The morning call., 1892-07-18


comes from Sanger, in the southern part
of the State, is as horrible as any atrocitv
of the kind can be imagined TO be- man
in prison. suspected of murder, is taken out
of his cell by men who found entrance
thereto easy aud safe. and is run up with
rope round his neck again and again, and
asked 10 confess each time he is lowered.
Ii Is marvellous that under such conditions
the poor wretch did not confess to having
hand in all the murders in the United States
since Independence day. He, however. de-
clared himself innocent and refused to con-
feSs in the manner those who were t0rtnr-
ing HIM evidently had hoped he would.
Making due allowance for public indlgna-
ton at criminals so frequently escaping
from justice, whether they keep cut Of court
or come into IL, the practice OF mob TAX
ing the law into It's own hands on the spur
OF the moment is not to lie encouraged.
Tie would-be lyncheTs made mistake in
this instance.
In Durango, province Of Mexico, there
has been wild rejoicing at the occurrence of
copous showers of rain after prolonged
drought No such blessing from the clouds
has been vouchsafed for years and naturally
exultation is high. The value of water 10 a
country is only understood at the full when
1t is scarcely Obtainable, and Durango has
passed through this experience. 1t is evil
not form frequently or reliably, and the
immigrant for all time is likely 10 give il
wide berth. The Tain-cOmpeller Who sends
explosives mp into the sky, has here choice
field for his experiments. but his success Is
next 10 nothing in any region, and when
showers do descend there are many other
explanations of the phenomena than aerial
explosives afford.
All success may cordially be wished TO
ba in 1gYltra lad i'm
luna by which it is proposed to reel off all
the silk of California cOcoons. the product
of which is said to amount to 50, 600 pounds
year. This is work which we can well
spare the East the trouble of doing by doing
it ourselves. 1t is singular. almost beyond
explanation, that California has not become
great silk-produeing country, not only in
rearing cOcOops and giving other countries
the raw material for silk fabrics but in
turning this raw silk to account in manu-
features OF our own. II is an industry for
which the climate is suitable just as much
as Japan. China, India, Italy or the south
of France, but very little Roadway has been
made in il. The disappointments Of the
past should not forever stand in the way Of
advancement.
Some curious accidents happened recently
to tie Brennan torpedo which almost war
rant the conclusion that 1t is failure This
the shore. 1t might be Of service when
handled on board ship as the base of oper-
ations. but it has not been tested out at sea
like the Whitehead A powerful engine is
required. and the torpedo is thus better
adapted for harbor or river defense than
for work in the open, The torpedo weighs
about % tons, is submarine. aud by means
OF TWO wires and its own responsive inter-
nal machinery. of which the secret is care
"a Cssii a1
where within a radius of a few miles. It's
speed Is about 20 knots an hour, and on
the surface nothing is visible except
small flag. The torpedo was tested some
time ago 10y the English admiralty, and ITS
performances IN destroying couple of
hulks In motion were considered very salts
factoty. But the other day one of the tor
pedoeS-eaeh of which costs S30O0-sud-
denly stopped action and came TO the
surface like a dead FISH, utterly useless, be-
cause in that position it could easily have
been destroyed by ships guns. A second
one was tested and il behaved even worse.
II went 10 the bottom and remained there.
Brennan, who halls from Melbourne and
was matchmaker, got $4,000 from the
British Government for his invention. and
was installed in an Office with a good salary
10 render ii effective. 4 few more such
failures will injure his reputation.
The Whitehead torpedo mechanism is also
supposed 10 be secret. but, as matter of
fact every country knows how this pro-
pulsve explosive works. and every modern
But the Whitehead is not greatly dreaded
by the scientific naval man. lis track is
easily traced by the air-bubbles rising to
the surface as 1t speeds onward in a straight
line, and vessel with steam up can easily
steer out IF lis way. In addition. vessel
at anchor can protect itself with torpedo
nettings. The submarine boat recently
tested on the Detroit River, if it does per-
form what II was represented 10 have done
would be much more formidable engine
of naval warfare than either the Brennan
or Whitehead torpedo. IL 1t can keep below
water few hours it can destroy whole
feet. But can it?