On March 17, 1871, the first convention of delegates from representative professional clubs was held in Collier's saloon, corner of Broadway and Thirteenth Street, New York, when the National Association was formed. A series of the best three out of five games wasarranged. The contesting nines were the Athletics, of Philadelphia; Chicago; Boston; Mutuals, of New York; Olympics, of Washington; Haymakers, of Troy; Kekionigas, of Fort Wayne, Ind.; Cleveland, and Rockford.
The championship was won by the Athletics, which won twenty-two games and lost seven; Boston was second, with twenty-two victories and ten defeats. Two victories of the Rockfords over the Athletics were adjudged forfeited for the reason that a Rockford player was ineligible; yet a game won by the Olympics from the Bostons was adjudged legal, though the same point was raised.
In 1872 eleven clubs entered the lists. These were Boston, Baltimore, Mutual, Athletics, Troy, Atlantic, Cleveland, Mansfield, Connecticut; Eckfords, of Brooklyn; Olympic, and National, of Washington. The series now consisted of five games. Boston had McVey, catcher; Spalding, pitcher; Gould, Barnes, Shafer, basemen; George Wright, short-stop; Leonard H. Wright, Rogers, fielders; Birdsall, substitute.
The Bostons, with thirty-nine victories and eight defeats, won easily in this campaign, as indeed they did in every season up to the forming of the National League in 1876.
In August, 1872, the Bostons took a Michigan and Canadian trip, defeating the Ypsilantis, Empires, of Detroit; Athletics, of London; Maple Leafs, of Guelph; Dauntless, of Toronto; Independents, of Dundas; Ottawas, Montreals, and Pastimes at Ogdensburg, New York.
One of the most important amendments to the rules in 1872 was that doing away with the prohibition of delivering the ball to the bat by an underhand throw, which had long been a dead letter. Creighton, one of the Excelsiors, of Brooklyn, introduced this kind of delivery.
The Bostons again won the championship in 1873, with a record of forty-three victories and sixteen defeats. The contesting clubs were the Bostons, Philadelphias, Baltimores, Mutuals, Athletics, Atlantics, Washingtons, Resolutes, and Marylands. They finished the season in that order. Each club had to play nine games for a full series, and four had to be played with every club before they could be counted.
The season was one of surprises in the many sharply and extra-inning contests. On May 14 it took thirteen innings for the Philadelphias to beat the Athletics, 5-4. June 3, Boston beat the Mutuals at Brooklyn, 6-5 in twelve innings. July 21, the Baltimores beat the Athletics, 12-11, in a thirteen-inning game. But the best and longest professional game up to that time was played at Brooklyn, September 12, when the Philadelphias beat the Athletics 3-2 in fourteen innings. Zettlein pitched for Philadelphia and Brett for the Atlantics.
In 1874 the Bostons again won the pennant, their success being due to team work. They won fifty-two games, lost eighteen, and played one tie. The Mutuals were second, with forty-two victories and twenty-three defeats. The other clubs participating were the Athletics, Philadelphias, Chicagos, Atlantics, Hartfords, and Baltimores. The series of games was increased to ten, with five in a quota necessary to count. The Hartfords made their first appearance, and did well, but lacked in organization.
The year was memorable in baseball by the trip of the Boston and Athletic clubs to England. The clubs left Philadelphia on the steamship Ohio, July 16. In the Athletic party were thirty-eight persons, including the following players: McBride, Clapp, Anson, McGeary, Sutton, Battin, Gedney, McMullen, and Murnane, Fisler, and Sensendorfer. Al Reach was unable to go on account of business engagements.
Boston sent Harry Wright, George Wright, Al Spalding, Roscoe Barnes, Ira Shafer, Cal McVey, Andy Leonard, Jim O'Rourke, Hall, Beals, Kent, and Sam Wright. Kent, first baseman of the Harvards, replaced James White.
The tourists arrived in Liverpool on July 27. Fourteen games were played at Liverpool, Manchester, London, Sheffield, and Dublin, the Bostons winning eight and the Athletics six. The Englishmen were not a little astonished at the wonderful celerity displayed by the baseballists in fielding. The scores in most of the games were large, owing tothe speedy grounds upon which the contestants played.
In cricket, the Americans met with success, defeating the Marylebone, Prince's and Surrey clubs, in London, the Sheffield club, Manchester club, and the All-Irelands in Dublin. The Richmond game was drawn on account of rain. It was not exactly as if green cricketers had visited the old country, for Harry, George, and Sam Wright were first-class players. The first two were excellent bowlers, while McBride also showed up well as a bowler.
George Wright bore the palm for the largest score in a match, rolling up fifty runs at Manchester. The trip was a financial failure, yet both clubs were successful enough in the games at home to show a balance in the treasury at the close of the season. The ball-tossers left the other side on August 27 on the steamship Abbotsford, and arrived in Philadelphia, September 9.
Thirteen clubs fought for the championship in 1875—Boston, Athletics, Hartford, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Chicago, Mutual, New Haven, Red Stockings, of St. Louis; Washington, Centennial, of Philadelphia; Atlantic, and Western, of Keokuk, Iowa. The Westerns, Centennials, and New Havens did not live long. Ten games constituted a series, with six as a quota. At the close of the season only seven clubs had played the quota.
The Bostons won with greater ease than ever, and made a record unequaled in any championship season, with seventy-one victories and eight defeats. The most noteworthy contest up to that time was played June 19 at Chicago, when Chicago defeated the Mutuals 1-0 in ten innings. This was the first time that club had failed to score in nine innings.
This was the closing year of the National Association, and brings us up to that point in the history of the national game where the solid foundation was laid for the present splendid superstructure. The work of the founders of this league was no small task. They were confronted with many obstacles, principally the gambling element, but all were successfully surmounted.
The National League was formed in New York City February 2, with M.H. Bulkeley, since governor of Connecticut, as president, and N.E. Young, secretary. The league consisted of Chicago, Hartford, St. Louis, Boston, Louisville, Mutual, Athletic, of Philadelphia, and Cincinnati clubs, which finished in the order named. Boston this year lost four of its best players—Barnes McVey, Spalding, and White—who joined the Chicagos. The Athletics and Mutuals were expelled that fall for failure to keep their agreement.
The league was reduced to five clubs in 1877, Cincinnati dropping out. Hartford and Boston were the Eastern clubs, with St. Louis, Chicago, and Louisville in the West. The Hartfords were transferred to Brooklyn and played its games on the old Union grounds in the Williamsburg district. Boston won the pennant.
On February 20 the International Association was formed at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with the following clubs: Alleghanys, of Pittsburgh; Buckeyes, Columbus, Ohio; Live Oak, Lynn, Massachusetts; Rochester, New York; Manchester, New Hampshire; Tecumsehs, London, Ontario; Maple Leafs, Guelph, Ontario. Tecumseh won the championship. The league alliance was also formed with many clubs in different parts of the country.
In 1878 the National League was increased to six clubs. Hartford, Louisville, and St. Louis retired. Providence replaced Hartford, and Cincinnati returned after a year's absence. Indianapolis and Milwaukee were added. Boston again captured the championship. The International Association consisted of twelve clubs. The Maple Leafs, Buckeyes, and Live Oaks retired. Buffalo, Binghamton, Hornellsville, Syracuse, and Utica, New York; Springfield and Lowell, Massachusetts, and Hartford, Connecticut, were added. Buffalo was awarded the championship.
Eight clubs—four in the East and a like number in the West—formed the National League circuit in 1879. The Eastern teams were Boston, Providence, Syracuse, and Troy. The West was represented by Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. Indianapolis and Milwaukee dropped out. Providence won the championship.
The National Association, formed at a meeting on February 19, 1879, succeeded the International, and had a circuit consisting of Albany, Utica, Holyoke, Manchester, New Bedford, Springfield, Worcester, and Washington, the teams finishing in the order named. The Northwestern League was organized January 2, 1879, at Rockville and Dubuque, Iowa; Omaha, Nebraska, and Rockford, Illinois. Dubuque won the premiership with a roster of players which included Ted Sullivan, Tom Loftus, Charley Comiskey, then a pitcher, and Charley Radbourne, that marvel of twirling skill.
By 1880 the National League had earned its place as the premier baseball organization in the country. Its policy had become settled, and changes in its circuit were less frequent. In that year Worcester replaced Syracuse. The pennant went to Chicago. In the National Association Washington finished first.
Cincinnati retired from the league in 1881, Detroit being admitted. Chicago again won the championship. This year marked the advent of modern professional baseball in New York City. The Eastern Association was formed April 11, with the Metropolitan, New Yorks, Athletics, of Philadelphia; Quick Steps, Atlantics, of Brooklyn, and Nationals, of Washington. The American Association, a formidable rival of the National League, was organized at a meeting held in Cincinnati on November 2, and started the following season with the Athletics, of Philadelphia, and Baltimore in the East; Alleghany, of Pittsburgh; Cincinnati, Eclipse, of Louisville, and St. Louis in the West.
There were no changes in the make-up of the National League in 1882, but in 1883 Troy and Worcester dropped out, and New York and Philadelphia were admitted. With the advent of the National League in New York, the Metropolitans joined the American Association. Brooklyn signalized its first year in the Interstate League by winning the championship of the organization.
The season of 1884 proved a memorable one in the history of the National game, inasmuch as the Union Association was organized in opposition to the National Agreement. The league's rival placed clubs in Altoona, Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington in the East; and Chicago, Cincinnati, and St. Louis in the West. Only five of the original clubs finished the season. Altoona disbanded, and was replaced by Kansas City. Later Milwaukee and St. Paul helped finish the schedule.
The season, which had opened so bright, was one of the most disastrous, financially, in the game's history. Club after club and league after league suspended. Players became panic-stricken at the outlook, and for a time the popularity of the game was threatened. It weathered the storm, however, and then followed a period of unexampled prosperity that lasted until the outbreak of the Brotherhood trouble, which resulted in the war of 1890, the hardest fight the National League ever had.
The reserve clause in contracts was the direct cause of that struggle. A majority of the players who had been reserved by the clubs of the National League for the season of 1890 held meetings during the winter and with a number of capitalists formed the Players' League, with clubs paralleling the National circuit.
Then followed a bitter and relentless war, in which the National League was not the only sufferer, but several American Association and minor league clubs as well. The National, to strengthen itself, admitted Brooklyn and Cincinnati to replace Washington and Indianapolis. The majority of the latter team was transferred to New York, among them being Amos Rusie, the wonderful pitcher.
The fight was carried on at a tremendous financial sacrifice, but that winter the differences between the National and Players' Leagues was satisfactorily adjusted by the consolidation of a number of clubs. In the distribution of players, however, the claims of the American Association were ignored and that organization continued the war another year, invading the National League territory at Boston and Cincinnati. The latter club disbanded in midseason, Milwaukee taking its place.
The differences were finally adjusted on December 17, when the Athletics, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, and Milwaukee clubs resigned from the American Association, and the four remaining teams were admitted to the National League, which became a twelve-club body, with a circuit consisting of Boston, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Washington, Chicago, St. Louis, New York, Louisville, and Baltimore. This arrangement continued in effect until 1899, when Baltimore, Cleveland, Washington, and Louisville were dropped. Baltimore was consolidated with Brooklyn, while Cleveland was transferred to St. Louis.
The players of the other clubs were either released or distributed throughout the circuit. The Western League, under the able management of Ban Johnson, at a meeting held in Chicago in 1899, changed its name to the American League. It entered Chicago that spring with a team under the management of Charles Comiskey, thus inserting the wedge that enabled it to become a major league in the fullest sense of the term.
The American League's circuit in 1900 was Chicago, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Detroit, Kansas City, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Minneapolis, the teams finishing in that order.
At the end of the season of 1900 the American League announced that it would no longer be a party to the National Agreement, and that it would place clubs in Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, and Cleveland, with a twenty-five-cent tariff. Then began an effort that brought to the American League many of the star players of the country. Contract-jumping was frequent, and the players were practically able to dictate their own terms.
The liberal policy of the Americans enabled them thus to secure seventy-seven of the National's best and most popular players, and the success of the young organization was assured.
At the beginning of the playing season of 1902 the Milwaukee team was transferred to St. Louis, many of the National League team of the latter city swinging over to the American. New York was added to the circuit at the beginning of 1903, replacing Baltimore.
The seasons of 1904 and 1905 were the most prosperous in the entire history of the national game. The attendance figures surpassed those of any previous year by more than 1,000,000.
The official figures of the American and National Leagues for 1905 give a total paid attendance of 5,855,062, as against 5,769,260 in 1904. It is difficult to even estimate the attendance at minor league, semi-professional, and other games; but it can easily be set at 15,000,000 more.
This fact alone establishes the strong hold the game has on the American people. It has gained a foothold in our Far Eastern possessions, and in the Philippines there are several leagues playing regularly scheduled games.
The same is true of Hawaii and Cuba. Even in Japan the game has advanced to a point where a splendid organization has been formed on the lines of our parent bodies. The visit of the Japanese team to the Pacific coast a year ago showed the progress baseball has made among the "Yankees of the East." In Australia there are various leagues, while in England there is an eight-club organization playing regularly for an annual championship trophy.
Just how much money is invested in baseball it is impossible to estimate, even approximately. The major leagues alone have playing plants valued at millions of dollars. So have the minor bodies, the amateurs, and the independent teams in the country towns.
In the matter of salaries paid to the players of the larger leagues, it is estimated that they amounted last year to $2,577,000. Besides this item, $2,500,000 is spent on other salaries and the maintenance of grounds. Railroad fares cost another $800,000, training expenses $125,000, and there is required possibly $500,000 additional for incidentals.
When it is remembered that there are upward of thirty-five other leagues working under the National Agreement, as well as many independent organizations, and that the figures given are for the major leagues alone, it will be seen that baseball in America is a tremendous institution.
A New Side-Light on the Problem of Flight—The Legal Aspect of a Woman's Tongue—A Town That is Chess-Mad—Revolutionary Heroes in the Scales—Daredevil Days of Steamboating on the Mississippi—Whittier's First and Last Love-Affair—With Other Interesting Items Drawn From Various Sources.
A New Side-Light on the Problem of Flight—The Legal Aspect of a Woman's Tongue—A Town That is Chess-Mad—Revolutionary Heroes in the Scales—Daredevil Days of Steamboating on the Mississippi—Whittier's First and Last Love-Affair—With Other Interesting Items Drawn From Various Sources.
Compiled and edited forThe Scrap Book.
Method Employed in Washington to DiscoverEffects of Air Friction onFlying Models.
Scientific study of flight has been conducted with gratifying success at the Catholic University, Washington, District of Columbia. Dr. Albert F. Zahm has for two years been experimenting with a tunnel six feet square and forty feet long, through which air can be forced by a five-foot fan at one end. Models placed in this air-current encounter the same conditions as if they were flying in the free air, and they can be advantageously observed at leisure. The air resistance of different models is accurately determined.
B.R. Winslow tells in theTechnical Worldof a revolutionary discovery made in this tunnel:
One of the first things that the experiments in the tunnel did was to upset a long-cherished belief among aeronauts that skin friction of the air on a body passing through it was practically a negligible quantity. As a matter of fact, the action of air was proved to be almost identical with that of water, roughly speaking, being in direct proportion to the density of the two elements.The current theory had been that the sharper the cylinder the easier it would cut through the air, and nothing was thought of the skin friction. It was found by experiment in the wind tunnel that as the sphere was reduced to a sharp-pointed cylinder, the air resistance rapidly diminished to a certain point. Then it rose again as the length of the cylinder was increased. Twelve to one as the proportion between length and diameter was found to be the shape of least resistance.By shortening the forward section of the cylinder about one-half, and consequently making the end blunter, the air resistance was largely reduced; and, by turning the cylinder around and running its sharp end forward, the air resistance was almost doubled instead of being diminished. This discovery came as a surprise, and completely upset all preconceived ideas about the resistance of the air.
One of the first things that the experiments in the tunnel did was to upset a long-cherished belief among aeronauts that skin friction of the air on a body passing through it was practically a negligible quantity. As a matter of fact, the action of air was proved to be almost identical with that of water, roughly speaking, being in direct proportion to the density of the two elements.
The current theory had been that the sharper the cylinder the easier it would cut through the air, and nothing was thought of the skin friction. It was found by experiment in the wind tunnel that as the sphere was reduced to a sharp-pointed cylinder, the air resistance rapidly diminished to a certain point. Then it rose again as the length of the cylinder was increased. Twelve to one as the proportion between length and diameter was found to be the shape of least resistance.
By shortening the forward section of the cylinder about one-half, and consequently making the end blunter, the air resistance was largely reduced; and, by turning the cylinder around and running its sharp end forward, the air resistance was almost doubled instead of being diminished. This discovery came as a surprise, and completely upset all preconceived ideas about the resistance of the air.
Curious Virginia Act Prescribed Duckingfor Loquacious Females, But ModernJurist Gives Up the Fight.
Are men less chivalrous to-day than they were two hundred years ago?
This is a question that is often asked nowadays, but the mass of evidence submitted is so conflicting that it is not likely to be answered until long after the present generation has passed away.
One thing is certain, however. In the present day man-made laws vouchsafe unto women far better opportunities for the speaking of their minds than theyenjoyed two centuries ago. Here are two cases in point:
A law passed by the Grand Assembly held at James City, Virginia, in March, 1662, was designed for the purpose of trying to prevent women from talking to excess. The law read:"Whereas many babbling women slander and scandalize their neighbors, for which their poor husbands are often involved in chargeable and vexatious suits, and cast in great damages: Be it therefore enacted that in actions of slander, occasioned by the wife, after judgment passed for the damages, the woman shall be punished by ducking; and if the slander be so enormous as to be adjudged at greater damages than five hundred pounds of tobacco, then the woman to suffer a ducking for each five hundred pounds of tobacco adjudged against the husband, if he refuses to pay the tobacco."In contrast with this is a solemn admission made by Vice-Chancellor Stevenson, in Jersey City, last December. The case was that of a man who besought the court to have his wife restrained from going to his place of business during business hours and demanding that he give her money. The New Jersey jurist said:"This man seeks to enjoin his wife's tongue. From time immemorial men have tried to restrain woman's tongue, and have failed."The suit was dismissed.
A law passed by the Grand Assembly held at James City, Virginia, in March, 1662, was designed for the purpose of trying to prevent women from talking to excess. The law read:
"Whereas many babbling women slander and scandalize their neighbors, for which their poor husbands are often involved in chargeable and vexatious suits, and cast in great damages: Be it therefore enacted that in actions of slander, occasioned by the wife, after judgment passed for the damages, the woman shall be punished by ducking; and if the slander be so enormous as to be adjudged at greater damages than five hundred pounds of tobacco, then the woman to suffer a ducking for each five hundred pounds of tobacco adjudged against the husband, if he refuses to pay the tobacco."
In contrast with this is a solemn admission made by Vice-Chancellor Stevenson, in Jersey City, last December. The case was that of a man who besought the court to have his wife restrained from going to his place of business during business hours and demanding that he give her money. The New Jersey jurist said:
"This man seeks to enjoin his wife's tongue. From time immemorial men have tried to restrain woman's tongue, and have failed."
The suit was dismissed.
In No Other Part of the World Is theGame Taken So Seriously as ItIs in Strohbeck.
The German town of Ströhbeck is ruled by two kings—one red and one white. Each has his queen and his attendant knights and bishops, his castles, and his—pawns. In other words, the game of chess is master in Ströhbeck.
It appears that in the year 1011a.d.a certain Count Gunnelin was shut up in the tower prison at Ströhbeck, and, as there was nothing else to do, he chalked out a chess-board on the floor and made some rough pieces.
In time the jailer became interested in the count's maneuvers on the checkered field, and the two played together. The jailer ultimately taught the game to others, and it won a popularity which it has never lost in Ströhbeck. To quote thePenny Magazine:
Young and old, men and women, boys, girls, and almost infants in arms play chess with a keenness and assiduity that is something more than remarkable. Tiny tots learn the moves upon the chess-boards and are taught the intricacies of the game just as much as a matter of course as they are taught their A B C, and some of them can play a game of chess well enough to beat many an ordinary exponent of the game before they can read.Chess is taught in the schools, to which the pupils carry chess-boards as the English school-child would carry his satchel of books; and the pupils take a much deeper interest in their chess lessons than any schoolboy in this country has ever been known to take in any subject that was taught him.But it is not merely in school that chess is played in Ströhbeck. Visit any local shop, and the shopman will lay aside his chess-board in order to attend to your wants and pick it up again the moment these are satisfied, to renew his attentions to some problem or continue an exciting game with his assistant. Even at the public-houses and places of refreshment chess-boards and chess-men are provided, and these are used by all and sundry.Every home has its chess-board at which Darby and Joan while away the winter evenings before the fire, or place it upon a table in the garden in summer-time. In fact, chess is familiar to every inhabitant from the time they leave the cradle. Every one talks chess and thinks chess.Chess-boards are everywhere. You may rest your elbow on one while you sip your beer at an old-fashioned inn, which is itself called "The Chess-Board," and there, if your quiet and subdued manner makes you appear worthy of the honor, the landlord will show you the set of chess-men presented to the inhabitants in 1650.Two princes played upon this board, and with these very chess-men, he will tell you, and an inscription on the chess-board itself confirms all the town's privileges, so that one may say the very charter of the town is engrossed upon a chess-board.Every year a great chess tournament is held, for which every one may enter. A large number of heats must first be played off, the winners of which are entitled toenter for the tournament. The competitors seek the distinction which will be conferred upon them if they are adjudged the winner, and do not set so much value on the prize itself, which invariably takes the shape of a magnificent chess-board, upon which are inscribed the words: "A reward for application." This is presented by the municipality.
Young and old, men and women, boys, girls, and almost infants in arms play chess with a keenness and assiduity that is something more than remarkable. Tiny tots learn the moves upon the chess-boards and are taught the intricacies of the game just as much as a matter of course as they are taught their A B C, and some of them can play a game of chess well enough to beat many an ordinary exponent of the game before they can read.
Chess is taught in the schools, to which the pupils carry chess-boards as the English school-child would carry his satchel of books; and the pupils take a much deeper interest in their chess lessons than any schoolboy in this country has ever been known to take in any subject that was taught him.
But it is not merely in school that chess is played in Ströhbeck. Visit any local shop, and the shopman will lay aside his chess-board in order to attend to your wants and pick it up again the moment these are satisfied, to renew his attentions to some problem or continue an exciting game with his assistant. Even at the public-houses and places of refreshment chess-boards and chess-men are provided, and these are used by all and sundry.
Every home has its chess-board at which Darby and Joan while away the winter evenings before the fire, or place it upon a table in the garden in summer-time. In fact, chess is familiar to every inhabitant from the time they leave the cradle. Every one talks chess and thinks chess.
Chess-boards are everywhere. You may rest your elbow on one while you sip your beer at an old-fashioned inn, which is itself called "The Chess-Board," and there, if your quiet and subdued manner makes you appear worthy of the honor, the landlord will show you the set of chess-men presented to the inhabitants in 1650.
Two princes played upon this board, and with these very chess-men, he will tell you, and an inscription on the chess-board itself confirms all the town's privileges, so that one may say the very charter of the town is engrossed upon a chess-board.
Every year a great chess tournament is held, for which every one may enter. A large number of heats must first be played off, the winners of which are entitled toenter for the tournament. The competitors seek the distinction which will be conferred upon them if they are adjudged the winner, and do not set so much value on the prize itself, which invariably takes the shape of a magnificent chess-board, upon which are inscribed the words: "A reward for application." This is presented by the municipality.
Chess enthusiasts in the United States have urged that the game be introduced into the public schools. Certainly it does afford an excellent mental discipline, though whether useful languages and sciences should be discarded in its favor may well be questioned.
Washington Himself No Small Man, butSeveral of His Officers OutweighedHim by Scores of Pounds.
Great men were the officers who led the colonial forces during the War of the Revolution—great in patriotism, great in courage, great in patience, and great in size.
General Washington would pass in these days as a large man, but many of his officers outweighed him. Read, for example, the following statement, showing the weight of a number of American officers, as recorded at West Point on August 10, 1778:
General Washington209lbs.General Lincoln224"General Knox280"General Huntingdon182"General Greaton166"Colonel Swift319"Colonel Michael Jackson252"Colonel Henry Jackson238"Lieutenant-Colonel Huntingdon212"Lieutenant-Colonel Cobb182"Lieutenant-Colonel Humphreys221"
One might think that the scales used were the property of a dishonest grocer were it not for the proportion between Colonel Swift, say, and General Greaton. Or, perhaps, these officers were weighed in heavy accouterments. Certainly it is hard to think of most of them as traveling on horseback about country at the head of small forces whose chief resource was mobility.
Steamboats Racing on the MississippiBefore the Civil War Provided StrenuousExperiences for All on Board.
Joe Vann, Cherokee Indian, who lived many years ago near Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, possessed five hundred slaves and thousands of acres of land. Some of his horses were fine racing stock, and he owned the Lucy Walker, the fastest steamboat on the Arkansas River. Vann was good to his slaves—open-hearted, generous; but he was an inveterate gambler. He lost and won large sums at horse-racing, and, indeed, he would not take a dare. The Fort GibsonPostrecalls as follows the tragic circumstances of this remarkable Cherokee's end:
While his steamboat had no rival for speed on the Arkansas River, from its mouth at the Mississippi to Little Rock and Fort Gibson, there were two or three rivals on the Mississippi River, between St. Louis and New Orleans. One of these boats, said to be the fastest on the river, attempted to pass the Lucy Walker one day on the way down.Vann had a crew of thirty negroes, said to have no superiors on the river. He told the boys that the Lucy Walker must be kept ahead, no matter at what cost. An allowance of grog was given to each, and all promised to stand up to the work.The rival boat was gaining on them; the usual fuel failed to give sufficient speed. Vann went around and told the hands to gather up everything that would burn. Tar and bacon were thrown into the furnace, and soon the Lucy Walker was forging ahead of her rival.Timbers of the boat creaked and groaned; the furnace was red hot; the boilers were seething and foaming; the heat was terrific. The passengers, of whom there were about one hundred and fifty, became alarmed; but Vann was cool as a cucumber. He told his negro crewthat they would beat the rival boat or all go to Hades together, and they promised to stand by him.Then came an awful explosion, and nothing remained of the Lucy Walker but scattered fragments. Most of the negro crew were blown to atoms, about forty passengers were killed, and nearly all the rest more or less injured. Vann's body was found, horribly mangled.
While his steamboat had no rival for speed on the Arkansas River, from its mouth at the Mississippi to Little Rock and Fort Gibson, there were two or three rivals on the Mississippi River, between St. Louis and New Orleans. One of these boats, said to be the fastest on the river, attempted to pass the Lucy Walker one day on the way down.
Vann had a crew of thirty negroes, said to have no superiors on the river. He told the boys that the Lucy Walker must be kept ahead, no matter at what cost. An allowance of grog was given to each, and all promised to stand up to the work.
The rival boat was gaining on them; the usual fuel failed to give sufficient speed. Vann went around and told the hands to gather up everything that would burn. Tar and bacon were thrown into the furnace, and soon the Lucy Walker was forging ahead of her rival.
Timbers of the boat creaked and groaned; the furnace was red hot; the boilers were seething and foaming; the heat was terrific. The passengers, of whom there were about one hundred and fifty, became alarmed; but Vann was cool as a cucumber. He told his negro crewthat they would beat the rival boat or all go to Hades together, and they promised to stand by him.
Then came an awful explosion, and nothing remained of the Lucy Walker but scattered fragments. Most of the negro crew were blown to atoms, about forty passengers were killed, and nearly all the rest more or less injured. Vann's body was found, horribly mangled.
Story of His Affection for Miss Downingand the Sudden and UnexplainedBreak in Their Relations.
The article on "World-Famous Bachelors," in the AprilScrap Book, has led a New Jersey reader to call our attention to the early romance of John G. Whittier's life. Why Whittier remained a bachelor was not generally known until the death, at the age of eighty-five, of the only sweetheart he ever had—Elizabeth Bray Downing, of West Newbury, Massachusetts.
Whittier met Miss Downing at East Haverhill, Massachusetts, when he was twenty years of age. They seem to have fallen in love with each other very quickly, but it was not long before they suddenly parted, for some reason never explained. One rumor had it that the coming poet decided that he could not marry because he had to provide for his mother. However that may be, they rarely met thereafter, and both remained unmarried.About 1830 Whittier, then twenty-three years of age, contributed to theCourierof Northampton, Massachusetts, a poem which is not to be found in any of his published works. The verses, crude though they are, appear to throw light on his parting from Miss Downing. The title is: "To ----, by John G. Whittier." We append a few of the stanzas:
Whittier met Miss Downing at East Haverhill, Massachusetts, when he was twenty years of age. They seem to have fallen in love with each other very quickly, but it was not long before they suddenly parted, for some reason never explained. One rumor had it that the coming poet decided that he could not marry because he had to provide for his mother. However that may be, they rarely met thereafter, and both remained unmarried.
About 1830 Whittier, then twenty-three years of age, contributed to theCourierof Northampton, Massachusetts, a poem which is not to be found in any of his published works. The verses, crude though they are, appear to throw light on his parting from Miss Downing. The title is: "To ----, by John G. Whittier." We append a few of the stanzas:
I know that I have knelt too lowlyFor smiles so oft withdrawn;That trusting love received too slowlyThe lesson of thy scorn;That thou hast had thy triumph hourUnquestioned and complete,When prompted by a spell of powerI knelt me at thy feet.'Tis over now; the charm is broken,The feverish dream is fled;And pass away like thoughts unspokenThe vows that I have said.I give thee back thy plighted word;Its tones of love shall beLike music by the slumberer heard,A dreamer's melody.Go now, the light of hope is on thee,Thy love claims are o'er.A thousand smiles thy charms have won thee—They'll win a thousand more;For beauty hath a charming spellUpon the human will—Though false the heart it veils so well,It hath its homage still.Go, heartless girl, thou'lt smile to-morrow,As I had never been,And spurn thy lover's words of sorrowFor those of happier men.A darker destiny the pageOf coming years may tell.God help thee in thy pilgrimage!Loved being, fare thee well!
I know that I have knelt too lowlyFor smiles so oft withdrawn;That trusting love received too slowlyThe lesson of thy scorn;That thou hast had thy triumph hourUnquestioned and complete,When prompted by a spell of powerI knelt me at thy feet.
'Tis over now; the charm is broken,The feverish dream is fled;And pass away like thoughts unspokenThe vows that I have said.I give thee back thy plighted word;Its tones of love shall beLike music by the slumberer heard,A dreamer's melody.
Go now, the light of hope is on thee,Thy love claims are o'er.A thousand smiles thy charms have won thee—They'll win a thousand more;For beauty hath a charming spellUpon the human will—Though false the heart it veils so well,It hath its homage still.
Go, heartless girl, thou'lt smile to-morrow,As I had never been,And spurn thy lover's words of sorrowFor those of happier men.A darker destiny the pageOf coming years may tell.God help thee in thy pilgrimage!Loved being, fare thee well!
For Many Generations the Inhabitants ofSt. Ulrich Have Fashioned Playthingsfor the Children of All Nations.
Tourists, wandering out of the beaten tracks of their kind, occasionally come to a little village in Austria which presents the aspect of a corner of toyland.
The name of the village is St. Ulrich, and nearly all of its inhabitants are toymakers. Each household, too, has its specialty. One old woman has done nothing but carve wooden cats, dogs, wolves, sheep, goats, and elephants.She has made those six animals her whole life long, and she has no idea of how to cut anything else. She makes them in two sizes, and turns out as nearly as possible a thousand of them a year.She has no model or drawing of any kind to work by, but goes on steadily, unerringly, using gages of different sizes and shaping out her cats, dogs, wolves, sheep, goats, and elephants with an ease and an amount oftruth to nature that would be clever if it were not utterly mechanical.This woman learned from her mother how to carve those six animals, and her mother had learned, in like manner, from her grandmother. She has taught the art to her own granddaughter, and so it may go on being transmitted for generations.
The name of the village is St. Ulrich, and nearly all of its inhabitants are toymakers. Each household, too, has its specialty. One old woman has done nothing but carve wooden cats, dogs, wolves, sheep, goats, and elephants.
She has made those six animals her whole life long, and she has no idea of how to cut anything else. She makes them in two sizes, and turns out as nearly as possible a thousand of them a year.
She has no model or drawing of any kind to work by, but goes on steadily, unerringly, using gages of different sizes and shaping out her cats, dogs, wolves, sheep, goats, and elephants with an ease and an amount oftruth to nature that would be clever if it were not utterly mechanical.
This woman learned from her mother how to carve those six animals, and her mother had learned, in like manner, from her grandmother. She has taught the art to her own granddaughter, and so it may go on being transmitted for generations.
It Is So Tremendous a Sum That a Conceptionof It Can Hardly Be Formedby the Human Mind.
When Americans talk about "a billion dollars" or a "billionaire" they think of a "billion" as one thousand millions. The word "billion" was originally used in France to denote a million of millions—or one million raised to the second power. At that time figures were pointed off in series of six by the French, and when the custom of pointing off by threes came into existence the French transferred the meaning of billion to one thousand millions.
Ordinarily, to-day, the French do not use the word "billion" at all, but refer to the sum of one thousand millions as a "milliard." In England "billion" means a million of millions—the more consistent meaning, in view of the origin of the word.
In the following attempt to make the meaning of a billion more vivid, the English billion, of course, is referred to.
What is a billion, or, rather, what conception can we form of such a quantity? We may say that a billion is a million of millions, and can easily represent it thus: 1,000,000,000,000. But a schoolboy's calculation will show how entirely the mind is incapable of conceiving such numbers.If a person were able to count at the rate of two hundred in a minute, and to work without intermission twelve hours in the day, he would take to count a billion 6,944,444 days, or 19,325 years 319 days.There are living creatures so minute that a hundred millions of them might be comprehended in the space of a cubic inch. They are supplied with organs and tissues, nourished by circulating fluids, which must consist of parts or atoms, in reckoning the size of which we must speak, not of billions, but perchance of billions of billions.And what is a billion of billions? The number is a quadrillion, and can be easily represented thus: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000; and the same schoolboy's calculation may be employed to show that to count a quadrillion at the rate of two hundred in the minute would require all the inhabitants of the globe, supposing them to be a thousand millions, to count incessantly for 19,025,875 years, or more than three thousand times the period during which the human race has been supposed to be in existence.
What is a billion, or, rather, what conception can we form of such a quantity? We may say that a billion is a million of millions, and can easily represent it thus: 1,000,000,000,000. But a schoolboy's calculation will show how entirely the mind is incapable of conceiving such numbers.
If a person were able to count at the rate of two hundred in a minute, and to work without intermission twelve hours in the day, he would take to count a billion 6,944,444 days, or 19,325 years 319 days.
There are living creatures so minute that a hundred millions of them might be comprehended in the space of a cubic inch. They are supplied with organs and tissues, nourished by circulating fluids, which must consist of parts or atoms, in reckoning the size of which we must speak, not of billions, but perchance of billions of billions.
And what is a billion of billions? The number is a quadrillion, and can be easily represented thus: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000; and the same schoolboy's calculation may be employed to show that to count a quadrillion at the rate of two hundred in the minute would require all the inhabitants of the globe, supposing them to be a thousand millions, to count incessantly for 19,025,875 years, or more than three thousand times the period during which the human race has been supposed to be in existence.
These statistics are quoted from an old article by Professor Law, inJameson's Journal.
Those That Feed on Flesh Live LongerThan Those Which Subsist Only onGrains and Insects.
The doctrines of vegetarianism appear to be slightly shaken by the result of an investigation that an English authority has made into the subject of the longevity of birds. With one notable exception—the swan—the meat-feeding birds are the longest-lived.
The average ages of some of the best known birds are given in the following table:
The average ages of some of the best known birds are given in the following table:
YearsBlackbird lives12Blackcap15Canary24Crane24Crow100Eagle100Fowl, common10Goldfinch15Goose50Heron59Lark13Linnet23Nightingale18Parrot60Partridge15Peacock24Pelican50Pheasant15Pigeon20Raven100Robin12Skylark30Sparrow Hawk40Swan100Thrush10Wren3
The average age of the boarding-house variety of chicken is still undetermined.
Words of the Poets Explain Why Hats Go Off While Flags Are Passing, Why theEagle Screams on "The Fourth," and How Young America BecameIdentified With Sky-Rockets and Fire-Crackers.
By Lord Tennyson.
[Signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.]
O Thou, that sendest out the manTo rule by land and sea,Strong mother of a lion-line,Be proud of these strong sons of thineWho wrenched their rights from thee!What wonder if in noble heatThose men thine arms withstood,Retaught the lesson thou had'st taught,And in thy spirit with thee fought—Who sprang from English blood.But thou rejoice with liberal joy,Lift up thy rocky face,And shatter, when the storms are black,In many a streaming torrent back,The seas that shook thy base!Whatever harmonies of lawThe growing world assume,Thy work is thine—the single noteFrom that deep chord which Hampden smoteWill vibrate to the doom.
O Thou, that sendest out the manTo rule by land and sea,Strong mother of a lion-line,Be proud of these strong sons of thineWho wrenched their rights from thee!
What wonder if in noble heatThose men thine arms withstood,Retaught the lesson thou had'st taught,And in thy spirit with thee fought—Who sprang from English blood.
But thou rejoice with liberal joy,Lift up thy rocky face,And shatter, when the storms are black,In many a streaming torrent back,The seas that shook thy base!
Whatever harmonies of lawThe growing world assume,Thy work is thine—the single noteFrom that deep chord which Hampden smoteWill vibrate to the doom.
By H.H. Bennett.
Hats off!Along the street there comesA blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,A flash of color beneath the sky;Hats off!The flag is passing by.Blue and crimson and white it shinesOver the steel-tipped ordered lines.Hats off!The colors before us fly;But more than the flag is passing by.Sea fights and land fights, grim and great,Fought to make and to save the state;Weary marches, and sinking ships;Cheers of victory on dying lips.Days of plenty and days of peace;March of a strong land's swift increase;Equal justice, right, and law,Stately honor, and reverent awe.Sign of a nation, great and strongTo ward her people from foreign wrong;Pride and glory and honor, allLive in the colors to stand or fall.Hats off!Along the street there comesA blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums;And loyal hearts are beating high;Hats off!The flag is passing by!Youth's Companion.
Hats off!Along the street there comesA blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums,A flash of color beneath the sky;Hats off!The flag is passing by.
Blue and crimson and white it shinesOver the steel-tipped ordered lines.Hats off!The colors before us fly;But more than the flag is passing by.
Sea fights and land fights, grim and great,Fought to make and to save the state;Weary marches, and sinking ships;Cheers of victory on dying lips.
Days of plenty and days of peace;March of a strong land's swift increase;Equal justice, right, and law,Stately honor, and reverent awe.Sign of a nation, great and strongTo ward her people from foreign wrong;Pride and glory and honor, allLive in the colors to stand or fall.
Hats off!Along the street there comesA blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums;And loyal hearts are beating high;Hats off!The flag is passing by!
Youth's Companion.
Anonymous.
This poem, which has long been a favorite in school readers, describes the emotions of the people of Philadelphia on that memorable day in July, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was signed. It was resolved by Congress that the signing should be announced to the people by the ringing of the old Philadelphia State-house bell, now the most venerated relic of those stirring days. By a strange coincidence, the bell, cast years before the Declaration was dreamed of, bears the following inscription, from the Bible: "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."
There was tumult in the city,In the quaint old Quakers' town,And the streets were rife with people,Pacing restless up and down—People gathering at corners,Where they whispered each to each,And the sweat stood on their temples,With the earnestness of speech.As the bleak Atlantic currentsLash the wild Newfoundland shore,So they beat against the State-house,So they surged against the door;And the mingling of their voicesMade a harmony profound,Till the quiet street of ChestnutWas all turbulent with sound."Will they do it?" "Dare they do it?""Who is speaking?" "What's the news?""What of Adams?" "What of Sherman?""Oh, God grant they won't refuse!""Make some way there!" "Let me nearer!""I am stifling!" "Stifle, then!When a nation's life's at hazard,We've no time to think of men!"So they beat against the portal,Man and woman, maid and child;And the July sun in heavenOn the scene looked down and smiled;The same sun that saw the SpartanShed his patriot blood in vain,Now beheld the soul of freedomAll unconquered rise again.See! See! The dense crowd quiversThroughout all its lengthy line,As the boy beside the portalLooks forth to give the sign!With his small hands upward lifted,Breezes dallying with his hair,Hark! with deep, clear intonation,Breaks his young voice on the air.Hushed the people's swelling murmur,List the boy's strong, joyous cry!"Ring!" he shouts, "RING!Grandpa,RING! OH,RING FORLIBERTY!"And straightway at the signalThe old bellman lifts his hand,And sends the good news, makingIron music through the land.How they shouted! What rejoicing!How the old bell shook the air,Till the clang of freedom ruffledThe calm, gliding Delaware!How the bonfires and the torchesIllumined the night's repose,And from the flames, like Phœnix,Fair Liberty arose!
There was tumult in the city,In the quaint old Quakers' town,And the streets were rife with people,Pacing restless up and down—People gathering at corners,Where they whispered each to each,And the sweat stood on their temples,With the earnestness of speech.
As the bleak Atlantic currentsLash the wild Newfoundland shore,So they beat against the State-house,So they surged against the door;And the mingling of their voicesMade a harmony profound,Till the quiet street of ChestnutWas all turbulent with sound.
"Will they do it?" "Dare they do it?""Who is speaking?" "What's the news?""What of Adams?" "What of Sherman?""Oh, God grant they won't refuse!""Make some way there!" "Let me nearer!""I am stifling!" "Stifle, then!When a nation's life's at hazard,We've no time to think of men!"
So they beat against the portal,Man and woman, maid and child;And the July sun in heavenOn the scene looked down and smiled;The same sun that saw the SpartanShed his patriot blood in vain,Now beheld the soul of freedomAll unconquered rise again.
See! See! The dense crowd quiversThroughout all its lengthy line,As the boy beside the portalLooks forth to give the sign!With his small hands upward lifted,Breezes dallying with his hair,Hark! with deep, clear intonation,Breaks his young voice on the air.
Hushed the people's swelling murmur,List the boy's strong, joyous cry!"Ring!" he shouts, "RING!Grandpa,RING! OH,RING FORLIBERTY!"And straightway at the signalThe old bellman lifts his hand,And sends the good news, makingIron music through the land.
How they shouted! What rejoicing!How the old bell shook the air,Till the clang of freedom ruffledThe calm, gliding Delaware!How the bonfires and the torchesIllumined the night's repose,And from the flames, like Phœnix,Fair Liberty arose!
By Henry W. Longfellow.