The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 20, 1896, Page 27

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUANDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1396 Amusing Story of a Purloined Idea. /Gor\tainir\g a Few Suggestions for the Benefit of “Willie day Wurst” of the New York Gharnal. '(Jne week ago the Examiner, like Silas AY) egg, “‘dropped into poetry.” Oneofits brzgpt young men was instructed to “make a page of it,” and as he was paid space rates, he readily complied. The wor}c. was easier, because the Southern Pacitic Company’s “thirty thousand dol- lar beauty’ wasmerely revamping an idea which was not new, and because, in its de- sire to divert attention from its “Long Green,” anything would go. Therefore the young man who “had the poet detail” waded boldly in, equipped with a copy of the New York Press of Sunday morning, October 18, 1896, as a mentor and adopting a gas-meter for his versification. As he toiled he gleefully thought of the “soft snap”’ he had struck 2sa poet for a ‘‘day detail.” Infinitely ecasier than writing up bogus “statements’ by Wyatt Earp, as some of the members of the staff had been compelled to do, the THE “EDIT pay was also proportionately better. Along the poetical horizon, proceeding at 20 easy canter, as might have been said at the horse show, Pegasus looked cross-eyed &t thé performance, passing in silhouette. Fhe theme of the ‘‘write-up” was the awrship, and incidentally some prominent citizens were harmlessly ridiculed. The title of the production was *“Things You See When Out Late.”” A better title would shave been, in view of the name which the Examiner has justly won as “the $30,000 beauty,” something ljke “The African in the. Woodpile,” or “Hot Stuff,” the allu- sion in- the last-suggested title being the “staff” which is *‘Long Green.”’ Sing a song of sixpence, Poet full of “rye,” Six and twenty articles Knocked 1nto *pL” When the sack 1s opened “Long Green” will sing: «Space-writers be dashed, me boy; ‘Stuff’ stories are the thing.” In some unaccountable way the able} poet who was engaged to write up the airship for the Examiner, while he was dreaming of his expected ‘‘castles in Spain,” forgot to put into print for the benefit of the readersof the “Monarch,” some of the meters which he found in the New York Press, which served as a model. Now, the New York poet was away up in bis business in some respects. His use of meter can perhaps be as well illustrated by a gem which, in his farce-comedy, is siipposed to be sung by Boul-Yon, a capi- talist, a disguise adopted by Wiliie Jay Warst, & youthful prodigy, owner of the New York Charnal and speculator in cock- | roach jarming. This little gem is given to show that the Examiner poet held back something of the original, which the read- ers of that paper, more than any one else, would thorouaghly enjoy. Here it is: OR OF THE NEW YORK [From the New York Press.] SONG 1 am the owner of the New York Charna!— Dro ol—drool—drool, I drooi! Sponsor for all unclean and carnal— | Blsh-cum-bubble and & bul! slow reel! | | 've got the rocks to keep well oiled, And to knock the wool off the Trieving Woiled! I'm a-hustling around in a bellowing sweat, And I'll ges in Lhe cockroach yet, you bet! Drool—drool—arool, I drool! | You'd scarce expect it of one my age— Bish-cum-bubble and a bull slow reel! | 1 wallow all iround in print each day, 1've got & circulation that’s a pure give-away! I'm cutting a swath, well, I should shout! | For mamma doesn’t know that her Willle boy's { out! l | I've forty-eight freaks on every page— =i | | (He falls in a trance, but manages to secure his | | false beard and crawl to one side, where he lets | | 100se & carrer-pigeon for the Charnzl office with a | | sixty-eight-column story of & liverless camel that whistles, “Come, Biay With Me!" through 1s ears.) | Of course, the poet, in view of the “‘sack’ | | and excited about something or other. which he expected to draw down as pay for his useful space story, could hardly be expected to represent the thinly disguised vroprietor of poets as openly confessing, m thg language of the refrain: Drool—drool—drool, I drool, Nor to cause him to say “I wallow all around in print each day” for fear there would be ‘‘more truth than poetry” in sight; but, really, the public are entitled to this metrical exhibition, and so THE CALL cheerfully supplies the omission. There were other gems in the New York Press drama which will pe appreciated here. One speech, by *“Boul-Yon,” other- wise *“Willie Jay Wurst,” is characterisfic. ! An extract from the drama, wihich really contains “more truth than poetry,” is re- produced from the New York Press, as follows: Boul-Yon—Ahem! My dear sirs, I trust you ‘“ CHARNAL.” will remember that I am actuated by no de- sire for personal gath. My sole smbition is the good of the Nation. AllT wish is to assure myself of your hearty co-operatiop in my efforts for the amelioration of the poor Iabor- The laboring man needs to be im- pressed with his wrongs. He must get roused Now, suppose we touch him up on the currency question. He thinks he understands that, you know. I'll furnish a talker, and you swear by everything he says. Make’em listen. Cram what he says down everybody’s throat! Choke the ones who won't pay attention! I'll it with you. £ee? ll—You bet! Swill-Man—When’s the hollow to begin? Boul-Yon—Ob, that's all fixed. Another hiatus on’ the partof the Ex- aminer’'s day detail poet is also painful. The following, also from the New York Press, could have been worked in to ad- vantage, to the delight and edification of all Celifornia, where there is a cultivated fondness for exceilent portrait work: 1 was hatched of a hungry kite! . 1 live on liver aud iy by mignt! Watch me chaw up the whole biame town! B! Gur-rr! Hold medown! 1'm a yelping wolf of the rocks! 1 can wallop 'em in my socks! I've had a mesl of & raw papoose! Whop! Whack! Lemme loose! I'm the son of & howling blizzara! T've got pockmarks on my gizzard! T've learned all their names verbatim! Zip! Bang! Lemme at’em! There are so many episodes in which the proprietor of the New York Charnal and. the San Francisco Examiner has figured that the muse, even a ‘“day detail” muse, need not-have been at loss for themes. Appended are a few suggestions fur- nished by a contributor who courts the muse at a distance: “Wiilie Jay Warst” sings: Iam happy in my dealings With the masses. Fm a check they thiuk ou stealings— They are asses. I chink thirty thousand dollars, While “reform” I loudiy hollers; I've astock of 8. P. collars And some passes. I've a knife put up my sleeve for Pasadena. I've a cyclone they will grieve for. *Twill be keener Than a knife; for, though I'm faking, On thelr marrow bones they're qu aking, Though my blackmail undertaking Left me leaner. The “sack” is all boste All ragged ana tattered; And Collis no louger wili fill it with “tin." E—rp's blunderbuss rusted Will' mend what is shattered, { And its fame will suffice to scare more shekels n, For storles salacious Come nickels, by gracious! | And what if tney prompt the young people to sin? Take murder, foul scandal, The acts of « vandal; Oh! welcome are they, for they bring shekels in! Hurrah for sensation! Hurrah for all evil! Hurrah for whatever can infamy win! Hurrah for my papers! Hurrah for the devil! | Burrab for il chin:s that can brivg nickels tn! Pk Danger in Luxury. The installation of electric illumination m old English mansions and castles built after the fashion of ages ago is apt to be attended with disaster. It is impossible to foresee all the dangers that may lurk in well-seasoned timber, for have not we been warned about putting new wine in old bottles And the mimost care must be taken by skilled electricians even | where all is plain sailing. Blenheim Palace is the latest sufferer from this infusion of too much blood into | ancient veins. Not many weeks ago one | of the rare old Elizabethan mansions be- longing to a great English family was ut- terly destroyed from this same desire to be up to date on the partof its owner. Given time, the electric wires and fur- | naces will succeed in wreckine all the fine | old residences in Great Britain, for man is now an effeminate creature, only wish- ing tQ lie in the lap of luxury. A fig for cold rooms and wax candles.—Boston Herald. Itis not generally known that at one iime the vergers were instructed to shoot pigeons at St. Paul's, London, to keep down their numbers. They were shot from the steps at the western front of the Cathedral, when the area before, these steps was incloged. This was put-a stop to thirty years-ago. Joseph Juneau, the founder of Juneau, Alaska, and”~ who has had one of the strangest gnd most romantic careers of any man perhaps on the Pacific Coast, is 1n the City. Mr. Juneau comes of a race of town-builders and trail-breakers. His uncle, Solomon Juneau. founded Mil- waukee, and other. relatives-have been conspicuous in opening the country for a distance of 4000 miles. Mr. Juneauis of Frenchb-Canadian stock. He was born at Montreal and has been on this coast forty-five years. Some of his people before him were famous bunters and trappers, belonging to the Hudson Bay Company and the American Fur Company. Yesterday this strange pioneer, who, oddly enough, yer speaks a language strongly indicative of his French blood, talked of himself and the gold mines with which he had besn connected. *“When I was 20 years old,” he said, “I left Montreal and came airect to Califor- ma. This was in 1851, at a time when ! there was a great rush to the gold fields. The first mining I did was at Downieville. I remained there well on to two years and | made considerable money. Then Icame down to San krancisco and went across the bay to where Oakland is now and bought a farm of 220 acres. It was be- tween San Leandro and a place then called San Antonio, Most of it is now covered over with big buildings. I stayed | there and farmed nine years, raising grain principally. * *“‘After that I' put in in all nine years in Montana and made about $20,000. “Then, in 1874, I concluded I would have to strike out to a new country, and I went up to Alaska. That was very early, and the country had not been prospected even along the coast. I set to work and I found gold. It was the first gold that had ever been struckin the Territory. I found it at a place called Shuck, eighty miles from Fort Wrangel, on the river of that name and near the bay which bears that name. It wasat a point about half way between Juneau and Fort Wrangel. Bat Ionly made three or four dollars a day mining there, and I wasn’t satisfied with it; so, the boom in Cassiar coming on, I went there. I stayed there five years; but I wasn’t lucky. Ididn’tdosmuch. I made enough to live on and get around on but no stake. *In 1880 I went back to Alaska, this | time going to Juneau, and there I found the rich placer and quartz mines which have made the country so celebrated over the globe. They were the mines of the Sliver Bow basin, a few miles from Juneau. [ started to work on these | mines and founded a town. +I was fairly fortunate at Juneau, forI made about $40.000 there. Of course, I | didn’t keep it all, for it’s hard toliveina country like that and not let your money | go. Living is high and everything you do takes cash. “When I sold out .in the Silver Bow Basin I went away up the Yukon River. This was two years ago. I went to Circle City, the far northern camp, which lies inside the Arctic circle, and where you can see the sun all the time in summer, This, thongh 8 new camp, isa great one. There is a wonderful amount of gold there, The only difficulty is. the climate—it is so cold. If we had aclimate like California it would bea good deal richer country than this. Buteven in summer time there, if you dig down a foot underground, vou will come to ice. SBomehow it may be pretty hot, but the ice never melts. You've JOSEPH got 1t there always. For this reason it is hard work comparatively to mine. “But I made $3Q00 iu cash up there, and pesides that I own four good claims. Two of the claims are in Deadwood Guich ana the two others are on Holliday Creek. 1 consider them very valuable property. I am going back there in the spring. There Nuggets of Gold in Arctic Seas of Ice. Eventful Gareer of a Stalwart Pioneer of Our Te‘rritorg in the Land of the Midnight Sun. are about 800 people wintering at Circle City, and next summer it is believed there will be a rush there. The camp ought to be a big and booming one. “I have had all kinds sandwiched into my life. of experiences The only mis- JUNEAU. take that I ever made was that I did not get married. If I had got married I would have been worth a whole lot of money-to-day, and by a whole lot I mean millions piled on millions. If I had kept thav 220-acre ranch I had ip-Oakland I would have been in clover. I had every- thing my own way at that fime.” How a Light-Keeper Rowed Through Air. San‘Pedro Man Who Participated in a Famous Attempt to Gross ' the Atlantic in a Balloon With a Pair of Oars. A San Jose man’s recent story about going to Honolulu on a flying-machine has-been much derided, yet thirty years 2go an aerial trip from New York 10 Eu- rope was regarded by eminent scientists as practicable. Such an attempt, which was probably the most brilliant of its kind ever made, was participated in by George N; Shaw, now lightkeeper at Point Firmin lighthouse, near San Pedro. The trip was planned as an experiment to verify.the theory of Professor Wise, who beid that tbere were continuous air cur- remts over the Atizntic between the United States and Europe. He maintained that at a certain height the current moved in one direction, and at a different elevation the air was blown the osher way. Accord- ing to this theory a ballioon could be made to move either way across the At- tic by simply keeping it at the right el It was planned and to that end Professor Wise contracted with- Goodsell Bros. of New York: to supply one of twilled silk with a capacity of 600,000 cubic feet of gas. The balloon was made of material similar to cotton makers brought it-to Prospect Park, Brooklyn, for Prolessor Wise’s inspection he complained of the material but agreed 10 accept it if it would stapd inflation. Accordingly great preparations were made for the starting of the voyage. The balloon was to carry directly beneath it a circular canvas house 12 feet in.diameter and 7 feet high for use in scientific ob- servations. Suspended next beneath was a wicker backet for the passengers and next under ‘it was a complete lifeboat fitted for navigation anywhere at sea. Shortly before the day for starting in- | quiry was made for a man who would go with the party and act as navigator should | the strange craft sink to the ocean. In tLis way Shaw came to be chosen. “There were five of us who were to zo on the air passage,” said Mr. Shaw to the writer. W ise, Professor Donaldson, anothe: well- known saeronaut, 8 scientist from Wash- ington and a reporter for the Daily Graphic. Many newspaper accounts of the expected voyage were printed, buf at my urgent request my name Wwas omitted from them. 2 “On the day we were to start there wer probably 20,000 people grouped ahout the queer craft, notwithstanding a ligh ad- mission fee, and thousands more looked on from trées and housetops. “The inflation of the huge sack was begun, common illuminating gas being used. Tons of canned goods more than we could carry had been contributed. The outfit included a cage of carrier pigeons, emong which was the then celebrated record-breaking bird ‘Ariel.” There was a “tupply of rubber floats to be dropped into tie sea where they might be picked up by passing ships. 4 **As the'inflation progressed 200 men, aided by lined attached to forty tons of sandbags, held the captive balloon, but when it was only three-fourths filled there came,a sudden puff of wind which caused to have a big balloon i in instead of silk, ana when the| “The party comprised Professor | the great bag to collapse. Thisat once ended the undertaking, and the would-be passengers stood there in the midst of | that crowd looking about as sheepish as | {men well could under such circum- stances.” But this failure stimulated Shaw in a an airship could be mace | fancy that practical if only the balloon principle were combined with that of a motor. “Experimenting along- this line,” said he, “I constructed a working model about thirty feetin length. There was enough balloon about it to make 1t float, or nearly so. It was cigar-shaped, with a life boat underneath. Extending up from the center was a shaft on which was a screw propeller to be used to elevate or depress the craft. The advance, or horizontal motion, was obtained by a screw propeller attached to a shaft extending to the rear. This shaft could ve readily bent horizon- tally so as to give steerage. For a motor Toperated the model with a powerful spring, wound like one in a clock. “[ tried the model in a. large building. When wound it would run for fifteen ROWING THROUGH THE AIR. minutes, bumping against the walls and roof in,an animated style. I found it would cost me $30,000 to build an airship for practical use op this plan. I presented the case to General George B. McClellan, who gave me a hearing, but wasso busy with his New York dock contracts he could not give it further attention. Peter Cooper, founder of the famous institute that bears his name, displayed evident in- terest in it and declared he would like to take hold of the matter,’ but was too old. I finally had to give it up, but I have in- sisted to this day that my plan was a prac- ticable one. "‘Did I ever try any other scheme for air navigation? No, not on a large scale. But I did make an aerial velocipeae which operated surprisingly well. 1t consisted of two cartridge-shaped balloons ot oiled silk, kept in position by ash frames and properly inflated. The buoyant power wds barely sufficient to lift the ap- paratus and one’s weight. The conical ends pointed in opposite directions, and the two balloons were kept a few feet apart by strong connecting pieces of asn. Between tbe ash pieces was arranged a seat and footrest. This apparatus would support one in the air and only the means of locomotion were lacking. This lack I supplied with oars, which prac- tically ‘made the craft an "aerial row- boat. In order to get the desired re- sistance on the oars, 1 made them like huge 1ans, consistingof a strong light framework, covered with silk. I fast- ened the oars in the rowlocks so that I would not lose them. My scheme was to propel the craft in a forward direction, which would make it necessary to push on theoarsinstead of pull- ing on them. It would also be requisite to ‘feather’ them carefully so that after one push I could without much resistance re- cover them 1n position for the next push. To get an upward or downward motion I would only need to turn tie oars at a shently different angle when pushing them. By working unequally on the two oars I could turn to the right or left as I }de ired. These were the movements by | which I believed I would be able to navi- gate the craft. The test verified my tneories. **One bright afternoon when there was no breeze to interfere with operations, I took the velocipede to Central Park for a trial, Hundreds of people watched opera- tions. When everything was in readiness, even to a small locker of provisions which Icarried, I togk my position in the seat, grasped the oars and prepared to leave terra firma. I thoughtto myself the re- sistance of the big fan-like oars against the air would be slight, and accordingly I gave them a very strong push. The result was gratifying, yet startling, § “The idea of rowing through the aij worked so well that Iatonrce determined to begin manufacturing the new craft. I planned that within a moath I should have the air velocipedes on the market and be able to sell them for $300 or less apiece. “‘One day, soon after the successful trial of the machine, I met Professor Wise and told him of my proposed manufacturing scheme. ¢ “*“‘Don’t do it,’ said he. “‘Don’t d¢o it? Why not? said I in amazement. “‘If you manufacture such a craft,’ he explained, ‘all the young scions of the no- bility and other sons of wealthy parents will buy them. The ease with which the machines may be propelled will tempt the boys to racing and all other kinds of fast flying. The first vou know some of the reckless ones will a mudair collision, their machines will break, there wjll be a great fall and somebody will be responsi- ble for one or more lads’ deaths. Do yon want to assume such a responsibility 2’ “These declarations of Professor Wise impressed me so strongly that I made up my mind I didn’t. W. R. GrREENWOOD. There are 1n Paris 8000 women who are heads of mercantile houses, The marvelous feat of taking a photo- graph through a lens composed of a beetle’s eye is the achievement of which Dr. G. F. Allen of Aurora, 11, can boast. The result which is pictured in the ac- companying illustration is that a separate outline of the image at which the camera is directed is seen on every one of the bundreds of facets: which are part and parcel of the eye of the insect so familiar to us-all. This is the first instance where anything of the sort has been accomplished. Here- wofore there has been any quantity of theory but a great lack of practice. Now we have tbe practice in the most convine- ing of forms—a photograph. It all came about through'a curious siatement made at a meeting of the British Scientific Asso- ciation, at which W. M, Stine of the Armour [nstitute of Chicago ¢alled atten- tion to a very curious and interesting lantern-slide in his possession. During a discussion of the properties of the [Roent- gen rays, a leading scientist suggested that as certain insects had eyes seemingly un- adapted to see by ordinary sunlicht, they might visualize by means of the X rays. Now it was held by a number of the savents in attendance at the association that the X ray could hardly be termed an incentive to visualization. So warm did the discussion become that it ‘was finally decided to make a genujne test with the eye of a chosen insect, and it is the result of this decision that proves one of the most interesting feats ever accomplished by means of that great aid to science, the camera. 2 . Dr. Allen of Aurora, Ill, is one of th few men of scientific mind who has taken a special interest in the wonders that the art of photography can be made to reveal. So he chose the eye of a beetle to demon- strate to the satisfaction of every one that the X ray was no sid to visualization whatever. The result of his experiment roves conclusively that he was right and hat the eminent gentlemen who favored the X-ray theory ware as far from the truth as was preacher Jasper when he in- sisted that ‘“‘the sun do move.” It is a curious study that this photo- graph lays open to the laymen of science. We all know that the beetle has the curi- ous projecting eye, very similar to the sort one sometimes sces in man himseif. The eye is large and round, or almosy so. It can hardly be called a perfect sphere, for BEETLE’'S EYE—A MAN'S SILHOUETTE IN EVERY FACET. it is slichtly convex in shape. The ac- companying picture shows reaily one-haif of the eye of the beetle. Such insects have eyes called compound, formed not of one lens but: of several hundred, set side by side like cells in a honeycomb. How does the world appear through such eyes is & query of unusual interest. Writing of this phojograph W. M. 8tine, previously referred to, says of Dr. Allen’s picture of the insect’s sight world, here shown : “To the Fditor: To make it Dr. Allen took the cornea of the eye of a beetle (Hydrophilas piceus) and employed it in place of the usual photographic lens of the camera used for making photographs of microscopic objects. A silhouette of a bead was pasted on a piece of ground glass and a lamp placed bebind it. A photographic dry plate was exposed to .| clear and perfect. |aid of a microsecope; Photographing Through a Beetle's Eye. Wondérful Effects Produced by lts Use as a Lens--A New Field for Scientific Exploration. the light coming through the beetle’s eye from the silhouette and developed in the usual manner. **As can be seen the resulting multi~ graph was circular, and contained several hundred images of the profile, one, indeed, for each facet of the eye. The camera used for taking a large number of simulta- neous photographs and objects is the phbysical analogue of such an eye. The relation of the eyes of such insects to those of mammals with the single adjust- able lens is that of a single focus or snap- shot camera to the ordinary form in which the focus is adjustable. “It seems reasonably clear that insects form their judgments of distance from multiple images, depending upon the power of each facet to reflect light rays. The nearer the object the greater would be the area covered by the images of the retina. It is scarcely conceivable that rays not capable of refraction or of being focused, which 1s the case with the X rays, can by simple shadow effects enable a judgment to be formed on the distance of an object. W. M. Stize.” 1t is impossible to conceive from the picture that is printed in a newspaper an absolutely correct idea of the wonderful clearress with which the different facets of the beetle’s eye cause to be placed upon the plate the image whi¢h they retiect. Although the image is shown a hundred or more times, in every instance it is Very fine and delicate are the lines to be sure, and the features are eonly distinguishable clearly by the but nothing is omitted, and the wonderful handiwork of nature has never been more clearly shown than when this eye with artificial stimulus canies-out the part for which it was cre- ated. It so happens that in this instance, as stated, a silhouette was used instead of the ordinary photograph. It will be ob- served that this is ekactly whal the ac- companying illustration shows. Other and similar experiments, however, have demonstrated the truth of the statement a8 to the accurate reproduction of every lineament of the human face. To gain an adequateidea of exactly what a photo- graph through the muitiple facets of a beetle’s eye accomplishes, look careinlly into the eye of some person who is close to'and looking steadfastly at you. You ‘will see reflected in theeye of thie other your own face, clear and distinet, with not a vestige of a line missing. Now this is just what happens when the beeile 1d0ks at you, only your eyes are reflected several hundred times. ¢ ‘I'ms is what the photograph taken by Dr. Allen shows. It is one of the most remarkable combinations of different branches of science that the world has yet seen. The Archduch Maria Therese of Austria, by a steady course of gymnastics and calisthenics, has developed such ex- traordinary muscular power that, after go- ing from dumbbelis to Indian clubs and from clubs to trapeze, she can raise a full- gro'n man irom the ground with one and and hold bim in the air for several seconds, . S say the Austrian papers.