The Territorial Topic. (Norman, Okla. Terr.), Vol. 8, No. 33, Ed. 1 Friday, March 19, 1897 Page: 4 of 8
eight pages : ill. ; page 20 x 16 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
The Territorial Topic.
OUINCY X. RKOWN, Editor.]
G*U. W. 1 ['.All, Publisher.
NORMA\
OKLAHOMA
re ) uoi a. *. - lt nigh oowauary
fcnca iKtwpiii fun and disgust.
• ?sW.'!
Women are In advance of men when
ft tomes to a dislike fur the laws of the
land.
Generally when a man's acta return
to plague him, he whine? around that
he is persecuted.
We are all apt to fail to discriminate
between what we believe and what we(
hope for.
Witticisms that contain no personal
alluBions lose much of their pungency
fa public taste.
Those who climb the highest have
the greatest distance to fall when age
weakens their grip.
If a sick man will perform unneces-
sary work, he should not complain if
told it is not we!! done.
The man who has no interest in the
contents of a safe always has the most
to say when It is being moved.
It Is a self-evident proposition that
those who pay the fiddler are entitled
to have the kind of tunes they d sire.
People who are thoroughly engrossed
in their business seldom find time to
label themselves so as to attract atten-
tion.
If nothing more serious than
weather shall ever gather about to vex
the United States navy the boats will
be all right and the country will be In
luck.
From the way some of the mothers
acted at a White House reception we
are led to the belief that a children's
congress to diBcuss ways and means ol
controlling the old folks would be a
sood thing.
The "man-who-can-turn-sllver-into
gold" has struck St. Louis In the dila-
tory course of human events, and now
It Is to be expected that the Missouri
metropolis will fall under the belated
spell of the chain-letter fakir and the
airship boomer.
The San Francisco Chronicle say®
that the new charter of San Jose will
provide that no man be retained as
an employe of the city who does not
pay his debts. This provision Is a
practical way of saying that without
private integrity there caunot be pub-
lic efficiency, measuring service as It
ought to be measured. A man untrue
to himself, as Is a shiftless or criminal
debtor, cannot lie expected not to break
faith in some way with the community.
"Clear ship for action!"
That order Is often heard on board
ships of the American navy for pur-
poses of drill, and It sometimes looks
as though it might be heard in earnest.
There is a magically martial thrill in
every note of it, and there Is no other
that will send the same sort of galvan-
ism adown the decks of a man-o'-war
as will this sharp command. The cry
of "All hands save ship!" is startling
enough, but it generally comes during
a stress of weather, and after nerves
have been steadied by the knowledge
that dangers threaten and that the ship
is begirt with peril.
But the other—the order to make
ready for battle—may come, and most
often docs, when business is meant,
like a bolt from the blue. The ship
may be steaming along over sunlit seas,
her crew going about their duties of
every day, when suddenly the cry Is
heard. The observant among them
may have heard the hail of "Sail ho!"
from the lookout, and may have no-
ticed the swift inspection of the dim
dot and its smudge of smoke by the of-
ficer on the bridge. They may also
have heard the officer say to the or-
derly to report the sail to the captain,
and may have noted the commander
as he made his way from cabin to
bridge. He looks intently at the
stranger through his marine glass, and
after a keen scrutiny, speaks to the of-
ficer of the deck in an undertone. The
officer halls the boatswain's mate, who
sounds a long-drawn whistle, which
everybody on board knows to mean
"attention," and then roars out the or-
der from his superior:
"Clear ship for action!"
The hitherto quiet ship at once
springs into bustling life. The first
lieutenant, or executive officer, as he is
more frequently called, comes on a run
to the bridge, if perchance he Is not al-
ready there, buckling on his side arms
at the time. He touches his cap to the j
of war. An American admirai would
wear out a string of signal flags repri-
manding a commanding officer who did
not get his ship ready for battle within
a tithe of that time. And as a matter
of fact It can be stated that any one of
the ships belonging to the North At-
lantic fleet can be cleared and ready to
do business with an enemy within
twenty minutes of the order.
But here are some of the things to
be done: It is laid down in the regula-
tions that while thoroughness and prp-
ficiency are of main importance in pre-
paring for action the element of time
must never be lost sight of. "Much,"
the regulations say, "may depend upon
the celerity with which a ship can be
prepared for battle, and time is always
a measure of efficiency and a sign of a
well-disciplined and smart crew."
Modern vessels are expected to fight
under way, and it was to cover the con-
ditions of such encounters that these
regulations were framed. Should a ship
fight at anchor, it would be tinder ex-
ceptional circumstances, and such de-
tails as the preparing or putting of
springs on cables, rigging out torpedo
defence, organizing picket-boat serv-
ice, and so on, is left to the ingenuity
or discretion of the commanding of-
ficer.
The points considered in the Manual
for preparing ships for action are: To
prepare the battery and battery sup-
plies, to clear the deck for the passage
of ammunition and for the movements
of the crew, to secure unobstructed arcs
of fire for all guns and torpedoes, to
take precautions against fouling the
screws, to secure successive means of
efficiently steering the ship in case the
regular appliances are disabled, to re-
duce to a minimum danger from splint-
ers and fire, to localize and be ready to
repair injury below or near the water-
line, and finally, to secure efficient
means of warning and of escape to
those below, should such be necessary.
In preparing for action many articles
must, of necessity, be thrown over-
board. In the exercise of clearing ship
the manual directs that all such arti-
cles shall be labelled "overboard" as a
part of the exercise and to remind the
men that they are to be tbssed over-
keep out of the way." And from me he
went, clearing four steps of the ladder
at a bound.
I followed in his wake, and was none
too soon in doing it. "Lively now,
want to get this battle-hatch shipped,"
I heard as I ran up the ladder. The
hatch closed behind me with a bang a
moment later, and the nimble seaman
whose duty it had been to close it
sprang to the accomplishment of some
other mission.
From the bridge the executive was
shouting orders. It is a saying in the
navy that the executive officer of a
man-of-war has nothing to do in life
but attend to everything. He seemed
to be doing it when I saw him that No-
vember morning. A number of men
forward were unshipping railings, and
they were not unshipping them fast
enough. Another party was clustered
about the anchors unstocking a bower
whose stock might have interfered
with bow-gun fire. The executive
shouted to them to make haste, and
turned instantly his attention to the
carpenter's gang engaged in taking in
the gangway ladders and removing
sentry gratings. The gunner crossed
his line of vision at that moment, and
to him he cried, "See all your battle
circuits connected, sir!" "Aye—aye,
sir! all connected!" was the reply of
the officer, as he hastened on.
And everywhere everybody was
busy. Down below, the engineer corps
was busily engaged priming furnaces
and closing stop-valves of steam-pipes
leading to all machinery above the pro-
tective deck which would not be used
in action, and in getting levers ready
for working boiler-stops or safety-
valves from berth-deck. Other men
were getting collision-mats ready for
immediate use, and still others were
engaged in distributing shot-stoppers
where they could easily be reached.
Long lines of fire-hose went snaking
along the decks, and from speaking-
tubes I heard the report from below
that steam fire-pumps had been tested
and were ready. In the rear of an ar-
mored sponson an officer was busy
with a range-finder, and over his head
there was being whipped aloft a num-
ber of small boxes, and these I learned
Identification lies along many lines,
and forgeries of manner and Bpeech are
as patent as those of handwriting. At
a recent convention in Edinburgh a
speaker attributed to Gladstone the
saying that a speech which reads well
"must be a very bad speech." "No,"
replied Lord Rosebery. "Fox said that,
and I can prove It. Fox said not very,
but a word beginning with "d," and I
am sure you will agree with me that
this puts Mr. Gladstone's having said it
out of the category of human possibili-
ties."
\'M
■ 5■
i'i'Tv.
I
The Blx-days' bicycle races which
have become features of recent exhibi-
tions are reprehensible in every sense
of the word. The severe strain has in
nearly every ease resulted in fatal in-
juries to the contestants. Joseph Jef-
ferson, commenting recently on undue
athletic training, said that some years
ago he met Uiurence Barrett on a street
corner in Boston, and Barrett said ho
was waiting for a street car to take him
to a gymnasium. "Why not walk?"
asked Jefferson; "that Is better exer-
cise than you will get at the gym-
nasium, and you will save the troubla
of going there."
United States Consul-General Karel,
at St Petersburg, "has furnished the
state department with full particulars
of the conditions under which the
plana for the Siberian railway were
changed w aj to run the eastern por-
tion of the line through Chinese terri-
tory. He says it was found that the
original plan would be hard of execu-
tion, owing to the great technical dif-
ficulties encountered. Thus on one
section of 1,106 miles the cost per mile
woold be $46,260, It was this fact
which first led to the consideration of
a Chinese section, and investigation
showed that, by running the line
through Manchuria, not only would the
oonatructlon be cheapened, but the line
would be shortened and other advan-
tages be secured. Negotiations were
begun and the Chinese government
gave a concession to the Russian-Chi-
nese bank, whkih formed a new com-
pany, the Eastern Chinese Railway
oompany, capital $2,570,000, to con-
struct that part of the road in Chinese
territory.
W
4
I
SCENE ON THE DECK OF ONE OF OUR VESSELS AFTER THE ORDER IS GIVEN.
The rainfall at the Oklahoma Ex-
periment station for 1896 was 31.1
Inches. This is an abundant supply.
Unfortunately It was not well dis-
tributed. Nineteen Inches fell in May,
Jnne and July, and over ten inches In
thirty-one days in June and July. Had
It not heen for the great evaporation
because of high temperature and
strong, hot winds the rainfall of Au-
gust, 1.64 inches, would have been suf-
ficient to prevent injury to crops.
January, February, April and Decem-
ber were the only months in which
the rainfall did not reach one inch.
officer of the deck, and says, briefly, "I
will relieve yon, sir." The officer hur-
riedly touches his cap and scurries be-
low to get his own side-arms, and has-
tens back to Join his division, for deck
officers are division officers as well.
The battery of the ship is divided Into
gun divisions, and these are appor-
tioned t>y rank, the senior officers fight-
ing the most Important guns and the
junior officers directing the fire of tlie
^east Important.
As fast as the divisions are made
yeady for action the officers in charge
report to the executive officer. When
all divisions are reported as ready, the
executive turns to bis commander and
says, "8hlp Is ready for action, sir."
It may be interesting to show by
what process it has been made so.
There are innumerable things to be
done before the executive officer can
make his report, and it Is on record
that In recent days a French admiral
made signal to the vessels of his com-
mand to clear for action and to report
when ready. An official account Bays
that some of the ships did not report
until two dayB later, and adds that the
commanding officers satisfactorily ex-
plained to their chl«f why they could
pot get their ships Cleared before that
time.
1 But that was In tne French navy.
Thta has to do with American ship-,
board when the ship is being cleared
for actual combat.
"The romance of steam, of heavy
guns, of steel-clad ships," a navy offi-
cer who Is attached to one of our ships
of war was saying to me a'few morn-
ings ago, when suddenly down the
ward-room hatch came the sonorous
cry of "Clear ship!" and the rest of it,
and simultaneously there came the
quick stamp of feet overhead and what
looked like the complete and instant
demoralization of the entire crew. A
ward-room attendant on the way to us
with a box of Manillas dropped the box
and fled tip the gangway, almost over-
turning in his flight a gray-bearded
•urgeon who was hurrying down the
ladder to secure his side-arms before
going to the realm of the maimed and
wounded. An engineer officer who had
been in his state-room rushed forth to
meet a tide of blue-shlrtcd humanity
streaming the othc way, intent upon
grapnels and alive to their duty as re-
ceivers of unnecessary gear which
might be sent their way.
My companion had darted Into his
state-room. He emerged from It the
next moment with sword swishing
from its unbuckled belt and revolver
dangling from It leather holster. He
had made his war toilet In a trice, and
as he made a leap for the open door he
■aid, '"one on deck and see It, but
contained ammunition for the rapid-
fire guns mounted in the tops. The
crews were already aloft, receiving the
ammunition and testing the mechan-
ism of the pieces to see if the locks
sprung free.
Gun crews were meanwhile shipping
torpedo trolley-tracks and placing tor-
pedoes in all tubes with "warheads"
on, ready for use, and arranging the
mechanism of the mlssle so that It
would sink at end of run. Down in
the surgeon's domain attendants were
rigging cots for wounded, preparing
j operating-table and laying out neces-
! ary instruments, bandages and medl-
: l ines. The paymaster and his assist-
ants were getting the public fund In
such shape that It could be carried
away or destroyed, as might have been
I directed, and quartermasters were
■ weighting signal-books ready to be
thrown overboard. If so ordered.
The spare tiller was got In place, and
relieving tackles were hooked on
ready for steering the ship should the
regular appliances be shot away. Ven-
tilators were unshipped and sent be-
low, awnings and sails were wetted
and stretched along the deck to serve
as Bplinter-screen8, swinging booms
were rigged in and lashed, compasses
and binnacles were sent below, and all
unnecessary electric lampB, globes and
shades were removed. Ventilating
blowers were started und voice-tubes
were tested.
In less than a dozen minutes the ex-
ecutive reported to the captain, "Ship
ready for action, sir," and then fol-
lowed the inspection to see if anything
had been neglected.
And ready she was.
The decks hart been cleared of every
obstruction that would have hindered
the fighting of the battery or the expe-
ditious killing of an enemy. Ventil-
ators had been removed, boats had
been rigged in and sails passed under
and around them to check the flight <
splinters. The ship was lying just theu
Where the boats could not have been
lowered. Had she been at sea and pre-
paring for actual battle the boats
would have been lowered and sent
adrift. This is made mandatory by na
val regulations, as it is anticpated that
the rapid-iji^ guns of an enemy would
soon make kindling wood of every boat
carried on ship-board while the vessel
is in action.
The absence of any boats increases
danger, for steel-clad ships have, like
Falstaff, "an alacrity at sinking" when
hit by a torpedo or struck by a ram.
But the risk of being drowned must be
taken like that of other risks of war-
fare. "Fighting cannot be made a safe
business," is the philosophical con-
clusion reached by the officers who
have considered this problem of boats
and advised the disposition mentioned.
With the executive officer at his side,
the captain made an inspection of the
ship. Then, when he had finished his
rounds, visiting every section of the
big fighting-machine, he reappeared on
deck, and a moment later the sharp
rat-a-tat-tat of the drum was heard
and the crew went scurrying to quar-
ters.
"Cast loose and provide!" shouted
the executive officer. The men, antici-
pating the order, were already at work
casting loose the battery. Down be-
low, some were opening magazines and
others were on the platforms hoisting
up charges for the big guns.
"Man the starboard battery — shift
pivot to starboard!"
This was the next command, and the
turret guns, which had been trained
ahead and astern, were swung to a
point abeam.
"Load, full service charges, common
shell!"
Dummy charges were rammed home,
and then came the order to train three
points abaft the beam and to open fire
on an enemy 4,000 yards distant.
Primers snapped and an imaginary
broadside sprang toward the horizon.
An enemy appeared on the port side,
and around went the turret guns and
across the wide deck the crew scamp-
ered in obedience to the order, "Man
the port battery!" There was more
loading and firing, then an order to
"prepare for raking fire from for-
ward," and behind turrets and guns,
anything that would offer protection
from the deadly end-on fite, the crews
of all guns whose arc of train was not
ahead clustered for safety. The ship
received the fire, and enemies appeared
on all sides.
"Man all the guns!" was the com-
mand as the foes thickened. At this
order the gun crews divided, one-half
going to the port guns and one-half to
the starboard.
While in this sore stress, with foes
on every hand, and primers snapping
resonant defiance of them all, and the
locks of rapid-fire guns clicking vi-
ciously, fire must perforce break out.
It was located in the cabin by the ex-
ecutive officer, and to it there hurried
a detachment from the divisions lo-
cated near the danger. A magazine
was adjacent, and a seaman gunner
flung himself at tlie flood-cock and
stood ready to drown the mine of ex-
plosives stowed beneath if the order
should be given.
The fire was extinguished, the fire-
fighters returned to their stations, and
then a ram got in its work on the un-
engaged side and a collision-mat was
placed over the imaginary wound. The
steering gear was shot away, and al-
most as quickly as the announcement
had been made relieving tackles were
manned. Shot-holes appeared in the
side, and shot-plugs were hastened to
the point indicated.
"Captain of No. 5, gunshot in leg!"
yelled the executive officer. The man
indicated, a sturdy-looking young sea-
man gunner, Immediately pitched for-
ward upon the deck, and fhe two aids-
to-wounded pounced upon him, bound
a tourniquet around the injured limh,
then tumbled him into a stretcher and
hurried him below. The second cap-
tain of the gun had promptly stepped
into the place of his wounded comrade,
and the first loader had taken his place
as second in command of the piece. An-
other had niuved into the place vacated
by the loader, and a supernumerary
had fakeu the place of the last.
For a half-hour or so the crew was
exercised in the art of war, and noth-
ing was left to the imagination but
blood and shrieks and wounds. Then
the retreat was sounded, followed a
few minutes later by the order, "Se-
cure!"
Tlip <irr t Mom.
New Zealand was once inhabited by
a race of gigantic wingless birds, called
the moa. Although now extinct, these
birdB are well known to men of science
through their skeletons, thousands of
which have been found. Unfortunately,
In the great majority of cases, the
skeletons are not complete, and in re-
constructing them for exhibition in
museums it la necessary to match to-
gether the bones of different individu-
als. Recently, however, the British
Museum has obtained a complete skele-
ton of a moa nearly ten feet high. Not
more than three or four similarly per-
fect skeletons of this mrmster of an
age long past are known to be In ex-
istence.
THIRD PRKSIDENT,
PLAVED A SECONDARY PART
IN INAUGURATION
All of tlie Inter#* t Wm for the Depart
I rig Idol, Wellington, an. t John
A damn Wim honmwhat Hour 'iated—
Waffhlngton Deeply Affected. a
i
HE current num-
ber of the I 'enlury
c o n t ains several
articles am, many
pictures rel. ting to
the life that cen-
ters around the
White Hou.- . Mr.
Joseph B. Bishop
contributes .in arti-
cle on "Inaugura-
tion Scenes and In-
cidents." After speaking of thr popu-
lar idolatry of Washington, Mr Bishop
says:
The chief sufferer from this condi-
tion of affairs was John Adams when
the lime came to inaugurate him an
Washington's successor. He Is t he only
prenident we have had. with the pos-
sible exception of Mr. Van Buren, who
can be said to have played a se ondary
part at his own inauguratioi'. The
people had no eyes Tor him; t 3y saw
only the stately figure of Wa. ington
passing forever from the scei . The
ceremonies were 'held in Indep adence
Hall, Philadelphia, in the House of
Representatives. Washington drove to
the hall in his coach and four,: nd was
lustily cheered both outside an' inside
the building. He passed quickly to his
seat, as if eager to stop the applause.
Adams entered a few minute later,
dressed in a light drab suit, and passed
slowly down the aisle, bowing in re-
sponse to the respectful applause which
greeted him. He took the oath, and
then delivered his Inaugural address.
He described the scene subsequently as
a solemn one Indeed, made more af-
fecting by the presence of Washington,
whose countenance was as serene and
unclouded as the day. There was a
flood of tears, which he sought in va-
rious ways to explain, though no ex-
planation was necessary. There was,
he said, more weeping than there had
ever been at the representation of a
tragedy; but whether it was from grief
or joy, whether from the loss of their
beloved president or from the acces-
sion of an unbeloved one, or some oth-
er cause, he could not say. He sus-
pected that the novelty of the sun set-
ting full-orbed, and another rising,
though less splendid, may have had
something to do with it. For several
days after the exercises he was still
bewailing the tendency to weep. Ev-
erybody was annoying him by talking
of tears and streaming eyes, but no-
body told him why; and he was forced
to believe that it was all for the losu
of thUr beloved. Two or three had
ventured to whisper in his ear that his
address had made a favorable impres-
sion, but no other evidence of interest
in him had reached him. One thing he
knew, and that was that he was a be-
ing of too much sensibility to act any
part well in such an exhibition.
If the tears at the inaugural exer-
cises made Mr. Adams unhappy, what
followed must have added greatly to
his sufferings. When, at the close,
Washington moved toward the door,
there was a precipitate rush from the
gallery and corridors for the street,
and he found a great throng awaiting
him as he emerced from the door.
They cheered him, and he waved his
hat to them, his countenance radiant
with benignity, his gray hair streaming
in the wind. He waked to his house,
followed by the crowd, ajid on reach-
ing it turned about for a final erect-
ing. His countenance assumed a grave
and almost melancholy expression, his
eyes were bathed in tears, and only, by
gestures could he indicate his thanks
and convey this farewell blessing.
IRRIGATION.
Oldrat System of Agriculture Known to
the Human Kace.
It is fair to presume that the popular
conception of Irrigation and iis possi-
bilities is vague and indistinct with 'ha
mass of people living east of tho Mis-
sissippi river, although it Is the oldest ,
system of agriculture known to tho '
human race, says Lipplncott's. The
richest and most productive portions
of tlie earth have been cultivated in
this manner for ■ thousands of years
and yet maintain the densest popula-
tions—in India 200 to 600 to the squar«
mile; in Italy 250 to 450; in Egypt near-
ly 500, and so on. This oldest of arts
was practiced by the ancient Arabians,
Assyrians, Babylonians and Chinese
and has always formed a part of th#
agriculture of the countries bordering
on the Mediterranean. The plains ot
Oman in Arabia are watered by sub-
terranean eanals supplied by reser-
voirs in the mountains and vegetation
of ran- luxuriance, consisting of most
of the fruits and grains of Persia, is
produced In consequence. Tho plains
of Assyria and Babylonia are covered
with nn immense system of canals,
some of them hundreds of miles in
length, Intended partly for Irrigation
and partly for navigation. On th«
American continent tho ancient. Inhab-
itants of Peru were found by their
Spanish conquerors in tho use of tha
most costly works for irrigating theif
lands. Prescott says: "Canals and
aqueducts were seen spreading over
tho country like a network, diffusing
fertility and beauty around them.1
The Aztecs of Mexico also made us^
of similar means to counteract th*
dryness of their atmosphere, and In
the beautiful gardens of Aatapalapanf
watered by canals and moistened by,
the spray of fountains, was exhibited,
to the astonished Spaniards a perfec-
tion of horticulture at that time ua*
known In their own country.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Brown, Quincey T. The Territorial Topic. (Norman, Okla. Terr.), Vol. 8, No. 33, Ed. 1 Friday, March 19, 1897, newspaper, March 19, 1897; Norman, Oklahoma Territory. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc115762/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.