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The Constitution
_Well Built.
The New Method of Construction Adds
Strength and Saves Weight.
The Constitution, the yacht built for
the defense of the America’* Cup hy
the Herreahoff Manufacturing Com-
Dauy.is probably the lightest construct
CONSTITUTION ON HE It TRIAL SAIL OFF BRISTOL.
ed vessel of her size ever built, and It
is largely on the lightness of her con
struction that those interested In the
yacht expect she will make her great
grains. In model there is very little
(difference between her and the Colum
bia. The slight differences made are
expected to enable her to carry ten
per cent, more canvas than the cham
pion of 1890, which alone should make
her very much faster than the older
yacht, hut with the great gains made
In the construction of the hull these
gains will be much more than they
fI'HE CONSTITUTION’S LONOITUD INAL PLAN. SHOWING POSITION
( OF MAST STEP AND LEAD.
"would otherwise be. Those who are
Interested in the yaeht think there is
o doubt of her beating the Independ
ence. and they argue that even if the
models are the same and each yacht
lias the same amount of driving power
the Constitution, with less weight to
lrlve, will go through the water faster
than the Independence, and every one
concedes that in the hull the Constitu
tion saves tons in weight over the In
dependence. The Scientific American
gives some detailed drawings of the
const ruction of the Constitution, and
shows where the great gains in weight
saving are made.
•
, NEW SPORT FROM ANTIPODES.
Ax and Saw Content* Are Witnessed by
Shouting Thousand*.
Tasmania may justly cluirn the credit
<of having given the world a new’ sport.
In that far-off land, among the men
of brawn and might, whose swinging
axes have felled the towering forests
and converted their trackless depths
iuto flourishing farm lands, has arisen
a contest fit for kings; a form of ath
letic exercise calculated to bring the
"thrill of delight to all who have an
honest admiration for good rod blood
and the display of mighty muscle sys
tematically trained to do useful "work.
The new sport may be designated as
*‘axmanship,” and although it is of but
recent origin it has already taken the
premiership over all other sports.
A HANDICAP CHOPPING CONTEST IN FULL SWING.
"What the bull fighter is to Spain and
Mexico, the cricketer to England, the
swordsman to France, the hockey
player to Canada, and the football and
baseball hero to the United States the
champion axman has become to the
brawn loving Australians.
The championship contest or carni
val is held yearly in Ulverstone, Tas
mania, some time during the first two
months of the year, under the auspices
of an organization specially formed for
the purpose, bearing the title of the
“United Australian Axemen’s Associa
tion.”
The entries to the yearly competition
Are not confined to Tasmania, but
come also from Victoria, New South
Wales and New Zealand. Each dis
trict has Sts champion, and among the
adherents of these various stars there
Is the most heated controversy as to
the respective merits of each. For
months before the great coutest these
brawny uxmon spend nil their spare
time practicing, until they develop u
speed and strength that Is little short
of marvelous. This year's carnival is
conceded to'have been the most suc
cessful since the yearly meeting was
inaugurated.
In the championship chopping con-
tests there were six trials and the final.
Eight men participated in each of the
trials, and the winners fought out the
finals. As this contest Is designed pri
marily to test a man’s skill in felling a
tree, the log, a great piece of tough
wood, six l’ect four iuches in girth, is
placed firmly in the ground, as though
It were a growing tree.
Five minutes before the beginning
of the heat the referee’s whistle sum
mons the contestants into the inclos
ure. They are all splendid specimens
of physical prowess—thick set, deep
chested, iron muscled and bronzed
from exposure. Each carries his fa
vorite ux, the fullest latitude being al
lowed in the matter of selection. It is
a significant fact that several of tho
THOMAS PETTITT, WHO WON THE CHAM
PIONSHIP.
saws and axes used this year were the
product of American firms. When all
is ready the pistol shot sounds and the
contest is on.
Scarcely less exciting is the srnving
contest. The log used is the same size
as that employed in the chopping con
test, but the time made is much more
rapid, for the great saw cats through
the w’ood much more quickly than the
axe can go.
This year for the first time the ax
men’s and saw'yers’ championships
were won by the same man—Thomas
Pettitt, of Sprint, Tasmania. Not only
did he win borh events, but he also
broke the record for each.
In some Italian towns, instead of
giving books as prizes in public schools
they give savitgs bank books, with a
small sum ente-ed to the credit ®f the
prize winner.
THE WEEKLY NEWS, CARTERS v iLLE, GA.
Hospital For Sick Wheat
i.rrat Cereal lufirmary at Port Ar
thur on l.ake Superior Won
derful Cure* Effected.
The latest thing in the hospital line
is an infirmary for sick wheat, where
various ailments of the kernel are
treated and in many cases u perfect
cure is effected.
There is an immense animal loss re
sultlng from wet or diseased wheat.
The loss from loose smut alone is at
least $18,000,000 a year. The Depart
ment of Agriculture has disseminated
a great deal of information among the
farmer* in regard to the diseases of
wheat and the means for bringing
about a cure, but not much benefit lias
resulted from the information. Iu the
large wheat sections of Manitoba and
the Northwest the same conditions
prevail, and It was with the object of
reducing the loss to a minimum that
the wheat hospital has been estab
lished at Fort Arthur, at the north
west end of Lake Superior. Here an
elaborate system is lu use for restor
ing diseased wheat to a healthy state.
The building is in the form of a large
elevator, very similar to the common
grain elevators of the United States
and Canada. It is supported out in the
lake upon crib work, so that vessels
may come alongside and carry the
cured wheat directly to the East or
foreign ports. About 2,000,000 bushels
of wheat are treated iu the hospital
every year.
Where the disease of the wheat is
of a very virulent type, it is impossi
ble to improve it tu health. Diseases
known as “stlukiug smut” or “bunt”
“ WHEAT HOSPITAL,” PORT ARTHUR
’ f
CANADA.
are beyond all help. In the advanced
stages of those diseases the whole ker
nel is infected with the germ and be
comes a mass of spores, which have
consumed all the nutritive parts of the
kernel, leaving only a thin shell on the
outside. When this breaks there is a
countless number of germs released,
which have a fetid odor and are ruin
ous to flour with which they come in
contact. Kernels that are intact in
side the brown skin can be successful
ly treated, even though they are so
black with smut as to be irrecogniza
ble as wheat. In addition to this un
sanitary or dirty wheat, there are ker
nels that get the dropsy; that is, they
become saturated with water, and are
unfit for anything except stock fodder.
Sometimes an entire crop will be af
fected in this way, and it usually
proves to be a total loss.
The drying plant of the hospital Is
capable of treating (JoOO bushels per
hour. The plant includes a series of
frames of perforated metal, through
which hot air is forced until the wet
wheat is completely dried. The wheat
is divided into three classes, depending
upon the amount of water it contains,
and this condition corresponds to the
stage of the disease. “Tough” wheat
contains about five per cent, of water,
“damp” wheat about eight per cent.,
and “wet” wheat about fifteen per
cent. Normal wheat contains about
four per cent, of water. After wheat
in any of the stages of the disease re
ceives the treatment given at the hos
pital, it comes out in a normal condi
tion and ready for the market as first
class wheat.
Scouring is the treatment given for
smut. The dirty wheat is passed
through rapidly ievolving machines of
metal and the dirt is removed by fric
tion. In one stage of the treatment
the wheat is thrown from the top of
the elevator to the bottom floor, and
the erosion is such that in a few
months pine planks, two and a half
inches iu thickness, will be completely
worn out. Asa great amount of dust
is thrown off from the smutty wheat
in this treatment, the employes in the
hospitals are compelled to wear face
masks. These are made of hard white
ATTENDANT IN A WHEAT HOSPITAL,
SHOWING FACE PKOTECTOR.
rubber, with holes in the sides, in
which are placed small pieces of
dampened sponge that absorb the
dust as the workmen inhale the aia
Over their eyes are worn a large pair
of close-fitting glasses. With this
head dress they look almost like div
ers.
It is said that wheat passing through
this treatment is better for milling pur
poses than the normal wheat, from the
fact that a part of the coat, which has
to be removed in milling, is removed
hy the treatment. There is none of
it used in the flour mills of this coun
try. however, most of it being shipped
to Europe and Eastern Canada,
Discovery of Extraordinary Plant.
What is probably the most extra
ordinary plant ever discovered lia3
now been found by E. A. Suverkrop,
of Philadelphia, who, during trips to
South America, has for some years
been contributing to the collection of
his friend, Professor N. E. Brown, ol
the Herbarium, Kew Gardens, Lon
don. The amazing plant which Mr.
Suverkrop has now found is an orchid
that takes a drink whenever it feels
thirsty hy letting down a tube into the
water, the tube, when not in use, being
coiled up on top of the plant.
“One hot afternoon,” says Mr. Su
verkrop, “I sat down under some brush
-wood at the side of a lagoon on the
Rio de la Plata. Near at hand was a
forest of dead shorn trees, which had
actually been choked to death by or
chids and climbing cacti. In front of
me, and stretching over the water of
the lagoon and about a foot afove it.
was a branch of one of these dead
trees. Here and there clusters of com
mon ‘planta del ayre’ grew on it, and a
network of green cacti twined around
It.
“Among the orchids I noted one dif
ferent from the rest, the leaves, sharp
laneehead shaped, growing all round
the root and radiating from it. From
the centre or axis of the plant hung a
long slender stem about one-eighth of
an inch thick by one-fourth inch wide,
the lower end of which was in the
water to a depth of about four inches.
“I at once "went over to examine my
discovery. Imagine my surprise when
I touched the plant to see this centre
stem gradually contract and convul
sively roll itself up in a spiral like a
roll of tape.
“But more surprising yet was the ob
ject and construction of this stem. I
found on close examination and dissec
tion that it was a long slender flat
tube, the walls about 1-32 of an infch
thick, cellular in construction, open at
the outer end and connected at the in
ner end to the roots by a series of hair
like tubes.
“By subsequent observation I found
that when the plant was in want of
■water this tube would gradually un
wind till it dipped into the water. Then
it would slowly coil round and wind
up, carrying with it the amount of
water that that part of the tube which
had been immersed contained, until
when the final coil was taken the water
was dumped, as it were, direct into
the roots of the plant. The coil re
mained iu this position until the plant
required more water. Should the
plant, however, be touched while the
tube is extended, the orchid acts like
the sensitive plant (mimosa) and the
coiling action is much moi-e rapid.
“I found many of these plants, all
directly over the water or over where
the water had been. In the latter case
it was almost pitiful to see how this
tube would work its way over the
ground iu search of the water that was
not.”
Little Known About Morocco.
Nobody knows what the population
of Morocco is. Estimates place it all
the way from 2,500,000 to 9,400,000,
says a correspondent of the New York
Press. A large part of the country is
totally unexplored. The French lately
have gone in behind Morocco and ex
tended the boundaries of Algiers, so as
to take in the Tuat region, a chain of
fertile oases through which run the
caravan rotes. The Sultan has expos
tulated and is still expostulating, but
with no effect so far as can be seen.
Morocco is sometimes called the “sick
man of the West,” but those best in
formed believe that it is a pretty lively
sick man.
i
England Fears Timber Famine.
If it were not for the foreign sup
plies England receives a timber fam
ine would have overtaken the country
long ago, because the home-grown sup
ply has not been able to meet a tithe
of the demand for long enough, and
that only of inferior kinds of timber,
says a British agricultural journal, if
the foreign supply of fir alone was to
fall off sensibly now the whole building
trade of the country would come to a
partial standstill and the wagon com
panies would be next to idle.
The steeple of the Cathedral of Ant
werp, Belgium, is 476 feet in height,
w r hich makes it the highest church
steeple la the world. -
FROM HIGH TRESTLE
Seaboard Train Takes Frightfnl
Plunge Into a Pond.
I ALL ON BOARD WERE INJURED
Two Will Probably Die From Wounds
P.eceived—Acts of Noble Hero
ism Displayed By the
T rainmen.
i
Sunday night, about 10 o’clock, the
northbound Seaboard Air Line Atlanta
special train turned broadside off a
trestle into a pond, about a mile north
of Rockingham, N. C.
There were on board about twenty
five or thirty passengers, all of whom
were more or less injured, several
very seriously, and two, a white man
and a negro, probably fatally. There
were three ladies and some children
aboard, none of whom were seriously
hurt.
The engine and two mail cars pass
ed over in safety, but the combination
baggage and second, first-class and
two Pullmans turned over. On ac
count of the rains the piers of the
trestle gave way on the left side. At
the first crash all lights were out and
water rushed in waist-deep through
the windows.
Baggage Master Smith, though se
riously hurt himself, at once thought
of the freight following close behind.
He crawled out. and seizing a lantern,
hobbled down the track and flagged
the freight, thereby preventing a sec
ond catastrophe. When the freight
stopped he was lying on the ground,
unable to rise, but still waving his lan
tern. He fell time and again before
he succeeded in getting far enough
back to flag the train, xie had to be
carried back on a stretcher.
The newsboy also did heroic work,
crawling through the cars helping the
almost drowned passengers to escape
through the transom over a door.
INHUMAN TREATMENT OF BOERS
Fearful Mortality of Women and
Babies In “Concentration Camps”
of the British in South Africa.
A London special says: Replying to
questions in the house of commons
Monday, Mr. Broderick, the war secre
tary, said there were 40,229 persons in
the “concentration camps” of the
Transvaal and Orange River colony.
The deaths in these camps for the
month of May number 98 men and wo
men and 318 children. The announce
ment of the mortality was received
with groans from the Irish members
and cries of “Scandalous.” Mr. Brod
erick added that the authorities were
arranging for the release of the wo
men and children who had friends to
receive them, but the government
could not undertake to feed them in
isolated positions.
The division in the house of com
mons on the motion made by Mr.
Lloyd-George, Welsh nationalist, to
adjourn the house on the question of
the treatment of Boer women and
children, which was rejected by a vote
of 253 to 134, served to accentuate the
split in the liberal party on the govern
ment’s war policy. Sir Henry Camp
bell-Bannerman, the liberal leader,
supported Mr. Lloyd-George in de
nouncing the policy of concentrating
women and children in camps, and
with Sir William Vernon-Harcourt, lib
eral, and the Rt. Hon. William Bryce,
liberal, voted in the minority on Mr.
Lloyd-George’s motion. About fifty
liberal imperialists, led by the Rt. Hon.
H. H. Asquith, advanced liberal, and
Sir Edward Grey, liberal, abstained
from voting, as a protest against the
Bannerman-Harcourt-Morley section
of the house of commons identifying
themselves so closely with the ex
treme pro-Boers.
The Daily News and The Chronicle,
respectively the organs of the pro-
Boer and imperialist sections, display
the greatest irritation at ibis open
split in the liberal party.
Lord Kitchener has not yet cabled
the detailrs of the reverse of the 250
Victorian mounted rifles of General
Beatson’s column at Steenkoelspruit,
June 12th.
ZINC ENTERPRISE COLLAPSES.
Receiver Appointed at Knoxville For
Large Tennessee Concern.
T. H. Heald, of Knoxville, Tenn.,
filed a general creditors’ bill in that
city Monday against the Eades, Mix
ter & Heald Company for his one
fourui interest in the firm, which is
the largest zinc enterprise in the sec
tion. The capital stock of the firm
is $200,000. J. Fisher Chumbley was
appointed receiver to close up the af
fairs of the company and distribute
its assets among the stockholders.
GUESTS ESCAPE DEATH,
Large Hotel In West Baden, Ind., De
stroyed uy .-ire.
Of 268 persons who were in a fire
in the Mineral Springs Hotel at West
Baden, Ind., Friday morning It is now
believed that every one escaped with
his life.
The loss on the hotel building is es
timated at $250,000, with insurance ag
gregating SIIO,OOO. In addiuon to this,
the loss in diamonds, jewelry and
clothing belonging to the guests will,
it is estimated, reach $50,000. The ho
tel will oe rebuilt as soon as possible.
EX-GOVERNOR PINGREE DEAD.
Former Chief Executive of Michigan
Dies In London While on
Tour of Continent.
Ex-Governor H. S. Pingree, of Mich
igan, died in London Tuesday night at
11:35 o’clock.
His son was the only one present at
the time. The attending physician left
Mr. Pingree’s bedside about 11:15
o’clock, promising to return shortly.
H. S. Pingree, Jr., who had been
watching at his father’s side for four
days and who had not removed his
clothes during that time, noticed a sud
den change in his father’s condition.
He had hardly reached the patient's
bedside when his father i..ed peaceful
ly without warning and without speak
ing a word.
Young Mr. Pingree wired his moth
er and his uncle in the United States
not to come to London. The body will
be embalmed and brought to his home.
The diagnosis made by London spe
cialists of the cancerous affection of
the intestines from which Mr. Pingree
suffered left practically no hope for
the patient's recovery.
Toward the end of his illness Mr.
Pingree suffered great pain and weak
ened rapidly.
Hazen Senter Pingree was born at
Denmark, Me., in 1840. In 1862 he en
listed in the First Massachusetts
heavy artillery and served until the
end of the war, when he located in.
Detroit, embarking in the manufacture
of shoes. In 1889 the republican par
ty nominated Mr. Pingree for mayor
of Detroit and he was elected. He was
re-elected in 1891, 1893 and 1805. In
1896 Mr. Pingree was elected governor
of Michigan by 83,000 plurality, run
ning ahead of the national, ticket by
26,000 votes. He was re-elected gover
nor in 1898 by about 100,000 plurality
and served out his term, which expired
in 1900. Last March he started on
the trip to South Africa which resulted
in his death in London.
Ex-Governor Pingree, while he was
mayor, accomplished many municipal
reforms, among others forcing the gas
company to lower their rates 50 cents
per thousand; establishing the public
lighting plant; organizing the Detroit
railway on a 3 cent fare basis; lower
ing telephone rates and breaking up a
number of sewer and paving rings
that were thriving when he came into
office. His potato patch scheme for
relief of the poor of the city was ex
tensively copied and brought him
much fame. While governor Mr. Pin
gree devoted his energies toward se
curing a law taxing railroads and oth
er corporate property on an ad valo
rem basis instead of specifically on
their earnings. His efforts resulted in
the passage of a law along these lines
by the last legislature.
ROADS ADVANCE THEIR RATES
Classification ef Goods Is So Changed
that Merchants Will Be Forced
to Pay More.
Again the southern merchants have
cause to complain because of their
treatment by the railroads in fixing
their schedule of rates.
Cotton fabrics, which are said to
have been for the past twelve or fif
teen years classed as fifth class goods,
with a rate of 60 cents per 100 pounds
for the haul frem New York to At
lanta, are now classed as fourth class
goods, and the haul per .100 pounds
will cost 73 cents.
This is an increase of about 17 3-4
per cent in the price of hauling cottorr
fabrics from New York to Atlanta, and
the merchants of Atlanta declare that
it will increase the cost of the goods
to them about 1 per cent on the entire
cost of every 100 pounds of the goods.
The merchants announce that the
burden of this practical increase in the
rate will fall upon them, as the in
crease is not sufficient to justify an
increase in the price to the trade, al
though in the end it will amount to
considerable to them.
Mormons After Lands In Mexico.
A Mormon agent, James M. Cannon,
is in Mexico City for the purpose of
securing lrom the government a con
cession for settling a thousand Mor
mon families in Sonora, on the lands
from which the laqui Indians have
been driven.
HOT ROAST HOR JULGE.
Tarvin Says Decision of United States
Court Was Based on Fraud.
Judge Tarvin rendered a sensation
al decision in the Kenton county cir
cuit court at Covington, Ky., Tuesday
in the Strieker contempt case. In the
decision Judge Tarvin attacks and crit
icises the federal court, Judge Walter
Evans presiding. He says that the
decision of the United States court
was renderea on records that had
been forged. Judge Tarvin points out
how the forgeries were made. He says
the decision is without precedent and
without foundation of truth. He says
that the decision was a vindictive use
of the power.
Conger Goes Back to China.
Hon. Edwin H. Conger. United States
minister to China, is in Washington
for the purpose of calling on the presi
dent preparatory to his return to Pe
kin. He expects to sail for China from
San Francisco July 17th or earlier.
Students Take Strikers’ Places.
The places of the striking machin
ists in Detroit and Chicago will be par
tially filled by mechanical engineering
students of the University of Michigan.