The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, May 19, 1901, Page 7, Image 7

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WIRING THE PHILIPPINES. VU. THE IMPORTANT POINTS NOW CONNECTED BY CABLE. Elincnl<* M Of the Work—lt Was I)on t'Tifler Orest Pressure of Haste. The Hooker. First Table Ship to Go Aerosa to the Philippines, Sank Gfj Corregldor Island, bnt Most of 4 he Cable Was Saved—Claim of a British Cable Company on This Government on an Agreement* of Forfeiture With the Spanish Got. rrnment— Not Likely to Get the Money Claimed, for Bensons Which Admiral Dewey Appreciates. Washington, May 17.—When Manila fell there were practically no telegraph or ca ble connection* anywhere in the Philip pines. The system of land wires connect ing the principal towns, and the cable be iween Manila and Iloilo, and Iloilo and Cebu, had been sealed and abandoned by the owners, the Eastern Extension Aus tralasia and China Cable Company, which announced that It would not open until the rnlted States could assure protec tion for its employes and property. Immediately upon the occupation of Ma ' -r t—v—rrsT—-. •••”' !' ■>— i ’ LAYING CABLE UP A PHILIPPINE RIVER. Bila the question of wires assumed a se rious phase. Indeed, the trouble began at the capture of the place, and the destruc tion of our wires was the first hostile set of the insurgents. Upon Aguinaldo's taking the war path it became useless to stretch a line unless the army surround ed it or unless it was defended by a patrol close enough together to shout a mes sage along. The system abandoned by the Eastern Extension Company fell into his hands. He opened, repaired, improved and extended it with astonishing ability, utilizing even fence wire and untwisted wire rope, and always managing to de stroy the portions in the territory he was forced from time to time to yield. The Insurgents knew the value of wires and at every opportunity a few men would slip ky our lines or between them and haul NATIVES COILING THE CABLE. •way m much as they could conveniently fcrry. Cable, though far more costly and re* more time to lay, could be main lined in the Philippines; for the Fili pinos had no “picking-up gear," nor grappling and cutting utensils. The War department decided to establish a com plete .’able system, with alternates, as J? on 89 Possible. Contracts were placed, e was rushed and the Hooker, the Philippine cable ship, was dispatched haste, taking on part of her equip- Glbra]rl? ,Ch Was P rocured tn England, at TU problem of securing a. satisfactory , been no means an easy one, e business of cable laying is anew nf\t" *J? e t ' l,ite, l States. The services FrenJs J?* 10 s,rube l. on engineer of the ,?; ,le Company, were, secured, and of &,r - Henry Winter, an officer of r ABLE BEING! TAKEN FROM TRANSPORT AND LOADED AT CABLE YARDS. a ‘ ''S ' l -American cable h!p Mints. But , ! ‘ fl of the Hooker'll crew had had £ /. "; '> --able work. An expert It p , ”[ ru > bet cable was enlisted In t ~ huf h* deserted the expedition bkr. ;! V * t * u>r * R left. Care had been to have two sergeants of k. 1 cor ‘ > * Instructed by him in the ce of such an emergency. *’ T ' v;n at Manila the Hooker ii ,0 Hon * Kong to coal, struck ■ !>, '' r * f*f-f of Corregldor Island, and ■ fc,. " • <lown went the cable to the bot- I kitma. a **' 01 oourae. that was Its I T r .' net 11 nation, but not In a lump. Itb if Rr "" total loas. but most of I *Ut ,nd - m,ohln * r > r . though some “imaged, was recovered and taken hack to Manila. Then the Romulus was chartered and equipped with the recovered paraphernalia. For the work in rivers and other shal low bodies of water, barges were equipped aoo towed by small gunboats. The gun boats could repel disturbers and the same exposure was not necessary in reeling out the cable from the barges as was requir ed to stretch iand lines. About every five miles, stops would be made to test what had been laid. The small military force that accompanied these expeditions when in hostile country, was deployed as pick ets when the electricians landed to make the tests. For the actual work of estab lishing the lines, it was necessary to em ploy natives. It takes three natives to do the work of one American workman, but the native asks only 35 per month salary, and his accustomed fare of rice, dried fish, etc. He loves to squat wnen reeling the cables and he work* with as little effort as possible. The first work was done by the army, hut subsequently contracts were let for the entire work, laying as well as furn ishing the cable. The government furn ishes the cable ship, the necessary mili tary protection and an officer as director and inspector. More than 2.000 miles have now been laid, almost, enough to reach from San Francteco to Honolulu. All the principal cities and every island of any size are connected. To be more explicit, cables connect Manila and Cavite, Taguig and Calamba. Taguig and Binang, Calam ba and Los Banos, Los Banos and Santa Cruz, Liloan and Ormoc, Cebu nd Ll loan, Leyte and Tacloban and Samar, Nalo and Corregidor. Gulnaysngan and Pasaco, and other points from the islands of Cebu to Bahol, Negros to Oebu, Cebu to Mindanao, Jolo to Mindanao, and also connecting points on the islands of Min danao, where land wires can not yet :>* maintained. Most of the work has been accomplished in the past twelve months, and little trouble is being experienced from intentional interruption, a striking evidence of American progress. Very often ship* weighing anchor in the harbors find the flukes entangled with the cahies, and to save a few minutes’ time, out the cable Instead of disengag ing it. Nine oul of ten of th breaks are due to this. A curious protest was offered when the first military cable was laid—that from Cavite to Manila. The Eastern Extension Company l.ad acquired anew franchise from Spain Jurt before the war, with the sole right of cables in the Philippines. Tills franchise lasts until 1940, and a clause In the contract provides a payment of £5.000 for each year before that date that other cablet shell be used. The company has now rut In e claim upon the United States for the amount, but the claim will be Ignored for reasons connected with the disposition of the cable at the begin lii'g of the war. A few days prior to the opening of the war, under an emergency contract with the Spanish government, stimulated by the approach of hostilities, the company extended its Hong Kong cable, which landed on Luzon, at Baiinao, to Manila. Admiral Dewey endeavored in vain to ob tain a neutralization of tihis cable; the Spanish officials refused to permit him to use It He, therefore, cut It. Five daye after Manila fell he dlspatqfied a vessel to the point of .rupture, about two miles off Cavite, where the cable lay In shout ten fathoms. The wave action had car ried Che ends about KiO feet apart, to the full length of a stout rope that had Joined them to facilitate recovery. There was no regular cable to be had. and the repair v.us accomplished by splicing In a piece of Insulated fleld wire with such an al lowance of slack that t‘hr stay rope, which was left on. should hearth* strain Hong Kong wns called only to And that to avoid complications, the company had aealsd ths cable, and arrer all the grap pling and Improvising th dispatch boat THE MORNING NEWS: SUNDAY. MAY 19. 1901. had to be continued. It was some time after the protocol was signed that the Spaniards and the company’s officers de cided to break the seal. The use of a cable for exchange, of messages in place of the slow service of the dispatch boat at this time would have been of inesti mable value to this government, but the British company took no note of that, and now It will nrol>ahly cost them dear. It is now just a matter of time be fore an American cable will span from the Philippines to some point on the coast of China end Japan- The same Eastern Extension Company now charges 75 cents per word for messages from Manila to Hong Kong, about three times the rate from the United States to Eu rope. This government is not in the Inter national Telegraph Union, which prac tically eliminates our voice from the conduct of the great cables, and in case of emergency gives other countries—those in the union—prior right to the use of them. The Philippine system is Ameri ca's first step in cables. It is a good big stride, and when the trans-Pacific cable is a fact, this country will be abreast of the others. Mother Shipton Didn't Nay So. From the New York Sun. A correspondent writes to the Sun to ask for Information concerning the so called prophecy of Mother Shipton. What ts commonly spoken of as Mother Ship- ton’s prophecy is a piece of rhyme which was first printeand lows: Carriages without horses shall go And accidents nil the world with woe. Around the earth thoughts shall fly In the twinkling of an eye. The world upside down shall be, And gold be found at the root of a tree. Through hills men shall ride. And no horses be at his side. Under water men shall walk, Shall ride, shall sleep, shall talk. In the air men shall be seen, In black, in white, in green, iron in the water shall float, As easy as a wooden boat, Gold shall be found and shown. In a land that’s not now known. Fire and water shall wonders def England shall at last admit a foe. The world to an end shall come In eighteen hundred and eighty-one. This rhyme was published in an alleged reprint of a chap book version and was in cluded with about ten others, according to Notes and Queries, in a book issued by Charles Hindley of Brighton, Eng land. For a number of years it was sup posed by many that it was what it pur ported to be, namely, a prophecy uttered by Mother Shipton In the first half of the sixteenth century. Several persons, how ever. oast doubts on Its authenticity, und In April. 1573, Hindley wrote to Notes and Queries and, to use the words of that pe riodical, "ntsde a clean breast of having fabricated the prophecy." There is some doubt as to whether then, ever was a Mother Shipton. The Century Encyclopaedia says she was born near Kr.aresborough. In Yorksnire, in July llsS. and died about 1569. It also says in r< - gurd o her that she was “a ha’i mythi cal English prophetess, baptized Ursula Southlel," who married Tony Shiptoi, a builder, and according to tradition, “was the child of Agatha Shipton and the devil." Other authorities says she was probably wholly mythical. Various other prophecies of less Interest than the one quoted are attributed to her. —Portraiture.—Critic "You haven’t caught Mrs. Rawkes du Byrnea’ expres sion at all!" Portrait Painter —"No; but I flatter myself I’ve caught her notion of her expression.”—Detroit Journal. SI LIPPI fit Cablc SNIP l°°c ... * - V / sii J / W? 1 N DA * AOI ,Jr \ V. “.Sts sc yon csc? 1 1.1 , . - "*"* s *'< 'iZT) / ~ "~~ ' * CABLE MAP OP THE PHILIPPINES. ILLUSIONS OF THE RAIL EXPERIENCES THAT TEND TO TURN AN ENGINEER’S II AIR GRAY. Case of a Pl* and a Red Shirt—Flag men's Mistake* One Sonree of Sod den Alarm—Harmless Objects That Simulate Perils on the Track. Jones, the Phantom Flagman, and the Ax—How Schufeldt Made an Open Switch Signal Oat of a Fla* Stair and a Tallow Pot—F.ngdneers Not Superstitious as a Rale, Though They Have Enough to Make Them So. By Herbert B. Hamblen. Author of "On Many Seas," Etc. I wonder what was the first, instantane ous sensation of that Canadian engineer who ran down Jumbo in the fog. Prob ably no engineer ever had a stranger shock; but shock:', strange and otherwise, are the portion of every man who stands at a locomotive throttle. He must get used to them and stand them as best be can—or find tome occupation with less nervous s:roin on it. Most of th-m in the business get hardened to the unex pected. which is always happening on the veils. Or.e of the worst starts I ever had was due to a large, lazy pig who had got on my mind. Nothing will slide a train more easily and destructively from i .e rail* than 11\e pork. This particular spec imen had a habit of burrowing alongside the track, and it was a fair presumption that sooner or later he would find some thing to Interest him between the rails, and somebody would go “down the bank." I was coming down the hill one day at high speed, and craning my neck for a cjinforting sight of piggy in his accus tomed place, when, as I‘ popped around ti c curve, a bright red flag assaulted my anxious gaze The connection between that flag am. the pig was only a bit of mental aberration on my part, but it was very vivid. I shut off and grabbed the whistle cold, but before I could even screech for brakes, I saw that the flag was only & red flannel shirt, which the good woman of 'the shanty to which the pig belonged had hung on an improvised clothesline between the telegraph poles. That may not sound like much of a scare, but it represents a type that turns the railroad man's hair to a delicate ash color. Railroad men have supplemented the rules with additions of their own, for the sake of convenience, and to expedite the work. When a man is sent out to flag he gets instructions. Perhaps he is told to let all regular trains pass, but to hold everything else; then he understand* that ills conductor will have his train in the siding when those trans arrive. A freight train had occasion to cross to the other track, but there wasn’t time to cross ahead of the limited. A man was sent ahead with orders to let the limited by and hold everything else until he should be called in. 1 was fireman on tne limited that night, end the place I write of was in the middle of a twenty mlie run, where the engineer made a practice of "ketchin’ up" any little time previous ly lost. I heard a sudden exclamation as George, my engineer, shut off and snapped on the air. I stepped to the gangway and caught a glimpse of a fellow waving a red light frantically as we flew by. In another instant wo rounded the curve, and there was a headlight, right in ou face and eyes. George "horsed 'er over," and I thought he would surely pull the sand lever out by the roots, but in spite of all, that headlight came up on ns like a comet. Of course, we thought the other fellow was crossed over on our track, or he wouldn’t have flagged us; it didn’t make any difference that he had no rignt to be there, there he was. George yelled for me to “git off," but a single hasty glance at the ground satisfied me with my chances where I was. A moment later we rolled past the en gine and half the train—which was on its own track. The freight conductor climbed up on our engine and asked George if that blanked fool had flagged him. George muttered and stammered with nervousness before he found his tongue, but when he did that con ductor heard, something that was well worth listening to. Such a salvo of verbal pyrotechnics—George expressing himself about the conductor, and he about the flagman—one hears but once in & life time. A newly located watchman's shanty looking exactly like the end of a box car—set my scalp to tingling one night. There had never been anything there but * the river before, and when the headlight glared on that very substantial structure I was sure my call had arrlvad. Another time a tool box in a tunnel, partly cov ered with overciothes and a coil of rope, started me for the step, under the im pression that it was a rock fallen 'rom the roof. Hut these are mere, ha’mless tWhen You Feel that you’ve just got to “get THAT CORSET off or die” it’s a sure sign that you haven’t struck REAL COR SET EASE. We Fit Corsets Here, and if you don’t get comfort from P. N., KABO, NEMO, C. 8., or WAR NER’S R. P., quit wearing ’em. Summer Skirts. We received last week some exquisite i BBofral selections in DRESS and WALKING SKIRTS, in WOOLENS, WHITE and FAN CY P-K’s and other wash goods—THAT WASH—Elegantly made and finished, jgßjKlllm and considering quality and workman ship—the best values in Savannah. To ■ see th?m is to love them AND TO HAVE y—— — "■ nap-i'i ‘is; ,'r'TL—mr .x'.'irsr-sr^T,"■av.a. —a ■ ■ - - *TrS ?'.,Tr,v - —* 1 ■ ;,SrsS;.v” 1 -tt:t—t , -,-r jy 0 Our Attractive Waists magnets—and not to the fair sex alone. In SILKS and WASH GOODS the designers have \Pr/ s P ar ed no efforts to convey beauty and character • to every seam—Quantity and Variety are limitless— Our MISSES’ WAISTS are “just too cute.” “Sweat=Shop” ._- E : UNDERWEAR Is not to be mentioned on the same day with our superior ELK BRAND HOME-MADE MUSLIN GARMENTS. Nice Silk*Lisle-Gauze and Knit, also. Fans, Belt* Girls’ Frocks. White and Fancy Lawns, Underwear, Stockings. Ladies’ Wrappers. Dressing Sacks and Kimonas. Bathing Suits, Bath Robes, &c. B. H. LEVY & BRO. scares which help to keep one awake. The engine gets by them before you get ofT. and you are back In your seat again, breathing ' anathema maranatha” against the thoughtless Idiot who was the cause of I* all. Then there are the other kind. I was itokirig up a long hill one night, when a red light suddenly showed up. fol lowed at once by another. Indicating that th* caboose of the preceding train wa just ahead, and 1 was coming up to It with astonishing rapidity. I yelled to my fireman to Jump, and we had barely land ed In the ditch, when six cars end the caboose of the train ahead climbed all over our engine. The train had broken In two. and this was th* rear gectton that had trundled dbwn th* hill on top of ua Frequently I have been asked If rail road men are superatitlou*. 1 think not. though they might be pardoned If they were. One night, after the meeting, Fred Jones asked, with fairly well assumed In difference, tf "any o' you fellers” had aean a mysterious flagman, at night, near the old atone house, this aide of "OHendorf'a Fill." Two or three of the men looked around, quick and sharp, an though the question reminded them of something, but nobody admitted that he had. • Darn funny." said Fred, puffing away at his cigar like a "mog” on a grade. "I've seen lm twice, 'n dunged If I c'u make It out." In response to cartful pumping, Joneaey told me that, on two occasions, on tha night trip, a faHow had sprung out rrotn behind the ruin* of the old atone house and flagged him—not with a lamp, al though It was night time, but with a nag. He Stopped both times, but no man wan to bn found, nor was there any on-nalon for flagging. On the second occasion hta conductor hinted with railroad frankness that Joneaey was "dopey," so Jonesey said ha would disregard the fellow’s sig nal If he ever saw him again. Aa to de tails, he remembered on.y that. both nights were brilliantly moonlit and that a good hreege was blowing. About two months later, along In tha foil, after a heavy rain, Joneaey ran Into a bad rock-slide a quarter of a mile be yond tha old stone house Hit fireman was killed, but ho oacopod with a sprain ed ankle. Ho came hobbling up to me a day or two later, as I was oiling round and said: "Wal, I done it.” "Done what?” “Run by that atone house flagman I was tellln' ye about; wonder if they'll think I’m dopey now?" Ho went on to (ell me that the same fellow flagged him the niglt of the acci dent; but, with Ills good name In mind, ho dropped her down a notch, breathed defiance ut the spook through his.teeth, and went through tha cut "tall on end” only to plJe up on the slide a moment later. One night, a long time after that, I waa killing time on n clearance. The moon waa about full, pretty well down In the west, and them wna a stiff breeze from the same quarter. I remembered Jone sey'a flagman, and deckled he would never have a better chance to get caught. I shut off and let her roll, on approaching the stone hotlse. Waving shadows on the track, cast by trees and bushes on the bank above, suggested possible solution of the mystery. I kept my eyee fastened religiously on tho spot Jonesey had de scribed, and presently saw there was something there. Orsdually the thing took form, until, when within a trsln length, I coukl have sworn that a man wna In front of me waving a flag. I put on brakes, slowed right down and gave an answering "toot-toot.” hut he paid no at tention. Then I crawled out on the run board and looked at the moon, which waa Just visible above the bank at my right. Aa the moon, myself and the man came Into line, he became blurred end Indistinct and I observed that a small pine tree on the bank was also coming Into line with us. When ths line was complsta the flagman spread out and lost form. The next time 1 saw JoSesey I told him about it. and he eaclalmed: “Well, I'll he -lerned!" On his next day off Jonesey deadheaded to the station near th* atone house and tramped four mile* with an ax. The spook flagman never bothered him nor any one els* thereafter. A ludrlvoua case of misplaced confi dence In the evidence of his own eyee was that of Pete Bchufeldt. a crabbed, contrary, "Lehigh Walley Dutchman." Infants’ /fr Caps and Bonnets, || of best materials, well made, and in va riety of finish. It’s money to you to see our kind before selecting. ' / Boys’ Fixings. Our unrivaled ability to supply fully and completely every need of large or small Boys, puts us easily in an individual class—alone in our supe riority-alone in our pre-eminence^ Wash Suits. < |ff > Blouse Suits. Blouse (Russian) Waists / J \ Mother’s Friend Wasits. \/> TVl\ Underwear, Neckwear. | / M Half Hose, Stockings. \ , I \ j $ Straw Hats, Negligee %T/ J * Shirts, Beits, Collars, &Lll Cuffs, Etc. QUANTITY AND PRICES. Pete had enjoyed a ten days' Involuntary vacation through being "outlied” by his conductor and crew In regard to an open switch, and he hungered and thirsted for revenge. Coming east shortly afterward In a dense fog and carrying white flags they crossed over at a water plug and left some cars on a siding. They backed on to the train again, and while the fireman took water, Pete got down to oil. He found a warm wedge on the front driv ing box on his aide, and pulled It down a bit. While he was under her. the con ductor passed, and told him to call the flag, when he waa ready to go. Pete got hla tallow pot. gave the wedge a good dose of cylinder oil. put the pot on th* run-board, finished oiling, and climbed in to the cab. lie was In (he very act of reaching for the whistle cord to call the flag when he saw what looked like the target of an open switch right ahead of the engine. It waa really the staff of the white flag, helped out by the tallow pot, aided end abetted by the simmer of the safety vslve, #nd escaping steam from the cylinder cocks, obscured hla vision and distorted his perspective. Here was a chance to get square with that "schmard" conductor. A local was following them pretty close, and a few minutes' delay would "lay her out" and necessitate an explanation from the con ductor as to how he came to leave that switch open. Pete sat down comfortably In hie cab and awaited developments. When the conductor came up fum ing Pet# told him with flne sarcasm that If he waa In a hurry he had bet ter close that gate In front of the en gine. During the interchange of cour tesies which foMowed this shot the fire man noted the sbecnce of the tallow pot and asked Pete If he hod hed It. The conductor referred In a scornful manner to Pete's cranial density, and told Mr-, he couldn't see the switch from there, anyhow. "lah dot so?" roared Pete, foaming with righteous indignation. "Better ydu git your eyes fixed. Vat you ctU dot, hey?" Hnd ha pointed triumphantly ahead. Just sk the fireman reached up and lifted the tallow pot down from the riin-bixtrd. Of cot Ase. the supposed often switch target disappeared end Pete has been try ing to explain ever ginc*. 7