HAVANA VERY WEAK.
WHAT ONE TORPEDO DID.
Knocked a Great Hole in Steel Bottom
of the Rebel Brazilian Aquiduban>
HER DEFENSES COUi.i) NOT RE
SIST MODERN UUNS.
The Cuban Capital City Has Many For-
tiiicutions, but They Are of the An
tiquated Kind. Not Strongly Built
and Are l'oorly Equipped.
Medieval Fortresses.
Time was when the city of Havana
was one of the strong places of the
world. That was in the days when
battle ships carried as many as 125
pop-guns, against whose puny Are tow
ering walls of massive granite served
as an Impregnable defense. Modern
ordnance, with its monster shot and al
most fabulous range, inis changed all
tliat, and to day Havana is not only not
the mighty fortress that it once was,
but, despite the fact tluit vast sums
have within the last two years been
squandered on Is defenses, it can now
hardly I m - considered as capable of of
fering any serious resistance to attack,
either by la ml or sea.
The seaward defenses of Havana
may be divided Into two classes—those
within the harbor and at its entrance,
which are interesting only from an an
tiquarian ami picturesque aspect, and
the modern works, armed with a few
pieces of heavy breechloading ord
nance, which, since the liegtnnliig of
the war, have been erected along the
shores east and west of the harbor
mouth.
ANTIQUATED FORTIFICATIONS PROTECTING HAVANA HARBOR.
Iiest known of all the forts of Hava
na is the world-renowned Morro Castle, guns and a few small mortars. Both
carried on nt Constantinople during the
HUMOR AND ITS USES.
the marvelously plcturcwque medieval these batteries could lie readily taken
middle ages; combs, caskets, horns,
stronghold that crowns that rocky eml-' in flank and carried by troops landed It Is the Sunshine of the World, but boxes, etc., of carved Ivory and bone,
May Be Overworked.
nenee at the left of tiie entrance of the ' In die unprotected little haven at Cojl-
often set In precious stones, of the old
harbor. A hundred years ago Its mas mar, three miles to the eastward of
“Humor is the very sunshine of the Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods, are
sive bastions, bristling with the heavi Havana. On the heights in die rear of world," writes Carrie E. Garrett in the frequently found in tombs. Crucifixes
est artillery of the period, frowned de the first battery are several large pow Woman’s Home Companion. “Hardly and Images of the virgin and saints
fiance to the navies of the world. Now der magazines, completely exposed to any other single gift will go so far to made In that age are often graceful and
the Morro, stripped of all anmiimuut the tire of ships.
refresh and inspire one In every-day benutlful. The Chinese and Japanese
save a few harmless cannon, serves
To the westward of the harbor lies a life and keep the heart still young. It are rival artists now In their peculiar
only as a prison, as a garrison for re chain of batteries, extending from La ! steals merrily across that workaday
minutiae and detail.—Popular Science
cruits front Spain and as a signal station Punta all the way along the shore to world, animating the dreariest monot
Monthly.
and pedestal for the great lighthouse the mouth of the Almendarez River, ony and finding place in the most hope
that towers a hove the seaward height of where there Is another sheltered land less destiny. Such a gay traveling com
Rnvial Money in China.
the fortress just across the eastern ing place with no other defense than panion is humor for the pilgrimage of
A kind of Chinese money which Is
ditch. Dividing It from the castle prop the ancient esistle of Carmelo, erected j life!
largely manufactured and sold is wor
er is au outwork known as the Velasco In 1509, the oldest building of Europttan
"The woman with a sense of humor thy of mention, although the traveler
Battery. Across the harltor from the construction in the new world. A force has a safeguard against ennui, against need not trouble himself with It except
Morro stands the quaint old Castillo tie landed here could proceed along die folly and against despair. She can nev
as a curiosity. This is prepared for
La Punta, a square bastloned stone! shore road under cover of Ute guns of, er be dull so long as the comedy of life
the especial purpose of burning at the
fort, mounting three or four old Par the fleet and march into the city, ear-' Is being played before* her eyes; with
graves of deceased relatives ns an offer
rotts and a solitary 15-lnch Rodman of rylng one buttery after the other on the a keen sense of the ridiculous she is not
ing to the dead. The denizens of the
the kind which Is now being removed way.
likely to ‘make a fool of herself;' and other world are supposed to require
from Forts Hamilton ami Wadsworth
Of this range of works, the first, be site will never be hopelessly unhappy,
to make room for modern ordnance. Be ginning at the eastward, Is the Reina for she will find in the most adverse and to lie capable of receiving money
yond the Punta, all the way to the Cav- battery, a stone structure armed with fate something still to laugh nt, and | in this way; but the Chinaman Is far
alleria wharf, the shore is fairly en a few antique pieces of ordinance. Next after all laughter Is your true alchem ' too practical a person to part In such
crusted with the remains of batteries, to it, and within the outskirts of the ist. However ft may be with the un a fashion with the currency of the em
In their day most formidable, but now city, Is the Santa Clara lxittery, an musical person, surely the surly Indi pire. Instead he buys for a few “cash”
■tripped of armament and used only earthwork which ranks next In import vidual who cannot laugh spontaneous a large supply of silvered and gilded
as barracks or store houses.
ance to the big Playa del Chlvo battery. ly on occasions Is ‘111 for treasons, strat- pieces of paper, or of Imitation coins
blocked out of cardboard.
The waits of the stupendous fortrvM It mounts three old style ten-inch egems and spoils.’
Although these have no purchasing
known as La Cabana crown the Krupi® ami two twelve-inch Ordonez
“But this blessed gift of humor should power on earth, they are supposed to
heights on the eastern shore of the guns. These latter were built in Spain be used to lift the shadows of life, not
harbor from near the southern rally- 1 on a system tIvat has nothing to recom to deepen them. A joke which causes count for much in the transactions of
port of the Morro all the way to the vll-| mend it beyond cheapness of construc another a pong of humiliation or makes the spirit world. Ry this practice one
lag** of Casa Blanca in an unbroken tion, consisting as they do of a steel some sensitive heart ache Is not only a | Is reminded of an old story of a miser
palisade of gray and white stone, stain tuts* re enforced, incredible ns it may cruel sort of amusement, but It Is also I who left his belongings to his son on
ed here and there with broad splashes' seem, with nothing better than a east a very expensive Indulgence. For just condition that a certain sura of money
should be buried in the coffin with him.
of vivid red. La Cabana is now noth Iron jacket.
Within a stone’s throw of Santa a moment’s gratification nt having Tiie son was, however, a chip of the old
ing but a vast prison ami place of exe
made n ‘hit’ the ‘funny woman’ may
cution. Originally designed to mount Clara Is a little masonry battery, I trover lose a friend, and may even block, and carried out his father’s
mounting
four
breech-loading
mortars
wishes by placing In the coffin a cross
hundreds of guns. It now possesses only
arouse a very genuine spirit of enmity. |
a saluting battery and live small rifles, of only eight-inch calibre. The battery ' We learn to forgive, and mayhap for- j ed cheek for the required amount, as
with a few ancient pieces, which are Is of such light construction as to offer ! get, many Injuries In life’s troubled sured that it had little chance of being
only available for defense against a only a trilling protection to the guns. I journey, but perhaps among the wounds presented at Ills banker’s.—Chambers’
land attack. The condition of Ixi Ca Further westward at the foot of II that rankle longest In the human heart Journal.
bana’s ordnance may be Inferred from street. In the suburb of Veilado, Is an are those w lilch are made ‘only In fun.’
Punishment for the Ungodly.
the fact that the garrison, after super-' other I lottery mounting two ten-inch
The American Hlble Society has re
human exertions, was only able to re and two six-inch modern rifles.
As the main defense of the city
Ivory Used by tlie Ancients.
ceived from Peru the cheering Informa
turn the Maine's national salute of
The earliest recorded history—we tion that four of the men who have
twenty-one guns with nineteen strag against land attack are the antique
gling shots, delivered In what one of castles of A tares and Principe, In the might say prehistoric, the hieroglyph!- ' been most active In obstructing evan
the American officers decJared to be the latter of which Is a small Kittery of cal—that has come down to use has gelical work have died withen twelve
modern mortars, whose lire Is capable lieen In carvings on Ivory and bone. months.
“raggedes-t salute 1 ever heard.”
Long before metallurgy was known
Most formidable of all the modern i of being directed seaward.
linssinn Dainties.
among the prehistoric races, carvings
defensive works of Havana Is the great
There are many curious tilings sold
Eggs
ns
Currency.
on
reindeer
horn
and
mammoth
tusks
!
sand battery nt Playa del Chlvo, on the
In the Russian markets, and one can
A $1,200 farm In Tennessee has been evidence the antiquity of the art. Frag
sea const, iilsuit three-quarters of a
buy eels and snakes and chicken legs.
paid
for
wholly
in
hens'
eggs,
the
In
mile to the eastward of the Morro. It
ments of horn ami Ivory, engraved with Lambs’ feet are sold ns a great dainty,
was recently declar«*d by an examina stallments being remitted dally. Home excellent pictures of animals, have been and calves’ feet are bought for soup.
tion of all the new baterles ns the “only times at the rate of three cents a dozen found In cast's and beds of rivers and
After a man has been married three
one In the constructlou of which the for the eggs, delivered in four-dozen lakes. There are specimens in the Brit
least glimmer of embellishment had lots.
ish museum, also In the Louvre, of the or four times, he must feel a good deal
been shown." The battery mounts two
Egyptian skill in ivory carving, attrib like a horse that has been owned by
Big Pear Yield.
magnificent twelve-inch Krupp rlfl<*,
A single tn*e in an orchard near Cor uted to the age of Most*«. In the latter three or four different owners.
which, however,are destitute of all pro vallis, Ore., has yielded this season nine collection are chairs or seats of the six
Some people are born tired and some
tection save what 1s afforded by a hundred poundB of Bartlett ¡tears.
teenth century, B. C„ Inlaid with ivory, scorn to have lieen born for the purpose
broad but very low parapet of sand.
and other pieces of the eleventh cen of making others tired.
The trouble with a great many men tury. B. 0. We have already referred
Half a mile further to the eastward
Is an unflutahed battery of similar con Is they are never satisfied with wasting to the Nlnevah Ivories. Carving of the
The woman with small feet may be
■(ruction, mounting four eight-Jnch their own time.
“precious substance” was extensively vain, but she walks on her pride.
I so that by turning his head slightly ’n-
side the helmet the diver can see for
some distance around him.
The air tubing is of strong, flex title
rublter, through which the fresh air
from altove Is driven down by means
of a ¡tump. Tills tube, la-fore reaching
the opening In the helmet through
' which the air is supplied to the diver, is
i | curried through a ring on the breast
plate at the diver’s left shoulder. This
Is so that he may be able to grasp It
quickly, without having to grope for it,
1 in ease he needs to signal to those at
j the pump above. One pull on the tills*
means that he wants more air and two
pulls warn the pumiiers that he Is get
ting too much. If the air were sup
plied in excess the suit would become
so buoyant that it would tend to rise.
After being passed through the shoul
der ring the tube goes around and en
ters the helmet nt the back. From here
the air passes through a flat rubber
tube to the top of the helmet, where the
single tube divides into three branches,
one of which goes down to the nostrils
and the other to the ears.
After the air has been breathed it
passes on down inside the suit, Inflating
this sufficiently to overcome a certain
degrt*e the hydrostatic pressure. With
out air Inside it the rubber would be
pressed against the diver’s body and
llnilis by the weight of the water, and
would drive the blood up Into Ills head.
There is another opening in the back
of the helmet, through which tiie foul
air finds its escape. This may be seen
coming up to the top of the water in
the form of bubbles. The life rope by
which the diver is lower***! and raised Is
about as thick as an ordinary clothes
line. It Is wound securely about hit
waist and fastened under his arms.
Three pulls upon it signify to those
above that the diver wishes to come up.
Before the rebel Brazilian fleet In the
harbor of Rio Janeiro, under Admiral
De Gama, surrendered In 1894. Rebel
Admiral Mello had sailed out of the
harbor in the Aquldaban. The toriM*do
boats Bent by the Brazilian government
to find the ship came upon her in the
harbor of Desterro, down the coast.
The Gustavo Satnplo, which did the
torpedoing, Is a torpedo gunboat, hav-
Ing a bow tube and two broadside
launching tubes, two twenty-pounder
rapid tiring guns and four three-inch
rifles. She, in company with a torpedo
boat something after the style of the
Cushing, entered the Desterro harbor,
where the Aquidaban was at anchor,
shortly after midnight, April 16. Tho
torpedo l>oat advanced and at 190 me
ters tired her bow torpedo. At 75 me
ters she launched her broadside. Both
missed. The Samplo then advanced
and at 75 meters tired iter box torpedo,
which missed, and at 50 meters her
port broadside. The last torpedo
struck the Aquldaban about ten feet
below the water line and twenty-five
feet abaft the I k > w , making a hole
twelve, feet square on the port side and
a round hole three feet in diameter on
the starboard side. The plates far sev
eral feet around the hole on the port
side were crushed In.
The Aquldaban sank in shallow wa
ter and wus afterward raised and re
paired. The cut published herewith is
from a photograph taken of the Aqul
daban when she had been placed in
dry dock for repairs, and gives an ex
cellent Idea of what kind of hole Is
made in the bottom of a steel ship
when a Whitehead torpedo strikes her.
In the civil war in Chili, in 1891, the
government cruiser Blanco Euealada
Temperature of Food.
was sunk by a torpedo in the harbor of
The tenqieratur** of the things we eat
Valparaiso. It was at night and she
was lying at anchor with no search and drink is hardly ever noticed; still,
lights going and no torpedo nets down. it is of considerable importance that
An Insurgent ship came steaming In food or drink should be of the right
6
Ü
HE blnck episode of the Virginias is still
fresh In tbe minds of tiie American peo
ple. It shows what may be expected by
any government that handles Spain with too
« x
much consideration in di|>loinaey. The Virgin
ias, known originally as the Virgin, woe a
British blockade runner during our civil war.
In 1870, when the Cubans were trying to break
away from Spain, tbe Virginius resumed the
old occultation, only with a change of base.
A
For three years it surereded In carrying on its
business without being captured. It was un
der the command of a citizen of the United
Statre, Captain Fry. The crew were ¡surly American and ¡»artly Cuban. But
one ill-starred day the Virginius canu* upon another vessel, the Tornado, which
had been built in the same shipyard as ite. |f and for the same purpose, but which
had drifted in the fortunes of ownership into Spanish hands. After a hot chase
the Virginias was run down and captured. Captain Fry protested that his was
“an American ship, carrying American cokes and papers, with an American cap
tain and crew.” All this was true, but far from being “saving truth.” 'The ves
sel and all on board were taken to Santirgo de Out», the passengers thrown in
prison and Captain Joseph Fry, tbe commander, and his crew kept on board the
Tornado. Drumhead court-martial was held for the trial of the prisoners and al
most immediately four of them were shot in tbe back, their heads displayed on
spikes and their bodies tram pl fd by horses. The trials, condemnations, and exe
cutions of the others were iu squads. In the first Imteh was a gallant soldier of
our own war, but a British subject. Brigadier Genera] Washington Ryan. In the
last batch Captain Fry himself was shot. With such indecent haste were these
execi tions made that the news of the caiHure of the \ irglnius had not yet reach
ed Havana nor Madrid. General Juan Burrlei, the governor for that Cuban prov-
Ir *e. caused the cable to l»e cut that the American consul, E. G. Schmitt, at Santia
go might I m * prevented from nmking any communication to his government, and
the United Statre consul at that placs was not altowod to leave the c*»n-
■ulate or have any intercourse with the prisoners until the last day Not a man
would have escaped, but before the entire work of butchery had lM*en finished a
British guulMiat cauie along in that region and heard what was going on. The
T
WIIAT A TORPEDO DID TO TIIE AQUIDABAN.
and tired three torpedos at her in rapid
succession. One of them hit and the
Blanco Encalada sank rapidly. She
went down in deep water and could
not lie raised.
The first torpedo of which there Is
any record In warfare was one which
blew up a British armed schooner off
New London In 1777. It was a floating
torpedo, which was sent against the
British ship by the tide.
DIVER’S WORKING SUIT.
It Ts Made of Inilin Rubber nn<I Is
Enonffh to e care the Fish.
The work of a «liver is attended by
many risks, but dangers become famil
iar through long custom, so his task us
ually lias few terrors for him. He de
scends trusting to the proper working
AX.
captain lost no time in reaching Santiago, and
without waiting for the slightest ceremony de
manded that the slaughter cease or he would
J
bombard the town. That sort of pluck and
■
promptness, from tfhe days of Drake down,
ME
have made Great Britain a great nation. In
less than ninety days ninety-three men under
sentence of dcath were saved by the brave
and humane interference of Sir Lambton Lor-
raine of the Niota, He tol.l the Weylers, or
butchers, of Santiago de Cuba that he repre-
rented the United States and Great Britain
both, ami if any other man was harmed he
would shell the town. That settled it The Spaniard U full of bravado, but in
the fare of resolution and courage he quails.
For a time ¡rablic indignation in the United States ran very high. Mass meet
ings were held In many plat***«, the newspaper showed deep resentment of the in
sult to the American flag and the iitnsitire which American citizens had suffered.
Immediate vengeance was called for and the gorennuent made a faint show of
preparations for war. It went so far hs to threaten to withdraw Minister SickleO
from Madrid, but on the eve of his withdrawal Si»ain consented to consider pro
posals for restitution and indemnity. Then followed a series of diplomatic nego
tiations, the final result of whi*4i must have made all Spain chuckle with delight.
The men who had been reecued by the Niobe were put on board the Virginius in
the remote port of Bahia Honda, and there, before a handful of witnesses, the
Spanlanls went through the farce of a salute. The Spaniards should at least
have been rompt-lled to take the Virginius into rhe harbor at Havana, and there,
in the presence of all the people, made to pay homage to the United States. Spain
pel! the sum of $80,000 in full indemnity for the livre of fifty-three i»*rwons mur
dered by its representatives, while all communication of three victims was shut
off from the country to which they might have looked for protection. The total
survivors of the crew were fifteen and of the passengers eighty-reven, who were
snrrendensl at the same time as the vessel. This closed the episode of the Virgin
ian. which aroused more indignation in thia country than any other event eave the
tiring on Fort Sumter in the memory of men now living. The blood money was
pocketed and the imult lo the flag has remained unavenged to this day.
'
temperature. For healthy people hot
articles of food should be served at a
temperature about that of tiie blood,
but for Infants it is imperative that
milk should be given at blood heat.
Drinks intended to quench thirst are
about right at a temperature of from
50 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Drink or
food at extremely high or extremely
low temperatures may <lo great dam
age, and are most harmful when swal
lowed rapidly. Drinking water is best
taken at 55 degrees, seltzers and soda
water should be slightly warmer and
beer should not be cooled to more than
60 degrees; red wine is best at 05 de
grees; white wine at 50; champagne is
the one liquor which is best at the low
est temperature allowed, but should not
be taken colder than 45 degrees. Coffee
ami ten should not lie taken hotter than
from 105 to 120 degrees; milk is con
sidered cold at 60 degrees, when it will
be found to have tiie best aroma.
There Were No Postage Stamps.
BtOrtlB TO SC ARK THE FISH.
of the mechanism by which he Is sup
plied with air and to the strength of
the life line, which lowers and pulls
him up.
The diving suit, which Is the one gen
erally used now, is made of India rub
ber, with a helmet and breastplate of
copper. Outside of the rubber, to pro
tect tt from hard usage, an extra suit of
canvas overalls is worn, and after a
rough piece of work this canvas la fre
quently torn to shreds. Around his
waist the diver wears a belt made of
imrs of lead fastened crosswise on a
leather band. His shoes are of metal,
heavily weighted, so that he can main
tain an erect position easily, and the en
tire suit with which he enters the water
weighs about 175 pounds. This is nec 1
essary t° enable him to sink to the !
required depth. The helmet Is supplied
with windows of thick glass, one in
front and two others at each side of it. ,
In those days postage stamps are a
familiar necessity. Their loss would
occasion almost ns much confusion and
difficulty as the loss of our money sys
tem: and yet, fifty years ago the world
never had seen a ¡»ostage stamp uor
even an envelope.
Before the days of postage stamps It
was customary to pay in cash at tho
postoffice the charges for transporting
the letter, and tiie postmaster stamped
the word “paid” ‘nbove the address.
Our first stamps were of two denomina
tions. 5 and 10 cents. The first bore
the likeness of Franklin in rose color,
and the second that of Washington.
Envelopes were not In use in those
days, but a sheet of paper was care
fully folded and sealed with a red
wafer. For a letter of one sheet of
paper for a distance loss than 300
miles the 5-cent stamp sufficed. When
envelopes, including the stamped en
velope, came In in 1851. a revision of
postal practices was necessary, and
weight. Instead of the number of sheets
of paper, became the standard of meas
ure. Postage was in that year very
much reduced, anil the 3-eent price for
the half-ounce letter was adopted.
Peaches Once Poison.
The peach was originally a poison
almond. Its fruity parts were used to
¡x>lson arrows, and for that purpose
were introduced into Persia. Trans-
plantation and cultivation have not
only removed Its poisonous qualities,
but turned it into the delicious fruit
we now enjoy.