THE BELL IN THE SEA
How Ocean Liners Hear Their
Way In Thick Weather.
FOG SIGNALS UNDER WATER.
Method by Which the Submerged
Gong Is Operated and the Apparatus
by Which the Sound Is Picked Up
Miles Away— Port and Starboard
Lights.
To those who go down to the sea in
ships probably no discovery in recent
times has been of more importance or
tends more to save life than that of
the possibility of signaling from ship
to ship and from ship to shore by
sound, writes Sidney P. Walker In the
London Mail. It literally, when fully
dev eloped, will enable steamers to
"hear" their way under all conditions
of weather and particularly in fog just
as w ell as they now see their way on
clear nights by the aid of the lights
that each ship carries and those dis
tributed round the coast of every civ
ilized country.
The whole apparatus hinges upon
the fact that water is a good conduct
or of sound. The readiest example
of this of which the writer is aware is
to be found usually at mineral baths.
There is nearly always pumping going
on in connection with the baths, but
under ordinary conditions the pump is
not heard. When undressing, for in
stance. to enter the bath one can very
rarely hear the pump, but immediately
one is in the bath if one places one's
head under water the pump is almost
painfully evident, and an engineer
could easily count the strokes had he
a watch at hand.
For signaling purposes a bell Is em
ployed, immersed some distance under
the water and inclosed In a chamber,
the hammer being worked by com
pressed air operated from the surface.
The sound of the strokes on the bell
Is transmitted to a distance of several
miles and can be heard by suitable ap
paratus. The hearing apparatus con
sists of a microphone, a modification
of that we use every time we speak to
the telephone, inclosed in a chamber
Inside the ship and connected with the
bridge by wires in the usual way.
The microphone chamber Is filled with
a special liquid which the inventors
have found to answer the purpose
best, and there are, as at present ar
ranged, one chamber and one micro
phone on each bow below the water
line. In the chart house on the bridge
are a pair of telephone receivers, sim
ilar to those we put to our ears when
we talk through the telephone on shore,
and a switch, enabling the receivers
to be to either of the two
microphones.
Several of the lighthouses on the
coast of America and some, the writer
believes, on that of the United King
dom are fitted with bells as described
above, which are rung at certain inter
vals, each lighthouse having a different
number of beats, so that any particu
lar lighthouse is distinguished by its
bell, just as in clear weather it is dis
tinguished by the arrangement of its
lights. An approaching ship can tell
within a very close approximation, as
mathematicians would say, how it lies
with regard to the lighthouse, because
the bell will be heard loudest in that
microphone on the side of the ship on
which the lighthouse is. and the officer
of the watch can steer accordingly.
All ships carry a red light at night
on the left hand, or port, side and a
green light on the right hand, or star
board side, while all steamers carry
in addition a white light showing on
both sides. Neither of the lights can
be seen astern or for some distance
toward the bows, the limit being what
sailors call two points abaft the beam,
a little astern of her middle point so
that when approaching a ship from
astern no lights are visible to the ap
proaching ship, but her full light 3 are
visible from the ship approached.
When two ships are approaching
each other from opposite directions end
on, each ship will see the other's two
or three lights and can easily steer to
keep out of each other's way. There
is a simple rule for this, and incidental
ly it may be mentioned that the dan
ger is least in this case, provided that
both ships are properly handled. The
danger of collision arises principally
from ships crossing each other, and for
this also there are simple rules gov
erned by what is called the rule of the
road. Leaving out the question of sail
ing ships f"r the moment, the ship
which has .the other, the crossing ship,
on her own right hand (starboard) side
has to keep out of the way, and it does
so by turning slightly to the right, or
to starboard, presenting her left side
to the other ship.
Whenever a ship has to give way to
another tlie color of the light of the
other ship is on the same side lis that
to which the helm must be moved.
Thus when a 1 light is seen on the
vjo-ht hand l arboard) side the helm
is put'to port the «T * the light
seen. Similarly when .• ' Pi' 4
crossing from port to s • -^-ov. *
ing her green light, that ; :v. . «.-•! on her
starboard side, the steamer puts her
fcelm to starboard to clear. This rule
could be followed quite as easily with
eound signals.
Recommendation.
"It seems to me that I have heard
most of the ideas advanced In your
speech before."
"That," said Senator Sorghum,
"merely goes to show that they are
good Ideas which will stand wear and
tear "—Washington Star.
CROSSING THE BAR.
Dying Words of Some of the World's
Famous Men.
Nothnagel, who died alone in hi.s
room, noted his own symptoms to the
last. A letter to his assistant is said
to have ended as follows: "Written
late on the evening of July 0 just aft
er experiencing these severe attacks
died of calcification of the arteries."
Traube also made observations 011 him
self to the very end. Locock expressed
a wish to be present at the postmor
tem examination on himself, and among
Cuvier's last recorded words is a re
mark, as his fingers twitched involun
tarily: "Charles Bell is right: 'Ce sout
les nerfs de la volonte qui sont mala
difs.'" Dyce Davidson, professor at
Aberdeen, died immediately after say
ing to his class, speaking of the next
meeting, which was never to take
place, "Four o'clock on Monday, gen
tlemen; 4 o'clock."
Several doctors have taken their
leave with a blessing to those around
them. Astley Cooper's last recorded
words are, "God bles§ you, and goodby
to you all!" He had previously said to
his physicians, Bright and Chambers,
"God's will be done; God bless you
both!" adding, "You must excuse me,
but I shall take no more medicine."
Benjamin Brodie was heard to mutter,
"After all, God is very good." The
saddest of all recorded last words are
probably those of Oliver Goldsmith,
who, when asked by his physician if
his mind was at ease, said, "No, it is
not!" On the other hand, William
Hunter's mind seems to have been full
of bright thoughts at the moment of
death, for he said, "If I could hold a
pen, what a book I could write!"
Pasteur and Darwin, though not be
longing to the medical profession, are
venerated by it as teachers. Darwin's
last words were, "I am not the least
afraid to die." Pasteur was offered a
cup of milk and, being unable to swal
low -it, murmured, "I cannot." He
passed away with one hand in his
wife's, the other grasping a crucifix.
Lastly are mentioned the last words of
Mirabeau, which are said to have been
addressed to a doctor. He wrote on a
slip of paper, which he gave to his
physician, the philosopher Cabanis, the
single ford, "Dormir." Another ac
count, which may be an expanded ver
sion of this, is that after begging for
an anodyne he said reproachfully to
the doctor: "Were you not my physi
cian and my friend? Did you not
promise to spare me the suffering of
6uch a death? Must I go away carrying
with me the regret of having confided
In you?" This is rather a long and
rhetorical speech for a dying man.—
British Medical Journal.
Japanese New Year Cakes.
An annual event in Japan is the
making of the New Year's cake, which
every family must have if good luck
is to follow it during the ensuing year.
This cake is made of a peculiar variety
of rice, boiled and pounded in a great
wooden mortar until it is of the con
sistency of dough. Although the pure
white dough is often colored yellow
or pink, the shape of the cake is al
ways the same —that of the sacred mir
ror, one of the three sacred symbols of
the Shinto faith. A piece of this cake
is offered to the Shinto deities because
It is of the shape of the sacred mirror
which wooed the sun goddess to come
out of the crve where she had hidden
herself in wrath and thus saved the
land from total darkness. Each mem
ber of the familj* takes a hand in the
manufacture of the New Year's cake.
Even the baby is carried out and his
baby hand guided in lifting the heavy
wooden mallet for a "good luck" blow.
Enough is made to last nearly the
whole year through, and it
an important place in the daily menu.—
Leslie's Weekly.
Queer Fish.
At first thought the electric chair,
which sends the criminal to his doom,
would seem to be a refinement of in
vention possible only to man's genius.
But the electric eel can benumb a
horse so that it will drown before re
covering from the shock, and the
fiercest fish is rendered helpless by the
gentlest touch of this creature. Small
wonder these eels flourish in their na
tive waters and seldom fail to find
food enough and to spare!
At any rate, the gentleman angler
casting his fly upon the ripple is
unique. Surely no animal can match
the rod and line! Yet there is a fish
with a long, slender filament drooping
forward from its head, tipped with a
fleshy, wormlike appendage. The fish
lies quietly on the bottom and awaits
a nibble. Soon a minnow* makes a
dash for the waving luscious morsel.
The huge mouth opens, and—the finny
angler has dined! A veritable Shylock
this, with rod, line and bait of his own
flesh and bone!— Chicago Record-Her
ald. '
WKsn the Nose Bleeds.
When the nose is bleeding never hold
it over a basin or~hold the head down
in any way. This only causes further
rush of blood to the broken tissues in
the nose. The head should be held up
and back, the flow being caught in
handkerchiefs or cloths. One of the
most effective and simple means of
checking a nosebleed is to press on
the upper lip. Near the undersurface
of the lip runs the artery that supplies
the interior nasal passages where the
ruptures occur. If this is pressed, the
flow of blood is mechanically checked,
thus allowing the blood around the
broken tissues to congeal and seal up
the opening. If merely pressing with
x'ne finger does not succeed, place a
wad of paper under the lip and fold
the lip over it, holding it down tight.
Again, if this does not succeed and a
drug store is near get some adrenalin,
saturate a piece of cotton with it and
apply to the interior of the nose from
where the blood flows.
The Rocky Mount Record, Thursday, February 13. 1908
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which grow worse instead of better. Their stomachs need a rest, until nature's forces can ¥S£3 &U H
recuperate. . % v: ■ ■ HrvT.
Ninety per cent of *the diseases of mankind originate from a disordered stomach, and ®
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The Kexall Dyspepsia Tablets are guaranteed to relieve immediately and cure perma- ma BE m
nently all the most distressing and painful forms of Dyspepsia and Indigestion. This guar- MiMS #
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Money will be refunded, exactly as printed on package, in case of dissatisfaction. Price, 25 cents, at our store or by mail. m
GRIFFINS DRUG STORE I
' Tl] "11MBMTTT1IIMIIIIIIII MI || Ml IP liilHHlllllll
THE DIVINING HOD.
No Mysterious Virtues In Lhs
Dowser's V/ar.d. •
In experiments with a divining rod
as used for discovering underground
supplies of water one of the geolo
gists of the United States geological
survey found that at points it turned
downward independently of his will,
but more complete tests showed that
the down turning resulted from slight
and—until watched for—unconscious
changes in the inclination of his body,
the effects of which were communi
cated through the arms arid wrists to
the rod, Xo m'wotrcnt e*" t l, • rod
cau.;es oulaide the Lody could be de
tected, and it soon became obvious
that the view held by other men of
science is correct, that the operation
of the "divining rod" is generally due
to unconscious movements of the body
or of the muscles of the hand. The ex
periments made show that these move
ments happen most :-atly at
places where the operator's experience
has led him to believe that water may
be found.
The uselessness of the divining rod
is indicated by the facts that the rod
may l»e worked at will by the operator
that lie fni'r to t ; c*"v '
o£ water running in tanner other
Channels that afford no surface ir-f Jea
tions of yater and that his locations
in limestone regions v.ho.c- ..cuci ..s
in well defined channels are rarely
more successful than those dependent
on mere guesses. In fact, its operators
are successful only in regions in which
ground water occurs in a definite sheet
in porous material or in more or 1c :
clayey deposits, such as the pebbly
clay or til!, in which, although r. few
failures occur, wells would get water
anywhere.
Ground water occr.iyS under certain
definite conditions, and as in h .:il
regions a stream m&y he
wherever a valley '' T
miliar with rct-Ir
conditions may
ground water can ho i'ou,.
ance either electrical or ineel ic
has yet been successfully used f . d
tecting water in ph:ct. \.her: 'hi
common sense or mere ;:
not have shown its presence 1
well. The only advantage of e:. toy
ing a "water witch," as the op
of the divining re l fr
ed, is that skilled sei'ykt c v
ed, most men so employed lacing ' on
er and better observers of the
rence and mover e: J
than the average —w
American.
A Pet Boar.
Bears unless hur
good natured anh.
ing pets. "When I war ' .'
service at Alaska," c r
"we had a pet hear o .
we called him Winer". :. r "
climb to th
over hand by the rath... .•
ventured out on f
there he stayed,
and haul 'him down. ' . 1
over the head a* ■
went into the
himself to sugar ai d
tackling niad
as a harness of a p-.-. p".;;. -■ .
would drop him ovc:"
attached, to take hi. ' ,t"
landed in a native 1. t
frightened the occupanh
wits. ITe war ar
and, although he s .
he was never trc
When he was I
often did, we vr t #
till we saw • two Ihdc
These frere his. eyes and
away every time."
Sho Carrie;! a parcel.
The laugh is on one of the ait
ants at the Congressional lihrai. at
Washington. One of the ruh .? is that
no one shall be allowed to •: :ry a i-e.r
--cel of any kind into the building. Cue
day a tall young woman appeared at
the door, and when tSe attendant saw
that she had a parcel under her arm
he told her that it was against the
roles for her to take it with her. She
demurred and pronounced rule
absurd. There were certain parcels
that people should be allowed to carry
theru, and so forth, and so forth.
II;:.. the ma'iTinsisted that he must en
force the rule and that she would have
to leave the parcel with him until she
came out. That settled it. The young
woman deliberately opened the parcel,
took from it three pairs of black stock
ings that she evidently had just
bought, and, hanging them over her
arm. she gave the attendant the paper
in which they had been wrapped, say
ing:
"There, please keep that until I come
out. I have no parcel now."—Chicago
News.
What Audiences Believe.
The light suddenly went out during
one of my performances in Waterbury.
A panic was in prospect. However, I
shouted out: "Ladies and gentlemen.
I am about to perform a most marvel
ous trick. I have here a lemon; but,
of course, you can't see it. lam about
to cut it in two and bring out of it
an elephant!"
The audience settled down. Squash!
I cut the lemon. "And now," I said,
"the elephant has gone. It has walked
of? the stage. But, of course, you can't
pee it. but tlifjjt doesn't matter."
.enough. there was hoard a slow,
i-iuhflng j ouad quite appropriate, al
thraigUJfijjhvjs made by the fat stage
mmr,o was shuffling" across tne
boards in his slippers. The light re
turned, there was much applause, and
all was well. The next day a man
stopped me in the street and said he
considered that trick the most marvel
ous he had ever seen and would I be
giving it again that night! It's true!—
Horace Goldin in CasselFs Magazine.
■
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Getting His Money's Worth.
A New Hampshire man tells of a
tight fitted man of affairs in a town
'hat state who until recently had
observed to take an inter
t "eh matters. Suddenly, how
••hccaine a regular attendant
• .n-vice, greatly to the aston
• r oMiis fellow townsmen.
'• \:t do you think of the case of
GUI Ke. hum?" said one of the busi
ness n : .} of the place to a friend. "Is
it rrue hat he has got religion?"
'\7c:!. hardly." replied the other.
; > -ct is it's entirely a matter of
• with him. I am in a position
ic know that about a year ago he
k. :: : - pastor SSO, which the latter
':e to pay. So there remained
.. .p_..ig for Ketchum but to take it out
MI peyr^reat."
Struck Out.
" C who always employs two
...uil. man and wife, was talking
to :i patient one day about a couple
; ust discharged because the
man drank.
re: marked: "It is so strange, but it
the way with a man and
.. ,A J . If one is good, the other is no
.lent asked him, "How is It
. on and Mrs. C.?"— Philadelphia
Home Life of Genius.
=o . or (before breakfast)— Where
arc the papers, my dear? His Wife
ac 'ess, absentmindedly)—C-curse
: They are far beyond your reach,!
xl, !; heaven! And I'll die a thousand
/ . hi-.ore you can wr-r-r-r-ring the
a _ o k_er—Jack, 1 mean, the
forgot to leave them this morning!
;ck.
A Roason.
. allied Mr. Henpeck's little boy,
"r.'hy lid Patrick Henry say. 'Give me
liberty or give me death?'"
' 11l may have been out five minutes
after the curfew rang the night be
fore."—Chicago Record-Herald.
The Highest Applause.
Tou would compliment a coxcomb
doing a go->d act, but you would not
praise an angel. The silence that ac
cepts merit as the most natural thing
R the world is the highest applause.—
Emerson.
Experience Is the extract of suffer
sing.—A. Helps. ... .
THE ESKIMO KAYAK.
This Greenland Craft Is a Most Diffi
cult One to Handle.
There is no craft so difficult to bar
die as the Eskimo kayak. The only
boat familiar to us which in any way
resembles it is the racing shell, but if
a crack oarsman of one of our crack
colleges were tied into a kayak and
told to shift for himself even in smooth
water he would have a hard time of it.
The kayak has been evolved through
hundreds of years of necessity. With
out it the Greenland Eskimos at least
would not be able to provide their daily
bread, or, more properly speaking,
iheir daily blubber.
It is singular that all the materials
used in the construction of the kayak
come from the sea—driftwood for the
frame, sealskin for the covering,
thongs for the harpoon and dart, ivory
and bone for bow. stern and keel and
for the various implements. The wom
en prepare the skin covering and
stretch it over the frame till it is as
tight and firm as the head of a drum.
On such occasion there is great ex
citement in the community. A regular
"kayak bee" is held; even refreshments
are not la eking, for the owner of the
kayak treats to coffee all around when
the work is satisfactorily done.
The completed boat is a triumph of
ingenuity and skill. It is about eight
een feet long, sharply pointed at each
end. Its greatest depth is six inches
and its width about eighteen. It is
entirely covered save for the little
round hole into which the owner slips,
pushing his feet underneath the skin
deck in front.
This hole is fitted to the person for
whom the boat is designed, and his
thighs completed fill it up. When he
is seated in it and his waterproof
jacket is tied securely round the edge
he is able to defy the waves which
wash over him or the rain which beats
upon him.- The six thong loops ar
ranged on the deck in front and the
three or four behind hold his imple
ments—bird darts, lances, knives and,
most important of harpoon. A
littlestand is arranged directly in front
of hins, 'upon which is coiled the har
poon line, and behind him on the
kayak is the harpoon bladder, which is
attached, inflated ready for use, to the
line.
The most expert are apt sometimes
to be overturned. It may be by the
attack of a walrus or even a seal, by a
careless movement or an unexpected
ly large wave. If he does not right
himself at once, he is inevitably drown
ed unless a comrade ionics io his as
sistance. The usual method of turning
the kayak upright again is by using
the paddle as a lever, holding it along
the side of the boat, pointing it toward
the bow, then sweeping it through the
water, but those who are thoroughly
proficient are able to do it by means of
their throwing stick, their arm or even
their hand.
The Earth and the Moon.
As the original earth nebula con
densed the lighter materials were dis
tributed quite uniformly over the en
tire surface, but these are now miss
ing from one hemisphere, the reason
seeming to be, as Professor G. H. Dar
win demonstrated in 1879, that a por
tion of the earth's crust has been
thrown off by tidal action, form'ing the
moon. The surface density of the
present continents is about 2.7, the
mean density of the moon appearing
to be 3.4, or not far from that of the
missing continents to the .depth reach
ed. The moon, it is computed, equals
a mass having the surface area of the
terrestrial oceans and a depth of thir
ty-six miles, and it is concluded that
the crust when thirty-six miles thick
must have been torn away over three
fourths of the earth, the remainder
breaking apart to form the eastern and
western continents, with Australia and
other islands. These continental and
island fragments floated like great ice
floes on liquid materials of a density
of 3.7 or more. This great rupture
gave the earth's surface its chief irreg
ularities, with a mean difference of
three miles between the levels of the
continental plateaus and the ocean
feeds, and as the water condensed in
the cooling depressions, with the Pa
cific where most of the moon had
been, the dry land was formed that
has made human life possible. We
may consider that without this change
the earth would be now in the condi
tion of Venus, with water over its
whole surface.
The Oldest Forename.
In ancient times people had one
name only, as Adam or David, and In
order to distinguish persons of the
same name it was the custom to affix
the description "son of" Isaac or Jo
seph, as the case might be. Thus we
get Solomon ben David among the
Hebrews and Evan ap Richard among
the Welsh, to quote two examples. Al
though the argument that those names
were not strictly "forenames" is not
without weight, yet it is responsible
to accept them as such, seeing that the
application had to be supplemented by
another for the sake of distinction.
We are therefore entitled to Include
them within the scope of the question.
Adam and other early Biblical names
are regarded as the oldest for obvious
reasons; but, excluding these, the
choice falls upon Marmaduke, which
Is the modern rendering of the ancient
Chaldean Meridug, also written Maru
duk and jNlerodach, the god who inter
ceded constantly between the angry
Ea and the humble Damikna, his fa
ther and mother. The Romans used*- ,
both forenames and family names, and
of the former two that date back about
2,500 years are still with us—namely,
Marcus and Lucius, represented in
modern tongues by Mark and the fem
inine Lucy. The old form Marcus is
still retained in some families.
Horses and Music.
Regimental horses have been the
subjects of musical tests, and nearly
all enjoyed the experience, only a very
small percentage of the animals re
maining indifferent to sweet harmo
nies, while equally few showed active
dislike. The great majority were
soothed, inspirited or excited by music.
Most of the horses, like the war char
gers one may suppose them to be, en
joyed the bugle above any other instru
ment and neighed gallantly jvhen it was
sounded, but thoroughbreds and colts
generally were found to prefer the
shrill treble of the fife, which roused
them to great and sometimes unman
ageable enthusiasm. This was the
more significant because the fife was
an unfamiliar instrument to them, not
being generally used, as is the bugle in
the French army—Paris Cor. London
Telegraph.
Model of Economy.
A certain farmer who lives out in
the county and who is noted for his
closeness in money matters has a
twelve-year-old son, who is as indus
trious as his father is penurious.
Recently the father and son made a
compact whereby the latter would re
ceive 10 cents for every cord of wood
he sawed and piled in the wood shed.
Immediately the boy became very
busy at the wood pile, and his earnings
have been piling up at a rapid rate,
his mother keeping her son's hard
earned savings for him.
"What arc you going to do with all
your money?" the thrifty youth was
recently asked.
"Goin' to buy a new saw with it,"
was the reply.—St Louis Globe-Demo
crat.
Benjamin Constant.
Benjamin Constant, having sided
with Napoleon during the hundred
days, felt the need of justifying him
self when Louis XVIII. returned to
power. He wrote the king a letter
with that end in view and called upon
Mme. Recamier to discuss the subject.
She asked him quietly:
"Have you finished your letter?"
"Yes."
"Are you satisfied with it?"
"Entirely satisfied. I have almost
persuaded myself."
Marrying.
Everybody is expected to marry
once, and there is not much talk when
you marry the first time, but people
look wise when you marry the sec-,
end time and roar when you marry
i ♦nKlflAJi CLIaHa #