Twist,” which told of the murder of Nancy by Bill Sikes, the effect was almost too terrible for the audience. People held their breaths, some could hardly keep from crying aloud. Of course, there was noth- ing of this kind in the “Christmas Carol.” The miser, Scrooge, was admirably acted, and he was the only harsh note in the whole performance, and his harsh note came to be softened before the end. It was a testimony to the genulneness of Dickens’ dramatic powers that admirers used to dispute about his impersonation of some of his own characters. We all had our own favorites and our own di paragings. Many, for example, were not satisfied with Dickens’ reading of the part of Sam Weller. 1t was admirable comedy, they. sald, only it was not Dickens’ Sam Weller; it was not the Sam Weller Dickens himself had taught us to expect. The very criticism showed what reality there must have been in the whole performance. Nothing could be less like the reading of an ordinary lecture hall than this vivid drama, which Dickens flashed upon his admirers. Nothing could be less like Dickens’ readings than Thackeray's lec- tures. Thackeray, although a very poor speaker in public, was a delightful reader. His reading was effective, beautiful and touching. The close of ‘the lecture on George III used to be listened to with a rapt attention—every one dreading lest the slightest interruption should cause a sen- tence or a word to be lost. The delivery of the two or three lines from “King Lear” was perfect in its way. But it was only an English gentleman of culture reading from a manuscript. There was no attempt whatever at characteriza- tion; there was in that sense no Hfe about it. “Thackeray very wisely kept to what he could do well and easily, and made no effort to stir his audiences to any such emotions as those which were constantly aroused by Dickens, If Thackeray had given readings from his novelg the result would most ceriainly have been failure. We should only have heard Thackeray reading; we should never have been led for a moment to believe that we were listening to Rawdon. Crawley or Major Perdennis or Henry Esmord. But with Dickens all was alive, the figures seemed to stend upon the stage before us. There Were many fite public readers in Dickens’ time, and there have been many fine public readers since his time, but nobody else has done exactly what he did. — She Was Cautious From the Pittsburg Chronicle-Telegraph. “One sweet kiss before I go,” said young Mr. Northside, at 11 p.m.,as he stood in the hall of his charmer’s house. “But, Fred,” she began. What Is it, dear?” fave you a certificate from your phy- sician that your family is free from tuber- culosis?” +06. — A Modern Version. From th Toledo Blade, The king bas left his counting-howse and wisely spent his mone The gueen and he are bieycling, forgetting bread aunid hon is the recently floated Dread-’ JACK AND HIS GROG Contrary to Regulations, But the Sailor Manages to Get It. DRINK HABIT SINCE THE WAR ——— Various Schemes by Which Liquor is Smuggled Shipboard. FIV E-BOTTLE MEN ———-.__ (Copsright, 1895, S. 8. McClure, Limited.) MONG THE REGU- lations of the United States navy is one which says that no intoxicating 11quor of any kind shall be allowed on board ship. This, of course, is absolute prohibi- tion; but another regulation says “on- ly beer and light wines shall be allow- ed on board,” and this might be called an excise law. These opposing regulations are carried out, as all regulations are, on board United States ships, with a patriotic endeavor to follow the intention of the department regulations, both in letter and spirit. The prohibitory regulation is applied most vig- orously to the ferward part of the ship, and it becomes a matter of utter condem- nation for an enlisted man to have lquor of any kind, or even to be suspected of having had a drink. The regulation relative to “beer and light wines” is applied to the after part of the ship, and, no license beihg required, and there being no police, the officers’ messes interpret it rather lherally. Thus every- body Is happy. Each end of the ship has its own law, and all requirements are sat- isfied. This state of affairs would seem to a lardsman to be ridiculous, but there is a cause for it. In the “old navy,” that fs, the navy as it existed before and during the civil war, the officers, as a class, were “old timers.” Among them could be found plenty of three, four and five-hottle men. It was then ‘the custom to drink often and drink deep, and a little drunkenness was not thought to be more than a gentlemanly weakness. ‘The men forward were not al- lowed to have liquor on board ship for their own vse, as the officers were, but the difference was made up by “issuing grog” twice a day, morning and evening, when each man got a drink, called a “tot,” of a half a gill of the best whisky or rum. The civil war changed ail this. During its continuance the use of liquor, both fore ard aft, was found to be a nuisance and was condemned by the department. Since then there has been a wonderful change. The “old timers,” the three, four and five- bottle men among the officers and the old “shellbacks,” “barnzcles” and “grog drink- ers” among the men, are about gone, being either dead or pensioned off for age or dis- ability. In the old days a man who had been on “liberty” coming on board drunk was rot punished, but was taken care of lke a child and regarded as a hero, but the poor devil who had some sense of personal dignity and came on board sober was jeered at, flouted and called a “molly cod” by his shipmates. Coffee in Place of Grog. After the war the Navy Department took up the drinking business. The views of the commanding officers of all squadrons and of individual ships were asked for, and they were also directed to submit the question to the crews, the department at the same time offering to pay each individual two and a half cents for each drink he did not get, Which, making five cents a day, would increase his pay $1.50 per month. In addi- tion to this, as the grog had been given out In the early morning, before breakfast, as a stimulant, the men were offered an extra ration of coffee to take Its place. Singular as it may seem, tre officers and men were unanimous to abolish the “grog” and take the extra money and coffee. This continues until the present day, though for some years the pay list has shown an ex- tra of fifty cents a month only for each man, most of the extra pay having been lost in a general increase. The men ac- cepted prohibition with the compensating money and coffee because they knew they gained by it, they getting something for nothing. And, besides, “prohibition did not prohibit.” From that day to this no liquor of any kind has been supposedly allowed on the forward part of a United States ship, and those who come from “liberty” drunk or showing signs of liquor are severely punished. The sober man $s no longer laughed at, not called a ‘molly cod; but he is paid by the crew to keep sober and pass inspection and bring liquor to those who want a drink. Now the prohibition that does not prohibit 1s the life-curse of the officer of the deck, It is his business to see that no liquor comes on board ship, and yet it does come on board in spite of him, the master of arms and all the marine guard. Liquor in. Loaves of Bread. There was a United States ship once at anchor in the Bay of Algeciras when there were ten thousand Indian troops on the reck of Gibraltar, brought there for a purpose which does not concern this article. ‘The pre_ence of the-e troops, how-ver, prevented our men having any liberty. We lay there a week, and not a man had been ashore ex- cept the commanding officer, and certainly he would not bring liquor to the crew. But there were a number of drunken men on board every day, all the same, and no one could tell where the rum came from, A bumboat came alongside every morning and sold fresh bread principally. Our first lleu- tenant, who usually took the morning watch, was a man of close observation. He noticed that the sailors went down to the beat to buy bread and were so anxious to get It that they almost fought to see who should have it. This led the lieutenant to make personal investigation. Early one morning he came on deck dressed as a sailor man and went down to the bumboat with the others to buy fresh bread. He bought three loaves, and paid a shilling each for them, but he did not ob- ject to the price, and got back to his own quarters without being discovered. An ex- amination showed that each loaf of bread contained half a pint of cognac, and then he knew how the men got their liquor, That particular boat was not allowed to come aiongside any more, but no man would ever confess having ever bought bread out of it. me as always, every sailor, when asked, Where did you get your rum?” replied, “Why, I tapped the foremast!”” Out on the great South Sea, once, the com- manding officer was one whose equal in hi rank does not exist In the service. He was a teetotaler, and, of course, opposed to any- thing like liquor on board. The men got it, however. During the early morning hours, the regular gang of side cleaners were sent over the side, to clean the copper. They used the catamaran, and had on this craft a big five-gallon mess can full of oll and a bucket of sand. This all took place at Apia, Samoa. Whisky or rum looks very much like oil, particularly when, Incased in tin, it can bé seen only from the top. So it was that a boat came from the shore and approached that of the side-cleaners, and an exchange took place then and there, though so rapid that no one saw {t. When the side cleaners had finished their work, and all the copper was properly polished, ‘the catamaran was hoisted to the cathead and the men came aboard. Of course, they brought their un- used oll, which amounted to some gallons, with them; but it was not oil, it was whis- ky. However, no questions were asked, but that evening some of the men were drunk, and the usual question was asked: “Where in Sam Hill did they get 1t?” On the End of a Breakwater. When the “Salma” made her first voyage, she went to Europe, and was stationed for a time at Leghorn, Italy. Outside of this harbor there is an extensive breakwater, and upon this the authorities allowed the American ships to land and driil thelr men. One morning after the fleet, consisting of three ships, had arrived, the entire bat- telion was landed, and a drill in infantry tactics was had. For an hour and a haif it was “fours right” and “fours lefi,” and then came a rest. The men were told they could do as they ‘pleased until the bugle called them togetNer lagain, and as they could under no circumstances leave the breakwater, this was all right. Officers and men had been provided with rations before leaving the ships, so all parties made them- selves comfortable and tndulged their appe- tites, particularly some of the men. After a while th® re§t was over and the bugle sounded. The men were slow in get- ting In line, but thereswas a hard after- noon’s work before t and nothing was said about it. W! e line was formed, however, the fun in} Mahy of the men held their pieces kutts up and did other curious things t jowed plainly how they had employed; thglr time. Some were just “tight,” but! some were decidedly drunk, and agaim came the question, “Where the mischief did they get it?” ‘There they all weré on @ great stone break- water four miles romp shore, surrounded by surging water. “Butitnvestigation show- ed that, at each erfd of'the breakwater, on the outer side, facing the sea where no one could suspect such a thing, there was a small wine shop, burrowed deep in the bowels of the earth. The place was main- tained for the convenience of the fisher- men who plied their vocation thereabouts, and so small and hidden was it that its existence could hardly be imagined. The men had discovered it, however, and there was no more drill that day. Fooled the Officer. When the old Minnesota was in commis- sion as a cruising ship some years ago she was anchored off “the battery” in New York harbor. A boat had been off to land an officer, and when she came back she re- mained alongside for a few minutes only. During this short interval, however, an ef- fort was made to get a whole bucket of stuff on board. The officer of the deck dis- covered the maneuver and ordered the man bucket to come up on the bridge. said the officer, “go right to the side there,and empty that stuff overboard.” Obedient to the command, the man went out to the end of the bridge, and ostensibly poured the contents of his bucket into the water. But there was an old {-inch gun, cne of the main battery, projecting out of a port hole directly under the bridge, and. astride of its muzzle was another man with another bucket, and the contents of the bucket above instead of going overboard, fell with little loss into the bucket of the man below, and were quickly within the ship. The officer, being satisfied that the man had emptied his bucket, gave him a sound reprimand, and warned the man to lcok out for himself if he repeated the offense. “Thank you, sir,” said the sailor. Then he went below and took a drink. It must not be supposed from these stories that American man-of-war’smen are a set of drunkards, for such is far from the case, and it is chiefly his love of fun and frolic that leads him into trans- gressions that he could not otherwise think about. There is not a more respectable or law abiding set of men in the nation than the men of the navy, but they do like to “fool the “old man,” a name invariably given to a commanding officer. But when the “old man” is “fooled,” it is done in no spirit of spite or mutiny, but simply as a lot of children would resist parental au- thority. ———d CLEOPATRA IN MONTANA. The Boreman Dramatic Critle Dis- cusses the Play. From the Bozeman Chronicle. The play af “Cleopatra” was at the opera house on Friday night. It met with an en- thuslastic reception and the manager feels much encouraged. He will probably try it on New York city, since it has been re- ceived here. There was a noticeable lack of talking and joysome laughter at the most impressive moments. There was also a large lack of infants in arms. It is be- coming apparent that fond fathers and mothers have about concluded that their infants do not fully appreciate high-class drama. The wail of a nursing child just at the time everyone 1s waiting with bated breath to catch the passionate words of the tragedian, is not calculated to Iend a charm to the play, and perhaps it may now become fashionable to leave infants at home. ‘ If so, Bozeman will have made another step upward and onward, and will have something beside its city council to be proud of. The house was plenty large enough to hold all who were there. This was due to the fact that a great many of our theater goers thought that Cleopatra” was a farce comedy, with a woman whis- tler In the leading role. Had they known that such shows as “Cleopatra” came to Bozeman but once in a thousand years, we feel confident in the prediction that there would have been a larger attendance. The play of “Cleopatra’’ was written by a man named Shakespeare, so he claims, but Ig. Donnelly says that Shakespeare is a Ii Shakspeare is dead and Donnelly can make his bluff stick. Cleopatra lived in Egypt, Africa. We give her full post office address to keep our contemporaries from saying that we are claiming her for our own—the Gallatin valley being called the Egypt_of America. Cleopatra was a gay girl. The bull train was the only means of communication with the outside world in ber day, and she didn’t have to give after- noon teas to keep In the swim. Bloomers were not a fad. In fact, very little clothes of any kind were necessary. There being no danger of early frost, the folkg there did not have to tle up their feet in gunny sacks and shovel a path to the machine when they threshed their bar- ley crop. As we have before remarked, Cleopatra was a trifle gay. She met An- teny at a dance given in the school house and she straightway made a mash on him. Antony had one wife to his credit, but as she was back east at a place called Rome, he got a little gay himself. Things were coming his way like a three-time winner. He took Cleopatra to all the dances, candy pulls and school entertainments in the neighborhood, and none of the home boys were in it for a minute. He told Cleopatra that his people back in the states were great. “Why,” sald he, one day, “my people back in Mizzoury are way up.” Are they?” said Cleo. “Well, I should smile,” said Antony, low- ering his voice until it was music to Ler ear. “Purt nigh nearly every gol darn one of ‘em have got gold fillin’ tn her teeth. Antony's wife in the states died about this time and he had to go home. While he was back there visiting around and telling stories about the big crops they raised by irrigation on the Nile, he married another girl just to please a brother of hers whom Antony used to be chummy with, but who was now working his farm on shares with the railroad and an eastern loan company. His name was Caesar at the time, but it ts probably Denis now, for they introduced the cash system in all the stores at that place. Antony didn’t have the nerve to bring his wife back with him. So he gave her a song and dance about not having his house chinked up and promised to send her a second-class ticket over the Burlington in the spring. Caesar got onto Antony through a local paper, which gave several coiumns of its space to young contributors in order to make things lively in the neigh- borhood. This contributor happened to be jealous of Antony, and he got even through the paper. Caesar came out on a cut-rate ticket purchased at Kansas City, and An- tony, who was a;member of the militia company, droppedjonto, this and a rusty United States cavalry saber, dying a sure but slow death, Before he did thjs Cleopatra made what she thought was a sony play, by sending word to Antony that e had committed suicide. She thought that this would cause him to rush to her side with a stomach pump. But Antony didn't rush. He pulled out his saber, and, making a grand stand play, fell on it. Not having any clothes on and being a heavy ‘man, the saber succeed- ed in cutting a large sized gash into his vital system. He died a lingering death to the tune of “The Band Played On.” Cleo- patra hearing of this, gets a tarantula, which stings her where Sadie wore her beads, and then she gracefully floats out of existence. ‘Antony is buried at the expense of the county. The committee of one hundred kick at this, for it is tax-paying time, but congratulate themselves that it is cheaper than a murder trial and an acquittal. This is the sad story of Cleopatra and Antony, leaving out some of the dry details,, where- in red lights and several other things, ex- cepting clothes, figured and brought cheers where tears were expected. No stronger evidence that the play took well at Boze- man _can be adduced than the fact that the Farmers’ Rest, near the opera house, was almost deserted during the perform- ance. Everyone was dead, between acts, to its existence, so intent were’ they In drinking in the delights of the play. FOR WEAK WOMEN, Horsford’s Acid Pho: It soothes and feeds the ner aed imparts strengty helps digestion TYPES OF STORM TRACKS FOR JANUARY, STORMS IN JANUARY Turbulence in the Atmosphere is Apt to Be Marked. PROBABLE TRACKS OF THE TEMPESTS Interesting Description of How the Disturbances Originate. COLD WAVES CONSIDERED Most of the weather conditions described ia December contir.ue to operate in Jan- uary, but with somewhat greater intensity. The turbulent changes in the atmospheric circulation are more pronounced, and the alternations of fair and stormy weather mcre decided. This is due to the. fact that lower tomperatures exist over the entire arctic cap of the northern hemisphere, while at the same time the atmosphere within the tropics is maintained nearly at summer heat, so that a very repid change in the ther- mal gradient occurs in going south or north along any meridian. Accompanying this fall in temperature with the latitude, the pressure also {s relatively much alter- ed in the summer and the winter distribu- tion, such that In summer a large, nearly permanent low area covers the arctic zone, while in the winter this Is divided into two low areas by a comparatively high belt crossing the arctic region. These lows are central, one near Iceland, and the other rear the Aleutian Islands, while the high belt passes over the British possessions rear the Mackenzie River valley, northern Alaska, Into northern Siberia, whence it Koes southwest to unite with the high pres- sure belt of the temperate zone. The ten- dency to accumulate masses of cold dry air in the British territory between the Recky mountains and the Great Slave lake region just east of them is of special sig- n‘fieance in the study of the weather of the United States in the winter. Since the high pressure belt thus described les athwart the course of the current of east- ward drift that prevails in the upper strata, it is Inferred that there ts an effort going on to break up the formation of any contin- uous area of high pressure in the arctic zone, so that these masses of air are In- termittently broken off to drift eastward in the northern circult, or southeastward in the southern circuit! Thasmuch as the passage of a large high area fs accompanied by a cyclonic circulation, or low,on the froat and also on the rear sides, or, in other words, by areas of warmer air on either side, it is seen that this condition tends to produce rapid changes in the temperature of the air that is thus moving eastward over any district. Where the Air Begins to Circulate. This northwest region is of especial inter- est in the meteorology of the United States, for it !s practically the heart of the circu- lation of alr that passes eastward, and ff it is possible to fully understand the action of the forces operating there, it will become much easier to generalize safely concerning many other problems in the physies of the atmosphere. It may, therefore, be proper to present a few statistics regarding the northwest region. Unfortunately we pos- sess no suitable observations in the exact region where the center of operations is located, between the Great Slave lake and the mountains, that are continuous over a series of years. It is found, however, that the conditions thus generated drift forward to the Dakotas in exactly one day, on the average, so that utilizing the observations of the weather bureau in those states since 1878, we can form a definite idea of the facts that are involved In the problem. The record of the seventeen years, 1878-1894, gives the following results for the contrast between summer and winter. The mean summer pressure of the Dakotas is 29.90 inches, and the temperature is sixty-seven degrees; the mean winter pressure Is 30.14 inches, and the temperature is ten degrees; winter includes December, January, Febru- ary, and summer, June, July, August, for these conditions. The mean annual press- ure is 30.08 inches, and the temperature forty degrees, the change being twenty. four hundredths of an inch, and fifty-seven degrees Fahrenheit. These are the annual mean values, and, of course, Imply much wider ranges on individual dates. Seasonal Changes Described. Now, on examining the changes from day to day in the pressure and temperature, or as they may be called, the amplitudes of the warm and cold waves passing over the Dakotas, It results that the barometer swings up and down on the average of thirty-five hundredths in winter and nine- teen hundredths in summer, while the temperaturs oscillates on the average about 20 degrees in winter and 8 degrees in sum- mer. These variations are due to the highs and lows passing over those states, and are made up of all the observed changes, large and small, that occur in this connection, some heing wide and some very slight. It would be nearly correct to double these fizures in order to obtain the wide indivi- dual changes that can be noted. It is the passage from the summer values to those of the winter that make up the seasonal changes, and when these are translated into the winds, gales, hot and cold days, as they come one after the other, it will easily be inferred what a power these small numbers really represent in the ac- tion of the earth’s atmosphere. In the tropics, by way of contrast, the amplitude changes are not one-fifth as large for the year. The questton naturally arises, what is the exact action or energy in nature that causes this vast accumulation of forces to take place in the region to the northwest of the Dakotas? This is pecu- Marly interesting from the fact that there is no other region known in the northern or southern hemispheres where so great an output of energy is observed. Causes of Our Bad Weather. The peculiarly rough type of weather prevailing in the United States during the winter, as compared with Europe or even Siberia, is entirely dependent upon it. There are doubtless a large number of causes at work to bring about this re- sult, yet it is possible to specify some of them, and this will be attempted in con- nection with the February storms, when this set of influences rises to the maximum power. The stormy conditions thus generated in the extreme northwest are propagated eastward in a series of irregular, spas- modic discharges, or storm drifts, that cover the United States, the intensity di- minishing gradually as the storm power be- comes exhausted on the way to the At- lantic coast. The belt of the northern states, lying under the great eastward drift current, is swept by these violent changes nearly ‘all the winter; not infrequently these are projected so far south as to reach the gulf states with gales and cold waves. The storms forming in. the south- western stat>s, near Texas, are in reality the effect of the work done to the north- ward in Manitoba, the activity of a single storm covering many thousand miles when the interchanging winds of the highs and lows are considered. Origin and Track of Storms. Conspicuous features of the distribution of the origin and the tracks of storms,when the months of the year are compared with one another, are the facts that as the win- ter approaches the number of storms form- {ng in the southwestern states increases decidedly, and that the tracks loop south- ward over the Rocky mountain slopes. In the months May to December the average number of Texas storms is six, but in the months January to April it is seventeen for each month, as a total for the ten years 1884-1803. The effect of this is to cause many more storms to cross the south cen- tral valleys, the gulf and the south Atlan- tic states. Also the storms beginning in the northwest are often forced southeast- ward to the gulf states before they recurve io the Gulf of St. Lawrence. These effects are apparently due to the great highs forming to the north of Montana, which are driven forward to the south and propel the storm in front of them in the tracks just indicat2d. An examination of the types peculiar to the several districts gives rise to the fol- lowing data for January. In the ten years discussed there were 98 storms, 32 belong- ing to the Alberta type, 20 to the north Pacific coast type, 8 to the northern Rocky mountain plateau type, 10 to the Colorado type and 21 to the Texas type; 2 others formed on the south Pacific coast, 2 in the eastern gulf and 3 near the Ohio valley. January Storms From the Pacific. An examination of the international charts, regarding the causes producing storms in the Saskatchewan valley, shows that they are usuaily preceded by a loop from the Alaska low intruding upon this region, which is then broken off by the ac- tion of the highs in the neighborhood. It is seldom that any distirct gyratory movement of the wind is seen around an advancing center, until the loop is in the valley east of the mountains, as far north as fifty de- grees to fifty-five degrees. If the same cause operates more to the south, in lati- tude forty-five degrees to fifty degrees, then a true cyclonic low is formed over the ocean and advances upon the coast as one of the north Pacific type. These two types, forming under the same general conditions, embrace more than one-half of all the Jan- uary storms. Two-thirds of these reach the Atlantic coast north of the fortieth parallel, and if they move in the northern circuit over the lake region the succession of warm and cold, stormy and fair days will be very regular. If they are, on the other hand, de- flected southward, the probable course of the track is harder to determine, the rate of advance, and the severity of the storm will be more difficult elements to include in the forecast. The average velocity of eastward movement is thirty-seven miles per hour. About two-thirds of the storms of the Alberta type move eastward over the lakes, but one-third are deflected as far southward as Missouri, that being the aver- age place of turning northeastward. Meteorological Peculinrities. In a‘similar wey about one-third of the North Pacific coast storms bend southeast- wari to nearly the same latitude—37 de- grees—but they recurve further to the west in the states ~* Colorado or Kansas. The tracks of this .ype are much more spread out after crossing the mountains, but they generally make the lower lake region and advance down the Saint Lawrence valley. An important feature regarding the precip- {tation of the storms moving in the north- ern circuit is that before the center reaches the Upper Misstssippt valley the fall is on the western or following side of ft, in Montana, the Dakotas and Minnesota; but within a few hours the precipitation is transferred to the eastern side of the cen- ter Into the lake region, and then advances before it over the middle states and New England. It ts hard to include such facts in the theory that rain or snowfall is es- sential to the formation of storms or that lows advance to the region of greatest pre- cipitation. The order of events seems rather to be that the lows are products of the highs, and the precipitation effects of of the lows. Texas Storms Are Terrors. In point of number and in severity of the winter storms the Texas type stand in the front rank, and deserve particular atten- tion from the forecaster. Some of them form in northern Texas, near the terminal slopes of the. mountains, and they usually advance to lower Michigan and reach the Atlantic ocean in about forty-eight hours. Others originate !n southern Texas, and these are likely to move more to the east- ward over Tennessee and Kentucky, along the Appalachian range, the march from Texas to New England taking about two days. Still others form in the western gulf or near the Rio Grande river, and these are usually fourd to skirt the gulf and the Atlantic coasts and to reach the New England coast in forty-eight hours. In general, immense arcas of rainfall ad- vance before these storms, covering the Lower Mississippi valley and the Ohio valley in twenty-four hours, the Atlantic and New England states in the next tw ty-four hours. The rise of temperature in the frogt Is excessive, and the passage of the starm {s Ekely to be follodwed by a severe drop in the temperature, with a cold wave in the southern states, and clear, dry weather. The northern and southern types now mentioned comprise three-fourths of the January storms, the others being sporadic or else abnormal, and depending upon the relative location of the high areas and their movements. One of the south Pacific storms moved northeastward to the lake region, and the other directly eastward to the South Carolina coast: the two east gulf storms fcllowed the Atlantic coast line to the north; the three Ohio valley storms moved to New England. The northern Rock mountain (S) and the Colorado (10) storms, all moved with great regularity to the northeast, except that the former looped generally southward into Nebraska. Cold Waves and Their Study. The cold waves of the winter season, set- ting In during the second half of November, and continuing until April, are important matters for the attention of the weather bureau. The country fs subdivided into four districts, (1) west of the Mississippi and north of the 37th parallel, (2) east of the Mississipp! and north of the 37th parallel, (3) south of the 37th parallel and to within 100 miles of the gulf coast, (4) the gulf coast and Florida peninsula. The limits vary somewhat In these districts, but on the average a cold wave consists of a fall of six- teen degrees in twenty-four hours, and to 30 degrees 20 minutes in thirty-six hours, 24 degrees in forty-eight hours, and to the same limit. In verifying a signal ordered to forecast a cold wave, these conditions must be fulfilled. ~ Cold waves come with the quick advance of a high area from the north, and they are materially strengthened by the passage of a vigorous storm center northeastward along the edge of the high, the latter tend- ing to raise the temperature in the front and the former to depress it decidedly in the rear. It is often_a very difficult matter to mark out successfully the exact bound- ary of this extreme fall of temperature, because the rapid changes in the relative places of the highs and lows cannot al- ways be definitely foreseen. In spite of this the bureau is able to give such timely warnings of sudden drops of temperature as to be of great value to the transporta- = tion and commercial interests of the United States. Local January Weather for Twenty five Years. The following data, compiled from the weather bureau records at Washington, D. C., cover the period of twenty-five years given for the month of January, and should’ prove of value and interest in anticipating the more important meteorological ele-' ments, and the range within which such variations may be expected to keep for the’ coming month: i Mean or normal temperature, 33 degrees. Warmest month, 15%; average, 44 de-' grees. . Coldest month, 1893; average, 25 degrees. Highest temperature, 76 degrees, on Janu- ary 12, 1890. ; Lowest temperature, 14 degrees, on Janu- ary 1, 1ssl. Average precipitation for the month, 3.50 inches Average number of days with .01 of an inch or more, 12. Greatest monthly precipitation, 7.08 inches, in 1872. Least monthly precipitation, 0.23 inches, in 1872. Greatest amount of precipitation recorded in any 24 consecutive hours, 2.28 inches, on January 4, 1886. Greatest amount of snowfall recorded in any 24 consecutive hours (record extending to winter of 1884-5 only), 5.0 inches, on January 12, 1893. Average number of clear day cloudy days, 12; cloudy days, 12. The prevailing winds have been from the nortawest. t The highest velocity of the wind was 46 miles, from the northwest, on January Wg 7; partly, —.__ BY A MOTH. SLA’ Defense That Wan Effective in Case of a Prince. From the New York World. Retent murder mysteries serve to recall that of Princess Caravella, a singularly lovely woman, who met with a violent death at Naples. The princess had been entertaining a party of friends at dinner at the Caravella palace; and as she had promised to attend a ball toward midnight, she went to her bed room to lie down for a few minutes’. rest to refresh herself for the dance. - At 11 o'clock her maid entered the room to awaken her, whereupon the princess asked her to return a little later, and twenty minutes afterward, when she re-, turned, the girl found her mistress still lying on her bed with scarcely a muscle of the face changed, but stone dead, with the mark of a tiny bullet in the region of the heart. The maid's shrieks quickly brought the prince and the whole household to the room, and within ten minutes the judicial and police authorities arrived. It was clear that no stranger had fired the shot, since’ the bed room was situated on the third} floor, and no one had entered the gates of; the palace between the hour of 10 o'clock: and midnight. At length the prince was arrested on a charge of having murdered his wife with‘ the little pistol which lay by her side on! the table, and one chamber of which w: empty, color being lent to the accusation by the fact that he was notoriously jealous. His trial resulted in acquittal, partly in! consequence of an extraordinary piece of testimony which was produced in court by. one of the police officials. The story he related was this: i A couple of days after the murder, on! the removal of the seals from the doors of the bed room, he had made a careful) investigation of the apartment and had{ found on the floor by the bedside one of those enormous night moths, the bodies of | which are almost as thick as a man’ thumb, and which abound in Italy. i He declared that the moth's wings were badly singed, as if it had flown against the! candle that stood on the table by the bed-' side. } He produced the moth in court, and then proceeded to point out to the judges that some of the powder of the insect’s wings/ Was apparent on the black ebony and gold! stock and trigger of the little revolver) which had been found on the table, and with which the shooting had been done. He then called the attention of the judges and jury to the phenomenal facility with which the trigger yielded, and advanced the extraordinary argument that the prin- eess had been murdered by the night moth, which, he alleged, must have flown into the room, attracted by the candle light, and falling with singed wings onto the table had discharged the revolver in the violence of its contortions. see DEAF MUTE MARRIAGE. A Chicago Justice Had a Knotty Case, but He Found a Solution. From the Chicago Chronicle. A young man entered Justice Foster's court room and tlose behind him came a blushing young woman. The visitor laid a‘ marriage certificate before the justice and stood awaiting developments. The judge looked at him and smiled. “You want to get married, do you?” he asked. The young man made no reply. “Is this the young woman?” asked the court. There was no response from the young man, but he drew a pad of paper from his pocket and wrote: “We are deaf and dumb.” “Oh,” said Justice Foster, “that is differ- ent.” "Then he began to wonder how he would perform the ceremony. The certi cate from the county clerk's office gave per= mission to Christian Larson and Allie Bat- hurst to wed, and all that was necessary was to learn whether they would promise to love, honor and obey. At length the court wrote on a piece of paper: “Stand up and join your hands.” The couple arose when Christian had read the message, and each took the other's hand. Then the court wrote out the tradi- tional question: “Christian Larson, do you take Allie Bat+ hurst to be your lawful, wedded wife?” When Christian read the paper he nodded his head energetically. Then it was Allie’s turn, and she gave assent to her side of the bargain. After that Justice Foster copied the marriage service on a piece of paper and yave it to the couple to read while he repeated the words of the form, Both smiled and nodded when he finished, and thereupon the court pronounced them married. Chris- tian turned to Allie and kissed her heartily, and then they went away. “This is the only couple I ever married whom I am suze will lead a quiet married life,” said his honor. World's Feir! HIGHEST AWARD. PRRIAL RANDOM, The STANDARD and BEST prepared Fr OOD Prescribed by physicians. Relied on in hospitals. Depended on by nurses. Indorsed by the press. Always wins hosts of_ friends wherever its supe= rior merits become known. It is the safest food for convalescents! : Is pure and unsweetened and can be retained by the kest stomach. id by DRUGGISTS EVERYWHERE! John Carle & Sons, New York. my18-