Omaha daily bee., 1889-05-26
Az Home In Water.

II have been IN every principal body OF
water in the world" said Captain Paul
Boyton, at o'clock yesterday afternoon, as
he stepped out of his dressing room aud in
troduced himself and his rubber suit TO an
audience that covered every available inch
of Manhattan beach, "put in all my voyages
l never saw prettier body of water than
this, or better opportunity for giving the
exhibitions have prepared" AS he stalked
across the sandy beach he was an odd look
ing object, resembling more than anything
else the picture of an 1celander
clad In rubber instead of furs. As
he waddled into the water the crowd pressed
forward and those in the immediate front
begun the struggle to keep from being forced
into the water that formed an interesting
part of the entertainment. The captains
good opinion of the lake and the opportuni-
tiles it afforded h,m for giving his peculiar
show led him to enter into the water and his
work also with degree of zest that gave the
crowd two hours OF the most varied enjoy
ment imaginable, particularly those who
stood closest to the lake or on the extreme
outer edge Of the spring board. The cx-
hibtion was all that it was advertised to be,
and was the most novel ever seen in this
part of the country. The wind was just
fresh enough to make 1t interesting to
the performers, and the captains rubber
suit carried him like a cork on the top of the
waves. The first part Of the programme
showed how easy 1t was to live on the sur
face Of the deep, with no other companion
than Baby Mine,n the two foot schooner
that has travelled with the captain on his
%, 600 miles of sea voyages. From material
that was found floating conveniently near he
constructed raft, moving with as much
alacrity on the water as ~sprightly boy
would on a lawn. Then he built fire and
cooked an aquatic omelet. bated hshhook
and caught fine bass and broiled
it, went down into the bosom of "Baby
Mine" and brought out every imaginable
delicacy from tropical fruit to BudweZer
beer which he ate and drank with such
pleasant JUNCTION that the crowd lost all fear
of a shipwreck, and would rather have been
lost on the deep than not. He rugged him
self out as q full-rigged vessel and sailed
about with pleasure 80 enchanting that
some of the crowd on the lake front felt no
Inconvenience from being forced into the
water by the pressure of those behind. He
smoked a cigar while the waves were
breaking over his head, and ate an orange
while sending up rockets as signals Of dis
tress.
The finest part of the exhibition, and twas
all intensely interesting, was the realistic
battle scene between two full-rigged vessels
and the destruction of one by submarine
bomb Both vessels were perfect minia-
lures of war vessels, and carried a full COM
plement of guns. The guns were all loaded
thirty yards of each other. They seemed to
be mne of pyrotechnics, and volleys Of
shot, shell aud rockets were poured into
each other. The proiectiles, withholding
objects about the size of hen eggs, could be
seen to penetrate the sides of the ships, and
often pass through. After hundred shots
were fred, the grand catastrophe occurred,
when an immense torpedo was exploded
under one of them and it was blown bodily
out of the water and hurled in fragments a
hundred feet in the air.
Every part of the programme was faith
fully carried out, with the exception of the
boat race, which failed to transpiro, but
altogether 1T was one of the most unique
entertainments the people of Council Bluffs
and Omaha have ever had the pleasure of
seeing.
This afternoon it will be repeated, with
some important additions, and it is probable
that the biggest crowd ever seen at the lake
will witness it. Three motor trains, draw
ing twelve cars, will run tomorrow.