Flunking
I '
Game
On the Ocean
U
The swordfish is lord and roaster
of every creature that lives in the sea.
He is an absolute ruler, and holds the
power of life and death over all the
inhabitants of the mighty deep.
“What about sharks?’I hear some
reader say. The shark is a fraud, a
fakir, a sneak and a coward. He eats
carrion and attacks only cripples and
weaklings; he is disgusting to look
at. Every deep-sea fisherman holds
the shark in utter contempt, not fear.
He is the most despised inhabitant
of the ocean. The only man a shark
ever attacks is a dead man or a man
the shark thinks is dead. Get the
shark once for all in your mind as
the hyena of the sea.
• The swordfish is a “ruler by divine
right” if there ever • was one. He
looks every inch a king. He is the
incarnation of independence, courage,
strength and speed. He eats nothing
he has not killed with his own sword
in open battle, and when angered or
wounded he will attack anything
afloat. The killing of the swordfish
is more suggestive of hunting big
game than of catching any kind of
fish. Indeed the sport may be justly
compared to hunting lions or grizzly
bears. The element of danger is, I
believe, even greater, for these ani
mals are not more ferocious when
wounded than is the swordfish, and
you have the added danger of being
drowned if upset by one of their
charges.
It wa3 4 o'clock one July morning.
The sun made the eastern sky look
like a fire in the oil tanks at Green
point. The Earl and Nettie, a two
master, sailed out of Block Island har
bor “under power,” with Capt. Tal at
the wheel, bound for the swordfishing
grounds, thirty miles to sea off Mon
tauk Point.
* cquipmcui iUI iUlLillUg
swordfish is a two-masted schooner,
having a twenty-five horse power
gasoline engine to furnish “power"
for rapid maneuvering, and a crew of
six men, who are not only expert sail
ors, but are also expert swordfish
hunters, as this is a very special and
dangerous kind of sport, and one
which novices had better let alone. A
heavy bar of iron is firmly bolted to
the free end of the schooner’s bow
sprit; it is long enough to reach to
the waistband of an average man. and
stand perpendicular and almost at a
right angle to the bowsprit. A strong
iron band bent into a half circle is
wel#ed at its middle to the free end
of the upright bar, the half circle be
ing large enough to admit a man’s
body. The free ends of this semi
circular band are braced by iron bars,
which slant backward and are bolted
to the sides of the bowsprit-some dis
tance from its end. This structure is
called the “pulpit.” And it makes it !
possible for a man to stand safely on
the very end of the bowsprit with
both hands free while he leans
against the semi-circular band, which
catches him around the middle. The
man in the “pulpit” is called the
“striker,” and it is his business to
drive the dart into the swordfish. He
has a wooden pole some fifteen feet
long, in one end of which an iron rod ,
two feet long is firmly set. A barbed
dart, made of brass or bronze, four !
inches long, is loosely fitted on the
end of this rod. In the middle of the
dart there is a hole, in which a thin,
strong rope is fastened. This rope
passes taut along the pole and is
grasped by the striker’s hand along
with the pole, and thus the dart is
kept in position on the end of the iron
rod until it is driven through the
swordfish, when the striker lets go
the rope and draws back the rod and
pole, leaving the dart buried in the
fish’s body or hanging below its beDy
and at right angles to it, thus ren
dering it impossible to pull out the
dart when the fish rushes through the
water or when it is being hauled
aboard. The rope, the end of which
is attached to the dart as described
above, is three hundred feet long and
ig coiled up in a tub on deck. To the
other end of this rope a keg is attach
ed by a bridle fastened round each
end of it. This keg is about the size
of an ordinary beer keg, but lighter,
and is painted black so it can be read
ily seen at a distance.
Three stanch rowboats in tow com
plete the “rig” necessary for sword
fish hunting. On July 4, 19*)4, at 4
a. m., the Earl and Nettie lifted her
anchor, put up her sails and, with her
gasoline engine giving an imitation
of a Gatling or Nordenfelt rapid-fire
gun in action, passed out of the har
bor at Block island.
JttUf&ZTfCT' TJVE
was putting (.mugs iu riguu>
in the fo’castle, while Frank, the lale
student, and myself were on deck,
alert, he scanning the port and I the
starboard for any game which might
escape the eagle eye of ‘be "gannett.'
“Steady!” shouts Arnie from alolt.
“Steady!” repeats Capt. Tal, at the
wheel, and there a hundred yards
directly in front of us were two black
triangular fins, five feet apart, show
ing six inches above the water and
slowly moving in a direction at right
angles to our course. For the next
two minutes, “Starboard!” “Port! '
“Steady!” “Keep off!” etc., came in
rapid succession from aloft, as Arnie
gave Capt. Tal the necessary steering
instructions to follow the zig-zag
course of the swordfish and bring the
“pulpit” right over his back.
Will Hooper steadied himself, lean
ed forward over the pulpit, gripped
the pole with his brawny hands, pois
ed the harpoon two feet from the
water for an instant and then “chug”
we heard, and the bronze dart had
gone clear through the swordfish, car
rying the rope with it and hung at
right angles six inches below its belly.
The fish darted toward the ocean
depths like a flash of light. “Over
board with the keg!” shouts Capt.
Tal, and overboard we threw It, to
gether with 300 feet of coiled rope,
and the Earl and Nettle sailed on.
The fish straightened out the coiled
rope in a few seconds and began tow
ing the keg.
Away it went over the surface of
the ocean, sometimes half submerged,
again disappearing entirely in a wave
to bob up on the other side, suddenly
stopping and starting and changing
direction as the infuriated fish strug
gled in the depths to free itself from
the dart.
After a time Hie keg became more
quiet and the Earl and Nettie, which
had been circling in the neighborhood,
sailed near to the keg, and Tony went
out to it in a rowboat to “tend the
fish.” He put the keg in the boat, and
siaumug in inu siern ocgan naming iu
on tho rope, coiling it in a tub, as it is
dangerous to have the coil in the bot
tom of the boat, where the feet may
get tangled in it. The fish submitted
to be hauled up for a time, but when
about 100 feet of rope had been coil
ed it suddenly parted. The rope was
jerked from Tony’s hands and the
coil went out with a rush.
The Portuguese laid down on the
keg to keep it in the boat, and away
w’ent boat, keg and Portuguese, the
square stern of the boat throwing up
a spray which at times nearly hid it
from view. The fish was so exhaust
ed and the tow was so heavy that this
performance did not last long, so witn
some minor struggles Tony finally
hauled the fish up to the neighbor
hood of the boat. When the fish saw
the boat it summoned its remaining
strength and charged it. This slack
ened the rope and Tony soon had him
alongside. Holding the rope with one
hand he drove a gaff just behind the
gills; the water about the boat was
red with blood and the battle was
over. He passed a noose over the
two flukes of its tail, hauled it up
to the stern of the boat, made the
noose fast to a thwart and was ready
for the Earl and Nettie.
We sailed by, caught the painter
of Tony’s boat, and with block-and
tackle hoisted the fish on deck. We
caught altogether fourteen swordfish
that day. And as the sun sank down
into the bosom of the ocean we sail
ed homeward. The crew dressed the
fish on deck with knife, axe and saw.
When their heads, tails and fins were
cut off, and they were all ready foi
the market, the fourteen weighed
three thousand four hundred pounds.
—Dr. John H. Clrdner, M. D., In New
York Sunday World.
Motor Lifeboat.
Successful experiments have been
made with a motor lifeboat at Folke
stone, England. A two-cylinder motor
of ten horse-power was fitted to an
old lifeboat.
* * * ^*^ vv\njvt_
MILLIONS ARE NOT CLAIMED.
British Paymaster General Has $273,
612 of Fund Now on Hand.
The funds in official custody in
England awaiting claimants amount
to- an enormous sum. During the
recent parliamentary session ques
tions were asked as to these unclaim
ed deposits, and several returns on
the subject have been made. The total
.bailees in the band* of the paymas
ter general were $273,612,305 on Feb.
18, 1803. '
la the chancery division a large
portion of this great fund is dormant,
but as a fund is not considered as
unclaimed until it has not been adju
dicated by the court for fifteen years,
the proportion due to missing owners
can net be estimated, but is an enor
mous amount. Many persons are neg
ligent in collecting government securi
ties and dividends, or have died with
out leaving heirs who have demanded
the funds. The balance of govern
ment stock and dividends unclaimed
for ten years In the hands of the na
tional debt commissioners on March
H, 1864, was $13,812/106. The govern
ment has taken over $5,000,000 of this
fund for current expenses.
Similar appropriations of these un
claimed funds were made by the gov
ernment in 1791 and 1808, and in 1803
Gladstone canceled not less than $15,
000,000 of the unclaimed stock. A
large estate, $720,000, that of Mrs.
Helen Blake, reverted to the crown
in 1883 in default of claimants who
were able to prove their right to the
estate.
British Colonial Agents.
At present the offices of fourteen
agents-general of British colonies are
scattered all over London. A proposal
to have them all in one great colonial
building has been favorably received
in colonial circles. Such a building
would be less expensive for the colo
nies than the present offices, the total
rent of which is in excess of $50,000 a
year.
Big Supply of Baggage.
When the Baltic sailed from Liver
pool on Aug. 24 it took forty porters
two hours to carry the cabin passen
gers’ baggage aboard.
Save* the Waste.
The Tacoma smelter, controlled by
D. O. Mills and associates, is making
$24,000 a month hy saving precious
metals that have heretofore been car
ried away in smoke from its furnaces.
The smoke is passed through a cooler
and then strained through light can
vas. The result is a harvest of gold,
silver, copper, etc.
Deported Anarchist.
An Italian recently from Europe ar
rived In Jackson, a mining town of
Amador county, California. He pro
ceeded to try to make anarchists of
some of the miners. A quiet meeting
was held and a committee of citizens
waited upon the newcomer and in*
vited him to take a trip to San Fran
cisco. He concluded to do so.
Troops Pillage Chinese Town.
When a brigade of mutinous troops
took the city of Liuchufu, south China,
they pillaged and slew for forty-eight
I hours. So great was their booty that
i they compelled 4,500 of the inhabi
tants to help them carry It to the
i hllln. where they Joined the rebels.
THIRTY-TWO YEARS SINCE THE FIRST
CASE OF INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION
- Have been deposited withtheTreasurer of the Unite d S tates
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C fljtZXELftfo/lGAN&-Co.2\IoJ?TOy,I}ziSS& Co. JL
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fne first fruits of international arbi
tration, in the award of the high com
mission which settled the so-called
Alabama claims of the United States
against England.
The world has made a strong ad
vance toward the settlement of inter
national disputes by the judicial meth
ods of arbitration since the days of
the Alabama award.
Differences that before then plunged
nations into war are now considered,
as a matter of course, fit subjects for
the deliberative methods of settlement
embraced by arbitration.
The high court which settled the
Alabama claims was the first of its
kind. The parties to the disputed
claims had long been subject to in
tensely bitter feelings of resentment
against each other. The United
States charged to England practically
all the damage done her shipping by
confederate ships in the civil war,
while England refused, until this com
mission sat, to recognize the right of
any nation to question her methods of
maintaining her proclaimed neutral
ity.
Long and delicate diplomatic nego
tiations were necessary to pave the
way, stsp by step, for the formation
oi the court which was to settle these
claims.
Even after the sessions began it
appeared for a time as if they would
come to an abrupt and friutless end
ing.
After months of deliberation on the
part Okf the arbitrators a settlement
was reached, however, in which the
principal of international arbitration
was imperishably perpetuated, while
the United States government re
ceived in settlement of its claims the
substantial sum of $15,500,000.
Russians Drop Alexander.
It has been a Vadition since the
time of Nicholas I. to name the czare
vitches alternately Alexander and
Nicholas. But the murder of Alexan
der II. caused his name to be con
sidered unlucky, so there will be no
more Alexanders on the Russian
throne, as there will be no more Pauls
or Peters. The czarevitch was there
fore named Alexis, after the rather of
Peter the Great. He was a powerful
and successful ruler.
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ttiy /frUZts'**^ „ /&S. 0Z £.
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Columbus Brought Watermelon.
It is customary to praise Christo
pher Columbus for many noble char
acteristics, to say nothing of his far
seeing intelligence, but the south
owes him a special debt of gratitude
for the prescience that led him to
bring the watermelon to America
when he first came, says the Rich
mond Times-Dispatch. The first water
melon seeds were turned loose to
hustle for themselves on San Salva
dor island and thence the hungry
Spaniards took them to Florida. When
once the succulent melon was started
in America it took care of itself in
the struggle for existence. It was
certainly doing a big business in
Georgia before a certain Oglethorpe
put in his appearance.
Abyssinian Intoxicant.
Honey is used for the manufacture
of alcohol and hydromel in Abyssinia.
The beverage last named is very in
toxicating and has an agreeable flavor
not unlike that of cider. Enormous
quantities of honey are used in the
production of hydromel, which is con
sumed in the same way and as gen
erally as red wine in France. Price
of honey, thirty-four cents per 2.2
pounds.
Maxim’s Aeroplane.
At the Crystal Palace, Sydenham,
experiments showed that the lifting
power of Sir Hiram Maxim’s aero
plane, placed at a slightly horizontal
angle, and traveling at a high veloc
ity, was much greater than had been
supposed. Metcalfe Wood made an
ascent and attained a speed of from
eighty to 100 miles an hoar.
Fine Present from Czar.
A boy of eleven, who lives at Ham
ilton, Oot.,* wrote to the czar, asking
for some Russian postage stamps.
Recently he received from the czar a
complete collection of Russian postal
departmental and local stamps in a
magnificently bound album. The col
lection is said to be worth several
thousand dollars.
To Prosecute Press Schools.
At the recent meeting in Glasgow of
the Institute of Journalists, the opin
ion was expressed that part of the in
stitute’s “defense fund” should be used
in prosecuting people who professed
to teach journalism and “held out illu
sionary hopqp to unwary aspirants for
a position on the press.**
Helps Distinguished Husband.
The wife of Camille Flammarion,
the astronomer, never allows anyone
to cut her husband's hair but bersdlf,
and she uses the shorn locks for pil
lows. Her home in Paris is full of
pillows stuffed with such clippings.
Telescopes, heliometers, sextants, as
trolabes and other astronomical in
struments are scattered all about
among them. The Flammarions were
married thirty years ago, taking their
bridal tour in a balloon. In all the
time since then the wife has been a
veritable helpmeet to her husband.
She not only makes observations and
calculations, but measures the dis
tances of stars for him. At the ob
servatory of Juvisy, which she helped
him establish, she made studies of the
planet Mars.
New Coal Field in Mexico.
A company composed principally of
British and German capitalists has
been formed for the purpose of work
ing a recently discovered coal field
near Sabinas, in the state of Coahuila,
Mexico. The principal vein is from
seven to eight feet wide, and underlies
an area of 15,000 acres. The new coal
field is about 7^ miles from the Mexi
can International railway.
Timber for Panama Canal.
It is thought the Panama canal
commission will procure from the
Columbia river the 40,000 piles that
will be needed in the construction of
tne canal. That will be equivalent to
32,000,000 feet of timber, or equal all
told to lour of the huge rafts that are
built on the Columbia river and
towed to San Francisco at the rate
of three each summer.
Ready for Revolt in Spain.
On the farm of a well-known repub
lican in Catalonia, Spain, the police
recently discovered 5,700 Mauser ri
fles, 5,200 bayonets. 700 sabers and
150,000 cartridges. The weapons and
ammunition, which were hidden in the
orchard, had been made in Germany
and were intended to be used in an
approaching rising.
Censor's Love Message.
A Russian news correspondent in
Manchuria telegraphed to his wife on
the anniversary of the wedding day:
“Dearest Maria^ I kiss you devotedly.”
It was duly delivered after the censor
Rad marked it: “Allowed. Senior Lieu
tenant B—.”
NEW USE FOR THE CAMERA,
Fitting of Clothes by Tailors Done
With Aid of Pictures.
A new method of measuring for tail
ors has been patented in Paris, ac
cording to the St. James Gazette. The
person to be measured is placed be
fore a camera, and between them is
introduced a network that is photo
graphed at the same time and serves
a-- a standard. Certain artifices are
r cessary to obtain a complete result;
t ns, the armpits, etc., must be indi
c ced by objects visible from without;
! r'd, finally, several views must be
t lien from various standpoints. The
subject is also fitted with a sort of
harness which indicates points of
comparison. These points may. how
ever, be marked directly on the per
son instead. The relative positions
of the camera, the network and the
subject are carefully adjusted so that
the subject appears always on the
same scale, and then the photograph
is taken from the various necessary
standpoints. _
Biography of Andree.
The life of Andree, the lost explor
er. is to be issued by the Geographical
Society of Stockholm, of which he was
a member.
Made Suit for Irish Patriot.
A tailor named Guilding died in
Dublin. It was he who made the suit
of clothes for William O’Brien when
O'Brien was in Eullamore Jail. O'Brien
refused to wear a prison suit and re
mained unclothed in his cell for sev
eral days. One morning his keepers
were surprised to find him wearing a
suit of tweed. It had cost $750 to get
the suit to him, however.
Oklahoma Is Growing.
In 1900 Oklahoma contained only
two towns having more than 3,500 in
habitants. and these contained from
10,000 up to 25,000. At least 75,000
have been added to her population
since June, 1900. Since that time five
counties have been organised, with a
total population of 130,000. These esti
mates make the present population
more than $00,000.
Study American Railway Methods.
The Northeastern Railway company,
England, has arranged for a number
of its leading officials to visit the
United States to report on the newest
methods for dealing with passenger
and freight traffic.
Her Father's Daughter.
I m the “tlaughter of ray father,"
And he’s a millionaire.
And so ’tis only natural
That men should deem me fair:
At least, that they should tell me >
And ask me for my heart—
But oh. I wish that I could tell
The false and true apart:
They flock around me at a ball
And beg me for a dance;
The sentimental kind they try
To kill me with a glai e.
And some of them write ver~. .
And they rave about my ey —
Oh. isn't there a touchstoi:
That to lovers’ words appl - ’
There’s one of them who teai ! h i *
And threatens suicide.
And then another one who sw
He’ll make me be his bride
He'll come some night when I'm ;i
And bear me far away—
How I wish that you would t.-ll r
What a maiden ought to say:
And then there's one who never c
He leaves me quite alone.
Enough oftentimes I meet his ey
When I quickly raise my own;
Perhaps, perhaps, were he to come
With tender words to woo—
On. won’t you please tell me
What a maiden ought to do?
—William Wallace Whitelock in N
Tork Times
The Antiquity of Chairs.
Chairs were in use in Egypt so lor.5
ago as 3399 B. C. The Chinese err
ployed them from about 13f»u B. C. In
India they were used, and are men
tioned as dating from 1100 B. C. Hou
chairs, with backs, were in use ir
India A. D. 300. They are known tc
have been employed in Rome >0 early
as A. D. 70, being mentioned by p r.y
at that date. Chairs with foot r-- ~
were used in Rome A. D. 150.
Fine View From High Peak.
From Mt. Genevieve, a peak in Gil
Pin County, Colorado, a person can
see into four states and one territory
On a clear day the observer can dis
cern the Uintah Mountains of eastern
Utah, the Medicine Bow range ol
Wyoming, the tips of the Rockies in
New Mexico and the principal peak
of Colorado. The plains, stretch::.*
to the east, are plainly visible ti
into Nebraska.
Dogs Became Intoxicated.
A beer wagon collided with an !<*->
cream stand at Providence. R. I an
the stock of cream was precipltar
Into the street. A leaky beer bar'
turned the mass into a sort of froien
pudding, which was partaken of by
several dogs. Two of the more vora
cious of the animals became badly .
toxicated and wandered aimlt--';
about in a most amusing manner fj.*
a long time.
New England Industry.
An interesting instance of per- st
ent industry is offered by the case !
J. P. Keyes of Poland, Mass., who
two weeks ago missed his Saturday
trip with butter to Ccmway village f■>:
the first time in twenty-six years. Mr.
Keyes is about 70 years old. and al
though his home is reached by hilly
roads that are badly drifted in winter
he has always managed to get
through.
New Use for Automobiles.
The Ceylon government is seriously
considering the proposition of subst
tuting on all fit roads light automo
biles for the old stage coaches which
still exist on important routes for mail
and passenger traffic. The required
speed is thirty miles an hour, and
each vehicle must carry six passen
gers, 300 pounds of letters and 26
pounds of baggage.
Deer Just Looked Around.
A deer entered the garden of Chas
Morgrage of Goffstown, N. H.. and
wandered around quite a while, not
offering to eat anything. At last it
squeezed out between the barbed
wires of the fence on one side of the
railroad, passed across and through
the other barbed wire fence without
injuring itself in the least.
Coin of George III.
A. O. Peabody of Wilton. N. H
picked up a coin a few days since
On one side are the letters ”DeorgiU!>
III Dei Gratia.” In the center was a
cut of a king. On the other side
were the letters MBFET H-REX FD
BETLDSRIATE, coat of arms with
crown upon name. The date on the
piece was 1797.
Broke Into Swarm of Bees.
Bees swarmed through a hole which
Ernest Mills made in the wall of the
town lockup at Martinsburg. Va„ and
stung him until he shouted for help.
The bees have a nest between the
plaster and clapboarding. Mills ad
mits he was trying to escape, but be
says he will sue the town for dam
ages.
Colt Has Woolly Coat.
Marshall Phillips of Willlsboro, XL.
has a curiosity in the shape of a colt
six months old, which in every way
resembles the mother, except that in
stead of being covered with hair it is
covered with wool. With the long
legs of a colt and the wool of a sheep
it presents a novel appearance.
Peculiar Traits of Family.
In Brooklyn a father and mother
raised up a family consisting of nine
daughters and one son. All the chil
dren are married and have offspring.
<AI1 the children of all the daughters
are boys, and all the children of the
son are girls.
High Com in Connecticut.
Farmington, Conn., people are
boasting about Ahe high corn they
raised this year. Miss Charlotte
Scott has some fifteen feet high and
K. R. Wadsworth’s measures 14 feet
5 inches.
Pigeon Hatched Out Hen’s Egg.
William H. Cassidy of Webster is
the owner of a pigeon which found a
ben’s egg In a nest in the barn and
sat upon it industriously, with the re
sult that there is a new chicken la
the collection of Mr. Cassidy.
Many Strawberries from an Acre.
H. P. Woofiworth of Westfield. Vt.
baa picked this year from a bed of
less than an acre, 4,000 quarts of
strawberries. The picking season
lasted from June 30 until Aug. 1.
