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Per Year. Vol. XXIX. A Young Commander “Is that the chap we shipped un¬ der? Why, he hasn't grown a heard yet." ^“Nevertheless he ie the skipper of this craft, and a right smart one, too, as you'll find out if you cruise many months aboard of her," “That may be, but I'd rather see a man on the quarter deck than a boy." * “What's the difference if the boy has a man's head on his shoulders? It isn't always those who have lived the longest in this world that know the most, as I have found out. Our skipper and I were shipmates on the voyage that he jumped from be¬ fore the mast to the quarter deck,” } “Don't see how he could do it," grumbled the one addressed as Tom. ► “It was this way," began Bill Becket that same evening in the “do^ watch" when he and his com? pajiion Tom, who was also a boat steer*?, were leaning idly over the the feather rail, gazing out on vast expanse of water* over which their vessel was bounding before a fair wind. • “It's little over four years now since I joined the B&ce Horse down in one of the Kanaka islands. I had run away from another ship and had 'beach combed' it (nautical parlance for tramp) until I got a chance in the Race Horse. We were going north to cruise in the Okhotsk tea. The skipper was before the mast then. He was a chap that didn't have to see a thing don* more than twice before he could do it himself. f “I handled the harpoons in the mate's boat, and little Blue Fin, as ewe called our cap'n that is now, pulled the bow oar in the same craft. One morning just a little aft¬ er daylight the lookout in the cross- trees raised a school of sperm whales. We had a pretty stiff breeze the night before, and the sea was stiU running high. We lowered Sway. mate**, however, second mate's our three and third's. boats— “'I'll take that fellow up to wind'ard!' called our officer as be pointed to a big whale that was playing around on the outside of the school as though he was and placed calves there to protect the cows that were huddled together in the middle from any danger. a * Look out, Bill,' says the mate to me as he stood grasping the steering oar. 'Look out, man, and don't miss him. There's a good hundred barrels there/ a * Aye, aye, sir/ said I. %ay me on close enough, and I'll drive Doth irons into him clear to the beefe- eta/ “There was no danger but what he'd do it, for the fellow didn't know what it was to be afraid of a whale. I wasn't going to take any chances, so I waited till the boat al¬ most touched the big brute, then I let fly both harpoon*, one after an¬ other, and sung out. 'Stern all!' (When the boys were backing so as to give the whale room to play, I went aft to change places with the mate, and he walked forward to his elation in the bow to kill the fish with a lance. “Now, this whale tiiat was one of those kind of fellows take hjs medicine easy at first, but fights like fury before he hTsts his red flag. He didn't 'sound,' but lay and wallowed for a minuts or two, then began to swing round so as to get eifcht of us. “ 'He’s going to give us a tussle,' celled the mate. ! «< Aye, aye; I he's a fighter/ says L “Then caught sight of Blue Fin's face. All the other chaps Nrere glancing over their shoulders and beginning to get a little shaky, but he sat on bis thwart with bis hand grasping the oax. just as quiet and unconcerned as if he were in a skiff on a mill pond and not within half a cable’s length of a mad bull sperm that threatened to send him and his shipmates an^minute. to Davy Jones' locker at V M ‘SUajmS te Juidbf the The Toccoa Record. Toccoa, Georgia, October 3 1902. mate, ‘lie's coming for us r “Now, you know there's no boat quick enough to get out of the way of a whale when he makes a rush, so the only thing to do is to leave her. The other man sprang to their feet, but the boy still sat there, and I began fright. to think he was paralyzed with «< Stand up to jump, Blue Fin!' I called. 'And when you go leap from straight him/ for the beggar and not “The lad smiled and nodded his (head and, standing up, unshipped held bis oar from the thole pin, it ready and faced about. “Then the whale started. " 'J ump !' yelled the mate. “The next instant we. were all floundering around in the water, while the bull caught the boat in his mouth, crushed it to pieces and sounded. “The third mate, who bad just killed one small chap, was not far away, so he came and picked all but the mate. We never saw him afterward. He must have been fouled in the lines and gone down. “We got two out of the school, but all hands felt sad at the loss of the officer. I couldn't help telling our through skipper how cool Blue Fin was the whole thing, and when he shoved the officers ahead he rat¬ ed his own boat steerer third mate and ordered Blue Fin to take charge of the irons in his craft, “I tel} ypu the boy was proud enough, but he had nerve and good luck, to whaler. both of which This are destined everything a was to be an unfortunate voyage for the After Guards. The whales were plenty in the Okhotsk sea, and there was hardly a day but what we were outing “One in or trying out blubber. afternoon the cap'n lowered away for a 'right' whale, Our boat was close alongside, but the skipper sung out: M ( Don't you meddle with him; he's my fish!' So of course we hung back, only standing by to lend a hand in case we were needed. “Blue Fin made a pretty dart, He hurled his first iron about six feet aft the bow hole, and the other low he planted rolled. in the belly as the fel¬ It was a deathblow, but before the whale began to spout blood he brought his flukes around, caught the boat before the boys could baok out of the way and stove her to pieces. We pulled in and picked *old man* up Just the crew. he I'grabbed going down, the as was and when I hauled him up I saw that he was hurt badly and was un¬ conscious. He was smashed up in a frightful manner and never recov¬ ered. “Next morning at eight bells we launched the dead body of the cap'n from the starb'd gangway, while the fish that had killed him was moored with chains to the port side of the ship. Poor Blue Fin felt awful bad, and he kept mourn¬ ing as the mate read the burial serv¬ ice, saying: "'Oh, if I hadn't struck the whale that last blow! 'Twas the second iron that touched his “life," and our cap'n's too/ “But , shipmate," went on the boat steerer, “it was to be, and it's the way of the world, I suppose. One man mounts to a position through the ship death built of another, just the as a new is to take place of a craft that has found a bed on the rocks " “Yes, there's a great deal of truth in what you say # Bill. But how was it that your cap'n's loss rated Blue Fin skipper ?” “He of wasn't the word, skipper but 'twas in every this sense way: The officers that were left were the same as you and I—good sailors and good whalers—but they knew nothing of navigation. Blue Fin, of all our company, was the only one who could handle * quad- rant or ^ork up a Mght. As I said, the whales were plenty, and we didn’t want to leave the grounds tUl the ice drove us out, for we were making money, so we finished our crime, and wnen we reached Hono- lulu we were full to the hatches with k° na * There was some talk . .. of . shipping v . . another man to take the vessel fewne* but th&agent and the Amerit “flood Will to All Men.’ can consul said, *11 mat young man knew enough to bring the craft safely out of the Okhotsk sea, he knows enough to find his way to New Bedford.' They just engaged another mate 'by the run/ who wa 3 a navigator, and gave the boy charge of the ship. “We made a quick passage around the Horn, and the owners were so much pleased with Blue Fin that they gave him command of the Race Horse on the next voyage, and while away on that cruise they built him this one here, the Grampus, and that's how the lad became skipper so young. It goes to prove the truth of what I said a few moments a §°> that 'it's not always gray hairs which cover the wisest head/ A boy is sometimes morq fit to com¬ mand than a man who has seen twice or thrice his number of years." * The Wedding Ring. A long time ago the wedding ring was worn on the forefinger ana was thickly studded with precious stones. old pictures People who have seen the of the Madonna in Rome will remember that in one or two of them there is a glistening ring hand, qn the forefinger of her right but with Christianity came the wearing of the wedding ring on the third finger rather than the first. The old story of there being a vein that runs from that finger to the heart is nonsense. Its use orig¬ inated in this way; The priest first put it on the thumb, saying, “In the name of the Father:" on the fore¬ finger, Son;" adding, “In tne name of the on the second finger, repeat¬ ing, “In tiie name of the Holy Ghost," and on the third finger, ending stayed. with “Amen." And there It Softening of the Brain, Although worry and disappoint¬ ment are leading contributing causes of softening of the brain, the disease very commonly declares itself inde¬ pendently of such conditions and as flammatory the mere result changes of associated progressive with in¬ other forms of continuous and ex¬ acting mental strain, Not infre- the quently also the exact opposite ia case, as the malady is very com¬ mon in the lower and nonintel-* lectual classes. All the varied phenomena of grad¬ ual mental decline, numbed energy, paralytic seizures, incoherency of speech, aphasic attack and general progressive weakness explain “the dying at the top," so dreaded by all. More distressing still is the fact that the general inflammation of the brain tissues, always present, is of slow development, unrelentingly pro¬ gressive and eventually fatal. Some¬ times years elapse before the long desired end comes. • Money Lenders In Europe. The continental monts de piete had their origin in the Italian mon- ti di pieta, large numbers of which were founded in Italy throughout the sixteenth century and the ob¬ jects of which were in the first in¬ stance essentially charitable, the avowed purpose of the institution being effect of to counteract Lending the injurious usury by money on deposits at an almost infinites¬ imal rate of interest. The Francis¬ can monks were the first to lend money on goods, and in 1515 they were allowed by the pope to receive a moderate amount of interest. But In process of time the Italian monti di pieta became extensive banking corporations, which were occasion¬ forcea ally plundered or half ruined by loans exacted by tyrannical princes and sometimes brought to entire collapse by injudicious finan¬ cial speculations. — London Tele- graph. 8un 8pots « And what ^ to ^ the 8ubject of oar lecture tomorrow night, pro- « Welb my dear young lady y can ^rdly hope it will have much in¬ ^t for yon. I shall lecture on g p 0 tg «o b , but that’s of the greatest in- terest to me. I shall certainly come., tenktea.» You're no idea hotr I suffer from, — ------- — - —- ' Successor to Toccoa Times and Toccoa News. SALT STARVATION. As Bad as Thirst or Hunger, Although In a Different Way. A well known authority asserts that whenever the annual eonsump- tion of salt falls below twenty pounds per head of the population the public health is likely to suffer. In regions of the earth where salt is scarce the article is regarded as a substance of great value. Salt star- vation is, in its way, as distressing as thirst or hunger, although it shows itself in a different way. The want of salt does not produce a definite disease, but reduces the vitality of the body as a whole, so that the persons deprived of fit will fall more readily victims to prevail- ing epidemics as well as epidemic maladies. But, as many ask, wild beasts do not have salt supplied to them, yet they manage to exist in fairly good form and if left alone probably die of old age, full of years and sweet memories of juicy missioiaries eat¬ en without salt. Well, even wild beasts take advantage of salt when they can get it, hut the reason why they can do without it better than we is that they eat their food whole and unprepared. We use salt because there are salts in our food in its unrefined state, as nature prepares it, before it is skinned ana boned and peeled and cooked, and we must replace these 6alts or our bodies not be fully benefited by what we eat. We use salt also because our blood contains it; likewise our muscles, our nerves and, indeed, our whole bodies, and it gets used up during the life proc¬ esses constantly being carried on within us. But the salt contained in natural foods and that required for our liv¬ ing bodies is not “common” salt, but a combination of that substance with phosphates and other things which are even more necessary and more natural than common salt it¬ self.—Medical Press, Mineral Wax. The day of the wax candle is su posed to nave gone by with the a vent of paraffin, gas and electric light, yet as a matter of fact an enormous number are used every year all over the world. But the wax candle of today is not the wax candle of our grandfethers' day, says Cassell's Magazine. The busy bee is as busy as ever, but very little of the wax he se¬ cretes is made into candles. Min- eral wax has taken the place of bees- wax and is dug from the ground in Utah and California in the United States and in Wales, Galicia and Roumania in Europe. When found, it has a dark, rich brown color, slightly greenish and translucent in thin films, but when refined it re- semble8 well bleached beeewax. The w T ax mines of eastern Galicia form one of the most curious fields of industry imaginable. They are situated around Boryslaw, which is also the center of the eastern oil district of that part of Austria. The wax lies in beds like clay at depths of from 350 to 600 feet, Shafts are sunk to the beds. Tree Trunks and Branches. It is a general impression that the trunks of trees lengthen, but this is not the case. The trunk of a tree, being once formed, does not lengthen a fraction, no matter if it lives to a hundred years. A branch from a trunk that ia now, 6ay, six feet from the ground will have the center of that branch still six feet from the ground no matter how many years elapse. If branches are therefore too low, they had better be cut off at once. Again, it is worth remembering in cutting off branches that they should always be cut close to the trunk or to any main branch, so that the wound may heal over. If the branch is very large, so that the wound is likely to take several years to heal over, it is better to paint it, in order to keep the water from ret- ting the wood until it is properly healed. More good trees are spoiled through leaving an inch or two of stump to a cut off branch than peo¬ ple have any idea of. No. 38 FIRST COAL OIL LAMPS. « Some Rare Heirlooms In Posseselo of a Georgetown Family. j A family living in Georgetown/ looms who have left taken them by care of long old heir-j a line of* ancestors, number have in their possession^ rare! a that are exceedingly tion and curious. The objecta in earli-^ ques-^ are specimens of the two The* est coal oil lamps invented. mind of man runs very much in a ® gro ' and a i though b he . ‘“ XlOU3 • f , “ ?* , ange “ d i r P rogr «“'| there are few thmg9 that anno I him1 ni( ™?’ ,J ^ rs ,* C ? a 01 am P? °* M w , ^ lc . ^ * • * !^ ^ 11 ^ ttl i 11 as a 8 P ecll ^ ei b w **. ma< jj °* ^rasa, . uni . tat ion of d candle and candlestick, even to imitation painting the of the upper former. part white in The in¬ terior of this imitation candle held the oil, the wick—a small affair; the same, in fact, that was used in ture candles—emerging in the head from an aper¬ of the metal can¬ dle, just as in the real one. Such a thing as a chimney or shade was unknown. A short time after this lamp ap¬ peared some other person invented 1 a coal oil lamp made of glass, in im¬ itation of a very large candlestick. 1 The middle part swelled out into something like a globe, in which the! oil was placed. It took some five or. six inventions before the coal oil 3 lamp became what it is today. The Georgetown family has a specimen^ of the second lamp invented as well as the first. These first coal oil lamps are to¬ day rarer even than candlesticks, for the reason that only a few were; made, the improvement being so rapid that the first awkward imita-| tion of a candle had hardly reached^ the market before some other per-’ son began inventing lamps, eacn a; little more like the coal oil lamp of< today than the first, until the in¬ vention was perfected. The speci¬ mens in question are some of tha first ever brought to America at a time when they were a curiosity and* when every one used candles.— Washington Post. **°P Ceugh Wark atf tha , ^ , «« Helping the Preaoher. In a volume of reminiscences the writer, Mrs. Bagot, tells of a visit she made with her father, a British admiral, to St. Helena many years ago. The governor was a very com- ic “On person apparently. She writes: Sunday we were taken down to church in J ames Town. The gov- ernor asked us into his square pew, in which was a small table with a bottle of eau de cologne upon it. Immediately after I had entered the pew the governor in a loud voice said, 'Dab your face over with eau de cologne, Miss Percy/ During the service he made all the responses in a stentorian voice. During the eer- mon when he approved of what the preacher said he stood up and ex- claimed:'Verygood! Amen!' 'Very proper indeed! Amen!' with em¬ phasis. We could not help shaking kith laughter/' Bridges In China. Most ancient Chinese bridges are only wide enough to allow the pas- sage of two mounted men, railings on each side serving to insure the traveler's safety. It is thought highly probable that the mission- aries who first reported on the early suspension bridges of China, and who, of corns#, gave some idea of their plan or construction, were really the cause of that unique species of bridge building being adopted by western nations. - A Peculiar River. Unique properties are possessed by the river Tinto, in Spain. It petrifies the sand of ita bed, and if a stone falls in the stream and alights upon another, in a few months they unite and become one stone.___ Fish cannot live ia its waters. «•