davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1898-06-28

Temperature and condition of water at 8
M: Great Falls, temperature, So; condi-
ton, 80. Receiving reservoir, temperature,
81; condition at north connection, Sc: con-
Gition at south correction, 36. Distributing
reservoir. temperature. so; condition at in
fluent gate house, SO; effluent gate house.
90 o~~~ --O-~Ss
Evening star., 1898-06-28
SDecisl Bargain i'm Glasses.

Special 6aTSddM Hi OadSSSSo
Aluminium frames regular price, 81 80. reduced
to ST. ZylOnite Eyeglasses. regular price. 81,
reduced to 81; these frames are light in weight
and will not rust or eorrode: just what you want
this time. Our specialist Will give thorough
examination of the eye
Free OF Charge.
OPPENHEIMER'S Optician, 514 9th st. NV.
Glasses repaired while you wait. Thermome-
tiers from 15c. up. 1t
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-20

it's automatic report on deck. For the next ten days that coal passer spent his time thinking over the affairs or this life while in the brig in double irons.
 Scarcely a week passes in which of-war does not get more or less seri- ouSiy hurt. There are open matches for him to step into, all sorts of obsta- cleS to tumble over. and he has unllm- ited opportunities to smash his toes or fingers in mechanical appliances. There are live electric wires for him to handle and a thousand and one other lurking dangers of which the merchantmen sailor never knows or dreams. On the cruisers that carry sail fer steady ing purposes he may be slapped on the side of the head by a loose snapping halyard or he may, and often does, take a bad tumble to the deck below from a suddenly stacking ridge rope..s Down in the fire room among the "black gang" as they are known, 8 fireman is always thoughtlessly picking up an almost red hot slice bar or devils claws at the wrong end or he carelesSly handles a valve and gets a jet of hot steam in his eyes, and again he is forever finding all sorts of hidden objects carelessly left in his way for him to stumble over in the darkness.
 One of the narroweSt escapes from a magazine explosion occurred only re- gently cn one of the big cruisers at tached to the Atlantic Station. One of the men of the black gang was clean ing his section of the after engine room bilges one morning. His particular section of the bilges was adjacent to the ships magazine, which was separated from the engine room by steel partitions. Bilges are cleaned with waste saturated with turpentine This particular bilge cleaner was tco lazy to fill one of the small turpentine cans provided for the purpose. He dragged a five-gallon can of turpentine to his section and began work.
 One of the strictest rules on man. of-war is the one prohibiting smoking in the engine room, but there was nev- CT a rule or law yet made which man was not tempted to break. The bilge cleaner had fairly got under way with his work when he took out his pipesand lit it, carelessy throwing the match in the bilge. The lighted match Set fire to the turpentine saturated waste, and the bilge cleaner in his excitement upset the five-g gallon can of turpentne, and in a second the bilge was converted into roaring mass of flame that played di- rectly against the steel bulkhead sepa- rating the engine room from the maga- zine.
 The cleaner shouted and ran for his life.
 The second-class fireman was the only other man in the after engine room at the time this happened. He made jump for the bilge covers that had been removed by his careless mate and thrust them over the bilges, getting a number of severe burns while doing it. Then he opened one of the intakes from the sea and let the water directly into the bilge that was in flames. By the time the fire quarters was sounded and the men on deck got to their stations below the second-class fireman, with his hair and eyebrows all burned off and the skin peeling from his face and hands, was throwing
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-20

takes his life in his hands, and on all the battle-ships and cruisers the maga- zine with it's store of explosives is ever a source of danger. There are any number of warrant officers in the United States navy who to-day owe their uniform, stars and bars to rapid Judgment and bravery in the face of such impending danger
 The peculiar construction of the tor pedo-boat prevents much of the ma chinery from being covered and out of danger. Below decks everything moves with lightning like celerity. Poke your finger at a wheel or ornament that seems to be stationary, and you will be minus finger, possibly a hand. For the innocent looking ornament will probably prove to be a wheel, revolv- ing so rapidly as to be apparently with out motion. Safety is sacrificed for the sake of saving space, for the tor pedo-boat must be as compact as pos sible. The great danger is when the boat is submerged, for the most trif- ling accident may result disastrouslv to every one on board. It is less than six months ago that while a boat was submerged a commonplace, ordinary everyday stop cock became disar- ranged and before the boat could be brought to the surface, or this slight accident repaired, six men were scalded to death from the escaping steam.
 One of the first of the steel ships of the new navy had not been in commits sion three months when the level head ednesS of an apprentice boy saved her from an accident that might have been quite as disastrous to the big ship as the recent one to the Maine. The aft magazine was being repaired and the gun division of the crew were engaged in taking out fixed ammunition. cans of powder and guncotton and cleaning and red lining the bilges. This was at a time before the ship had been equipped with electricity, and the men used closed lanterns to illuminate the magazine Of course the lanterns had been carefully inspected by an officer before the hatch of the magazine was lifted. and all were apparently in good order The chief gunnerS mate. under the direction of division officer was experimenting the movements of the men.
 Something went wrong, and in his excitement he leaned over the hatch calling out orders to the men in the pit of the magazine. In his excitement he carelessly knocked the lantern he car ried against the side of the hatch The spring that held the lamp within the lantern gave way and it fell Hghted into the magazine and struck on the top of big can of powder that was hooked and ready to be hoisted to the deck
 Fortunately the lamp struck full on it's bottom and remained in that posi- tion The two men in the pit had gone away aft for another can of powder and their backs being turned they did not see the lighted lamp. The men at the top of the hatch were horror stricken, but the alert apprentice boy was wide awake and equal to the emer- gency. He shinned down the tackle and was not slow In the going. either. He grabbed the lamp, the flame of which had already begun to heat the can metal, and shouted up the hatch. Pull me and the can up to the main deck you fellows.
 He extfnguished the lamp with his
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-20

fingers and grabbed the rope with his right hand, and the can of powder with his left and the men at the hatch opening had him on the main deck in a jiffy. The can of powder was snok- ing hot where the lamp had rested. The apprentice boy still clung to the heated can and scooting up the poop ladder with it threw it overheard. He after ward got his sword for his bravery on that day.
 One of the chief sources of danger on all battle-ships and cruisers as well is that of spontaneous combustion in the coal bunkers. In all men-of-war the coal bunkers are provided with an automatic apparatus that gives the alarm when the temperature of the bunker arises above a certain figure. The bunkers are all numbered and the apparatus in each acts independently and if the temperature of bunker No. l. for instance, rises beyond the set mark the alarm is given by the means of a ringing registering machine placed just outside the shippers cabin.
 There is always Q marine orderly for the commanding officer, and he is sta toned just outside the cabin door and it is part of his business to keep his eye on the fire alarm. The marine or derly at once informs the commanding officer that there is something. wrong in one of the bunkers. Then the ships bugler sounds fire quarters, and all hands take their position in the fire stations. Steam is turned into the bunker reported to be on fire and the fire thus put out The coal bunkers must necessarily be located in close proximity to the boiler, and it is sur priSing what a predilection coal has for taking fire when subject to heat and not exposed to a current of fresh cooling air. There is hardly a man. z lxa{ Ioe- onf bn of nSt dozen or more cases of fire in the bunk CTS but it is only in one or two in stances that these little affairs are ever heard of in print.
 As the coal bunkers are dark as midnight they must be lighted in or der that the coal pasSers may see to get out the coal On all the modern with a couple of standing electric lights, but in coaling the ships and when on rough voyages the glass cas- ings around these lights are often smashed, and then the coal passers must use lanterns, in the use of which they become careless.
 A few years ago a fire alarm on one of the big cruisers off a Pacific sta tion gave the signal that there was a fire in bunker No. s. AS the chief en- gineer had not yet given orders for the opening of this bunker he at once concluded that it was a case of spon- usNcombustion. Within a minute the firemen were playing streams of water into the bunker, where the arose a yell: s'What the bloomin' devil are youse hat-foot paint scrubb1Gs a-trying to do-drown me and choke me to death, ye blasted -" And the rest was simply a torrent of jolly Roger talk.
 The voice came from coal passer who, without the authority of the chief engineer. had opened No. s, be- cause it was handy to the fireroom- He had taken an open light into the bun ker and set it down on lump of coal directly underneath the 'fire-alarm ap- paratus. In a few minutes the ap- paratus was heated sufficiently to make
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-20

rounds for each man in six months. Five dollars would about cover the cost of 800 rounds, which for 200, ,000 men, would be about $1, ,000 900.
 With the modern use of machine guns every company of infantry would doubtless have gun of this character They cost about 5000 each, making an- other item of about $2, 100000. These details of equipment are almost inf mite, and with a force of 900 the cost in every instance runs into the millions. Aside from the first cost there is the cost of transporting vast supplies of food and clothing after they have been purchased.
 There are few war vessels which could be purchased. The first cost of such vessels cannot be placed in an estimate. But it is clear that this lack Of purchasable ships would keep down the possible first cost for Spain and for the United States alike Both coun- tries must fight with such vessels as they possess, augmenting their navies by the use of their merchant marine
 The arming of merchant ships would be a costly operation, for they would be drawn from their regular service. and the Government would have topay liberally for their use. At such times war profits" are expected and exact ed, and there would be no recourse rom IL. Ana aside rom the first cost to the Government of taking these merchant ships from the coasting trade, the transatlantic, the trans Pacific, the West Indian and the South American trade, there would be the second cost of mounting guns and giv- ing them such armament as would fit them for war service.
 The financing of the Civil War was stupendous operation as may be judged from the fact that to-day the Government is slowly paying off the bonds fioated at that time, and is main taining an issue of $346 000, GOO green backs issued on the faith of the Gov ernment to tide over the demand for funds.
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-20
EUROPE IS
 RE-HRMING.

" N July, 1897, the German Emperor , \ called together his military attaches at a formal breakfast. After eating X and presumably drinking his Impe-
 rial Majesty, with one of his sud- den bursts of frankness under such cir cumstances, told his officers that it was no use keeping it secret any longer; the German army had had it's artillery changed without anything being known about it.
 How well the secret was kept may be understood from the fact that Krupp employs 16,G00 workmen and that sev- eral powers try to spend large sums in Germany to obtain military and naval intelligence.
 That happened which might have been expected upon the Emperor's pos sibly indiscreet avowal. The French military attache of the Berlin Elm bassy at once took train for Paris, and found his Government prepared to deal promptly with the question.
 Only the cost had prevented the French war office from making the change before. The reason for this hesitation will be grasped when it is stated that the extra expenditure in- volved within a very brief period ex- ceSQS -S0O,UOU,UUU. The secret haS been kept by the French nearly as we'll as the Germans kept theirs, but it Is now known to several European gov ernments.
 The weapon now in course of manu- facture is a quick-firiffg gun capable of firing at least ten shots minute. It has a caliber of inches, the caliber of the French field gun being 90 milli- meters (35s inches), and of the horse artillery gun so millimeters. The lat ter weapon is similar to he latest pat tern of the Nordenfelt cannon It's weight fitted with automatic hydrau- lie or glycerine brakes to check re- coil, and with steel shields to reduce the risk from infantry fire, is some what greater than that of the 90 milli- meter field gun, but the range and the bursting power of the shell are greater The shell is fitted with a perfect per- cussion fuse. whose accuracy has been tested in thorough fashion.
 As many as 5000 of these quick-firing guns for the French artillery are be- ing provided at a cost, including 1000 rounds of ammunition for each, of G2000 per gun. Up till January 1 this year 800 guns were completed, with their due proportion of projectiles
 There will be enough guns before the end of the year to arm all the corps artillery and the whole artil- lerv will be rearmed before the end q 1899.
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-20

H cost? Many public men at
 NlI Washington having been in-
 V v terviewed upon that topic
 some figures are quoted, the basis being an average drawn from their various estimates.
 It would cost the United States $2OO,- 100000 to go to war with Spain, and $500 100000 to maintain the war six months
 It would cost Spain a thousand mill ion pesetas-a peseta equals about 20 cents-to go to war with the United States, and fifteen hundred million pc setas to maintain the war six nontbs.
 No one can predict the cost with more than approximate accuracy. No closer guess. very likely, can be made than the foregoing.
 General Hawley, declining to express an opinion, nevertheless mentioned the experience which the last war gave in the measure of cost of war. and many other military authorities base their ideas on the practical experience which that conflict afforded to our own peo- pie. It was a lesson not only in the assembling of men and supplies, but in the best methods to be followed in rais- Ing great SuIuS OI HlohSS AOA Cii0A SSAA cfes.
 When President Lincoln called on Congress for .000 men, he also asked for $400 000;000. This was at the rate of 5000 for every man called into serv- ice His message to Congress stated that the sum asked was less than one twenty-third part of the money value owned by men who seemed ready to de- vote their whole" This gives another percentage-one-tw twenty -third-aS ba- sis of calculating what amount of the wealth of a country should be sum moned to aid in it's defense.
 Secretary Chase, then at the head or the Treasury, estimated $32O, ,U0O, OO0 as the sum required to beginthe war. IhlS proved to be short of the requirements. The army appropriation bill passed by the extra session of Congress after the firing on Sumter carried $207, 100000 The navy appropriation bill carried S56, ,0O0,- 900. These estimates and appropriatIons were made it must be remembered, with no conception of what the war was to be, and with an idea that at most it would close within six months. The first estimates of war are usually under rather than over what the cost proves to be.
 In a war with Spain the conflict would be essentially different from that between the North and South, in that Spain and the UnitedsStates would be fighting across an ocean instead Of hand to hand in one country.
 This would make it essentially a ma val warfare and a war on commerce, and to that extent the elements of cost would be different from land warfare. But with both countries having long lines of coast to protect. with Cuba as
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-20

fellows that up $2OO s7OO worth every shot
 One broadside from the battleship Oregon with " cry gun belching fire and she'll would least s1O,0OO
 That would simply pay for the ammunition used for the moment. Figure the destruction of prop erty made by such brcadside, and the figures up rapidly.
 A battle between these two giants of the sea would quickly destroy least 5,0000 900 property All this in hour. Each ship cost the same The destruction of either would loss of S. 6700OO. It is probable that the other would be damaged its vaue $1 S35, ,O00 These incidents of a naval
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-20
SKETCH ILLUSTRATING ENORMOUS EXCHANGE

ONE idea of the enormous cost of at the ~ present day may be had by figuring a fcti-
 tious regular engagement between two big bat
 s @ s a 5ss 5ss2a ana and e ts Fs@ys s s SRsa
 property, the cost of ammunition used
 amazingly fast. It is almost like burning money. Fancy paying 5000 every time shot is fired from rapid-fring There a good number of ships in the United States Navy that have nearly half dozen guns that swallow 5000 worth of ammunition at single gup, not speak Of the numberIess little
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-20

battle would total destruction of s5,505 900.
 in hour each of the big guns would be dis charged about twenty times. That is the Der. Each time the sixteen big rifles of the Oregon discharged it would cost the Government $2OO0 In the of sixty minutes they would bech forth $20000 worth of shct and shell Four of her cost $G00 each time they dscharged four of them 5000 each; eight of them $700 each
 Besides these sine carries two Gatlng guns. Their capacity is 1900 shots minute. To operate each gun $309 worth of cartridges must be provided every min ute It is not probable that they would be fired for more than fifteen minutes, but that brief time
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-20
ALWAYS DANGER
 ON MHRSHIP 5

TH HE recent disaster to the United
 States battle-ship Maine, wheth-
 CT by accident or design, has set
 the naval officers and men to
 talking of the dangers on war
 ships, even in times of peace. There are any number of instances averted by quick thinking and acting and in times of peace such a deed is one of the ways of winning promotion Danger turks everywhere on a mod ern ship of war and very often the most careful naval officer or seaman finds himself on the very brink of disaster and only by quick thinking and lightning action on the part of some one is the danger removed and an &C., cident averted that would land the, sailor and many of his shipmates, if not his whole ships company. in the next world.
 Every time a torpedo boat goes out, even for practice, every man on board
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-20

would expense of s45OO for each gun 5000 fer both
 That would bring the total expense of an hours gagement up s249000, s4150 minute, a little than $69 a second.
 To operate the Pelayo would cost trife of s30000 less this total. She carries seventeen big guns A single discharge of all of them would cost $10,050 One her guns $650 to shoot; twelve of them $500 each; of them $500 each; two of them $500 each Besides these she carries four Calling guns with capacity of those of the Indiana, and operated at the cost. To fire them fifteen min utes would SIS, ,000
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-20
ANoE OF SHOTS BETWEEN TWO MODERN FRsTcLAss EMPHASIZES
Fired in War.

The total of the engagement to the Pelayo would be S219000 of s365O minute, s6o a second, with few pennies to spare
 Therefore supposing that one ship would be wholly wrecked and the other badly disabled the total of this battle between Government and that of Spain, counting $46SGo0 worth of ammunition, would be dangerously $6000,O00.
 If the Oregon destroyed the fight would cost the United States s 000 If only disabled would escape with a loss of $2 0S4, ,000
 The destruction of the Pelayo would mean a loss to Spain of $3SS9,000 If she only disabled the ex- pense to the Spanards would be $2,054 900.
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-20

bucketful after bucketful of the in- coming water against the steel bulk head which was already so hot that it sent back clouds of steam. He won his promotion by this deed and the damage he did by flooding the engine room was nothing compared to what would have happened had the flames played on that bullzheed a few minutes longer.
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-20
COST OF WAR
 WITH SIP HIN

' x HAT would war with Spain ! H cost? Many public men at Washington having been in-
 V v terviewed upon that topic
Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-04-20
BACK FROM THE ARCTIC.
Another Message From the Frozen

Another Message From the Frozen-in
WhaIers.
SEATTLE. April 1S.-Charles W.
Walker, of Seattle. the third mate OF
the whaling ship Orca. has arrived
here from the Arctic Ocean, maxim.
one of the most extraordinary trips or,
record Since November l he has tray-
eled almost without rest behind a dog
sledge, and for the greater part of the
tlne without human companion
me nrst and hardest part Of the trip
was 6S0 miles along the shore line OF
the Arctic Ocean from Point Barrow to
terschcl Island. near the mouth of the
Mackenzie River For over $500 miles
ne Travelled over the frozen surfaces of
me rivers. finaaly reaching civilization
d" az, EDMONTON sl s For days he was almost
without food. Nothing but the abso-
lute necessity that the condition of the
1roZen-in whaling fleet be reported at
san Francisco led him to attempt the
hazardous trip. and with the aid Of an
IRON constitution and u great deal of
s"1d luck he was enabled to make it,
He brings advices from Point Bar
row up to November J. a month later
nan those brought by Triton, who ar
t,Ved herA a few days ago. He SAYS
snf only Whaler at Point Barrow is the
N safety before the ice formed The
orca was crushed by the ice off Point
barrow. and the Freeman was burned
ana sunk in the same neigh horhood.
The Steam bark Fearless and the
steamer Newport are ninety five miles
east of Point Barrow. off Tagent Point.
The tender Jeannie is Still further
east near Pitt Point, and the Belvidere
il, at Sea Horse Island. and will get
out all right. The steam wlagers Mar
whs,l, Belugo. Gramplns, and ,Baleana.
are at Barley Island. with their crews
on board. Those near Bailey Island
have plenty of supplies. and can get
more from Herchel Island where there
are supplies for three years.
Nh. crews of the Fearlts $, Newport
and JEANNE will probably go to Point
Barrow, and are included in the 16S
men for whom provisions were figured
The bark Wanderer and the steam
schooner Mary D. IiuHnes are safe at
Herschel Island.
When he left Point Barrow there
were 1s6 people at the point or on the
ships near there. They had 400 Barrels
Of -four a that time. For month the
men had been living on short rations,
which consisted chiefly OF pound of
bread day. Meat was being brought
in by Indians. but could not be counted
on. The supply OF salt meat and canned
goods were limited, but there was
enough to keep the whalers alive until
July l. Walker speaks in the highest
terms OF the treatment he received at
the Hudson Bay Conpany's stations
along the route.