davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1917-01-14

port, La. The army. meeting with re-
verses at Sabine Crossroads and Cham
pion Hills. was compelled to fall back,
which forced the fleet that had reached
within thirty miles Of Shreveport to re-
turn down the Red river. Admiral Porter
directed Commander Selfridge. In the
Usage. to bring up and protect the
rear. The river at this time was In low
stage and the Usage. In turning q bend
in the river, ran hard aground. Whi1A
endeavoring to float the vessel II was
attacked by force Of 5000 dismounted
cavalry under Gen. Green.
The low, stage of the river and its
high banks protected the Confederates
Engineer Doughtys periscope came in.
The Confederates could not be seen un-
til the head of their advancing columns
appeared above the river bank. A fierce
fire swept the deck of the monitor as
the enemy coming up in columns OF
regiments would fire one volley and
then fall back.
Standing behind the turret, Com.
mander Selfridge saw In the reflector
of the periscope their advancing line
as it appeared over the bank He re-
served his fire until their heads came
in sight. and then let drive. This sinRu.
fore the Confederates retired with n
loss Of some 400 men killed and
wounded. including Gen. Green. The
loss on the Usage was small
Thomas Doughty enlisted In the
United States Navy in 1859. He was as,
signed to duty as an assistant engineer
July s. 1852. and promoted to actinR
chief engineer December Ia, 1852. Ho
died in st. Louis in 1896.
Evening star., 1917-01-14

structed. I made two of these. Capt.
Selfridge used one and I the other"
The periscope has undergone many
improvements since the civil war. but
the main idea is the same, the refiec-
tion of the object through mirrors ar
ranged in a tube.
Admiral Selfridge gives the late En-
gineer Doughty full credit for his in
vention. and in a recent statement in
the Outlook he said:
THE Usage was under my comma nd,
and Chief Engineer Thomas Doughty,
a very capable man, presented to me
suggestion to attach a pipe to the rear
outside surface of the turret of the
Usage with reflectors made of looking
glass, whereby an observer behind the
turret could see the field in front. This
instrument was the first of it's kind
ever placed on war vessel, and Mr..
Doughty deserves every credit for the
suggestion. 1t was made of a piece of
three-inch steam pipe with holes cut at
each of it's ends at opposite sides and
pieces of looking glass inserted as re-
Electors. 1t was secured to the outside
of the turret opposite to the gun
ports. Two stationary sights were
placed on top of the turret and the
whole in the vertical plane of the axis
of the turret guns"
The Usage. light-draught turreted
monitor. was one of the Red river ex-
pedition in connection with the army
sent for the purpose Of taking Shreve-
Evening star., 1917-01-14

100000 gallons are available for use.
The area of the water surface is
thirty-eight acres. and it varies in
depth from fifteen to thirty feet
From this reservoir the water is
lifted by centrifugal pumps to the
pumping station, a distance of twenty
one feet, whence 1t Is distributed to
twenty-nine filter beds. There the
water. settling through four feet of
sand and gravel, is clarified of the re-
naming sediment and impurities. In
sterilize the water with chlorine and
hyperchlorite of lime after filtration, but
carefully kept statistics prove that this
process is unnecessary in Washington.
For July %, 1916. the turbidity record
shows 5000 pounds of mud in a million
pounds of water at Great Falls and
absolutely no sediment after filtration.
The record of meteorological tests
shows that the average per day for
July of this year was 33,150 bacteria
in a cubic centimeter of water (about
thimblefuD at Great Falls. and
f1fty-one bacteria in the same amount OF
per cent
The filtered water passes through
cast iron pipes under the reservoir to
the east shaft gatehouse. From there
on, it and all the properties pertain
ing to its distribution are owned by
the District of Columbia, and are un-
der the control of the water depart
this department. recently described the
reservoirs and supply services under
his supervision.
F'ifty-five per cent of the water flows
by gravity directly to the service
mains, which supply the consumers in
Evening star., 1917-01-14

in the water. is precipitated in the
sedimentation basin. The reservoir is
over thirty-six acres in extent, and va
ries in depth from five to thirty feet;
174.600.000 gallons of water may be
stored. of which 1872, 100000 gallons are
available for use
The water flows through a tunnel four
miles long to the Mcmillan Park res
ervoir. the last of the basins for the
storage of raw or unf1ltered water. 1t
is Just south of the Soldiers Home
grounds between 1st and 4th streets
and Bryant street and Hobart place
northwest. This park. which is lis
acres in extent, is being developed ac-
cording to plans made by Frederick
Law Olmsted, with very effective re-
suits. Each year Congress appropriates
$4,000 for the improvement of the
grounds. Ivy covered towers. used for
storing sand. are unique feature. and
the pumping and office, also covered
with ivy, add rather than detract from
the artistry of the plan. Near the
eastern end of the reservoir. effectively
placed at the head of a long fight of
steps leading up from 1st street. is
charming fountain. designed by Her.
bert Adams
The site of the Mcmillan Park reser-
voir was originally the bed of a
brook flowing from the Capitol spring.
whence the water supply of the Capitol
Evening star., 1917-01-14
Washington Has Four Picturesque Bodies of Water

those portions Of the District west of
the Anacostia river between the ele-
vations of seventy and 140 feet: 140
and 210 feet; 210 and $50 feet, and $50
and 423 feet, respectively.
The first high service is by dlrece
pumpage no reservoirs being used, put
the second high service is pumped
through trunk main to the Bright
wood reservoir. which is ore of the
most attractive in the District 1t IS
located on the west side of 10th street,
just north of Colorado avenue. and may
be approached from the street by q
flight of stone steps leading up to one OF
the picturesque gatehouses. The en-
circling roadway has recently been closed
to vehicles. which threw dust into the
water, but pedestrians may still en-
joy an intimate view of the reservoir.
A concrete wall divides the reservoir
into two basins. each approximately
Ais by 300 feet. and eighteen feet deep,
Ions of water. The southern basin was
first used on January Z. 1900, and the
northern basin on December 26, 1900.
The reservoir, which is constructed en-
tirely of concrete, was built at the cost
of $2SO,000. Some difficulty has been
experienced owing to the growth of
algae in the reservoir. This plant
gives a slightly unpleasant odor and
taste to the water, but is otherwise
quite harmless. 1t thrives only in the
sunlight and concrete covering will
water, and so prevent it's growth. The
Reno reservoir. at 36th and Ellicot
place northwest, which provides the
third high service of the District, has
already been protected in this way.
Although advantageous for sanitary
Evening star., 1917-01-14

for they were practically steel boxes
with slits in them for aiming the guns
This led Doughty to seek some origi-
nal method of watching the shores. He
took piece of ordinary lead pipe and
fitted it with mirrors at each end, and
ran it through hole in the turret The
scheme proved successful, and the
Usage was practically free thereafter
from attacks.
A description of this first periscope
used in the United States Navy, as
given by it's late designer and left
among his papers, was recently sent to
the Navy Department by James H.
Doughty. son of the inventor. 1t is as
follows:
'The instrument consists of two mir
rors inclosed in tube and so set that
the horizontal rays of light from the
observed object are reflected from a
plane mirror to vertical rays. and by
the use of another plane mirror re-
turned to their original horizontal di-
rection.
"a hole is cut in the top of the tur-
ret. and the combination of mirrors
lowered down through it to the level
Of the eye of the observer. The loss of
light is slight and the view unob-
Evening star., 1917-01-14

the section, pasting it on with glue or
-four paste. SO that it fits perfectly into
every curve and hollow. This must be
most carefully done. for the inside of
the mold will eventually be the out
side of the completed form.
For smooth haired animals. requiring
a smooth exterior, heavy sheeting is
used and in some of the long-haired
beasts, such as bears. coarse burlap is
used. 4 thin coating of plaster is
given the first layer of cloth and then
two sections of the burlap are put
through the plaster and applied. max
ing shell Of an inch or less in thick
ness Wirec,oth is often used and the
same process is repeated until each
section of the mold has been SO treated.
When the plaster is entirely set. the
newly made pieces are taken from the
mold by wetting the glue or paste. and
then the sections are all fitted together
and cemented with more plaster. the
seams being strengthened with strips
of burlap on the inside dipped in
plaster.
Finally. when all of the many pieces
for the giraffe there are sixty-one
parts) are joined together it is ready
for the skin to be put on. This is kept
soft and pliable and when possible is
drawn over the form and worked and
sewed into place. The hair is combed
and brushed over the seams. When
claws. horns and hoofs all of which are
saved for the mounting, are attached
the last touching up begins. Very deli
cate work is required in tinting around
the glass. eyes, mouth and nostrils.
With these last touches completed the
animal. large or small, is ready for it's
position in the exhibit.
Several of the taXidermists have put
in many years at this work. One in
particular, George Marshall. has been
forty five years in this class of work
for the museum, and his father preced-
ed him at it. while G. E. Minguet spent
thirty three and one-half years at
Wards Natural Science Institute and
has been doing work similar to the ar
ranging and building the flippers of the
whale for the past six years at the mu-
Evening star., 1917-01-14

6NHE control of the opium industry
is a subject that is given wide
publicity. and much has recently
been written of the persistence of the
Chinese opium producers in cultivating
their broad fields of white poppies and
the measures taken by the Chinese
government to prohibit the raising OF
poppies and also the measures which
have been taken by that government In
utilizing the services of the soldiery
in destroying the crops Of poppies
grown in spite of official prohibition.
In the popular mind. China and India,
have been the great sources OF the
worlds opium supply. but late Ameri-
can consular report shows that the
cultivation of the poppy plant is an i'm
portant industry in Macedonia. an in
dustry that brings excellent returns to
the growers. 1t is said that besides the
opium extracted from the flowers. an
oil is made from the seeds which is
superior to Russian sunflower oil and
to American cottonseed oil. The re-
sidium after the oil has been extracted
is pressed into cakes and used as
food for cattle Even in this time of
war, it is said that this years poppy
crop in Macedonia is abundant. and
that the expectation of the opium OBJ
tanned from the flowers is being car
ried on with little or no interruption.
Two phyhicians to the Tombs prison. in
New York city, Drs. Frank A. Mcclure
and Perry NJ. Lichtenstein. who have
written extensively of the drug habit
among men and women. have expressed
the opinion that the drugs most often
used are opium and its derivatives with
cocaine a good second. or a bad second.
Opium is the concrete milky exudation
obtained from the unripe capsules of
"papaver somniferum" by incision and
evaporation.
It is usually put on the market in
subslobular, fattened, irregular cakes.
chestnut brown or dark shades of
brown in color. The mass is described
as plastic but if kept for some time
hard crust is formed. The cakes of
commerce weigh from four ounces to
two pounds. Opium has heavy. sweet
ish odor and a bitter taste that is by
Evening star., 1917-01-14
Pending the Verdict.

ID RESIDENT JOHN POWELL of the
U Fore River Shipbuilding Company
said at banquet in Boston:
THE shipping business was never so
good as it is today. 1t will remain
good. too. for years after the great
war is over. Those who prognosticate
disaster for US are wrong. They re-
mind me OF the major.
The major had been hurt in a rail-
road accident. and a suit for damage
had been instituted. AS he clumped
along fremont street on his crutches
two or three weeks later a friend shook
him by the hand and said:
Cant you get along without your
crutches. ma jor?
well, my doctor says l can,' the
major chuckled. but my lawyer says /
can't"
Evening star., 1917-01-14
WARNS OF THE DANGERS
OF OPIUM AND COCAINE

no means agreeable to those who have
not contracted the opium habit
Much is heard at present OF the In
crease in the cocaine habit There Is
no relation between opium and cocaine.
though the person addited to one may
easily become an addict to the other.
A plant grows in South America. the
leaves Of which yield remarkable al
kaloid known as cocaine. This coca
plant has nothing to do with cocoa nor
with the cocoanut and their numerous
products. The local reputation of the
plant is that of a pleasing and sooth-
ing intoxicant, and this effect Is had
by chewing the leaves mixed with clay
or ashes. In modern medicine and sur
gerry cocaine and its derivatives have
acquired valuable uses and are consid-
cred a daily blessing to countless pa
tients of the medical practitioners.
=
Cocaine is a white crystalline pow
der. without odor, and which has q
slight acid reaction and is bitter to the
taste 1t is said that when 1t is placed
on the tongue it produces a tingling
sensation. which is followed by numb
ness. The action of cocaine on the
nervous system differs from that Of
opium or morphine.
The use of cocaine, like that of
opium is no new thing in this world.
and its evil effects have long been In
weighed against. Nearly half a century
ago British medical writer in the Brit
ish Medical Journal called attention to
the symptoms of cocainism. Here is
some thing" he wrote, which quickly re-
heves hunger by deadening the gastric
nerves upon which the sense OF hunger
largely depends, and which has a most
pleasing and rapid effect upon discom-
fort in the mouth and nose and throat
1t locally relieves congestion and offers
itself as an Incompatible boon to sing
ers or speakers who have sore throats
and colds and who must somehow fulhl
an engagement.
Many such admirable artists has 1t
conveyed to lunatic asylums. The
curse of cocaine can scercely be over
stated. In many instances the victim
OF morphine has used cocaine to enable
him to rid himself of the morphine hab-
it. This is to take seven devils as the
remedy for one"
Evening star., 1917-01-14
CONGRESS to Count Vote of the Electoral Cole.

mand that the electoral college has be-
come merely a means OF preserving the
rights of the states to be heard In select
ing a President, instead of leaving that
question to popular vote.
Some have advocated such q change.
but II cannot be made without an amend
ment of the Constitution.
Two serious controversies have arisen
as a result of this method OF voting.
The first was the Burr-Jefferson en-
broglio. when the two leading candidates
tied in their votes for the presidency.
The question was decided ultimately by
the House of Representatives. 1t car
ried long and threatening contest. re-
sulting in the election of Jefferson and q
subsequent amendment of the Constitu--
ton by which the electors voted for
President and Vice President. thus pre-
venting a tie between candidates of the
same party.
Later on, the Hayes-Tilden election
brought about grave national danger on
the contest OF the returns from the
states of South Carolina, Florida and
Louisiana The House was democratic,
the Senate republican. and the country
remained in suspense while the Joint
commission appointed by the houses sat
to determine the issue. BY agreement
Judges of the Supreme Court were to de-
eide questions upon which the commits
sion could not agree.
In the end II was decided by Justice
Bradley from New Jersey. a republican.
whose vote was cast with his party. IL
declared that Rutherford b. Hayes was
the duly elected President. and he there
upon took the office.
The system is not wholly free from
danger. but probably presents as fair
way as human ingenuity can devise OF
preserving the rights of states where the
chief executive is chosen by the votes
of the people.
Evening star., 1917-01-14

to forward the certificates of their ap-
pointment and the lists of their votes for
President and Vice President. to the
President of the United States Senate.
All these preliminary details are not
for the purpose Of telling the candi-
states voted last NovembAr. but to eS-
Evening star., 1917-01-14

the under parts of the animals body
and the inside of the legs. Other pieces
are allotted to the outside of the legs,
etc. until the entire body is boxed in
In the construction of the separate
pieces strips of tin or thin layers of
clay are placed along the intersections,
which are trimmed on the bevel and
oiled before the adjoining sections are
cast. When the plaster, which is an
piled in the ordinary manner, Is set the
separations are opened. the pieces all
Evening star., 1917-01-14

taken off and the clay model. having
served it's only purpose, is destroyed or
discarded.
The next step is most important. 1t
js the making Of the form on the in
side of the mold just completed. 1t is
not cast solid or even in one piece. but
is built up in thin. sections. the
outer lines conforming TO the lines
Of the mold. For instance. with a sec
ton of the back mold. the taxidermist
cuts out a piece Of heavy sheeting to fit
Evening star., 1917-01-14

President. 1t was in this way that Wash
ington and Adams were elected.
They were mean. to be a council of the
ablest men in the country and were ex-
pected to exercise their independent
choice in selecting the chief executive
of the nation.
The method of selecting the electors
Evening star., 1917-01-14

those parts of the city having a grade
elevation of between mean tide level
and 10 feet above. The balance of
the water flows by gravity to the Dis
trict pumping station. just south of
Mcmillan Park reservoir. where it is
pumped to the higher elevations of the
District.
This pumped area is divided into the
first high. second high, third high and
Evening star., 1917-01-14

considerations. from an artistic point
of view one must deplore the necessity
of this covering.
The Reno reservoir has a capacity of
four and half million gallons. Part
of the water is lifted by means of
auxiliary pumps, 20 a steel tank in the
Reno tower and is used for the fourth
high service, which covers a territory
of about one and a half square miles,
the highest ground in the District.
Evening star., 1917-01-14

pie at large should not vote directly for
the President and Vice President but
that each state should appoint. in such
manner as the legislature thereof may
whole number of senators and representa-
Evening star., 1917-01-14

state. and the seal thereof. shall be
counted.
The act provides for the conduct and
duration of debate. for the method of vot-
ing on disputed questions, and that the
votes of no other state shall be acted
Evening star., 1917-01-14

was at one time derived. An acre Of
ground around this spring was pur-
chased from one John Smith in 1853,
forming the nucleus for the present
park. The reservoir was constructed
in 1901. the banks being lined with
stone. January s, 1902. the gates were
first opened and water from the new
Washington aqueduct tunnel flowed
into the reservoir. Its total capacity
is 264.SO0.000 gallons, of which 49,
Evening star., 1917-01-14

upon until previous objections are dis
posed of. 1t also provides that no re-
cess shall be taken and in other ways for
the expeditions disposition of objections.
1t was the undoubted Intention of the
trainers of the Constitution that the peo-
Evening star., 1917-01-14

tives" They were to meet in their re-
spective states. vote for two persons and
send in their lists to Congress When all
the votes from all the states were counted,
the person having the most votes was
to be President; the next to him. Vice
Evening star., 1917-01-14

tablish an official record of the vote on
which the national election is predicat-
ed. and to preserve with exactnesS the
rights of the states of the Union in
the selection of the presiding officers
of the government.
The act of Congress prescribes with
great detail the final pronouncement of
the action of the electoral college,
whose members never meet.
When Congress meets in joint session
on the second Wednesday of February
succeeding the meeting of the electors
the two bodies will convene in the hall
of the representatives at the hour of
l o'clock on that day, and the President
of the Senate shall be their presiding
officer.
Tellers are appointed and all certifi-
Gates and papers purporting to be GER
tlhcates are opened and acted upon.
the tellers make list of votes as they
appear from such certificates. The
President of the Senate announces the
vote and that is deemed sufficient dec
laration of the persons. if any, elected
President and Vice President. The re.
suit, together with a list of the votes
is entered in the journals of the two
houses.
This ends the procedure if there be
no question over the returns from any
of the states. but If, as has happened
act provides the procedure in an effort
to settle the disputed questions
Every objection must be in writing, must
state. without argument, the ground
thereof and must be signed by at least
one senator and one House member
Right there is where the clash will. if
ever, begin. The two houses consider
the objections separately. No electoral
vote from any state from which one re-
turn shall have been regularly given by
electors whose appointment has been
lawfully certified can be rejected: but
the two houses concurrently may reject
the votes when they agree that such
votes have not been regularly given by
electors whose appointment has been
certified.
The two houses must respect the re-
turn, which is regularly given: but If
there is question between two or more
state authorities as to which is the law
ful tribunal of a state to determine the
authority of the electors. then there must
be a concurrent determination of the
two houses as to which electoral return
shall be accepted.
If the two houses cannot agree upon
the acceptance or refusal OF states s
electoral vote. then the votes certified
under the hand of the executive of the