I ' . i . aiuy detcrn Into Kx mrvtcfiad crg/t. tar. After the drat moment of stupor gallant British tailors risked life sod ttmb to bring tbs vessel nnder control. By their calm con race they shamed tbs paralysed taseore Into activity, a soil was rigged on the fore must and n see anchor hastily constructed as soon os it was discovered that the brio was twins, Dockets Oared up Into the sky at regular interval* la the faint hop* that should they alt root the at testing of another vessel she wood fol low tbs disabled Sirdar and rentier help when the weather cnoderutod. TThea tho captain ascertained that no water was bring shipped, the dun ago bring wholly external, tho collision doors were opened and the passenger* admitted to Ibe saloon, a brilliant pal ace. superbly indifferent to the wreck and rain without. Captain Boss himself cmite down and addressed « fo-.r camrortisg words te tho quiet men uod pallid women gnth srsd there. He told them exactly whut bad happened. The hours passed in ttdior.t misery after Captain Bass' risk. livery one was soger to cri a glbnpc* of the un known terrors withont f.-uin the deck. This was out of the question, so peo ple sat a round the tables to II* tin eagerly to Experience and hu wise saws oa drifting ships nod thdr proe Boma csotlons persona v bt'.tnl their cabins to scccre valcablre la case of farther disaster. A few hard* spirits ratwnad to bM. Meanwhile In the chart huuso the cap tain and chief odeer were gravely pondering orer an open chart and tils earning s fresh risk that loomed ominously before them. The ship was g Isas way out of ber usual course when the accident happened, she was drifting new. they estimated, eleven knots no boor, with wind, tea sad cur rant all farting ber la the same dime, tiew. drifting Into one of the most dan gerous pieces Is the known world, tho sooth Chino :» t.lrirf to a dnn Mto aaglv end rout 1. »1 there, s blla tlx terry tmifrtliiv *-< l.'x /ci. now raging sfreib u t.U iiMuma! for ra rietiinre. lira war I ( tic*; ,tMng yrXi talent by tie !/.«.- ,e on /.my. TV glbl.tr t .u . a . tcte.l lux lest royflge. I'.he Vue low a l*.ttr aJ vwl mi e barrier reef, f: / basvf that f/r tut taenriVeekhia ei:-»ttd. 'llteu a> rib** ware. rVUna trimupnanUy Ibeaagb It* BSiJrwa. cengbt tl*a gre.il MSS tsar to It* Oomealta* grasp, ear* - dad bar onward rat belt taw length iad amatbri bar a iba an1 Hi. ttitrarf Im-rb : U. S. S. Iowa. Culebn, U. S. Vv. 1., J.a. 15.“From wverv wiuti r to and-summer in five da>»! Doesn’t that sound like on** ni Jules Vente’s romances? And indeed it would seem like a romance if the heat here didn’t take the poetry out of It. JLast Sunday we lay in Hampton Kuads, and could walk on deck only when wrapped in a heavy overcoat. To-day we arc lying >i iuuil under the awninga, Oaioovtii;, clad in light ducks, and uncomfortable at that. No wonder here the natives are »hililess and laxy, when two * of ibis climate will take the vuii out of our snappy 400. At u is we arc conleuied only when iu a shady corner and asleep. we iiau a very rough tea (be ciuite uiu and for a few days there was touch sea-sickness among those who are not accus tomed to rough aeaa. There are quite a uuuiWr of new men ou >oiue vt the .->hips aud you should have sven the sailor boys the st corn! day out, when huge waves l»okc over the big battle ships I rein stem to steru. You cutild have bought the whole bnucJi for a peuuy. Had they found the man who wrote "Sail ing. Sailing," aud told them Mich nice stories of life on the oct-i.n vyuve, he would have gone sys iciruing, swimming. All sea sickness i* misery, aud for sick ness c*t * luau-of-war there is no such ti thing as sympathy. How ever. they are now aware of the tact that the navy outside the trail-tug station is uo kid glove affair, aud are ready to advise t'-.tir frier ds who waut to live on liic- kid ilove principle to re main iu civilian life. Both the battleship Squadron and the Carril.vnn Squadron arrived here at tiie same time, having re tu.iiiiv u together the cutire run. The Coast Squadron and the Sccon-1 Torpedo Flotilla pro ceed Mi l'v »•..•> of Charleston, S. C . uni they have uot arrived vet. The Kuropean and South At-.ur.ic Squadrons were here when ve arrived. Cnlc'iri is on the cast coast of Psrtu Riot and hat, two large hut hors both well sheltered from die «e.‘ and connected by a canal which vvrs dng by the fleet here iu Dec. 11*02. The Station Ship Alliance is in Great Harbor, where tbs re is a large marine camp known as Camp Elliot. All the smaller ships of the fleet have berths in Great Harbor. Although h battleship can aochor there with perfect ease, all the other ships remain in Target Bav. By .climbing up to the mast head quite a number of small islands are within sight. Not a single one that you see but re minds you of some deed of valor (lone by brave seamen or some wild story of the time when ”K1 Drnqtie,” as the Spaniards called him, was the terror of azuretinted seas. To the west ia St. Thomas where the great pirates lived and carried their gold and dia mond*. The caatlei of Bluebeard and Blackboard still remain, and are great obiccla of interest to sightseen. Not far away is the famous tail rock, whose base stands solitary in the midst of the lor holc-nt clrment which surrounds it. Then, too, there ia Porto Rico, Uncle Sapi’s pet poasesr •ion. Here again the sightseer is in his glory. Ta|ce * good v!d*s, look over the groves of R ival Palms, the coffee-covered hillsides that rise above the val leys of ©range trees and sugar cane, aud you ean ace Ban Joan and the oM civile of Ponce de I«eon (who sought, but did not find. tlK- fountain of perpetual youth. 1 Tin- burr boats are gathering atoug-idc the ship loaded with han.i-.-.aa, oranges, pineapples and other tropical frnita. the t>ri-'r* of which will fill yon np with longing: while venders of mriou* sea shells and bunches of coral white as snow ere here in abundance for the purpose of selling to the sailors. C- A- Bt'gv Shells SHU BsaMtoi *!#•* Immimii XlM. Some days M* the woods to the wiiiuititni leosws M London Heights. opposite Harper's Per. ry. took Are usd horned with treat intensity. After horning tor tome time ■ aeries of explo sions were beard, which startled the inhaliiunts, aod the coo mission was so great that It broke •ind^.n s In some booses is Har p»r*s Psrry, across the tt|eae« donh. The explosions wars esassd l >* the l>m*ting of shells which *-» m ihfmso on the hetehta st the lime When General MMleecr rend. wd to Stonewsll Jackson. In Vm. These had tolled to ex plode whea they ware feed, aod aad^lalo km tor mv hrty K -LJLJOE A Canal la Fear Years? WwhtawVm Pum.. Quite a number' of esteemed contemporaries are taking groat comfort from an article which appealed in the last number of the North American Review. This article was contributed by Mr. George W. Crichheld, a contractor of wide experience, who baa run his eye over the Culebracut, and now declares that the canal can be completed in four years if only the govern ment will let out the work to competent and responsible con tractors. And this is such au improvement on the estimates hitherto offered by engineers— which fix a minimum of twelve years in the case of a lock canal, and twenty years in the case of a sea-level canal—that the afore said contemporaries are exclaim ing "How sensible!* with bean • if., 1 n>.il Very likely Mr. Crichfield took bis observations daring the "dry season"—which lasts about three months of the year—when tbe Cbagres River is a mild mannered and innocent a stream as can be found in all the world, and when tbe construction of tb« proposed canal aeetns as easy as ditch-digging in Orange, N. J. As it bappenes, however, there are bine months during which the rains fall constantly in torrents and when tbe Cbagres is, within a few hours, trans formed from an insignificant brook into a raging, overwhelm ing inundation. These freshets come quickly, last from twenty four to forty-eight hours, and then as quickly subside; but they come a great many limes dnring the nine months of the * wet season," and while they last tbe discharge ranges from 112,000 to 136,000 cubic feet of water per second. Mr. Crich field can calculate tbe volume per hour aud per day, and, multiplying this by tbe average number of freshets per anuutn, can proceed to explain his method of disposing of these floods while he digs bis ditch, l’erbapi he hasn't taken tbe Cbagres River into account. Maybe that isn’t the business of a coDtriK tor. The question has a great deal to do with the build ing of tbe Panama Canal, how ever, as we shall all find before wc are through with it. Meanwhile, the real question of importance is whether we are to have a lock canal, so called, or a sea-level canal, so called. Here, again, there is a popular misapprehension which obscures the judgment of the layman, for a aea-Icvel canal, in the proper sense of the teim, is utterly im possible. The tide on the Pacific side of the isthmus rises ten feet above and sinks ten feet below the level on the Gulf of Mexico side, where there is practically no tide at all. Thus, twice a day vast volumes of water would rush through from one ocean to the other and hack again with tremendous velocity, making safe navigation extreme ly difficult and dangerous, if not absolutely impracticable. Tbe question, therefore, is between a eannl tat t Vt fan 1 b w nn m at each end—and a canal with several locks, for lifting ships over the interior elevation. The fewer the locks the better, of course, speaking in the abstract; bnt speaking wltb reference to the expenditure of time and money, bow much better is a sea-level canal in twenty-four years than a lock-canal in twelve years, to say nothing of a saving of $100,000,000 by taking the latter? It la an interesting and significant fact, moreover, that two different commissions ap pointed by the French company -one in U90 and the other in J808—reported in favor of a papal wfth locks. Among the members of the commission wbjch reported ip lftM were American, British, French, Rus sian, and German engineers of the highest standing and the widest experience, Gen. Abbot, of oar own Engineer Corps (then retired), was ope of them* Fnisher and Rock, of Germany, both of whom bad taken part in the construction of the Kiel C'inalt Hunter, chief engineer of the Manchester Cana) Com pany, in Bngland; Petely, chief engineer (of the New York aqueduct commission—these are e few of tbs distinguished scientists who. after careful in spection of the Panama route and prolonged examination of all the reports gad spry ays that bad beep made |*y ofbers, re commended an abandonment of fWCTTara MATtlMONIAL EU01B1UTT. Maay tad Variaas lautaa That Ptmv< Man to "Pap tks Qaaat New YockTlmc*. The reason* which prompt men to make the otters of marriage to women are as many and various as the number and kinda of women thus honored. Not alone are the natural graces sad charms of feminity the foci of attraction for the averntte man. Acquired accomplishment*often count fora great deal, and it frequently happens that women are eagerly desired for qualifica tions, which, while strongly appealing to those who desire them, would not in the leant appeal to others occupying a different point of view. These very general and nut altogether Inminons reflections are suggested by a news item which reaches ns from North ern New York of an avalanche of marriage otters which baa overwhelmed two estimable young women, the daughters of a fanner at Schuyler. They are not described as beautifnl. So far as we are advised, they are not distinguished for ac complishments of the kind which make for social pre-em inence. Perhaps they are not more amiable, more affection ate, nor more practical in the general duties of housewifery than others. Their claim to distinction is that they "killed, cleaned, . scalded, and hang" two 300-pound hogs without masculine assistance. JUMiuuy bu uvcipuwcnng passion took possession of the heart of every eligible bachelor within what may be called bog gy radius. The rural delivery carrier has had to provide bim self with a wheelbarrow to trans port the oilers of marriage which come by mail, and the con course of vehicles which ia strung along the paternal front fence every day and evening suggests that a continuous funeral ia in progress within. Perhaps it is. A great many nascent hopes of domestic hap piness along strictly bucolic lines perish in the family "set tiiT room" every twenty-four hours, and enough broken hearts are left behind by de parting anitors to fertilise the farm if their fragments could be composited. The young women are said to decline, "6rmly but kindly,” the offers of marriage which are pressed upon them. It may be that their uniqne claim to distinction puts them in a class which makes it an impertinence for the suitor to offer them the commonplace life of the farmer’s wife, who can count npou a hog killing not oftcuer than once a year. Their sphere of social triumphs obviously lies in Cincinnati or Chicago. Trying to Beat • Bide tor Bit ley. dPgmgcmYUVr "I’ve been up against a good many skin games in my time,” said Capt. W. T. Rowland, of tbe A. T. and O. vestibule, while going south Friday morn ing, "oat I’ve {ust struck one that is a little strong.” Being asked to explain tbe captain proceeded to tell that while passing through tbe second class car be noticed that a man wbo occupied tbe cud of the seat next tbe aisle bad fa Is overcoat carefully arranged on the seat next the window. Bvery time the conductor passed the pas senger was carefully adjusting the overcoat, and Capt. Row land’s suspicious were aroused. Thereupon he dropped into the ■eat back of tbe suspect and made it convenient to shove tbe overcoat off the seat. Lo and behold I the uncovering revealed a boy who mpat baim been ?0 or lg years old- "Half-fare for tbe boy, please," said Cspt. Row land. "Jt'a a dirty trick lor a conductor to move a passenger’* overcoat, isn't it?” continued tbe conductor pleasantly. Tbe passenger smiled in an absurd and embarrassing way while be handed oat tbe cash for the boy's fare aod tried to explain that tbe boy was timid and afraid and that Is why be covered him np. while tbe other pas sengers laughed outright at the HaTsouie people think it's all right to beat a ritilr». would ws so a nation be any the woraa of? ifow much they will do that ought not to be done! HotrUttte that will adt have to be nadoSt’. A ratal mall carrier Mated Gilbert, who carries. mail be I wmji Burnsville, Yancey ceuafjr.. and Icy, Buncombe county. *mp arrsatad the first of the wMS on. 'StfssxzxuS&r' . j * f.