Evening Star Newspaper, March 5, 1898, Page 19

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 1898-24 PAGES. 19 JACK’S LIFE ABOARD ge How the Men Up Forward Spend Their Leisure Hours. MUSIC PLAYS A PROMINENT PART As a Rule the Sailors Are Pretty Handy With Their Fists. — = = AFTER KNOCK-OFF SOUNDS FS Written for The Evening Star. HE AMERICAN people have gathered considerable informa- tien concerning mod- rn men-ot-war since the Ma catastro- phe. The facts that have ben presented ia them, however, have been, for the most part, of a pure- ly teehnical sort, re- tating largely to the structural peculiari- ties of warships as compared with the differsut constructive points of non-fighting vessels, the storage of fel and ammunition, the prerogatives of men-of-war officers, ‘ue comparative rigidity of discipline of American naval crews and the er2ws of foreign warships, “nd other data bearing more or less direc jy on the battle ship explosion in Havana harbor. Not much has been said of the datly neval life of the “man forward,” for the conditions under whieh the bluejacket Ives on board a modern man-of-war are ite known or understeed in this country. ‘The enlisted man of the navy of the United States is even more int=resting as &n imdividual and as a servitor of the flag than the enlisted man of the army, and a an of no less experience and brains than ard Kipling maintains that “the man that packs the gun has more character in the crook of either of his arms than officers have in their whole constr: In the United States army there Skylarking. are innumerabie men ji as humorously ievilish. irgeniously mischievious and op- portunely disobedient as members of characteristic tr Mulvaney, Lear but what I want to tind out is what ur or five hundred enlisted men on a ship-of-war do when they're not work- er drilling or disetplinng? Hew do ¥ put in their time? When they're not Permitted to go ashore, as was the case With the men of the Maine, how do they get Monotony, wih a big M. by the throat and throttle it? How do they keep from seing crazy, anyhow?" The Break the Monotony. The main idea of mast persons who are unfamiliar with the life cf the man for- ward on a man-of-war is that the tedium of such an existence can ty be little short of unbearable. They can understand how the officers might find it possible :to put in their sea service comfortably and enjoyably, but as a rule they can see noth- ing for it but a general twic s of thumbs on the part of the whole ship's company forward of a man-of-war when the men are net actually engaged in earning their monthly moaey by the of their brows. There are frequent ir the progress of the routine of t ‘when the smoking lamp at the break of the fo'c’sle is alight, and when there is a glow in the smoking lamp that m that there is nothing for any man forward to do but to loat and invite his soul or to seek amusement in any way he elects to seek it, so long as he does not bump into regula- tions. The bo’sun’s mate's “knock-off” pipe ss shrilled at about the hevr in the after- the government clerks in the departments are cloging their Ks. and from that hour until plpe-down » o'clock at night the time of the blue- Jacket or the marine is practically his own. The men forward have as many ways of in this sizable perivd of recreation nfortably-situated men ashere. example, American men-of-war's men are fond of mock scrapping. (Their penchant for serious scrapping on occa- sion was written about in The Star some months ago.) The man forward who knows how to use his hands effcetively is gener- ally regarded with a gocd eal more re- “pect by the ship's company than the en- listed man who has an overplus of brains ot information to fit his ship's rating—the latter, indeed, being always in grave danger of iring the name of » ‘“man-o'-war chaw.” Most American men-of-war's men know how to box well, and those that do not imagine that they do. Boxing Boats. When “knock-off” goes in the afternoon, there is a general breaking out of boxing sloves on the main deck and the blue- jackets and marines go at each other for points. Nor is it to be imagined that the men only dish out love-taps to each other. The work is perfectly good-natured and harmless, but none tne less they bang each other about for fair, sluggingly or scien- Ufically, in aceordance with the measure of their skill. The writer has witnessed some friendly bouts of this character in which the eventual knock-out of one of the mixers has been es pretty and com- plete as any that happen in the regular A Quartet. He has himself been—but that be- ring. jonas to another reel. No attempt is made by the officers to put a stop to the boxing of the men, and even when a man is put out no notice is taken of the thing. The knocked-out man is brought around by the «apothecary, and the following evening he will very likely have another try at the man who sent him to the deck. The offi- rs give the itn to understand that when oe box it is advisable for them to keep weil clear of running gear, bulkheads, tur- rets, or other deck furnishings Mable to in- jure them in case they should come into sudden contact with them, but unless, as happens once in @ great while, a pair of mock combatants get angry in the course @& their bout begin to deliberately reugh it, the officers not only let them alone, but watch the boxing with interest. While this is going on on the main deck, the most notable boxer in the ship's com- pany is usually engaged down on the berth deck forward in instructing an enthusias- tic class of apprentice boys in the art of handling themselves fistically. If every avprentice boy who served on the cruiser Philadeiphia when Sharkey, now a famous pugilist, was a second-rate master-at-arms on that vessel did not become a first-rate bexer, it was not the fault of Sharkey, who had a courle of dozen of the lads hummering away at each other, as well as at his invulnerable head-ptece, every evening during his term of service. Lovers of Music. United States men-of-war's-men are mu- sic lovers. In a large ship's company there are generally a score or more of men for- ward who can perform creditably, and in some cases even brilliantly, on musical in- struments of one sort or another. It is to be remembered that men of unusually fine education and accomplishments very often drift into the United States navy, and it is this class of men who furnish the better ‘Doing a Step. order of instrumental music aboard war vessels that are not blessed with bands— and only flagships have bands. In a large ship’s company there are always banjo plunkers and guitar and mandolin thrum- mers innumerable up forward, but in the line of higher grade music there are few gcod-sized ships in the American navy that cannot produce cne or more excellent violin or zither players. A young Pole of noble family shipped as a landsmaa on an American warship at Gibraltar a few years ago, and before he had been aboard twenty-four hours he had all the officers aft as well as the men for- ward in a trance over his violin playing. He did not have a violin of his own—it was in pawn somewhere in Italy—but he played on a violin belonging to an Irish marine, whose musical ability consisted only in his rendition of “The Rakes o' Mallow” and “The Devil's Dream.” This young Pole was simply a master of the violin. When the ship on which he served returned to the United States he was permitted to leave the service, and now he fs Trevinck, the well-known violin instructor of Chi- cago—but be was not Trevinck in the navy. The Evening Concert. The musicians do not ordinarily break out their instruments until after supper. But by the time darkness falls the for- ward portion of any American man-of-war im any port in the world might be taken for a floating conservatory of practicers. The clever players upon whose ears dis- cerd falls like vitriol,take to the quieter portions of the skip below decks for their wooing of the harmcnies, and they are gen- erally followed by cliques of the non-play- ere who yet understand and appreciate good music. The plunkers and strummers and members of the vast mouth-organ brigade take up their practicing stations in close but oblivious juxtaposition to each other on or under the to’gallant fo'c's'le, and play away, each man mauling a differ- ent tune, to their hearts’ content, regard- ing not the Babylon of unmelodic musical emissions all around them, which is simply stunning until you get used to it. ‘Tae instrumentalists do not furnish all the music. There are always some fine voices among a man-of-war ship's com- pany, and some of the night singing of the numerous male quartets up forward is very beautiful, if conducive to homesickness on the part of the young fellows not long away from home. Also, there is the usual number of men in an American man-of-war ship's company—Jjust as a similar complement is always filled ashore—who imagine that they can sing, and therefore inflict unassuagea- ble woe upon those who are compelled to Oratory. listen to them, The man who can’t sing, but who only fancies he can, is invariably suppressed in time, however, by his ship- mates—by impalement on the sharp points of their humor at his expense. - ‘The essen- tially American characteristic of parodying all things breaks out in the voeal music furnished by the really good singers among a man-of-war ship's company, just as it does ashore. There is nothing irreverent, callous or disrespectful in the United States bluejackets’ funny paraphrasing of the soggy home-and-mother songs that ‘occa- sionally become epidemic ashore; rather, their American sense of humor incites them to poke parodying fun at the beery maud- tinness of such songs. Always in Demand. The bluejacket who is a good fig or buck or wing dancer is always a popular man on a ship of war, but he is not given much rest by the shipmates when the smoking lamp is alight. No matter what he may be doing—writing letteers, sewing or patching up his wearing gear, or engaging in any other occupation that he wants to get through with—when one of the mouth-or- gan men-aft at the main gangway sudden- ly starts up a jig, all hands around him begin the patter of hands and the yell penetrates forward for the dancer. If he doesn’t respond within a reasonable time an irregularly organized committee of husky bluejackets is organized to go for- ward after him, and they always fetch him. Then he has to dance as if he were doing it for wages, but once he gets into his stride he needs no further encouragement or applause, but“ goes right ahead until he is about ready to drop, the men around him clapping and stamping in time with Eis steps and making a cheerful uproar not unlike the dancing bees still to be seen at some of the southern cotton ports. The ship’s buffoon is as well marked aboard a mar-of-war as if he wore the uniform of cap and bells, and he ts general- ly a clever and well-liked man, if not very seriously regarded. His anties in the pro- gress of the amusements after “knock-off” keep his fellowers going, and not infre- quently amuse the officers aft as much as they do the men forward. One of the ship's buffoon’s most entertainirg schemes is to suddenly mcrnt the bottom of a bucket or the top of a chest at one of the main gang- ways and to begin a stump speech with no apparent sense in it fer any man who is not a member of the ship’s company, but full of sharp but good-humored, “knocks” for membcrs of the crew forward who indulge in peculiarities of temperament or m- nn All of the speaker's listeners understand these allusions strung through the appar- ently crazy address and roar over them. Skipping the Light Fantastic. Almost every evening, on ships the crew members of which are for some reason or other rot permitted to take shore liberty, there is @ dance of the men forward on the main deck. It at first looks rather funny to see pairs of huge, bewhiskered men walts- irg, polkaing and gether, but you grow accustomed to the sight of it in time. It takes some time @ couple of get used to each deck who are not matched for round danc- ing by previous experience, both ‘of them always demand lustily to be ‘“‘the man’— for the sailor finds it ts difficult as his brother in civil life to assume the position of the woman in round dan 5 Then there are the tellers of tales, the yarn epinners, improvisers as gifted in their way as the minnesingers and-improvisi- toires of the dim ages. There are always five or ten such on a good-sized American man-of-war. The man-of-war yarn spinner gathers his select circle about him and nar- rates to them, always in the first person, thrilling tales of adventures by flood and field, in situations ranging from the Bowery to Borneo, by the hour. His Msteners are perfectly well aware that the yarn spinner is a liar of.the deepest dye, and he knows that they ate aware of it—but his tales, all “made up as he goes along,” are always picturesque and interesting, and his hear- ers are cortent. 2 —--+--— THE FIELD OF HASTINGS. How an Ancient Battle Was Fought and Won. ‘The Duchess of Cleveland in Pall Mall Magazine. It was over yonder high hill, crossed by the road to Hastings, that the conqueror came There, he vowed to build his abbey whence, it is said, is derived its name of Telham Hill. The right wing, commanded by Roger de Montgomeri, afterward Earl of Sh-ewsbury, Chichester and Arundel, and the founder of a great English house, was composed chiefly of soldeiers (merce- aries) from Picardy, Boulogne and Paix, and charged up the steepest part of the bill, where the houses of the Lower Lake now stand, and the road leads down to the station. The left wing, formed by the men of Brittany, and led by the son of their count, Alain le Roux, the future Earl of Richmond, attacked farther away to the west. where the slope {s easter, and the lit- tle stream of the Asten, rising near the gateway, falls into a deep gorge on the farther side of the hill. The center, un- der the duke himself, comprised the flower and pride of the invading army. There, under Neel de St. Sauveur, were arrayed the men of the Cotentin, descended from the Danes of Harold Blaatand; with the archers of Evreux and Louviers; the Danes of Bayeux, and “the great company of vavassors of Normandy, who to save their lord would have put their own bodies be- tween him and the enemie’s blows.” Ho directed the assault against the center of Harold’s position; and it must have been over the ground immediately below us that he led his men, and that ensued the fierce melee where he was twice unhorsed, ana the ominous cry, “The duke is down! the duke is down!” sounded over the bat- tlefleld. He was here confronted by the vanguard of the Saxon army, where the men of Kent— < “A merveille se combattaient” claiming the post of honor as their birth- right,for “whenever the king goes to battle, the first blow belongs to them.” They bore on their banner then, as now, the Pale Charger, or White Horse of Hengist, but their proud motto of Invicta was not earn- ed on that day. To the right, but hidden by the trees, a mound on some rising ground in the park marks the outpost so obstinately defended by the Saxons that the Bretons there wavered and gave w: and the hillside beyond was so hotly c tested that the ravine of the Asten 5 completely choked and bridged over with the dead. It was from this point that the position they had failed to storm was successfully turned, and the Normans en- tered the Saxon lines. On the north side of the town, crowning the highest point of the hill, stands the Watch Oak, whence, it is said, Harold looked out, day after day, for the coming of the invaders. The present tree can, however, only be its successor and representative, as it is by no means old. The famous Malfosse, or deep swamp, partly concealed by brainbles, into which so many Norman horsemen plunged and lost their lives In their headlong pur- suit of the enemy, les behind the parish church, but is no longer a swamp. — TIGER JUsT A STORY. A Man’s Narrow Escape From Fur- mishing a Square Meal, From Cornhill Magazine. The shikari was a little stunned by the tiger's onslaught; he recovered conscious- ress, however, in a few minutes, when he found himself lying on the tiger's, back and in full safl toward the heart of the jungle. Fortunately, he was not seriously hurt, as the tiger had gripped him by the arm just above the elbow. There he lay quite helpless; what was he to do? Any raove- ment on his part might have made his condition far worse; so he lay perfectly quiet, and shut his eyes as if he were dead. Soon the tiger arrived at his den, which was no more than a hollow scooped in the sand at the foot of a large tree. There the tiger deposited him and covered him over loosely with some sand. Juckily for him his face was uppermost when he fell, otherwise he would have had no other al- ternative between death by suffocation and death from the tiger if he had dared to move. As it was, he could imanage to breathe gently, and even to have an occa- sional glimpse under his eyelils. After this operation of partial burial the tiger ran ahead a few yards, but returned instantly, as if he had some misgivings in his mind. Seeing, however, all safe, he bounded forth, but again returned to make assurance doubly sure. He kept up this method of self-persuasion for a few times, till, feeling quite certain about the mat- ter, he finally went away on his mission. After waiting a few minutes to see that the tiger had really gone, our shikari sprang up and climbed the tree just over the den, ard hid himself weil among tke leaves. He had not long to wait for the denouement, for the tiger soon returned, ac- companied by a tigress and a couple of cubs (like a generous and exempliry hus- band and father, the tiger evidently scorn- ed_to eat on the sly). ‘They came along with many a joyful cst- like gambol] in anticipation of +he great feast, and found the den—empty! Such a lamentation over the lost dinner then srose as was never heard before in the whcle animal kingdom; in fact, the tigers per- sisted so long-in their piteous cries, that our shikari began to have some doubts as to the righteousness of defrauding the poor creatures of their hard-earned wages; but he was prevented from offering him- self to them in a moment of misguided magnanimity by the thought of bis own wife and children, whose claim upon him was obviously higher. —_——+e+_____ He Came Near Praising Her. Frem the Boston Journal. Old Ab Drake was one of the “odd sticks’ that flourished ‘in a Vermont rural nelgh- borhood a good many years ago. His wife was a meek, obedient, spiritiess woman, over whom Ab tyrannized for fifty years, when she quietly slipped out of this world. Old Ab’s panegyrics on his dead wife's vir- tues were loud and long. Before the funer- al he said to one of his neighbors: “She was the best woman on the top of this earth. I jees thought the world and all of her—yes, I did! I always thought it, and hanged if there wa’n't times when I come mighty near telling her so! Yes, sir! an’ I woutd of told her so, only I've always held, and I still hold, thet it ain't safe to praise anything that w’ars petticoats, ’Cep- tin’ for that, I would of igld 'Lizy Ellen what ts though tof her many a time—yes, I would!”” —_———_oo—___ At Klondike. From Life. Miner—' 5 Old ra ) eee Tas Si sent ee roe “Not much! Termaters is ris," SONS OF RICH MEN Young Millbueires Who Are in Ao- WALL STREET ‘IS FULL OF THEM mer cok In Many ‘nstances They Have Achieved Success, GOULDS AND VANDERBILTS Written for The Evening Star. (Copyright, 1898, by Bacheller Syndleate.) T HE DETERMINA- tion of one of the Vanderbilt boys to earn his own living calls attention to the fact that there is no likelihood in present conditions that an aristocracy or large idle class will develop in the United States. In no particular is this more clearly shown than in the disposition of very wealthy men to educate their sons to busi- ness or professional careers, Wall street is full of these men—bankers or brokers or the owners of great railroads —who are giving their sons a college edu- cation and then putting them to work. LI asked Chauncey M. Depew recently what he thought of the necessity of educat- ing rich men’s sons to business life. “There is only one side to that question,” said Mr. Depew. “Every man should edu- cate his son to a business or a professicn if he is fitted for either. There are cases where a boy is not mentally equipped for business life. “When should the young man begin his business career? When he his had a good college education, Commodore Van.lerbilt did not believe in giving his son more thaa an academic education. That son gave his boys the same kind of education, but the fourth generation is going to college. Young Cornelius Vanderbilt graduated from Yale. He is now taking a post-graduate course in marine engineering there. He is an en- thusiast on the subject, and has already made some improvements in the mechani- cal features of engines which have been adopted by the New York Gentral road. He is now in the service of the road. Al- fred Vanderbilt is in Yale, and Roginald is preparing for college. William K. Vander- bilt’s son had a college education.” Mr. Depew says that his own son, who is now eighteen, is at a private academy in New York. He will teke a course in college, and then he will study law. Mr. Depew says that most of the rich business men of his acquaintance are bring- ing their sons up to be business or profes- sional men. : In Wall Street. Perhaps the most striking instance in Wall street of ri¢h young men bred to work is in the firm of Blair & Co., where three generations are represented, two of them actively. John I. Blair, the head of the family, is minety-six years old. He spends most of his time at his home in Blairstown, N: J. He gave his son, De- Witt C. Blair, a thorough education at Princeton and thé put him at work in Wall street. When DeWitt’s son, C. L. Blair, bad graduated like his father at Princeton, he was put into the office to learn the busthess. He is now a partner at thirty, and he and his father are as steadily attentive to busines. as though they were not the heirs of one of the rich- Os an De Renee States. ohn D. Rockefeller and William Rocke- feller, the Standard Oi] millionaires, are believers in the plah of educating rich men’s sons to work. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., 1s the only son of John D. Rockefeller, and heir to $200,000,000. He is about twen- ty-three years old. He is at work in his father’s office, where he draws a small salary and saves part of it, just as his father did when he was a clerk In a busi- ness office in Cleveland. William G. Rocke- feller, his cousin, who is twenty-eight years old, has been in the employ of the Standard Ot! Company for several years. Both the Rockefellers are steady, indus- trious young men, and elther of them could find employment very easily if they were thrown on their own resources. Handicapped by Wealth. A comparatively new figure in Wall street is George Crocker, son of the bo- nanza millionaire. Few of the men who made such quick fortunes in the gold fields saw {ar enough ahead to realize the necessity of making their children bread- winners, Many of their sons became dis- sipated, like young Fair. Some of them ve fallen into business life because they needed occupation. Mr. Crocker is one of the latter. He says that the biggest ob- Stacle he has had to surmount ail his life is the fact that his father was a million- aire. “You will always live in the shadow of your father’s name,” said a million- aire friend of the elder Crocker’s, to the young man one day. “It 4s true,” said Mr. Crocker, “though no one ever expressed it to me in that Way before. Whatever I Go, I am always my father’s son; I have no identity of my own. Another bonanza heir who has gone to work is W. R. Hearst. His father bought him a western paper to amuse him, as the old senator used to say, and to’ the father’a great surprise, the young man made the property profitable. Since his father’s death Mr. Hearst has entered the field-of journalism in the east. He inher- ited $8,000,000. George Westinghouss, the millionaire in- yentor and manufactursr, has a son who is too young as yet to think of the responsi- bilities of life; but if he shows a Uking for the machine shop when he grows older, Mr. Westinghouse will put him in a pair of overalls and set him at work. Young Men in Chicago. George Pullman’s sons learned a severe lesson when their father practitally disin- herited them because th3y lacked business ambition. They have undertaken to culti- vate it now, and both of them are working for the Pullman Car Company in Chicago. The stock yard. millionaires are all seif- made men, and: thay believe in bringing up thetr sons to honest labor, Philip D. Ar- mour has twa boys. They left college to take clerical positions in their father’s of- fice; and there ‘they worked beside thatr father’s clerks; asking no favors and learn- ing the businegs.teroughiy by experience. Both of them are members of the firm, se there are tio Bister young men in Chi- Nelson Morris started his eldest son at work when he-wae thirteen, and gave him most of the res bility of the great busi- ness of which he the head. Mr. Morris gave each of his spomeriot ats at the age of thirtsen of at Morris told “iy to sign his name. Mr. conversation not long Hotght every young man ought to go to: work at about sixteen years of age. He sbid’ did not belizve in rich ‘the Gllowance of their sons. men Pie 'theugat bites ee egret eee 'e money in so e ml it feel “as good'as iy ones’ but he should and learn Low gckee ae ove vine bens earn wn livin; he attained Inte’ n ieee Believe in Wor! David R, Francis of St: Loyis, ex-Secre- tary of the Interior, believes in work for the rich man’s son, Mr. Francis has seven boys, one of whom graduatad last year from Yale, Mr, Francis told me last sum- mer that. he was to put the man into a clerical position in his office and jet him, learn the business. Mr. Francis some hesit about heving his son go into the petting 73 because of the un- je htm he certainties of its speculative about making a had no hesitancy oi business at th> town of Proctor, and has it ever since. Vice President Hobart’s boy will be a lawyer, like his father. Ex-Senator Hen- Gerson of Missourt had his son study law after he had completed the collegiate course at Harvard, and he ts ready to earn a liv- ing, if meceasary, though he has not gene into practice very actively yet. On the other hand, Senator Hale, who married the wealthy Miss Chandler, has bad his olest son, Chandler Hale, made secretary of legation at Rome, and a3 diplomacy is ~/t a profession with us, his can hardly be called a serious caliing. Ex- Senator Brice did not bring up his gon to business life; but the son has gone inta.pol- itics in New York lately, and promises to be an acttve figure in life. His father be- gan his career as a schcol teacher and knows the value of labor. General Russell A. Alger. Secretary of War, says it is a great misfortune for a boy to have a rich father who will not teach him to work. “I am teaching my boys the lumber bus- iness, so that they can take my place in it,” he said to me. “At the same time I am io them a better education than I had.” ble he A Wealthy Family. The man who looks into Wall street for illustrations of rich men’s sons at work will find no more striking example than Jay Gould's oldest boy, George Gould, Mr. Gould set his mind on training his eldest son to take charge of his millions and to become a meney maker himself. The son lzarned the lesson so well that he has in- creased greatly the fortune which his fa- ther left to him. About his younger sons Mr. Gould did not seem to be 80 much con- cerned. They did little practical work until a few years ago, when Edwin Gould went into th> match business. Howard Gould recently kas become a member of the New York stock exchange. Nearly all of the young men who have inherited American fortunes will be abl> to earn a living if the family supply of inoney runs out some day. There are many of the second generation of millionaires who are not in business lifs who would be able to take care of themselves if they lost their wealth. John Jacob Astor could get a job running a locomotive. He is a practical engineer, and he enjoys getting into the cab of an 2ngine and holding the lever. The assistant secretary of the navy, Theo- dore Roosevelt, could get employment as a cowboy; but he would find literature more Profitable, and he is well equipp2d for a lit- erary career. Perry Belmont could teach fencing, for he is one of the best swords- men in the United States, ————— ASHAMED OF TOIL. The Average Working Woman Wor- ships Unlimited Leisure. From the Philadelphia Times. ‘The average working woman has little respect for other working women. This doesn’t mean that she is without respect for herself, of a certain self-satisfied sort, but it does mean that that self-respect is not broad enough to include deference for fellow wage-earners, and it must logically follow that it is a very low grade of per- sonal regard. The woman wage-earner whom one most often meets has been the one standard of gentleship—uniimited lei- sure. According to her, the worker, no matter how creditable or remunerative her labor may be, is something juet a little to be ashamed of; yet beyond the pale of all those who sit with folded hands, no matter how much more content, not to say com- fortable, those hands might be if engaged in good, honest employment. It is but an- other phase of the false and one time all- prevalent squeamishness as to confessing financial straits; a modern development of that spirit that a decade ago led an impov- erished family to declare that they only “took boarders for company.” A successful Woman teacner, who did really love her work, used to say that she was the oniy member of her family she ever met who taught because she had to—all the rest did it “just from pure love of it." A girl whose family heve recently lost everything dis- posed of some embroidery at the woman's exchange. When an intimate friend con- gratulated her upon her good luck at find- ing a way of makirg money, the girl, out at elbows and patched as to shoes as she wi hastened to say: “Oh, it wasn’t the money. You see, I have so much idle time on my hands now, and this embroidery does entertain me so.” The new phase of the old subject was brought the other day to the rotice of the head of an exclusive and very prosperous girls’ school in this city. The principal desired a stenographer in place of the amanuensis she had here- tofore had. Applicants cne after another presented themselves, and with each one the principal found some cherished notion as to the good ense and stability of the modern business an Jaid low. If it wasn’t one thing it was another, but she at last realized that they were all imbued with the I’m-as-good- as-you-are idea. The principal finally en- saged a young girl who was less “uppish” than the others and whose spotted veil was not quite so obtrusive. At the end of one week the girl resigned her place. “Why, 1 pay you $$ a week more than you were getting in your downtown office,” said the “Yes,"" sald the girl, “‘but I ike it better in the office. It's more fun for one thing, and then——’ She paused, but the teacher begged her to continue. “Well, it's this way,” the girl finally blurted out; see, it's sort of more honorable for me. It isn’t because { don’t like to be employed by a lady, but you're a lady who works. Why, none of my lady friends ‘do anything’ ex- cept one or two, and they’re employed by gentlemen in offices; I don’t know any typelady who is employed by a woman who works, and, to tell the truth, we think it a little beneath us. I'm sorry,” with a com- miserating glance at the teacher, “but the a week extra couldn’t make up for it, you know.” The teacher steadied her voice for one question. “Don’t your men em- ployers in the offices work?” she asked. “Oh, yes, indeed,” was the answer, “but then they're men. It’s different with wo- men.” It may be of interest to add that this teacher subsequently secured a man stenographer, he having no objection, he said, being-employed by a woman who work With such standards as those in the minds of the rank and file the business woman has a good many lengths to go be- fore she can hope to attain even a quota of that which her apostles declare for her. ——+o+___ Unruly Sledge Dogs. F. G. Jackson in the Geographical Journal. Carlo, a big retriever, opened the ball by killing one 6f the Ostiak dcgs. He swag- gered about among the pack, and exhib- ited all the supposed characteristics of the Britisher abroad. To check his homicidal, or rather canicidal, proclivities, I tied the dead dog round his neck. This, however, he evidently viewed es an excellent ar- rangement, especially devised for the arc- tic, where the food supply is defective, and at once proceeded to make a cold lunch of his late adversary, up at me with grateful eyes, evidently thirking that it was very considerate of Jackson thus to provide him with a larder right at hand. After this the dead dog was removed, and Carlo was always decorated with a muzzle. I afterwards meade a good sledge dog of him, but he could not stand the severe cll- mate, and although the doctor made a blanket coat for him, the poor old chap ay 7 ing during the first fortnight in te it. Tho rest of the pack were hardly leas bel- but conducted their battles on lines hardly in accordance with ci war- fare. With the exception of two or three sparrows hatched out in the middle of January, is probably one of the most remarkable things of the winter of 1807 In Kansas. Philip Leyh, a German, who lives on South Val- é ley strect in Argentine, ts the owner of the birds. He Itves alone und is fond of pets. Last summer he put up a small box for birds to nest In on his back porca. Th> box was placed on the southeast side cf the house and was protected chilly ery eage were ail ago Mr. 1 and is now them: Proud f I ‘CREW| How Discipline is Maintained on the Big Ocean Greyhounds. ALWAYS READY FOR AN EMERGENCY In the Event of a Fire or a Recourse to the Boats EACH HAS HIS OWN eee RS DUTY Written for The Evening Star. (Copsright, 1888, by Bacheller Syudicnte.) ECENT EXPERI- ences of those who brave the perils of the deep have set the world to thinking a© to just how ft is that courage Is always prominent and con- fusien in retirement when anything ex- traordinary happens aboard the big ocean liners. The secret is discipline, and when one really learns what the discipline of a modern steamship is like he realizes that every probable con- tingency is provided for; that no matter what may happen 4. will be some one’s business to look after him. Of the ocean greyhounds that fly the American flag thg steamship New York ts @ notable example. She is a sister ship of the Paris and jvety like the St. Louls, whose crew" won admiration not very long ago by their daring rescue of the crew and Passengers of the ill-fated Veendam. It | takes 375 persons all told to make up the complement of this big craft, but even when all hands are on duty it seems as if hardly a quarter of that number was aboard, for no one is ever in any one else’! way. Each does well his part, and surely the honor lies in that. When the steamship is in port her offi- cers are practically relieved of responsi- bility concerning her. She is in the hands of the marine superintendent, the engineer- ing superintendent and the dock superin- tendent of the company to which she be- longs. When the last line is cast off and she moves out into the stream the captain be- | comes king, and the real discipline of the ship is in full sway. From captain down to “bocts” who shines your shoes, every one is busy. The officer who stands near the companionway in apparent idleness is watching all that goes on about him with an eye as keen to business as that of the executive who tramps the quarter deck of Uncle Sam’s proudest cruiser. Each at His Station. At the same moment that this officer is scanning all about him the quartermasters and the lookout men are all at their sta- tions, forward, amidships and aft, ready to warn the captain when there ts any sign that all is not as it should be. Just now it is the watch below of many of the sailors of the “A. B.'s,” as they are known in the ship's roll, for the majority of them need all their energy to perform the duty of put- ting the ship to rights that comes as soon as the passengers have gone below for the night. The workers aboard ship, and this in- cludes every one :n the company’s employ, are divided into different departmen:s First comes the deck department. This includes the captain and his officers, the chief officer, the senior second officer, the } junior second officer and the extra second | officer. Then come the eight quartermas- | ters, whose duty it is to heave the lead | ena such matters, four masters-at-arms | (the ship’s police), four lookout men, and five cadets, the latter corresponding to the apprentices on sailing vessels or pure- ly_freight steamers. Besides these are two carpenters, cne boatswain, one boatswain’s mate, and twenty odd able seamen. These latter are really the sailormen of the ship, barring the officers, the others being, so far as seamanship goes, little more than lands- men. The other departments are the stew ard’s, the engineering, the purser'’s. These practically include the remainder of the vessel's complemert. While everything moves Mke clockwork aboard ship, the passenger does not realize the splendid ine that prevails nor the care that is taken for his safety, un- less it is his fortune to witness either the fire or boat drills. The former comes first in the category, for the officers of the steamship hold that they must first try to put out the fire. That failing, the boats are the nexi to be thought of. Drilling in Port. | Just at present neith of these @ takes place at sea, both occurring on Mon- day and Saturday in port, in this way: | On Monday the crew of the boat ‘that happens to be in the port of New York holds these drills. On Saturday the crew of the boat lying in Southampton takes | similar action. Formerly there used to be one drill a week at sea, but it is sald that these drilis were sc realistic that many of the lady passengers were always greatly | alarmed. For this reason the sea drill was discontinued. Hanging in various parts of the vessel are great placards on which can be seen ihe station assigned to every employe of the | company aboard ship in case of fire, not | ( one being omitted from captain to “boo.s.” Each person is known by number and not by name. The roll is made up anew for every voyage and every one of the ship's company receives a card denoting the num- ber he or she has been designated for that trip. All the numbers being allotted, the station list ts made up, and then it is the duty of all to study it and see what is the task allotted in case of fire. By the time the vessel has reached port every one is familiar with just what is expected of him. Of course, all hands know the day the drill ts to ocour, but the hour is a mystery. It is one of the rules that every person connected with the drill must be on dress parade so far as appearances are con- cerned, and therefore each sees to it tha* from the time they turn out in the morn- | effectually, to bre ing they are shipshape and fit fer ins ton, When the Bell Strikes. Suddeniy the bell strikes one, two or three, as the case ray be, these signals meaning, respectively, that the fire is forward, amtd- ships or aft. The moment the signal ts scunded every person appearing on the nembered list drops whatever he or she may be doing and flies to the post assigned. The stewards get biankets in readiness to smother the imaginary flames aml the linen keeper, the cadet and the barber bring the nkets out from retirement to places where they can be easily seized, the sailors Tan the hose and “couple on” to the hy= drants, while still others form a bucket brigade. Even “boots” has his bit of duty, and it Is to sce that the hose does not get tangled and pass buckets of water when necessary. The bell boy is also assigned to the blanket brigade. The cooks hurriedly provision the boats, so that all wiil be m readiness if it i= necessary to abandon the ship. Perhaps of the duties that fall to the various members of the crow those of the stewardess are the most difficult, for, with the aid of her assistants, she is expected to control Ub ssengers. time the chief officer, who j charge of the drill, has been k sharp eye on everything. The has been occupied with oversecit vistoning of the beats. Whe nds have elapsed, the junior se re- ports to the captain that the crew are at their posts. Then, accompanied by the chiet officer, both in full uniform, a complete in- spection of the ship is made. It is no cur- inspection, 1s any member of t company derelict in appearance action promptly learns. The Boat Dri The boat drill is a less complir ture of the ship's discipline. Ty participate in it are the twenty able sea- men and the three second officers, At the sound of the steamship’s whistle, long and vibrating, the seamen seat themselves in two of the life boats and one quarter boat, the boats being selected by the inspector of hulls in the Untted States and the board of trade surveyor in England, just as the drill ix signaled. Two sailors, one at each end of each boat, then loosen the tackle, the ropes begin to move on the pulleys and the boat to drop toward the water's surface. The sailors at either end have bout hooks with which they fond off; that prevent the boat from touching the steamship’s side. In the United States, the boat's course toward the water is arrested just before it reaches it. In England the boat crews are compelled to pull around a large dock, and thus demon- strate to the inspector's satisfaction th the boat and its equipments are in good der and the men well drilic These are the principal points of the dis- cipline of a modern steamship. They form @ vital part of the life aboard. The member of the ship's company who violates even the least of the rules fs punished promptly, the degree ranging from a reprimand to loss of a month's pay. It is the sort discipline we d of as existing on war vessels, but which few dream fs strictly en- forced on the peaceable ocean liner e report of Colonel Waring, superine nt of the street cleaning department of New York, makes detailed reference to an investigation which has been going on t a year looking to the possibility of developing a money value from the coal ashes of domestic fi This investigation has been In charge of Macdonough Craven, C. Herschel Koyl and Joseph A. Shinn, whose ability as experts give the results reached the appearance of trustworthiness. Colonel Waring yards, Re- pented of the s show t they contain 20 per cent of recoverable coal, 14 per cent of clinker, 50 per cent of fine ash and 15 per cent of course ash and stone. On these percentages it 1s possible for any ity to estimate the money value contained in its collected ashes. The figures in New York are instructive as an illustration, Thus it is found that from the 1,200,000 cubic yards annually obtained 144, of coal, 1 yards of clinks 000 cuble yar ash and 180,000 c: yards of coars p coal can be at w0; the clinker, at The. 2 0, and the finc ash, at 28¢ for $168,000, making a total of the possible income from this source this sum there must be taken the er ashes into their el e is estimated to be which implies an ex cubic yard, of $150,000. Her a net profit $500,000 can be derived from the supply of domestic hes in New York. Sa G Plates That Bend. From the Chicago News. It appeacs that the Chinese have of making pliable glass plates. Th not soli1, but plaited from spun © made goregous by brilliant oriental col ing. The strangest thing about them that although they are made of glass can bend them backward and forward if they were putty or pliable clay In hearing of these strange plates one is reminded of a story told originally by Pliny in his Natural Histcry, and popular dur the middle age As narrated in the - strange repository > tale runs thus: is one as a plaie which, being exhibi emperor (Tiberius), he attempted, it. It bent, beneath his cfforis, and the artificer, ap) ing a hammer and working upon the gl as upon copper, presently restored 1 to its level. Tiberius inquired by what aris this was effected, and the other replied that it Was a secret not to be Cisclosed. Immedi- ately he was ordered to the block, the em- peror alleging that if such an art should be practiced gold and silver would be reck- oned as nothing.” The “Gesta Romanorum” pretends to be nothing but a collection of amusing stories and in it Pliny mingled fact and myths, so that it is hard to separate them. In this particular case, however, it appears that the old Roman naturalist might have been telling the truth after all. epi cedinesiasii Natural History. From Puck. ‘Teacher--What can you tell me about the rabbit? Pupil—It's left hind foot is lucky.