Daily Greencastle Banner and Times, Greencastle, Putnam County, 8 March 1897 — Page 3

THE DAILY BANNER TIMES, GREENCASTLE, INDIANA.

THE FLAG RAISING. ROBABLY it will I make no difference if the precise latitude and longitude of the large town of O a i n h r i dge. which was just reaching a. size when it was in order and quite prop- , r for it to become a city, is not given. It was in the Empire state, not on the Hudson, Mohawk. Niagara, or any other river of sufficient importance to indicate its location, though it had a number of minor streams that turned the wheels of its manufacturies. The reader will have to take it for granted that it existed somewhere in the imperial state, and it would be uesless to look for it on the map. (■ainbridge was large enough and progressive enough to have an excellent high school, in which were taught Greek and hat in for t hose who were going to college, and French, German, geometry and English for those who were not. It was big enough also to have a bank with a capital of a quarter of a million, whereof General Loammi Gainbridge was the president, as well as the richest and best-known man of the large town just budding into cityhood. These two institutions are the only ones that need he mentioned. November generally gives us a mild season l>efor<* the snows come, and January or February often brings a soft season before the flowers pick their way out of the wet soil, which might be called the Aboriginal Summer; and it was in such a season, from the twentieth to the end of the latter month, that the tlrst class of the Gainbridge high school gathered on the lawn beside the building to take their luncheon and enjoy an atmosphere which was more like June than any month of winter. It was the twenty-first of the month, and the young ladies and young gentlemen were intensely engaged in the discussion of a subject brought before them by Philip Blanker, whose father was the teller of the hank, and his full name was George W. Blanker; and if his middle name was a mystery, it was solved the next day at Hake Washington. The teller wished to be a much bigger man than he was, and looked forward to the time when he should be president of the Gainbridge hank. The sheet of water on his own land was small, but very pretty, and he thought of calling it, when it came to need a name, Hake Blanker; but his wife objected, and he compromised by giving it his middle name, rather than that of the patriot hero who has l>een revered and honored as the Father of his country. Mr. Blanker had decided to christen the lake and hoist the American flag on a pole erecied for the purpose on the border of the. lake nearest to his house on .Washington's birthday, though it would have suited him better to have the ceremony on his own natal day. As nothing could be done in the United States without an oration and the singing of an ode, he invited the president of the bank to make the oratorical effort, and the first class of the high school to sing the ode, which had been written by the principal of that institution. A collation was to be served on the occasion, to which the scholars were invited and some of the magnates of the town. This celebration was the subject of the conversation on the schoalhouse lawn. “America,” the ode, and the "Star Spangled Banner" had been rehearsed. The artillery company of Gainbridge were to be present and Are off all their cannon at once at the moment when the new "Old Glory,” purchased by the teller, was flung loose to the breeze. Then the national anthem was to follow, and the ode in conclusion. "What do you think!” exclaimed Lucy Archer. "Conrad and Olga Binnfield arc not to be with us!” "Do you mean to say, Luke, that they will not be present?” demanded Phoebe Blanker, the teller’s daughter. And the two who were to be absent were the son and daughter of the cash-

ier.

“That is what I mean to say, and 1 have the information from Olga herself,” added Lucy. “They have always led the singing, and Conrad is about the only fellow that can sing bass.” The statement of Lucy Archer had created a sensation and something like a panic among the pupils. It had promised to he a great occasion for them, nnd their hopes appeared to be suddenly blighted. Conrad and Olga had taken no part in the conversation and were seated apart from the others, and anyone who looked into their faces would have seen only a picture of despair In each, though both of them were ordinarily bright and cheerful. They were the best scholars in the school, as they were the leaders of the sports and amusements of both sexes. Now they looked as though they had not a single friend in the whole world. * * « General Gainbridge, whose ancestors were honored in the name of the town, was an honest and just man, but he was severe in his judgments. The j cashier, a German who had modified his name so that Americans could pronounce it, was an educated man and a musician of the highest order, and his wife was his equal as au artist. He had left his native land twenty years before under a political cloud, which he might have turned aside if he had been less honest and more subservient to the wishes of his superiors in of-

fice.

Mr. Binnflpld had brought with him his independence of character. He had been the manager of a bank in Berlin and was a very able financier. But

he never got along very well with General Gainbridge. Some of them said the magnate was jealous of him because he had been mentioned in the beginning as the president of the bank by some of the wisest men in the town. One day he reported to the president that a box containing ten thousand dollars in gold was mi—lag and must have been stolen from the vault. Of course this discovery created a tremendous excitement at the meeting of the directors called to receive the announcement. Without tracing the matter through all its details, a detective was sent for, and he questioned everybody about the premises, from the president down to the janitor, who was also the watchman. At the meeting of the hoard to hear his report he declared his belief in the most positive manner that the robbery was committed either by the teller or the cash-

ier.

Further inquiry in regard to the two officials proved that the cashier had spent his evenings, sometimes till a late hour, at the hank, for a week before the discovery that the box was missing. The teller always went home as soon as he had balanced his cash, and not a suspicious circumstance pointed at him. Mr. Binnfield was called before the directors and questioned by all of them, including the most expert lawyer in the place, who attempted to browbeat the cashier into making a confession; but he was as in dependent as he had always been. He admitted that ha bad spent his evenings for a week at the bank to investigate a discrepancy in the teller's accounts; and pointed it out very precisely to the board in the books. His brother, who was a farmer in the country, had called twice for him at the request of Mrs. Binnfield. The detective was present, and used all his efforts to make the cashier contradict himself, hut Mr. Binnfleld answered every question promptly and looked everyone who spoke to him squarely in the face. The result, was that the cashier was arrested and committed to the county jail; and this was only the night before the meeting of the scholars on the lawn of the school. Most of the solid men of the town refused to believe that the cashier was guilty, and the teller was not even suspected by anyone. The wife and the children of the accused were in the greatest distress, as may well be supposed. In the evening of his committal, Mr. Binnfield had written a long and most affectionate letter to them, affirming his innocence In the strongest terms. He advised that his son and daughter should continue their studies at school, and for this reason only they were there; but they could not engage in a frolic at such a time. • • • “I think we might as well give up the singing, and let the band perform all the music,” said Lucy Archer, who appeared to be very greatly disappointed. “But Phoebe says the programmes are all printed, and that Mr. Lane's ode is upon it," replied Kitty Owens. “If we don’t sing, it will spoil the whole affair.” “Jhit we can’t sing without Conrad and Olga,’’ persisted Lucy. “We can go through the foi-m, Luke," urged Kitty. “What’s all (his row about, Lucy?" demanded Philip Blanker, who came with his sister to where the girls were seated. They had heard the disagreeable news a moment before. "We can’t sing to-morrow, Phil,” replied Lucy. “Can’t sing!” exclaimed the teller's son, with n savage frown on his face. “What's the reason we can’t? Philip's bump of self-esteem was quite as fully developed as that of his father, and he considered himself the most important fellow in the first class of the high school, though he certainly was far from being the best scholar. He had a lordly way with him, and was impatient of control or contradiction. "Conrad and Olga are not going to the celebration,” replied Lucy. “What’s the reason they are not?” asked Philip angrily. "Is this a conspiracy to spoil the celebration?’’ “You know the reason as well as the rest of us. Phil. I am sorry they can’t go, but 1 can hardly blame them for it," answered the amiable Lucy. "You would not want to go. Phil Blanker, if your father was shut up in the comity jail,” interposed Ben Barron, a big-hearted fellow with big fists; and perhaps both of them caused him to be respected, for he would not stand by and see a weak boy or girl Imposed upon. “My father is not in the county jail!" protested Philip, violently. “I did not say he was, though perhaps he ought to be,” replied Ben, very improperly; but Philip was a bully, and his father was one of the most unpopular men in the town on account of his haughty and overbearing manner. "If you say that again, there will be a fight!” growled Phil, with his fists doubled up for business, though nobody who knew him believed he would use them, "It is not necessaiy to say it again, and I shall not do so. It looks just now as if your father would tie the next cashier of the bank, Phil, but it is not worth while to put on any airs yet. said Ben quietly. “What is the trouble here? inquired Mr. Lane, the principal, as he came upon the spot and heard exciting words as he approached. “Nothing,” replied Phil, turning away. “Conrad and Olga Binnfield will not attend the celebration," said Lucy. “Will not attend!” exclaimed the principal. "You cannot do the singing without them; but 1 can see the reason, nnd I am very sorry for them.” “We are all very sorry for Hum except Phil and Phoebe," added Lucy.' “I will see Conrad and Olga, and

perhaps they can be induced to change their minds,” added Mr. Lane, as he saw the son and daughter of the cashier seated by themselves away from the others. He sat down in front of them, and took the right hand of each. He expressed his sympathy in the tenderest and most affectionate terms, and both of them burst into tears. He begged them not to despair, and hoped and believed their father would come out of the ordeal without the smell of fire upon him. Then he spoke of the celebration, of the preparations that had been made for it, and the disappointment of the class and the people if the music was not given as printed on the programme. They had a duet in the ode, and it was not possible to have it without them. He prevailed in the end, and the principal announced that the music would all he sung, to the great joy of the scholars. Washington’s birthday proved to be another delightful aboriginal summer day in February, at least in the morning, though it did not last quite all day. The scholars of the high school dined at home and were on the lawn in readiness to take the barges that were to convey them to "Fairyland,” as Mr. Blanker had presumptuously named his place, at two o’clock in the afternoon. The lake was very pretty, with a small forest on the farther side of it, but there was little else to remind one of the stories read in child-

hood.

“Is everything ready out at your house for the great time, Phil?” asked Lucy Archer, us a considerable group gathered around the teller's son. “Everything is ready, hut when my father got home rather late yesterday afternoon he found that the flagstaff man had promised to set ip had not been done,” replied Phil. "He had to work till near midnight to ret it up himself. Mother, Phoebe and I had to help him to stand it up in the hole dug for it about ten in the evening. Then he sent us all to bed in order to be ready for it to-day and filled up the hole himself.” “You had a hard time of it,” added Lucy. "I should think Mr. Blanker could have found men enough to do the work.” “A man was engaged to do it yesterday afternoon, but lie did not come as he had promised,” added Phil. “But here are the barges. The fare is half a dollar out and back.” The scholars formed a merry party, and the girls began to sing us soon as they were seated and kept it up till they arrived at “Fairyland.” They were more inclined to row in Hie two boats on the lake than to do anything else. By three o'elock the hour appointed for the exercises—there was quite a large collection of people gathered on the premises. General Gainbridge came in his carriage precisely at the time and was received with the most distinguished consideration by the teller and cheered by the crowd in general.

the general harmony, and the solo was applauded as though no storm blackened the sky. Suddenly the wind began to howl, and a violent squall came down upon the scene. Most of the people fled to the house and barn, for great drops of rain began to pelt them. The flagstaff bent like a willow rod. The inscription was carried into the lake, and then the pole itself went by the hoard. It had beer, mortised into a timber cross, which was rooted out of the ground, as a tree displays its roots in a hurricane. Those near it saw a box thrown up in the upheaval. Conrad ran to the hole in spite of the drenching rain. It was the box of gold from the bank vault! Mr. Blanker, who had retired from the rostrum to the piazza of the house, saw the flagstaff go down and the box thrown up from the bowels of the earth like a demon from the infernal regions to confront him. He fainted dead away and was borne to his chamber. The rain was soon over, and a great crowd gathered around the ragged hole. Among them was General Gainbridge. “That is the box stolen from the vault of the bank!" exclaimed the president. "The teller was the robber, and not the cashier!” “That Is why Mr. Blanker had to set the flagstaff himself,” said Ben Barron, as Phil and Phoebe ran into the house as thoroughly overwhelmed as Conrad and Olga had been. The girls hugged and kissed Olga, and the hoys grasped the hands of Conrad, and their congratulations were as hearty as they were sincere. The general's carriage was taken to the hole. ,Two strong men placed the box in it. and it was driven to the bank, where it was deposited in the vault. The general was a Just man if he was haughty and severe, and his carriage proceeded at once to the county Jail. Mr. Binnfleld was promptly released, the general declaring that his innocence had been made apparent to a multitude of people by the direct interposition of Providence. The general’s carriage conveyed the cashier to his home, and a scene such as need not he described followed. The flag had been raised, and so had the box of treasure. —Frank Leslie's Pleasant Hours.

MAY RUIN TAMMANY. PURROY-SHEEHAN FEUD IS LIKELY TO END ORGANIZATION. Its 1'olitiral Influcnrr? Kn<l>«nK<‘i'e<l by th« Factional Quarrel Ambition of the Former to He Grand Sachem Cau»e»

Great Trouble.

(New York Letter.) \ HE recent spilt In Tammany hall may prove to be the beginning of the end of that organization as a political factor in this city. The Tammany so- | niir ciety will go on i \ before, for i; should

IF YOL SAY THAT AGAIN. The scholars had taken their places at the foot of the flagstaff on a platform provided for them. Another was erected for the magnates of the town, and all were seated. The hand played the national airs as an overture and slid off from them into “America,” whereupon the singers rose and sang the hymn. One of the clergymen of the place then invoked the divine blessing, and the general was properly announced as the orator of the occasion in a fulsome speech by the teller of the bank. The oration was very long and very dry. and the patience of the young men and maidens of the high school vus sorely tried by the inflietlaa. It \v : quarter past four when il w;. 'inis'n^d, rn! ;• volley of sighs went up from th singers' seats when the end came. Nothing could hurry the genera! in his discourse, not even the fearfully black and threatening clouds that were piling themselves up in the west, and ho could omit no portion of his account of his ancestry from whom the name of the town was derived. As he finished, sharp flashes of lightning blinded the ryes of ’he audience and deafening peals of thunder nearly stunned them. Mr. Blanker hastened the proceedings, and the flag was run up by ills own hands with a salvo of artillery. At the same time Phil hoisted half way up the staff something like the topsail of a ship on which appeared the name of the lake in large letters: “Lake Washington. Named in Honor of the Father of His Country.” The band played the "Star Spangled Banner,” and the choir sang it. Mr. Blanker then rose on the platform. ami omitting the speech he had intended to make, announced the ode, written for the occasion by Mr. Percival Lane, the honored principal of the high school. In spit" of the tempest that was gathering it was sung with brilliant effect by the scholars, nnd the voices of both Conrad and Olga could to easily distinguished in

Th«* SuflU'ient. A traveling man who put up for the night at the leading hotel in a small town left very particular instructions before retiring to be called in time for an early train. Early in the morning the guest was disturbed by a lively tattoo upon the door. "Well?” he demanded, sleepily. "I’ve got an important message for you,” replied the bellboy. The guest was up in an Instant, opened the door and received from the boy a large envelope. He tore it open hastily, and inside found a slip of paper on which was written in large letters: “Why don't you get up?” Ho got up.—Golden Days. The Most Difficult. Qtiericus What do you find to be the most difficult things to compose? Musician- -The baby. New York Journal. ALL SORTS. About 100 iron mines are at present in operation in the Lake Superior districts. The average Englishman lives twenty years longer in England than in Africa. Five years’ penal servitude was the sentence imposed recently on a bicycle thief in England. Tho highest waterfall in the world is Cholock cascade, at Yosemite, Cal., which is 2,6.‘{4 feet high, or just half a mile. It will be known as the "Diamond Jubilee” of Queen Victoria. The Prince of Wales has settled it by using the phrase in a public speech. Penn Yun, N. Y., was settled by Pennsylvanians and Yankees, and its name is a combination of the names of those two classes of settlers. Great Britain can not find enough tall men for the Foot Guards, so the standard of height has been reduced half au inch, to 5 feet 8V{. inches. The difficulty of registering the temperature at the bottom of the ocean is due to the fact that at a great depth the thermometer is < tushed by the pressure. Australia had last year 0,700 miles of railway open. The capital expended on them has bci n $5)7,000,000; the net revenue over working expenses is 2','i cent. He--Have you heard my new song, “The ProposalShe No—what key is it written in? “Be mine-er.” "I will." And now you can transpose It to the key of “A flat ’—Life. Jose Echegaray. Spain’s great playwright, is sixty-four years old. He is an engineer and a mathematician. Ho was once n minister of state. He has written fifty-two plays. Cernuschl’s house on the Avenue Velasquez in Paris, which the bimetallist banker bequeathed with its contents tc the city of Paris as a museum, has been thrown open to the public. While tho population of Franco remains nearly stationary, the consumption of tobacco increases by leaps and bounds. During 189G the French consumed over 20,000 tons of tobacco. New Haven, Conn., is soon to have a society of those whose ancestors came from Great Britain and were entitled to display coat armor, according to the records of the Herald’s College in London. The faculty of the Episcopa! University of the South at Sewanee, Tenn., has adopted a rule forbidding a student who falls below a certain standard of scholarship from becoming a member of any athletic team.

The members of the regular committees of these districts, under the leadership of Purroy, then met at their district headquarters and defied the tiger. The meeting in the Thirty-fifth district. at which Purroy spoke, was by far the livelier of the two. Purroy there threw off the mask and paid hi--compliments to Sheehan. One of his lieutenants moved the appointment of John P. Reilly, Henry Trott and Chas. Sotaldo as inspectors of the district primary, and the motion was carried by a vote of 300 to 3. The designation of these inspectors had been the bone of contention at the afternoon meeting in Tammany hall. The Purroy men were convinced that the Tammany executive committee, acting on the advice of Mr. Sheehan, would take the selection out of their hands, and they re-

ciety will go on as | solved to forestall the wigwam leader.

This resolution is proper," said Pur-

he rem. mbered that | roy, “but it will not avail in Fourteenth it is not In politics ] street, where the putative leader, John A little digression ; C. Sheehan, has determined you shall

be disfranchised in the primaries. He intends to use the methods of a highwayman. and your resolution will be buried when it reaches the men he controls in Tammany. Sheehan started in to wreck the Tammany organization in this district. The voters who are in the democratic party in this city will nut tolerate a defaulter at the head of Tammany Hall. Sheehan's knowledge of thefts in Buffalo, which caused him to flee that city, may point him the way to steal primaries here, but while

and never was.

from the purpose of this article, just at the outset, will be useful in getting straight the popular conception of this far-famed organization. The Society of Tammany, or Columbian Order, was formed in 1789, nnd was the result of a popular movement in New York which sought to counteract the so-called aristocratic Society of tho Cincinnati. It was anti-federal-ist in its character. Its founder was William Mooney, an upholsterer, of Irish descent, out born in America. The

a so-called leadership of his own making, it is our duty to resist his every step until no one in Tammany hall will own the dishonored leadership of a

discredited man.”

These pointed remarks of the fighting county clerk seemed to strike a responsive chord in the hearts of those present, and Mr. Purroy then went into some matters of Tammany history. He

JOHN C. SHEEHAN.

society took its name from a noted he can win here by might in setting up

chief of the Delaware tribe of Indians, who had been canonized by the soldiers of the revolution as the American patron saint. The first meeting of the society was held on May 12, 1789, and it was incorporated in 1805. The society is now, as it always has been, a charitable and social organization. It is governed by a grand sachem, who is assisted by thirteen sachems, suggested by the thirteen original states of

the union.

The general committee, which constitutes the political organization of the Tammany society, is permitted to occupy the latter's rooms In its building on Fourteenth street, but is really in no other way associated with it. It is in this general committee that all the political evils, real and imaginary, of the recent past, but already historic, have been hatched and nurtured. It is in this committee that the PurroySheehan feul has at last reached a crisis ami promises to wreck that once all-powerful political body. Henry I). Purroy is county clerk. He is ambitious to reach the position in the general committee once occupied by the “great” Groker all powerful he was there—for it Is only by the aid of the authority and influence of such a position that he can hope for anything In the future politically. John G. Sheehan occupies this coveted position now. As the organization has not been at all successful since Sheehan was placed at the head, Purroy has conceived the idea that it would not he difficult to overthrow him and step into iiis shoes. So he has been Intriguing and working for a long time to this end. Open warfare was declared the other day when Purroy and nis followers rejected the plans of the executive committee for the primaries in tho Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth assembly districts. The hostility between Purroy and Sheehan lias been growing for a year and a half. It began to take tangible form soon after the Chicago convention. Purroy went to the convention as a "sound money” man, but he switched over to the silver men and was one of the ardent supporters of Bryan after the convention. When he returned from Chicago he did not wait for Tajnmany to declare itself, but tried to take the local compaign out of the hands of Sheehan by organizing the Bryan and Sewall Central association. He sent broadcast marked copies of papers containing copies of his speeches, especially to Bryan. He confidently expected that Bryan would be elected, and he wanted to make sure that the control of patronage in this vicinity would be placed in his hands. Failing in this direction, Purroy and his followers took steps which led up to the formal withdrawal from Tammany. They eliRmed that Sheehan Invaded the Thirty-fourth and Thirty-fifth dis-

7

HENRY triets with schemes to destroy the principle of home rule. These districts are loyal to Purroy and are controlled by him. Sheehan, I’arroy says, caused the defeat of the regular democratic nominees for the assembly in these districts and fomented opposition to the regular organization in them. The anti-Purroy leaders in these districts recommended open primaries, lasting seven hours, although they were restricted to two hours in the other districts, the object being. It was said, to give everybody, whatever his politics, a chance to vote, provided he was a friend of Sheehan's. The Tammany executive committee approved this plan, as did the committee on organization. Protests were filed against the regular committees in the Thirtyfourth and Thirty-fifth districts, signed by sevcial thousand Tan.many democrats.

told of a conference with Richard Croker, In Saratoga, before Sheehan was selected as leader by the former

Tammany "boss ’’

“I then told him,” said Purroy, “that he would make the greatest mistake of his life if he named Sheehan. My warning came true at the famous Savoy dinner. We all recall the disgraceful scene when Registrar Reilly and other leaders interrupted their | guest, Mr. Croker, and told him they would have none of Sheehan. Do any of you here believe the people of Now ! York will intrust their local govern- | ment to Tammany hall while that or- j gauization has at its head a man who 1 was notoriously corrupt in public of- |

flee?”

Everybody present agreed with the ’ speaker in this very plain talk and a 1 resolution was passed unanimously providing for the appointment of elec- j tion inspectors independently of the action of the wigwam leaders. Thus the Purroyi’cs defied the Sheehanites to do their worst. ' The conclusijn came when the com- ! mitteo on organization met in Tam- i many hall to ratify the decision of the sub-committee in the matter of open primaries in the two districts named. This v, as promptly done, when the Purroyltcs li'ed cut of ihe building and ! gathered at the .Morton house, where j they began to plan for the extension ot i the new Tammany Hall into every dis ;

trict in the city.

As to the personal careers of the two 1 men now so conspicuous in local politics. Henry D. Purroy was born in Fordham, Westchester county, on Aug 27, ISIS, lie became a citizen of New York city by annexation in 1S7-1. He was educated at St. John’s college, Fordham, and was admitted to tho bar in New York city in ISG'J. He was a schoolmate, at St. John’s, of Tammany Boss John Kelly’s son, and was on tiiendly terms with that leader before the annexa.i n nnrie him necessary to j f.-tmomry at a leader In the new district. At a coagf . .oi.al convention he broke the jaw of a man who assailed Kelly. The Ke.lv influence made him president of the board of aidermen when he entered that body at the age of 2G, r.nd he has never been out

of office since

John C. Sheclina was born in Buffalo forty-one years ago. He came to New York City in 1883, and now lives at 4G4 West Twenty-third strert. He was eduated in the Buffalo public schools, and entered political life when Ids brother, William F., was lieutenant governor. Through his brother's influence he was given tho democratic nomination for city comptroller in Buffalo. He Is said to have been a candidate for the nomination when Grover Cleveland was nominated for mayor, and that Mr. Cleveland's refu al to run on the same ticket with Sheehan caused the lat.er’s withdrawal. Mr. Sheehan became almost immediately on his arrival here secretary of the Croton aqueduct commission, and formed a valuable friendship with John O’Brien, the contractor on the aqueduct. Be became O'Brien's partner in contracting for large public works, notably the sewers of Long Island City, for which they received upward of $1,000,000 In bonds.

P L A i 1N o o . Iron Ship* to IU* I*};*, c.l

IS till.

A new departure In the alirM*binp of vessels Is to be undertaken in this country, and the fit.tire crii.sers and battleships made far the United Stales navy will probably b" copper-sheathed, according to the new process of elec-tro-plating. Experiments have tieen going on for many year s to electroplate with copper the hulls of iron or steam vessels, nnd tho results obtained now justify the general adoption of a process of protection that can be called purely American. An electric plant has been established at Jersey City by the Ship Copper-Plating Company, and the seagoing tug Assistance was treated to the new process as an experiment. She has stood the test so well that, after a year, she has a hull nearly as free from ail defects caused by corrosion .end re.i animals as when first launched. Copper sheathing has been adopted by ship-builders of all the leading countries for years, and it ins always proved the best protection to the hulls that could he devised, but rust and corrosion find its way between the copper plates in time, anil starts up openings that eventually destroy the ship's bottom or necessitate.; the costly work

of resheathing It.

The old way was to plate the bottom of the ship carefully from stem to stern with stout wood, and then coat this with sheath copper, but the new method Is to place the vessel in a bath of

copper sulphate, into which an electric

current is passed. Liquid-tight compartments are made to fit firmly upon the sides and bottom of the hull, and when filled with a solution of the copper the four anodes are placed through an opening in the top. These constitute the positive pole, and the iron hull acts as the negative. A film of copper without seams or breaks gradually forms on the bottom of the ship, and in forty-eight hours this air-tight sheathing is one-sixteenth of an inch thick. The sheathing fits so tightly to the hull that it cannot be removed without cutting into it with sharp instruments, and even then it has become so welded to the iron that the two cannot always ho separated. The value of this unbroken surface of copper plating can lie readily understood when some of the injuries to the bottom of iron vessels are examined. The old method of copper sheathing

I added so much to the weight of the

vessels that the naval advisory hoard in 1882 refused to have the hulls of the Chicago, Boston, Atlanta and Dolphin sheathed. In the case of the Chicago it was estimated that 253 tons would be added to the weight of the vessel, and IG0 tons would he added to

i both the Boston and Atlanta. Pur-

suing this same policy of keeping the vessels light and buoyant on the water, and thereby gaining additional speed, the department refused to have any of the subsequent war vessels copper

j sheathed. As a result none of our war

vessels are sheathed, although a good percentage of the ships of the English, French, German and Russian navies

have their bottoms protected in this

way. By the new process of electroplating the weight added to the ves-

sels amounts only to 2.85 pounds to the

square foot.—Philadelphia Times. THE CHESHIRE CHEES’E.

v

Oitfti* of

*«int Old Ian in London

Peculiar ('harm.

Fleet street nineteonth-cen-

tiu. anity rushes in throngs, feverishly intent on the main chance, says Scribner's. But now and again units from the mass fall out and disappear ; into little doorway, so unobtrusive in .o character as to lie easily passed by strangers in search for it. A smalt passageway, a bit of court, and one I enters the old Cheshire Cheese, treadj ing in the footsteps of generations of wits and philosophers. A wit the visitor may not be, but he is certain to be the other in one way or another and his purpose in coming here can have little in common with the hurly-burly he has but just left out there on Fleet street. The tide of affairs has left him stranded on an oasis of peculiar charm—a low-ceilinged room, brown as an old meerschaum, heavily raftered and carrying to the sensitive nostril the scent of ages, tho Indescribable aroma inseparable from the;;; haunt; of geniality; wide windows, whitecurtained on two sides, and smiling upon the newcomer; the merry glow of the lire in the old grate, flirting tiny flames upward that caress the steaming, singing kettle hanging jusc above. The old copper scuttle glints with the fitful gleams upon its burnished, pudgy sides; the floor spread abundantly with sawdust softens the sound of footfalls. The white tablecloths make the note of tidiness, relieving the prevailing low tone of tho room. Over against one wall hang two cocked hats and a cane, Johnson’s. The silk hats and trousers of modern London almost seem out of harmony with the cozy quaintness of their environment, but smalls and burkles and cocked hats pass away and architecture survives the fashions r.nd per-

sons of its creators.

lAkv (Mi ce GirU. They are introducing office girls in Chicago, and those who have them in their employ are well pleased with them. They say that the offlee girl is superior to the office boy in many particulars. In the first place, she does not smoke cigarettes, and she does not whistle. As a rule ; he has ibaolutely no taste for dime novels. She is usually bright, quick and energetic, and ever so much clea-cr, and neater than a boy can be. Testimony upon this point is almost unanimous, and most of those wla have tried office girls declare that never again wil! they have ac office hoy around the pr mises.

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