Evening Star Newspaper, August 28, 1897, Page 18

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THE EVENING STAR: SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 1897-24 PA FIFTY YEARS AKNIGHT Sir James Grigg, Oldest Member of Washington Commazdery, K. T. BB. FRENCH CONFERRED ORDERS IN’47 thirty-five years. Its oldest sur- viving eminent commander is Eldred G. Davis. Its present ler is Thomas P. Morgan, the gen imo is Dr. Chas: T. Caldwell, and the captain general is Jessé"¥. Grant, a veteran Light Golden Anniversary to Be Fittingly Celebrated September 10. AN INTERESTING SKETCH 10; Infantryman, eloe & tu and yor “boys” up to concert pitch in tactics. . commandery always possessed 4." excellent martial \spirit( and many of its members have flashed. ir swords on fields of battle. It nu brave veterans among its activ, The President and Vice President ate"honorary members. The patriotic sentiments of its meniber- ship are well expressed in the words of one of its most famous-commanders at the dawn of the great civil war: —_.—__——. wield’ this blade; under the Templar Beausant, as a Templar, but I will also Washington Commandery of Knights | wield it; “should” ‘ion ever call upon Templar is notable throughout the country | me to do so, under the glorious stars and stripes of my Country ks a patriot, without stopping to ask who is right or who is for many remarkable characteristics. Its “WE FOUND OURSELVES IN THE MIDST OF AN ARMED ENEMY.” MOLINOS DEL RAY Deeds of Valor and Desperation Fifty Years Ago. BRILLIANT, SANGUINARY CONFLICT Fitz John Porter Tells of the At- tack on Santa Anna’s Stronghold. INCIDENTS OF HEROISM eg Written for The Evening Star. HE FIFTIETH AN- niversary of the bat- tle of El Molinos del Rey will take place Wednesday, September S. It was Scott's first attack upon Santa Anna’s stronghold, outside of the City of Mex- aco, and in point of daring the most bril- liant feat of arms during the campaign. Gen. Fitz John Por- ter is the soie surviving officer of the at- tacking party. He was breveted captain for his gallantry at Molinos. Five days later, all his superior officers in the bat- tery were killed in the attack on the gates of Mexico. The bravery of young Porter after his chiefs had fallen remains one cf the proudest traditions of the American army. Here is his story of the battle, cold in his own language: - “I believe I am the last surviving officer of the battle of Mclinos del Rey. We lost nine officers killed and forty-nine wounded, and these casualties fell principally upon two brigades and batteries, and a Picked storming party of five hundred men. My command that day was Capt. Drum's 4th Artillery. “While the attack was successful, it proved a barren victory. Still, it was a step in advance, for it taught us that we could defeat the Mexicans on their chosen ground. We had driven Santa Anna to his last ditch. In order to defend the city of Mexico he placed his army outside the suburbs, under cover of the guns of lofty Chapultepec. Alongside Chapultepec was a pile of buildings over 600 feet in length, known as Molinos del Rey, the Mills of the King. This whole structure was of red sandstone, with heavy, thick walls ex- tending three or four feet above the roofs. The courtyards and alleyways between the detached buildings were provided with thick stone doors, guarded by stone or earthen barricades. One of the buildings was used for the storage of powder, and it was partly for the purpose of destroying the magazine and partly in the hope chat the position was a key to the castle of Chapultepec that Scott decided to make the attack. “The boldness of the attack 1s seldom equaled in warfare. Scott had reached a point in the campaign where he believed that we should stop at no sacrifice to drive the enemy from the stronghold and plant our guns there to command the city itself. He ordered Gen. Werth to move to the at- tack with his division on the morning of ptember 8. The line was formed with i. Garland’s brigade upon the right. Our ¥. or two pieces of our battery, ac- anied Garland. To the left of us were attering guns, and a picked storming party, consisting of five companies of one hundred men each, under Maj. George Wright. On our extreme left, opposite the Mexican right, was Clark's brigade, with Duncan's battery. The Signal for Attack. At daylight the battering guns fred the signal for attack, and Major Wright's storming column dashed forward upon tae Mexican battery In the center of the formidable line. It was greeted with round and grape shot. Double quickstep s crdered and the men passed forward ter a crossfire of musketry, within close range. They took the b: ry and turned it upon the enemy. But the triumph of ‘8 Was of short duration. ~The sans rallied and concentrated a close and destructive fire upon Wright's men from the walls of the acqueduct, which rar along the whole line, from the housetops and stone walls. Out of twelve officers at the head of the storming party ten were’ shot down within five minutes. The loss among enlisted men was terrible. Shaken by this disaster the remnant of the storm- ing party was driven back. “Then our time came. To prevent the Mexican pursuit In the center upon the defeated column, Garland’s brigade dashed forward on the right. We kept close upon the heels of the infantry with our guns, and opened fire at 200 yards. un &rape disabled several horses, which were ut from the traces. The guns then moved forward by hand. Our first round was all solid shot. Then we pushed the guns forward to within one hundred yards of the enemy and gave them canister, cnfilad- ing their entire line of guns, where Major Wright's column had charged. The light bettalion then dashed over the ground where Wright had been repulsed and seized the guns. The Mexicans Driven Out. “As our line approached the mills we were stormed at with grape and canister and musketry fire from the roofs cf the buildings. Our infantry broke through the barricaded gates and doorways of the mills, expesed to a heavy fire. Once on the inside we found ourselves in the midst of an armed enemy. When driven from one position of the walls the Mexi- cans would retire to another, cont2sting every inch of . by clim! through roofs through fron-l coull we go forward. At last we cleared the bulid- ings and drove the off toward Chapultepec. A considerable force of them, howeyor, rallied, and with an eighteen- pounder advanced down the road tow: Piece and after a rapid and ef- fective sire cleared the roa@. The enemy abondoned their «un. “The cannon used in this contest with the Mexican eighteem-pounder was one cf our six-pounders. These guns had a his- tory. At the battle of Beuna Vista_the Mexicans captured them from Taylor. They were then brought across the country to cenfront Scott’s army at Contreras, where we recaptured them. Capt. Dram was one of the first to enter the enemy's batteries at Contreras and he laid his hands upon two six-pounders, which proved to be ihe Buena Vista cannon. They were then a: signed to ug and proved very serviceable cn occasions’ like Molinos, because we could move them rapidly by hand. They carried well, for I remember distinctly battering the walls of the castle of Chapultepec while we were waiting the result Wright’s charge on the center. tle at Molinos lasted ovér two hours, «nd was well contested by that portion of the Mexican army which fought. Their whole force amounted to probably 10,000, while Gen. Worth’s entire command engaged numbered only 3,000. Our loss was 116 kill- ed and 671 wounded. A Gallant Flag Bearer. “Santa Anna hed ordered 4,000 cava:ry under Gen. Alvarez to flank the left of the attacking column, but this was foiled by the bold advance of Maj. Scmner with four companies of mounted rifles and dragoons, 220 men all told. He formed his command within pistol shot of the Mexican walls, then ranged back and forth over the field, each time confronting the Mexican cavalry as they shifted position, and held Alvarez in check throughcut the battle. “The Mexican ofticers fought well. Capt. Mendez, whose gun was opposed to vs when we entered the Mills, was killed by our canister. The commander of the bat- talion of national guards opposed to us, Col. Balderas, was killed. The flag bearer of his battalion, when almost dead, wrap- ped the colors about him, and at last gave. them, saturated with his life’s blood, to a comrade. Gea. Leon, who commanded the troops engaged in the hand-to-hand de- ferse of the Mills, was also killed. In fact, one of the best and bravest corps in Santa Anna's army was almost entirely destroyed. Besides, the Mexicans lost a field battery. We found the position un- tenable, and soon abandoned it. But we had rendered it urfit for a seccnd defense. A large number of small arms: with gun and misket ammunition were brought cff as we retreated, also three cannon. Over 800 prisoners were taken. and all ef the extensive building usec as a magazine was blown up, and the ammunition destroyed. Stormers Safer Than the Stormed. “Molinos del Rey was a costly battle for us, yet it taught us to believe that we should win. We saw that the Mexicans were.not disciplined. It was the begin- ning of a series of desperate attacks upon strong positions, heavily ma‘med. There was no other way to wit in Mexico at that period. We were at the gates of the capi- tal, confronted by superior forces, and must press on to success or destruction. Before us lay those lofty heights. Narrow reads and marshes, blocked by fortifica- tions, surrounded us on either flank, should we pass around Chapultepec. Chapultepec blocked one road and commanded three reads at a distance from it. Its guns also | Swept the plain, for it was higher than all the ground around ft. Santa Anna thought that Chapultepec could never be taken, and it couldn't heve been taken except by storming. just as we did that morning at El Molinos del Rey. And to be frank, if I had to be either, I would rather be where I was with the stormers than with the stormed. The shots of the latter passed over our heads, and while we lost fearfully we gave better than we got. The hardest end of the fight was ours, and we won it.” ere Journalistic Success in‘England. _ From the New York Post. Recent transactions in journalistic prop- erty in England show that enterprise in newspapers, when In competent hands, leads to wealth on a large scale. A pro- vincial newspaper, the Manchester Cour- fer, with its satellite, the Manchester Evening News, has just been successfully launched as a limited iiability company, at a valuation of £300,000. Sir George Newnes is converting the hitherto profit- able journalistic and publishing company of Newnes, limited, into a yet big- ger concern, with a capital of £1,000,000, The enterprise was started with Tit-Bits in 1851 by the then Mr. Newnes. By de- grees the Strand Magazine, Woman's Life, the Hub and other publications were added to the business. The concern was turned into the existing company in 1891. The profits amounted in 1895 to £57,000, in 1896 to £0,000, in 1897 to 266,000. The one- pound shares, issued at a premium of five shillings, are now worth £2-12-6 each. The Strand Magazine, a sixpenny, sells to the number of 400,000 a month, and notoriously has a very large circulation on this side of the water. Sir George Newnes Is a re- markable instance of man’s attaining to rank and fortune by self-help. Not so meny years ago he kept a small shop in a back street in Manchester. Today, though only in middle life, he is a baronet of the United Kingdom and a man of vast wealth. He was a member of the house-of com- mons, but was defeated at the last general election. —__—__+e-—____ A Woman as Section Boss. i j 8 ‘ o i i eH lal great age, now closely approaching the three-quarters of a century limit; its long, valorous &nd successful struggle for the old original uniform of Knights Templar; the names illustrious in American Masonic annals which have been borne upon its rolls, and its location at the national ¢ap- ital, have all united to render the old or- ganization famous. It is soon to fittingly celebrate a very uncommon event in Tem- plar history, the fiftieth anniversary of the knighting of one of its members. On the 10th day of September it will be half a century since the day when the lamented Benjamin B. French, then and for many years most eminent grand com- mander, in the presence of a large gather- ing of old-time sir knights of the national capital, laid his sword upon the shoulder of James Grigg of Alexandria, and with three strokes created him a knight of the Chris- uan Order of Templars. Sir James Grigg was then in his twent; fourth year, and the suns of fifty summems and the snows of almost as many winters have brought him well beyond the three- score and ten years of scriptural limit. But ster entered and answered all the ques- tions propounded to him in a satisfactory wa: me lungs in me life.” long; I'll be ter work in de mornin; then went out whistling, “‘There’s Only One Girl in the World for anxious comrades in t! Sir James Grigg. he is uncommonly hale, hearty and cheery. He ts proud of the fact that he is the first member of Washington commandery. and one of the first in the United States to reach the half-century period of knight- hood. There are many Free Masons who have been members of the fraternity for a longer period than that, but the survival of a person who has taken the orders of Templarism for that lengthy period is ex- traordinary. Mr. Grigg was born in the ancient city of Alexandria, and has lived there all his life. He is a member of the Masonic lodge of which George Washington was once ‘worshipful master, and was himself its pre- | ,. siding officer almost fifty years ago. He was also high priest of Lafayette Chapter of Royal Arch Masons in Alexandria, in 1850. For many years he has been tyler of the lodge, sentinel of the chapter and cus- todian for the property of Old Dominion ‘Commandery at Alexandria. He frequent- ly meets with the latter organization, but has never transferred his membership from old Washington Commandery. He is out in the parades and reviews of olf No. 1, and is as sprightly as any of the younger men who march with him in the’silver and black uniform for which the old command- ery fought the good fight so long. The Only Survivor. Sir Knight Grigg is the only survivor of the commandery who was present at the ceremony of laying the corner stone of the ‘Washington monument, July 4, 1848. The exercises were conducted by the eminent eommander of Washington, No. 1, who was then grand master of Masons for the Dis- trict of Columbia. It was also his privilege to again appear with the commandery thir- ty-seven years afterward, when the beau- tiful shaft was completed. “It was my pleasure to have been well acquainted with several of the original members of Washington Commandery,” said Mr. Grigg yesterday. ized twenty-two years before I entered i but a considerable number of the charter members were still with us. I knew Jo- seph Ingle, who was a charter member, and was recorder when I was knighted. The old uniform ef Richard Rock, also a charter member, but who had belonged to another body of Templars before that, is preserved at the Old minion Command- ery asylum. It is very interesting. “The heart, the soul, the very ‘life of the early Washington Commandery,” contin- ued the venerable sir knight, “was Benja- min B. French. He was indeed a grand ™man. The commandery had been dormant during the terrible early days of anti- Masonic proscription. He took upon him- self the task of restoring vigorous activity, and succeeded admirably, as in everything else. He had then just retired from the office of clerk of the House of Re; nta- tives, and threw himself into the work with great energy. He was for twelve years our most eminent commander, and he surren- dered that_office only to je grand master of Templars of the United States.” The veteran also spoke with mingled tenderness and enthusiasm of many other famous members of his. old commandery, including the distinguished Gen. Ibert Pike. who was knighted in the command- ery long after himself; A the noted Masonic historian and ritualist Charles F. Stansbury, who, while eminent commander, suffered the loss of his com- mand rather than surrender “the good old black uniform” at the behest of the Grand Encampment; the late Clement W. Ben- aang and miany others who have gone be- fore. For the surviving veterans he also had warm regard, particularly Daniel McFar- I fon : I ewan be tho: up 00 wi an aut in: nerit impression ogre! by ed Hd aly From the New York Tribune. one of the newspapers for an office boy, and he had got down to the office half an hour earlier than usual to recelve the 2pplicants for the place. = hallway in front of his office. He called | The September Evolutions of the the boys into his office one by one and subjected each of them to a searching’ ex- amination as ‘to experience, fitness, ete. He invariably finished up with the ques- tion, “Do you smoke cigarettes?” boys invariably declared they did not. in me lif ‘Di stained a deep dirty yellow. he was not want sisted the second me fader’s house.” ushered out, as were several more young aspirants for office honors. me truthfully, do you smoke cigarettes” gars?” answered the youth. The man examined it critically, but failed to detect the slightest evidence of tobacco stain. Job?” piped half a dozen voices. from the crowd, wnd finally one of the youngsters ex: said dat he didn’t want no dope-stick smok- ers, an’ yer knows fierd in der push. make me tired,” peplte@ “Chimmie”™ in a- Giegusted tone of voi have fooled his jqblots,”” said one of the youngsters. , vertisement in wus agin dope-stig but soak me finger@in turpentine all night, an’ in de morning dey wus as clean as a ‘New-born babe's.”... : ;. ' a LITERARY CULTURE Powerful Infidence of ‘Litératare in J. A. Reinhart in the tndependent. elements of literary and artistic culture may be instilled in childhood. It is a mis- take only recently recognized as such by the greater number of elementary school teachers to assume that young persons from six to fourteen years of age have neither the taste nor the capacity for real iterature—for those masterpieces of human genius which, because they are the works of the highest creative imagination, have a truly educative power. Recent biography in the case of these who have cared to report the earliest sources of their inspiration for Riterature and art bears witness to the powerful influence. of literature in early childhood. A few illustrations will suffice. The stories of Hans part of the course in. literature for the fourth year in school ina score of promi- nent cities In our country. Now, John Ad- ington Symonds," in-His “Autdéblography, records the im while a very young. child story of “The Ugly Duckling. mind at this time. ately with the poor bird, swimming round and round in the duck puddle. I cried con- vulsively when he flew away to join his beautiful, wide-winged white brethren of the windy journeys and the lonely meads. Thousands of children have undoubtedly done the same, for it is a note of childhood in souls destined for expression to feel soli- ou and debarred from privileges due to them.” sode in the present writer’s own experience. A child five years old was being entertained by being read to from “Pilgrim's Pi . He was presently found to be crying. Upon being asked why he cried he explained that he was so sorry that Christian had lost his roll, the allusion being to the incident in the third stage of the immortal story,where Christian, while sleeping, drops from his besom the roll which was the assurance of his life and the token of his happy recep- tion at the end of the journey. €ducative and determining influence of lit- erature during his early years: on a rocking horse which stood on the landing of ‘the attic floor. I was holding on to the tail of the horse. 7 ing out in chorus Scott’s lines upon the death of Marmion: wrong!” NO CIGARETTE SMOKERS WANTED. But the Worst in the Lot Got a Pince = After All. FLEET MANEUVERS—1897. The boss inserted an advertisement in Repeated drills and endless patience alone can, accomplish this ead; and when thax much is accomplished the fleet is a unit only in the matter of movement. The effi- ciency of gun fire and general handiness must follow as other steps, while the ais- position of the fleet to the best advantag= is something resting with the commander- in-chief and the ready interpretation of his captains. Proficient individually, eacn ship then becomes merged in the greater or- ganization of the fleet. Sne then becomes | part of a regiment, so to speak, and moves | with a force that is dangerous alike to | friend or foe. She must keep a certain distance from her flanking or leading fel- She must be able to form in single line ahead or abreast, to move m coiumn ahead or obliquely, and t> double on her- self without interf2renze to the formation or her neighboring ships. It will be re- membered that the British battle ship Vic- toria was sunk in this way and through a miscalculation of distance. Must Be Handled Like Cavairy. As a body, the ficet must be able to charge like a squadron of cavsiry; and the difficulty can be realized partly when it is rememtered that the horses in this case are masses of from 7,000 to 12,000 tons, moving at the rate of quite fifteen knots an hour. A mere touch from such a | found love for profi- | cratt would mean destruction or appalling | elency, and, under his | injury. This proficiency is not all on deck supervision, the bat-| and at the wheel; for down in the engine tle ships and armored | room, away from the sight of the Passing | water, rests the great responsibility 0! ceca OF ont Sor | tactag tha ateelcs oF Uneas aneaity auctions Atlantic squadron | anq gauging their turns and resultant will be put through | speed to a nicety that means everything their paces early in| to the successful maintenance of position | Seabee and the unity of swing of the moving ship. et Before the engineer's watchful eye thun- The occesion is one | Gers that ponderous engine, and, by his of unusual moment, for then, for the first quickened senses of sight and sound, he | Seg knows just how the ship is moving, and time, our Jine of battle will be maneuvered as it surely would be in case of actual knows well-nigh to a foot the speed she jis making. Besides, he knows aoe —— hostilities. Heretofore we have had fleet | Co@l will carry him. and upon his judgment drills, but with heterogenecus squadrons, | ness and her safe return to port. composed of vessels of many types and im- possible of concerted action in battle. This time the vessels will be of the arm- Other Important Features. Particular attention will be paid to the ored type, and such as would really have to stand the brunt of battle, and upon various auxiliary engines that add to the working efficiency of the guns, the han- whose force we should have to depend on the day of trial. come to the San Francisco market, of course, are what they call pound pears, but I have seen them weighing twe and a half pounds.” At a recent convention of fruit growers held in Pomona, E. P. Fowler of Paradise valley exhibited remarkable ortment of deformed and abnormal oranges. One of these deformities looked for all the world like a pair of Jenness Miller's patent leglets. At the same convention a farmer named F. Schulenberg of Claremont ex- hibited a variety of strawberries known as the “Triumph le Grande,” measuring three inches in diameter. At Kelsey's orchard, near Santa Bar- bara, is a remarkable plum tree, known 2s the Japan plum, which was planted in 1576. The fruit is heart-shaped and of a rich yellow color. The plums from this tree are frequently from eight to ten inches in cir- cumference. Probably there is not a spot in California more prolific of enormous vegetable growth than Santa Rosa. Here is located the mammoth rose tree already mentioned, There are a score of dwellings in the vicinity completely embowered with rosc s, while fuchias are trained like vines, In Angeles H. L. Baker of Union street displays a rose bush which has reached a height of sixteen feet. Grafted upon its branches are twelve varieties of roses. The parent stalk is twelve years of age. The stalk, a few inches above the sround, is five inches in circumference. 8. H. of Ontario recently discovered a wonderful freak of nature in the shape of @ monstrous apple blossom on one of the trees in his orchard. The blossom, which resembles a large sized rose, measures nine and a half inches in circumference and is what may be called a second-crop blossom. | An ordinary apple blossom contains five petals, while this one has thirty or forty. The big grape vine at Montecito, near San- ta Barbara, is famous. The vine was plant- ed about ferty years ago. The grapes are of the Mission variety. The parent staik ts forty-six inches in circumference one foot from the ground. Where it commences to branch, three feet from the ground, its circumference is sixty-three inches. ‘The Vine yielded four and a half tons of grapes in a single season. The vine covers an area of 100 by 99 feet. Some years ago a photographer, in looking about the gol- den state for views, came across a giant cactus near Los Angeles, the trunk of which was six feet four inches in ¢cireum- ference. He also found in the same vicini- ty pampas plumes growing to the height of IN BATTLE ARRAY There was a iong line of them in the North Atlantic Squadron. TMPORTANCE OF THE MANEUVERS The “Never smoked one o’ ther dope sticks declared the first dn’t, eh?” replied the ‘Let me see your fingers.” They were He was told A Test of Efficiency for Ships, Ma- chinery and Men. “Dat’s not cegarute, stain, dat ain’t,”” in- boy, “Dat’s paint off The excuse wouldn’t work, and he was THE PROGRAM ARRANGED Finally, a bright-eyed, red-headed young- Written for The Evening Star. SSISTANT SECRE- tary of the Navy Roosevelt has a pro- “Now, my boy,” came the firal test, “tell ‘What's them? Those little paper cl- ‘Yes, exactly.” fope; never drew one uf them inter “Let me see your hands.” The boy poked out a chubby fist at him. “You're engaged,” he finally sald. Bully for you!” replicd the youth. “go He ."" and joined his 2 hallway. “Youse fellers can all go home,” he said. “What's yer givn’ us? Did yer get der L “Bet yer life,” repl the urchin. There was a lotld irmur of surprise imed “How'd yer Jo, Chimmy? De ol’ man Yer Was de wursest dope dling of the heavy ammunition, and the steering arrangements, and a comparative analysis will recult. At present the Iowa “Oh, youse fellexrs was so slow dat yer "Course I hit de : c The modern battle ship is an immense ag- tie and hydraulic | ten feet. core fauugh tenon it Hom de or man?" | grozation of great powers, offensively and mechamams for this purpose, and the quea- | | At the rooms of the state board of trade : er had. mM r "t | defensively; and it is not alone satisfactory ich will be best in | in San isco some remarkable products ‘Guess yer had: a. pull, or. yer couldn’t ys tion to solve is whi that we should have such engines of de- structive might, for their possibilites are Hmite@ to the directive genius of the men im charge, and from the captain down to the lowest officer that may succeed to the command it is needful that they should know the ship to a nicety. The fleet’ will consist of the first-class battle ships Iowa, Indiana and Massachu- setts, the second-class battle ships Maine and Texas and the armored cruisers New York and Brooklyn. Of this fleet but two of the vessels—the Indiana and the Massa- chusetts—are sister ships, and it is the pri- mary purpose of the evolutions to study the peculiarites of each and reduce their func- tions to a standard of possible concert. The wisdom of this cannot be too strongly em- phasized; for thus in peace times can de- fects be detected and remedied and the maximum of unity of action discovered and settled. of California soil are on exhibition. Last year, when the season was well advanced, pumpkins weighing 267 pounds were upon exhibition there. There were also cab- bages weighing ninety-five pounds, onions that tipped the scales at five pounds, and 4 huge sweet potato, raised near Santa Ana, that weighed twenty-five pounds. weighing twenty ounces are frequently on exhibition and a five-gallon lass jar con- ; tains eight pears, the weight of which ts thirty-three and one-third pounds. These eight pears completely fill the five-galion jar. Flowering plants grow to enormous size in all parts of the state. Florists say they have seen Illes In California fourteen feet high, while geraniums that look like trees cre common. ture. The one susceptible of easiest re- Paka! at the same time, of least Gan- ger in time of ge ceired = the one to com- itself for future use. aes will be target practice and torpedo practice, and under the stimulating — evce of the assistant secretary a good de: of emulation is expected, and there is prom- ise of some very successful scores. There will] be the usual drills. of an paring for action, passirg ammuniton an pre} ing to abandon ship, and nothing be left untried that will in any way prove the relative efficiency of the ships, in- dividually or collectively. ‘ Proficiency in fleet or squadron tactics is the highest art of naval warfare, and in a conflict between even fleets of equal pow- er the palm of success will rest with him whom practice has made more nearly per- fect. In these evolutions we are following the aunual routine of European navies, and next year perhaps we may begin the solu- tion of some of those strategical problems that permit of the utilizations of every craft from the battle ship down to the tor- io boat. a5 the present departure we are taking one big stride in the right direction, and | product are continually increasing. From the result {s bound to be one of inestimable five to six million pounds are annually im- as well | eee ee ee eee, oe eee to make | Dotted, m large bertion oF which bo used ta the most of them in the defense or peace- | Calico dyeing as an oxidizer. It js also fu! maintenance of the dignity of old glory. | employed in the manufacture of parlor ae blasting Powder and some of the S ‘eless powders. It is taken medicinal. CALIFORNIA FREAKS. for various ailments. The salt commonly called muriate of potash is found in larg= quantities in Stassfurt, in Germany, and it is shipped to this country in bags con- taining 240 pounds each. It is dissolved in wooden tanks, pumped up to storage tanks, and ts led from them through p‘pes to cast iron, porcelain-lined, electrolyzing tanks, divided by porous partiticns ‘nto Positive and negative compartments, The chloride solution is kept circulating from the positive to the negative compartments, being electrolyzed in its passage, and evolving chlorine gas at the positive pole, and forming caustic potash at the nega- live pole. The gas is led into the negative compartment, where it combines with the caustic potash, forming hypochlorite und chloride of potash. It is then led down to tanks containing lead stcam coils, and evaporated to the concentration point of chloride of potash when cold. From here it is run boiling hot to tanks, where it is allowed to cool. Little of the chloride crystallizes with the chlorate, as the tw> salts form at different densities. The chio- rate crystals are raked out and dried packed in kegs holding a hundred pounds, The mother liquor is pumped back to the storage tanks, to be used over again in th cel “Easiet t'ing 4m. de ; world,” answered * *‘Chimmy. #eon;.as 1 read his ad- rit. knew dat he 80 what does I do ©F THE CHILD. tooa brs 1 Early Childhood. It is to be maintained, therefore, that the —$——$_———age nt Mannfacture of Chemicals. From the Chicago Inter-Ocean, The city of Niagara Falls has more fac- tories making chemicals by electricity to- day than any other in the world. The plant for manufacturing chlorate of pot- ash is the first to introduce this industry into the United States. The uses for this The Drills to Be Undergone. ‘The proposed maneuvers, then, will be of the greatest importance to the service, as well as to the country; first, in the tactical experience for officers and crew, and, sec- ond, in the prompt discovery of difficulties. Mr. Roosevelt will join the squadron at Hampton Roads, and, in the Dolphin, will ‘accompany the fleet to sea, where for four days the ships will undergo drills of all kinds, including tactical formation, great gun practice, signaling, searchlight exer- cises and individual maneuvers. Mr. Roosevelt believes that the ships which will perform these drills are among the best in the world, and he ts anxious to justify more of them. And to that end he ‘is anxious to see for himself how radical are some of the reported defects, and to study upon what lines we should make departures or remedies. The vessels of the fleet are the products of some of the greatest architectural minds the navy has produced, and indi- vidually are magnificently formidable, but the question now is to determine, if pos- sible, on what further line we shall pro- ceed to gain the greatest promise of har- mgnious action. Taking the Iowa, the largest of the fleet: she has a total weight or displacement of 11,410 tons. She {s° 360 feet long, has a beam of 72 feet 2% inches and draws normally 25 feet of water. She carries a main armament of eighteen guns, ranging from rapid-fire four-inch guns up to her ponderous twelve-inch rifles in heavy- armored turrets. There is an auxiliary force of twenty-eight smaller pieces, rang- ing from the Gatling up to the six-pound- er. She carries hundreds of tons of ‘hard- ered steel armor, varying in thickness from four to eighteen inches. Her propell- ing engines are capable of developing an indicated horse power of 11,000—a force that has.no descriptive equivalent, while eighty odd auxiliary engines are provided for the accomplishment of as many dif- ferent any one of which is far beyond the muscular aggregate of her whole crew. Besides all this, she must be a comfortable housing for her complement of five hundred, and must have room Andersen now form Some Monstrous Growths of Vegeta- tion. Los Angeles Letter in Brooklyn Eagle. “We are not much on corn here in Call- fornia,” said Seedman L. Germain of Los Angeles, yesterday, “but in all other ere ducts of nature we can beat the world.’ He is perhaps the oldest seedman on the Pacific coast. What he does not know about fruit, grain and vegetables is not worth knowing. When asked about vege- table monstrosities yesterday, he refreshed his memory for a moment and then con- tinued: “Of course, you have heard of the big grape vine at Santa Barbara, which covers an area of three acres of land. Then there is the monster rose bush at Santa Rosa. I remember, when a boy, I mar- veied at the size of this floral plant. It grew to un enormous height, and complete- ly covered the house where it grew. Dur- ing my lifetime here in California I have handled squashes running all the way from 150 .to 300 pounds each. Watermeions I have seen weighing from thirty-five to 100 pounds. Beets are frequently known on this coast weighing all the way from forty to seventy-five pounds. I remember one beet raised at San Rafael which weighed about eighty pounds. Last fall I saw three onicns, the aggregate weight of which was nearly five pounds. In Pomona valley I have known of onions weighing from one gnd three-quarters to two and a half ‘Tomato vines frequently grow ten or twelve feet across, and I have often seen pression made~ upon him “The story made a deep impression on my I sympathized passion- ‘This incident may be paralleled by an epi- jonds gives another instance of the ———__-+5— Zeotherapy. From the London Times. Zootherapy is a new system of curing ills devised by a Florentine named Terapi. It corsists in transferring any disease 2 man may have to some antmal, and ts the con- verse of the medical theory that animals My sisters and I were riding one day up- ‘@ were scream- “With dying hand above his head He sbook the of his biade, eough for their provisions and the coai | radishes that looked like big turnips. convey disease to man. Among the cures thee aes > | that must feed her boilers. “How about potatoes ' = ‘Gharge, Chester, charge: ‘on Stanley, en, “Well, T have Observed specimens of the |B¢ advertises is that cf a rheumatic who Am Aid to the Imagination. ‘The magnitude of such a vessel may be partly appreciated by the reader if he will take an ordinary three-story dwelling, quad- ruple its height and double its breadth, and fill the interior with a score of eleva- tors, an electric lighting plant, steam heat- dive eyatem of sanitary plumbing StS Ra ng, made his dog lie across his bed, the man being cured and the dog dying. Goldsmith has written a poem on an analogous case, where a man was bitten by a mad dog. Humboldt county potato which weighed Suddenly I ceased to from two to three pounds. T, @ resolve had my mind: al Manning testifies to the - the books he read Year." Before he went to had given him a Belgian fever; of a Lavsanne lady who irans- abcut twenty-eight pounds. It was the big- | ferred her gest carrot on record. In the way of fruits we have on this coast enormous - : ew me.”"—Edde, : Z

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