The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 19, 1897, Page 18

18 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1897, COCEETCEEECE PR CO TP L L L C R PO RT b T e LT t [ Once a warship; now a plague-ship. That1s the past and thg present position of the United States steamship Omaba. For some months the old vessel has been lying in the bay just off California City and doing noble work toward keeping plagues out of our country. As the still handsome craft rides at an- chor on the smooth surface of the water her appearance 1s greatiy at variance with the purpose for which she was buiit. But aiter all she is fulfilling her mission, She was built for a fighting ship, and she fighting. It is true that her builders molded her to fight battles on the seas. W CLCRLLELLELLCLLLALLEELCLCLAREELLALLEE == = = = — WALELCLCLEL b err by ) { LIS Instead she is fighiing plagues—killing microbes und saving men instead of kill- ing men and breeding microbes. And now she rides peacefully at anchorin a beautiful bay instead of being battered around the world. Briefly speaking, the man-of-war Omaha is now a plagu -ship, and also a floating disinfecting plant. She is the oniy float- ingz disinfecting plant belonging to the United States, and the cnly instance on record where an old warship was made to do this work. It has been known for some time that this work was being done by the Omaha, but just how it was done has never been made public. Through the courtesy of Dr. Rosenau a representative of THe CALL visited the vessel last week and saw ail the complicated macninery necessary to make disinfection periect and absolute. The way the vessel has been fitted up for the comfort of such passengers as might be detained upon her is most interesting. There is only one wav of getting on board of the Omaha, and that is to be taken out to her on the quarantine launch Bacilins. Peopie going to her sidein a rowboat would not be allowed aboard. The Omaha is lying just four miles from the ferry landing at Tiburon. On approaching the Omaha the most impressive fact is her zreat size. She rises out of the water as high as a two- story house. A casual examination of the Omaha shows her to still be in a fairly seaworthy condition. Werse vessels make the pas- sage around Cape Horn every month in the year. Down in the hold there is not adrop of water Lo be seen. The bilge is almost as dry as the cabin. She has not been entirely dismantled. Her lofty spars were al! pulled down long ago, but little change has been made in her bold. The engines and boilers that took her around the world are still in position and only need a little cleaning and the application of fire to make them once more thiob witn life. Down below everything is much as it used to be. The rooms of those of the crew that were located here are aulmost as they were when the ship wasaban- doned. On the ’tween decks, though, there is a big change and a most distress- ing one. Iiisstill the same and yet dif- ferent. It is like “a banquet hall de- serted.” The wardroom and the admi- ral’s cabin are silent now, and spiders are spinning their webs in the corners that once echoed with the voices of manly men. The chartroom iz now only a closet, but still retains a certain musiy odor, a relic of its former great impor- tance. But in the captain’s room there is a great change. It is still innabited—not by the captain’s ghost, as many may sup- vose, but by the keeper of the vessel, an old seaman. In this room he eats, drinks and sleeps. Itis on the gun deck, though, that the greatest change has taken place. One of the old crew coming aboard would never recognize it. No more can he look up at the lofty spars and hear the wind piping through the rigging, for there 1s a roof overhead, and the general effzct is that of alarge ball. Here the disinfectinz plant is located. The disinfective machinery is at the bow. It consists principally of a sulphur- pburning furnace and a formaline gas apparatus. The sulphur-burning furnace consists of iwo parts. In one of them a fire is buiit, and an ordinary chimney carries the fumes to the outside air. The other part of the furnace is literally an oven for burning the sulphur. Sulphur is an almost perfect germicide, but the great difficulty attending its use is that when lighted in a closed room it soon burns up all the air and for want of oxygen goes out before its work is accom- plished. To overcome tuis, Dr. Rosenau has had the apparatus constructed on the Omaha. This furnace is first beated red hot. An airpump is then started. Sulphuris then shoveled into the red not furnace, and the airpump exhausts the fumes and forces them through pipes to where they are wanted. When a steamer is to be disinfected she is first relieved of all her passengers and bedding at the quarantine station and then towed to the side of the Omaha. By closing portholes, hatches, windows, companion-ways, etc., the vessel is made as airtight as possible. Pipes from the sulphur furnace are then connected at convenient places and the work proceeds. The sulphur fumes from the furnace are literally forced into the ship, so that every nook and crannie is reached. This is kept up for over an hour and the sight is a pretty one. Although the shipis closed as tightly as possible she cannot be mada airtight ana, as a con- sequence, fumes rise from hundreds of places and climb skyward in graceful streams. These fumes are almosta yel- lowish gray in color and have much the same appearance as the smoke from a smelter. Whoever happens to be within half a mileotf the locality puts in his time coughing. Should the ship be particularly suspi- cious the disinfectinig operation is practi- cally repeated with formaldehyde gas. This is so powerful that it will kill germs on the inside of a bale of hemp. Dr. Rosenau has tried this and knows that it can be done. All germs must and do die. When a ship leaves the side of the Omaha, after a four-hour siege, there isnot the slightest possibility that she is contam- inated. She can then proceed to dock without spreaaing an Oriental plague. The gun deck of the Omaha is a **pest- house” and cau bs used in case the guar- hWh b ters at Angel Island become overcrowded, Along both sides of the deck umidships there are rows of staterooms. In ¢ afterpart there is a bathbouse and |yyp. dry. The old ealley is still in conditiyn for duty and only needs a cook anq something to cook to provide food for 1he hungry. The old Omaha is duing more fighting now than she ever did in all her careqr, She was built in Philadelpbia in 156) 4ng putin most of the years of her service gp the China station. She has been in nearjy every port on the Pacific side of two ¢ tinents, and on many occasior presence has proved a powe:ful per. The tonnage of the Omaha is 260 is built of wood, copper-bottomed, is fiie with the finest material obtainadle ang cost over $1,000,000. Every Watch a Gompass. “‘Several weeks ago in London,” s an English tounst at the Holland Hou “I was standing besice an American quaintance, wten I expressed a wish 1o know which point was the north. He puiled out his wateh, looked at it and at once pointed in the right direction. | asked him whetlier he had a compas attached to his watch. ‘All watches are compacses,” he replied. Then he explainec to me how this was. Point the hour hand to the sun, and the south is exactly half way between the hour and the figure X1, on the diak. For instance, suppose it i 4 o'clock. Point the haad indicating 4 ta the sun, and 1I on the watch is ex- actly south. Suppose, apain, that itis 8 o’clock. Point the hand iadicating 8 (o the sun and the figure X on the dial is due south. “Mv American friend seemed surprised that I did not know this, and not wanting to-be left alone in my ignorance, I asked Henry M. Stanley, whom I met the foi- lowing day, whether he kuew of this simple means of taking the points of the compass. My self-esteem ro-e when that famous traveler told me he had never heard of it. 8o, perhaps there may be plenty of folks in your country who still remain in my original state of ignorance. I don’t know what place my American friend hails from, but somewhere in your great West.”—New York Herald. QUEER FREAK OF A HERMIT. He Lives in an Old Quarry Magazine and Sleeps on a Keg of Blasting Powder. of using a keg of blasting-[ vowder for a pillow! and not only u it-for a pillow, but keeping it | nd your house sll the time. Of) , but there is a man who lives in | the Contra Costa hills back of Oakland who daes just that. He s Ralph Peterson and be is known | as a hermit. His home is about two | miles almost due east from Mills Semi- nary. Itis easy to reach this place if you can climb hills. But you might as well | know beforehand that when you do get to | the place the old man will not be glad to see you. He otjects to visitors. By following the eastern fence of Mills Beminary to the base cf the hill, and then | commencing to ciimb, a quarter of an bour’s work will take you to the top of the ridge. From here old Peterson's home can be seen. Tt does not look like a | human babitation. On the other side of a | valley there can be aistinguished a large gray spot on the mountain, This is the | mark left by the workmen of an aban- doned quarry. Climb up to'this place, and on the side of the hili, about 100 feet from where the | work was 2arried on. there is a small hut with an iron door. This was the magazine when the quarry was in working order. Here all sorts of explosives were stored, and the iron door was to keep out people who might be tempted to investigate. This place is now old Peterson’s home. The quarry was abandoned long ago and by some hook or crook a large keg of blasting powder was left behind when all tools were removed. For along time this invitation to immediate death kept people away from. tbe locality. None could te.l at what moment the explosives would go off. This, however, had no terrors for Peter- son. Just when he came is nota matter of record. He says he has been there fora long time. And he expects to remain for a long time yet. Take a peep into the old fellow’s den. Most likely he is asleep. But whether he | is or not he is sure to be lying down, with | the keg of powder under Lis head for a pillow. If he is awake he is sure to be puffing at a large pipe regardless of the danger. It takes a little nerve to remain around | at such a time, for what if the keg should | explode? Console yourseli with the fact that you weuld know nothing of 1t. You woutd be dead before you knew what had happened. | ouly playing a game, and that the terri- ble-looking keg is empty or ai least con- taius something else besides powder. But | vou are at liberty to investigate. Old | Peterson will not object. A carefui examination will disclose the fact that the keg is full of something, and as tha leaden seals of the powder-mill have never been broken the evidence will be satisiactory for any neryous person. 0Old Peterson looks upon the keg as his most useful piece of furnitare, What would he do for a pillow if he did not have it? In the dismal old magazine, with hardly enough room to turn around, the old man spends most of ns time. A shortdistance around the hill he has rigged up a sort of outdoor stove where he cooks—that is when he bas anything to cook. The old man says that he lives on & pension of $15 every three months which he gets for past services in the German army. A brother of his colleets it and sends it to him ad- dressed to San Francisco, where he c¢ol- lects. “Ne, T am not afraid of the can of pow- der,” the old man said. “Itcannot hurt me unless it is my time to die; and if it is my time to die I will die, anyhow, even if the powder was not within a thousand miles of me. i | Some might think that the old man is | “You may not think this is so, but T do, because I have been all through the wars and seen men killed by the thou- sands. One man will get killed by a stray bullet the first day he comes into thé ranks. Another will standin front of a Gatiing gun and be uninjured. It is one man’s time and not the other’s. It is just that way with me. If the keg of powder is going to explode within five minutes and my time has come it will kill me. Ifnot, I won’t be here or will escape by & miracle. “See! It is safe to handle this as I wish. Now, watceh, I will knock some fire out of my pipe on to the side of the keg.” But if the old man did as he said no one besides himself saw the act, for he was aione. The Enchanted Mountain. In the western part of New Mexico lies the Mesa Encantada, recently mentioned | in news columns, a famous rock of mighty dimensions rising hundreds of feet above the level of the surrounding plain and apparently inaccessible to man. For many years the scientists of the country have disagreed as to whether the summit of the mesa was inhabited by prehistoric Indians or not, and a few months ago Professor Libbey of Princeton University scaled it with much difficulty and reportea that he had found no signs thereon that led bim to believe it had ever been occupied. Professor Hodge has just gone over the ground covered by Professor Libbey, and more, too; for he returns, as aiready reported, with the statement that he has found numerous arrow-heads, pieces of ancient pottery and sione axes on the summit, all of which lead him to suppose that the plateau was for a time the home of Indians. 1n this supposition he is supported by Charles F. Lummis, the well- known writer and traveler, who has lived for years among the Indians of that neighborhooa’ and who states that their |legends all point to its former occupation. According to Professor Davidson, how- ever, who is as well acquainted with such matters as any of the other gentlemen, the mere discovery of a few potsherds and such things means nothing at all. “The mesa,’’ he said, ‘‘has probably been used as an outlook place in times when warfare existed among the neigh- boring tribes. In the early history of the country the viliages of the Indians were scattered all through the plains, and in case of trouble the first thing they would do would be to send their scouts to some point whence they could view the sur- rounding district for miles and signal the approach or close proximity of an enemy. The Indian climbs high mountdins when be is out hunting for the purpose of spot- ting his game, and it is even possible that these relics were left there by a peaceful hunting party. . “Buch places are not so difficult to scale as you would imagine. An Indian.goes up them in his vare feet as easily as you would climb stairs. A little niche is enough for him if he just gets his fingers and toes into it, and if he'wishes to he can place sticks in the holes and draw them ont as he ascends. That is probably how this mesa was climbed, and, had people lived on it permanently, we should certainly find some traces of their steps. *All along the line of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad you will see just such formations, and if any of th*m were ever inhabited ruins are to be found on them still. They canot be entirely effaced. “As 1 said before, I think that, the legends of the Indians and the late finds to the contrary, the mesa was never in- habited. And further investigation the wheel. will assume its old-time popularity, than on an ordinary wheel. hanger on a bicycle. ings. Itdoes not seem to me that I ever would probably prove my supposition to be corrects’ I won 112 seems to be settled beyond question, and that i Experiments of thi: ‘Will the bicycle skate force the bicycle itself into second place? Thousands of whi wondering if the race between Earl Keynolds and his skates and Chatles J. Fox on his bicycle is indicative of anew era for People who ought to know say that the chances are we will go back to first principles to a certain exten'—that The new era seems to be that of a new combination roller and bicycle =kate. all things being equal, it is possible to make greater speed on a bicycle skate cort in Europe have demonstrated this. H. S. Siefke, European expert in ths art of bicycle ekating, is now visiting in this country with a view of possible engagemens. Reynolds urquestionably holds the world’s bicygle-skate record. He mada it in a quarter-mile race, paced by & proiess sional tandem, on Fifth avenue in New York a short time ago. “I have been convinced for a long while tbat the bicycle skate is the coming motor for speed, o far as manpower is concerned. Each skate weighs two pounds and consists of a thin bar of brass with a fork at either end in which the wheels, six inches in diameter, are set. The rims are of steel and the tires of cushion rubber, “The pneumatic {ire, it is conceded, is out of the question, as the pressure upon the skate is largely Iatersl. The ckat equipped with straps for ordinary road use, but I do not use them, preferring instead the ordinary racing shoe fixed to the skal@ plates by means of rivets,- The upward curve at each end of the skale serves the double purpose of accommodating a larger wheel and bringing the foot nearer to the ground, thus facilitating locomotion on the same principle as the lowering of the crank Mr. Reynolds writes: One of the little wheels of the skaie when once set free will spin until furtber notice. a puir of improved skates made which will ouly weigh three pounds.” Reynolds has taken partin 120 roller-skating contests ang tmen in and about New York are kating One thing e i “*We have all heard a great deal, particularly those of us who have made a study of the wheel, of the beaaty of the ball bear- w anything about the bicycle as perfectly adjnsted as the ball-bearings of the skate, 1 don’t mind telling you that I am baving