The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-07-20

the person of a stately Brazilienne
who sits at the first doctors table,
and who displays when in full dress many
diamonds and other gems of much value.
AS l follow a lady and go up on deck my
attention is called to the chatter of a
monkey perched on the shoulders of the
said lady. She and her husband, an En-
glish officer, are on their way home from
India. He, a stalwart in size, is dressed in
himsy white fannels the consistency of
tissue paper, and the thermometer down to
40 Fahrenheit; she, equally eccentric in her
get up" has an uncomfortable nervous
twitching which automatically, like a self
binder, opens her mouth, showing from time
to time an irregular plantation of long, yell
low tusks; the shock of orange colored hair
against which the simian nestles is quite
dark in color at the roots, and when look
ing into her sunken eyes one cannot fail to
note the resemblance of the mistress to her
pet and think Of Darwin and Haeckel. A
lanky young widow all in black, who, like a
weeping willow. leans against a stanchion
was much overcome by the strange
tableaux vivant.
In spite OF last seasons short corn crop 1
fail to detect a falling off in the size and
weight of the fair sex. Many of the ladies
who make up this ships company would
rank in the market reports as prime" and
1 constantly wonder how at night they
manage to get into their narrow hunks and
out again in the morning without the aid
of derrick or jack screws. At the English
coronation festivities seats in Westminster
Abbey were apportioned at only sixteen
inches in width, but the bigwigs were, at
the protest of the beavy weigh dowager
duchesses, induced to concede twenty as a
minimum. Think of crushing go pounds in
crinoline into sixteen inches; 1t would be
like baking a quart pudding in a pint pot.
x x
Herds of emigrants are this season flock
ing to the shores of the United States, and
the steerages of all the steamers are
crowded to their utmost capacity. Our ship
on its last trip going west had 200 on board
for New York; going east this trip there
are only 80 in the Storage, and half of
them are defective ware" such as the au-
thorities under the law would not admit
into the country.
The Pretoria is one of a class of big car
riers with freight capacity OF 1900 tons.
When loaded she is a remarkably steady
sailer. Almost fat on the bottom. she is
provided on her knuckles with what are
called bilge keels. which in heavy seas pre-
vent much rolling motion. The three-story
deckhouse. which contains all the hrst-class
cabins, is only 10 feet in length and sets
amidships on a vessel measuring SIS feet
over all. this minimizing the fore and aft or
pitching motion OF the ship and consequent
discomfort 20 the passengers. Our main
cargo consists of 1900 tons Of corn in bulk.
This. together with coal and 600 tons of
fresh water for steam. cooking. bathing.
drinking and all other purposes makes her
draw thirty-one feet six inches aft. The
water In these monstrous hulks is carried
between double bottoms OF the hull divided
into numerous compartments, which. when
their contents is exhausted. can for the
purpose of ballast and trimming ship be
filled with sea water, as emergency may de-
mand. AS a ci-devant m man il
does not very clearly appear TO me where
the profit can be in carrying bulk grain
from New York to Hamburg. a distance of