davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20

said it suggested to his mind the boys
who used to hunt for money under the
bleachers at the Florida avenue bali
park.
Yes suh." said the negro again. "One
of them men done found three gold rings
already this mornin
The man from Washington and his
friend had simply happened across one
of the peculiar employments of Allan
tic Cty-an employment almost without
parallel anywhere in the world
There are i horde Of retired fishermen
and beach loungers who reap d harvest
every year at the end of the summer
season, simply with their long handled
rakes and good big fund of patience.
But there are two particular rakers who
do nothing else all season long.
An hour after the tide turns from low
to the high, when the waves are thun
dering and kissing higher and wilder
with each succeeding breaker, the shells
and other articles along the beach begin
to move toward the high-water mark,
urged on their way by the powerful
thrashing and surging Of the tide.
X X
Then the men with their rakes be-
gin 70 wade and comb the beach. They
literally comb every part Of the beach
for a strip perhaps a mile long.
Some Of their treasures are curious.
Rings are the most common find. and it
is amazing the number of rings that
people lose while swimming. The rings
found in the course of year by these
beachcombers run into the hundreds.
It may be brass ring, it may b a
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20
RAKlNG THE OCEAN FOR JEWELLERY

gold ring. or perhaps a valuable diamond
ring. The beachcombers get IT., sooner
or later. Perhaps bracelet has slipped
from some damsel's arm during a furious
splashing contest in the summer time.
little splash and tiny circle in the
sudsy water and the bracelet is gone to
all intents and purposes. for the wash
and undertoW will quickly snatch it up
and place it elsewhere. A frantic search
follows and on rare occasions some
sharp-eyed person locates the trnket in
the water and it is recovered.
But the beachcombers smile at thing
like this 1t is more grist for their mill,
and they know that every chance of their
peculiar trade is in favor of their finding
it,
Rings are usually lost when the finger
shrinks from oyerlong contact with the
water. A ring bedecked dowager will
climb into bath suit, splash about for
a time and presently her ring finger, soft
from disuse, will shed its ornament with
all the ease of feline hair in shedding
time.
The hotel clerks know the unmatchable
trade carried on along the beach by the
men with the rakes, Many and many q
GREATNESS dowager and fearful damsel
runs to a hotel clerk with a story of her
fearful and hopeless loss. Usually the
clerk smiles and asks if it was very val
liable If so, he suggests that she offer
a suitable reward and before long the
beachcombers are dragging in their long
rakes, and, presto!-behold Nine. So-and-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20
A Thirty-Cent Horse.

A LFRED G. VANDERBILT was talk.
ing in New York about the mark.
ed Improvement in American horse
fiesh-an improvement in great part
due to his own work
I'VE no longer see such horses, ne
said, las McTavish used TO drive. Nc
lavish, farmer. used TO buy for farm
use broken-down naes that he paid
about 80 cents apiece for.
One day. with half dozen or these
nags. McTavish was returning from l.
horse sale when l'e came 10 toll-bar
The toll was 80 cents. and McTavish
had spent all his money. He debated
a long time about what he should do
and finally he said TO the tollman:
IL can't pay your toll. and that
the long and short of IT, VIII YOU
take a horse"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20

Sos diamond ring. or Miss so-and-so's
bracelet
The men with the rakes entertain no
scruples over rewards. 1t is simply a
part of their business and the reward is
the only thing which will ever bring back
that ring or bracelet or anything else
lost i'm the Atlantic surses. For the men
regard it as their serious business IN
life and the rewards and the money
realized from the sale of these finds con-
stitute their sole source of income:
There is one thing about the trade 1t
absolutely and unequivocally demon
strates that finders keepings," as far
as they 60 There is no modest be-
stowal of this or that with the blush of
unostentatious duty done, but 1T resolves
itself nearly and clearly into strict
business proposition.
One man has kept a whole family of
seven on the toll of the beaches. An
other has given up every other line of
work TO search for lest trings with his
rake ard hip boots 1t is d fascinating
profession, or, one might say, trade.
for there is ever the delightful uncertain
ty of a find-a real fird--every time the man
with the boots pulls his rake from the
sand and runs with practiced finger and
eyesight over it's burden Of shells and
pebbles and what not.
It is strictly spring occu-
patton, for the water is cold and angry
in winter, and even the hardy beach
combers see little merit, or little promise,
either for the matter of that, in wading
in icy water hip-deep to recover some
bodys ring lost way last summer.
AS soon as the spring fogs begin to roll
inland from the Boa rdWalk, to battle the
Boardwalk and Atlantic City and even
the Jersey meadows III "A penetrating
haze of Scotch mist. out come the men
with their rakes. They begin collecting
the missing portion of last summers toll
and it is surprising how splendid is their
luck even in the first days of the spring.
Their wading and their raking keep up
through the hazy spring days. through
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20
Mo Consolation.

r. HE j. Piefpont Morgan collection Of
Chinese porcelains is Incompatible.
and 10 woman who once tod him so he
said:
Il have loved good china all my life.
/ am like the dear old lady who declared:
There's nothing to compare with the
calamity of losing a piece of superb
china
But, surely. surely. said the min
listers wife. it isn't as bad as losing
child
Yes it is. too said the Old lady.
tossing her head. when a child dies, you
have the consolation of religion
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20
q con 20 be L5ea9 20
Z0<oDeo0 6oaL 0eL2nSe

purpose of drilling the men who fire them
in battle. That the men must be trained
and the torpedo run is quite necessary.
and to do this without loss is an every
day occurrence on board destroyer. In
stead of the war head containing high
explosives, practice head similar in
weight and size is fitted; secured within
a cavity in this head is calcium phos-
phide torch. Now We can fire the torpedo
exactly as would be done in war, and the
torpedo after expanding all its air will
rise to the surface of the water and
there float, giving off smoke in the day
time and a bright calcium flame at night
to show the destroyer where it Is located
The process of getting a torpedo ready
for firing is to torpedo men an everyday
occurrence. They think nothing of it.
The torpedo air flask is charged with air
at 22JO pounds pressure. This air leads
through stop valve to the engine of the
torpedo This engine is capable of max
ing a great number of revolutions per
minute driving two propeller shafts and
giving to the torpedo high speed.
After all the adjustments have been
made. which are many, and each is vital
to the success of the run. the torpedo is
loaded into the tube and the tube door
closed upon it. Then a powder charge is
inserted in a receptacle and the firing
mechanism cooked ready for ejecting the
torpedo from the tube into the water.
The tube now is trained in the true direc-
ton to fire. the torpedo gun pointer
using director with d telescope mounted
upon it. The director is mechanical
solution of the speed of torpedo. speed Of
target, and. of course, of enemy which
will give the direction in which the tor
pedo must start to hit moving target.
When the target is stationary all these
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20
WASHINGTON business man leaned

a WASHINGTON business man leaned
~ against the railing along the
4 = Boardwalk at Atlantic City the
other day and watched two old salts In
.,ip boots combing the shallow waves
with long handled. long-toothed rakes.
I'm Just about to trot down there for
a minute" he said to a friend. and
satisfy my curiosity for once by finding
ont what those fellows do with those
rakes.' :.
They found a fight of steps from the
Boardwalk to the beach. and paused on
the sand, just out of reach of the long
sudsy, kissing wash of the waves as
they Tapped at the steel supports of the
Boardwalk.
Its bet they're simply stirring up
the sand for clans" the curious one VOL
unteered, after a wait. Looks like the
gardeners cleaning up Franklin Park in
the morning when you come TO work IN
the late fall.
The visitors stood and watched while
the two rakers, up to their hips in the
brine. sank the teeth of their rakes into
the sand when breaker struck the beach
and then slowly combed back toward the
Boardwalk.
=
As the water receded they would gather
up the aceumula ton of stones and shells
which were shaken into a pocket on the
back of the rake teeth and carefully sort
through the stones. Almost every time
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20
A Society Caution.

THE strange medley of which New fofk
society is now composed led FRED
erick Townsend Martin. the admitted
leader of New York society, to say at a
luncheon:
Society, for all it's diversities and con-
tradictions. is uniform in one thing-and
that one thing is a lack OF culture.
"a society woman from the middle west.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20
A Cynic on Optimism.

JEROME S. McWADE. the Duluth re-
} former. was condemning cynicism.
THE cynic makes ugly" he said,
everything his cynical eye rests upon.
asked a cynic the other day il he
could give me good definition Of an
optimist.
Sure. he replied. Sure. An optimist
is a chap who has just succeeded in
doing his nei2hbor.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20
China's Position.

TV3C TING-FANG, well known here as
F" former Chinese amba sSador.
sent recently TO a Washington lady an
letter about the situation
in the new Chinese republic.
"You ask, dear madam"--so the let
ter ran-"which side China would
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20

as her limousine glided down 9TH avenue,
said to her daughter:
My dear. at the dinner dance last
night YOU talked entirely too much about
ihsen and Bernard Shaw and Toistoi
Dear me, Why?' the daughter asked.
Strangers the mother explained. VIII
be apt to think YOU were once employed
in book shop. "
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20

take if certain great powers began 10
squebble over her.
Well, madam. ! would ask YOU in re-
turn il you ever saw half-doaen
dogs fighting over bone. hear NoiI
answer, YES. And now I would ASK
Eoll--
But did you ever see the bone do
any fighting?
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20

April and May. and finally comes the
rush seascn-July, August and Septem-
Der.
Then the harvest is on Every day the
thousands in the surf drop their per-
centaee OF valuables. Every day the
rakers take their toll. and the toll is ever
past the dreams of layman. 1t seems
hard to believe that many as two
dozen rings can be found by these men
all of a suinme. day, but when one con-
siders the element OF folly in human ma
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20

ture, when thousands vii wear ring
into the lullewarm. salt water TO come
out minus their jeweiry it seems not half
strange.
The most peculiar thing about the
whole matter is that the bathers lose
their yaluahles much faster during the
rush sea son than the rake"s can possibly
collect them About the first of the Oc-
tober season comes the grand cleanup.
Men who never bothered to rake the
beaches all summer long forsake the roll
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20

LEW Know Meaning OF
/ the Word Destroyer,
as Applied to Type of War
ship-The Doom of the Tor
pedo Boat = The Modern
Destroyer Is Vessel of
About 700 Tons Displace-
ment-Process of Getting a
Torpedo Ready for Firing.
Twofold Advantage of De-
stroyers-The Destroyer in
Time of Peace.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20

EW outside of that
class of men whose
occupation it is to
be prepared Ito let
loose the dogs OF
war know the
meaning Of the
name destroyer
as applied to a
type of warship.
Those who know in
a vague way that
IL is a long black
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20

factors become zero and the torpedo dives
directly for the target.
The torpedo is ready for it's run; the
pointer in his seat on top of the tube
is eager to train on the target when it
becomes visible The destroyer at full
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20

ing chairs for their ral.es. And the IA
vest comes 70 ling in in It's jcneled album
dance for many thousands try the 81
at Atlantic CITY.
The spr!n. haze is now upon the coast
and the Jersey meadows are stilI batheh
In their mantle OF mist. but already IN"
srim-faced keel-eyed rakers are NadinS
the surf and taking their graft OF
rings and lockets and this and that-the
sad reminders of a saddened vacation
way back last summer.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20

vessel of about 30 tons displacement: al
the present writing the new designs call
for Loo tons capable of steamlng at
speed of over thirty knots. 1T has
radius of action of over 1000 miles at a
speed of about ten knots and can steam
l 900 miles at a speed of twenty-five
knots an hour, thus covering the distance
in forty hours. Destroyers are used
tactically in groups to attack the enemy'S
battleships at night In war time they
will seek the enemy al a speed of TWEEN
ty-five knots and after they have located
their quarry will attack al their highest
speed. Tearing through the water at
the rate of fifty feet a second, they will
fling themselves upon the surprised bat
tleship. They will approach bows on dis
playing to the enemys gunners a black
wedge twenty-five feet wide at its top,
and travelling so rapidly toward the gun
that accurate hitting will be nearly inn
possible even if the searchliSht could
effectively give sufficient illumination. AT
the distance of two miles they will fire
four torpedoes each at battleship of the
enemy. Each torpedo carries war
head charge of guncottOn Of $50 pounds,
and its speed will be twenty-seven knots.
1t will run ten feet below the surface
and if it hits the underwater plating will
cause damage sufficient to either sink or
totally disa BILE the battleShip.
The accuracy of the modern torpedo is
almost beyond comprehension. Torpedo
after torpedo has been fired at target,
a small flag over mile and half away
from the destroyers, steaming at thirty
knots. and miss of more than few
yards seldom occurs.
The torpedo is very expensive weap-
on. each costing from $1,000 to S',ooo;
II may be seen that a navy could hardly
afford to expend I'm such wholesale man
ner a vast number of torpedoes for the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20

The destroyer spelled the doom of the
torpedo boat. As soon this type be-
came fixed in the favor OF the naval eX
pert the torpedo boat became obsolete
and no new ones were built. The larger
vessels had taken over the torpedo boats
duties with their own
When the torpedo first came to notice
as a weapon useful in war the effective
range was only 800 yards. and this small
range did not increase rapidly as the
years went on. There was quite an in
terval of time before the thousand-yard
torpedo became an established fact. Then
warship's mainstay in its protection
against the torpedo, was scarcely more
than this distance. The searchlight was
quickly improved and no sooner had it
reached out to 1000 yards in efficiently
Illuminating an attacking torpedo boat or
destroyer than the torpedo increased its
radius of action to 100 yards. For a
time il looked as if the searchlight might
mold it's own; then suddenly through the
Invention of the superheater. by which
the air. in the torpedo is heated in its
passage to the engine. the range of the
twenty-five -hundred-y yard torpedo became
$50 yards and the searchlight gasped
and sputtered, but could not penetrate the
night further than 4,O0 yards, which
means that a destroyer carrying tile
latest torpedo can. on a dark night with
all it's lights darkened. remain beyond
the range of visibility of the best search
light and fire its torpedoes with accuracy
and even without danger TO itself.
The destroyer of the present day is a
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20

Der of destroyers must be forever handi-
ca pped.
The advantage Of destroycrs is two
fold first. 10 guard the big vessel ~
night against hostile raids of these night
riders. and second to send them out on
similar raids against the enemy battle
ships. If battle fleet is plentifully sup
piled with these small vessels one-hal'
can be kept on guard while the others, d.
attacking the enemy. make IL imperative
for him to hold his own destroNers with
him. Who has not gazed with pride on
the huge gray hull of a battieship. We
have wondered at its mighty size. The
destructive power OF its guns, We are
told. is more serious than an earthquake
and can leave ruin in its path worse than
the swiftest cyclone, and these at dis
tanceS where the "dreadnought' appears
only a speck on the horizon. That any
thing could daunt this impregnable float
ing fortress. could cause il to stop even
for breath in its iuggernaut way, seems
absurd; yet the destroyer spells To tins
mountain of strength a terror which i'
too important to overlook. too strong 10
refuse to consider.
The destroyer terror. like the noxious
vapor from a poisonous swamp, is ever
in the night air. AS the sun drops int"
the sea and while the moon is Yet be
meath the horizon, the battleships lose
their air of unconduerable majesty and
wish to shrink unseen into the gloom; 10
be lost from all eyes until the night has
vanished and the sun again Tears ~
head. or until the moon comes TO disrfl
the shadows in which the DESTROYER Is
hiding. ever ready to issue forth unseen.
unheralded and unwelcome and rush
down upon its blind prey.
The destroyer in time OF peace has a
hard time to maintain its military sef-
respect Being of high speed. II is "a YER
convenient vessel to do all manner or
odd missions for the battleslips; from
carrying ma rlleting to playing ''nesS"nIeT
boy" That these duties are not leGih-
mate every one knows, but III time OF
peace the battleships do not need guard
ing and the destroyer is always III N"
way" Some work must be made Tor
her However. when war comes ana IN"
first night shuts down it will be please
walk i'm front sir to The pitifully f'W
destroyers so far commissioned I" pro-
tect our great battleship fleet.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20
Z6D0eo0 HTen BEND 1roo0S51H5oar0
xReaQ1X 70 kL<oeaAGs9L(2.

five feet per second. As il leaves the
tube the starting valve is opened and the
engine begins to turn over When the
torpedo takes TO the water in long fiat
dive the throttle automatically opens
wide and a from twenty-seven to thirty
five knots speed the torpedo starts truly
in the direction fired. To maintain the
direction straight gyroscopic steering
gear is installed which prevents the de-
Walton from the straight path.
No sooner has the torpedo cleared the
tube than the destroyer turns toward the
target and at high speed races the tor
pedo ii has fired. When the torpedo has
ended it's run a thin curl of white smoke
can be seen on the water. the destroyer
stops near and lowers boat which pulls
for the torpedo so easily discerned by
the smoke of the phosphide of calcium
which produces the paradoXical phenome-
non of burning on water. The boat
secures it's lines to the torpedo and pulls
back TO the ship. where the torpedo crews
receive it. hosting 1t aboard to get ii
ready for another shot AS destroyers
will do their firing of torpedoes at night
in time, much practice is done at
night. It is weird sensation to see
destroyer far out. indistinctly visible
the horizon, its lights dimly burning; if
all lights were out nothing could be seen.
You are sitting in small boat near
target upon which a calcium torch has
been set burning. You watch as the sec
onds tick away until you have counted
four minutes. then you see a white streah
of bubbles heading for the small flag and
pass within few feet of the speck of
light.
Five hundred feet beyond a flame sud
denly appears on the water and the de-
stroyer at terrific speed suddenly APP
proaches out of the night tearing down
upon you: you see it stop and back its
engines, and a boat shoots down from its
davits and pulls quickly over to the
flame on the water. 1t is the torpedo
lighted by the calcium torch. Lines are
made fast and the boat pulls back To the
ship. The torpedo has been hoisted on
board and the destroyer dissolves into
the night to fire again at the target
You marvel and pity the battleship if this
is to be its enemy.
One may we'll commiserate with the
battleship, for. at night against fotilla
of attacking destroyers it is doomed. The
ba tile fleet that has an inadequate num-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20

they carelessly and leisurely dumped the
stones and shells back on the peach ana
repeated the process.
The apparent uselessness OF the per
Torrance was maddening In ITS lohs
repetition. The two on the dry SAND gre"
more and more impatient. Finally the
Washington man piped loudly:
Say. what's the idea OF your lahe'
neighbour
The man in the hip boots slowly turned
his head. gazed insolently, spat with oeep
elaboration and AGAIN drew back ms
rake IN long sde-sweep lie answered.
nothing at all.
Can you beat that said the man
from the capital. :.
A negro boy "beachcOmber' himself
in a slightly different sense. sauntered pc
hind the men and stood grinnlng. Inc!
failed to see him.
We used similar-looking arrange
ment when we poied out minnoWs down
in Four-Mile run, back in the SOS, ram
bled the curious one. But there ho
minnows out there, I'll bet a hat. :.
Dat mans fishing fer gold rings, sun.
suddenly volunteered the ex-chair pusher
behind them. They swung about.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20

''Fishin' Tor What?'
He's scrapin' gold rings and ear
rings often the bottom the boy ex-
planned again Them fellers done made
their living thataway. suh for yeahs and
yeahs. Folks round heah say dey're
bof rich, by dis time"
The men gazed at the rakers with
growing interest. The Washington man