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About The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933 | View Entire Issue (April 14, 1899)
THE OCEAN CURRENTS TRENO OF THOSE IN THE ARCTIC TO BE DETERMINED. FLIlttdelphla Geographical Society Make bd Aeaault Upon the Problem of DiacoTerlne; the North Pole-To Experiment with Floating Caaka. Tlio Geographical Society of Phila delphia Is fairly embarked upon Its latest assault upon the problem of dis covering the north pole. This Is one of the nioHt Important ventures In geo graphical discovery Initiated In recent years. It contemplates the determina tion of the direction or trend of the oceanic currents of the arctic region, for the purpose of ascertaining the con ditions of drift which there prevail. The latest polar exploration origin ated In the course of the ill fated Jean nette expedition and the later and more successful drift of the Fram, under command of Nansen In his farthest north expedition. The present project for the determination of polur drift was conceived by Hear Admiral George W. Melville, engineer In chief of the United States navy, who was an officer of the Jcaunctte expedition. After the disaster that overtook the Jeannette Melville was deputed to search for the lost bodies on tho shores of northern Siberia. The severe experiences of Melville during these perilous expedi tions were not without results that bid fair to contribute important knowledge to the problem that has thus far baffled the researches of geographical science and cost many lives during the past BOO years. For Melville believes that through observation made then the pole will be ultimately reached. In a paper read before the American Philosophical Society late in 1S07 Rear Admiral Melville outlined his plan of search. He proposed the construction of small, strong casks, designed to meet the requirements of a long drift between arctic floes, possibly of three or four years' duration. He suggested that these casks be built of heavy oak staves, with conical ends, and encircled with steel bars, lu order to resist the utmost pressure of Ice. The Geographical Society of Phila delphia undertook to carry our Rear Admiral Mellvlle's novel proposal. For more than a year tho society has been engaged upon the execution of the plan. Fifty casks have been construct ed In San Francisco, under the super- LTD ,. I7f Jo7 to. 3D It MAP OF POLAU SEA, SCENE OF MELVILLE'S LATEST EXPERIMENT. Ill tT, Put r-l ,!..( TT'ntrttiai.i. George F. Kutz, U. S. N., an officer ,who Is well acquainted with Mel villi's plans. Specially prepared messages, to be placed Inside the casks, are now en route across the continent. In a few days these messages will be Inclosed In the casks and the northern Journey will begin. ISy means of Pacific whal ing fleets, whose co-operation has been generously granted to the society, and also by the United States cutter Bear, acting for the United States hydro graphic service, the casks will be shipped northward. Of the fifty, twenty-five of them will be carried by the steam whalers of the Pacific Steam Whaling Company, fifteen by the rev enue cutter Bear and ten by whalers owned by George Siebers & Co. Dur ing the next year It is contemplated to send fifty additional casks. To Determine Polar Drift. 1 The plun of operation, so far as can be determined at present, Is to do posit these casks on Ice floes, north of both the American and the Asiatic con tinents, for the purpose of determining the polar drifts. These drifts are be lieved by many geographers to pass In opposed dliectlons, one northwestward from the Siberian coast, and which Is assumed to correspond with the drift of the Fram; the other northeastward from the archipelago lying north of 'America and Issuing eastward In the sea that lies west of Greenland. Henry Q. Bryant, the present Presi dent of the Geographical Society of OSK.OF THE DRIFT CASKS. Philadelphia, has generously contrib uted to the society the funds needed to carry this novel polar' . expedition Into immediate execution. .Mr. Bry ant Is a graduate of Princeton Uni versity, lie Is an explorer of wide ex perience and Is at present on an ex tended voyage In the West Indies. 4 The casks which will be sent through !WaaaaaWasjaaaaM.!agajaan ' i miii .'mKmmmmmmttimUm ' the polar floe are about the size of an ordinary beer keg, but with conical rooded ends of brass. Each cask will contain a glass tube. Into which will be Inserted a memorandum of the lo cality of the placing the casks In the drift, with blank Instruction In sev eral languages, requesting the finder, wherever the casks may be drifted, to Inscribe on the memorandum tha loca tion by latitude and longitude of the find, and with the request to forward this Information to the nearest consular representative of the finder's country, or direct to the Geographical Society of Philadelphia. Each glass tube Is In closed In a small wooden trough, which will be placed through the bunghole of I n It 10 U to the cask and the hole will bo securely closed. DWELL IN A STUMP. Queer Living Quarters of Five Men In Southern Australia. Sometimes the rodents and the birds make homes In tree stumps, but man has usually selected different quarters. w mm THE STUMP HOtTSK. In the township of Wynnasty, South GIppsland, Australia, however, five men have converted a huge gumtree stump Into a very habitable dwelling. This queer home Is two stories high, the up per story being reached by a regular stairway. A glance at the accompany ing picture of the stump house will con vince you that the tree must have been a giant of Its species. Wonders of Nature. If two. pieces of looking-glass are held on the opposite sides of a lighted lamp or candle, an endless series of bright flames may be seen at one time. So," In he"c61d north, '"-when the air Js full of minute floating lce-ffakes, the sun with its halo Is reflected many times, and the traveler sees two, four or more mock suns with crossing halo rlngs of startling patterns. In hilly countries, where the sun rises In a if m it BURNINQ OF THE WINDSOR serene atmosphere, but opposite to a thin vaporous cloud, If a human being stand on a high hill between them, a wonderful Image Is seen on the cloud curtain, moving as the man moves, at one moment clear and the next fading away. This Is a kind of natural magic lantern, where the cloud takes the place of the white screen, and a man, or men, of the slides. The highest peak of the Hartz Mountains, called the Brocken, Is the place where this Is oftenest seen, so the linage Is called the spectre of the Brocken. But mountain eers see It often on the high Alps." The changing rays of the morning sun make the giant shadows vanish and reapper, and the moving cloud-screen gives them motion. LEWIS CARROLL. Peeullaritiea of the Author of "Alice In Wonderland." S. D. Colllngwood, In the Century, de scribes soma of the odd ways of Lewis Carroll, the author of "Alice In Won' derland." That he was, In some respects, eccen tric cannot be denied; for Instance, he never wore an overcoat, and always wore a tall hat, whatever might be the climatic conditions. He would wear only cotton gloves. In these small per sonal matters he had a great fear of extravagance. At dinner In his rooms small pieces of cardboard took the place of table-mats; they answered the purpose perfectly well, he said, and to buy anything else would be a mere waste of money. On the other hand, when purchasing books for himself, or giving treats to the children he loved, he never seemed to consider expense at oil. When making tea for his friends he used In order, I suppose, to expedite the process to walk up and down the room waving the teapot about, and tell ing meanwhile those delightful anec dotes of which he bad an Inexhaustible supply. He had a strong objection to staring colors In dress, his favorite combina tion being pink and gray. One little girl who came to slay with him was ab solutely forbidden to wear a red frock, of a somewhat pronounced hue, while out in his company. At meals he was always very abstem ious, while he took nothing in the mid dle of the day except a giass of wine and a biscuit. Under these circum stances It is not very surprising that the healtfiy appetites of his little friends filled him with wonder, and even with alarm. When he took a certain one of them out with him to a friend's house to din ner he used to give the host or hostess a gentle warning, to the mixed amaze ment and Indignation of the child: 'Tlease be careful, because she eats a good deal too much." Two Valid Excuses. - Last week, late In the afternoon, a case was called by Judge Sutherland In County Court. "I would like to ask, your Honor, that this case go over until to-morrow," said one of the attorneys. "On what ground?" said the Judge. "Too tired." "Yes, your nonor. I have been argu ing a case all day in Part II. and I am really too fatigued to go on with this trlaL" "Very well, let the case go over. Call the next case." The next case was called and another attorney arose. "May It please your Honor, I would like to ask this case to go over." "For what reason?" "I am too tired." "You, too? What makes you tired?" "I have been listening all day to my learned friend In Part II." Rochester Herald. When a girl of sixteen, who Is pretty, and has "good clothes, gets a sad took In her eyes, it means that she has heard It Is becoming; nothing more. The Bible tells us God created man In His own image and nearly every man thinks he Is the one referred to. HOTEL IN NEW YORK WHEN THE CENTURY BEGINS. It Waa a Fruitful Topic of Diacuaalon One Hundred Years Ago, An Immense amount of discussion Is current as to the exact time when the present century ends, and the next one begins. Some very clever arguments have been advanced on various phases of tho subject The reader who fol lows up all of these will be rewarded with a vast amount of curious Informa tion. With the great deal that Is specu lative and purely theoretical, some most curious and bewildering proposi tions are brought to the front A good deal of this Is new to the person who has not reflected over the matter be fore. All that Is being gone over, how ever, Is old, thrashed material. As the end of each century approaches the old, old question Is mooted, people get thinking and naturally the same Ideas that presented to their great grand grandparents appeal to them with the first blush of something original. A century since, as the year 1800 ap proached, the prints then current were filled with a good deal of discussion as to whether 1800 or 1801 signalized the beginning of a new century. One of the most entertaining and Interesting papers on this subject is comprised In a letter written by Gen. Philip Schuy ler of historic fame, Feb. 11, 1779. It is addressed to his eldest daughter, Mrs. Augelica Church, and was In dited to set at rest In her mind the baffling pros and cons concerning the century-ending ideas. At that time men of sound sense, and of such can dor as to be Incapable of subterfuge which cavilling about words affords, held antagonistic views as stubbornly as though millions were Involved. Gen. Schuyler premised everything on the fact that the birth of Christ, be ginning at tne first minute of the first day of Jannsry, computation com mences with a cipher 0. Some theor ists placed 1 at the birth of Christ In stead of at the end of the year from his birth, rejecting, he claimed, one en tire year out of the series composing the Christian era. Here Is his quaint practical proposition to Illustrate: Suppose, he says, a surveyor was di rected to begin at the city hall, New York, to measure on a due north course. 1,800 miles, and at the end of a mile to set up a stone to indicate how far that stone was from the city hall, what' mark would he place upon It? Surely he would mark It with the num ber 1. If he should proceed one mile farther, and set up another stone, this he would mark with the number 2, and proceeding thus, when he had run 1,800 times eighty chains he would set up a sUae and luark it 1,800, and, turn- CITY. Ing his face to the south be would say: "I am now 1,800 miles from the city hall of New York." But if be had put the stone numbered 1 at the city hall, then the stone to be, placed at one mile, from the said cor ner would have been marked 2, and the stone marked 1.800 only 1,799 miles from New York. But placing the stoiui marked 1 at the said corner would surei ly mislead the traveler in determlna-i tlon of how far he was from New York. for seeing 2 marked on the stone be would conclude that he had still two miles to traverse to be at the New York city halL A Sure Stand. The following story of a really smart retort Is from "More Humors of Clerl- cal Life," and Is told in connection with a church In one of the eastern counties of England: The church possessed a valuable Bible, which was used only on Sun days. During the week It was kept In a box which rather curiously formed the stand upon which the reader of the lessons stood. On one occasion, when this was being shown to a visitor, the remnrk was made that It did not seem very reverent for even a clergyman to tread upon the Bible. "Pardon me," the old verger replied. "In this church, sir, we take our stand upon the Scriptures." Sitt nff Bull's Grave. A broken wooden headboard and a neglected mound of earth In the Fort Yates, N. D.t military cemetery mark the resting place of Sitting Bull, the great Sioux medicine man whose wily brain planned the deathtrap of the Little Big Horn Into which General Custer's command feU. On the broken headboard Is written: "No. 64. Sit ting Bull, Indian." Relic hunters have cut most of the headboard away. The Devil in a Candlestick. An odd candlestick is In bronze of the brilliant flaming red always as sumed by Mephlstopheles In masquer ade. It represents his Satanic majesty In ail the familiar brilliancy, with horns and cloven foot, the latter serv tag as a standard. The tail is curved Into a loop handle for the candlestick and the candle Itself, of tUe same flam ing red wax, fits between the horns. When the sons of a great church worker show no inclination to study for the ministry, she begins to build her hopes on one of her daughters mar rying a preacher. Love finds the way in, bet it has to be thrown out ELECTROCUTION OF A WOMAN. Mrs. Place, the Firat Woaaaa In the World to IM la the Electric Chair. The law is not a respecter of skirts. It makes no distinction of sex. The electric chair was not made for men ilone, for the statute which prescribes fleath as a penalty for deliberate mur fler does not say that Its provisions shall be inoperative If the criminal bappend to be a woman. But the law's machinery seems to get out of gear when a woman Is Involved. A sentiment that has It Inception In the purity of woman Is held up to' pro tect the most degraded of the set. ' Are the female criminals of the lower classes, It Is argued that their very degradation precludes their realization of the enormity of the offense; If of the educated and well-to-do, then it can not be that they would knowingly com mit the crimed Insanity is pleaded la xcuse. These Influences usually have the desired effect on Jurors and ac aulttal or a penalty altogether Inad equate is the result Should the Jury rail to be Influenced, then the higher courts and the Governor's pardoning or commuting power are appealed to. At some one of these various stages the murderess usually Is saved. " ' ' Only twice in fifty years have women been executed In New York State. In both cases strenuous efforts were made to save them, but their crimes were so AeudtBh that mercy could not be suc cessfully Invoked in their behalf. These two were Roxalana . Druse, hanged In Herkimer in 1887, and Mar tha PI ice, whose execution at Sing Sing was the first Infliction of the death penalty upon a woman in the electric chair. In the former case the victim went sobbing, moaning and shrieking to the gallows. Her screams resounded '1 - -it & lav- " -if ' 5 i-li - L v -. u 4 MRS. MABTHA PLACK. through the Jail corridors. She feared death. Mrs. Place was different " Her death scene was lacking lu sensational features. There was no noise, no mani festation of terror. A plea for heaven ly mercy were the only words that broke the stillness of the death cham ber. Her execution was no uiore re volting than If the victim had been a man. But It had unusual features, most notable of which was the presence of two women who had come upon the warden's request One was Dr. Jennie Griffin, of Troy, who accepted an In vitation because Gov. Roosevelt had Bald that a woman physician should be present, and the other, Miss Mary Meury, of Brooklyn, who had befriend ed Mrs. Place while lu Jail and who witnessed the painful ordeal because the condemned woman wanted her to be with her to the last Mrs Place murdered her step-daughter in a most fiendish manner and made an almost successful attempt oh the life of her husband. She was convicted of murder in the first degree aud sen tenced, to be executed in August 1898. Her execution was stayed -by an ap peal to the Court of Appeals for a new trial It was denied aud March 20 was set as the new date of her execution. Then from New York came a protest against the execution of a woman. Gov. Roosevelt was appealed to. He Bald If she was insune he would save ber life and bad a commission appoint ed to examine her. They reported that she was sane and Roosevelt said then the law must take Its course. Couldn't Run Away..' There are times In war when one ac tive brain is equivalent to a great many guns. Witness this Incident of the Ger man revolution of 1848, told to the Trib une by a German-American citizen of New York: We were short of men, and had a large number of prisoners to look after. That did not worry us as long as we were not moving, but one day we had to make a forced march. The country through which we were to pass was hostile, and extreme watch fulness was necessary. We had few enough men as It was, and we knew that our prisoners were ready to run at the first opening. Finally a young officer made a bril liant suggestion, and it was promptly carried out We ripped the suspender buttons from the prisoners' trousers, took away their belts, and knew we had them. Their hands were busy after that, aud fast running was out of the question. We made the march safely, and I do not believe that even Yankee ingenuity could have Invented a simpler solution. Sausage Day. The butchers of Berlin have a curi ous way of Informing their customer! of the days on which fresh sausages are made by placing a chair, covered with a large clean apron, at the side ot the shop door. Cbapel Built of Coral. One of the curiosities of the Isle of Mahe, in the Indian ocean, Is the chapel that is built of coraL - r