Evening Star Newspaper, June 18, 1898, Page 23

ae THE EVENING SIAR, SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 1898—24 PAGES. 23 IN THE FAR PACIFIC The Caroline Islands Are of Great Interest Just Now. MUCH NEARER THAN THE PHILIPPINES They Must Come for a While Under United States Control. CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE From the Chicago Chronicle. No doubt, so long as the United States hold, through Admiral Dewey and his reso- lute sailors, the capital of the Philippines, the United States may be said to hold and possess the islands. But what their rela- tions may be in the future to this country, how & we shal! possess them and how govern them, is another matter. In the heated imaginations of some who like (o consider themselves as imperialists, which soon may be a new name for jingo, the Philippines are already annexed and are become a permanent part of this country. It is but a sea step from the Philippines to the Carolines, and that step brings the worid trotter considerably nearer to me menacing republic of North America. The eastermost island of the Caroline group of fifty named islands and as many more that are unnamed is 2.000 miles nearer to San Francisco than Manila. These islands are Spanish by reason of Spain's ownership of them, but their population is mongrel, the large majority being descend- ants of aborigines, who, however, speak the Spanish language. These people are not governed directly from Madrid, and they have no government of their own, but are dependent upon Manila for such laws and olicing as they have, which is very little. eing, therefore, Spanish, and a dependen: of Manila, or the Philippines, the Carolines are constructively within the military juris- diction of the United States today. This on the mercantile principle that the tail goes with the hide, as there can be no doubt on this point, the large problem of what finally We shall do with the Philippines becomes larger when the Carolines, woo, are brought within the scope of the problem. Where the Carvlines Are. The Caroline Islands, sometimes called the New Philippines, form one of the great archipelagos of Oceanica, and are south- east of the Philippines, souta of Ladrone, southwest of the Marshall Islands, and north of the Solomons and the Papua, or New Guinea, groups. Between the two lat- ter gro and the Cardlines is drawn the boundary line group separating the Ger- man and Spanish possessions. That which marks the boundary on the west is Pelew, and frem that point to the eastern extrem- ity of the Caroline group stretches alter- nate land and water for 2,000 miles. To make use of a superficial geographical de- they lie between latitude 3 de- and 10 minutes north, and between lorgitude 142 degrees and 155 degrees east. They have an area of 1,4”) square miles. They are divided in several lesser groups of many dots of islands each. The larger is- lands and also some of the smaller ot @re populated, while some others are wi out settled inhabitants. h- Of coraline forma- tion, they are mostiy flat and without ba: ny or natural harbors of anchorage difficult and ins On a rumber of the i thin but quick soil, and f are cultivated with suc kind, making ure. lands there is a t and vegetables Good drinking water is obtained, and fish in abundance are produeed from the surrounding The inhabitants are mostly of the race, and more intelligent of them are i There are de- es of civilization, or rather of barba- rism, among them, for most of them are de- Scendants not so very long ago from abo- riginal savages. The few Spanish and Manilae ettied on one island or another of the Carolines are of low types and do not much raise the degraded people with whem they live. The Spanish language is in common use, but the islands have no literature or news- Papers. A desultory commerce is carried on. which enables Manila to get some tribute of the dependent islands. And they Practice an art, that of tattooing, and have carried it to the highest perfection. Oceanica in History. A century ago all that quarter of the globe where the Carolines are situated, in- cluding the Philippines, the Marshall, the Ladrore and the Papuan Islands, and Au- stralia and the rest, was known to the world as Oceanica. It is still known by that name to geographers, and it is further designated as a fifth division of the globe— smaller by a good deal than any other of its divisions. More expansively, it is de- seribed as being all that portion lying be- tween the Indian ocean and the China sea. It was not until the seventeenth century that navigators visited that region for the purpose of discovery. The Dutch were the first who adventured and next were the Spaniards; the English were a century later with their enterprise in the same di- rection. Spanish rule was old in Oceanica before the English seated themselves in Australia. Not until lately has Spanish rule been disturbed in the Philippines from within, and there has been nobody to at- tempt a disturbance of it in the Carclines. That rule has continued for tundreds of Years without much benefit to the people or their governors, but in the main so quietly that the world has scarcziy noticed it. Like Oceanica, the Philippines, the Carolines and the rest were littie more than geographical terms that did not sig- nify much to the kings of nations or of commerce and were in one moment l-arned and forgotten by school children. But sud- denly, a few weeks ago, the Philippines were brought into great notice by the ap- pearance of Dewey before Manila, and his destroying there the Asiatic fleet of Spain. And now the Carolines have sprung into notice, it having been discovered by some and recalled by others that the Caroliae Islands are in the same category with the Philippines as viewed by Spain, and that therefore they must come temporarily, at least, under United States control. There is a difficulty in the respect of the Carolines that there is not in that of the Philippines. In the former ther2 are no Spanish towns or established settlements. Ever since Lopez de Villalobos, in 154 sighted these islands and, in honor of Charles V, named them the Carolines, they have remained mostly in a state of nature. There is no place there where a Spanish ay be hauled down and the American un up. The occupation of Manila must suffice to give this country legal, or, at any rate, military, possession of the Carolines. Island Are Atolls, ‘The islands can never have much value for any nation. They are poorly adapted to (Ssriculture—they are atolls, coral islands, consisting of a strip or ring of coral sur- rounding a central lagoon. Such islands are all t Carolines except three. They often present an =xceedingly picturesque e@ppearance, a comparatively narrow strip ef coral rock thinly coated with soil and covered with a vigorous growth of trees. The circle of coral {s sometimes complete, inclosing a still body of water, usually of considerabls depth and often well supplied with fish. But oftener the coral circle is not complete, and presents one or more openings out into the surrounding sea suic- a@ble for the | os of boats. Mosi of the inbabitants Are adapt:d to these natural conditious; they live in bamboo huts and subsist mostly on fish. But some of the in- habitants, and particularly the natives of the most backward islands, do not live in houses and are cruel to a degree. They are treacherous as well as cruel, and will at- tack vessels which approach the shores. They arm themselves with knives, cut- lasses, spears and slings, and fall upon their victims. They are said to be extreme- ¥y cexterous in the use of the spear and to light In torturing with it. Style of the Houses. To offset this in the description it is to be said that on a few of the islands the in- habitants, even though they be all Malays, are somewhat advanced in their humenity. ‘They build themselves houses that are su- perior to those in which savages in general live. The erection of a good house {s con- sidered as an honorabie empioyment, ond the family that is to occupy it is assisted in the erection by all its friends. Ex- amples of the best houses in the Carolines were seen at the world’s fair—they kave roofs of a steep pitch, supported at the center by tall posts. The thatching is done Wicu ism ieaves, which overhang the walls gracefully at the eaves. The space between the uprights is filled with small canes and bamioos fastened together with twine. ‘The twine is variously colored and woven into figures which show on the stisile walls, ‘The floor is laid with bamboo, a moderate space being left in the center for a fire, but there is no chimney. The smoke finds its Way out through the crevices of the walls and roofs. The iargest houses seldom exceed 40x20 feet, and these are for the upper classes. ‘The lower classes are conten: with houses that are 10x6 feet, or even smailer. But they have war-canoe houses, ia which counci!s are held and feastiugs are in- dulged. Tools and Furniture. The hatchet, made of hard white stone, is the principal mechanical tool. It broken to the shape of our hatchets and sharpened to an edge on rocks. Also sea Shells are used as tools, and for such pol- ishing as is done dogfish skins are employ- 2d. It is said to ve astonishing to see what fine work can be turned out with these tools, and certainiy the houses of these people that were seen in Jackson Park in AsM5 justify the belief that they are not without mechanical skill and proficiency in some of the domestic arts. They, like their neighbors of Manila, make cordage, but tkey use a different fiber. They wind vines into ropes, and for finer weaving they take the fibers of the Piantais and banana wee. From them they make a fabric that resembles silk. Mats for covering tne iniddle body are made of leaves that grow at the top of the cocoa palm. The mats for rails and beds are braided by the women from split rushes, or, if the bed is to be very light and nice, it is braided from whole rushes. Music and Dancing. The better people among the inhabitants of the Carolines are very fond of music and dancing. They have but two musical instruments—a pipe like a fife and a drum. The drum is made by stretching a piece of fish skin over a hollow log. The fife has only three finger holes, and is not blown by the mouth, but by the nostrils. And thelr war trumpets, they are instead of bugles the larger sea shells or conchs. Their singing is a prolonged quavering wail, rather than a succession of yocalized notes, but it does very well to dance to. Dancing is 4 favorite pastime among them The canoe houses are often used for the Purpose of the more numerous assemb! which are generally seen at night. No art- Yicial lights are used, but in at the great door shines the light of moon and stars. The dancers stand up in rows and their performance is merely stamping in time to the singing. If this Is not done with pre- sion the dance is apt to end {n a serious row. Religion of the Carolines. On their spiritual side the Carolines are a peculiar people. So far from being ma- terialists, they are transcendeatalists, or something near that. Their worship is of mind or life independent of the body. They have no churches, temples or altars, and they know nothing of offerings w. sacrifices I: is a world of spirits thal th of and worship. The chiefs hav differing from that of the common people only in this—the chiefs adore the spirits of dead chiefs, while the common people, or each family, prays to and glorifies its own ancestors. Their priesthood is herecitary and ts supported mostly by presents. They are the advisers and confidants of the people. Such is the country and such are the peo- ple, the Carolines and the inhabitants, that the taking of Manila has brought into rela- tions with the United States. If the Philip- pines are ours for good, and the tall goes with the hide, then the Carolines will be ours, too. What shail we do with them? oe OCCUPATION FOR CITY BOYS. A Subject Whose Phases Are Attract- ing Much Attention. From City and State. The ordinary yard of an ordinary house in town is usually too sma!l, damp and generally unattractive to offer much in- ducement as a playground to any self-re- specting boy. Over the housetop, however, the air cir- culates freely, and the sunshine purifies and invigorates, and it Is but following the custom of the oldest civilizations in the world to make of the housetops outdoor centers of rest and recreation. A flat can be made with a wooden floor- ing over the tin roof, strong posts with bars between set all about it along the four sides, and over posts and bars good, heavy wire netting, such as Is used in poultry yards; and thus the framework of the boys roof playground {s complete. The interior may be furnished in many different ways to suit the tastes of the three or four boys who may compose the family. The boy carpenter may erect a shed at one end of the flat, a part of which can be used as a receptacle for carpentering and gardening tools, and in the larger part rabbits may be kept, and also varieties of pigeons. This latter interest, both pleasurable and lucra- tive, develops in children the trait of kind- ness to animals and causes them faithfully to discharge duties in caring for their dumb friends, who are thus dependent upon them, besides teaching many useful lessons in natural history which are often a means of leading up to a loving reverence of the mysteries of God. Horizontal bars, quoits, a seesaw and other games, and the much-prized sand heap for the younger ones, all find a place in the lst of outdoor amusements, and the flat can be made beautiful as well by add- ing to it the loveliness of the garden. This can readily be done with flower seeds and cuttings, patience and a few soap boxes. Those family soap boxes! Why has no one written their eulogy when they and their contents add so much or detract from one’s physical and social well being? The “great army of the unwashed” how often quoted, and what a picture of destitution it con- veys. Mark Twain remarks in ‘Innocents Abroad,” “Monsieur, savon is a necessary de la vie!" There must, therefore, be plenty of good boxes in our ordinary well- regulated family, and these may be filled with good earth, painted, and set along the sides of the flat, upon inverted flower pots, to allow for good ventilation and drainage, and then filled with simple bright flowers which do not require a very deep soil. Geraniums, colias, verbenas and even sunflowers wiil do well, and morning glories, sweet peas and nasturtiums are readily trained upon the wire netting. The boys can take care of these flowers, under par- ental direction, and a deeper interest is added if each is apportioned his own boxes or “garden.” On warm summer days an awning may be put up over part of the Space, and beneath it arranged a hammock, comfortable chairs and a table for books or more quiet games. = The winter days bring also many pleas- ures, as the animals and birds live cozily in comfortable surroundings, and the boys have the usual games on clean, fresh snow in which to play, and a better, purer at- mosphere, both for their physical and psy- chical improvement than is obtainable in the streets of a city. ——+o+—____ Admiral Montojo’s Flag. From the Chicago Tribune. Claims are made in certain quarters to the possession of the flag captured by Ad- miral Dewey from the flagship of the Span- ish fleet at Manila. These claims seem to be without foundation. Section 1554 of the Revised Statutes provides: “That the Sec- retary of the Navy shall cause to be col- lected and transmitted to him at the seat of government all flags, standards or colors captured from enemies of the United States." The following section directs him to deliver them to the President for tne purpose of being “preserved and displayed,” under the direction of the President. These laws are mandatory and must be obeyed by the President. Before these flags can pass out of the possession of the government a special act of Congress is required, and as proof of the correctness of this state- ment a measure is now pending in Con- ress authorizing the President to return captured confederate flags. Several futile attempts in this direction have been made, but the flags still repose in the basement of the War, State and Navy building, where they will in all probability be jomed by the flags captured at Manila and elsewhere during the progress of this war. Sa ee An ingenious machine for making sand- wiches is used by many of the ocean line steamships. It cuts and butters the bread, and the machine can be arranged so that the bread need not be ‘buttered if the op- erator does not want it to be so. In mak- ing 1,000 sandwiches three hams and elev- en pounds of butter are saved, it is said. on account of the accuracy with which both are cut. FORTY-FIVE YEARS AGO An Account of Guba as It Was at That ~ Time. Same Conditions as Held Just Before This War—A Writer Who Wrote With Prophetic Pen. From the New York Times. In the very first number of Putnam’s Monthly Magazine, the date of which is January, 1853, after the introduction, there is an article on Cuba. The subject chosen some forty-five years ago as the leading features in Putnam's shows how important it was then considered. The article is un- signed, but it was written by Richard Bur- leigh Kimball, the author of “Undercur- rents of Wall Street Life’ and “Letters from Cuba." Were the author of this ar- ticle alive today (he died In 1892) he would see how prophetic he was. Eighteen hundred and fifty-two had been a year of turmoil. The Napoleonic coup d’etat of 1851 had unsettled Europe. There were the beginnings of those troubles with Russia which brought about in 1854 the Crimean war. In his introduction to the article “Cuba” Kimball wrote, “We cannot, if we would, remain indifferent to what is passing in any of the civilized states. One great effect of freedom is to fill the heart with an earnest desire that every living be- ing should participate in its privileges.” In 1851 the Lopez expedition had made a landing at Marillo. Lopez was captured and garroted. During the same year Col- onel Crittenden was shot. In 1852 first ap- peared a decided action on the part of the President of the United States, Mr. Fill- more, refusing to join Great Britain and France in a treaty which guaranteed to Spain the possession of Cuba. In 1852 there was a conspiracy in Cuba, and its leaders were garroted, shot, or sent to prison for life. The article then in Putnam's Maga- zine was a timely one, for Cuba then occu- pled public attention. This is an extract f the second page of the article: ‘here is almost within sight of our own shores a province of one of the monarchies of the old world whose inhabitants are suf- fering under greater and more oppressive burthens and are governed by a sway more absolute and tyrannical than has ever been exercised against Sclave, Maygar, Poie or Indian. It is the Island of Cuba. Mr. Kimball describes the various cap- tains general, and shows that on the ac- cession of Miguel Tacon there began series of injuries, cruelties, and oppres- sions against this unfortunate island un- paralleled in tae aistory of civilized com- munities * * * Tacon possessed a jeal- ous nature, was short-sighted and nar- row-minded, and had an uncommon stub- bornness of character.” And these are the true Spanish traits of today—that is, of the Iberian functionary. The Tacon policy was about this; that the Island of Cuba can only be Spanish or African. Describing exact conditions when the article was writ- ten, Kimball writes: “We have seen that the position of the Creoles in Alba is that of an oppressed and raided race, yully sensible their that they now regard power of the oppresses them with indignation; notwithstanding their earnest desire to be free, they are kept under by the ter- rors of a servile insurrection and the fear of a relentless persecution. But do the Cu- bans despair altogether of Mberty? Have they no hope from any quarter? or, if from any, from what quarter? There is no doubt that they look to the United States, and to the United States only, as their ultimate hope and ealvation from the cruelties of Spain. ‘Then comes this remarkable passage: “What is in the future? Cuba will be- come a part of the United States. The how or the when it is uszless to predict. Political events have transpired so rapidly within the last few years that ‘That of an hour's age doth the speaker.” “We are borne onward by a force which seems hastening some great consummation, If all do not agree as to the result which these changes are to >riag, no one can shut his eyes to the changes themselve They have multiplied within the year; they are multiplying; they will continue to mul- tiply, * * * What is to be done? Shall we attempt to stay this sweeping current, and be carried away by 1t? or snall we rather ,do_what we may to control and direct it?” Exactly the same bruad argament of humanity which one reads every day as the main reason for our quarrel with Spain Mr. Kimball wrote aboout in 1853. “The people of the United States assert political, religious and commercial freedom: they believe in the philanthropic mission of their country to extend the same through- out this hemisphere. * * * As a people, too, we contend that the physical and moral wants of mankind cannot be disregarded. If subjects are oppressed by tyrants, sup- ported by brute force, the citizen of the free state will be very likely to use his in- dividual might to take off the frons from the victims.” The article in Putnam's Monthly is an un- commonly able one, historically correct, and in exact accordance with the feelings of today. Liss CAUGHT A CARP NAPPING. Big Fellow Weighing Nearly Thirty Pounds Speared by a Farmer. Frem the New York Pres The farmers in the vicinity of Gardner- ville, where Rutger’s creek runs into the Wallkill river, being unable to do any farming during the last week, had great fun with the carp. The streams in that vicinity have swollen, flooding acres and acres of meadow land, and into these new feeding grounds schools of the Wallkill river hog fish penetrate. The water reach- ed a depth of two feet and a half, the carp’s favorite depth, and the movement of @ school, or even one particularly large fish, was easily traced. The sporting farmers climbed out on rail fences and lay in wait for the fish on the top rail, armed with an ordinary stable fork. When a fish passed through the fence the farmer speared him to the ground, where he soon died. William Kernick holds the record of the week for the largest catch. He is the onl farmer about Gardnerville who has a tall pair of wading boots, and he got out among the hogs where the others could not have ventured. He saw the tall grass Waving as a carp disturbed it, and, wad- ing carefully to the spot, discovered the tail of a big fellow protruding from the grass. The fish was burrowing in the rcots of the log, and was too busy in the operation to pay any attention to an or- dinary young farmer with a heavy four- pronged garden fork. Kernick brought the fork down with all his strength through the grass and about six inches ahead of the waving tail. For a few moments the water flew around as if a hundred fish were trying to get away, but Kernick knew his business, and he held the fork firmly. The fish, when placed on the scales in the country store at Gardnerville, weighed twenty-nine pounds and three ources, and was, without doubt, the larg- est carp ever taken in Orange county. ———+ e+ ___ Discovery of Coal. From the Engineering and Mining Journal. Some time ‘ago it was proposed to cele- brate this year the 700th anniversary of the discovery of coal in Europe, which, it was claimed, was made near Liege, in Belgium, in 1198. Dr. F. Buttgenbach has now pub- lished a pamphlet to prove that the first discovery was made eighty-five years ear- Mer, in 1113, in the basin of the River Worm, north of Aix-la-Chapelle. He brings forward much evidence to prove that out- crops of coal were worked in that year and long after by the monks of Kerktrade, who first discovered its qualities as fuel and utilized the mineral, or “black earth” as it was called. The word “kuhl,” an old Ger- man term meaning a pit, was the origin, according to this statement, of the German “kohl” and the English “coal.” The gen- erally accepted legend has been that coal was first used at Liege by a blacksmith named Hullos, from whose name comes the French “houille’’—coal. He found that the “black earth” which outcropped near Liege could be used in the forge instead of char- coal. Coal, however, had been used at Sheffield, in England, some fifteen years earlier for the same purpose. —___+ e+ —___ Miss Sadie Webb of Porter township, Ohio, for two years has discharged person- ally her duties as contractor on the United States mail route’ No. 31,277, which takes in five thriving towns. Every day except Sunday she drives thirty-two miles, mak- ing 192 miles a week. RANDOM.. VERSE. —2r_ In Praise) of War. From the Londor Out “We recognize ut last OW Trout Poet) I bear a throat from attic hi Preelaim this latter valiant theme: “To live is nobler than to die." It is not laud of gun and pikey It is not zest for battle a: ‘That makes all virile mew;dislike This ery—this caltif cant of ax, Why should the race be to the slow? Wherefore the weak enjoy the prize? Fools upon brother fools bestow ‘The laurels wrested from theswise? To hear this milk-veined patriot pipe One would believe a word of yice, Of hatred, lust and greed_were ripe ‘To merge it into paradise. Wi it It we should warp and And, as the other earth worms are, Grepe daily dully in the dust. God, life and inspiration tell ‘That war is physic for the soul Enduring peace would prove + ‘That was alone can make us whole. that war Is not of God."”— is cf life—existence war; ry Through war are peace’s triumphs won; what consists the raddy flood Which bears the ships of progress on If it be not of human blood? Still is it true, who stands aside With babbling lip and cringing hands Must hold him ready to divide *With better men his goods and lands. Let them preach peace—this puling sect; Our ancient creed is current still, And iron shard, by mercy checke Incarnate wrong to cure, must kill. A duy may come when peace shall be When bicod shall cease to surge and mar; Yet take the truth I fling to th Today what truth liveth lives by war! ooo Fortune and Misfortune, Fair Fortune is a fickle miss, Not long with one her sta; In baste she gives a smile, a kiss, ‘Then vanishes away. Not so Misfortune, constant maid, Her fancy never flits; No haste is in her mann She seats hersel ss ‘ashioned Flowers, Oh, for the dear, old-fashioned posies, Growing close by the kitchen door; And for the lo familiar faces, Gone from our gaze forevermore! staid, and knits. Heartscase sweet for he: Ragged ladies and four-o'ciocks; Marigolds with wealth uncounted, Cabbage roses aud hollybocks. are aching, Old-time pinks, with their spicy odor, ‘Tiger-lilles and columbine; Honey sweet in its golden chalice, Hununing birds in the climbing vine. Sunflowers tall, that turn their faces ‘Out to the west as the sun goes down; Morning-glories, that close and cower Under the rays of bis burning frown, Clover fields, with the bees a-humming, Drowsy grasses which sway and nod; Busy reapers the ripe grain cutting, Fragrant breath of new-mown sod. eee. This Was His Sword, W. S. Vail in the Atlanta Constitution, ik This was his sword. It dangled beside hiw When the hand of bis mother Caressed his bright balr, and her t Dewed his cheek at thelr parting. It was rattled by jostliug compailons, When the swift, swaying train Threugh the pine woods Went, roaring and shriek- ing. With its scabt re ‘dit toughed the broad deck which sought that green island, * crystalline, waters. Fair island: “the simile ef the, sea.”” And it fashed as Le stood.on ihe ridge, Where the pulms, tall, upjestic, Kose white, with green tryudw set against a blue sky. F Yes, it threatened, it flashed, gud it cut, valcade dashed through’ smoke, When the wild And stern valor struck down the oppressor. °* * Then it jay in the dust In a still, nerveless hand, pT This was bis sword > <i ‘That Mes now so lovingly: On the casket of ebony, | 3 Pressing down the torn Folded over bis breast. And now that same mother's band, ‘Tremblingly, silently, In the gloom-darkened ae Steels along the smooth bony, Steals wlong to the tags, ‘When touches the sword, * ¢ * But God says, “Dear mother, By tho blood of the brave Is homanity cleansed, And bis work 1s not lost, Nor his life blotted out." In Action, From the Springfield Republican, When the blue-black waves are tipped with white and the y trade-winds blow, When the palu crowned coast in the offing les, _, With sands Uke the driven snow, When the mighty hulls of the battle ships—the nation’s streagth and pride— And the ‘ghostlike little torpedo boats are lying side by side; Ween all ts still save the screaming gulls, as they circle high o'erhead, When navght is heard on the steel-bound decks Save the watchers’ measured trea When far to windward a tiny cloud goats up from the grim old fort, Then the piercing scream of a shrapnel shot and the ten-ton gun's report. ‘Then armored decks are alive with life, and the culls to quarters below, Then the gun crews stand beside thelr guns and the stokers sweat below, ‘Tken the jingling bells in the engine room clamor and call for speed, And the thousand tons of hardened steel shake like a wind-tossed reed. Now the guns of the fort are belching flame and the shot and shell fali tast, three are down by the forward gun and six in the fighting must; the ships rush on in majesty while the gun- ners bold thelr breath sa pray to their God to spare them still from the hurbor’s hidden death. Now Now And Now a string of fluttering signal flags from tho bridge of the flagship ty, the Gutlings, rapids and twelve-inch guns with a crashing peal reply; the smoke hings low o’er the shot-torn wave, dark death lurks in the air, hever a word by thé guns 1s said while they spit and boom and tare, ‘The fleet steams up in battle array, and the broad- sides crash and roar, While the rumble and rip from the enemy's guns reply from the smoke-hung shore; The once white decks run red with blood, while the surgeons work below, And fort and fleet, with shot and shell, pay back each blow for blow. Now Now And At last a flag of truce is raised and gleams through the drifting smoke, « And the havoc and wreck of « gun is seen where a ten-inch shrapnel broke; At last the guns of the fleet a from far and near Are heard the shouts of answer cheer with still and now a victor's crew as they cheer. ‘The shrilly call of the bo's'n’s mate the crew from quarters pipes, And the dead are stretched on the quarter deck, wrapped in the stars and stripe: While the setting sun sinks in the ball of fire, Lighting the scene of a battle fought and the car- nage of man's desire. Had Nothing (6 Say. From the Indianapolis Jodynal.! You Want to be a soldier,’ Jim? Well, I don’t blame you, Ind; oy’ “a ‘The fever that has’ hit ‘you Gow once monkeyed with your dad. T know exactly how you eel, you're achin’ fur a rap, An’ want to go an’ help to, wine, ol’ Spain clean off the map. Kala When I was young an’ Fulf o¥ nerve in eighteen sixty-one I wasn’t half content tit wé¥ coupled to a gun. An’ now ti me you're a. feelin’ Jn that same ol’ hos- ray : An’ want to emulate youf‘dad"I've not a word to say. a I hope you've reckoned uyithe an’ counted it cy wel mite fort a Fur war, as Gen'ral She¥inan"said, ain't fur re- moved from hell! 3-9 You'll find tt ain't uo plefife, Sm; you'll soon find out that you Le ee Won't have a bit o” nervé’ too!’much in pullin’ of you through. Tt ain't ‘no clrcus-day affair when shells begin to 8 An’ comrades lay in bi ’ pain a-writhin’ in pie y jood an’ pal b An’ bullets, jes’ lke maddened bees, zip past in fiendish “way, But if you have a mind to go I've not @ word to T want to tell you honest, boy, that this ain't no su E T've seen ‘fee of loyal pride a-dancin’ in jour even. ve been waitin’ fur a week to hear you make your talk pi a # ‘show ‘Sone daar acon good ol’ fightin” tock, nom. to close the matter up. I'll tell you fur- ther, Jim, Your daddy would it x sea gid have knocked you out or you'd If, when youd hear your country call, you'd make a cowal Tm prond o” ! bless - That's Tre got to say. eet 700 boy. ‘That's alt PICTURESQUE SANTIAGO The Venerable City on Which All Eyes Have Been Fix:d. Natives Are Not a Hard Working Lot— Everybody Smokes In and Oat of Season. From the New York Herald. The bcttling up of Cervera’s fleet in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba is not the only claim to distinction possessed by that curi- ous old city; for, as the inhabitants never fail to remind the traveler, it has long been a disputed fact whether Columbus landed first at San Salvador or Santiago de Cuba. Hewever, that may be, St. Jago, as the Spanish call it, is far older than any other city in North America. The peculiar narrow streets and the fa- cades of the houses remind one of some of the old towns in Italy, but there the re- semblance ceases, for the houses of Santi- ago are nearly all built around a court, or Patio, as they are in most Spanish towns. With their high barred windows and glar- ing plastered walls, on the outside they look more like prisons than like the Ameri- can idea of dwelling houses. But go inside the patio and everything is different. There are palms and shrubs and flowers, and in scme of the richer houses even fountains. Meals are often served in the patio in pleas- ant weather. In Santiago as well as in other Cuban cilies, the proprietors of most of the shops and warehouses live in the same building in which their business is conducted. The shcps open about 9 o'clock in the morning and remain open till about ncon, when they clcse up and everybody goes to the mid- day meal. After that everybody takes a nap in the heat of the day. The shops open up again about 2 o'clock in the afternoon and remain open till half-past 5 or 6. Go to an office in Santiago at half-past 8 in the mcrning and nobody will be up; go again at half-past 12 and everybody will be eat- ing; go again at half-past 1 and everybody will be asleep. In the evening the people sit around and take life easy, and smoke, of course, for in Santiago everybody smokes, men, women and children. Even the waiters in the hotels and cafes pull out a cigarette and smoke between the courses. The porters and cab- men smoke at all times and seasons. The stevedores on the wharves smoke at their work, and even the clerks in the dry goods stores roll a cigarette and take a puff be- tween two customers. The senorita blows a cloud of smoke from under the lace of her fascinating, mysterious mantilla, while negresses walk along the streets puffing away at huge cigars. Children of eight and ten may often be seen with cigarettes in their movths, and it is no uncommon sight to see men and women smoking in church. The country houses around Santiago are infested with mice and lizards. The lat- ter are very alert and active, and quite un- like the sluggish lizards seen in northern climates. There is a curious kind of mouser whose presence is rather encour- aged about Cuban country houses. These Mousers are not cats, as one might sup- pose, but large, black snakes. As they are quite harmless, nobody thinks of being afraid of them, and they come and go as they please unmolested. Ail the young bloods in Santiago wear white duck suits and straw hats, and they may be seen lounging around the city and the Club de San Carlos, looking cool and comfortable, and smoking, of course, for that gces without saying in Santiago. At the Club de San Carlos, which is the Union League of Santiago, the Spanish officers from Morro Castle and the gilded youths of the city make their idling headquarters. It is a pleasant place in which to loaf, drink cooling beverages, smoke and gossip. The club house is only one story high, like most of the buildings in the city, and in front 1s a little garden with a fountain and flowers. the Club de San Carlos is the Cafe Venus, where, an enthusiastic travel- er declares, as good a meal can be had as at Delmonico’s. There is less wine drunk in Cuba than in most Latin countries, but there is a native rum, called bacardi, which is made from molasses, and which, well mixed with water and cooled with ice, makes a very smooth sort of beverage and a somewhat tnsidious one. A quart bottle of this rum costs only 50 cents, and as a good deal of it is usually drunk at the midday meal it is not to be wondered at that a nap immediately follows it. At all places in Santiago where drinks are sold, as well as in the telegraph offices and post office, one always finds lottery tickets on sale, and ren and boys peddle them about the streets. These tickets vary in price from 10 cents to $10, and even more. Of all the cities in Cuba, Santiago, with its 40,000 Inhabitants, is by far the most picturesque and interesting. It is many years older than St. Augustine, and after walking for an hour or two through its mediaeval lookin& streets the most matter- of-fact American is ready to believe any romantic story about the place which may be told to him, except, perhaps, the story of the immense chain stretching from Mor- ro Castle to a huge staple in the wall of rock on the opposite shore, fifty yards away, which can be hove up by a capstan tll It is level with the water, so as to form an insurmountable obstacle to any attempt to force an entrance in time of war. If he is familiar with the language the Spanish proverb, “Hablo el buey y di jo bu’ (“He speaks and say, too”), used in referring to people who talk very “big,” may occur to him, and he will be inclined to doubt the story of the chain till Schley end Sampson settle the matter once for all. ——__—<or— MANY USES FOR CORK. Great Variety of Articles Now Made From This Product. From the New York Commercial, During the last five or six years cork has come to be used for many different pur- poses. Imported corkwood made into stop- pers for bottles, jars, etc., yields about 35 per cent In finished corks, the remaining 65 per cent being waste or “cork waste.” Prior to $803 manufacturers of corks found grzat difficulty in disposing of this waste. They could not sell it, and not infrequently the only way to dispose of it was to burn it up. Now, however, owing to the great variety of articles made from this product and to the many uses to which it is put, cork Waste not only finds a ready market here, but the demand exceeds the home supply, and large quantities of the waste are im- ported. ‘The bulk of the cork imported into the Unit2d States comes from Spain and Portu- gal, through the ports of Seville, Lisbon and Gibraltar. As is generally known, cork is the light, porous, elastic outer bark of the cork oak, which is indigenous to south- ern Europe and northern Africa. The tree is also found in France and California, but the preduction from these is v2ry limited. When the cork oak becomes fifty years old the first crop, known as “virgin bark,” is gathered. This is used extensively in church decorations, landscapes, etc. After the fifty-y2ar mark is reached the tree yields a crop of cork about every ten years. The length of time between crops Tanges from eight to twelve years, and depends largely upon tha kind of soil in which the tree grows. Strips of the outer bark are taken from the tree by expert cutters. The cork bark is never removed from the entir2 surface of the cork oak. After being removed frum the tree the strips of cork are spread out on the ground and after a certain um> are placed in large piles, where the air, having free access to them, dries and seasons the strips. Moisture to any great extent gr2at- ly Nene and permanently discolors the cork. About five years ago there was a Scarcity of first quality cork In the market, owing to prolonged wet weather. Corks made by machinery ar2 far su- perior to those made by hand. Small corks up to a.certain diameter are cut out with the grain of the bark, so to speak, whereas corks of larger diameter have to be cut from the’strips much in th2 same manner as figures and designs are stamped out of sheets of tin or iron. Among the many articles made from cork waste is the familiar cork grip for bicycle handles. By a secret process the waste is press3d into the required shape and, strange to say, the grips thus made are stronger from cork wood, although the latter wives mM Co! tter gives a cried smoother Gas Cork slabs —— sulating purposes, preservers, soles and insoles and p2nholders are also made from cork waste. It is very largely used for a filler in age and ice houses, since cork is a non- conductor of heat. Another and a unique use of cork is that to which it ts put in the interior ironwork and plates of tronciads and stsamers be- tween the bottom of the vessel and the sec- ond or false floor in order to prevent rust. The interior surface of the ironwork is coated with paint, and while the latter is still wet it fs powdered with cork dust in the same way that wood is sanded to re- semble stone. The waste sometimes takes the place of asbestos in covering steam Pipes. Both cork wood and waste make a very desirable handle or grip for fish poles, which is a comparatively recent idea. Cork hats and helmets, gill or seine corks, ring buoys and mooring buoys, cork fenders for vessels and cork caps or washers for tops of cans represent also some of the uses of this article. Strong competition is met by manufactur- ers of cork stoppers in the patent stoppers now largely used in bottling establishments. Ground or granulated cork is employ2d in a variety of ways, not the least of which is in the manufacture of wrappers for pack- ing bottles and glassware, which consist of cork in granulated form stuck on heavy and sometimes fluted wrapping paper by means of a gluey preparation. Mattress>s and cushions for yachts and steamers are made from cork shavings. Among the other uses of either the cork wood or waste are cork paving blocks, arti- ficial limbs, cork wheels for polishing glass, cork bath mats, cork strips for churns and for polishing guus in the navy, plaster2rs’ cork floats and so-called cork “lame pieces or lifts,” used to build up the soles of shoes for cripples. FEATS OF HORSEMANSHIP. Thrending a Fine Needle While Going ata Fast Gallop. Frem the Chicago Inter-Ocean. “The greatest feat of horsemanship I ever saw performed was by a Riffian irregufar cavalryman,” said Captain J. E. Rathbone of Los Angeles, Cal. This was in reply to a story related by an ex-confederate, who had served with General J. E. B. Stuart in the valley of Virginia. The latter told how, on more than one occasion, Turner Ashby had ridden up to an opposing cavalryman, seized him around the waist, lifted him out of the saddle as if he had been a child, and taken him back on his own horse into the confederate lines. It was agreed that this was more of a feat of strength and display of courage than horsemanship. “I have seen Cossacks at full gallop snatch a baby from its mother's arms, toss it into the air, catch it, and repeat the per- formance,” said Captain Rathbone. “I once saw an Indian rider in the far west spring from his pony’s bare back while the animal was moving at full gallop, pick up an arrow, and remount instantly in a standing posture. I have seen other per- formances all over the world, but for a neat, clever, clean-cut feat this Riffian ex- ceeded them all, I think. “Several of us had been at Gibraltar and found ourselves at the town of Millia on the Riffian coast. We were entertained by the Spanish commander, who did the hon- ors finely. One morning we rode outside the town and reached a level stretch of sand, where there were a number of Riffian horsemen. They were fine-looking fellows, barb type. “We were amused some time by their charges and evolutions. They would throw their swords and matchlocks in the air, catching them by the hilts and stocks in- fallibly. Finally it was announced that something of unusual interest would be ac- complished. One of the men produced a needle and a piece of thread, possibly two or three feet in length. They were both handed around for inspection. I suppose the needle was a cambric one, and the thread fifty to sixty fine. When we had duly inspected both, one of the men signi- fied he would thread the needle. He gal- loped his horse down the sand about 400 yards or so. He finally wheeled his horse and remained stationar: one who held the needle them in his hand and rode toward the other. When he had covered about two- thirds of the distance he halted and waved his hand to the farther one. Immediately the latter spurred his horse into a gallop and came toward us at full speed. As he passed the other he took the needle and thread from his companion, bent over for a moment, and pulled up when he reached our party, holding the threaded needle tri- umphantly facing us. The nd thread waved over his head.” ——_ + o-+____ LIQUID HYDROGEN. Discovery and Character of the Most Extraordinary Liquid Known. Frem the Londen Tin At the meeting of the Chemical Society Professor Dewar gave a short account of the first attempts made to determine the physical constants of liquid hydrogen. Among the most interesting points brought forward was that just as in the middle of last century chemists were startled by Cavendish’s discovery of a factitious gas, namely, hydrogen, having a deusity of one- fourteenth that of air, so now they were Startled by finding in liquid hydrogen a liquid having a density of 0.07, or, roughly, ore-fourteenth that of water. Hydrogen occluded in palladium has been found to have a density of 0.62. Whatever, there- fcre, be the form in which it exists in that metal, it is more than eight times denser than in the liquid condition, and conse- qvently must be in a state of chemical cembination, and not merely in one cf liquefaction. Liquid hydrogen is thus by far the most extraordinary liquid knewn. The lightest liquid hitherto obtained is liquid marsh gas, which has at its boiling point a density of about two-fifths that of water. Liquid hydrogen, therefore, bas orly one-sixth of the density of liquid marsh gas. and the surprising thing is that having such a small density it is so well de- fired, so easily seen, and so capable of col- lection and manipulation in vacuum ves- sels. Professor Dewar has determined the boll- ing point of the liquid by means of a plat- inum resistance thermometer — practically the only form available at such low tem- peratures. The result he has obtained is— 238 degrees centigrade at atmospheric pres- sure; in other words, liquid aydrogen boils steadily at 35 degrees above the zero of ab- solute temperature. From all analogy it is inferred that the lowering of temperature that will be produced by forcing the liquid to boil in vacuo cannot amount to mure than 10 or 15 degrees. It is, therefore, pos- sible to say with confidence that at the present moment science can project no method that will get nearer to the absolute zero than 20 or 25 degrees. The boiling point of liquid hydrogen is really higher than suggested by theory and the work of other experimenters. The den- sity of the vapor coming off from the boil- ing Nquid is eight times denser than the gas at ordinary temperatures, wheveas in the case of liquid air the vapor is only four times heavier. Liquid hydrogen, again, is 100 times denser than the vapor it is giving off, whereas the density of liquid oxyzen is 255 umes greater than that of its vapor. The atomic volume of liquid hydrogen at its boiling point is 14.3, while that of oxy- gen ie 13.7. - It may be mentioned that (h2 platinum resistance thermometer, when ‘mmersed in the liquid hydrogen, is cooled to within six platinum degrees of its zero point, so that if cooled these few degrees more—as it can duced pressure—it must break down, be- ‘be by means of the liquid boiling under re- coming an infinite conductor with no re- sistance. —_+ e+ __ Electric Light Furnishes His Meal. From the Kansas City Star. In a hole in the stone retaining wall of a lawn at the northwest corner of Prospect avenue and Independence boulevard lives an unsually large and well fed toad. An electric arc light hangs over the corner and at night it attracts myriads of bugs and flies. It is then that the toad leaves his moth falls near him and then he hops cau- tiously near to it. His long, red tongue shoots out with the quickness of a and the insect disappears down his throat. it takes a good many bugs to make a full meal for this toad, and often he js on the G ‘ 3 and attired in snow white burnouses. They were mounted on small animals, slight, but quick and wiry, of the thoroughbred Arab HARDSHIPS OF WAR Fall Heavily Upon the Officers Sta- tioned at Tampa. 80 SAYS AN ENGLISH CORRESPONDENT Though He May Be Writing in a Sarcastic Vein. HEADQUARTERS IN A HOTEL ‘Tampa Correspondence of the London Mail The United States army for the liberation of Cuba is sitting down amid orange groves and palm trees, and bright flowers, at Tampa, in Florida, gazing dreamily out over the Gulf of Mexico. General Shafter and General Wade, with the headquarters staff, and as many of the army war corre spcndents as there is room for, are at the Tampa Bay Hotel. Here we have been for a fortnight or three weeks, or more or less —in this talmy scent-laden atmosphere one lores count of time—and here, for all one can see, we are likely to remain until the war is over, The troops are In three camps. One is at Pert Tampa, which is nine miles down the bay—one regiment there is encamped on Picnic Island, all among paim tr pines—the others, cavairy and artiller: on the mainiand, but quite handy wooden pier, where the fishing is ox Another camp ts on Tampa Heights, a road which is knee-deep in loos All the regiments under canvas have advantage of nice, dry, sandy ca grounds and plenty of palm and pine t At the Hotel. The Tampa Bay Hotel—that is to say, headquarters—is a butlding a couple ef hun- @red yards long, in the Alhambra style of architecture—the London Alhambra sty It bas a gilded cupola and a broad veranda, embellished with dropping woodwork and shaded by sun-blinds. The commi at ts on the table d’hote system. Breakfast is served from 7 until 10, dinner 1 to 3 and supper 6 to & The bar in the basement, where it is very cool in the mornings, is open all day until midnight. The bed rooms are light, airy and clean. The thermometer is somewhere handy to % in the shade. It is probably a good deal more than that in the sun, but then we make a point of never going out in the sun. The most grievous of we are suffering is the terribx long walk from the great, cool, airy hotel lobby, where we smoke and otherwise carry on the war, to the dining room. The dining room is at the further end of a corridor that is considerably over 100 yards in I the hardships length. The gentlemen of New York wh sit at home at ease little know what the soldier feels who cannot get his simple table d’hote rations without walking a couple of hundred yards or more. And not infrequently when one gets back from the dining room to the lobby one finds thet one’s favorite cushioned rocking chair has been appropriated by some one else. How ever, hardships are incidental to wal we cheerfully make the best of them. Sometimes Think of © All the various duties here briefly indi- cated we religiously fulfill, Now and then we think of Cuba. This afternoon in the lobby I yawned and said to the man in the next rocking chair—he was an officer of high position on the staff—“Have you any—heigho—idea when we are likely to make a move?” He yawned in his turn and said it was too warm for ideas. Every day seems to bring another week's post- ponement. Today there that when, if ever, we do go the expeditic will consist of 16,000 regulars. That means wecks of preparation. But it is far too hot to speculate. Better make the best of our hardships. Tampa is very rich in fauna as well as flora. Up in the queer little town, which, sidewalks and all, is elevated on wooden piles above the loose sand, there is a most amusing acrobatic monkey, which is chained to the veranda of a house. Some- times when it is not too hot we go and watch him. Then there are hundreds of gorgeous parrots; we have some here at headquarters as well as a few pretty mon- ke Then, also, in the town there is a live crocodile on exhibition in an old pack- ing-case. He was caught not far away in the interior, and smells awful. In front of several of the shops, on the wooden plat- form which forms the main street of the town, there are cages in which other ani- mals are kept. We go and look at them all in turn. Violent Exercise. But, after all, the hotel—that is head- quarters—is the coolest place, and for choice the central lobby. When we feel the need of a little exercise we go out on the shady side of the house and look at a horse. A man waits there all day with a selection of horses, which he says are sult- able for soldiers and war correspondents. We stand under a tree while the man trots the horse up and down. As soon as wi feel that we have had enough exercise of that kind we say we do not want a horse just yet, and go back into the lobby and sink into a big chair. The best cigar of local manufacture costs five cents, and we all have cigars to burn. I do not know whether among all the rare and beautiful trees and plants and shrubs amid which we are living there are any specimens of the lotus plant. But I do know that its delicious fruit is being plentifully provided by the commissariat, and is being eaten freely. The balmy scent-laden air is as soft, and smooth, and warm as new milk from the cow. A restful, blessful feeling of sweet indolent content pervades the place. You know now why it is that the southerner is easy-going and poor, and why he drawls in his speech. There are men here from the north—even from New York and Chicego. They are fond of dis- cussing the southerner. They talk about bim with sympathetic contempt, as rest- less, active men usually talk of an ami- able ne’er-do-well. They remark how idle he is, how resourcelexs and slow, how if he bad been born with the enterprise and energy of the northerner the southern states would have been developed to beat the band years back. But you notice that when they say these things they are them- selves lying back in cushioned rocking chairs, that their speech slackens into a gentle murmur, and that they frequently yawn. If Chicago had the climate of Tampa, it would be a dreamy little village, with broken planks in its wooden side- walks, just as Tampa i Something Startling Happened. This morning, for the first time in a week, something startling happened. A war cor- respondent, who had fitted himself out with a big revolver, was unable to resist the bloodthirsty desire to let it off. So Le picked an orange from a tree, fixed it in the cleft of two spreading leaves of a giant cactus, and took a shot at it. Now, we are a community of hard warriors, whose in plements of trade are guns and bayonets. But we have been down here lotus eating for a week or two, and the effec: of the sound upon our ears Was as starting as the sudden smashing of crockery. It got upon our nerves. We jumped to our feet astonished and indignant. Of all sounds in the world of noise, that of letting off a gun was the most unexpected and the most out- of-place. A grizzled old soldier, who has a terrible record as an Indian fighter, jumped to his feet from his rocking chair and said “Jerusalem. What in h—'s that?” When we found out what it was we were exceed- ingly angry and indignant. We io!ld the comes a rume right in a picnic who does not know how to behave himself. Such is the fierce tension of the soldiers’ strenuous life. The Tie hail flay | | #