The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-01-29

and to that extent resembling the Maxim
gun. The Archduke's weapon discharges
from $50 to 4S0 shots minute, with or
without smokeess powder. As many as
10000 shots have been discharged from one
barrel without injury to the weapon. This
invention is apparently not superior TO the
Maxim. which automatically feeds itself
and discharges by means of the recoil 600
shots minute from one barrel, and 1t does
not jam. A few such weapons playing
upon an advancing line would NOW down
the ranks. An Austrian has also invented
method of discharging tOrpedoes through
nettlngs. The torpedo is provided with
automatic scissors of great power. which
by some buffer arrangement will cut wire
MEETINGS of any strength without prema-
turely exploding. The risks to ironclads
is therefore considerably increased, but
doubtless they will continue 10 be built
The domain with which George Wander
bilt is surrounding his grand country
mansion in North Carolina is altogether
too large to leave him in sole possession.
He is converting waste OF forest and
mountain into a beautiful residential
estate and sporting reserve. No one Will
at present feel the Inconvenience of his
extravaganza or sel6shness, whatever 1t
may be called, but when population is
great and pressing there may DO some
grum ping at having to round such tract
in order to get to the other side Of his
ring fence. Perhaps be will not be
churlish, but give the public the
pleasure of Sightseeing as well. MIR.
Vanderbilt is initiating the aristocracy of
Europe in this work. He has quite as
much land around his mansion as the
Duke of Sutherland has at Dunrobin
Castle, or the Duke of Devonshire in West
Yorkshire and Derbyshire. Que advaD-
tage accrues to the public. He is COM
PEELED to maintain an army of servants in
order TO be comfortable himself. and they
also must be made contented. At this
moment he is spending about $4,000
week on the raw work Of grading. filling
and excavating. The public can take care
eventually that he is not too exclusive.
One would suppose that people brought
up on small islands would show a decided
tendency to travel and see more of the
world than seems to be their share, but
that is far from being the case. There are
grown-up people on the island of jersey,
which, though famous for its breed of cat
tie all over the globe, is only nine miles by
six in area, who have never left its shores
and have never even been round it. The
Isle of Man. which, in common with
Japan, supplies curiosities of cats without
tails. is less than half the size of Long
Island. yet there. also. there are num-
bers Of very old inhabitants who only know
Mainland. Hall Caine. the novelist,
whose tale of the Deemster is familiar to
American readers, recently entertained
about 100 old ManX people to dinner at
Peel. Twenty of the guests were over so,
AID few were past 90. Most OF them
spoke the Manx Gaelic. A considera BILE
number had never left the island eXcep. on
fS hing hoats had traypiad hv
railway ana others had not been inside a
theater. AS their lollity showed at the
banquet, their isolation and coDtentment
with little had not made them unhappy.
They sang and danced merrily, and few
old women took part i'll jig.
Some of our magazine writer's actually
earn more per page by their ephemeral
work than did Tnackeray by his VANITY
Fair" which. If novels have Immortality.
has some claim to that rank. The late
Henry Viz teily tells in his recently issued
memoirs, the final volume of which is soon
to appear, that Thackeray called upon him
with portion of the manuscript under his
arm and said he was going to offer 1t to
Bradbury & Evans. In half an hour he
came back with his face beaming and said
that "B. and E." had accepted so gladly
that he was sorry he had n OF asked another
'tenner" 90 guineas). He was to get 90
! guineas per p art, including two sheets OF
letterpress, two etchings and the illustrated
! initials at the commencement Of chapters.
! This was at the rate of Sc so per page, and
| S31 so for the two etchlngs, the remainder
! of the authors own candles, as he quantity
| in the preface described the Examinations,
being thrown in for nothing. This was in
! 1916. Nearly fifty years have passed, and
] il ia Ihla what ThaPknraV'
work would command with his fame at its
| present standard, but il may almost be
said that novel like ''Vani y Fair" would
! be vertable gold mine. Ii was acknowl-
edged by a publisher recently that his
profits on one current novel which has
taken the public fancy we're 100000, and
on its faith he paid the author $4,000
| down for another novel which failed mis-
erably.
France is prepared TO enter this year on
a programme of naval shipbuilding to the
extent of thirty-two vessels. England is
| adding thirty-two torped o. boat destroyers,
all of which are guaranteed to have a
speed of q knots per hour, and they are
all expected to be finished this year. In
addition there are four battle-sbips costing
$1,000, 600 each to be commenced. They
have displacement of 1900 tons and a
draught of % feet. 1t is not unlikely that
several other battle-ships will be laid
down, but at all events four gunboats and
two cruisers of great speed and armament
are to be provided. This is ruinous CON-
| petition, but the nations will insist upon
keeping their powder dry.
A critic calls attention TO the fact thai
China has been very little made use OF
and almost ignored in modern fiction. The
| Celestial empire is bound to have its turn
as a background for character and ad-
| venture. because one of the features OF
novels today is the universally of range
among strange peoples, existing or extinct
Fenimore Cooper made a foil of the Indian
and Rider Haggard has constructed various
mon strosities ID Africa. Both China and
japan could be drawn upon for material
but the drama of life, II presented with an
attempt at realism, would be very differ
ent from that afforded by western civiliZa.
ton.
good creditors story is told of Sill
Richard Webster. who was one of the
council in the Beripg Sea arbitration
His father had the misfortune to fail in
business. AS soon as Webster got into
practice at the bar he made it his duty tt