 Section 6 of the scrapbook, Volume 1, Sampler by Various, edited by Frank A. Muncie. This Libervox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Bologna Times. The World's Fastest Trains by Frank A. Muncie. Section 6. Great Britain leads in speed, with France a good second, and the United States only a slow third, some passenger statistics. Speed is a magician that makes the world smaller. Compare the hourly runs of the old-stage coaches with the hourly runs of the modern railroad train, and we can figure, without difficulty, just how much the world has shrunk in 75 years. Though as always happens in magic, the shrinkage is apparent, not real. Motorcars now are made so powerful that the fastest can go more than two miles in a minute, a speed which is not yet considered practicable for ordinary travel. Railroad trains have made phenomenal time over short distances, and there is one train which regularly travels 118 and one-half miles at about 60 miles an hour. It is something of a surprise to learn that American trains are not the fastest. England is first, with France second. The following article from the New York Sun gives the speed figures of the fastest trains of all countries where good speed is made. The fastest regular, long-distance run without stop in the world, is on the Great Western from London to Bristol, 118 and a half miles in 120 minutes, or practically 60 miles an hour. In order to leave passengers at bath, a car is dropped from the train without stop, a time-saving device in operation on a number of European roads, though still unknown here. The longest run without a stop made in any country is from London to Liverpool, on the London and Northwestern, 201 miles made at the rate of 54 miles an hour. The next longest is on the Midland, from London to Leeds, 196 miles at the rate of 52 miles an hour. The Empire State Express. The train in this country coming nearest to these long runs without stop is the Empire State Express on the New York Central, from New York to Albany, 143 miles at the rate of 53, 64, 100 miles an hour, and the time of the same train to Buffalo, 440 miles in 500 minutes, is just a trifle faster than that of the Midland Express from London to Glasgow, 447 miles in 510 minutes. Each makes four regular stops. The Northwestern runs a train from London to Glasgow, 401 and a half miles in eight hours making two stops. The Great Northern runs a train from London to Doncaster, 156 miles without a stop, in 169 minutes, at the rate of 55 and a half miles an hour. And the Great Central train runs over England's New Road from London to Sheffield, 165 miles in 170 minutes, better than 58 miles an hour, slipping a car at Leicester without stop. Such runs is that between London and Birmingham on the Great Western, a distance of 129 and one quarter miles, made without stop in 140 minutes, or at the rate of more than 55 miles an hour, are less remarkable, for this seems to be about the regular gate of many trains in England. These fast and long runs are common to all the trunk lines in England, while in the United States the fast runs are all confined to two roads, the New York Central and the Pennsylvania. Compared with many English fast runs, the time between New York and Washington and Boston is slow. The distance to the two cities from New York is about the same, and in both cases the fastest trains make it in five hours, or a little over now to Boston, or at 46 miles an hour. For runs of nearly 1,000 miles no country can show trains to compare with the New York and Chicago trains on the New York Central. The best trains making the 980 miles in 1,080 minutes, or at 54 miles an hour. While this is not quite so fast as the time made by the fast trains from Paris to Lyon and Marseille, the distance is twice as great as across France. Fast time to Atlantic City. Coming to short runs and special summer trains, undoubtedly the fastest are from Camden to Atlantic City. Here some very fast time has been made over an ideal country for fast time by both the reading and the Pennsylvania. The best reading time is 56 and a half miles in 50 minutes, or 66 miles an hour, while the best Pennsylvania time is 59 miles at the rate of 64 miles an hour. These constitute all the very fast regular trains in the United States. The fastest run in New England outside the Boston, New York run is from Boston to Portland at the rate of 44 miles an hour, and the showing is still poorer in the West and South. Chicago in many respects the greatest railroad center in the world has no fast trains outside the New York Central and Pennsylvania trains referred to. Throughout the West, though the best trains are very luxurious, the runs are all short, averaging about 30 miles between stations, and the speed nowhere averages 40 miles an hour. Next to speed may be considered the frequency of trains, their appointments, etc. In this respect a still more pronounced difference appears in different countries with almost equal population. More trains leave the Great South Terminal in Boston in one day than are moved in one direction on all the roads of Spain and Portugal in two weeks. From one terminal in London more trains leave daily than move in 10 days to supply the whole population of Russia. The world's largest station. The South Terminal in Boston not only is the largest station in the world, but sends out daily more than 400 trains, nearly twice the number dispatched from the Grand Central Station by the three roads starting from there. The next largest number sent from any station in the country is about 350 from the Boston and Main Terminal in Boston, and the next about 325 from the Broad Street Station Philadelphia. Then come the Grand Central Station New York and the Reading Terminal Philadelphia. But these figures do not equal those of the Great London Terminals. There one station sends out 700 trains daily, the greatest number from any one station in the world, and all of the 12 Great Terminals send out large numbers of trains. Including all suburban trains and figuring on a mean average of winter and summer, the regular scheduled trains leave the four great centers in the following numbers daily. The figures being for all roads and approximately correct. New York City 1400. Boston 1000. Philadelphia 850. Chicago 850. No other American City has 400. Good Road Beds Abroad. The roadbed and the operating equipment are better in England and some parts of France and Germany than in America, and owing to the ever-prevailing precautions, accidents are only about one-fifth as frequent as in America. All the principal roads in England have two tracks and many main lines have four. In this respect Americans are making great improvements now as the Pennsylvania is four-tracked from New York to Pittsburgh and the New Haven from New York to New Haven while the New York Central is three-tracked part of the way to Albany and four-tracked from there to Buffalo. Turning to continental Europe it is found that France alone indulges in really fast trains and possibly she is ahead even of England in the number of trains running regularly above 50 miles an hour. The greatest travel route on the continent is from Paris south to Lyon Marseille and the Mediterranean and here are found fine and fast trains. The run from Paris to Marseille 585 miles is made in 750 minutes with only six stops. Many of the shorter runs such as from Paris to Calais to the Belgian frontier etc are at the rate of from 58 to 62 miles an hour for the regular schedule. Europe's fast averages according to a German authority the average speed of the fastest trains in Europe is as follows French 58 miles an hour English 55 miles an hour and German 51. As a matter of experience fast trains are hard to find in Germany and the service in this respect does not compare with France. It takes the fastest train 227 minutes to go from Berlin to Hamburg 178 miles which is 47 and a half miles an hour and the Lux train the one fast goer between Munich and Vienna runs at only 45.60 miles an hour but there are as a rule frequent trains throughout Germany and the service is good for all the rest of Europe the speed drops to about 30 miles an hour for express trains Italy is surprisingly slow it takes the express 965 minutes to go from Turin to Rome 413 miles or only 26 miles an hour though the Milan Rome express makes nearly 40 miles an hour between Rome and Naples 155 miles there are only four or five trains daily the fastest at 34 miles an hour while it takes 920 minutes to go 439 miles on the best train from Rome to Brindisi a rate of less than 30 miles an hour the express between Stockholm and Gothenburg the two large cities of Sweden barely makes 30 miles an hour in the remaining continental countries the trains are even slower end of section 6 section 7 of the scrapbook volume 1 sampler by various edited by Frank A. Munsey this LibriVox recording is in the public domain reading by Bologna Times creating wealth from waste by Eugene Wood section 7 the number of scrap heaps is diminishing as manufacturers learn that byproducts often are more valuable than the things from which they are taken an original article written for the scrapbook the true test of the industrial civilization of a people is the extent to which every scrap and grain of its resources are utilized the motto of a prosperous nation is gather up the fragments that nothing be lost that the last few years have seen such an increase in the production of wealth as has never been known before in the history of the world is not to be wondered at when it is realized that in every department of industry those things that had been previously thrown away have become a source of revenue and in some cases the byproduct has become of more value than the original product itself the recovery of wealth from waste is the distinguishing mark of the age because this is the age of industrial civilization if the increase in the production of wealth is greater and more rapid than it has ever been since men first landed on this earth without either a penny or a pocket to put the penny in it is due to the general extension of methods that have been in use ever since he began to try to pick a living out of the clenched fist of Dower old mother nature the delicate perfumes of flowers that otherwise would vanish in a day are trapped in lard and then snared again from the lard by alcohol the crusted are goals that gather on the inside of the vats where wine ferments are utilized to make the cream of torture for our biscuits 10 pans for complexions the bloom of health that glows upon the cheeks of the ladies of the chorus may be traced to the 10 pans and cups that jingle on the rag collectors wagon these homely and prosaic vessels are made of plates of iron coated all too thinly in these degenerate days with 10 these iron plates have to be pickled as the trade phrase goes all the rust and other substances than the clean iron have to be washed off with acids and water the pickling liquor is not emptied out as slops by any means there is a finely divided iron rust floating in it and when the water is removed by evaporating it the residue is Venetian red and iron pigment that made up as rouge can counterfeit the ruddy blood that courses so near the surface of the satin skin of youth it is almost a personal triumph to us to know that the broken bits of rock from the quarry unfit to use as building material are turned into crushed stone for which there is so large a demand thanks to the increasing popularity of concrete and that its revenues pay the operating expenses of the quarry and make the price got from building stone so much clear money illuminating gas has to be washed and scrubbed anyhow before it can be introduced into our houses the household ammonia with which the kitchen sink is kept so sweet is taken by the thousand tons from the scrub water of the gas house and the furnace gas of iron works only the pigs squeal gets away meatpackers will tell you that nowadays they save everything from the pig but the pigs last dying squeal naturally the hides and skins of the animals slaughtered are worth saving the tips of cows horns are used for the mouth pieces of pipes the horns themselves are split and pressed flat and combs the backs of brushes and large buttons are made of them what bits and splinters are too small to be worked up go for fertilizer hoofs are sorted by colors the white ones go to Japan there to be made up into ornaments of artistic merit we haven't got that far along ourselves the striped ones stay here to be made up into buttons the black ones are utilized in the manufacture of cyanide of potash by which gold is extracted from low-grade ores it formally did not pay to work the bones in the feet of cattle bear up a great weight so they are hard and take a high polish they can be used instead of ivory which is getting scarce toothbrush handles and cutlery handles are made of these bones the others in the skeleton are built of lime stuck together with glue and molded into shape by the push and pull of muscles the soft bones of the head shoulders ribs and breast do not need to be so stiff as the bones of the legs they have more glue in proportion to lime than the leg bones the animal needs a kind of flexible weatherproof varnish flowed over it so to speak to protect the tissues glue is what makes this coat or hide so from bones and scraps and trimmings of hide this glue or gelatin is soaked out even the bonds on which meat has been cooking have some little drips of gelatin and fat in them and these are stood under pressure until there is nothing left in them of the gelatin of which they now make the little capsules in which the drug is to puts the medicine whose taste we don't just fancy and fats which go to the soap maker for the want of a better destination drugs from dead cattle from the bodies of cows is obtained the tallow which is made into olio margarine the prevailing element of the American people is dyspepsia which is due to a natural lack of pepsin but it has been found out that the pigs pepsin will do as well as our own so it is prepared for the drug trade and sold at considerably above the price per pound of the hog on the hoof there are all sorts of obscure nervous troubles which can be very materially helped by a substance extracted from the gray matter of calves brains a growing child should make red corpuscles in his blood at a great rate all the processes which construct his bones and his flesh and his various organs should be working full powered the red rib marrow of freshly killed young animals contains a substance which is soluble and chemically pure glycerin and can be digested out of that red rib marrow and which if given to the child greatly increases the proportion of red corpuscles in the blood and stimulates all the constructive processes of the body this will sell for a much larger sum a pound than veil and so there are various other substances taken from the sweetbread's proper the neck and throat sweetbread's the thyroid gland the paratids the supra renal capsules which can be used in medicine and can be sold at a large profit to people brought up to believe that eating the part strengthens the part glycerin a byproduct and when all has been extracted that you would think could be extracted all the bits and scraps and scrapings and what not are put into a tank and cooked and cooked until all is dissolved that can be dissolved the residual fat is skimmed off and the last bit of glue and the insoluble matter at the bottom of the tank go for fertilizer and then in the packing houses that don't know their business the tank water is let run away but there is much valuable nitrogenous matter in those waters which the first rate packers utilize and there is glycerin there in the old days the candle makers who used palm oil had their own troubles with glycerin if a candle was blown out the smoldering wick used to leave an offensive odor it was the glycerin that caused this naturally the only thing to do was to take it out of the candle and the next thing was to get rid of it down the gully into the creek people complained as people will but what else was an honest chandler to do laterally they have been figuring on the matter and some of them have come to the conclusion that they used to let as much as $2,000 worth of glycerin get away from them every week in the last five years the soap makers have learned that they can't realize more money out of the glycerin than they can out of the soap they make some of this glycerin is refined but the great part of the crude goes to the manufacturers of dynamite which is nitroglycerin mixed with infusorial earth so as to weaken it there is just as much acid after the glycerin is turned into nitroglycerin as there was before after it is washed out the nitro is left apparently unchanged it is not broken up but it is on the edge of it give it a knock and it all flies to pieces at once so suddenly that it will loosen more dirt in a second than a hundred pick and shovelmen could scoop out in a week wealth in refuse heaps back of the 10 shop there used to be a heap of shining clippings the heap of clippings isn't there now if there are any bits of 10 too small to make the backs of buttons they are pressed together to make window sash weights nor is that pile of sawdust back of the sawmill anymore the butchers wanted for their floors but that isn't the most economical use for it there are acetic acid wood alcohol naphtha wood tar and all that that implies to be had from the distillation of sawdust to say nothing of sugar from birch sawdust the reason there isn't more money in the sawdust than in sashes doors and blinds which the factory turns out is because we have more faith in cog wheels than we have in test tubes in machinery big or little americans stand at the head of the class in industrial chemistry they are at the foot of the class we paid the germans about 10 times what we ought to for fenisitin because we can't get it into our heads that there is any money in applied organic chemistry coal tar was once a nuisance but the germans make indigo so much better and cheaper from it now that they have put the indigo plant out of business the red trousers of the french soldiers are died with german alizarin also a coal tar product because it doesn't pay to raise matter any longer in coal tar are all sorts of valuable drugs dyes and perfumes but we don't know it industrially stay i do my country and injustice we can make moth balls and carbolic acid but that is as much as ever we can do and this is why we do not utilize the sawdust and make a better business out of it than the sawmill can and garbage i wonder how much orange peel and lemon peel is thrown away in new york city every day and how much the neroli or essential oil that could be got from it would be worth i wonder if the stocks and faggants of vegetables could not be distilled and something made from them but the limit of our wisdom in regard to garbage is burn it and get power from it somebody is going to get rich from this garbage problem one of these days but it will be the test tube and not the cogwheel that will make the money it will be the industrial chemist not the mechanic fortunes lurk in old wool see what a difference such knowledge has made in the wool industry sheep's wool is dirty and greasy when it comes to the mills wash it with strong alkali in running water that is what has always been done but a man in massachusetts thought it would be a good idea to dissolve the grease with some such solvent as naphtha he saved the naphtha to use over again he recovered the grease which is the most softening and penetrating of all fats and is most valuable for ointments and he recovered carbonate of potash sheep wearing heavy wool in the hot weather perspire freely and this perspiration contains carbonate of potash after the wool is once woven into cloth we may dismiss from our minds all thought of affecting any more economies when the suit of clothes is worn to rags the rags are still as good as new for the wool is picked out into strands of fiber again and woven anew it isn't ground into shoddy as it was in the days of the civil war the wool is picked apart as long as it has any staple to it at all and forms part of the most expensive and enduring of fabrics it may be mixed with cotton but when it comes to be a rag again the cotton is burned out either with acid or with heat the dust is taken out and once more behold absolutely pure wool much safer to wear than the new wool of the tropics and semi-tropics when there is not enough wool to hold together it goes into our clothing with wood ashes and scrap iron it ceases to be a fabric and becomes a dye prussian blue the cotton rag has no such life all it is good for is paper stock the paper business is essentially a wealth from waste industry for a long time linen rags cotton rags and old rope were the only materials of which paper was made cheap books and magazines and newspapers had to wait until it was discovered that the resins and gums in which the fibers of wood are embedded could be dissolved away leaving the pulp of the wood in just the same condition that the pulp of rags was where old magazines go if the resins are not thoroughly dissolved away the paper turns brown in the course of time naturally enough the wood pulp makers let the solution of resins run off and become a nuisance but they too are learning that there are glucosees and pyrolignus acids and all manner of riches to be obtained from the solution of the vegetable matter to say nothing of the possibilities of what a sort of gum or glue which is often both by heat and by moisture and just a word about an economy found necessary by the magazines and newspapers which take back the copies the news dealer does not sell these returns were hard to get rid of paper is mean stuff to burn in quantities so far as the texture of the wood pulp paper is concerned it might be used to print on again but how are you going to remove the ink let the ink stay on and use the pulp over again for pasteboard boxes and that's what becomes of the newspapers and magazines that nobody buys if you will look over journals devoted to concrete and its wonders you will see a good deal about the concrete made out of slag and there was a neat little point made when it was discovered that about two cents a pound could be saved in the manufacture of iron by freezing all the moisture out of the atmospheric air before it was heated for the blast but the best is yet to come quite a bit of money has been made in this country from the manufacture of iron what do you say to the proposition to make the iron itself a mere byproduct to something even more valuable valuable gas ran to waste from the top of the furnace in which iron ore is liquefying in the fervent heat there rushes out a gas largely carbon monoxide whose hunger for oxygen has been only half satisfied if it could get that other atom of oxygen it would be a gas that would only smother us when it didn't make the soda fountain fizz as it is carbon monoxide is deadly poison it has to be put to some use it doesn't burn under a boiler very well it is necessary to keep a bed of coals going so that the furnace gas may stay lighted but it has been found that even when it is too poor to keep a light it will explode in the combustion chamber of a gas engine it has also been found that a furnace smelting seven tons of pig iron an hour will make enough furnace gas to supply 9,000 horsepower per hour deducting gas and power that can be economically used on the premises it is estimated that there will be a surplus of power to sell of 5,000 horsepower per hour now that we are able to transmit power cheaply by high tension currents it is easy to see what this means in new york they sell electromotive force for from four cents per horsepower per hour up to 12 cents call it two cents and 5,000 horsepower per hour means a hundred dollars which is more money than seven tons of pig iron will bring a lot has been done with cog wheels a lot is being done with wires but when it comes to recovering wealth from waste it is the test tube that will do it and so study chemistry young man end of section seven section eight of the scrapbook volume one sampler by various edited by frank a munsey this liberbox recording is in the public domain reading by balona times the tapestry chamber by sir walter scott section eight this tale by sir walter scott is justly reckoned among the most effective ghost stories ever written its art lies in its perfect simplicity which for the moment convinces the reader of its truth and therefore makes the horror of it intensely real scott had himself a strain of superstition in his nature derived in part from his scottish ancestry and heightened by the strange stories and gruesome legends which had been told him by the peasants around whose fires he had sat at night while still a boy his belief in the supernatural appears and reappears in many of his most famous novels as in the episode of the gray specter in waverly the second site of meg merrily's in guy mannering and the weird figure of norna of the fitful head in the pirate but no better example can be found in scott's command of the mysterious as an element in fiction than this short story of the tapestry chamber the following narrative is given from the pen so far as memory permits in the same character in which it was presented to the author's ear nor has he claimed to further praise or to be more deeply centered than in proportion to the good or bad judgment which he has employed in selecting his materials as he has studiously avoided any attempt at ornament which might interfere with the simplicity of the tale at the same time it must be admitted that the particular class of stories which turns on the marvelous possesses a stronger influence when told than when committed to print the volume taken up at noonday though rehearsing the same incidents conveys a much more feeble impression than is achieved by the voice of the speaker on a circle of fireside auditors who hang upon the narrative as the narrator details the minute incidents which served to give it authenticity and lowers his voice with an affectation of mystery while he approaches the fearful and wonderful part it was with such advantages that the present writer heard the following events related more than twenty years since by the celebrated Miss Seward of Litchfield who to her numerous accomplishments added in a remarkable degree the power of narrative in private conversation in its present form the tale must necessarily lose all the interest which was attached to it by the flexible voice and intelligent features of the gifted narrator yet still read aloud to an undoubting audience by the doubtful light of the closing evening or in silence by a decaying taper and admits the solitude of a half-lighted apartment it may redeem its character as a good ghost story Miss Seward always affirmed that she had delivered her information from an authentic source although she suppressed the names of the two persons chiefly concerned I will not avail myself of any particulars I may have since received concerning the localities of the detail but suffer them to rust under the same general description in which they were first related to me and for the same reason I will not add to or diminish the narrative by any circumstance whether more or less material but simply rehearse as I heard it a story of supernatural terror about the end of the American war when the officers of Lord Cromwell's army which surrounded at Yorktown and others who had been made prisoners during the impolitic and ill-fated controversy were returning to their own country to relate their adventures and repose themselves after their fatigues there was among them a general officer to whom Miss S gave the name of Brown but merely as I understood to save the inconvenience of introducing a nameless agent in the narrative he was an officer of merit as well as a gentleman of high consideration for family and attainments some business had carried general brown upon a tour through the western counties when in the conclusion of a morning stage he found himself in the vicinity of a small country town which presented a scene of uncommon beauty and a character peculiarly English the little town with its stately old church whose tower bore testimony to the devotion of age's long past lay amid pastures and cornfields of small extent but bounded and divided with hedgerow timber of great age and size there were few marks of modern improvement the environs of the place intimated neither the solitude of decay nor the bustle of novelty the houses were old but in good repair and the beautiful little river murmured freely on its way to the left of the town neither restrained by a dam nor bordered by a towing-path upon a gentle eminence nearly a mile to the southward of the town were seen among many venerable oaks and tangled thickets the turrets of a castle as old as the wars of York and Lancaster but which seem to have received important alterations during the age of Elizabeth and her successor it had not been a place of great size but whatever accommodation it formerly afforded was it must be supposed still to be obtained within its walls at least such was the inference which general Brown drew from observing the smoke arise merrily from several of the ancient reed and carved chimney stocks the wall of the park ran alongside of the highway for two or three hundred yards and through the different points by which the eye found glimpses into the woodland scenery it seemed to be well stocked other points of view opened in succession now a full one of the front of the old castle and now a side glimpse at its particular towers the former rich and all the bizarrery of the Elizabethan school while the simple and solid strength of other parts of the building seemed to show that they had been raised more for defense than ostentation delighted with the particular glimpses which he obtained of the castle through the woods and glades by which this ancient feudal fortress was surrounded our military traveler was determined to inquire whether it might not deserve a nearer view and whether it contained family pictures or other objects of curiosity worthy of a stranger's visit when leaving the vicinity of the park he rolled through a clean and well paved street and stopped at the door of a well frequented inn before ordering horses to proceed on his journey general brown made inquiries concerning the proprietor of the chateau which had so attracted his admiration and was equally surprised and pleased at hearing in reply a nobleman named whom we shall call Lord Woodville how fortunate much of Brown's early recollections both at school and at college had been connected with young Woodville whom by a few questions he now ascertained to be the same with the owner of this fair domain he had been raised to the peerage by the deceased of his father a few months before and as the general learned from the landlord the term of mourning being ended was now taking possession of his paternal estate in the jovial season of merry autumn accompanied by a select party of friends to enjoy the sports of a country famous for game this was delightful news to our traveler frank Woodville had been Richard Brown's fag at Eaton and his chosen intimate at Christchurch their pleasures and their tasks had been the same and the honest soldiers heart warm to find his early friend in possession of so delightful a residence and of an estate as the landlord assured him with a nod and a wink fully adequate to maintain and add to his dignity nothing was more natural than that the traveler should suspend a journey which there was nothing to render hurried to pay a visit to an old friend under such agreeable circumstances the fresh horses therefore had only the brief task of conveying the general's traveling carriage to Woodville Castle a porter admitted them at a modern gothic lodge built in that style to correspond with the castle itself and at the same time rang a bell to give warning of the approach of visitors apparently the sound of the bell had suspended the separation of the company bent on the various amusements of the morning for on entering the court of the chateau several young men were lounging about in their sporting dresses looking at and criticizing the dogs which the keepers held in readiness to attend their pastime as general brown a lighted the young lord came to the gate of the hall and for an instant gazed as at a stranger upon the continents of his friend on which war with its fatigues and its wounds had made a great alteration but the uncertainty lasted no longer than till the visitor had spoken and the hearty greeting which followed was such as can only be exchanged between those who have passed together the merry days of careless boyhood or early youth if i could have formed a wish my dear brown said lord woodville it would have been to have you here of all men upon this occasion which my friends are good enough to hold as a sort of holiday do not think you have been unwatched during the years you have been absent from us i have traced you through your dangers your triumphs your misfortunes and was delighted to see that whether in victory or defeat the name of my old friend was always distinguished with applause the general made a suitable reply and congratulated his friend on his new dignities and the possession of a place in domain so beautiful nay you have seen nothing of it as yet said lord woodville and i trust you do not mean to leave us till you are better acquainted with it it is true i confess that my present party is pretty large and the old house like other places of the kind does not possess so much accommodation as the extent of the outward walls appears to promise but we can give you a comfortable old-fashioned room and i venture to suppose that your campaigns have taught you to be glad of worse quarters the general shrugged his shoulders and laughed i presume he said the worst apartment in your chateau is considerably superior to the old tobacco cask in which i was feigned to take up my night's lodging when i was in the bush as the virginians call it with the light core there i lay like diogenes himself so delighted with my covering from the elements that i made a vain attempt to have it rolled onto my next quarters but my commander for the time would give way to know such luxurious provision and i took farewell of my beloved cask with tears in my eyes well then since you do not fear your quarters said lord woodville you will stay with me a week at least of guns dogs fishing rods flies and means of sport by sea and land we have enough and to spare you cannot pitch on an amusement but we all find the means of pursuing it but if you prefer the gun and pointers i will go with you myself and see whether you have mended your shooting since you have been among the indians of the back settlements the general gladly accepted his friendly host proposal in all its points after a morning of manly exercise the company met at dinner where it was the delight of lord woodville to conduce to the display of the high properties of his recovered friend so as to recommend him to his guests most of whom were persons of distinction he led general brown to speak of the scenes he had witnessed and at every word marked alike the brave officer and the sensible man who retained possession of his cool judgment under the most imminent dangers the company looked upon the soldier with general respect as on one who had proved himself possessed of an uncommon portion of personal courage that attribute of all others of which everybody desires to be thought possessed the day at woodville castle ended as usual in such mansions the hospitality stopped within the limits of good order music in which the young lord was a proficient succeeded to the circulation of the bottle cards and billiards for those who preferred such amusements were in readiness but the exercise of the morning required early hours and not long after eleven o'clock the guests began to retire to their several apartments the young lord himself conducted his friend general brown to the chamber Dustin for him which answered the description he had given of it being comfortable but old-fashioned the bed was of the massive formed used in the end of the 17th century and the curtains of faded silk heavily trimmed with tarnished gold but then the sheets pillows and blankets looked delightful to the campaigner what he thought of his mansion the cask there was an air of gloom in the tapestry hangings which with their worn out graces curtain the walls of the little chamber and gently undulated as the autumnal breeze found its way through the ancient lattice window which powdered and whistled as the air gained entrance the toilet too with its mirror turbaned after the manner of the beginning of the century with a coffure of murry colored silk and its hundred strange shape boxes providing for arrangements which had been obsolete for more than fifty years had an antique and in so far a melancholy aspect but nothing could blaze more brightly and cheerfully than the two large wax candles or if ought could rival them it was the flaming bickering faggots in the chimney that sent at once their gleam and their warmth through the snug apartment which notwithstanding the general antiquity of its appearance was not wanting in the least convenience that modern habits rendered either necessary or desirable this is an old-fashioned sleeping apartment general said the young lord but i hope you find nothing that makes you envy your old tobacco cask i am not particular respecting my lodgings replied the general yet were i to make any choice i would prefer this chamber by many degrees to the gayer and more modern rooms of your family mansion believe me that when i unite its modern air of comfort with its venerable antiquity and recollect that it is your lordship's property i shall feel in better quarters here than if i were in the best hotel london could afford i trust i have no doubt that you will find yourself as comfortable as i wish you my dear general said the young noblemen and once more bidding his guests good night he shook him by the hand and withdrew the general once more looked about him and internally congratulating himself on his return to peaceful life the comforts of which were endeared by the recollection of the hardships and dangers he had lately sustained undressed himself and prepared for a luxurious night's rest here contrary to the custom of the species of tail we leave the general in possession of his apartment until the next morning the company assembled for breakfast at an early hour but without the appearance of general brown who seemed the guest that lord woodfill was desirous of honoring above all whom his hospitality had assembled around him he more than once expressed a prize at the general's absence and at length sent a servant to make inquiry after him the man brought back information that general brown had been walking abroad since an early hour of the morning in defiance of the weather which was misty and ungenial the custom of a soldier said the young noblemen to his friends many of them acquire habitual vigilance and cannot sleep after the early hour at which their duty usually commands them to be alert yet the explanation which lord woodville thus offered to the company seemed hardly satisfactory to his own mind and it was in a fit of silence and abstraction that he awaited the return of the general it took place near an hour after the breakfast bell had rung he looked fatigued and feverish his hair the powdering and arrangement of which was at this time one of the most important occupations of a man's whole day and marked his fashion as much as in the present time the tying of a cravat or the want of one was disheveled uncurled void of powder and dank with dew his clothes were huddled on with a careless negligence remarkable in a military man whose real or supposed duties are usually held to include some attention to the toilet and his looks were haggard and ghastly so you have stolen a march upon us this morning my dear general said lord woodville or you have not found your bed so much to your mind as I had hoped and you seem to expect how did you rest last night oh excellently well remarkably well never better in my life said general brown rapidly and yet with an air of embarrassment which was obvious to his friend he then hastily swallowed a cup of tea and neglecting or refusing whatever else was offered seemed to fall into a fit of abstraction you will take the gun today general said his friend and host but had to repeat the question twice air he received the abrupt answer no my lord I am sorry I cannot have the honor of spending another day with your large ship my post horses are ordered and will be here directly all who were present showed surprise and lord woodville immediately replied post horses my good friend what can you possibly want with them when you promise to stay with me quietly for at least a week I believe said the general obviously much embarrassed that I might in the pleasure of my first meeting with your lordship have said something about stopping here a few days but I have since found it altogether impossible that is very extraordinary answered the young nobleman you seem quite disengaged yesterday and you cannot have had a summons today for our post has not come up from the town and therefore you cannot have received any letters general brown without giving any further explanation but it's something of indispensable business and insisted on the absolute necessity of his departure in a manner which silence all opposition on the part of his host who saw that his resolution was taken and for bore all further importunity at least however he said permit me my dear brown since go you will or must to show you the view from the terrace which the mist that is now rising will soon display he threw open a sash window and stepped down upon the terrace as he spoke the general followed him mechanically but seemed little to attend to what his host was saying as looking across an extended and rich prospect he pointed out the different objects worthy of observation thus they moved on till Lord Woodville had attained his purpose of drawing his guest entirely apart from the rest of the company when turning around upon him with an air of great solemnity he addressed him thus Richard Brown my old and very dear friend we are now alone let me conjure you to answer me upon the word of a friend and the honor of a soldier how did you in reality rest during last night most wretchedly indeed my lord answered the general in the same tone of solemnity so miserably that I would not run the risk of such a second night not only for all the lands belonging to this castle but for all the country which I see from this elevated point of view this is most extraordinary said the young lord as if speaking to himself then there must be something in the reports concerning that apartment again turning to the general he said for God's sake my dear friend be candid with me and let me know the disagreeable particulars which have befallen you under a roof where with consent of the owner you should have met nothing save comfort the general seemed distressed by this appeal and paused a moment before he replied my dear lord he at length said what happened to me last night is of a nature so peculiar and so unpleasant that it could hardly bring myself to detail it even to your lordship were not that independent of my wish to gratify any request of yours I think that sincerity on my part may lead to some explanation about our circumstance equally painful and mysterious to others the communication I am about to make might place me in the light of a weak-minded superstitious fool who suffered his own imagination to delude and bewilder him but you have known me in childhood and youth and will not suspect me of having adopted in manhood the feelings and frailties from which my early years were free here he paused and his friend replied do not doubt my perfect confidence in the truth of your communication however strange it may be replied Lord Woodville I know your firmness of disposition too well to suspect you could be made the object of imposition and am aware that your honor and your friendship will equally deter you from exaggerating whatever you may have witnessed well then said the general I will proceed with my story as well as I can relying upon your candor and yet distinctly feeling that I would rather face a battery than recall to my mind the odious recollections of last night he paused a second time and then perceiving that Lord Woodville remained silent and in an attitude of attention he commenced though not without obvious reluctance the history of his night adventures in the tapestry chamber I addressed and went to bed so soon as your lordship left me yesterday evening but the wood in the chimney which nearly fronted my bed blazed brightly and cheerfully and aided by a hundred exciting recollections of my childhood and youth which had been recalled by the unexpected pleasure of meeting your lordship prevented me from falling immediately asleep I ought however to say that these reflections were all of a pleasant and agreeable kind grounded on a sense of having for a time exchanged the labor fatigues and dangers of my profession for the enjoyments of a peaceful life and the reunion of those friendly and affectionate ties which I had torn asunder at the rude summons of war while such pleasing reflections were stealing over my mind and gradually lulling me to slumber I was suddenly aroused by a sound like that of the rustling of a silken gown and the tapping of a pair of high-heeled shoes as if a woman were walking in the apartment ere I could draw the curtain to see what the matter was the figure of a little woman passed between the bed and the fire the back of this form was turned to me and I could observe from the shoulders and neck it was that of an old woman whose dress was an old-fashioned gown which I think ladies call a sock that is a sort of robe completely loose in the body but gathered into broad plates upon the neck and shoulders which fall down to the ground and terminate in a species of trade I thought the intrusion singular enough but never harbored for a moment the idea that what I saw was anything more than the mortal form of some old woman about the establishment who had a fancy to dress like her grandmother and who having perhaps as your lordship mentioned that you were rather straightened for room been dislodged from her chamber for my accommodation had forgotten the circumstances in return by 12 to her old haunt under this persuasion I've moved myself in bed and coughed a little to make the intruder sensible of my being in possession of the premises she turned slowly around but gracious heavens my lord what a confidence did she display to me there was no longer any question what she was or any thought of her being a living being upon a face which wore the fixed features of a corpse were imprinted the traces of the vilest and most hideous passions which had animated her while she lived the body of some atrocious criminal seemed to have given up from the grave and the soul restored from the penal fire in order to form for a space a union with the ancient accomplice of its guilt I started up in bed and sat upright supporting myself on my palms as I gazed on this horrible specter the hag made as it seemed a single and swift stride to the bed where I lay and squattered herself down upon it in precisely the same attitude which I had assumed in the extremity of horror advancing her diabolical countenance within half a yard of mine with a grin which seemed to intimate the malice and the derision of an incarnate fiend here general brown stopped and wiped from his brow the cold perspiration with which the recollection of this horrible vision had covered it my lord he said I am no coward I have been in all the mortal dangers incidental to my profession and I may truly boast that no man ever knew Richard brown dishonored the sword he wears but in these horrible circumstances under the eyes and as it seemed almost in the grasp of an incarnation of an evil spirit all firmness for suck me all manhood melted from me like wax in the furnace and I felt my hair individually bristle the current of my lifeblood ceased to flow and I sank back in a swan as very a victim to panic terror as ever was a village girl or a child of ten years old how long I lay in this condition I cannot pretend to guess but I was roused by the castle clock striking one so loud that it seemed as if it were in the very room it was some time before I dared open my eyes less they should again encounter the horrible spectacle when however I some encouraged to look up she was no longer visible my first idea was to pull my bell wake the servants and remove to a Garrett or a hayloft to be insured against a second visitation nay I will confess the truth that my resolution was altered not by the shame of exposing myself but by the fear that as the bell cord hung by the chimney I might in making my way to it be again crossed by the fiendish hag who I figured to myself might be still lurking about some corner of the apartment I will not pretend to describe what hot and cold fever fits tormented me for the rest of the night through broken sleep wary vigils and that dubious state which forms the neutral ground between them a hundred terrible objects appeared to haunt me but there was the great difference between the vision which I have described and those which followed that I knew the last to be deceptions of my own fancy day at last appeared and I rose from my bed ill in health and humiliated in mind I was ashamed of myself as a man and a soldier and still more so at feeling my own extreme desire to escape from the haunted apartment which however conquered all other considerations so that huddling on my clothes with the most careless haste I made my escape from your lordship's mansion to seek in the open air some relief to my nervous system shaken as it was by this horrible encounter with a visitant for such I must believe her from the other world your lordship has now heard the case of my discomfiture and of my sudden desire to leave your hospitable castle in other places I trust we may often meet but God protect me from ever spending a second night under that roof strange as the generals tale was he spoke with such a deep air of conviction that it cut short all the usual commentaries which are made on such stories Lord Woodville never once asked him if he was sure he did not dream of the apparition or suggested any of the possibilities by which it is fashionable to explain supernatural appearances as wild vagaries of the fancy or deceptions of the optic nerves on the contrary he seemed deeply impressed with the truth and reality of what he had heard and after a considerable pause regretted with much appearance of sincerity that his early friend should in his house have suffered so severely I am the more sorry for your pain my dear brown he continued that it is the unhappy though most unexpected result of an experiment of my own you must know that for my father and grandfather's time at least the apartment which was assigned to you last night had been shut on account of reports that it was disturbed by supernatural sights and noises when I came a few weeks since into possession of the estate I thought the accommodation which the castle afforded for my friends was not extensive enough to permit the inhabitants of the invisible world to retain possession of a comfortable sleeping apartment I therefore caused the tapestry chamber as we call it to be opened and without destroying its air of antiquity I had such new articles of furniture placed in it as became the modern times yet as the opinion that the room was haunted very strongly prevailed among the domestics and was also known in the neighborhood and too many of my friends I feared some prejudice might be entertained by the first occupant of the tapestry chamber which might tend to revive the evil report which it had labored under and so disappoint my purpose of rendering it a useful part of the house I must confess my dear brown that your arrival yesterday agreeable to me for a thousand reasons besides seemed the most favorable opportunity of removing the unpleasant rumors which attached to the room since your courage was indubitable and your mind free of any preoccupation on the subject I could not therefore have chosen a more fitting subject for my experiment upon my life said general brown somewhat hastily I am infinitely obliged to your lordship very particularly indebted indeed I am likely to remember for some time the consequences of the experiment as your lordship is pleased to call it nay now you are unjust my dear friend said Lord Woodville you have only to reflect for a single moment in order to be convinced that I could not auger the possibility of the pain to which you have been so unhappily exposed I was yesterday morning a complete skeptic on the subject of supernatural appearances nay I am sure that had I told you what was said about that room those very reports would have induced you by your own choice to select it for your accommodation it was my misfortune perhaps my error but really cannot be termed my fault that you have been afflicted so strangely strangely indeed said the general resuming his good temper and I acknowledged that I have no right to be offended with your lordship for treating me like what I used to think myself a man of some firmness and courage but I see my post horses are arrived and I must not detain your lordship from your amusement nay my old friend said Lord Woodville since you cannot stay with us another day which indeed I can no longer urge give me at least half an hour more you used to love pictures and I have a gallery of portraits some of them by van dyke representing ancestry to whom this property in castle formally belonged I think that several of them will strike you as possessing merit general Brown accepted the invitation though somewhat unwillingly it was evident he was not to breathe freely or at ease till he left Woodville castle far behind him he could not refuse his friend's invitation however and the less so that he was a little ashamed of the pivishness which he had displayed toward his well-meaning entertainer the general therefore followed Lord Woodville through several rooms into a long gallery hung with pictures which the latter pointed out to his guest telling the names and giving some account of the personages whose portraits presented themselves in progression general Brown was but little interested in the details which these accounts conveyed to him they were indeed of the kind which are usually found in an old family gallery here was a Cavalier who had ruined the estate in the royal cause there a fine lady who had reinstated it by contracting a match with a wealthy roundhead there hung a gallant who had been in danger for corresponding with the exiled court at Saint Germain's here one who had taken arms for William at the revolution and there a third that had thrown his weight alternately into the scale of wig and Tory while Lord Woodville was cramming these words into his guest's ear against the stomach of his sense they gained the middle of the gallery when he beheld general Brown suddenly start and assume an attitude of the utmost surprise not unmixed with fear as his eyes were caught and suddenly riveted by a portrait of an old lady in a sack the fashionable dress at the end of the 17th century there she is he exclaimed there she is in form and features though inferior in demonic expression to the hag that visited me last night if that be the case said the young no woman there can remain no longer any doubt of the horrible reality of your apparition that is the picture of a wretched ancestors of mine of whose crimes a black and fearful catalog is recorded in a family history in my charter chest the recital of them would be too horrible it is enough to say that in young fatal apartment incest and unnatural murder were committed I will restore it to the solitude to which the better judgment of those who preceded me had consigned it and never show anyone so long as I can prevent it be exposed to a repetition of the supernatural horrors which could shake such courage as yours thus the friends who had met with such glee parted in a very different mood Lord Woodville to command the tapestry chamber to be unmetaled and the doors built up and general brown to seek in some less beautiful country and with some less dignified friend forgetfulness of the painful night which he had passed in Woodville Castle. The Story of the Snow Elinora by Anonymous Section 9 A true tale of the South Seas that tells of the remarkable experience of an American trading vessel and its skippers terrible revenge more than a century ago. At the time that Commodore Dewey's squadron hurled its showers of lead and steel upon the doomed ships of the Spanish Admiral in Manila Bay scores of mushroom bards uncovered their liars and described the sensations of the echoes that had the honor of bearing for the first time in the history of the world the sounds of Yankee guns among the startled islands of the Pacific. But the boards were wrong. The echoes performed that office during the first administration of George Washington as President of the United States. The incident is one which apparently has escaped the notice of historians else it would have been recalled shortly before the close of last year when political circles in France were somewhat fluttered by a rumor that as a result of a series of secret negotiations the French government had expressed its willingness to sell the United States the island of Tahiti. The rumor was soon denied officially but in the meantime thousands of Americans had taken down their atlases looked up the situation of the island and asked themselves what the United States wanted with it anyway. But there was a little story concerning the island of Tahiti formerly known as Otahiti that the atlases and gazetteers did not give them. The story of a Yankee skipper's revenge. It tells how American guns commanded respect for the flag in the South Seas in the year 1790. The Yankee skipper was Captain Metcalf who then was in command of an armed trading vessel named the Elinora. The Elinora was a snow which it may be worthwhile to explain was an old-fashioned variety of brig. Her crew consisted of Americans, Portuguese and some natives picked up at Manila. The account of the remarkable adventure is printed in The Gentleman's Magazine published in London April 1791. The writer who was one of the officers of the Elinora at the time relates his story with brutal frankness and his narration resulted in a vast deal of comment abroad that was somewhat galling to the citizens of the newborn Republic of the United States. The account as published in The Gentleman's Magazine is as follows. Story told by an officer. On or about the 30th of January 1790 we anchored under Ladron Mount and commenced a trade with the natives for hogs, fruit, limes, fish, etc., but not liking the situation we weighed anchor and went two miles farther up into a bay and came to anchor about four p.m. At eleven or twelve o'clock midnight some of the natives swam off and cut away the cutter from a stern. At one p.m. we discovered that she was missing and immediately called all hands aft on the quarter-deck and found none missing except the man who was in her as boatkeeper. We then hoisted the small boat out to go in search of her, but found on lowering her into the water she leaked in such a manner as obliged us to hoist her in again which rendered it impossible to search that night. On the preceding evening an old man requested permission to sleep on board which was granted, but after missing the boat we put him in irons. When daylight approached no canoes came off as usual which confirmed our suspicions that they had cut the boat adrift. The women on board wished to go on shore. Captain Metcalf told them they might go when they thought proper. They all immediately leapt into the water and swam to the shore at least three miles distance. The old man also requested leave to go, but leave was not granted him. In the afternoon two or three canoes came alongside with presents from the chief consisting of hogs and fruit, but they were not accepted. The last that came we ordered immediately away, but they paid little attention to it until we fired musket shots at them which killed and wounded three or four. Tried to sink ship with knife. Toward night a man swam from the shore to the cable with a knife in his hand and afterward swam under the ship's counter where we saw him with the knife. He had once or twice dived under water and started a piece of copper off the ship's bottom. Imagining could he get the copper off the ship would sink. Captain Metcalf fired a pistol at him from the cabin window, but missed him. Three or four of the people jumped into the boat and caught him. After bringing him on board Captain Metcalf fully determined to hang him, ordering a rope to be rove at the four-yard arm and the rope greased, but by the persuasion of Mr. Chambers and myself he concluded to save his life and keep him prisoner. The next day we observed four or five thousand people to come down opposite the ship, all armed with slings, spears, and arrows. At ten o'clock we hauled the ship within a quarter of a mile of the shore and fired round and grapeshot at them and dislodged them from the village. At twelve o'clock I went on shore with the boat and six men set fire to the village and more a place of worship. Some of them were seen very near, but by constant firing from the ship they did not attempt to attack us. I came on board and took some small water casks to fill with water, but after landing that attention not being paid to firing as before, the natives came down, great numbers, throwing their spears and stones which obliged us to go on board again, our object unaccomplished. They then all went to the summit of a hill, thinking the shot from the ship could not reach them there, but we fired two guns with such good aim that they were soon convinced of their error and immediately fled to the mountains and low ditches where it was impossible for our shot to touch them. We then desisted from firing, hoeve up the anchors and went farther up the bay in hope of completing our water. The chief accepted ransom. Toward evening we again came to an anchor and on the next morning two or three canoes came off who were well treated, so that more came off and engaged to bring us water, and the captain purchased a small boy and girl for two axes and a few beads. After continuing here three or four days we weighed anchor and stood from the island. We had been under wave about an hour and a half with a light breeze when the natives came in a canoe alongside and informed us that the chief of the people who had stolen the boat lived behind a point to the northward. We then hauled our wind, went around the point and came to anchor. The next day a canoe came alongside with one of their chiefs. When he came on board we began to ex-postulate with him in order to recover our boat and the man. He told us that for a reward he would bring both of them. Captain Metcalf offered him a musket, eight cartridges, one bar of iron, and a piece of Bengal cloth for the man, and the same for the boat, which he agreed to. The next morning he again came on board and said if we would send a boat on shore or near the shore he would bring the man. Immediately by order of Captain Metcalf I armed the boat and went near the shore, but after waiting an hour paying attention to their proceedings and their not bringing the man I returned on board. The chief then came off a second time and said if the boat went again we might depend upon getting the man. I armed the boat and again went towards shore, where after waiting half an hour they sent a man who swam to the boat with the thigh bones of the man who was boat-keeper when they stole the boat. I received them and came on board, showed them to Captain Metcalf, and threw them into the sea. A few minutes afterward the same chief came on board for the reward it was given, and he was also told that if he brought the boat the reward should be given for that also, for he insisted that it was not hurt. Sacrificed Seaman Two Gods He then told us the manner in which they had killed the boat-keeper as follows, that after cutting away the post and she had drifted a distance from the ship they got into her and found the man asleep, but he immediately awoke and seeing them drew his knife upon them. They however overpowered him and took the knife from him, cut his head off, and took him on shore, and the next night burned him for a sacrifice to their gods. We judged the night they stole the boat, they killed the man, and the next day burnt him, as the mountains seemed to be one continuous blaze, which is their custom on such occasions, but were not then positive of the above. After relating the story he desired of the captain that the natives might come and trade as usual. Leave being granted he went on shore, and just at sunset he came off again in a large double canoe with twenty-five women, but the captain, suspecting they had some design in the night to take the vessel, would not permit them to come on board. The day following the canoes, as usual at the other islands, came alongside with hogs, fruit, limes, etc. The chief had told them they might come and trade without molestation. At ten a.m. the chief came alongside with two others and had in their canoe the keel of the boat which they had stolen. After he came he called and wanted the reward which was promised. Captain Metcalfe was informed of his being alongside and of his having the boat's keel. He then came on deck and saw it, and, being then perfectly convinced of the man's being killed and the boat broken, made this expression that I will now give the reward they little expect. The captain was merciless. Mr. Chambers and myself endeavored to persuade the captain to entice the three chiefs on board and afterward to hang them on the four-yard in view of the whole island, which might perhaps be sufficient warning for them in future never to attempt distressing any ships which might touch at their islands. But our permissions were of no effect. He was fully determined to take the following means of punishing them. First, to decoy those canoes which were on the larboard to come to the starboard side, then to station one man to each post lanyard, and others down to the guns between decks, while others on the quarter-deck were stationed at the swivels and four brass guns, and when everything was in readiness to fire immediately into the canoes all at one command. The guns that were below had on each of them a hundred musket-balls and fifty language-nails. There were seven of the above guns, each containing the like quantity. The four guns on the quarter-deck had in them fifty balls each. Some of the swivels had ten balls. Mr. Chambers and myself strongly insisted that this punishment was too severe and only butchering a number of innocent women and children. But he replied, We were going to attempt taking the command of the ship from him, and that the orders should be obeyed and immediately ordered every man to his station. The men wished to fire into the canoes, as the man whom they had killed was a Manila man, and the crew were all Portuguese or Manila men. After the people were all stationed he gave orders to fire, and the whole broadside was aimed direct at the canoes. To attempt to describe the horrible scene that ensued is too much for my pen. The water alongside continued of a crimson color for at least ten minutes. Some were sinking, others lying half out of their canoes without arms or legs, while others lay in their canoes weltering in their blood. Although the appearance was so horrid, our people wished to get into the boats and use boarding-pikes to kill those in the water, but by severely punishing two or three they desisted from their dreadful purpose. THE HARVEST OF DEATH Some persons on board said they had counted the canoes before we fired, the number of which was two hundred and twelve, but I do not think they were above one hundred and seventy, or eighty. The number killed, we then imagined, exceeded one hundred, and as many more wounded, but some weeks after they told us the number missing on the island was eighty and one hundred and fifteen were wounded. The greater part dead and dying fast. The information they gave us at the island of Oyi, about fifteen leagues to windward, and we judged it to be true, as canoes are daily passing from island to island. After our firing ceased we weighed anchor and stood for the island of Oyi. I have sent this account, as those who are acquainted with the circumstance think Captain Metcalf much to blame, and that should any vessels go to these islands from America they might be particularly cautious, and not pay too much attention to the friendship professed for them by these islanders. P.S. They cut off a schooner about six weeks after, which belonged to Captain Metcalf, and murdered all the people. END OF SECTION IX Dr. Emile Reich has been lecturing to fashionable London on such universally fascinating themes as women and love. According to the news dispatches, so great has been the popularity of his talks that there have not been seats enough to accommodate his title here, and at one lecture the Duchess of Portland sat on the floor. He has said of love and personality. Personality is always a mystery with its anathetically mingled elements in man and woman. Women have loved wrongly and known it, were perfectly aware of it. They only know also that they were helpless to avoid it. The desire of their lives has been gratified, something has happened. What was there about Georges Sainz, save perhaps pretty good eyes, to send such men as Alfred D. Muset and Friedrich Schopen absolutely crazy. Nothing interesting about her, even her unattractiveness enhanced by her constant smoking. Yet she could inspire the prelude which Schopen composed on seeing her approach in a garden in Minorca, the greatest piece of music ever compressed into a single page. Gertas Gretchen, the little bourgeois, without apparent attractiveness, yet inspiring his mighty genius, what is this mystery of man and woman? The beauty of nations differs very much. The Latins are less beautiful than the Anglo-Saxons. The angularity of the North German woman is notorious, an uncharming person. Why? It has nothing whatever to do with race. The growth of the Hanseatic cities brought great wealth in North Germany. Money bags married money bags. The result was a people of severely plain aspect. There are not many money bags in America, although there are many money bags in the hands of a few. American Men Marry for Love The American is insulted if mention of a dowry is made in his wedding arrangements. He marries because he loves the woman and she him. Hence the American people have become exceedingly beautiful. Then the facilities for divorce presented in the United States are an important factor in the beautification process. Love is really at the bottom of it all. Not money bags or race, but love. The French are always talking about l'amour, l'amour. But really there is no l'amour there at all. People generally talk most about what they haven't got, or don't know. Yes, indeed, so rare is l'amour in France, that it accounts for the decline in facial beauty of the French woman, not in movement. For in movement she excels the world, but in face. Rome and Greece were ruined by treating marriage as a matter of business. Complimentary to Dr. Reich's praise of the American woman's beauty is his criticism of her love of domination. In that characteristic he reads the Doom of America. We quote his reasons from the New York American. Nations differ in nothing so much as their women. The French, English, or American woman is easily distinguishable. The American woman is totally different from the English woman, so is the French woman, though the difference in this case is not so intense. So is the German woman, so is the woman of Italy. The American woman, while differing from all her European sisters of today, bears a marked resemblance to the woman of ancient Sparta. The Spartans resembled the present-day Americans. The Athenians were like the English. I do not blame, I do not praise. I only say, and I say emphatically, that the American woman is not womanly. She is not a woman. The whole of the United States is under petticoat government, and the man is practically non-existent. In America woman commands man. Man does not count there. The last man that came to America was Christopher Columbus. Today man has no existence. He does not talk in the drawing-room, but is a dummy. The woman lives one life, the man another, and they are totally distinct from each other. The Best Complexion in the World She is as new as a man born today is new. She is made up of restlessness and fidgetiness long before she is 25. But she is very beautiful. She has the best complexion in the world, better than that of any European woman. She is also well-built and handsome. You see fine specimens of the American woman in Kentucky and Massachusetts. A few miles distant from the Athens of old, what would be but a short railway journey in these days lay Sparta. The Spartans were imperialists, and they wanted to conquer the whole of Greece. The Spartan woman, as I have remarked, was like the American woman of today. She never dreamed of lovers. Her idea was nothing less than conquering man. She never thought of him as more than a fellow athlete. The Spartan woman ruined Sparta. There was no womanhood in them, no more than in so many sticks. The Athenians said that they were very fine, but there was nothing feminine about them. They were far richer, too, than the men, for the men went to the wars and died and the women thus became rich. Aristotle said that the Spartan woman was sure to ruin Sparta very quickly. And so she did, for we find Sparta trying to rule Greece in the fourth century B.C. In the third century she was sinking. In the second century she had ceased to exist. Modern British men and women, what are they? That is what I want to bring out. A nation can never survive with women of the Spartan type, which, as I have told you, is the American woman of today. The Romans were the same, and they ruined their empire. They had one idea, an all-absorbing idea which killed all ideas of religion, of art, of everything, the idea of empire. They spent their entire life in that one absorbing pursuit, domination. In such a country, woman has no place. End of Section 10. Section 11 of the scrapbook, Volume 1, Sampler, by Various, edited by Frank A. Muncie. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Bologna Times. When Vesuvius destroyed Pompey by the younger Pliny, 79 A.D. Section 11. Pliny the Younger, Caus, Pinius, Cilius, Secundus, was perhaps the most cultivated and graceful man of letters of the first century A.D. Literally a man of letters, he left ten books of his epistels, which he himself collected, probably even wrote with a view to publication, and their fluent charm still pleases the taste of the reader. One of his letters, written while he was governor of Bithynia, asked instructions from the Emperor Trejan as to what policy should be pursued against the sect of Christians. In other epistels, he tells two excellent ghost stories, but the two letters, which are most vital in their human interest, and which record the most thrilling events, are the two addressed to his friend, the historian Tacitus, concerning the great eruption of Vesuvius on August 24, A.D. 79. Pliny was only seventeen years of age when he witnessed this eruption which destroyed Pompey and Herculaneum, and in which his uncle, the elder Pliny, author of the celebrated natural history, perished. Until the year 79, Vesuvius was not suspected of being a volcano. The mountain was covered with vegetation, and the ancient crater was like a circular bowl scooped from the summit. Then came the explosion which buried Pompey and Herculaneum, never since has the volcano long remained quiet. The most serious eruptions have been those of 203, 472, 512, 685, 983, 1066, 1631, 1779, 1794, 1822, 1855, 1865, 1872, 1878, 1880, 1895, and 1906. Pliny's descriptions of the scenes on the slopes of the vengeful volcano, the raining ashes, the fleeing, terrified crowds, are as fresh and vivid today as those Roman frescoes, which it has been the good fortune of the modern archaeologist to uncover after 2,000 years of burial beneath the Vesuvian scorer. Letter No. 1 Your request that I would send you an account of my uncle's death in order to transmit a more exact relation of it to posterity deserves my acknowledgments, for if this accident shall be celebrated by your pen, the glory of it, I am well assured, will be rendered forever illustrious. And notwithstanding, he perished by a misfortune which, as it involved at the same time a most beautiful country in ruins and destroyed so many populous cities, seems to promise him an everlasting remembrance. Notwithstanding, he has himself composed many enlasting works, yet I am persuaded the mentioning of him in your immortal writings will greatly contribute to render his name immortal. Happy I esteemed those to be whom, by the provision of the gods, has been granted the ability either to do such actions as are worthy of being related, or to relate them in a manner worthy of being read. But peculiarly happy are they who are blessed with both these uncommon talents, in the number of which my uncle, as his own writings, and your history will evidently prove, may justly be ranked. It is with extreme willingness therefore that I execute your commands, and should indeed have demanded the task if you had not enjoined it. He was at that time, with the fleet under his command, at Mazzinum. On the twenty-fourth of August, about one in the afternoon, my mother desired him to observe a cloud which appeared of a very unusual size and shape. He had just taken a turn in the sun, and after bathing himself in cold water, and making a light luncheon, gone back to his books. He immediately arose, and went out upon a rising ground, from which he might get a better sight of this very uncommon appearance. A cloud from which mountain was uncertain at this distance, but it was found afterward to come from Mount Vesuvius, was ascending, the appearance of which I cannot give you a more exact description of than by likening it to that of a pine-tree, for it shot up to a great height in the form of a very tall trunk, which spread itself out at the top into a sort of branches, occasioned, I imagine, either by a sudden gust of air that impelled it, the force of which decreased as it advanced upward, or the cloud itself being pressed back again by its own weight, expanded in the manner I have mentioned. It appeared sometimes bright, and sometimes dark, and spotted, according as it was either more or less impregnated with earth and cenders. The Elder Planny's Heroism This phenomenon seemed to a man of such learning and research as my uncle extraordinary, and worth further looking into. He ordered a light vessel to be got ready, and gave me leave, if I liked, to accompany him. I said I had rather go on with my work, and it so happened he had himself given me something to write out. As he was coming out of the house he received a note from Ritina, the wife of Bassus, who was in the utmost alarm at the imminent danger which threatened her, for her villa lying at the foot of Mount Vesuvius there was no way of escape by sea. She earnestly entreated him, therefore, to come to her assistance. He accordingly changed his first intention, and what he had begun from a philosophical he now carried out in a noble and generous spirit. He ordered the galleys to put to sea, and went himself on board with an intention of assisting not only Ritina, but the several towns which lay thickly strung along the beautiful coast. Castening then to the place from whence others fled with the utmost terror, he steered his course direct to the point of danger, and with so much calmness and presence of mind as to be able to make and dictate his observations upon the motion and all the phenomena of that dreadful scene. He was now so close to the mountain that the cinders, which grew thicker and hotter the nearer he approached, fell into the ships, together with pumice stones and black pieces of burning rock. They were in danger, too, not only of being aground by the sudden retreat of the sea, but also from the vast fragments which rolled down from the mountain and obstructed all the shore. Here he stopped to consider whether he should turn back again, to which the pilot advising him, Fortune, said he, favours the brave, steered to where Pamponianus is. Pamponianus was then at Stabai, Castellamer, separated by a bay which the sea, after several insensible windings, forms with the shore. He had already sent his baggage on board, for though he was not at that time in actual danger, yet being within sight of it, and indeed extremely near, if it should in the least increase he was determined to put to sea as soon as the wind, which was blowing dead in shore, should go down. It was favourable, however, for carrying my uncle to Pamponianus, whom he found in the greatest consternation. He embraced him tenderly, encouraging and urging him to keep up his spirits, and the more effectually to soothe his fears by seeming unconcerned himself, ordered a bath to be got ready, and then, after having bathed, sat down to supper with great cheerfulness, or at least what is just as heroic, with every appearance of it. Meanwhile, broad flames shone out in several places from Mount Vesuvius, which the darkness of the night contributed to render still brighter and clearer. But my uncle, in order to soothe the apprehensions of his friend, assured him it was only the burning of the villages, which the country people had abandoned to the flames. After this he retired to rust, and it is most certain he was so little disquieted as to fall into a sound sleep, for his breathing, which, on account of his corpulence, was rather heavy, and sonorous, was heard by the attendants outside. The court which led to his apartment being now almost filled with stones and ashes, if he had continued there any time longer, it would have been impossible for him to have made his way out. So he was awakened, and got up, and went to Pomponi Anus, and the rest of his company, who were feeling too anxious to think of going to bed. They consulted together whether it would be most prudent to trust to the houses which now rocked from side to side with frequent and violent concussions, as though shaken from their very foundations, or fly to the open fields, where calcined stones and cenders, though light indeed, yet fell in large showers and threatened destruction, tied pillows on their heads. In this choice of dangers they resolved for the fields, a resolution which, while the rest of the company were hurried into it by their fears, my uncle embraced upon cool and deliberate consideration. They went out then, having pillows tied upon their heads, with napkins, and this was their whole defense, against the storm of stones that fell round them. It was now day everywhere else, but there a deeper darkness prevailed then in the thickest night, which, however, was in some degree alleviated by torches and other lights of various kinds. They thought proper to go farther down upon the shore to see if they might safely put to sea, but found the way of still running extremely high and boisterous. There, my uncle, laying himself down upon a cell-cloth, which was spread for him, called twice for some cold water, which he drank, when immediately the flames, preceded by a stiff whiff of sulfur, dispersed the rest of the party and obliged him to rise. He raised himself up with the assistance of two of his servants, and instantly fell down dead, suffocated, as I conjecture, by some gross and noxious favour, having always had a weak throat, which was often inflamed. As soon as it was light again, which was not till the third day after this melancholy accident, his body was found entire, and without any marks of violence upon it, in the dress in which he fell, and looking more like a man asleep than dead. During all this time my mother and I, who were at Messinum, but this has no connection with your history, and you did not desire any particulars besides those of my uncle's death, so I will end here, only adding that I have faithfully related to you what I was either a witness of myself or received the news of immediately after the accident happened, and before there was time to vary the truth. You will pick out of this narrative whatever is most important, for a letter is one thing, a history another. It is one thing writing to a friend, another writing to the public. Farewell. Letter number two. The letter which, in compliance with your request, I wrote to you concerning the death of my uncle, has raised, it seems, your curiosity to know what terrors and dangers attended me while I continued at Messinum, for there I think my account broke off. Though my shocked soul recoils, my tongue shall tell. My uncle, having left us, I spent such time as was left on my studies, it was on their account, indeed, that I had stopped behind, till it was time for my bath, after which I went to supper, and then fell into a short and uneasy sleep. There had been notice for many days before a trembling of the earth, which did not alarm us much, as this is quite an ordinary occurrence in Campania, but it was so particularly violent that night, that it not only shook but overturned, as it would seem, everything about us. My mother rushed into my chamber, where she found me rising, in order to awaken her. We sat down in the open court of the house, which occupied a small space between the buildings and the sea. As I was at that time but eighteen years of age, I know not whether I should call my behavior in this dangerous juncture courage or folly, but I took up Livy and amused myself with turning over that author, and even making extracts from him, as if I had been perfectly at my leisure. Just then a friend of my uncle, who had lately come to him from Spain, joined us, and observed me sitting by my mother with a book in my hand, reproved her for her calmness, and me at the same time for my careless security. Nevertheless I went on with my author. Though it was now morning, the light was still exceedingly faint and doubtful. The buildings all around us tottered, and though we stood upon open ground, yet, as the place was narrow and confined, there was no remaining without imminent danger. We therefore resolved to quit the town. Effects of the earthquakes. A panic-stricken crowd followed us, and, as to a mind distracted with terror every suggestion seems more prudent than its own, pressed on us in dense array to drive us forward as we came out. Being at a convenient distance from the houses, we stood still in the midst of a most dangerous and dreadful scene. The chariots, which we had ordered to be drawn out, were so agitated backward and forward, though upon the most level ground that we could not keep them steady even by supporting them with large stones. The sea seemed to roll back upon itself and to be driven from its banks by the convulsive motion of the earth. It is certain at least the shore was considerably enlarged, and several sea animals were left upon it. On the other side a black and dreadful cloud, broken with rapid zigzag flashes, revealed behind it variously shaped masses of flame. These lasts were like sheet lightning, but much larger. Upon this our Spanish friend, who I mentioned above, addressed himself to my mother and me with great energy and urgency. If your brother, he said, if your uncle be safe, he certainly wishes you may be so, too. But if he perished it was his desire, no doubt, that you might both survive him. Why, therefore, do you delay your escape a moment? We could never think of our own safety, we said, while we were uncertain of his. Upon this our friend left us and withdrew from the danger with the utmost precipitation. Soon afterward the cloud began to descend and cover the sea. It had already surrounded and concealed the island of Capri and the promontory of Messinum. My mother now besought, urged, even commanded me to make my escape at any rate, which, as I was young, I might easily do. As for herself, she said, her age and corpulency rendered all attempts of that sort impossible. However, she would willingly meet death if she could have the satisfaction of seeing that she was not the occasion of mine. But I absolutely refused to leave her, and, taking her by the hand, compelled her to go with me. She complied with great reluctance and not without many reproaches to herself for retorting my flight. The ashes now began to fall upon us, though in no great quantity. I looked back, a dense dark mist seemed to be following us, spreading itself over the country like a cloud. Let us turn out of the high road, I said, while we can still see. For fear that, should we fall in the road, we should be pressed to death in the dark by the crowds that are following us. We had scarcely sat down when night came upon us, not such as we have when the sky is cloudy or when there is no moon, but that of a room when it is shut up and all the lights put out. The terror of the people. You might hear the shrieks of women, the screams of children, and the shouts of men, some calling for their children, others for their parents, others for their husbands, and seeking to recognize each other by the voices that replied, one lamenting his own fate, another that of his family. Some wishing to die, from the very fear of dying, some lifting their hands to the gods, but the greater part convinced that there were now no gods at all, and that the final endless night of which we have heard had come upon the world. Among these there were some who augmented the real terrors by others imaginary or willfully invented. I remember some who declared that one part of misanom had fallen, that another was on fire. It was false, but they found people to believe them. It now grew rather lighter, which we imagined to be rather the forerunner of an approaching burst of flames, as in truth it was, than the return of day. However, the fire fell at a distance from us. Then again we were immersed in thick darkness and a heavy shower of ashes rained upon us, which we were obliged every now and then to stand up, to shake off, otherwise we should have been crushed and buried in the heap. I might boast that during all the scene of horror, not a sigh or expression of fear escaped me, had not my support been grounded in that miserable, though mighty consolation that all mankind were involved in the same calamity, and that I was perishing with the world itself. At last this dreadful darkness was dissipated by degrees, like a cloud or smoke. The real day returned, and even the sun shone out, though with a lurid light, as when an eclipse is coming on. Every object that presented itself to our eyes, which were extremely weakened, seemed changed, being covered deep with ashes, as if with snow. We returned to misanom, where we refreshed ourselves as well as we could, and passed an anxious night between hope and fear, though indeed with a much larger share of the latter, for the earthquake still continued, while many frenzied persons ran up and down, heightening their own and their friend's calamities by terrible predictions. However, my mother and I, notwithstanding the danger we had passed, and that which still threatened us, had no thoughts of leaving the place till we could receive some news of my uncle. You will read this narrative without any view of inserting it in your history, of which it is not in the least worthy, and indeed you must put it down to your own request, if it should appear not worth even the trouble of a letter. Farewell.