Gold Hill news., May 21, 1898, Image 6

CHARITY.
T H E S T O K E R A H ER O .
O n M e n - o f- W a r T h e r e l a N o P o s i t io n
M o re T r y in g t h a n H ie .
BABY SO PRA N O .
W e e T w o -Y i n r -O h l G ir t W h o B in g "
G ra n d O p eras.
The youngest muxtoal womler In all
New York Is little M arguerite Mandel-
kern, ju st 2 years ami 3 months old.
The wee g 'rl has not yet learned to lisp
plainly th e mingle«! English and G er­
man in which she expresses herself,
but th e re Is no music too difficult for
her to sing with nlwolute precision
a fte r once or tw ice hearing It upon the
piano.
T he lit tie treble voice Is ns clear and
tru e as a bell, and most Intricate m eas­
u res ore given w ith a strict adherence
to tim e th at would make a prlmn donna
envious.
The child Is n d au g h ter of Joseph
M andelkern, of No. ItMl East One H un­
dred anil T w entieth str«s>t. naal has
doubtless tnherthsl her m arvelous ear
from h«T father, whose ruling passion
I n m us'e. Eor hours, w hile her sl»t«»r
E llsalsh h , «i pianist of no mean order,
Is playing, llaby M arguerite will creep
Into th e n*>m ami II«' slhuitly listening.
T his ha«l been going on for some time
before the family «>l»serv«sl the little
oue's habit ami becam e a w a re of her
devotion to melody.
It w as when n ear h er second b irth ­
d ay , how ever, th a t the Infant m usician
«»say «si Iwr own powers. H er choice
w as g ran d opera, and h«vr debut made
In an a ria from “Alda." As the tlrst
n o te w as »truck “G ra d e ," ns she Is
kn o w n a t home, stopped suddenly In
h r e play, threw txick h er Iwad, pa.rt«\l
lie r red Ups and to the surprise of «very
lone p re se n t sang In a sweet, pure
t thread o f tone th e en tire aria.
O nce hav in g found her voice tlte 1H-
tio uuild, tramuKxi« w ith d««Uglit, w ent
bn to m ake her own every them e th a t
ap p e a le d to her. And G ra d e know*«.
In th e hunting fuel, and nicety of ex­
perience keeps the great furnace a t an
even heat. The steam gauge over his
head is w atched and every fluctuation
noted. T he a ssista n t engineer, who su­
perintends the w ork of stoker, Is con­
sta n tly on the alert. The life of a b a t­
tleship may often depend on a proper
handling by the engineer. If one of the
furnaces Is disabled by a chance shot,
no harm may result, but If more a re
disabled the ship may lx« a t the ene­
m y's mercy.
In spite of their hard duties the stok­
ers a re healthy, strong and vigorous
men. T he Intense heat In w hich they
w ork tan s their skin a dark brown.
They are fairly well paid and have
m any liberties. They are Idle more or
less w hen the vessel Is In port nud little
steam Is kept up.
W hen the battle begins the men In
the stoke-hole are able to tell only th a t
the ship has gone Into action.
They
hear the roar of the batteries as they
art« fired and feel the shock of the shell
ns It b u rsts on the arm ored sides; but
the terrib le anxiety of a half day’s con­
flict Is greater to them th an to the men
who work the guns or direct the ship's
movements.
As the battle goes on there are m any
who win prnlse for bravery in action,
but to the stoker there Is only to toll on
In the furious heat, each one doing his
sm all share. He helps to w in by keep­
ing Ills integral p art of the engine of
w ar In w orking order, a t the direction
of th e commander.
Stripped to the w aist, perspiring In
the terrible heat of the furnaces, the
stoker never knows how the battle Is
going, w hether his ship will be blown
Into the air or sent to the bottom , as
j he throw s the coal Into the fiery maw
of the furnace.
Among the heroes on a battleship
| none have so onerous a position and
I none more dangerous th a n the men
who tend the furnaces and pass the
coal. H ow ever the conflict above him
may range, the stoker hears only Its
i d ista n t m urm ur and feels only the
i shock ns the shells Impact them selves
HAT are these stars that men should die,
| against the steel sides and the great
guns recoil from the thousand pounds of
And dying, hold them yet on high?
1 steel and pow der hurled a t the enemy.
Do they the stars of night outvie?
Perhaps a chance shot may pierce the
10 Inches of arm or th a t guard the en­
The stripes that you so boldly bear
gines and boilers and the rushing w ater
To battle—can their glow compare
may drow n him as he vainly seeks to
With blood of men left lifeless there?
escape. Perhaps the 50 tons of ex-
I plosives In th e m agazines may be
O r can this azure compensate
reached by a projectile from the en­
em y's guns and he may l>e blown to
For home-ties broken, or abate
pieces In the steel cell w here he Is a t
The grief and tears your deaths create?
work.
At any tim e the crisis may come, and
Those stars—the stripes, the blue, the white,
I sm all chance Is there for him to catch
No power but God’s can disunite;
j on the floating spar or w reckage. In
Symbol of Freedom, might and right—
such cases the stoke-hole alw ays
Lead on 1 Lead on, we follow thee I
] proves the coffin of the men who feed
the furnaces and lend the initial asslst-
All o’er the world loud paeans swell,
- ance tow ards m aking the w ar vessel a
Which proudly to the nations tell
j thing of life.
The stoke-hole In a battleship is sit­
T h e U se o f t h e G r e a t T oo.
That to the very gates of hell,
uated fa r below the w ater line nt a
Tlie negrtx^s of the W est Indies use
point alm ost am idships. A long, grim y the great toe constantly In climbing.
If that flag leads, we follow it!
room It Is, hemmed In by steel walls Several years ago, w hile spending some
tim e nt one of the fam ous resorts In
Jam aica, I had an opportunity to ob­
serve th e skill w ith which the black
women, who do a great p art of the
m enial lalsrr, carried stone, m ortar ami
o th er building m aterials on their heads
to th e t«»p of the flve-story tow er in a
IN
D
IC
A
T
E
C
H
A
R
A
C
T
E
R
.
too, everything th a t she frings. It Is a
p a rt of the hotel not then finished.
uwbtor o f moment to this sm all music W liiit D if f e r e n t K in d s o f N o s e s M ea n
Much of the unerring accuracy with
lover w hetlier M be Verdi or Mendels­
to T h e t r O w n e r s .
w hich they (women and girls) chased
s o h n blwt octuple« her attention.—New
each other up and down the long lad­
A thick nose nod flat Is an unfavora­
York World.
ders. w ith heavy loads skillfully poised
ble fe a tu re w ith men as well as women,
on th e ir woolly pates, w as due to the
usually signifying th a t the character
B ir d C a g e M a d e by N a v n jo s.
firmness w ith which they grasped each
Is predom inated by m aterial lnstltw ts,
H ere Is another Illustration of the w hile a turned-up nose w ith w ide nos­
ru n g of the ladders w ith the great toe.
Ingenuity of the N avajo Indians. I t is trils betokens a vain disposition.
They did not place the I «all or th e hol­
low of the foot on the rung, but the
Especially w ide nostrils a re signs of
groove at the Ju n e.o re of the great toe
courage, strength and pride; sm all nos­
w ith the body of the foot, arwl they
trils of w«vikn«‘ss and tim idity. Noses
held fast by m aking the back of the
large In every r««pect are usually found
other toes afford the oth«»r gripping
am ong men, and w hen a w om an poa-
STOKERS AT WORK.
surface. In much the sam e w ay the
so ss c k ii large no»«» It Indicates she Is
A byssinian native cavalry grasp the
m asculine lu character.
and coal bunkers, w ith a score of fiery
T he nose, tile form of which has so furnace doors th a t send out gleaming stirrup. And I have seen a one-armed
much to do w ith the beauty of the face, rays of light Into the apartm ent, the Santo Domingan black, astride the
Is am enable to culture, naxl we have it only light th a t the room ever receives. near ox In a wheel yoke, guiding a lead
on the authority of a G erm an physi­ It has no windows and no doors. In the mule w ith a rein held l>etween his great
cian th a t It Is beyond dispute th a t «lur­ celling above great ventilators pierce and second to«*, while his only arm
ing half an ordinary hum an life the th e steel. C urrents of cool air take the w as «levoted to cracking his team ster's
nose Is cajiable of receiving more noble place of th a t sucked in by the furnaces. w hip.—O verland Monthly.
form. The m ental training of an Indi­ The room is tilled w ith a sickening
H o r s e B r a in s .
vidual 1ms a groat deal to do w ith shap­ heat th a t only the experienced stoker
An
E
ast
Hebron
(Maine) horse prove«
ing th e nose.
j «-nil stand.
Ills w it In this wise: Two nights In suc­
The sm all, flat nose, found among
In this room the stoker works, and
wom en and called the soubrette n«»se, w orks hard. The duties are so severe cession th e nag slipped his headstall oft
w hen o« •«.«wring w ith an otherw ise th a t he 1» rarely retju lm l to work a and push«»«! an Inner door of the stable
agreeable cast of countanance. Indi­ shift of more th a n four hours. A line open atxl »11«! tile outer railroad door
cates a gracious an d cheerful nalvette, i of coal passers constantly moves, each w ith his teeth and w ent Into the field
combined w ith considerable curiosity. man trundling a barrow of coal Into and helped him self to grass. H e w as
a bird eage made of bamboo. T he de­ Ruch a nose Is seldom found among the stoke-hole, and as It Is dump«?d on «k«tected l>y the prints of his teeth on
sign Is orlglual and the m aterial very men, and w hen a m an is unfortunate the floor the stoker, arm ed w ith a long th e cross-bars of the door.
enough to ixissess R he Is characterized shovel, Jerks the chain th at opens the
serviceable.
G r e a t T ln ie -S o v I n g S c h e m e .
by w eak and «lefluRe sagacity.—Phila- door, selxes a shovelful of fuel and
"No,” he said, “I don’t care for poet­
t i c P r« ,n ii« e d .
delplda lYssw,
dashes It Into the g reat lied of glow­ ry. F a c t Is, I haven’t tim e to read m uch
“Oh, George,-’ she cried, a fte r he had
ing, roaring flame, w here It Is licked up of anything.”
kissed her, "you’ll never tell any one,
F e m a le .
alm ost before the stoker, w ith half-
"W hy,” she swt«etly asked, “don’t yon
"A
ny
mall
for
me
this
m
orning?"
will you?"
shielded face, can close the door.
try
to learn to roll your cigarette» w ith
"N ever have the slightest fear on asked th e law yer.
E ach stoker hns an alloted num bea
"No, Mr, but th ere w as n lady," re- of furnace dors to take care of. ac­ one hand?"
th a t score,” he replied. And It m ust
have lawn the w ay he said It th a t made piled the bright bey.—Philadelphia cording to the size of the ship and the
A horse w ill live twenty-five days
N orth A merican.
her angry.
capacity of Its boilers. He has scarce­ w ithout food, merely drinking w ater.
ly a m om ent's rest during his shift and
One pound of sheep's wool Is capable
A good-alxcd w hale ylelda about one
The Peruvian condor’s w ings are
| when he Is not throw ing coal Into the
of producing one yard of cloth.
to n of whalebone.
glowing ovens of flame he wields a rake sometlm«» forty feet from tip to tip.