length as the leaves. On the third or fourth day the ends of the five anthers are tipped with glistening diamond-like specks. These are the seeds. Wouldn't it be delightful to have a winter bed of open-air posies in full bloom? Three Useful A baker in the north of England freezes his ice cream with the help of his bicycle, which is connected with the freezer by a chain. A lamp wick that doesn't char has been invented. Housekeepers will welcome a wick that doesn't need to be trimmed. Two inches of the upper part are soaked in a green solution. A coal car without wheels is a novelty, yet an English inventor thinks ball-bearings are better, running more smoothly and easily. A Balloon Gun. We are making a special study of war-balloons, owing to the failure of our up-in-the-air plans at Santiago. France, England, and Germany are also interested in the subject. It has occurred to an inventor that, if there are to be balloons, there should be special guns to destroy them. This gentleman, an Englishman, has constructed a pretty little carriage-mounted machine-gun that can be aimed directly overhead, sending a steady stream of lead cloudward. A balloon floating a mile and a quarter above the earth can be thoroughly punctured with solid steel projectiles weighing a pound each. Wireless Telegraphy put to the test.. The Filipinos ask for a truce.. News of the Yorktown's missing men The Cuban Troops not yet Paid.. nesses in the "L" structures. The reports were turned over to the District Attorney's office for investigation. There are 936 reports from several Inspectors, included in one complete report, to which many photographs are attached. The investigation covered the old structure in Battery Park, and the Ninth Avenue Division. The photographs show the condition of the foundations and those parts of the supporting pillars under the surface. The Inspectors used an instrument they called a "Seismograph." (This name, however, is not accurate, as a seismograph is an instrument for recording the phenomena of earthquakes.) The seismograph makes lines, which are traced on a chart, and from this chart photographs are taken. In the reproductions on page 631 a decided difference between the lines will be noticed. This arose from the varying rates of train speed. The more even line was made at high speed, and the jagged line was recorded as speed was reduced. It must not be overlooked, however, that every structure of the nature of the "L" must sway more or less. It cannot be perfectly rigid. Its very rigidity would lead to serious trouble, and would be of doubtful value. The result of the District Attorney's investigation will be eagerly awaited not only by the multitudes who must use the "L" nearly every day, but also by the vast number of visitors from all parts to the great metropolis. Rear-Admiral Kautz and Samoa 621 CURRENT HISTORY The Navy Department has been much embarrassed by another breach of discipline in its ranks. Rear-Admiral Kautz and Samoa. The reprimand of Captain Coghlan had hardly left the hands of the Secretary of the Navy, when his attention was called to a letter from Rear-Admiral Albert Kautz which had just been published in the newspa pers. It was an amusing and playful letter from him to his cousin in Cincinnati, and was not intended for the public eye. But the lady had evidently enjoyed the contents too much to be able to keep them to herself. She published them without realizing the hot water into which she was about to plunge him. The objectionable portion of his letter read as follows: I am not a king here, but just plain boss of the ranch; the German Consul had that position up to my arrival. Since then he has been a very silent partner. I am very much afraid he does not like me. I am not popular here with the Germans, but I am all right with the English and hope to pull through with them. In another part of the letter he thus described the appearance of the King Malietoa Tanus: He is a very inoffensive sort of young fellow, a native nineteen years of age. He wears a French Admiral's cocked hat, but no shoes, stockings, or trousers. He added as a postscript: I was in error about those shoes and trousers of His Royal Highness. At the last moment his advisers prevailed upon him to put them on, for this occasion only. Though the officials laughed heartily at the quaint description of the Samoan sovereign, there was great indignation in the State and Navy Departments that the Rear Admiral should have ventured to express himself so freely. When the matter was brought to the attention of the President he became extremely angry, and in consultation with the Secretary of the Navy, decided to recall him from Apia, and relieve him from the command of the Pacific Station. This conclusion was, however, changed, and a caution was sent to the Rear-Admiral instead, in which he was warned that in future he must not mention international affairs in private correspondence. Rear-Admiral Kautz was very lucky to have escaped so easily, for his indiscretion, coming so close on the heels of the breach of discipline committed by Captain Coghlan, inclined the Secretary of the Navy to the belief that a severe example must be made of him for the benefit of the naval service, lest the indiscretions of naval men might undo the best work of the State Department. Happily for all concerned, neither the Coghlan nor the Kautz unpleasantness has had any effect on our relations with Germany. The promptGermany and the itude with which both officers have United States. been checked by the authorities has convinced Berlin that their unfortunate utterances did not reflect the sentiment of the country. |