The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1893-07-22


and then took the old lady into one
of the turrets. He opened the bogus
breech block of one of the dummies
and the old lady looked through the
cylinder made of wire lathing and plas-
ter: 'It is simply dreadful she said.
II did not think that any humane gov
eminent would ever build such mon
ster of destruction. What kind of a
gun do you call this?'' '"That, my dear
madam, is a Quaker gun,' said Mr..
Walsh, with low bow. The old lady
looked at him a moment. Pardon me,
sir" she said, ''but 1 think thee must
be mistaken. I am certain that no
such name could honestly be given to
so dreadful a weapon of destruction;
thee must be mistaken"
Passed Assistant Engineer Bennett
was showing a party through the ship
the other day when an elderly gentle
mar from the y Vest, utter studying
closely the thickness of the armor, the
loca ton of the turrets and a number of
other features Of impregnability, glanc-
ed at the air ports on the main deck.
"Wel,'' he said, II don't see how this
thing is shot proof with all them holes
III it. What do you put in there to keep
the shot out?"
A day or two ago Gunner Walsh was
showing another party around on the
berth deck. One Of the party happened
to be an old navy man, but Mr. Walsh
did not know that at the time. Mr..
Walsh pointed to huge oval grommet
made of hemp rope and asked if any Of
the party knew what "jackass" was
on board a Ship The ex-naval man
said yes he had heard Of such things,
and wanted to know of Mr.. Walsh
which particular one he meant, the
marine officer Or the greenest midship-
man. Mr.. Walsh scowled at this reply,
but proceeded to show the crowd what
a genuine jackass is. For the benefit
Of those who may think that this is a
sly dig at Gunner Walsh himself, which
it is not by any means, it should be
said that a ships "jackass" is struct-
ure Of hempen rope which takes the
place Of the chain in the hawse holes
when the ship is at sea. But for the
jackass, who rears his stately rump to
the cresting waves, the water would
come in the hawse holes in heavy
sea and might sink the ship. This very
thing occurred at the dreadful hurri-
cane at Samoa a few years ago when
the flagship Trenton went down.
But it is not alone in modern naval
appliances that the exhibits on the bat
tie ship are interesting Nearly all of
the treasures of naval history taken
from museums at various naval yards
| are on exhibit There are pictures and
models of historical ships; portraits Of
eminent heroes from Paul Jones down,
and hundreds Of interesting things
which visitors love to ponder over. In
fact Capt Haussig has under his COM
mand one of the most instructive feat
ures Of the great exposition. He has.
too, what very few naval commanders
in command Of a battle ship can boast
or, and that is absolute immunity from
any danger Of collision. Since the
British disaster this fact has been
brought home to him in a comforting
way. While it is true Capt. Taussig
| cannot maneuyer his ship because she
is cemented securely to the beach, it
is equally true that no other vessel can
run into her. And SO when Capt Taus-
sig comes out of his magnificent cabin.
and with spyglass in hand observes the
approach of the Whaleback he is not at
all concerned. He doesn't care whether
the captain Of the whaleback is obeying
! orders or whether he isn't, he has no
.'PpA ASnotSioA as W Wuetuer sCQe steer
ing gear of either of either vessel works
or whether it does not. He is as Sc
renely placid as the statue of Lord
Nelson on pedestal. He knows that
II the Whalebatk should lose her rudder
even, or in any other way become un-
comfortable his own ship would be safe.
Long before the whaleback could reach
her happy PROV would be in the air.
her bottom on the sand ard her Dassen.
gers tumbling into the water. There
is probably no ship in the world So All
solutely safe from collision and SO ner-
fectly secure from the dangers Of the
deep as Capt. Taussig's l.attle ship Iii