Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 June 1891 — He Would Got Up and Howl. [ARTICLE]

He Would Got Up and Howl.

John H. Upshur, au old tar, who has been in every branch of the United States navy, from cook to captain, “hove to.’’set down his trunk and “took observation” with his “weather eye” when asked what he should do in case of war between ourselves and Great Britain. “The professor of our navigation class,” he replied, “once asked a classmate: ‘lf you were in command of a tig vessel and found yourself in a rough sea, with a huge rock on your beam, another astern, and one on either quarter, what would you do to get your ship out of such a predicament?’ “ ‘What would I do?* repeated the student, in a brown study. “ ‘Yes: what would you do?’ “ ‘I would get up and howl,’ was the reply. And that is ju«t what Uncle Sam s navy woul l have to do if it came in contact with a fleet from any powerful nation.” —S. Jmulx Star Saylrujft. The proverb which reads, “There is nothing new under the suu,” is well illustrated iu the history of the magne‘. Among the wonderful things recorded of the Chinese Emperor B oang-ti is this: That 2,600 years before the birth of Christ, a date which makes all Grecian and Roman history modern, is that Hoang-ti used a magnetic needle to point out the line of march for his troops. This fact has been frequently transcribed from wellknown Chinese records. The above pig-tailed brother of the sun and moon was the founder of the Chinese Empire, dving ia his prime at the age of 121. There are other authentic i ecords of the use of the magnet in China long before the days of Homer. Solomon, 1,500 years after Hoang-ti, also understood the use of the magnetic needle. A recent census bulletin shows that the traffic on the great lakes for the year ending June 30. 1889, amounted to the carrying of a million tons freight a week. This freight was chiefly ore, grain and lumber. And are we still in our infancy? nF