THE FOUBTJHt OF JULY
BIRTHDAY OF THE GREATEST
OF NATIONS.
XVliy Kverjr I'atrlotic American Should
Rojolco ami Giro Thanks HUlory of
tlio Declaration of Independence Its
Signers.
One hundred and twenty-one years
ago the bell rang in Independence hall
in Philadelphia. To the uninitiated it
THOMAS JEFFERSON ,
pealed its sonorous notes for some un
known purpose. To those who , breath-
less.Vere waiting for the sound , it told
the news that liberty had shaken off
her shackles in the new world , that
she had taken her rightful place and
that hereafter the people would ac
knowledge the power of no ruler except
such as might be chosen by them
selves. It was a curious scene in that
Btaid old Quaker town , the last place
in the colonies where one would have
suspected a spark would be given birth
to light freedom's torch throughout the
western hemisphere.
It was oil the seventh day of June ,
1776 , that the delegates from the colonies
nies sitting in congress iu Philadelphia
considered the following resolution in
troduced by Virginia's statesman ,
Richard Henry Lee :
"Resolved , That the United States
colonies are and ought to be free and
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
Independent states and their political
connection with Great Britain is and
ought to be dissolved. "
There had been murmurings and
threats and calm expressions of de
termination. But here was united ac
tion. The people , by their representa
tives duly chosen , formally absolved
themselves from allegiance from the
mother country and said to the world
that they had cast off their swaddling
clothes , and were now able to walk
alone. To speak with absolute truth ,
all the delegates did not favor this
progressive step. Some opposed it on
the ground that it was premature.
Nevertheless the resolution over
came opposition and was indorsed as
stated , by the majority of one. Thir
teen colonies were represented. Be
cause seven of them voted and stood
for independence , the United States is
today what she is. Subsequent devel
opments prove that had the action tak
en been delayed , the question of inde
pendence might have slept in peace un
til the herald ot the people , no one
how many years after , sounded
the tocsin of revolution. The dele
gates thought it wise to defer the ques
tion of final consideration to July 1 ,
1776 , by which time they believed there
might be a more united feeling among
the people.
Thus it was that 011 June 11 , that
famous committee was apppointcd to
frame the declaration of independence.
Note the names , and if you are a stu
dent of the history of the United States ,
conceive , if you can , of a betler quin-
tct to have represented the American
people : Benjamin Franklin , John
Adams , Thomas Jefferson , Roger Sher
man , Robert R. Livingstou. The first
was the man whoso fame is ticked into
our ears every time AVC hear a telegraph
instrument , whose genius is placed in
broad light whenever wo enjoy the il
lumination of electricity. The second
rose to be president of Ihe nation he
helped to form. The third is the fa
ther of what the world knows as Jeffersonian -
sonian democracy. The fourth , puri
tan , patriot , leader , gave more in moral
force and determination , in knowledge
of thtt law and its common sense principles -
ciples than almost any man who as
sisted at the birth of the nation. The
fifth was the man of whom the major
ity of people know comparatively little ,
and yet there was none who better de
served a place of honor in the public
miud. Eminent as a financier , a
shrewd judge of human nature , his
touch ou the helm of state was cx-
JOHN ADAMS.
actly what was needed to keep the
young craft on her course.
Jefferson had spoken but little in
congress and he had no part in the
acrimonies which then prevailed. In
a plain brick house , corner of Market
and Seventh streets , Philadelphia , he
drafted the declaration of independ
ence. The work was almo&t wholly
JeffeEson's , only a few verbal altera
tions being suggested by Adams and
Franklin. It then was approved by
Ihe committee. A few passages were
struck out by congress
Caesar Rodney , one of Delaware's
delegates , in order to have his vote
recorded , rode in the saddle from a
point eighty miles from Philadelphia ,
all night , and reached the floor just in
time oa July 4 to cast Delaware's vote
in favor of independence. On that day ,
ever memorable in American annals ,
the declaration of independence was
RICHARD HENRY LEE.
adopted by the unanimous vote of the
thirteen colonies.
The enthusiasm of the patriots at
hearing the intelligence was unbound
ed. While congress had been discuss
ing the subject , crowds assembled out-
aide the hall and in the streets , an
xiously awaiting the result. When it
was announced at noon the state house
bell , on which was inscribed "Proclaim
liberty throughout all the land unto
the inhabitants thereof , " clanged deep
and melodiously and the throng gave
vent to long and loud shouts of exulta
tion.
tion.The
The old bell ringer had been at his
post since early morning. He had
placed his boy below to announce when
the declaration was adopted , so that
ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON ,
not an instant might be lost in trans
ferring the glad tidings by means of
the bell to the waiting multitude. As
the wearisome hours passed and no
sign came to him the aged bell ringer
finally exclaimed "They will never do
it ! They will never do it ! " Just th a
he heard his boy clapping his hands
and vociferating at the top of his ju
venile lungs "Ring ! Ring ! " The old
hands swayed the sonorous bell with
delirious vigor. Its reverberations was
echoed by every steeple in the city.
That was a gala day in Philadelphia ,
what with rejoicings and bonfires and
illuminations. The cannon boomed
and messengers rode away hotly in all
quarters to announce the news. Wash
ington then was in New York with the
army. By his orders it was read to the
soldiers , who acclaimed it enthusias
tically. The townsfolk on that night
tore the statue of George III. from its
pedestal in Bowling Gieen and it was
melted into 42,000 bullets for the pa
triotic troops.
"Yesterday , " wrote John Adams to
ROGER SHERMAN ,
his wife , "the greatest question was
decided that was ever debated in Amer
ica ; and greater , perhaps , never was or
will be decided among men. A reso
lution was passed without one dissent
ing colony 'that these united colonies
are , and of right ought to be , free and
independent. ' The day is passed. The
Fourth of July , 1776 , will be a memor
able epoch in the history of America. I
am apt to believe it will be celebrated
by succeeding generations as the great
anniversary festival. It ought to be
commemorated as the day of deliver
ance by solemn acts of devotion to Al
mighty God. It ought to be solemnized
with pomp , shows , games , sports , guns ,
bells , bonfire * and illuminations from
one end of the 'continent to the other ,
from this time forward forever. "
By a strange coincidence John
Adams died on July 4,1826 , the-fiftieth
anniversary of Ihe declaration of in
dependence. His last words were "Jef
ferson still survives. " But at 1 o'clock
on the same day Jefferson also passed
away.
7
.1
For Centuries Before tiie Christian Era Tky Were
Used Egyptians and the Military Mast ,
As a place of peril the fighting top
of a modern raac-of-v.'itr IP the most
exposed position in a heated action ,
cut off as Its oceupasls are from all
sheltering armor and poiacd high and
clear as a tempting target for an en
emy's quick-firing guns. Let that
mast be torn away and swept over
board by the tempest of small shell
that ships of to-day can bring to bear
upon unarmorcd parts of a foe , and
the brave defenders must KO to cer
tain death without the chance of a bit
of floating spar , as in the olden days ,
to hold thorn up till succor come af
ter the fierce rush of conflict.
The story of the fighting top reaches
way back centuries before the Chris-
linn era ; in fact , back to the earliest
time when war craft might pardonably
bo called ships by virtue of their suc
cessful struggle with wave and tem
pest ; and , amid the rapid changes of
to-day , it is hard to trace the connec
tion between those nm-ient craft with
their rude equipments and the modern
battleship , fierce and strong , by right
of the power she has plucked
from the bowels of the earth
and turned to her own purposes of
might and majestic dominance.
The carvings and drawings of the
war craft of the ancient Egyptians and
Asiatics , two thousand years before
Christ , bear the embryo of the mili
tary top perched at the masthead of
the slngls spars that bore their sails
then. It was merely a rough basketlike -
like arrangement in winch one or two
men might stand and assail the war
riors of the foe where they crouched
behind the sheltering bulwarks of
bucklers hung against the sides. Perch
ed high above , the men in the "ga-
bie , " as later it was called , picked off ,
like sharp-shooters , the enemy before
he oould come aboard or tempted him
ir.to open exposure and the consequences
quences such rathness brought.
Down upon the foe's deck the hurt-
Hug spear was sent , while the top-
men rested far above retaliation save
from the enemy's toymen , if hs had
any. During the time of the naval
struggles between the Greeks and the
Romans , the fighting tops disappeared ,
for it was customary then to lower the
m.-i ta and trust only to the great
s ec-ps or oais when going into ac
tion. Stracgp as it may t = eem the mer-
t vessels alone carried fighting
thru , and for the purpose only
t ef meeting the atiavk of pirates , with
r.'honi nearly cvvry FPU. was then in-
fes'.fd. Those tops were not unlike
rusks , and , with two or three men in
them , could be hoisted v.ell up and
into position in time to be of service.
Many of our large merchant liners ami
all whales cairy a somewhat similar
arrangement well up on their masts ?
to-day. aul. frous the eicw's nest , as
it is now called , most o * the lookout
duty f-- BOW uone. The Japanese have
adopted something of the kind for their
modern naval vessels and the cut of
the Chito&eV mast ; s typical.
As ( .lie shipn grew iu power th. ir
masts had to bp heightened by splicing
on additional t-pars , and to give spread
for the slpyB and shrouds that held
them in place , a platform was built
at the lop of the lower mast. There
Ihe archer and spearman found ample
room for his work , and the Saxon
chronicles of that lusty writer. Sir
John Froissart , in the latter part of
the fourteenth century give as some
very interesting accounts of the dam
age inflicted upon the French , the
Spanish , and the Genoese by the top-
men of the British ships. Down up
on the fragile etna-lures of wood they
hurled great stones that bore dov/n
the foe in great bleeding masses , tore
through their decks , opened their
scams , and tent them to the bottom in
a style that Sir John makes highly
commendable.
In the seventeenth century we find
the tops broad and open save for the
after patt , where a wooden breastwork
was reared to shield the topmen. Why
only the after part should have been
singled out for protection is open for
speculation ; but it is not improbable
that the Bails before the mast covered
to a great extent the marksmen in the
top and behind the mast only did they
need supplemental protection. These
wooden bulwarks in the tops vere va
riously painted according to the na
tionality of the t-hip ; and for a coipl
of hundred years that style of top
prevailed , and in form , square behind
and rounded in front , still is in vogue
in modern sail powered naval ves
sels.
During all the frigate actions of the
war of 1812 the sharpshooters in the
tops of the various ships did excellent
work , and there it was the marine
showed whr.t could be expected of him ,
even though he stood out with no
sheiivioth r than a "stray hammock
or to hastily tiic-cd rp for his protec
tion.
tion.The
The first of < . : : r ships of the now navy
had tops that were practically steel
duplicates of those of the late war ;
and but for the presence of modern
rapid-fire guns , were i sally of less
defensive value than those of thirty
odd years ago. It wasn't till we be-
fcMi to build our battleships that WP
really launched cut into regular mod
ern military masts , and then we fol
lowed in principle the practices of t.c
French.
The modern mast oa a fighting ship
is purely for military purposes , name
ly , on such ships that ara without a
spread of canvas of any sort , and its
duty now is principally for a service
that was once merely incidental to
those of the sailing ship. To bear sig
nals Is its iirfct mir-sion , and then to
carry an armament of rapidfireguns
with which to ir.e l the attack of tor
pedo boats , to sweep the open ports ,
and to enfilade the unprotected gun
stations of an enemy. With Galling
guns pouring out a veritable rain of
bullets at the late of 2,000 a minute ,
and with other heavier automatic guns
capable of hurling : a hundred or more
of u'.e-pound shell in the same time
the modern military top is someting to
be considered where the hand grenade ,
s\vz..c .
* 'J-f
? -
!
3' > r& > r e&ifilQ * " -
\&Jhfms \ ;
- '
f-'Whi
'tf
l n TTn J - tin
in-
a * EVOLUTION OF THE MILITARY MAST
the stiiik balls , and the rocks of the
past might be dismissed with a shrug.
There Is but little doubt that the
French have set the pace for the mod
ern fighting top , and BO luxuriantly
have their vessels developed these
growths in riotous profusion and va
rieties of forms that it was no wonder
we soon heard of wanting stability in
their ships. Their most recent de
signs are decidedly moderated , but still
bear the hall mark of great freedom.
With the French the idea has been
to cover entirely the positions of the
guns ami the men in the tops to give
the navigator a chance to guide his
ship in action from a point well above
the smoke of the guns , and , too , to
bear aloft the searchlights. Where-
ever a closed In top is found on ships
of other nations it is of French in
spiration.
The British have almost exclusively
held to an open or uncovered top , the
only real protection to either guns or
men being the shields carried on the
weapons themselves.
With us the gunboats Wilmington
and the Helena represent the greatest
development of the military mast , in
all it means for fighting and signal
purposes , for conning the ship , and for
the carriage of that great shining eye
( hat is to look far into the night The
conning tower , so to speak , is just be-
lov the lower top. and is reached
through the body of the mast proper.
Just because of this curious type of
matt , one of the enemy's large auxil
iary cruisers took one of these boats
for a battleship the other day , and lost
no time in hustling for the distant
horizon.
The national tendencies of the va
rious navies are marked by the military
masts their recent vessels bear , and
whether they seek their inspiration
from Great Britain or France it in
easy enough to tell. The Russians are
unsettled ; Austria is equally divided ;
r
EL PA HAL , SPAIN'S SUBMARINE TORPEDO BOAT.
Germany leans toward the French ,
while the Japanese and the Italians fol
low the English.
ROBERT G. SKERRETT.
Africa's Ancient Sea.
Resent studies of the animal life of
Lake Tanganyika have shown that that
lake differs from all other African lakes
in possessing inhabitants that belong to
the oceanic species. Still , these sin
gular denizens of lake Tanganyika are
not exactly like thn marine organisms
of the present day. and the conclusion is
drawn that a sea , connected with the
open ocean , once occupied the parts of
Africa , where Tanganyika now lies and
that the lake is the last remnant of the
ancient sea.
Substitute.
"You want a trip to the seaside ? Non
sense , Jones ! Put a little salt in your
morning tub , cat fish at every meal ,
wain up to town and back so as to tire
yourself out , sleep on tha floor , and let
the house be dirty , and you'll fancy
you're at Margate. " Pick-Me-Up.
Bargain ,
Claude I thought you were not go
ing to pay more than 550 for a wheel ?
Maud I didn't mean to when I went
into the store , but he said if I'd take
the $60 wheel he would let me have a
dollar pump for 98 cents. Indianapolis
Journal.
HOW TO KEEP HEALTHY.
Don't worry. Don't lay awake nt
night to think about your shortcom
ings and other people's sins.
Don't care violently for any one.
Hearts and consciences are opposed to
rounded contours and shapely necks.
Eat meats with fat on them. Eat
llsh with white sauce. Eat potatoes ,
corn-starch , simple pudding and Ice
creams.
Wear warm , luxurious clothing , but
be careful not to have it so warm as I *
induce perspiration , for that will prove
thinning. Do cot let it be too heavy ,
cither.
Drink milk and cream whenever you
happen to want them. If you don't
care for these nourishing drinks , culti
vate a taste for them. Avoid lemonade ,
lime juice and the like.
Eat fruit for > our breakfast , but not
the tart grape and the tartar grape
fruit. Eat baked apples with plenty
of sugar and cream , and nil sorts of
stewed fruits , which require sweeten
ing.
ing.Eat
Eat for breakfast oatmeal swimming
In cream. Drink not tea and coffee , but
cocoa , chocolate and milk. Spurn
toast , especially if it be made of era-
ham or gluten bread. Eat freshiy made
wheat bread , with butter and honey.
Do not take more exercise than is ab
solutely essential to health. Take- the
air yes. But let it be in u carriage ,
whenever you can. or on a sunny bench
in the park. Violent exercise is the
worst possible thing for the woman who
would fain grow plump.
A small wallet may contain a vast
deal of coined selfishness. Many men
carry themselves in their pocket-
books.
