The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-02-19

This is the fourth ship have been
on. I viii be compelled to submit to
three more before reaching home. on
one Of the four ships / have patron
lied since leaving san Francisco two
months ago today 1 made TWO vOy-
ages: from Hong Kong to Manila, and
from Manila to Hong Kong. That was
the TEAM" the ship I want ali my
friends to curse; the ship engaged Ia
the condensed milk trade.
The captain on one of the British
ships on which / have been a passen-
ger. told me the following tale.
Just prior to the breaking out Of
the war between Russia and Japan, he
was captain of a British ship running
between Shanghai and some port near
Port Arthur. One day the japanese
consul came to him, and said ne de-
sired to charter the ship to go to Port
Arthur; the japanese government had
been notified to remove all japanese
residents from Port Arthur, and the
consul desired to go there for that
purpose The consul said he wanted
to take with him q business agent. In
a day or two the ship started for Port
Arthur the agent went into the town
collecting the Japanese residents, who
were all on board within couple of
days The agent was very busy. going
everywhere, and, when on the ship,
examining Port Arthur through a
powerful glass. He also spent a good
deal of time making charts and maps.
The japanese residents all loaded. the
ship went to sea. Then the agent ap-
peared and offered the captain a large
additional sum If he would steer a
certain course. The bait was tempt
ing one, and the captain accepted.
Within a few hours, the captain pick
ed up the smoke of war fleet; q Jap
anese war fleet. it turned out to be.
Then it developed that the agent"
was a japanese admiral. who had gone
charts of the harbor, the defenses, etc.
The admiral went aboard his flag
ship, and the British ship went on to
a Japanese port with his load Of refu-
gees Arriving there, he heard that
the japanese fleet had attacked Port
Arthur, and opened the war. the Off
GERS of the japanese fleet using the
maps and charts made by the agent,
who was really one of the most capa-
bic men in the japanese navy
The people Of Ceylon are very mixed
as to nationality, and it is not sur
prising that their names are curious
One merchant in Colombo has this
sign over his door; Tom john" an
other, "Bill Ed" Another curious
thing I remember about Colombo: The
men all have long hair, doing 1t up in
a ball back of their heads, as women
do. Every day met hundreds of men
who had washed their hair, and were
drying it by letting it blow loosely
around their heads.
1t is said that the floor of the Bay
of Bengal, on which we are sailing, is
covered for a thousand miles with silt
from the river Ganges. This Is the
process by which seas and harbOrs I'LL
up in the course of countless ages
The Caspian sea is filing up. and will
in a COM aratively short time, become
dry land But there is enough water
to spare: nearly three-fOurth of the
a fact that we Kansas people realize
with difficulty. It is also a fact that
the first life originated in the waters;
not only man. but every living thing,
including plants. originated in the wa
ter. Your ears are marks of the gillS
Of your early ancestors. the fish. The
apes are our cousins but the fish are
our great grandfathers. And corn,
and wheat, and every vegetable, fruit
and tree, had its origin IN the water
There is no region in the vast extent
of the sea today that is devoid of ami
NAL life; more curious things. more
different forms of life exist in the sea
than exist on land The largest ami
NAL and the tiniest animal are found
in the sea. In places, the sea is 30,
600 feet deep; its average depth is over
II, 600 feet. Twice every tWenty-four
hours the water rises and falls; at the
entrance of the Bay of Fundy, the rise
at spring tide is no less than 10 feet:
the natural power that controls the
tides is a tremendous one In all ocean
basins, hills and ridges as well as
troughs and deep holes occur. and the
bottom is covered with the skeletons Of
marine animals, changed by time into
slime and stone Some Of the animals
of the ocean have no eyes, having no
need of them; others have hundred
eyes. Some of the most beautiful
sights are found in the sea: the coral
reefs and the sunken gardens filed
with strange marine plants. Some ma
rine animals live only in the pureSt wa
ter, others only in the foulest water:
for every condition there is a life to fit
it. One of the worms found in the
ocean lives by swallowing sand, extract
ing from it whatever animal or vege-
table food It may contain The animals
of the ocean live on each other: one
animal kills it's prey by means of an
electric shock. A fish is known which
fishes with a sort of hook and line, thus
secures it's food. There is a phOspbor-
escence on the sea that at time pro-
duces a light so brilliant that 1t night
one may read by it: This is produced
by millions of living things And the
plant life IN the ocean is almost as re-
markable as the animal life: learned
men have been studying 1t for centuries
and are only beginning to understand
it, If you want to be interested. as no
novel can interest you. procure a book
! telling in a simple manner of the life
in the seas. There are plenty of such
books, written for the people, rather