Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, March 10, 1895, Page 19

THE OMAHA DAILY BEE: SUN DAY, MARCH ! 10, 1895. ON BOARD AN OCEAN FLYER s‘olle and Oonfusion Preceding the Te parture to Sea, MECHANICAL FEATURES OF A STEAMSHIP Explorations and Observations of a Locomo- tive Engineer—From Saloon to Stoke- Hole—How the Eogines and KFurnaces Are Tended. 1805, by Cy b, 26.—At (Copyrighted, LONDON, 26 midnight seventy- five fires were lighted under the nine big bollers, and shortly after a cloud of yellow smoke, rolling from the huge stacks, was floating over the bosom of the bay In thelr various homes hotels prospective travelers slept dreamed thelr voyage on the morrow. By daybreak the water evaporating Into steam fluttered through the Indicators, and as early as 6 a. m. people were seen collecting about the docks, while a fussy little holsting engine worked away, lifting freight from the pler. At 7 a few eager passengers came to | the ship's side, anxiously inspecting her, and an hour later were going aboard . Ofcers ‘o uniform paced the decks, guarded the gangways to keep Intruders back, and Wadnan) 1,000 ot and and others of the crew, in citizens' clothes, min- | ¢ gled frecly in the crowd, having a sharp eye | for suspiclous characters, Finally the steam gauge pointer advances o the 100 mark. Noise and confusion wax wilder. Tho ship's crew is busy, from cap. tain to meanest sailor, until at 10 o'clock, thirty minutes before sailing, the sound of | hurrying feet is lost in a deafening hum of | human voices. All visitors are now refused admittance, except, perhaps, a messenger with a belated letter, package or flowers for peoplo on_board. The little hoister fairly flies about in a herole effort to 1ift everything that is loose ends and store it away in the ship's hold. | The picr is invisible, buried beneath a multi: tude of peering people. All being ready, the captain is notified, and at his signal the first engineer pulls the lever and starts the little engine whose work it 18 to open the throttle; the steam shoots | out from the big boilers into the great cylinders, screws begin to revolve and the ocean liner, with 1,000 passenger: 00 tons of coal and 3,000 pounds of Ice cream, leaves tho landing. Hundreds of handkerchiefs flutter and hun- dreds of people say good-bye with eager, up- | the | ana_again turned faces that try to smile through tears, vents himeelf from belng shot headfirst into one of the furnaces. Here I watched these grim tollers this wild night, and it seemed the more she rolled, pitched and plunged the more furlously they fed the furnaces. What with the speed of the ship and the speed of the wind, the draught was terrific and the fire boxes seemed capable of consuming any amount of coal that could be thrown into their red throats. Though absolutely safe the stoke room on a night like this is an awful place for one unused to such scenes 80 terrible that a young German, working his y trom New York to Hamburg, was driven Insane. As the sea began to break heavily on the sides of the boat and make her rock like a frail leaf in a autumn wind, the man was soen to try to make his escape from the stoke hole. For an hour he worked in the #ame nervous way, always looking for a chance of escape. At last the ship gave a roll that caused the furnace door to fly open. and with the yell of a demon the green stoker sprang up tho steps leading to the engine room. Here one of the engineers soelng the man was Insane, blocked the way. The poor fellow paused for a moment, and stood shaking ke an aspen, while the cold perspiration rolled down his face. Two or thres men tried to hold him, but, without the slightest effort, apparently, he cast them off, and, running out on the steerage deck, Jumped Into the s MAKING A RECORD. All through the night, above the roar of ocean, at regular intervals, came the sharp whistle of the head stoker, and -t longer intervals the cry from above: “Al well.” On Sunday morning when we awoke, the waves still washing up the steerage deck and the great ship rolling from side to side, we could hear from the stoke room the same rill whistle and the same cry outside of All's well.” Then, like a flood of sunlight, camo the sweet strains of the anthem, which tho band always plays on Sunday mornings, the sea came up and closed our windows and shut out the lght of day, and the sound of the sea drowned all other sounds and secemed to suggest ‘‘Nearer My God to Thee.” The waves rolled pack, the sun shone through the window and the hymn was heard again. When the reckoning was taken we were all surprised to learn than on such a tempestuous sea this wonderful ship had made a mile more than on the previous day on a summer sea. “Look away,” said the captain, as we passed an ocean steamer that seemed to be standing stiil. “Is she at anchor?” I asked. “No," said the captain, ‘“she's making twelve knots an hour, and only a few years ago she was one of the ‘Ocean Greyhounds.’ ** Within the last decade the time between ew York and Southampton has been re- duced by nearly two days, but those who look for a like reduction within the next ten years will surely be disappointed. A ship of 30,000 horse power s able to make only a little over a mile an hour more than one of 16,000, If, by nearly douhling the horsepower, and with STOKERS. Some are sad with the pain of partin while others, like Byron, are sad becau they leave behind nothing that claims a tear. THE STOKE-HOLE AND THE STOKERS. Thirty-six stokers take their places before the furnace doors, each with two fire boxes to feed. There are three stoke-holes, twelve men in cach, and twelve buckets of cold water with a bottle of red wine in every bucket. As the speed Increases the great ship begins to rise and fall, not with the swell of the sea, for there is no swell and 1o sea, but With her own powerful exertion. When the ventilators cateh the ocean bree and begin to drink in the salt alr there Is rejoleing In the stoke room. Unfortunately for the stokers the increased draught oniy increases the appetite of the furnaces, that seem famishing for fuel. After four hours in tho heat, semi-darkne: and dust of the furnacs room, the stokers come out, and fresh men with fresh bottles take their places. Gradually the speed of the boat increazes. The fires are fanned by the ever-increasing breeze, he furnaces fairly Toar, and the sccond shift work harder than tho 1f there is no wind, instead of allowing the stokers to drop dead, the engineer on wateh simply turns a lever and starts the twelve large steam fans, and saves the firemen just before the bene buttons are melted from thelr overall The stcamship stoker Is Inferior mentally to the locomotive fireman, but physically he 18 the better man. 'The amount of skill re- quired (o stoke Is nothing compared to that of firing a railway engine. The locomotive fireman nust use his own judgment at all times as to how, when and where to put in a fire. The ocean stoker simply waits for a whistle from the gang boss, when he opens his furnace door, hooks, rakes and replenishes his fire, and at another signal closes the doors, the same whistle belng a signal to his brother stoker at the other cud of the boiler to fix his fire. The white glare of the furnaces when the fires are being raked is so intense that the place seems dark when the doors are closed. And through that darkness comes the noise of the rattling clinker hooks, the roar of the fires, the squeak of the steering engine and the awful sound of the billows breaking on the ship. Ouce above all this din I heard stoker sing Oh what care we, When on the sea For weather fair or fine? For toil we miust In smoke and dust Below the water line, Then came the sharp whistle and the song was cut short as the stoker bent (o ks work, and agaln the twenty-four furnaces threw thelr bllnding glare luto our faces. With all the apparatus for cooling the :(nlllm room it is still & first-class submarine ell. One night when the sea was wicked, roll- ng bigh and fast from the banks of New- foundland, when the mast swung to and fro like 4 great penduluw upside down, 1 climbed down to the engine rooms. When the ship shot downward and the screws went out of the water the mighty engiues flew like dynamos, making tho Luge boat with her Aundreds of tons tremble tll the screws went down into the water again. AN AMATEUR STOKER DRIVEN INSANE | in . rooms Lhe boitlers lay cross- p, 80 when she volls it is with 25 per cent more firemen, we can shorten the tinie barely a half day, then indeed does the problem become a difficult one. A TYPICAL LINER. The Furst Bismarck is 502 feet long, 27 feot wide and 60 feet deep from her hurricane deck to her keel. There are nine huge boilers, 15 feet 7 Inches In diameter and 19 feet long. It requires 130 stokers and trim- mers and 300 tons of coal a day to keep them hot.. They boil down 100 tons of water every Lwenty-four hours. There are, ali told, fifly-five engines on board the ship. The steam that drives the boat passcs through three pairs of cylinders. The first are 43 inclies in diameter and work at a pressure cqual to eleven atmospheres. Th» next, 67 inches, working at four atmospheres. The third ‘are the low pressure cylinders, 106 s in diameter, with one atmosphere pres- and a vacuum equal in working power an atmosphere, There are two main one to each screw, or propeller, in_diameter, each 142 fect long and weighing a ton for every foot of stecl There are twelve engincers and twelve as- sistants. Over all these men there is a chief engineer, whose duties are simlar to those of a master mechanic on a rallway. His office is a little palace, finished in beautiful Hun- garian ash, supplied with easy chairs and soft couches. There is an indicator which shows at ull times the pressure under which the various engines are working and the speed of the boat, THE WATER-TIGHT COMPARTMENTS. When we were ready to go below our guide pressed & button, which, he explained to us, was a signal to the englueer in charge to open the doora and allow us to pass frem one room (o another, for there are water- tight doors between ths engines. 'here are o all thirteen air-tight compartments, o that i & wan-of-war were to stave a hole in one side of the Bismarck that compartment would slnply fill with water, but would do no serious d g In fact, a half dozen holes might be siove in and ‘she would con tnue to ride the waves It the Bismarck were to strike a rock and cave in six feet of her botiom or keel sh would then come to a eolid steel plate or false bottom that would stand almost any pressure. When a boat with a single propeller loses her steering apparatus ste Is in great dan- ger, but with a twin ser ship there Is absolutely no danger. By simply reversing one ecrew the ship may be steercd as a row Loat Is guided by held'ug one car stll apd moving the other, ‘The_electrie light plant alone is of fnter- est. There are four dynames and they sup- y a current for 1,800 lamps. In addition to o lamps in the saloons and state rooms, all the signa! lights are eleetric, as well as the lights used in the steerage and in the supply rooIE. THE TABLE AND THE STEWARDS, The chief steward has been with the com- pany twenty-seven years, and will probab'y be thore as long as he cares to remain There are elghty-four other stewards who re- port directly on indirectly to him. The pas sengers are divided into throe classes—first cablu, second cabin aud steerage, 80 that three separate and complete kitchens and diving rooms are kept up, Tbe food fur sul to nised for the steerage passengers Is better than one wouid expect, when we consider that the company carries them from New York to Hamburg and keeps them on board seven days for $10. The food and service in the second eabin Is better than the average $3 a day Amer- ican hotel. In the first cabin saloon It Is per- fect. Everything about the ship has a mil- ftary alr. The stewards file in In regular order, and when a change fs made they all march out, keeping time to the band, and making, with their neat uniforms and snow white gloves, a goodly sight to see Each table has its own table steward, and at the elbow of each passenger stands a white-gloved under steward, who seems per- fectly capable of anticipaling your very thoughts. It a drop of coffee is spilled over your cup—before you have time to realize it yourself—both cup and saucer are exchanged for ono in perfect trim The regular dinner consists of from seven to ten courses and is fit for the emperor. The wines and ales are excellent, and what surprises every one, they are 40 cent cheaper than in New York In addition to the regular meals, o'clock every evening they serve tea in the main saloon to all who dare to indulge in that stimulant. After that, at 9 o'clock, the band gives a concert fn the second cabin saloon, which is always attended by many of the first cabin passengers. There the people sit about the tables and eat the dainty little sandwiches, and some of them drink the delightful Hamburg beer, while the band at 8 f you are il and remain in your berth the room steward will call a half dozen times a day to ask what you want to eat. If you remain on deck the deck steward will bring you an excellent dinner without any extra charge. THE STEERAGE AND THE STORM. It was the day after the rough sea when we were shown through the steerags, and the women and children were still huddled in their gloomy bunk rooms, recovering slowly from the seasickness of the previous day. Cheerless as their surroundings were, they bad the satisfaction of knowing that the countess at the top was as sick, when she was sick, as they, Forward, whero the ship's side walls are close together, the sailors sleep, Here, when the sea is rcugh, one may experience the sensation of riding in the clevator of a six- teen-story bullding, and as the bow descends the sensation of falling. The occupants of this rough quarter are a rough looking lot, but apparently as happy as cowboys. Every sallor has his regular raticn of rum, while the stokers, in addition to the red wine they have in the stoke room, have kimmel four times a day Just back of the saflors are the etores. In the cold room, where the meats are kept, all the pipes are covered with frost. The large ships all have ice machines and make thelr own ice. There are also two large evaporators, o that if the eupply of drink- ing water should be lost by a leak, or should in any way become unfit for use, drinking er coull be made from the sea. The ne evaporators could easily supply water in the same way for the bollers should that supply run out Two things I should like to change: The tons of wholesome food, delicious meats and delicate sweets that are carried from the tables and thrown into the sea, T would give to the poor steerag Every day at dinner, when the lamps made the main saloon a glare of light, I could see . these poor people peeping in at the windows where the tables were freighted with good things, and it made me sad. Sometimes a mother would hold her poor, pinched-faced baby up to the win- dow, and I couldn’t help wondering what answer that mother would make if the baby were to ask why they didn’t go In and cat. After making the steerage happy I should like to rig a governor to the main shafts, so that the screws would not “cup up” so when out of water. 1 mentioned this to my guide. He locked at me steadily for a moment; then, as he allowed his heéad to dip slightly to the starboard, a sunny smile broke over his kindly face and he replied: “Well, somebody has tried that already.” CY WARMAN. e HOW GRANDMA DANCED. Saturday Evening Gazette, Grandma told me all about it, Told me so I couldn't doubt it, How she danced, my grandma’danced, Long ago. How she held her pretty head, How her dainty skirt she spread, Smiling little rose! How she turned her little toes, Long ago. Grandma’s hair was bright and sunny, Dimpled cheeks, tco, ah! how funny! Really quito a pretty girl, Long ago. 4 Bless her! why she wears a cap, Grandma docs;, and takes a nap Every single day; and yet Grandma_danced 'the minuet, Long ago. Now she sits there rocking, rocking, Always Knitting grandpa’s stockin (Every girl was taught to knit Long ago.) Yet her figure is so neat 1 can almost see her now Bending to her partner's bow, Long ago. Grandpa says our modern jumping, Hopping, rushing, whirling, bumping, Would have shocked the géntle folk, Long ago. No, they moved with stately Bverything in proper place Gliaing slowly forward, then Slowly curtsying back again, Long ago. ————— " RELIGI0US, grace, There will be a convention of the Reformed Presbyterian churches of the world in Scot- land next year. The Rev. Elifah Kellogg, author of “‘Spar- ticus to the.Gladlators,” although over 80 yeara of age, preaches at Sharpswell, Me, he loan bureau started last year by St. Bartholomew church, New York, has, since May, loaned $40,000, and in no instance has had to foreclose a mortgage. The papal revenues from France a few years ago averaged 3,000,000 francs. In 1893 the sum was 1,800,000 francs, and last year it fell below 1,000,000 francs. The African Methodist owns church properly to the amount of $5.000,000. This church gave last year for church and school work $1,484,784 In the latter part of April the Jews of Plttsburg, Penn., will celebrate the twenty- fitth anniversary of the appointment of the Rev. Dr. Lippman Mayer of that city as a rabbi. The famous house at Eislenben, Germany, where Luther was born, has been repaired and restored and newly opened to the public a few weeks ago as a kind of museum of of the great reformer. The pastors' college in connection with Spurgeon’s church has sent out 921 persons into the ministry—twenty-three in the last year. Of this number 100 have died, leaving 937 still actively working, 650 of whom are :xuplm ministers, missionaries or evange- ists Christ church, at Rye, N. Y., on February celebrated the 200th anniversary of the first elections of wardens and vestrymen in the parish, Bishop Potter officiated at the commemoration service, and a historical ad- dress was glven by Thomas T. Sherman, clerk of the vestry. The beardless priest 1s only a matter of custom, there being no edict upon the sub- ject. All of the popes from Adrian VI to Lnnocent X11I, and all the cardinals and other church clerics during the same period, were beardless dignitaries. Ignatius Loyola, St Francis Xavier, Francis de Sales, Vincent de Paul and the Cardinals Bellarmine and Richelieu all wore full beards. ‘The Evangelist says that the largest cross n the world now stands in Drake's bay, North America. Three hundred and four- teen years ago the celebrated Sir Francis Drake landed in this bay, and bis chaplain, Francis Fletcher by name, preached the very first English sermon ever heard in that re- glon, To commemorate this event Bishop Nichols of California and the late George W. Childs caused a large stone cross to be orected on the spot, a cliff standing 300 feet above the sca. The cross is fity-seven feet high, of blue sundstone; several of the stones in It are larger than the largest stone in the pyramid of Cheops. This splendid monument can be seen far and wide, and is literally a sermon in stone. S Jerry Simpson threatens to write a book The subject will doubtless be “The Lamenta- tions of Jeremlah.” b No wine has a purer boquet than Cook's Extra Dry Imperial Champagne. It is the pure juice of the grapes fermented, Episcopal church A NOTED WAR TIME POET The Friend of Emerson, Lowell, Lonfellow and Holmes, RECCLLECTIONS OF FORCEYTHE WILLSON A t Who Never Touched a Pen After the Death of His Wife- Instances of 1is Remarkable Gift of See- ond Sight. (Copyrighted, 18 E McClure.) Strolling into the Boston office of the At- lantic Monthly one mofalwg early in 1863, T met Oliver Wendell Holmes, who, hurrying up to me in his impetious way, said, as he held out a single sheet of the Loulsville Journal: “Read that, and tell me if it's not the finest thing since war began and read it here—you might lose it if I let you take it awa It was “The Old Segeant” by Forceythe Wilson, which had bren published on Janu- ary 1 as a carriers’ address by the Louisville Journal. The poem was lang, but fascinated with it, T read it entirely” through, and re- turning the paper to Dr; Holmes said: *“You are a good judge of verse—do you know any- thing of the author? “Not much,” he answered. “I remember him as a student at Harvard some years ago. His exquisite manly beauty attracted me strongly, but I never got really ac- quainted with him, for he was a shy young fellow. I never tired of looking at him, for he had a form like a Greclan statue, and such eyes as I never saw in man or woman. Longfellow knew him well—had him often at his house—and he tells me that he de- tected then that there was a good deal in him. He said to me after I had read this poem to him yesterday: ‘Ah, doctor! if he lives, he will overtop every one of us! I hear that he lives at New Albany, Ind., and is in some way connected with ' Prentice’s Journal. WILLSON AS SEEN IN INTIMATE LIFE. After this I read everything of Willson that 1 found afloat in the newspapers, and about two years later I made his personal acquaintance. In 1864 I had gone to live in Cambridge, and there for some years occu- pled what \was then known as the “Old Cool- idge Place,” which stood on Mount Auburn avenue, at the head of Elmwood avenue, and thus was directly opposite the residence of James Russell Lowell. The nearest house to mine was also an old fashioned New Eng- land mansion, about 500 feet away, but with grounds bordering on my own, though sep- arated, a part of the way, by a twenty-foot lane that led to my stable. The house was at first unoccupied, but after some months I neard that it had been sold to a western wentleman, who was coming there to live, to be near a_younger brother, then a student at Harvard. He soon moved into the house, but I saw nothing of him for a week or more, being at the time unusually occupied by my own work indoors. Then early one morning, as I was putting my horse, Jeff, through Lis customary exer- cise a stranger appeared at my rear gateway to look on at the performance, which con- sisted of a dance around a ring I had con- structed near the stable—the dance being per- formed by the horse to the music of somo tune either whistled or sung by myself or some chance visitor. I gave little heed to the strange gentleman, for the animal was widely known, and often attracted spectators, but when, with my 5-year-old boy on his back, the horse had danced to Yankee Doodlee and the overture to Norma, the stranger said to me: “May I step inside the gate, sir?” “‘Certainly,” I answered; “come in. My little son was on the horse’s back with- out saddle or bridle, and when the perform- anco was over, the gentleman helped the boy down from the horse, saying: ‘“You are a little mau, sir—you ride splendidly,” and then to me: “T came here, sir, expressly to make your acquaintance. I' am your new neigh- bor."" ““Indeed,” T sald, “I am glad to meet you. Pardon me If T ask your name.” “Willson,” he replied, “Forceythe WHI- son.” “What!” T exclaimed, not the Boy Brittain—only 'a lad—a fair-haired boy sixteen, In his ‘uniform # *“The same,” he answered; smiling and col- oring_ deeply. I added: “I am delighted to meet you, for now we car shout *Victory!” ‘Unto God all praise he ever rendered— Unto God all praise and glory be! 5 For they strike! hurrah! the foe has jusi surrendered (It was then early in 1865.) “It gratifies me exceedingly “that you can repeat my lines. “‘Repeat them!” I echoed, “I think I could recite the half of all you've written. But, come with me into the house. I know you well now, but I want to know you better. “I thank you,” he said, “‘but you'll excuse me for a few hours. I am always engaged trom 10 to 12 in the morning, but I will come this afternoon, if it will be convenicnt to you. “Yes; come whenever you please—let there be no ceremony between us. We take lunch at 1 o'clock—come then, and I'll let you know my mother—she is my housekeeper.” He came to lunch, and ail, old and young, wero delighted with him. The meal over, we adjourned to my “den,” where, seated on a lounge, the little circus rider on his knee, and the two older children beside him, he regaled us all with a rare budget of western stories. to which we listened with intense pleasure, the children every now and then screaming with laughter. At the end of an hour I said to him: “I've some proof here that I must send to Welch & Digelow this afternoor. You won't mind it 1 read it?” “Not at all,” he answered, we shall disturb you. I let me come again soon.” “No, no, don’t go—stay. I write with' a crowd about me.” He stayed and swhen dinner was an- nounced he went with us to the dining room, and after that we all returned to the library, where we thought no more of time till the old clock in the hall struck 9, when my mother rose, saying, “It is the children’s bedtime,” and went away with them. When they were gone he said to “You have a most delightful little ily.” he sald, “but T fear will go—if you'll can read or me, fam- am glad you think so; and it is true, for we love one another. Love can make any sort of a home delightful “It is denied to me—human love. My treasures are now all in heaven—both wife child T have lost within the year.” “I feel for you—you have domestic tastes, and are fond of children. Make yourself at home with us; you see my children already love you." We talked together till after midnight, and when he went away I felt that I had found a ‘“‘pearl of great price,” a treasure worth more than all the diamonds of Golconda. He came again a little after noon on the follow- ing day, and from that time on he lived at my house quite &s much as his own; and he won the enthusiastic affection of the en- tire household, including the kitchen mald, the gardener, and even Jeff Davis, who never approached him without a gentle whinny and a lifting of his right forefoot in request for a handshake, WILLSON'S PERSONAL BEAUTY. Take bim, all in all, he was the most lova- Dble man I ever knew’ and as a mere speci- men of physical manhood he was a joy to look at. A little above the medium height, he was perfectly proportioned and of a s'newy, symmatrical figure. ~ His hair was raven black, wavy, and glossy as satin. His skin was a light' olive, slightly tinged with red, and his features were regular, somewhat prominent, and exceedingiy fiexible, showing an organization of a highly sensitive charac- tes. But his eyes were what rivetted the observer's attention. Mr. .Longfellow told me they were the finest ‘type of the Oriental, but I never saw eyes—eastern or western—io compare with them in lsminous power. They wera full, large and dark, with overhanging lashes, but for the life of me I cannot tell their precise color. At times they seemed a deep blue, at other times an intense black, and then they were balls of fire, as he was stirred by some strong emotion. They spoke the ready language of & deep, strong, fiery, yet chastened, nature as it was moved by fove, Joy, sorrow or indignation Ho ‘was at this time but 25 years of age, and had never read many books; but both Longfellow and Lovell tqld.me that he aston- ished them with the extent and accuracy of bis knowledge. The explanation was casy— he had a pecullarly opan, receptive mind, and where olber wmen saw Quly isolated facts, he Sit down | discerned eternal principles. Tt was sald by Steele of an eminent woman, ‘‘To love her was a liberal education”—to have the love of Willson was that, and more, it was a never- ending benediction WILLSON MAKES ACQUAINTANCE WITH | EMERSON. A month or o after Willson first came to my house, T was my table writing, while he and the children were stretched together upon the floor, look- Ing at the pictures In a quarto bok which he had bought the day before for my little daughter, when the servant handed in to me a card on which was written “R. W Emerson.” I joined Mr. Emerson, leaving Willson ignorant of who was our visitor. I had met Mr. Emerson several times both at his house and at the office of the Atlantic Monthly, and so our greeting was not at all formal. After a few minutes he safd, “Field tells me that you have cap tured Jeft Davis and hold him a prisoner. He says it is worth the trip to see him.” “Well,” 1 answered, “he Is a pretty specimen of a reconstructed confederate. have him brought out and put through exercises." Never mind it now,” he “To be entirely frank with you, my object is to meet the author of the ‘Old Sergeant.’ Field tells me you can Introduce me to him." “I can and will, Mr. Emerson, with much pleasure. He's now in my room at the other end of the hall; kindly step this way I led him to the main entrance to the library, near which Willson lay with his back to the door, which I opened softly, with my finger on my Jips to enjoin silence, The children were so engrossed with the pictures that they did not perceive us, and we stood thero for some moments unobserved, Mr. Emerson's face wreathed in smiles. Scon the little cireus rider happened to look up, and at once he eried out ‘Oh, Mr. Willson! There's paps and another gentleman laughing at you.' Willson sprang to his feet, his face crim- son, but with perfect self-possession he held out’ his hand to the visitor, saying: “It gives me pleasure to meet you, Mr. Emer- son."" “The pleasure Is reciprocal, Mr. Willson, and the greater for having come upon you in such circumstances—you know, the man who loves children is not far from the kingdom of heaven." The interview lasted till near dark, and Mr. Emerson went away entirely forgetful of Jofft Davie and his gymnastics. WILLSON AND LOWELL. About this time I was having a_pleasant correspondence with Colonel John S. Mosby, the partisan leaden who had given the union forces in Virginia a good deal of an- noyance. Mosby Is a cultivated man, and his letters were exceedingly interesting and well written, giving me very graphic pic- tures of the war along the Pofomac. One morning 1 received one from him of five or six closely written pages detailing his various encounters with Colonel Charles Russell Lowell, of whom he spoke with high respect, saying he was the only fed- eral officer who ever gave iim Serious trouble. Colonel Lowell was a nephew of James Russell Lowell, and meeting the lat- ter in Boston a few hours after the receipt of the letter, I mentioned it to him, and at his urgent request promised to send it over to his house on my return to Cam- bridge. I was detained in Boston a considerable time, and when I got to my house I found Lowell extended at full length upon the lounge in my library, and Willson near by reclining in an oldfashioned rocking chair, his feet upon the corner of my writing table, and both so absorbed as scarcely to observe my entrance. Lowell was the first to speak. Assuming an upright attitude, he said: “Pardon my making so free Wwith your sanctum, but the fact is, Forceythe has been on his high jinks, roaming among the clouds like that old woman who went up on a broomstick.” Willson laughed, saying: “I didn’t observe that the trip took away your breath.” “Well, It did; your high flights always do. But they are always interesting. You have such a charming way of putting things. But now that we're back on terra firma, please let me see that letter of Colonel Mosby's. Ho read it through attentively, then said: “Forceythe, you'd like to hear this. He was a glorious young fellow—how many such has it cost, to save the union.” WILLSON'S WELL PROVED GIFT OF SECOND SIGHT. After rereading the letter he said to me. ‘Let me take this. L would like to show it to his mother, and widow, and some others of the family.” Then after some further conversation he rose to leave, when Willson said to him. “Don’t go; Mr. Longfellow will be here in a few minutes, and he would like to sce that letter.” ““Has he agreed to come? with the proofs of Dante.” “Ho has not; but he is coming. Ho has Just turned from my house into the avenue, and having passed the lane he will come in at the front gateway. He'll be here within flve minutes.” Lowell resumed his seat, observing Willson curiously, but saying nothing. In a few min- utes a rap came at the front door, and hur- rying. to it I met Mr. Longfellow. When Mr. Lowell had given him the*customary greeting he turned to Willson, saying, “Now, Forceythe, tell me how you knew he was on the way here."” A STRANGE INCIDENT WITH LONGFEL- LOW. “I both saw and felt him,” said Mr. Will- son. “I will tell you every step of his way, and Mr. Longfellow may correct me if I do not state it accurately, He left his house about a quarter of an hour ago, and on his doorstep he thought of me, and decided to make me & visit. That drew my attention to him, and I observed him walk slowly to his front gate, and wait there a few mo- ments for a car. He left the car at your corner, and then walked briskly up the ave- nue to my door, where he rapped and was met by my housekeeper, who told him that I was probably here. Then he walked back to the avenue, and was about to turn in at the lane when he noticed the horse Jeft Davis loose upon the lawn, and to avoid him took the longer way round by the front gateway. Now, Mr. Longfellow, have I cor- rectly described your itinerary.” “You have,”” he answered, “every step of the way. You say that my thought came to you when T set out—how did you know it was my thought?'" “Just as 1 should know verses of yours without a_signature, but more readily, for your thought is a part of you. And dislance scoms to be no impediment. 1 have recog: nized the thoughts of our friend here when ho sat in bis chalr and I was a mile away on Charles river; and once on Cambridge street, when I was walking out from Boston, ho ad a stfong desire to see me, and his thought came to me very tangibly.” “It seems remarkable,” said Mr. Longtel- low, “but I suppose it is entirely natural— merely the uncovering of the interior senses by which the prophet Elisha saw and heard what passed in the bedchamber of the king of Syria. 1 suppose there is nothing super: natural about it. Does this ‘second sight’ glve you a vision of spiritual things?"' “In other words,” said Mr. Lowell, smiling, “‘are you a Spiritualist?" NOT A SPIRITUALIST. “That depends,” answered Willson, “upon what you define as spiritualism, If you ask mo {f T believe the doctrines of the sect, or think its teachings are always productive of good, I should say I did mot. I do not accept instruction in morals, philosophy or theology, from spirit tramps, and, of course, the door is open to them as well as to en- lightened spirits. But If you ask if I think spirits can commune with mortals, I should answer that I do—that I know it, for every day to me With a slow and nolseless footstep, Comes a me enger divine, Takes the vacant chair beside me, Lays her gentle hand in mine; And ‘she sits nd gazes at m With those deep and tender eyes, Like the stars, so still and saint like, Looking downward from the skies. “Mr. Longfellow, those lin actual experlence with you.” “They do," sald Mr. Longfellow. is often with me. I feel her but I seldom see her. She holds me to duty, and re- strains me from harm and evil. My best thoughts often come from her.” That is my experience,”” sald Willson, “but my angel comes to me daily—we are together from 10 to 12 every morning. She has not been long gone from me, and [ suppose the earthly elements that still cling about her render her very tangible to my senses."” “I wish it were so with me,” said M Longtellow. “You, Mr. Willson, have the clear epiritual vision—in fact, you seem to me mofe than half spirit already.” “And why don't you give out some of the lofty thoughts that are in you?" asked Mr. Lowell. “You might ring out a peal iike that of the proghet Jeremiab. You are pres good Il his said, smiling. He's very busy express an “She seated one afternoon at | | paled the main | L% moment olsely my Iden of what he was before he saw the ruin of his country." “No, no, Mr. Lowell” aald Willson, “1 have mothing to say—my work fs done. 1 wrote a little during the war to help on the causo of the union, but now I've nothing to say—my work is done.” DR. HOLMES THE SUBJECT OF A BIT OF WILLSON'S MIND-READING The interview lasted fully three hours, and much that was sald I cannot now recall, and | what is here told i« rather the substance than tho literal report of the conversation Our intercourse lasted more than a year, with an ever-growing intimacy, an ever-decp ening affection between Willson and myself, and my entire family. How closely we grow together may be illustrated by a little inci« dent that occurred near the cldse of the period Doctor Holmes was an enthusiastic admirer of Willson and came often to see him. One afternoon he came to my house with Lucy Larcom and a southern iady, who sald that she had desired to see the man that had im south as the naturalist impales a fly—because he loved it. We had sat for me time chatting In the back parlor, when Doctor Holmes said: “If you will excu me, ladies, T will run in to see Wilson for a “Don't go, doctor,” 1 sald to him il send for him. 1 think he is at home; if he is he'll be here in a few moments.” With this he resumed his seat, and I kept mine, going on with the conversation. After a little time Dr. Holmes moved uneastly in is chair and sald to me, “Pardon me, but you've forgotten about Willson. We have but a little time to spend, and I want to see him. “I've sent for him, doctor he'll be here in a few minutes.” ent for him!" exclaimed Dr. our wits are wandering—you havi your seat. Is not that the fact Miss Larcom smiled, saying, ““There's some witcheraft about it, doctor. I've heard some queer things about Mr. Willson.” Just then a rap came at the back parlor door, and on my going to it my mother said, “Mr. Willson {5 in the library; he says you want to see him.” When Wilison had been introduced to the ladics Dr. Holmes said Now, 1 want an explanation. What is this legerdemain between you two gentlemen? Willson, how did you happen to know we wanted ‘you here?" Willzon smiled and sald, “I received a dis- patch to that effect.”” “And where were “Nearly a mile away the postoflice.” “And what was the dispatch?" “A lap on the shoulder—the signal agreed upon between us.” “A telegraph without a battery, or a con- ducting wire!” exclaimed the doctor. “This is beyond my philosophy.” WROTE NOTHING AFTER THE OF HIS WIFE. Forceyth Willson was reared at New Al- bany, Ind., of which place his father had been one of the earliest settlers. The father died in 1859, leaving to each of his four children a comfortable competency. For- ceyth had been educated at Antioch and Harvard, and was every way fitted by natural endowment and acquired ability to have performed a brilliant part in life, as he showed during the civil war by his poems, which sounded through the north like the peals of a_trumpet, but he early married and early lost a most lovely woman, and her loss stripped him of all worldly ambi tion. He never wrote a line after her death, and he told me that he continued to live only to fit himself to join her in the here- after. By dint of much persuasion I Induced him to give to the Atlantic Monthly some verses he had written prior to his wife's death, and to gather up enough for public tion in a volume, but I never was able to persuade him to write anything in addition, His wife died October 13, 1854, he followed ler on February 2, 1867, in his 30th year. I have known a good many men in my more than seventy years, but never oue whom T thought so pure, 5o rue, so heay- enly-minded as Forceyth Willson JAMES R. GILMORE (Edmund Kirke.) e FOUND RELICS OF A BY-GONE AGE. he's comin, Holn 't ladies?'" left ust returning from DEATH Bone of a Prehistoric Monster Plcked Up in Valley County. NORTH LOUP, Neb., March 9.—(Special.) —An interesting palaeontological curiosity in the shape of a large hemispherical bone, ‘evi- dently a portion of the head of the humerus or femur, probably the latter, of some immense animal of a past geologic age, was found here by a herd boy recently, and is now to be seen in the show window of a local merchant. While such finds may not be said to be especially frequent, this is far from being the first time that relics of the animal life of a remote age bave been brought to light in this locality. As long ago as the date of the excavations made in the grading of the Union Pacific rail- road to this point, about 1882, some lmmense bones were discovered and many were at that time sent off to eastern museums. In fact, the formations of which the surface of ley county forms a part s rich in animal remains, being favorably situated, geologically speaking, 50 as to expose the remains of the ancient lifc mot only of the post-tertiary neocene, but also of the immense monsters “new to sight and namo” that peopled the forests and lake beaches of the olde zons clear down to the exposea surfaces of the cretaccous shores, and within whose teeming scay “The cruel shark, the flercest of the deep, Before the sin of Adam, crimson dyed His pearly teeth fn blood of fishy pre and on whose shores a wondrous but now ut- terly extinct host of strange beings gamboled and disported or chased and slaughtered cach other in turn, Among the remains which have becy found in this formation, many of them in this locality, may ba mentioned bones and teeth of mice, squirrels, the hare, hog peceary, wolf, musk ox, deer, hyena, panther, camel,” tapir, tiger, horses, rhinoceros and elephants, all being of course, somewhat different from existing species. The horse, for instance, though much the form of the fleet-footed beauty of the race track to its upper portions, had three well developed toes, and a vestiga of these Is yet found in the occasional eropping out of an extra little hoof on the side of the leg of our modern horses In addition to the list given abova may be mentioned the oreodon, an animal interm diato between the decr, camel and hog, hay. ing some of the leading characteristics of cach, and the mighty brontotherium, sec- ond in size only to the mastodon, and whose massive and column like bones were without any marrow cavity. The remains of the skelctons of the giant turties that swarmed on the shores of the cretaceous seas may be readily found In the gravels or the low bluffs along the river at many points in Valley county. and abundantly in the Ligh bluffs north of Elba, the ekeletons, {solated verte- bra and teeth of fishes in the Chalk hills opposite Scotia, and extensive marl beds oc- cur in the Turtle creek country west of Ord All in all, it is a land teeming with wonders, and few realize that they are daily treading tho surface of a vast cemetery wherein are buried the remains of myriads of representa- tives of all previous species of all past time In the matter of vegetable remains, too, many Interesting facts have been brought to light. Large chunks of wood were taken from a well near this city which were found eighty fect below the surface, yet so little were they changed from their natural condition that portions of them were dried and used as fuel, Tho so-called “bluff clay,” of which the very richest portions of the country are formed, abound with several species of shells, of which a bivalve (cyrene Intermedia) and a univalve (melania nebrascensis) aro probihly tho most common. The decomposed remains of these furnish the soll with fertilizing terlal that the eastern farmer can only ob- tain by the expensive and laborious process t “burning lime,” and they are found quite ely Intermixed with subsoll for perhaps fifty to 100 feet in depth. In fact, the soil of this entire county, as well as much of the adjoining territory, 15 but tne sut and animal remaing, the accumulations of ages, in the bottom of an ancient lake, and, therefore, we may not wonder at the unparalleled ferfility of the soll of central Nebraska, whose teem- ing crops astonish the world in'every fruitful yea ——— A Novelly i Farming. A big skunk farm has been established in Tompkins county, New York, which expects uext year to bave a stock of 5,000 animals Thelr food consists mostly of milk, water and bits of meat, while their beds are made of chestnut leaves and dried grass in a large building, They are seldom seen during the day, but come out at nightfall and gambol about the yard. Begluning with the “kit- ten," they can be easily tamed. When kill Ing time comes they are placed in a tight box and chloroformed, thus rendering their fur free from odor. Besides the fur, a fat animal will yleld nearly a pint of oll that is sald to be an unequalled remedy for stiff Jolats, ete. NERVOUS PROSTRATION, (NEURASTHENIA) Insomnia, Nervous Dyspepsia, Melancholia, And the thousand ills that follow & deranged condition of the NERVOUS SysTEM d by . Cerebrine T o ot Prepared under the formula of DR. WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, Dose, § Drops. Price, Per Phial of Two Drachms, $i.00, FOR SALE BY ALL DRUGGISTS, COLUMBIA CHEMICAL C€O., Washington, D, C. Send for book, 1 KUHN & CO, AGENTS FOR OMAMA, Are ¢ B e o o e e S 2 L ] Infants’ Complete Qutfits > Ladies’ Wedding (3 wand.. Underwear Send name and get Made to Order © llustrated Descriptive Lists Free, rormerty. SCHULZ & CO., Dora Schule Mfg. Cov 30 Washlngton 8., CHICAGO, 2% 2 2 2 S S S S S 2 2 3 PATRONIZE HOME INDUSTRIES By purchasing goods made at the following Nebraska factories. If you cannot find what you want, communicate with the manufac- turers as to what dealers handle their goods: BAGS, BURLAP AND BEMIS OMAHA BAG CO. Manufacturers of all kinds of cotton & burlap bags, cotton flour sacks & twine a speclalty. 14 $16-618 8. 11th-st. OUR, YEAST. Manufacturers of Preiton‘s Callfornia Flakes, Sickle brand elf ralsing flour & yeast. Do you OMAHA BREWING ASSOCIATION. ‘ar load shipments made In our own refrigerator Blue Ribbon, Elite Export, Vienna Export, mily Export, delivered to all parts of city. = e CARRIAGE FACTORIES, T FROST & HARRIS. Carrlage & Wagon Makers. Carringos, buggles, phaetons & wagons always on hand & made to COFFEE, SPICES, BAKIX CONSOLIDATED COFFEE C0., Coffee Roasters, Spice Grinders, Manufacturers German Baking Powder and German Dry Hop Yes 314-16 8. 12th street, Omaha. FLOUR. S, T, GILNAY, Manufacturer of Gold Medal Flour. Omaha. FURNITURE FACTORIE! OMAHA UPHOLSTERING (0. 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