A TRAP FOR WAR SHIPS,
They Might Eo Caught B 7 a Chain
cf Great Magnets.
One of the Possibilities of Electrical Coast
Defenses—How to Protect New York
Harbor—Col. W. R. KinS's In
vention and Its Uses.
[COPTHIGHT, 1896.]
So many people have been talking and
thinking within the past few weeks,
and even nervous about the ways and
means of defending the coasts of the
United States against attack by a for
eign power that the progress of elec
trical experiments in this matter may
be of interest.
Since the last war in which the
United States was at all practically in
terested, applied electricity has done so
much to change the methods of com
munication and locomotion both on
land and sea that more may be expected
from it. We had the Atlantic cable in
1868, which condensed weeks into days
ns far as commerce is concerned be
tween the old world and the new;
also the telephone, which cuts into the
mail methods for moderate distances,
shortening the time of supply from
days to minutes; then the street trolley
car, which is an example of machinery
propelled by electricity that has so
greatly facilitated the transportation
of passengers and mails in cities—to
eay nothing of the electric light. All of
which is applied electricity.
Out of what was at first mere idle
curiosity I took the trouble to find out
how far electricity can be relied upon
es an aid or a single factor in defending
our coasts and harbors, and the result
is here' given.
In November, 1894, Col. W. E. King,
then commanding engineer at the
United States engineering school at
Willet’s Point, on Long Island, tried to
see how powerful a magnet he could
make, and of what use it would be.
He took the largest steel cannon he had
(of which it is unnecessary to give the
dimensions here), plugged up the muz
zle with soft metal, then wrapped the
barrel with copper wire, thereby mak
ing an instrument that could be great
ly magnetized by a current of electric
'ty. When the current was turned on
battle, snips approaching hnrbo~s and
coasts. Prof. Bullock said:
r,,,"1 know of Coi- King’s grant magnet.
(J Le mafjneltlc P°wer in it could not be
transmitted through copper or any
sbcl ?f W3rf, runil'ng out from the
' 5® sinnU receiving magnets lying
at the bottom of the channel entrance
to a. harbor, because the currents slope
ol.. as it were, into air or water as they
proceed from the great magnet, there
by losing force. But there is nothing to
hinder the planting of a line of these
great magnets across the entrance to
a harbor several miles at sea and mag
netizing them through cables from the
shore at short ■ notice. They could be
sunk to the bottom of the sea, and would
act just, as efficiently under water as on
land.
f or instance, take the entrance to
Kew York harbor. The chart here, as
J 011 see, shows that the channel is very
narrow, and that is one great ad
vantage. If we should take a few old
cannon barrels and make magnets of
them, like Col. King’s, they could be
dropped in a line across the channel a
few hundred feet apart, and here and
there around Sandy Ilook, connecting
them each with a powerful battery on
shore. The apparatus would be com
paratively inexpensive and simple,
bach one would be what we call a tem
porary magnet, that is, one which could
be magnitized temporarily by a current
of electricity trasmitted through the
cable from the shore. A permanent
magnet, or one retaining constant pow
er, could hardly be made large enough
to be efficient, and if it were, its con
stant force would endanger all incom
ing vessels all the time. But a mag
net, or line of magnets like Col. King’s
could be magnetized and made active
in a minute, and the current could be
shut off quickly. The power of the
magnet Would depend upon the
strength of the current received from
the shore.
A ovv suppose a battle ship were com
ing ftp the channel into New York har
bor. The ship is made almost entirely
of iron and steel. The line of great
magnets lying under and across its
headway, could be powerfully magnet
ized. When the ship approached with
in 200 feet of a magnet, the latter would
leave its bed and cling to the forward
| keel, and if the ship should pass directly
THE PIECES LEFT THE TRAY AND CLUNG TO THE CANNON.
nil small pieces of iron lying1 near the
cannon began to leave their places and
cling to the great magnet. A man took
a dinner tray loaded with pieces of
scrap iron weighing from an ounce to
a pound, and when lie was within 100
feet of the magnet the pieces began to
leave the tray and cling to the can
non, and a little nearer the platter was
as clean as that of Jack Sprat and his
wife after they were through eating,
oext a crowbar weighing 25 pounds
was taken near the cannon. It flew out
of the man’s hands and stuck with such
force that two strong men were re
quired to pull it away, and this could be
lone only by a sudden jerk.
It was noticed also that the mag
compasses in the immediate neigh
borhood were appreciably depleted by
he greatest, magnet in the world.
vwspnper reports at the time,
hr d. King- as saying that a ship’s
'^5S)uld be deflected six miles at
8eai but t$js was an injustice to the
Colonel, and herewith is given an ex
tract from aNprivate letter written by
him at. the time to show what was really
lone. After deprecating the wrong
itatements by certain newspapers, Col.
King wrote:
D- S‘ Engineering School, Wlllet’s Point,
"Queens County, N. Y., Nov. 27,1894.
Dear Sir:
**•*••*
It may be of interest to you to know
sraetly what the effect is on the needle,
Mn\thfs * had carefully tested just before
letter came, viz., at distances of 50,
! {™. 150 and 200 feet. In a line nearly east
1 Ij west through the magnet (he deflec
ts °f the compass were 85 degrees. 16
r frees, 8 degrees and ZH degrees, which
>nows the rate at which "the force tapers
W‘ so to speak.
V ou may also be interested in some
sot Hfes recently taken, showing the mag
, holding up five 320-pound projectiles,
. “°W’ the force will pass through a man
lilt cause Iron to stand out from his body
e Quills upon the fretful porcupine.’
* * * * * *
T respectfully, W. R. King.”
. “e pictures show a number of large
’Paves attached horizontally to the
-lAVUtUliJ
°uy of a man standing near the mag
I illustrate the practical use of the
°rce iu this great magnet, as it might
-- ^ * voiw uiutj m. pf uki iv *fi
tt vplied *° coast and harbor defenses
-jj * e'v York and other places, I shall
' e result of a talk with Prof. W.
Heck
of the department of natural
in relation
‘ ■■^Vcs’ Columbia colleg
he effect that a combination of
great magnets might have upon
over one of the magnets, the depth of
water below the keel is so slight that
the magnet would come up to the ship
with great force. Having once touched
the keel, the electric current from the
shore would either stop the ship, or the
magnet would be dragged along the
keel until it would strike the propellers,
which would be done with such force
as to crush them.
“In case the first magnet should not
be strong enough, and the ship should
cross a second, the second would seek
the end of the ship opposite the first.,
forming the two poles and magnetiz
ing the entire ship. Then it would be
impossible for the ship’s strain power
to overcome this force, while all mov
able iron would be stuck solid.
“All this is very plausible and could
be made practical. Of course, what
is done in New York harbor and along
the immediate coasts could be done
elsewhere. It would cost very little
to try this first on one of our own bat
tle ships entering the harbor, and little
harm could be done, for the current
from the shore could be shut off im
mediately at a signal from the ship.
“As to the deflection of the compass
of the ship, when one of these mag
nets should strike the keel, the com
pass could he made to whirl like a
school boy’s top, for it would be an al
most direct contact with the mageel.’’
After investigating the subject thus
far, oue of my own wild ideas is that,
in a sudden emergency, the submarine
cable connecting these deep-sea mag
nets with the shore could be connected
with a trolley-car power house, and
the magnetic power could be quickly
run away up to the top of the alphabet,
and a battle ship would hardly realize
what had struck it.
Washington Davis.
Heavy Tax for Bicycles.
Ouc of the suggestions recently made
to the chamber of deputies in Paris
was by a commercial traveler, who pro
posed that women’s bicycles should be
subjected to a yearly tax of $80, and
that none should be permitted to wear
rational costume without taking out
a license every year at a cost of $200.
No Cause for Fear.
S}ie—The last man that asked father
for my hand got thrown out.
He—But you are more of a job lot now
than you were then.—Town Topics.
NEW CONGRESSMEN'S WIVES.
How They Struggle Through Their
First Season at the Capital.
Snubbed by the Old Merahm-The Coun
try Legislator's Wife It Appalled at Her
Visiting I.lst, and the City Woman
Calls Upon Everybody.
[copyright, 1896.]
The usual rush of newly-elected mem •
hers has brought to Washington the
usual army of new women—not the
new women of the comic papers, but
the women who are new to Washington
—the new congressmen’s wives.
While they are objects of the liveli
est interest to themselves and their
friends at home, the women are a.source
of perennial amusement to Washington
society.
There are many types, each interest
ing in its own way.
The woman from a far western state,
who, perhaps, in her ovyi home has leu
a quiet life, with only such mild dissi
taken the first, decisive step into Wash
ington society.
But she is not long in realizing that
the dress that was considered a triumph
of the dressmaker’s art at home is al
most. dowdy by contrast with the gor
geous costumes she set's about- her.
She finds that instead of sitting down
and “visiting” with Mrs. Senator Blank
froai her own state, she gets a formal
shake of the hand and is passed on with
out. a word into a room filled with
strange people. She knows nobody and
apparently nobody wants to know her.
She makes a speedy exit, past her in
different hostess, and goes hack to the
dingy hoarding house to tell her hus
band of her experience.
She isn’t quite sure whether she likes
Washington or not, hut feels a bit
consoled the next, morning when she
sees her name in t.he list of “those who
were calling yesterday.”
This list is compiled carefully each
day by the good-nat.ured socity report
ers for the daily papers. It has con
soled many a woman for the snubs and
she gets a fobmai shake of the hand.
pations as country fairs or church festi
vals, becomes the envy of all her friends
tv hen her husband iselected tocongress.
Possibly as the wife of the mayor of the
town, or the daughter of its leading
merchant, she has been a woman of
some prominence and a leader of its
social gatherings. She looks forward
to taking a conspicuous part in the
gayety of Washington, as in that of her
own town. She leaves her home with
her head in a whirl of giddy anticipa
tion.
She and her husband have only vague
ideas as to where they will live, but
look forward to luxurious quarters in
a hotel as the proper thing for people in
their position. It takes them but a
short time to discover that a congress
man’s $5,000 a year will not support a
great degree of luxury, and they set
tle down very likely in a boarding
house with the privilege of the parlor.
Washington is full of these places.
Most of t hem are kept by representa
tives of decayed gentility. The land
lady regales her boarders at table with
stories of her former wealth and ele
gance “befo’ the wall.” She is perhaps
employed in one of the departments,
and leaves the management of the house
to slipshod negro servants.
In the depth of this typical Washing
ton boarding house, the first dream of
congressional luxury is dissolved.
On her arrival the new member’s
wife feels a little timid at what she lias
disappointments of a first round of
calls.
A white house reception is something
the new congressman’s wife has long
looked forward to. She starts with less
trepidation than when she made her
first calls, for her husband is with her,
and he has that breezy air of self-confi
dence that is typical to the new con
gressman. He lias not had time to re
alize what a small figure an every-day
congressman cuts in Washington.
She soon finds herself in the midst of
a crowd made up of everybody who is
prominent, in the capital, either socially
or politically'.
The resident society' 3s well repre
sented. So is the foreign element, anil
the army and navy. She looks enviously
at the women abouther, so well-dressed,
so graceful, so entirely at ease. Every
moment she realizes more the need of
experience and training for her new po
sition.
After a few experiences she feels more
at home, and even learns to “patronize”
some less experienced sister. This is a
common type.
The woman who can afford to hare
quarters at a hotel is just as amusing in
her way’. She thinks the “reception’
given every week by the proprietor of
the house is a very brilliant affair, and
the attention she receives as the wife of
Congressman blank completely turns
her head.
The wife of the member from the
mmm
NOT AS MUCH
'UP TO DATE
” AS SHE THOUGUT SHE WAS.
before her. The unwritten laws of
Washington society are an enigma
which she cannot solve for herself. She
seeks the wife of an older member, who
pities her ignorance, and patronizes her
with an air of superior wisdom born of
experience, and offers perhaps to pilot
her through the uncertain shoals of so
ciety as she has found it.
The new member’s wife is dismayed
when she finds she is expected to make
calls on the wives of the president and
vice president, the eight cabinetoffleers,
the nine supreme court justices and tire
88 senators before they call on her.
She hesitates, but finally gains courage
and sallies forth with her new cards
and her best gown. She feels as she
goes from house to house that she lias
realized her ambition; that_ she has]
large city is less open to ridicule, for she
comes with more experience in matters
social, but she frequently makes blun- j
ders through her ignorance of certain
rules of etiquette peculiar to Washing* j
ton.
First calls have no terrors for her. I
and she makes them on anybody and
everybody she meets, tearing breath- '
.’essly from house to house. Before
the season is half over her visiting list
is as long as the moral law. Her re- !
ceptions tire well attended, for her table j
is liberally supplied with dainties, and i
her punch bowl is warranted never to
run dry.
In her second season she is a little
toned down. She learns to discriminate
in her giving and receiving social fa
vors. ALuicif-GS N'jel, ;
THE OLD DAVIS MANSION
The Confsdorfito White House to
Bo o ojvoruod Into a Museum.
Open* on Washington'* Hlrtliday—8ouv©
ulrs of the Confederacy to lt«> l'rrtorved
l>y s Society In ItlchuiouU—The
Seccaslonlst*' Constitution.
[COPTRKlUT. 1896 ]
The old mansion of Jefferson Davis
is to be opened ns a museum for relies
of the war. It was built about 70 years
ago, and after the evacuation of Rich
mond was used as headquarters for the
union army.
Though more than. 30 years have
elapsed since Lee laid down his sword
at Appomattox it is only in the last
two years that any movement lias been
started to j>erpetuate. the memory of
the confederacy by the preservation
of its famous spots at the capital of
the nation which lives but as a mem
ory. And by a wise choice the formal
opening of the new museum, the house
in which Jefferson Davis lived as pres
ident, is to take place on the 22d of this
month, the same day on which is cele
brated the birth of Washington.
The old Davis mansion stands in
Richmond, Va., in a quiet part of the
city, on a corner at the intersection of
May and Twelfth streets. It is on a
high hill, from which one has a view of
a deep ravine covered with rambling
shanties and waste lots on one side,
while on the other the ground rises
towards the west, where, the street
loses itself in the more fashionable
quarter of town. The mansion faces
the north, and its front covers the eii •
tire portion of the occupied block, hut
just opposite ic a long red brick build
ing which completely shuts out the
view in that direction.
The house, which is an immense
brick one, has been recently painted
light gray. It was built about 70 years
ago by a Judge^trokenborough, whose
family lived there for some time. Here
it was that the cabinet of the confed
erate states met, here that Lee and
Davis discussed the fate of the cause,
and here, too, were enacted some of the
most brilliant, and, later on, some of
the most pathetic scenes of the civil
strife. It was in ’02 that the Davis
family took possession of the man
sion, and Mrs. Davis set to work to
make it a comfortable and attractive
home. She gave state dinners, and
he* lost his life. Gen. Jnckson's old sor
rel horse, which has been mounted by a
taxidermist nnd is now at the Soldiers'
home, will find its way to the museum
and so will the saddle of Lee. which is
at the same place. Jackson’s rusty lit
tle quadrant is also shown.
Gen, Curtiss Lee presented to the
museum a pistol which was worn l>y
his father, Gen. Robert K, Lee. through
out the war. Of the belongings of (Jen
Jeb Stuart there are sable, plumes
which once nodded over bis head, and
the old haversack which he always
look with him on his marches.
An order of Ivoe’s to Pendleton,
stained by the blood of the courier who
was wounded in carrying the dispatch,
will lx* placed on view and so w ill the
fiag of the confederate ship Shenan
doah, which cruised about in the wa
ters of the northern Pacific four
months after the surrender. Prob
FRONT IIALI. IN OLD DAVIS MANSION.
ably the most quaint of all curios la
a flag made from the bridal robes of
Mrs. Gen. A. P. llill, who devoted her
handsome silken gowns to fashion a
pennant for soldiers. Then there is
the flag, now all torn and ulmost fall
ing into pieces, of the famous band of
Culpepper “111101110 men,” whose ban
ner shows the coiled rattlesnakes awl
the familiar legend: “Don’t tread on
me,” in dimmed letters of gold.
A memento of the great Kentucky
raider, Morgan, is in (ho museum, and
consists of a small rope formed by
plaiting pieces of bedticking. This
rope was used by Morgan and seven of
his men in their escape from the pris
on in Ohio, where they were confined.
Rut the most pathetic thing is u little
handful of coffee, not more than three
tablespoonfuls; yet this was the last
of the rations issued to the men under
Lee at Appomattox, end on these few
THE WHITE HOUSE OF THE CONFEDERACY.
once a week there was a large recep
tion, for society at the capita] was gay,
in spite of the thunders of war that
echoed from the distant hills.
In 1871, the residence, then in posses
sion of the city, was turned into a
school known us the “Central.” The
furniture was sold and thus scattered
about the country. Of late years the
mansion has fallen into decay and it
was fast becoming a desolate ruin,
when its aspect attracted the attention
of some ladies of the city, who imme
diately formed an association to re
store it and convert it into a museum.
One enters the house by a series of
shan't steps which lead to a small, semi
circular hall. On each side of this hall
are niches in which stand bronze
statues of feminine figures. This en
trance has two narrow halls leading
off on the right and left, but just in
front it opens into a large, lofty room
which was one of the parlors used by
Davis. At the bock of the house and
on a level with the second floor is a
■vide portico whose roof is supported
by ten white pillars.
I tie cost of repairing has .so far been
about $14,000, which was covered by
I the $30,000 proceeds of a bazar held in
the city several years ago. Half of that
fund was donated to the monument
erected in honor of the soldiers and sail
ors, and the rest was kept to work on t he
museum. A room has been given to
each one of the confederate states, are
gent from that state being appointed
to secure relics and place them in the
right chamber. Maryland and Ken
tucky, though they did not secede, are
represented, because of the large num
ber of soldiers which they sent to the
southern armies. Miss Mildred Lee
and Miss Winnie Davis are among the
ladies in charge.
Those who have in their care the col
lecting of relics have succeeded in se
curing a large numlier of valuable
curios. These will be catalogued and
assigned to the rooms belonging to the
states from which the relics came and
will be in place within a few weeks,
though it is doubtful if all will be
within the house by the day of the
formal opening on the 22d of this
month. Tlie most valuable of any col
lection possessed by the association is
that which was donated by the late
Mrs. Du Reunne, of Savannah, Ga. In
this collection is tlxe greatest treasure
owned by the south—the original draft
of the confederate constitution with the
interlineations and erasures. It is
about the size of the Declaration of
Independence and will be kept under
glass and carefully guarded.
In the museum also reposes the last
missive ever written by Gen. Stone
wall Jackson. It was to Lee and was
written while Jackson sat on horse
back just before the fatal ride in which
grains the whole mess of nine men
were to exist during several days'
inarch. The coffee is imloa.sted and
was not used bccuu ■ the men did not
have time to dismount and prepare
I'ood. The scrap book kept by Mason
while he was a prisoner at Fort War
ren, Massachusetts will be in one of
the eases, and in another is a hook con
taining the autographs of all the con
federate generals. About the rooms
in cases will be guns, swords, pistols,
old uniforms, photographs, letter's,
shells, flags, tents and everything
which was in auy way connected with
the war. All over the south people
have promised to send in their treas
ures, and within a few years’ time this
museum will hold one of the most val
uable collections in the world.
The o|M'iiing exercises will be of an
interesting character and will be free
l.o the public, refreshmentsbeingserved
in the house. The museum will be in
order by that time, but not absolutely
complete till all the various collections
are in from those who have promised
to make such gifts.
V. Stuabt Mushy Coi.emaw.
A Drop of Water.
Water that is now in the ocean and in
the river has been many times in the
sky. The history of a single drop
taken out of a glass of water is really
a romantic one. No traveler has ever
accomplished such distances in his life.
That particle may have reflected the
palm trees of coral islands and have
caught the sun’s rays in the arch that
spans a cloud clearing away from the
valleys of Cumberland or California..
It may have been carried by the gulf
streams from the shores of Florida, or
of Cuba, to be turned into a crystal of
ice beside the precipices of Spits
bergen. It may have novered over the
streets of London and have formed a
part of murky fog and have glistened
on the young grass blade of April in
Irish fields. It has been lifted up to
heaven and sailed in great wool-packed
clouds across the sky, forming part of
a cloud mountain echoing with thun
der. It has hung in a fleecy veil many
miles above the earth at the close of
long seasons of still weather. It has
descended many times over in showers
to refresh the earth and has sparkled
and bubbled in mossy fountains in
every country in Europe. And it has
returned to its native Sides, having ac
complished its purpose, to be stored
once again with electricity to give it
new life-producing qualities and equip
it as heaven’s messenger to earth once
more.—Charles S. Whiting, in Museum.
He Had I! Relative.
She—Are you a good judge of di
amonds?
He (absently)—No, but 1 have an
uncle who is.—N. Y. World.