Evening Star Newspaper, May 17, 1925, Page 76

Battles With Monsters of the Deep F Noted Scientific Expert, Who Also Holds Records as Hunter of Big Fish, Describes Some of His Most Impressive E Tn a life devoted to exploration and deep sea research, Frederick albert Mitchell Hedges has gained numer world's records for the capture of gfant fish and has added largely to the knowledge of ichthy ological science. Educated at Birk- hamstead University College, Lon- don, Mr. Hedges' deep sea. research work has been carried on chiefly in Central Amerl the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean With iy Richmond, Brown who also takes a heroic part in the encounters with sea monsters de scribed in the present series of three articles. he penetrated an unknown portion of the hinterland of Panama in 1922 and 1923, where they discovered a new race of peo ple. Mr. Hedges' fishing expeditions have enabled him to present large collections of heretofore unrecord ed specimens to the British Mu seum and museums of the Univer- sities of Oxford and Cambridge He is a fellow of the Linnean So- ciety, the Zoological Hociety, the Roval Geographic Society and the Royal Anthropological Institute A. MITCHELL HEDGES, F F.R.G.S., F.R.A.T ASCINATED by the subject of | life in the remote past, thou-| sands — probably millions — of | vears ago, 1 have,since my | school days been given to con- | juring wp in my mind such visions as that of battles royal between an enor- | mous fish-lizard (the ichthvosaurus) | and a gigantic, long-necked prodigy (the plesiosaurus) with that monstros- ity (the pterodactyl). a huge reptile with wings shaped like a bat, but with a spread of 20 to 30 feet, fivi overhead. The struggle would prob. ably take place in w_swamp, amidst trees of almost unthinkable height and beauty These terrible creatures have van ished with the successive changes on the surface of the earth, but it has | for many vears been in my mind that | in unknown tropical waters and in the depths of the Seven Seas, where more protection has been afforded, there still exist monsters comparably as great as those living in the remote Mesozoic epoch. It was ove commenced my then I have various parts | BY F. F.L.S.. i 1 | | | 20 years ago that T investigations. Since hed many waters in of the world, though chiefly in that part of the Pacific coast from the Gu of Lower Cali fornia to the Colombian border and in { the Caribbean, around Jamaica, Co-| lombia and Panama. One frequently hears exaggerated tales of great fish. A news report ap rears that Capt. X of the observed a huge monster g the top of the water in (here follows the latitude and longitude), and people smile. From other quarters come tales of the mythical se» serpent and huge fish seen with tusks, and people smile again When asked if T believe in the exist- ence of creatures almost past the im- agination in the depths of the ocean my answer is an unqualified “Yes.”| My own experiences have only served 10 corroborate my views that there ex- ist in virtually unknown and known waters forms of life which still remain | | CARIDBEAN SEA GULF OF FANAMA PORTION OF LAND AND WATER TRAVERSED BY MR. HEDGES ___ON HIS EXPEDITIO much the same as they were millions of years ago. During the Mesozoic period mon- sters of fearful aspect and gigantic size, seen neither before nor since, swarmed upon earth. The sea, how ever, abounded with still more amaz- | ing colossi, and within its depths were | horrors beside which the most hideous of nightmares pales into insignificance. | and in the fact that today, teeming in tropical waters, are mammoth rays (or_sea-bats), brobdingnagian sharks and sawfish, we have living evidence that the fish life of the Mesozoic pe- riod still exists in the ocean o o INABLED to undertake an { “ tious program of two years' deep- | sea exploration work, T left Avon- mouth, England, early in the month of September, 1921, and proceeded di rect to Jamaica. Though the fishing there was slow until after Christmas, 1 finished up the vear in splendid stvie. About miles_down the coast from Black | Ttiver I struck a leopardray. It is really most extraordinary the fight this fish can give, and it is necessary to exercise the greatest care in landing him, the long. whip- like tail in the male being fitted with a spear, situated about a foot from the body. This is their weapon of defense, and sny one unfortunate enough to have ambi- | sreat pain, and in many cases I be fish 1 struck another, which 1 was| ously caught these two whiprays came a slow, strong pull. 1 had en-| through the rod rings. I struck hard | sradually 1 applied the brake until stance still continued its curlous mo I was not far off shore, and by ap- gulde, gradzally maneuvered the dug. “he ugliest brutes I have ever seen. hideous object. Its appearance did It s armed like its prototype. the about 9 to 1 inches longz, !l this dagger-like weapon pierce his flesh is almost certain to suffer. The wound becomes inflamed, causing lieve the poison produces a species of paralysis. ‘Within an hour of catching the first | also successful in landing. And so,| on the first day of the.new vear, I re: turned to the spot where I had previ In a short time I landed still another whip-ray of 70 pounds. A quiet period followed, when lh!*r(‘l tirely discarded my light rods and, tackle and now used only heavy gear. | Steadily the line commenced to run and was surprised to find there was no rush. the fish still proceeding in the same steady, resolute manner. the strain must have registered 50 pounds, with no appreciable result for this extraordinary moving sub- tion along the bottom of the sea “Tt's another ray!” T exclaimed. “But a different species. plying sreat pressure on the line stepped the fish from heading farther out to sea iffiths, my native fisher aut to the beach, where T got dut and gayed the fish from the shore, and after about an hour beached one of With _its dirty brown back, dilating nostrils, repulsive eyes and a long whip tail, this fish was indeed a not belie it. for here indeed was one of the most terrible forms of death lurking in the ocean. leopard or whip ray, with a dagger in the tail, but this is a much more formidable weapon, fashioned of ive rated down the ecdge like fishhook Pasbs. Q& coming into vontact with ™~ | autor |t | was still straight for the channel wherein I had | beach, owing to the d | originally nd on arriving | dagger in the tail. | snagged. obvious the fish was sulking or rest- ing As a matter of fac [any object the tail with this project ing dagger flashes around, and, pie ing the flesh of its victim, produces deep puncture, into which a most vir ulent poison is transmitted. The ef fect of this poison is that the victim is seized with violent spasms and mus cular contraction, the hody arched al most rigidly, the blood turns biack and death ensues within three to six min utes I AVING beached the fish. our diff culty now was how to kill which was essential could be removed from the mouth large log of wood thrown up by the sea seemed to offer an opportune weapon. Raising this on high, time and again we struck the reptilian like beast on the head, each time the tail curling over. Ultimately we solved the difficulty by working a log of wood across the tail. thereby preventing its raising up. and then with a long knife severed it from the body, together with the poi onous dagger. T was able in this way to measure it. It weighed 260 poun The vitality of this creat was marvelous. After 1 had performed an v upon it and when completely vered each portion for long after retained considerable signs of life. On another occasion I impaled a large bait upon the hook and cast out with the hope of christening a new line with a record fish. The rod was placed in the bottom of the boat with the point over the side, and I com- menced to fill my pipe, when in the midst of this most necessary opera- tion the reel started to revolve. My hope of a peaceful pipe was nipped in the bud. Ralsing the rod, I gently feit the moving line, and, slowly - plying the brake, stru But 1 might just as well have driven my hook into the bed of the ocean for elt. 'he run continued. Twirling the screw, T applied tremendous pressure 1ddenly the fish stopped. Then quite ¥ * unexpectedly came a violent rush that | Only ; nearly tore me out of my seat a miracle saved the dugout from turn- ing turtle. Luckily I was gripping the rod firmly with both hands, other- wise it must have disappeared 1 shouted to Griffiths to get up the mooring stone, and as soon as this left the bottom we shot ahead in the wake of the great fish. Putting every ounce of strain on the line T dared. T now let the hidden monster tow us. That it was something mighty I early realized—something that only a ques n of time and endurance would finally conquer—and I reconciled my self to a long-drawn-out battle By now the fish had passed com pletely through the channel and was traveling along the bottom in the shal lower water between the reef and shore, but, quickly changing its tac- tics, with a wide circular movement it once again made for the entrance to the open sea, shot through and commenced to travel down the coast, keeping close to the outer side of the reef. Again it changed its tactics, this time straight out toward the main ocean, and it continued steadily in this way for at least three miles. Any attempt to play this leviathan in the ordinary way was entirely out of the question. All T could do was to keep an equal pressure on the line and guard against a possible rapid doubling, or the other hundred-and one eccentric movements usually em ployed by a hooked fish. oo e Y this time we were getting very anxious, not knowing how far out we might be towed. Remembering the strong breeze which invariably start ed up at midday, the outlook was far from promising. 1 knew that if the fight continued until the sea zot up. any chance of landifg a it, | before the hook | Al all the give? monster of | this description in choppy water, with | waves breaking over oux Jittle boat, was infinitesimal. It was therefore an immense relief when the fish slow Iy performed a large semi-circle and commenced to travel toward shore By now nearly twoe hours must have passed, and Griffiths, detaching the leather belt round my walst, in the center of which is fashioned a strong pocket for taking the butt of the rod thus easing some of the strain, fast. ened it round his own middle, and relieving me of the rod, carried on the fight, while 1 sat in the stern steering the dugout in the wake of this seemingly inexhaustible creature. After the first wild dash it had con tinued working close to the bottom a moderate pace (totally different from the velocity of the shark), and this_now becoming perceptibly slow er. T was reasonably certain by its fighting tactics into what I had struck “We're sald. ‘I think it, Backra, him—big devil,” replied the perspiring Back in toward the reef swimming. heading into another huge ray!" 1 the hooked it close once more it stopped. It was exactly as if the line was fixed in the coral. Neither jerking, pumping nor jarring the lina would apparently lodge the brute. Had it not every and then moved a foot or two should really have believed we now 1 1 verily it as the latter. for after réemaining like this for over half an hour it sud denly charged once apparently full of vitality ever, straight through the opening in the reef into the shallow water shorewards. long time up and down, parallel with the shore, slowly but persistently it swam. Just hefore its race through the reef channel 1 had ken over the rod, and now the strain, coupled with “JIERE INDEED WAS ONE OF DEATH LURKING IN THE OCEAN * | | | | T the blaze of the sun and heat. was al most past human ‘endurance. Noth ing but the continued excitement could have kept me going. ’]‘Illll»rr\v\:r was now blowing strongly from the sea. but fortunately in side the coral harrier we were not af fected by the troubled waters without but I knew by the wind it was past midday and that we must have been fighting the creature for over hours. The fish resumed its sulking, hug. ging the bottom after every run 30 to 40 yards. Persistently we manip- ulated this strange adversary nearer the shore, where the depth beneath us was not more than f feet. @@ixty rds away from the boat there was suddenly a smashing and lashing, creating show ers of spray and a veritable whirlpool. In the midst of the vortex we could see a thin black tail curling spasmod ically “My How beats me. “We land thoroughly excited ( him if stay all night The fish submerged. anon the black surface—and slowly Grifliths, we's on earth ing cried the but ever and we were getting { closer to the shore Here, just hove the t where ' the ape and trees grow almost to the water's edge, are about five or six thatched native huts—a little isolated colony of native fishermen, eight or tem of whom had for some time been watching the fight I have always found the men in this part of the world splendid fellows and I knew 1 could count on their assist- ance. It was well past 2 o'clock before T finally worked the fish, an immense rav, up on the sand close to the heach The great bulk appeared almost life less, being thoroughly played out, and, having landed from the boat, I mark se: cocoanut thankful myself to squat down rest, meanwhile keeping the line taut If only there had been a big rise and s in the Pactfic, it would | have heen a simple matter to have left fall of tide. | it until the ebb. but here, varying only |a iffiths. | same fish | almost | | dis- | teered were | by But as it was it was quite|of the channel and believe | stor few inches. the sea remains at level year in and year ont. T dared not attempt myself—or let others try—to drag the fish up on the iy, the How left my two or 1 the fact that 1 had automatic behind! However. three of the natives volun to g0 to Black River in their dugouts and fetch it. Iloisting their curious little sail, with the strong s seze behind them, they rapidly scurried ygh surface fo the vil But it whs an entirely different the return. With the wind in their teeth, it entailed pad back virtually the whole dis cursed across the ro lage dead dling tance. 1 sat on the beach, awaiting t1 It was an hour and three-quarter em be For a | fore they finally arrived With the automatic T fired six shots through the brute’'s head, and then. with an ever-wary eve on the tail, we 4ll waded in. fastencd a rope through the nostrillike apertures, and with a VMOST TERRIGLE FORMS HE SUNDAY four | of of water | tremendous We land tail appeared ahove the was and poisonons passed ont | Heaveho! All together!®vere a to drag it ashore It a remarkable fish of the whip-ray species, the back ered with white spots. This really awe-inspiring brute measured 7 feet 6 inches ucross the wings, 6 feet 9 inches head to base of tail the whip tail from base to tip being 9 | feet 6 inci so the total length from tip of head to tip of tail was 16 feet 3 inches. Its weight was 410 pounds This by a long way broke all my pre. | vious records of weight captured on rod and line. Both Grifiths and 1 I{‘l g from the tremendous reaction following hours of fighting. Our trength was at such a low ebb that {it was fmpossible for us to paddle back {10 Black River. The native fishermen | hereupon came to our assistance, and while we sailed in one of their jarge | dugouts our little boat was brought home. | ye | was yard or from were now suf- R "JHE following day L was so stiff and it was xo painful to move around the room that 1 had perforce to re. | main indoors. 1 realize that it is very difficult to sive an adequate description of what a fight with such a great fish is really like. It has to be actually experi- enced before the amount of physical endurance necesgary to stand a strain like this. lasting several hours. can be appreciated, especially in a tropical climate. Al those who have partiei pated in athletics on a very hot day { will have some smail idea how the blazing &un and heat of the tropics tell on the human frame when it is | subjected to such inordinate exertion. When eventually leaving the West Indies we reached Balboa at the Pa- | cific end of the Panama Canal, I had made for myself the strangest con- signment of fishing tackle ever seen. The biz shark hooks I had designed, with their chains, welghed 14 pounds each. had the barb on all these hooks filed to the keenness of a razor's edge. The mouths of all great fish are like iron, and with an ordinary hook there s an exceedingly ~doubtful chance of penetration X Tt would be difficult to draw a pen- picture of what the men looked like walking to the yacht, loaded down with the weight of these large hooks and chains, to be followed by more, car- rying big coils of the 3,000 vards of manila rope T intended to use for my lines. The order for this tackle al- most paralvzed the emploves at the Balboa docks. They thought I had lost my reason At Colon we had obtained | cruiser vacht, the Cara, and this I tiud put into thorough order. The deck was cleared of any impediment that might obstruct rapid movement, my guns overhauled, and an ample sup Py of ammunition put on beard. T now felt ready to give battle to the giant fish of the Pacific Proceeding out to Taboga Tsland. off the Canal Zone, at the rocky point farthest from the village, T got ready to put my theories to the test. Tak- ing one of the 14.pound hooks, I im- paled an entire haif-side of sand- shark which we had previously caught upon it, attaching it with its chain to 100 yards of haif-inch manila rope. I did the same with a second piece, each of which weighed about pounds. a giant to land it a 20-ton " ME dinghy was brought the bow, and Robbie, the colored engineer of the former owner of the vacht, and T lowered one of the baits down. He then rowed away from the side of the vacht and cast it over, re- peating the operation with the second. T had now my lines out on either side of the boat, and there was nothing to be done but sit down and wait for what might happen I was keyved up to a pitch of the | sreatest excitement, for surely, I ar- | gued, the size. if nothing else. of the great lump I had fixed to the hook ) would attract something. Lady Brown tand Rohbie did not seem to think much lof my idea of super-hooks and baits. | “How much longer are vou going to | sit there boiling in the sun?" at length ! demanded Lady Brown, for the heat { was so terrific that the varnish on the ideck was all coming up in blisters, {while any metal exposed to the full Irays of the sun was so hot that it could not be touched 1 began to wonder if these mighty fish really would feed on a dead bait {on the bottom. T was drowsing, con- juring up all sorts of visions of Juras- sic monsters, when I seemed to see one of my big lines move. {came to life. Yes, sure enough the | slack was commencing to leave the | deck—slowly, but ever faster. | ""“A fish!” T'roared. “A fish!" | Up jumped a Panaman whom we i had brought with us and Robbie as. if {they had been shot, while a scramble from the back of the boat told me | that Lady Brown also had now been shaken from peaceful slumbers. {The line was fast running out, gain- |ing in epeed every second. What to {do 1 had no knowledge. I knew that i to attempt to strike and hold it with | our strength would be absolutely ridic- { mous—we should probably be whipped off the deck and into the sea like ind-blown straws, Robbie was. about to catch hold of alongside jw STAR, WASHINGTON, T quickly | D. ¢, MAY 1 but I shouted to him to let it alone. With a jerk and almost a thud it tightened on the capstan. One could hear the half-inch Manila rope creak under the strain. Slowly the yacht it | BY A LADY OF THE RUMANIAN COURT. ERHAPE it is just as well for the Inited States that reasons of state oblige the “Lady Tal- Jeyrand” of the Balkans to de- lay her long anticipated visit to Washington. It is a bit troublesome, the world in which she lives just now, what with King Boris furnishing a target for Communistic bullets and the Soviets snarling _and snapping around the edges of Bessarabia. - It won't be this year, but sooner or later Queen Marie of Rumania- will betake herself to New York, and Americans will for the first time meet a queen who knows her busines: Her majesty is so exceptionally handsome and so affably democratic in her manner that she disarms sus- picion. But ask any of the trained diplomats of Kurope who is the shrewdest schemer around the polit- ical chessboard and he will confide that there is a female Machiavelll in Rumania who can give them all cards and spades. Not so long ago she made a sort of disguised royal progress through Europe seeking sons-in-law-——that is, husbands for her beautiful daughters and loans for her beloved Rumanians. And the press of every country she visited warned its statesmen to be- ware of her beguiling charm. True, she did not make off with any prizes that trip; at least no one loaned her any millions, nor did the Prince of Wales fall into the arms of her mar- riageable child. But who knows how many loans she extended or what se- cret understandings she reached? In England they admitted she trinmphed in a difficult situation. It is no secret that Queen Mary did not | like her stvle and thoroughly di | trusted her ‘arts. Yet she, too, suc [ cumbed, or at least seemed to. When | { the prince heard that his mother and | lthe “angel without wings” from Ru- | mania were chumming around he ex- claimed: “My hat! will get on They did gzet on. right through the weeks Marie spent in England, cven though at the state ball the gowns of the 1wo queens clashed and Mary was seen to eve dubiously the bizarre jeweled cross that hung to Marie's shapely waist and the Russian crown which rested on the gleaming gold of her hair, Fay IHERE was a reason. Queen Mar is determined to marry the Prince of Wales respectably at any cost, and —who knows but that his fickle fancy might fall on the beautiful little daughter of Rumania’s beautiful | queen? No one denies that the Queen of England is a wise woman. One is inclined to think that all the storfes of this dazzling and beautiful «Queon Marie have been told, but chance has taken me to Rumania and into the court Jife at Bucharest quite frequently. and I learned things about her there that I have never seen printed anywhere. And it is upon the intimate and informal _little in- cidents of my association ‘with her that my conception of this extraor- dinary woman is based. 1 wonder if it is generally known, for instance, that at one time the King of Rumpania, weary of Marfe's flirtations, threatened her with vir- tual banishment from the throne? Her response to this threat indicates that, even then, she was at heart the con- summate diplomat the world later dis- covered her to be. What do you think Queen Marie did at this crisis of her life? Weep? No.. Storm? Certainly not. No, her majesty robed herself in all the bar- baric glory of Rumanian costume, placed her royal crown on her golden head and with that sunny hair flow- ing unbound down her back she went to the King’s chamber and knelt peni- tently at his feet. Of course, his majesty could not resist her appeal. Who could? So he reached down and drew her into his arms But a man can embrace while he does not forgive. Though held cap- Itive by her beauty, the King robbed her of many prerogatives that she had enjoyed and pushed her as far as pos- sible into the background, even going to the length of giving the control of her children to a governess. { With the serene patience of the very clever woman, Marie endured these I wonder how long they “TWO BULLETS, INSTEAD OF l\ll,LI\(’\:I'HE FISH, SEEMED TO LASH IT INTO FURY.” = e - = = - 7,; 1925—-PART 5. urnish . Perilous Adventure Fria rode ahead. The anchor chain at the bow tizhtened “Haul up the anchor—quick!” I cried, and up it came. Freed from this, the vacht was now being towed. QUEEN MARIE, THE “LADY T/ xperiences. I was in the meantime pulling thej | other big line in as hard as I could. | “It's one of them®" I cried. ‘‘One of the giants I've always dreamt 1'd land Whether we'll succeed with this one I don’t know, but if we do, mark my words, it'll be the greatest fish I've ever captured!” * % ox K W now all four seized the rope and hauled on the moving bulk be- neath the surface. We were com- pletely helpless so far as endeavoring to check its progress was concerned, s0 there was nothing to be done until it had become exhausted. Slowly it _circled, the vacht follow: ing, we hauling on the rope the whole time. At last we were glad to find that with our joint strength we were able to commence to work the fish nearer the vacht. By strenuous ef- forts yard after vard of the line was regained. ‘We now gave the rope a turn around the capstan, while Robbie fetched the rifle, 50 that all might be in readiness to give the coup de grace when—as we hoped—it was finally brought alongside the yacht. Persistently we worked it closer and closer, until at Jast slowly to the surface the great brute came alongside. The steel hook had been driven com- pletely through, behind the lower jaw, with no danger of ever coming out until cut. What a mouth! Rapidly T fired two buliets through the base of the head. But it had quite the opposite effect to what I had hoped. Instead of killing the' fish, it seemed to lash it into a fury. The three others had let go the line simultaneously with my firing, and with immense speed off again it rushed. The vitality of this fish was simply astounding. It took us fairly half an hour before it was again. worked up to the vacht | most dead. but to make certain smashed another expanding bullet through it. Then there it lay, fleebly flapping its tail. Fastening the line tight, we left it, and all rested for & quarter of an hour. Now came the question of what on earth we were going to do with it. I was determined to perform an autopsy, as I was most anxious to obtain all the knowledge and data I could of these greater inhabitants of the sea. Fifty yards off the beach we dropped the vacht's anchor, and, unfastening | the rope from the captain, allowed the fish to sink to the bottom, and, taking the reverse end of the line to that hitched around the tail, rowed ashore in the dinghy with it. Then all to gether we pulled the fish in until it reached shallow water. 1t was virtu } I could see it was al-| 12 hours, so-that all T had to do was possess my soul in patience until the ebb, which would leave the monster high and dry. Slowly the tide receded, but it was over two hours before we were able to get a full view of our quarry. It proved to be a shovel-nose shark, far and away larger than any I ye seen or expected to see. It measured 14 feet 9 inches in length, 11 feet inches in girth, the circumference the jaws being 5 feet 4 inches weighed 1,460 pounds (Copysright, 19 Report on SS than one-third of the prisoner in the Texas Penitentiary mentally normal and only 11 per ¢ are free from obvious physicai disease or defect. These facts are reported by the national committee for menta hyglene following a survey of cond tions in the penal institutions Texas made at the request of State. The committee urges a medical a; psychiatric clinic for study and tres ment of offenders, better hospita facilities .and a training school also urges that prisoners be giver determinate sentences so that the may be released when they are habflitated and are judged ready become useful members of soctet “Psychiatry,” says the committee “does not subscribe to half-b e theories of pseudo-scientists like those who recently ascribed all ‘emotional insanity,” which seat in the brain, which and incurable and can only vented by sterilization Neither it subscribe to the maudlin e talism which would have locked up or punished. The chiatrist does maintain that the mental and physical condition of the prisoner has a great deal to do with his conduct and that an effort must be made to understand his mind an personality before sound correc treatment can be administered “Experts who have died penal situation believe that co |tive criminology has reached knowledge of the criminal and his habilitation that we may safels wisely make investments in buildi apparatus and pereonnel. Additi expense in the interests of crime pr vention is true econdmy run The commitiee’s report the majority of the Texas are under 30 years of aze an Criminals. are of the crime has inher: in the ally high tide, and in this part of the world the Pacific Ocean has a rise and fall of a mean average of 16 feet every D OF THE BALKANS.” It happened one night while the King's subjects milled around outside his castle walls. His majesty had been accused of holding pro-German views and the rabble roared hoarsely: “We want war!” Interest in (Continued from First Page.) E be- Surratt tavern at Surrattsville cause of the condition of his leg. Booth's pistols. These are not iden tified, but it is believed that of the four on hand Booth and Herold car- ried at least two. One of the pistols can he identified as Payne's, because the rod beneath the barrel, used to ram balls into the chamber, was broken when Payne struck Frederick Seward over the head, fracturing his skull. The pistols are about 1313 inches long and are inclosed in black leather scabbards. Booth's compass. This is contained in a smooth red leather box about 24 inches square, the top of which is se- cured by a metal catch. The compass is round and incased in brass. At the top, of course, is the customary glass. On the face of the compass is an eagle With outstretched wings. The needle is slender and of sensitive blue steel. 1t is balanced on a pivot from below. The inside of the box is lined with red plush, on which are seven tell- tale drops of tallow candle. These signs mutely relate the story of how Booth and Herold obscured the can- dle under the desperado’s black slouch hat, got the direction and crossed- the Potomac at dead of night in a small boat. The compass is alleged to have been found hidden in Booth's hat, but the hat has disappeared, if it was ever found. Other authorities say Booth was wearing a cap when he was killed. The cap Is likewise gone. Boston Corbett’s carbine. This is slights and awaited_the hour of her cevenge: The: hour- struck. during: the! wa i the same as the Booth carbine ex- eapt “thit™ It has no shoulder strap, :_a:: different Queen Marje stepped out on the bal- cony and answered them: “You want war. So do T will have war—in half an promise vou!" Then like an avenging goddess she Booth Relics ame serles, and fs stamped deeper and more plainly near the breech with the name of the manufacturer and the place of manufacture and date of patent Miscellaneous articles include the following: The pick (without handle), which was found in the possession-of Lewls Payne when he was arrested. at the Surratt home in Washington; a cipher box supposed to have been { seized at the office of Judah P. Ben- |jamin, Confederate Secretary of State, at Richmond, and with which Booth is said to have been familiar: a long wooden bar used to.fasten the door to the boxes from the in- |side, preventing ingress from the audience; a long rope, said to have been obtained to use in the abduction of Mr. Lincoln in March: Mrs. Lin- coln’s opera glass case, picked up in the boX; a small white-handled hunting knife discovered in the room of the conspirators at the Kirkwood House, where the Vice President, ac- cording to Stewart's book, lay on the bed in a dingy little room? a pane of window glass sent from Meadville, Pa., containing a prophecy, scratched with a diamond. of ‘the death by poison of Mr. Lincoln, and several knives in scabbards, the property of the conspirators. Among other articles which are missing are Booth's pipe, which no doubt disappeared with one of the cavalryman captors, and his crude {wooden crutch, about which so much’ ils heard as he fought his way through swamp and over hill and dale to fhe utter bewilderment of a pursuing Moh~er 700 detectives and 2000 trogps, And we hour, T much can be done to remold | personalities of voung offenders | socially acceptable forms. Personality Helps Rumania’s Queen To “Sell” Her Kingdom’s Demands swept straight into the presence of the King Declare war on the allied i half an hour or T will proclaim a re olution with mv son as king,” was he inexorable ultimatum {AT the King replied = I Marfe did not tell me history that within the half hour Ri mania had declared war on Germar No wonder that Von Bulow himself e declared <o damned clever in dip! 1 am afraid she will upser our plans Her good Jooks and he | brains will do for us And Von Bulow is by v diplomat who feared the | manian charmer. There are m other members of foreign diplomatic circles who feel distinctly nervo | when they see her lovely face. For {not a few of them have all too vivi memories of wonderful moonlit nights in the Carpathians and on the banks of ‘the silvery Danube, of fountains splashing softly, of the songs of night ingales. of the clash of weird Tzigan music and a soft voice coaxing fron them secrets they would wish hac been left untold But in her own Rumania they and trust her. In their history will live as the Teacher Queen—the teacher who practiced what preached They love her because shares their love of gambling. Ofter she has told me that of the e citements of her life the greatest thril is the one that comes when she takes a flutter with a horse. S herself is a splendid horsewoman. She drives a horse as well as she does : car, and rides like a Diana. And a the same time her omelet’ would ne disgrace the chef at the Ritz, I know because I've eaten them For a royal personage she is ver: close to her subjects. It is not diff cult to obtain an audience with her Indeed. a large portion of her time, as well as King Ferdinand's, is de voted to receiving not only visitor but any one else with proper crede tials, for it is the custom of the king and queens of Runi to give thei subjects advice on all sorts of matters The queen told me how one old lad from the country made the arduo: journey to Bucharest to ask her what she should feed her chickens old lady explained simply th had heard that her majesty was good at raising poultry and preparing them for the table, 1t the ghost of old Rismarck hap pened to be hovering around the pa ace that day his historic scowl mus have grown deeper and blacker. For it was Bismarck who once said “That damned little golden-haired girl will cook our goose in the Ra kana.” And Queen Marfe did just that Quee! But it or She is acy that means the Rt Radio for Miners. [ XPERIMENTAL work designed ““ {est the availability of radio as means of communication between miners entombed following mine fires and dlsasters and rescuing parties on the surface, conducted by the De partment of the Interior at the Pitts burgh experiment station of the Ru reau of Mines. indlcates that ordinary radio apparatus would not be practi cable for the purpose, says the Sei entific American. There is some promise, however, the application of “wired wireless,” or line radio which under mine conditions means transmission along metallic conduc ors such as water pipes, compressed air pipes, power and lighting circuits and mine car tracks, and the use of ground-current mothods of signaling. Because of the higher conductivit: and resultant attenuation of the high frequency radio waves in penstrating the earth, relatively high power equip ment, which means buik and weight, Would be required for mine rescue purposes. For reliable communica tion by pure radio over distances of even 1,000 to 2,000 feet througl strata, transmitting equipment with an input of from 50 to 200 watts or more, and used in conjunction with a sensitive receiver, would be required Such equipment would be much ‘oo bulky, heavy and complicated to ful Al the requirements for practical mine apparatus. Sounded That Way. “Smith i* wrapped up in his auto.” _“When did_the accider\ -hagpen” S