The San Francisco call., 1904-07-04
orbedo Culture.

Q0 NAlAAtAt- NnH AlbA AAiN BFANAN SNA~AA
tlst who was then evolving this full
minating arbiter Of nations from the
pigeon holes of his brain into the ac-
tivties OF perfect warfare I was only
enc Of the staff Of attendants of an
infant destined one day in its adult
hood To burrow into battieships. This
militant baby was my charge ashore.
lille a big brown kanaka sailor, who
could overhaul a pcrpoise in its native
bine heIded the small son OF Mars at
So. He was its wet nurse.
our charge was Veritabe little
devil A full-nedged destroying angel
Of darkness. Even at that extreme
juvenile period it appeared to possess
the soul Of cain and a deathless desire
g get on some marine firing line.
Nursing and training infant torpedoes
vas net. with me. a labor Of love nor
OF my own volunteering During that
warm summer IN the tropics [ had a
special QUakerish reluctance to labor
IN tie perfection OF implements for the
destruction of humanity and a general
and stronger-reluctance TO do any
thing. Consequently I was rather in
clined stealthily TO undo the inventors
work and crush the future ship
smasher in the egg. as it were.
Ny chief was Captain John A How
ell Z. s. y. (now admiral. retired), the
father OF the Howell torpedo" and
was a very young sailor on board the
vessel he then commanded. AS acted
as his clerk my duties kept me much
Of the time in his cabin. where he was
at work on his model It was about
as large as an ordinary salmon and
when its machinery got speeded up
was about as full Of life. The captain
would I'LL the big cabin bathtub with
water and IN this he schoOled his child
OF war He was a very religious man
was Captain Howell and acted as
chaplain every Sunday, as his ship did
not officially rate one. In the pictur-
esQue diction Of the sea. she didn't
carry enough guns TO rank sky-piiot.
On week days the captain would fill
the tub, launch his torpedo and call
me from my desk to hold the little
monster While he made delicate altera-
tions in rudder or propeller. Then we
would have lots Of fun with that buzz
ing. splashing thing. With it's clock
work wheels whirling away and it's
small body plunging fore and aft in
the tub il wOud make frantic efforts
10 get out and find something to fight.
The skipper and I generally came out
Of these encounters with hands and
arms scratched ard wet from keel Ia
truck.
So. owing to my being closely asso-
ciated with Captain Howell in his sci
entific work (my desk was alongside Of
his tub, he got in the habit of taking
me with him when he gave the young
ster an airing or rather a watering, in
the bay. The big kanaka, all stripped
for a swim. and I with the model un-
DER my arm would march aboard the
steam launch in the wake of the cap
tain amid the sly grins and joshings Of
The men, who called US the torpedo
kindergarten" We would find a shall
low stretch of water Of about ten feet
in depth and drop the future cruiser
killer The conveying kanaka would
founder overheard after il and we
would steam after them. Often the tor
pedo would dive TO the bottom. and he
would follow and haul the truant back
10 school and the surface.
Shenandoah was his name on the
ships books, as the ore his mother
gave him back in sunny Hilo was too
long and too unpronounceable for prac-
tical use-was solid with the skipper.
He got gifts Of many dollars and extra
liberties on shore. where he could spend
both 10 his peculiar liking. and that
was drinking. When the torpedo was
more unmanageable than usual, neces-
stating more swimming and more div
ing. the captain generously doubled the
dollars and liberties, and Sherman
doubled the drinks. I sometimes
thought that there was a job put up
between the kanaka and the torpedo
down on the boSsom OF the sea to make
those trials as difficult as possible for
Sherman's personal benefit However.
when the sailor was sleeping off his
shore dissipation up under the fore
castle the torpedo and I had our trials
In the tub.
Still, I firmly believe in its mechan-
ical heart the torpedo fairly hated the
kanaka, and every steel spring OF its
small murderous soul was bent to his
undoing. 1t would not only hide from
him in the deepest and darkest places
IL could find. but il would try to run
him down. OF it would go from the
launch, the tiny propellers churning up
the bubbles and he following them as
they rose to the surface, when Il would
suddenly yeer away at right angles TO
its course and for few minutes be lost
10 Sherman's K-ray ken. Then, while
he was diving through the water
searching for the runaway, II would
find him. With all the power of its
buzzing machinery il would plunge its
sharp snout into HIS naked body or rake
the skin from his kicking legs with its
WhirIing propellers. Then that fright
ened kanaka would give a yell of ter
ror and make the water fairly boil in
his drive for the launch. / could al
ways satisfy him that his assailant was
only a playful porpoise or a curious
shark, neither Of which he feared, and
get him 10 find the torpedo. then rest
ing contentedly and enjoying the fruits
OF its victory down in the mud. Ot
course. it was only a powderless ma
chine. an earnest of danger TO come
but its nose was sharp. It's aim uner-
ring. its spirit unchristian and il was