Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-05-24


readily after big fire as before, for it is but
portion OF this huge concern which the flames
have consumed.
A story used to be current of a bet between
two men at club that an order could be sent
| to Whitley which he would not execute. The
order was for a secondhand coffin and it was
filled. The loser of the bet inquired of Mr.
| whitley how the coffin came to justify its
description as secondhand "Sir," answered
! the Universal Provider. sit was misfit.'
|
The Trail Of the Sea-Serpent.
BY. G. WOOD.
From the June Atlantic
! We might naturally expect to look for sea-
monsters in the tropics, but here we find that
the creature which is called the sea-serpent has
invariably been seen In northern ATTITUDES, and
always in the summer or autumn. It's size is
tolerably uniform, wonderfully so, indeed,
considering the great difficulty Of estimating
the length of any animal In the sea- The color
is invariably the same; those who saw only the
upper surface taking it to be black or blackish-
brown, and those who saw the under sur
! face describing It as white. Those who
saw the eyes describe them as prominent,
and on the upper part Of the head. The
| duration Of each appearance above the water is
the same throughout The speed is given as
the same, that is, five or six knots per hour, and
every one seems to have noticed tie foam or
spray thrown up before it, and the wake left be-
nina It. Had the narratOrs wished to extOl the
dangers which they had run In encountering so
dreadful monster, they would have reportedit
as fierce and irritable. But, On the contrary, all
| agree In stating that it is perfectly harmless
creature, and that even when it appeared to be
attacking boat it turned off short and changed
| its course. Impostors would have armed it's
mouth with frightful teeth, whereas not only
teeth are not mentioned but the princess was
so close to the animal that the passengers looked
into its open mouth, and could ascertain that no
teeth were visible. All agree in the character
CT the undulatlng movement. e.. that it is
vertical and not lateral The only discrepancy
is that between the accounts OF Mr.. Lawrence
and Mr.. WATSON. But the former saw nothing
but the head and shoulders whereas the latter
saw nothing but the back. Both narrators
agree in the color and the speed, both carefully
refraining from the slightest mention OF any de-
| tail which they did not see
Next comes the question, What can this thing
be! 1t is quite certain that it does not cor
respond with any contemporary animal at
present known to BIOLOGISTS Mr.. Arthur Law
renee offers suggestion that it may possibly be
surviving PiesiOsaurian,-an idea by the way
which was ingeniously used by the late Lord
Lytt0n in his Coming Race. The distance. how
ever. between the great saurans which are now
only known by their fossil remains and those of
the present day is too wide to be bridged by a
survivor.
But though not surviving saurian 1t may be
survivor of some group Of animals which is
on the verge of extinction. In the first place. it
. cannot be a serpent, as the peculiar movements
which have been described cannot be performed
by serpent; the structure Of the vertebre pro-
hibiting them.
There are plenty of sea-serpents none Of
| them measuring more than a few feet In
length, and all have the tail flattened side
ways, so that they undulate through the water
just as an eel does. The monster in ques-
ton. however, undulates up and down 'lke
caterpillar" Now. the only marine animals
which possess this power are those belonging to
the whale tribe. These, as may be seen from
the structure of their vertebrp. can undulate up
| and down, but not sideways. the projections on
either side OF each yertebra interlocking with
the vertebra Immediately behind it. Now, sup
pose that there might be much-elongated ce-
tacean, being to the rest OF the whales what the
cells are to the fishes, the creature would be-
nave exactly as our sea-serpent behaved. Every
movement OF the creature is cetacean. The
habit OF pushing the head out of the water
Is distinctly cetacean, the sperm whales
being much addicted to this custom, The cat
erpllar-iike bend OF the body is also cetacean
and may be witnessed any day when q school
OF pOrpoises curve their graceful course over
the waves The sudden rising of the body. az
| aescribed by Mr.. WATSON, is also cetacean
y Z characteristic. The whales. when their lungs
are Inflated are little lighter than water But
they possess >the power of contracting their
whole bodies, go that they can sink like stones-
EAthe Wnale-tlshers. When they relax the mlscu-
1aF apparatus by which this object is effected,
the body resumes its former size, becomes
lighter than water. and surges to the surface
exytly as described by Mr.. WATSON.
The unexpected harmessness of SO powerful
creature is another characteristic which, fOrtu-
nately for man, belongs to the whales creatures
which never attack but under exceptional cir
cumstances. There are many whales now known
to science. some of them being much more
ndAr hon fhnrO 10
that there are many which are as yet unknown.
shakspearean Slang.
From the Troy Times.
The power Of Shakespeare over the public Is
shown by the extent to which his phrases. and
even his slang, has become Incorporated into
our language. In this point indeed, he is I'M
equaled. Among these is "bag and baggage y
dead as door nail" ''proud of ones huml-
lty," tell the truth and shame the devil" shit
or miss, 'love is blind" .'selling for song, !"
wide world 'cut COPIES" ''fast and loose, {"
''unconsidered trifes." westward no." "famii-
ar.y ereeds patching up
'to boot" Gin a trade), '.short and long
Of it," comb your head with a three,
legged stool" dancing attendance" "get-
ting ttSst,e even rel, eyenge birds birds Of feather
telligible). send one packing" ''as the day is
long" packing jury" "mother wit" skili'
with kindness, 'mum" (for sence), ill wind
that blows no good" wild goose chase, scare
crow" luggage" ROW OF pins" Gas mark of
yalue). "viva vOce, 'give and take, 'sold" lin
the way of joke, ''give the devil his due"
your cake is dough-" These expressions have
come under my own notice, and Of course there
4 must be many others of equal familiarity The
girl who painfully calls some youth ''milksop'
is also unconsciously quoting Shakespeare and
even ''loggerhead' is OF the same origin. ..Ex-
tempore"is first found in Shakespeare and SO
| are ''almanacs." The "elm and vine" las fr-
ure) may also be mentioned. Shakespeare is the
first author that speaks Of ''the man in the
moon, or mentions the potato, or uses the
term 'eyesore" for annoyance. Another ofteS-
quoted utterance may be here mentioned, simply
because 1t is generally misunderstood: zone
which Is supposed to express the power OF
sympathy whereas 1t solely referred to the
| widespread operations of selfshness