The Topeka state journal. [volume], July 21, 1900, LAST EDITION, Editorial Section, Page 10, Image 10

About The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980

Image provided by: Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, KS

                
THOSE WHO THINK THERE
THESE SPLENDID GOLD
i.i , i. n m'" r amw,IIIBII"M,IIIM,,lM 1,111 J
EIRX)'S-ETE VIEW OF THE 3T.V5a3ST
MINES. Bk
In the centre of the island3 the
Philippines are rich in ores, and, on
beholding them, one does not wonder
that the Spr.nish were sorry to let
the islands go. Many of the mines
have been well worked and the ma
chinery, while it in no respect com
pares to that of the famous De Been
mines. Is modern and dofts the work;
necessary to extensive mining opera
tions. Since the war broke out the
mmea have not been developed, but
lie in all their richness waiting for
come one to come and work them.
Companies are being formed to go to
the Philippine gold fields, and it is
not improbable that they will soon be
regarded as another Klondike, which
will belong, 'beyond dispute to Uncle
Bam, and which can be nicely and
comfortably worked without the
hardships attendant upon mining in
Alaska.
BOME OF THE PICTURESQUE
CHINA AGAINST
THE WORLD.
How the Fighting of the Celestial
Kingdom Compares With the Com
bined Forces of the .Nations.
The idea of China's setting out to battle
with and subdue the combined forces
of the civilized nations of the world
would be ridiculous if it were not so
pathetic. Never before has the self-confidence
of a nation been so conspicuously
displayed; and the spectacle of the Em
press, who was once a slave girl, boldly
defying the world, is one that will not
soon be forgotten.
Of course it is true that up to a few
years ago the Chinese people looked up
on their nation as invincible. To most
nations the war with Japan would have
been a lesson; to most nations the af
fectionate regard of such powers as
Russia, Germany and England would
have been a warning to circumspection;
but from appearances it would seem that
Chiua has neither learned the lesson nor
understood the warning.
It is not so strange that ignorance in
these matters should be displayed by the
common people, but one who imagines
that it has been the common people
who have been the cause of these dis
turbances will have an incorrect view of
the Eastern situation. It is the common
HER MAJESTY, THE- EMPRESS OF
THE ROYAL.
13 NO SUC?H THING AS GOLD MINING IN THE PHILIPPINES SHOULD SEE
FIELDS, RICH WITH ORE, AND CAPABLE OP BEING EASILY MINED.
SCENES NOW BEING DAILY OPENED
PROGRESS INTO THE HEART
people who have made the noise.
In all probability it will be the common
people who will suffer the penalties for all
these acta when the day of reckoning
arrives; but in spite of all this, the
Powers realize that the common people
have been no more than the innocent
tools of a spiteful and vindictive woman
who has been great enough to Beize the
reins of a nation, but who baa not yet
been great enough to be able to realize
her own powerlessness and the insig
nificance of her own country.
RUSSIA'S PART.
Just what part ltussia has played in
this diplomatic misunderstanding is a
not easily fathomed mystery; just how
far she is responsible for the loosening
of the dogs of war is a matter that will
probably never be known, but the fact
remains that Russia's conduct in the
case makes but little difference, for even
her active support, which would prob
ably not be given, could not save China
from the dismemberment that her de
fiance of the nations makes almost in
evitable. To fully understand the position of
China as compared with the other nations
of the world one must study for a
moment the table showing the extent
of the land and sea forces of the various
countries. According to the late reports,
the total fighting fleets of the civilized
nations are as follows;
Displace
Number. ment. Size. Sneed.
England .... ISO lTr(iti,7j
8,423 18.5
7,292 17.4
7,070 10.7
France ..... 90
Russia 53
650,2f3
40ti,S53
CHINA, FROM THE PAINTING IN
PALACE.
TIP TO THE UNITED STATES SOLDIERS AS THEY MAKE THEIR
OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
Uuited States
Italy
Germany ....
Austria
45
42
2S0,247
23y,OS(5
804,307
6.22.8
7,245
17.2
17.U
17.2
tiu,7yo
lti.:
When to this list is added Japan, with
her tloet of 22 vessels, all of which are
better than those of Austria, and some
of which are superior to those of Ger
many, Great Britain or the United
States, oue may obtain a somewhat good
idea of what the combined forces of
those who oppose the anti-foreiga prin
ciples of Chiua would be.
In all it would represent a fighting
fleet of 487 vessels, with a displacement
of not less than 3,725,430. Against this
force China would be able to send 22
cruisers. 34 gunboats, 30 torpedo craft,
and 6 floating batteries, making a total
of 08 vessels, many of which are old,
aud all of which, with the exception of
some of the torpedo craft, are out of
date in almost every respeet.
Compared to China's present condition,
Spain was a great naval power at the
time of the declaration of war with this
country, and yet it required but two
battles to put her out of business on the
seas. "What would happen to China
if the combined navies of the world
were pitted against her fleet is a matter
for interesting conjecture.
A WEAK ARMY.
It Is not only in naval force, however,
that China is woefully lacking. In her
army she is almost as deficient. Nom
inally she possesses an army of about
1,000,000 men, but actunlly this number
does not exceed 300,000. The Eight
Banners branches, composed of descend
ants of the Manchu eouquerors and their
allies, are supposed to number about
300,000 men. but at present their num
ber does not exceed 80,000. The Ying
Pig, or national army, is ealled also the
Green Flags and the Five Camps, five
heinjf the nnit of subdivision. This
branch of the army consists of eighteen
corps, one for each province, under the
Governor, or Governor-General. The
nominal strength is from &40.000 to
000,000 men, of whom not more than
20),000 are now available for war. The
most important contingent-ia the Tien
Tsin corps.
Besides these forces there are raercen
ary troops raised In emergencies, and
Mongolian and other cavalry, nominally
about 200,000 strong, really about 20,000,
but of no military value. The total land
army, therefore, now figures at about
300.000, although 1,000,000 might be
raised . without very, great trouble. On
the other hand, however,; the army as a
whole has no unity or cohesion; "there ia
no proper discipline; the drill is mere
physical exercise; the weapons are long
since obsolete, and there is no transport,
commissariat or medical service.
Of what use would such a force be if
marehed against the splendidly drilled
and magnificently equipped armies of the
other countries? How long would such
an army last before the fire of a com
bined prmy, the composition of which
may be imagined by an examination of
tke following table:
'Army 1
In Peace.
800,000
25.00O
585,440
385,697
615.413
363,569
231,355
Army
In War.
3,503,000
250,000
3,000,000
1,825,000
2,500,000
525,000
1,203.000
Rubs!
United States
Germany ...... :m
Austria-Hangar; w
France
Great Britain ....
Italy . a
THE TORCHLIGHT
IS IN ORDER.
Interesting History of a Political
Argument TUat Will Soon Become
Extremely Popular,
This is the season of the year when
political orators are bnsy getting their
arguments in qrder. It is the time when
old speeches are drawn out from pigeon
holes in which they have rested for four
years, and old stories are renovated and
brought down to the present timej for
it is the time when the spellbinder and
the stump speaker are to be turned loose
upon the land to explain to the. eager
voter why he should vote for this or that
candidate, and why a vote cast for the
other man means ruin and desolation for
the nation.
Of all the political arguments that will
be advanced during this campaign, how
ever, there is none that will touch a more
responsive chord in the popular heart
than the torchlight parade.
It may not mean anything from the
point of view of actual common sense,
and yet the people have come to look
upon these long lines of torch-bearers
as one of the most eloquent factors of
the campaign. As the result, it is safe
to say that it will not be many weeks
before the torchlight brigade is out in all
its glory, for in a campaign that is to
be so bitterly fought such an argument
will certainly not be neglected by either
party.
I Political campaigning in this country
has been a growth which has a more or
: less interesting history, for in the earlier
days of the Republic there were no at
tempts made to resort to spectacular or
otherwise sensational arguments in the
seasons of Presidential elections.
In fact, the first nominations were
made by members of Congress and other
prominent citizens at the national cap
ital, aud the nation- was nearly half a
century old before the first political con
vention was hold. Even at that time,
however, the demonstrations of the
people were dignified and circumspect as
compared to those ef to-day, and it was
not until 1840, in the great campaign of
"Tippecanoe and Tyler, too," that pop
ular feeling in the country was to any I
A yiEW OF THE PEOPLE WHO
; -
t ' p"i'jT': ' Jul l OMfe
?' ' " fepss?! II
if 0fitll M tell m iAapSHIi mW
great extent aroused.
As a campaign, that of 1840 was one
of the most exciting in tha history of
the country. From oue end of the United
States to the other the people thought
of nothing but politics, and there was no
end of public meetings and other demon
strations in the interests of the can
didates. This campaign of log cabins
and. hard cider seems to have absorbed
all the popular effervescence, however,
for it was not until twenty years had
passed that there was another noisy
campaign in behalf of candidates. This
was the campaign that followed the
nomination of Lincoln, in 1S6'.
In the South, of course, Lincoln was
not well thought of, and there were a
few sections in the East where he was
not popular, but generally throughout the
North and West the enthusiasm for biro
was great. Huge political .parades, with
log cabin and rail-splitting accompani
ments, wpre the order of the day and
night. Seldom, -if ever, has more interest
been pianifested by the people. But the
one great event that makes this cam
paign memorable is that it was ftie occas
ion for the first appearance of the torch
bearing brigade.
The torchlight parade wi the result
of a bright thought on the part of a
few political youths in Hartford, Conn.
In February, 1SG0, Cassiua M. Clay
visjted that city, and on that occasion
the organization known as the Wide
Awakes inaugurated what has since be
come the most popular feature of all
campaigns. It consisted of the adoption
of half-uniforms, each member of the
marching club carrying a torch, and the
effect of this innovation proved to be
exhilarating to a degree that can scarcely
be appreciated at this time.
After the first appearance of the Wide
Awakes in this way the idea spread all
over the country, and there was scarcely
a town or village of importance where
clubs of Wide Awakes were not formed,
and these torchbearers were in the great
est demand at every political demon
stration, THE WIDE AWAKES.
A writer of those days has left an
account of the first parade of the Hart
ford Wide Awakes, and this gives some
idea of the manner- in which the unique
feature was received. He says:
"The scene at this moment was one of
great beauty and interest. The dark
thunder cloud had passed eastward and
was lighted up occasionally by gleams
of lightning, forming a little background
to the scene. The streets were crowded
by shouting and excited people; thousands
of torches made the line brilliant from
one end to the other, and the march was
as steady as that of regular infantry.
"As the line advanced, cheer after
cheer arose, bands played, cannons were
fired and artificial fireworks added beauty
to the novel scene." Such was the first
torchlight parade recorded in history.
The uniform of the W7ide Awakes in
1800 consisted of oilcloth cape, a military
cap, and each member carried an ordin
ary petroleum torch over his left shoul
der. At first it was intended to have
the capes of muslin, but as the torches
were extremely crude affairs the burning
oil was continually dropping from them,
and this would have quickly set fire to
such flimsy material as muslin. WThiIe
the uniform of the private of the line
was simple enough, that of the officer
was more elaborate, consisting of an
Inverness mantle, an overcoat with cape
of enamel cloth and glassed hat.
It is probable that we shall never
know the name of the man in whose
brain this idea first developed, and the
fact is certainly one to be regretted, for
it would be but just reward to him if
his name could be sent thundering down
the ages in the pages of history. Of
all the campaign innovations, there have
been none that have been more spectacu
lar or sensational. Nothing that has been
responsible for so much genuine enthus
iasm. Ever since the night of the first torch
light parade, therefore, they have been
marked features of the Presidential can
vass. From time to time improvements
have been made, more attractive ilium-
nations have been selected or more ex
pensive uniforms procured, but the pa
rades have been torchlight parades for
U that, and nothing can take from
Hartford the credit of having invented
and first produced this novelty.
ARE JUST AT PRESENT THE CENTRE OF INTERNATIONAL INTEREST,
. WHICH ARE NQW MAXXE) FAMOUS AT THE SEAT OF WAR,
DIAMONDS HADE
TO ORDER NOW.
A French Scientist Claims to Be Able
to Duplicate This Wonderful feat
of Xature
Where sliall we get our diamonds now
that the supply from South Africa is
cut off, is a question that has been asked
ever since the day when rumors of the
impending trouble between Great Brit
ain aud the Transvaal began to take de
finite form.
At first it was thought that the dia
mond merchants would have to depend
upon Australia, or, perhaps, Siberia to
furnish the gems that are so much in de
mand, but M. Moissan, an emiuent
French chemist, furnishes a more simple
answer to the1 query. "Give me a few
months for experiment," he says, "and.
so far as diamonds are concerned, the
war may go on forever. From my . lab
oratory I will bring diamonds equal to
any that the mines of Africa can pro-'
duce."
Naturally such an assertion as this,
coming from such a source, has caused
no end of comment in the scientific
world. That SI. Moissan is confident
that he will be able to make good all his
promises, however, is shown by the fact
that he has gone before the French Acad
emy of Science and has not only placed
his decluraious on record, but has even
gone so far as to explain the methods
by which he expects to produce this
marvel, r
In explaining his process M. Moissan
states that he has long realized that the
only thing that was wanted to transform
worthless carbon... into precious stones
was intense heat and tremendous pres
sure. For years he has been experi
menting along these lines, and has at
tributed all his failures to the fact that
he, has been unable to obtain a sufficient
degree of heat or a pressure sufficiently
powerful. In fact, the highest degree of
heat which he could obtain was 1 00
degrees O., and this was clearly insuUi
cient. WONDERFUL APPARATUS.
In order to overcome this obstacle hn
invented the wonderful apparatus, the
illustration of which is shown. In the
middle of the strong iron framework,
M. H., tie enclosed a tube, P, containing
gunpowder, and, in the lower part, a
sort of projectile or bullet, B, to which
was attached a small piece of carbon
E. This carbon was raised to an enor
mous temperature by means of a power
ful are formed between the two poles
C. and A., and when he judged that the
temperature was sufficient, Professor
Moissan fired the gunpowder by a plati
num wire, which the electric current
brought to a white heat at the proper
moment. The bullet was tlius projected
violently against the piece of carbon and
the requisite pressure exerted.
Again and again M, Moissan experi
mented with his strange machine, and
at last he was so successful that he in
vited several of his fellow members of
the Institute to visit him in his labora
tory. There another experiment was
made in their presence and when the
apparatus was opened they were amazed
at the result. Where there had pre
viously been nothing more than a piece
of carbon there was now a, dust, or mass
of small particles, each of which had all
the characteristics of the natural dia
mond. They would cut natural dia
monds, and, what was a still greater
test, they would vanish into air at a
certain degree of heat. They were dia
monds, there could be no question about
that. They were small, too small to be
of value from a commercial point of
view but, nevertheless, they were dia
monds. To describe in detail the oven in.
which M. Moissan has accomplished
such remarkable results would be te
dious and the description would be
meaningless to one not versed in this
branch of science. " It may be said, how
ever, that it is formed of two blocks of
limestone, which fit exactly, one on top
of the otier. Both blocks are hollowed
out in the center in such a way as to
leave a cavity when fitted together. In
this cavity is the charcoal crucible in
which lies the piece of carbon that is to
be subjected to the heat pressure.
A BEAUTIFUL PROCESS.
The reason for the use of this kind
of limestone is that it -is the best non
conductor known to science. At the
time that the electrical current is turned
on, huge white flames burst out from
the oven on either side and it is not diffi
cult to believe the assertion of the in
ventor when he calmly states that the
temperature is ranging somewhere be
tween 4.000 and 5,000 degree.
In spite of all this, however, the ont
ward appearance ef the ovea would not
indicate that the heat contained within
was more than ordinary. In fact, it is
possible to lay the hand on top of the
oven without any grea unpleasantness,
but it is known that within the appara
tus the charcoal crucible is a mass of al
most incalculable heat.
Tbii is kept up for two or three min
utes and then, suddenly, the projectile is
fired. It remains then only for the oven
to cool sufficiently to enable the inventor
to remove the crucible and the work has
been done.
'is'
r
THE WONDERFUL APPARATUS
BY WHICH DIAMONDS ARB
MADE TO ORDER.
M. Moissan is one of the most eminent
inventive chemists in Europe, but he Is
a man who does not work for profit. He
realizes, of course, that his invention may
be put to financial profit, but he has no
commercial interest in the matter. All
he desires to do is to establish the fact
that man by artificial means may con
tend in the production of the rarest and
richest products of Nature's laboratory,
and when he has accomplished this he
will be satisfied.
Moreover, M. Moissan is modest, with
the modesty of the true savant. He
does not declare that he will immediately
produce diamonds in his oven that will
be able to rank by the side of the Koh-i-Noor,
or the other well known stones
that are worth . two or three ordinary
fortunes. In a recent interview he said:
"With the tremeudous forces at her dis
posal. Nature has been able to produce
as the largest diamond known, a stone
not much bigger than a pigeon's egg. I
hardly think that we can compete with
her in this field, though we do work with
exactly the same methods that she does."
In spite of this, however, he is confi
dent that he is on the verge of per
fecting his discovery, and that it will not
be long before he is able to produce a
diamond that will be worthy to be placed
side by side with gems from the mines,
and he believes that his diamond will not
suffer by the comparison. Now that he
has made the first success the rest is
not as difficult as the novic might imag
ine and. if his experiments do not prove
him entirely wrong in theory, it will not
be long before he can so regulate the
action of his oven that the diamonds
produced will be of soma size rather
than infinitesimal particles.
AND SOME OE THE STRUCTURES
- - A 1 1 I - ' ' 1