The age-herald., 1898-11-03
<sHr .y~f%f ROBSON WINS
 A FORTUNE With His Pen, as His Sword Won
 Him Fame. STORY OF THE MERRIMAC Written by tho Alabama Hero for a Princely Consideration.
FORTUNE TREADs ON HIS HEELS
Yet New York Engineer Seems to Think That Hobson Doesn't Know His Own Business
 in Ship-Raising.

The Age-Herald is in a position to state upon the best authority that Lieutenant Richmond Pearson Hobson has been paid by the Century company s75Oo for a series of papers on the sinking of the Mer- rimac and the raising of the sunken Span ish warships of Ceryera's late feet
 In addition to that large sum, Hobson is to receive A per cent. of such increased profits as may accrue to the Century from the publication of his papers. Ordinarily, magazines and reviews arrive at this in- creased profit which figures in such transactions between the publishers and authors by taking the average monthly cir culation as a basis. Any increase over this average is accredited to the author in terms of the agreement.
 Will Earn S25.OOO
 Hobson's first paper, that on the sinking of the Merrimac, will appear In the Decem- Der Century, and there can be no doubt that it will increase enormously the sales of that publication and it is safe to say that this first magazine venture of the young Alabamian whose immortal deed at Santiago sent his name ringing around the earth. will net himself 900. That is a fortune in itself-more than any one of many comparatively successful literary men earn in lifetime, Fobsop knows how to Yield the pen as well as the sword, and he likewise knows how to talk. He has been offered $20O00 for twenty-lectures; but under the naval regulations he could not accept the offer if he wished to.
 Fortune Treads on His Heels
 Fortune seems to be treading on Hob- sons heels, so fast 1t follows. He walked up to find that his sword had made him immortal, and now money is throwing it. self at his feet. Perhaps there are not half dozen men in his beautiful native town of Greensboro, of which his father is postmaster, who have each property valued at a sum equal to what he earns by writing few sketches for magazine. The man is a marvel. He goes on raising sunken Spanish vessels and at the same moment writing the story of their sinking when they made their famous dash for liberty.
 The Sunken Spanish Ships
 Meantime Hobson is trying earnestly to get authority to continue his work of rais- ing the sunken ships of Ceryera's fleet He says that $1,0OO,OOo will be required to continue the operations, and Secretary Long has appointed a board of bureau chiefs to examine Hobson and report as to the feasibility of his plans. The govern ment is paying the wrecking company en- gagged in the work $500 day. and Hobson desires this stopped. as it is useless. In his opinion the Colon and the Vizcaya could be raised and brought to dry docks at New York or Norfolk at a cost of $500, 900 for one and $4OO,000 for the other. and possibly both could be brought in for $4OO 900 each The government would, of course, take the risk of expending $2O0o0O on each of the vessels. and in the end find it was unable to raise them.
 Hobson also gave the bureau chiefs in- formation concerning the Reina Mercedes and the Merrimac. The former could be easily raised, he believed, for 1t was ap- parent that she had been only scuttled The Merrimac could be raised. and he said she must be removed from the mouth of the harbor in some way.
 One Midford Protests
 It appears that Hobson consulted one Captain Midford, Maine engineer of New York in regard to the raising of the Span
 
 tiago, and Midford now sends to the press a long protest against what he terms the "extravagance contemplated by Lieutenant R. F. Hobson." He has something to say about "competent engineers" and methods (which would accomplish the work speedily and efficaciously without the expediture of anywhere near the vast sum which Lieutenant Hobson states will be necessary"
 Midford knows If all aDparentlV. and Hobson is an ignorant young person. That is funny but it Is Mdford "The money already wasted on air bags that explode or are destroyed by chafng against the sides of the vessel" says Midford. "could have been saved to the government if proper methods had been employed. The sum directly spent on air bags would have paid a large proportion of the cost of saving the Colon if proper methods had been employed. Everyone practically con- nected with maritime salvage knows that the air bag theory was exploded twenty years ago. The employment of air bags at this period is either retrogressive or ignorant. Hobson would not have used air bags if he had granted me the time to explain to hin, why they were ineffica- cious when he called at my office on July 26 last The lieutenant, at that time. feared the effect of the heavy sea on the Colon and was In a great rush to begin work immediate I told him at that time that the Colon could remain where she was for a considerable length of time with ont the slightest injury; he knows now that I was right. He knows now. too that when told him that the air bags would chafe and destroy themselves. I was correct. witness hi1 Desire to obtain steel cage to protect the air bags from chafing."
 In view of the s25000 which Hobsons opinions fetch from the publishers of a practical and business-like magazine Mid ford is crying in wilderness.
 DEATH OF MRS. BURKE.