The Farmington times. [volume] (Farmington, Mo.) 1874-1902, 1902-06-12

lie got the notion thht Aralaeu NhsieA
was To be the great naval fsatare OF
the comm century. II made him elo-
Quent 10 talk about Il.
THE battle Heo,s Of the future, he
would say. rs cruisin' by Auke power
through the tropic seas. They need no
coaliu' stations, no dry docks. no re-
serves Of men and ammunition. Ma
ture Is kecpin' them up in inexhaust-
/ lbl. numbers for tho nation that frat
[ has wit enough 10 use them. and that
nation will have the mastery Of the
sea-
"Ecnrncy was 50 possessed with this
notion that he determined fu begin try
. ing experiments himself He had bit
+ ~ reef Ia the bahamas that nobody
/ ever visited. and he persuaded me 20
20 down there and help him.
/ u tried TO get him to give the thing
mp, but you might as well try to flag
/ n Vanderbilt automobile with a red
neck'ie He was just set. and there
wasn't anything for II but TO let him
have his own way.
"kcaruey had a schooner, the Lady
/ Mine, that used To- be a pilot boat, and
would sail In any Kind ~ wca ther that
q Ayin' fish would live IN. We cruiScd
around ia the northwest trades for
awhile lnukin' for sperm calf. for kcar.
ncy said that SO get the best results
from education you must catch EN-
young,
II won't bore you teilin' about that
cruise, though " would make mighty
I good story itself but at last we caught
our calf and h'isted him into tank
on deck. kcarney named him f,!ltle
Willie, after kid of his own. Then
We put for the reef. which had a smooth
lagoon inside Of IL, and was altogether
as well cut out for whale academy as
any place you could find in the geog.
raphy.
"kearucy'F ides was 20 use his
whales mostly for rams. though some
times for torpedo boats So he had
{ harness fitted over Little Wiliic's head,
with a steel spur in front, and he
4 trained him To- 20 FUN tilt a. an old
hulk that was mOOrrd Tor target
"ilnw did he make him do Il? WHY.
every time little Willie would hit the
hulk fair and square, Kcarney would
give him lump Of sugar. You don't
mean to say you didn't know tina,
whales liked sugar next time you
meet one. you just Offer him a lump
and see what he does
We'll, as things went m the expert.
ment seemed 90 br % success. Little
Willie absorbed education 40 II his
father had been college president.
Ilr would De- pointing % the target
with Die fukss n.quiyerin' like cats
tail when she's watching for a mouse.
and then when Kearney would give the
signal hy rruddin' him with a harpoon
he would shoot forward like = bullet
and hin that hulk a swipe that would
. rattle ir ,ike q dynamite blast. Then
he would swim back. happy and proud.
! for his sugar, with smile uu his face
that would take iu four.hursc truck.
Sometime Kearncy would rig him
mp with par torpedo. and he was
trained go stop ut them times and back
away as soon as the spar touched the
target
We'll WIS worried al the time. for
/ ! didn't know where all this was ruiu'
10 end Little Willie kept CROWN big
ger and bigger. and We had 10 keep
fiiin' him with new ram bows in place
~ those he'd outRruwn and gcttin'
more hulks 10 take the places ~ those
he was smashing into kindln'. II
/ looked tu me a. n there was trouble
ahead. and sure enough there was.
zone day Kearnry was la a bad I'M.
NOR and absrnt-minded. When he
started ont Tor target practice he
| iabhed Little Willie with the HARMON
before he got him headed co. the right
direction. on he shot, us he'd been
taught
"kearncy tried TO call him back, but
YOU know yourself Il wasn't reason.
| able e. expect he'd hear Il. In another
/ minute Little Willie had smashed clean
through the side OF the Lady Mine.
and then he came back, innocent and
srlf.saiiEfed, for his sugar.
Well you never Eaw man 10 crazy
with rage a. what Kcurncy was. Al.
| though the thing was entirely his own
fault, he laid 70 al 10 that poor, In.
offensive beast. and when Little viii
lie svum up. eNpcctin' 10 be praised
and rewarded a. he had a perfect
/ right Co., Krarney yelled. Get away.
You lubb"r!' and give him a kick.
Well yuu know Little Willie never
had such an insult before. and j,
knocked him all IN a heap He looked
~ ~ rcpronchful for minute. and
then he turned around on his tail, dig.
nihcd and deliberate. and put to sea.
We never seen him again.
snow you see what happened 10 the
Kathleen, don't you7 The whale was
a layin' head on the ship when they
trun the harpoon into him lie took
that for the signal, and without stop
pin 10 think he carried out his train
in.
And I'm betiin' that " those men
hadn't been too fustered to look.
they'd have seen that there whale