Lincoln County leader., September 26, 1913, Image 2

Wllli'S HOLY
A mvm &
HARDWAR. where the sacred
Ganges leaves the foot-hills of
the Himalayas and enters the
plains, Is still the great place
of pilgrimage which Braham
lam has made It for so many ages, and
every year, on the occasion of Us fes
tival, draws hundreds of thousands of
native people from all parts of India
to seek redemption in these upper wa
ters of the holy rjver, and Incidentally
to swell the traffic returns of the rail
ways and compensate somewhat for
the unprofitable carriage of "tourlBt"
first-class passengers. The crowds of
worshipers came for ages before the
railways, but It Is only since the Brit
ish occupation that the practical value
of the river has been extended In such
gigantic eystemg of irrigation as the
vast canal which carries oft tbe wa
ters of the Oanges at Hardwar during
the season of low flood and spreads It
over the level flats of the United Prov
inces, writes A. Hugh Fisher in the
London Illustrated News.
The wide river, clear as crystal and
gloriously blue in the bright sunshine
of that February morning, flowed Joy
ously with eager swiftness. The cen
ter of attraction was the temple and
bathing ghat, on the reputed site of a
divine sacrifice. In the water here
are hundreds of big, large-scaled fish,
dark-brownish creatures, about two
feet long, which are cherished and fed
regularly. On the steps of the ghat
110 one Is permitted to wear shoes,
and it was in my stocklned feet that
I visited the "Charan," or sacred foot
prints on a stone let into the wall. By
the entrance to the temple, squatting
" upon a tiny platform, a priestess,
dressed in bright colors and spangled
clothes, played upon a flute. Sacred
cows, of which I had already noticed
Beveral in the street, stood about at
the top of the steps. They bore a
strange deformity in the shape of an
extra limb loosely hanging from the
bump. In some cases this ended in a
lioof, and with some in a second pair
of horns. About the road and along
the banks of the river, in front of low
atone shelters, numerous holy people
squatted silently "Sadhus" and
"Nagas," with naked bodies whitened
with ashes.
Many Places of Worship. .
In the inner sanctum of another
temple at Hardwar I saw for the first
time the "Granth," the sacred book
of the Sikhs. It was placed rather
like a body upon a wooden bed, and
-was covered with a mauve silk cover
let decorated with drawn-thread work.
Twelve miles farther up the river, af
ter a difficult drive through very rough
country, I reached a village- called
Rakhykash, where the Sikhs have
many places of worship. Upon the
wide stretch of rounded boulders along
tbe side of the river the scene was
Tery beautiful, the hills rising abrupt
ly from the farther bank, and the
water rippling over shallows and rac
ing through the deeper channels. I
came at Intervals to paled lnclosures,
if 111 mmgl
jnTmrf),niirfiiiiii
! jsijlj jj
within which devout crowds sat listen
ing to a priest vho was sheltered by
a thatched gabled cover. Leaving my
shoes, with others, at an opening in
the fence of one such inclosure, and
receiving welcome, I entered and sat
upon a reed mat like the rest, in the
warm glow of the setting sun. The
chief priest sat Just In front of the
thatched shelter, and round blm "Grls
tis," or minor priests, one of whom
was speaking. Just in front of the
priests were four black-bearded musi
cians, with gray clothes and white tur
bans, playing drums and a kind of
viol. They were singing words of the
"Granth" to their music, and the viol
player was blind and made grlmmaces
as he sang. Beyond were the moun
tains and Infinite space, and the sound
of the liver came faintly over the great
expanse of Btones.
It was a week later before I reached
the center of the Sikh religion, and,
Journeying a second time to that coun
try of doabs and deserts, the Punjab
land of the five rivers arrived late
one afternoon at Amrltsar, the holy
city of the Sikhs, which has become
also a great commercial center
through which passes much of the
trade with Kashmir and Afghanistan.
I found the whole city shrouded in
dense clouds of white, choking and
almost Intolerable dust, which not
only hid everything out of doors as in
a thick fog, but t drove on a furlouB
wind along the pasage way of the ho
tel, entered every door and window,
and, even when the storm was over,
took more than a day to clear out of
the air.
Water of Immortality.
Tbe legend of the origin of Amrltsar
tells how, one morning long ago, a
woman carried her husband in a bas
ket he being without hands or feet
and placed him in the shadow of a
tree while she sought alms in the
neighborhood. According to the story,
the cripple noticed a crow, similarly
afflicted with lameness, fly to an ad
jacent pool and become cured as soon
as Its 4egs touched the water; its
plumage turning milk-white at the
same time. Rolling towards the pool,
the poor cripple himself became re
stored, and on his wife's return she
found a perfect husband with normal
extremities sitting upon the basket
This was attributed to the power of
"Amrit," the water of immortality,
which became thenceforward the sa
cred tank of Amrltsar, in the midst of
which was built the famous shrine of
the Golden Temple. Within this build
ing tne uranth lies, covered with a
cloth of gold and canary-colored silk.
under a great vlolet-llned canopy.
while a priest watches It, taking his
four-hour turn of duty, and occasion
ally dusting It with a bundle of pea
cock feathers. Over the center of the
marble pavement, upon a white drug
get, stand, in front of the "Granth,"
silver receptacles for offerings of
money, and rosy-eyed pigeons peck at
rice scattered upon the floor.
DRUMMER'S LUCKY DAY
6CRAP OF CONVERSATION GAVE
HIM PLAN OF CAMPAIGN.
As It Turned Out, He Was Mistaken
In Conclusion Arrived at, but It
Resulted In Capturing tha
Order Looked For.
There Is a silk merchant in the
Fourth avenue district who never tires
of telling how he got a certain retailer
In one of the smaller New England
cities as a customer when he was a
knight of the grip, says the New York
Times. This Is the burden of his tale:
"All men on the road hajve the ex
perience of bumping into a stone wall
when It oomes to selling a bill of goods
to certain retailers. That was my ex
perience with Smith, up in Haverhill.
No matter what I had or at what it
was priced. Smith never wanted any
thing. Still he bought regularly from
several competitors. He wouldn't go
to lunch with me.
"I had practically decided not to
try him any more, when one evening
I overheard two other salesmen talk
ing in a hotel office. I didn't catch
the name of the man of whom they
were talking, but when I heard one
salesman say that he never would ac
cept a lunch I felt sure that they were
discussing Smith.
" 'It's a funny thing about him,' the
salesman went on, 'but he always goes
home to lunch, no matter how busy
he Is. Jones told me the other day
that it was because his wife was the
boss of the household and made him
do it. She is very fond of display, too,
and often makes him do things for
her that he doesn't want to do because
he is unwilling to spend the money.'
"Thinking that I had something on
Smith I dropped in to Bee him the
next day right after he had come back
from lunch. He hadn't had time to
tell me to get out when Mrs. Smith
came in.
" 'No more business today, Henry,'
she said, ignoring me. 'Order up a
good team and take me for a ride.'
"Smith didn't want to do It, but there
seemed to be no way out. Then I made
a bold play. I told him by sign lan
guage that I would take her for the
drive. The effect was surprising.
With a glad smile he Jumped to his
feet, saying, 'Let me . Introduce Mr.
Brown of New York, dear. He travels
for Blank & Co., and is an old friend
of mine. Would you mind if he came
with us?' . ,
"Then I came into play again. 11
Mr. Smith is busy,' I said to Mrs.
Smith, 'may I volunteer to take you
for the ride?' Almost blushing she
asked Smith's consent.
"We went for the drive. The next
day Smith gave me a good order, and
he bSught goods from us regularly un
til he retired a few years ago. The
best part of the whole thing was that
the men talking in the hotel office
were not discussing Smith. I learned
afterward that they had been talking
about another man, a merchant up in
Lowell."
, Settled the Bet.
"I woke up suddenly the other night
and thought I heard a burglar in the
room. I sat up in bed, and that awoke
my wife."
"What did she do?"
"She accused me, as usual, of hav
ing a burglar dream. Said I'd never
hear a real burglar If I lived a thous
and years. I said I'd bet I would,
She said she'd bet I wouldn't. And
Just then a shadowy form rose from
behind the dresser and a hoarse voice
exclaimed: "He wins, ma'am!"
"Did you catch him?"
"Catch him? I didn't try. I Just
laid there and laughed, and heard
him slam the door and run down the
stairs. And my wife was so mad she
didn't speak to me for a whole day,
But I'll bet one thing."
"What la it?"
"I'll bet that burglar was a married
man.
Importance of Relng Married.
Men are nothing but overgrown
children. . They always love to eat and
drink what is not good for them. You
scarcely ever meet an unmarried man
over forty who hasn't something wrong
with him, and it would be the same
with all the married men if their
wives were not constantly on the
watch to see that they only eat the
things that agree with them. The
Gulf Between, by P. Y. Redmayne.
Might Be a Way.
Miss Ancient Wantlman (suddenly
awakening) I see you have my pock
et book; but there's very little money
In that compared with what I have in
the bank.
Burglar (gruffly) Well, there ain't
no way to git that!
Miss Anolent Wantlman H'ml Are
you a single man? Puck.
Mere Detail.
The Stoojent For the love of
Mlkel Can't you go any faster than
this?
The Shefoor Why. soltenly. But
ye see I have to stay on the car.
Cornell Widow.
jm lEAHtp
SCEMZd AT ym&HIIT&rof NAVY. YAJSD
U
NCLE SAM is a schoolmaster
of the old type. He neither
spares the rod nor spoils the
child. He has many pupils,
thnaa whn pntnr his service
in the government departments and
the army and the navy. His course
of training In the navy is rather se
vere, for he requires every man who
enlists for service under the Stars
and Stripes on sea to become a skilled
artisan. Probably the most interest
ing of all of Uncle Sam's trade schools
Is the school for seaman gunners, at
the navy yard in Washington. It is
here that the men who aim and fire
the great guns learn their principle
and mechanism so thoroughly that the
efficiency of the United States navy
is unequaled by any navy in the
world.
There are more than 125 men In the
seaman gunners' class at the present
time, enrolled for six months of the
hardest kind of study in the shops
and in the classroom. Every one of
these men Is picked, and in the serv
ice it is considered a great honor to
be chosen to Join the class. Only
men who have been In the service
four years are eligible, and then only
when their conduct and service record
are exceptionally good. Graduates of
the school are the backbone of the
navy. Here the men are taueht the
only really distinctive naval trade, and
it is nere that the men who load, train
and fire the Immense guns are made.
Requires Much Study.
They learn the making of the laree
and small guns. They learn by prac
tical experience how to take them
down and assemble them again. The
breech mechanism, everything to do
with the practical Dart of ordnance.
the manufacture of shells, fuses and
powaer and torpedoes all require
thorough and extensive study. The
work is equally divided between the
naval gun factory shops and the class
room, where they have Instruction at
the hands of skilled or d nan
and special Instructors. In addition
to the ordnance course they are re
quired to become proficient In the sci
ence of metallography and skilled In
the manufacture and principle of the
storage battery.
Work on the big guns start from the
raw casting. This huge, 75-ton cylin
der of steel Is bored out, trimmed and
grooved. The casing, another huge
cylinder of steel, Is bored out, heated
white hot and shrunk onto the groov
ed lining. The manufacture of this
part of the monster 14-inch rifles takes
about four weeks.
Then the gunnery force enters the
forge and hammer shops, where they
remain for two weeks. After this the
class ia divided into small aauami.
some of them going into thn Mav.
smith shop, others to the machinists'
Dench, the carpenter shop, the tin
smith, the coDDersmlth mA h
plumber for instruction. Each man
must hammer and turn out from raw
metal every niece of stent whioh
Into the complicated breech block me-
cnanism and the firing devices. Prc
Jectllea and smokeless powder also
get a great deal of attention, this last
phase of the work taking the school
to Indian Head, Md., for several
weeks' work.
When these men graduate and leave
Washington for the various ships of
the Atlantlo fleet to thnm foil, tha
duty of keeping in repair every por
tion oi me snip's armament If dur
ing battle nractlce a nnrinv m hit nt
mechanism breaks, these seaman gun
ners must enter the ship's machine
shop and forge or turn out a new
piece.
The gunner la in absolute command
oi nia gun. He has under him an as
sistant In the ble dreadn
today, there are six turrets, with two
guna to each turret Each, turret ia
auppuea with ammunition for two
magazines. Also there is a gunner
In charge of the magazines. Besides
ineae, mere are smaller flve-lnch rifles
six and one-pounders located on vari
it- . O
ous portions of the ship. To thes
smaller guns the recently graduated
class is always sent In time they
are promoted and placed in charga
of a big gun or even a whole turret
Uncle Sam Is exceedingly sever
with his students. They must turn
out promptly at 6 o'clock in the morn
ing, roll up their hammocks, sweep
out their quarters and be washed,
shaved and cleanly clothed for break
fast at 7 o'clock. At 8 o'clock they
enter the shops of the naval gun fac
tory for their various duties. At 11:30
o'clock the students "knock off" foi
lunch, but promptly at 1 o'clock they
are again In the shops or in the lee
ture room hard at work.
At 4:30 an hour's drill under arms
is held. This takes place on the drill
ground of the navy yard and keeps
the men for three-quarters of an hour.
At 5 o'clock comes the event of the
day, dinner.
Dinner to the seaman gunner's class
Is always something to look; forward
to. The menu la large and the food,
although simple, is the best that
money can buy. The class has a ca
terer who makes it his business to
see that the same dishes are not
served too often and that the food
is of the best quality.
From dinner until 10:30 o'clock the
men are at leisure to come and go
as they please. They may "go ashore"
or visit friends in Washington, or they
may remain In quarters and study
their lessons for the next day. The
men are allowed to use clvlllai
clothes. For the most part the stu
dents restrict their liberties to not
more than two nights a week and all
day Sunday.
It Is so great an honor to be sent
to the school and the advancement
after graduating, Is so rapid that none
of the lucky ones care to risk their
chances of being dismissed and rr
turned to the service under their old
rank. Then, as many written "prob
lems are required, and several oral
recitatlona occur each week, they burn
a great deal of midnight oil. A vis
itor to the navy ward any night ex
cept Saturday will find forty or fifty
clean-cut young men working out
ordnance problems, studying from a
dozen text books, and quizzing each
other on the questions that the officer
Instructor is sure to ask 'them the
next day.
Josephua Daniels, secretary of the
navy, is particularly fond of. the sea
man gunners' class. To his mind,
the rushing dreadnought and the crash
of mighty guns are not all that go
to make up a perfect naval service.
He believes that a four-year course
In the navy should be equal to a
four-year course in the best vocational
school In the country. As far aa the
seaman gunners' class is concerned,
they get an excellent vocational train
ing in Just six months.
A graduate of this wonderful school
can take raw metal and turn out the
most complicated steel mechanism;
turn sheet copper into symmetrical
pipe and ducts; make and charge a
storage battery; wire a turret fo
electricity; make a set of plana foi
about anything, and make and use
smokeless powder.
Duoks an Important Food 8upply.
Concerning certain features of Ea
kimo life along the north coast of
Alaska, the account written by Vllh
Jalmar Stefansson saya: "In the spring
and summer ducka and geese, espe
cially the former, are an Important
item of diet They are pursued in
kayaka when molting and killed with
cluba, and large numbers of them are
also secured by bolaa throwing, for
the migrant route of the ducka along
the coast la so definitely known that
a man can stand all day and rely on
it that three out of every four ducka
will fly within throwing distance. So
thickly do the birds come that nowa
days a competent man with a shot
gun haa been known to secure aa
many aa 600 ducka in a day."