Louisiana capitolian. (Baton Rouge, La.) 1879-1881, 1879-08-23

mud lns,a two or three hours, almost
without internis,ion. Looking out TO
sen, one may perceive clouds OF smoke
rolling away, far up in the blue sky, like
white balIa, ~ tho shells bnrHtin the dis
tanec, and may hear the noise Of the re-
port floating lazily back after IN nppm-
entity interminab)e lapse Of time. When
IL IN remembered that OF the thousands
of fuse of all kinds turned out OF the
Woolwich Arsenal, some 3 per cent.
have to be proved by actual experiment,
one may form some conception OF the APP
pcara,ce Of Shoeburyness on busy day
Enough, however, of description for
the present. Even to this rclnote cor
ner of England hasentcrprisc penetrated,
and when last | was there the founi''-
ton of II great hotel was being la'''.
Soon, no doubt, it will be M great re-
sort for tho ubiquitous AIRY ms other
portions of Her Majcsty's domnions. ]
should not have vcnturod to intr''do II
upon my readers but for mn adventure
which happened to me there on one
oec,lsiol, and which went very near to
dcpriving the British public of this in
lercsling recital, and the Royal Rcgi-
men, of Artillery Of the services OF II
"most promising young officer" IA no
doubt the Times would have recorded.
IN tho year 1871 was going through
whit In technically known IA The '1ong
course" - curriculum Of instruction IN
g,uncry, theoretical and practical the
former al Woolwich, mud tho hitter ut
Shocburyncss-onch part LISTING ak
mouths. We had been enjoying our
selves nt our seaside residence for three
ont Theses six months exceedingly; for we
had been fortunate enough to have gone
there IN the summer months; and be-
tween ',oating md bathing and playing
lawn-trunis, IN u modified form, known
~ "sticly' in courts constructed out OF
the boards Of old targets past work, tho
time had passed very pleasantly. 1t
was now August, and u very het one;
tho sun burned in the heavens like u red
coal, mud scorcled up tho scanty water
that the snndbcls contained, till we had
to send miles away to fetch whit was re-
unircd for the ,lse of the barracks. Work
of any kind was an effort. One felt in
clincd to spend the day swimming 1azily
about or sitting on warm rock, after
the fashion of Tonnyaon's mcrInnn. ii
was ono of these aquatic excursions
which got me into the greatest scrapc
have ever been In, or that over shall be
in, hope, M the sensation was anything
hut pleasant.
must premise that | was u very fair
swimmer, having learned that art,
amongx many other useful things, ut the
acadcn +, and progressed favorably in II
during course of seaside fort residences
My grcit ambition had always been tt
swim abound tho 1900 target some day
when the tide was in, and at length
determined to make tho attempt The
feat seems easy enough, no doubt, but
was no Captain Webb; and amongst my
fellow Officers there were few who would
have atf! 'mptcd it, so felt rather in
clincd To be able to say that ! had beer
there. Nondding my intention to NJ
one, started one day from the gun-pic'
just before slack water, counting ON get.
ting back before the tide turned again.
It wasq hot day, "a have before said
and swan very slowly; however, ar
rived at my destination without mucI
difficulty; The framework on which tho
target ioatcd offered pleasant resting
place, and lay down ON it Iazi1y, in
tcndingto take some five minutes breath
ing time, and then strike out for home
But, alas for the tccbcncss of human
resolutions! Between the warm sun an,
the long swim and the rccumbcnt pos
tire, had not been there two minutes
before | was fast asleep. had II curious
dream. ] HAD been reading rather
wild book Ct speculative astronomy tina
morning, aud had been somewhat struck
by the writer's theory that the end of the
world wouIdcomc through, the fiery vapor
nndlayaof'he inferior oftho earth breakin,
through the thin crust thereof. ! dream
I cd now that such q catastrophe was i'm
mncnt, and that | was calmly inspcctin.
u pressure gauge to ascertain how lon!
> the globe would yet endure. Fcarlcssly
as happens in Dreams | felt the incrcas
: ing heat beneath me. Trcmors and in
distinct distant rumblings came rising III
! from infinite depths, until the groun'
shook and qpivered under my feet
Higher ran the warning dial hand upo
= the dial, and AT length, with n might
crash, tho WORLD exploded, and was h''rl
cd not into chaos, but splash into tn
waters of the estuary ofthe river Thames
Thoroughly awakened, as the rcadc
may suppose, rose to the surface, gull
ing down a mouthtul of water, swallow
ed in the surprise. As | clutchcd til
- frame beside me, was conscior
y of q dazzliug red flash like shcct-ligh,