Event and Comment
The coronation ceremonies of King Edward, postponed from June last and threatened with frustration, took place on August 9th in Westminster Abbey. Here were assembled no less than 7,000 people, including the nobility and clergy, together with foreign princes, ambassadors, and rulers from various quarters of the globe. Among them were nearly 100 Americans, all more or less prominent.
In the midst of such an assembly the climax of the event came when the venerable Archbishop of Canterbury placed the jeweled crown upon the king’s head.
Thereupon the electric lights throughout the Abbey sprang into brilliant existence, illumining the magnificent apparel and glittering jewels of both participant and spectator, and giving an effect of splendor which, according to one who beheld it, has never been equaled.
While on this side we are all too much interested in our own country to join in the chorus of “God Save the King” with any great enthusiasm, we can, nevertheless, wish King Edward VII a long and successful reign.
What is, without doubt, the most formidable gun ever constructed is the one recently built at the Watervliet Arsenal for the defence of New York harbor. While its calibre is but 16 inches, smaller than many guns already in use, its range is 21 miles, or half again more powerful than its nearest rival.
The length of the new gun is 49 feet 2 inches and its weight 126 tons. It throws a projectile whose length is 5 feet 4 inches.
The cost of firing a single shot is $1,000.
Eighteen other such guns are to be constructed and placed at such vital points along our coast as New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Hampton Roads.
There is something about these large rifles which appeals to and fascinates nearly every one of us. We all wish to see the series completed and distributed. But, further than that, let us hope that such terrible engines of destruction will never be turned upon a human foe.
Almost simultaneously with the completion of the great rifle at the New York arsenal, came the launching of the “Thomas W. Lawson,” the first seven-masted schooner ever built.
Differing from our usual idea of a sailboat, the new ship is constructed almost entirely of steel. So manageable are the six powerful steam engines which control the sails, spars, anchors, and rudder, that this, the largest sailing vessel afloat, requires a crew of but sixteen men.
The length of the “Lawson” is 403 feet, and she carries a cargo of 8,100 tons.
There is a system of electric lights and telephones throughout, while the cabins are heated by steam.
The “Lawson” will be used at first as a collier on the Atlantic coast, where her owners expect she will make a great profit.
It is to this application of steam and electricity to sailboats that we may look for strides in that science, which has probably advanced less than any other in the past two thousand years—the science of sailing.
The Secretary of the Interior has announced plans for the perpetuation of the American bison or “buffalo.” For this purpose he has secured an appropriation of $15,000 to build a wire corral at Yellowstone Park. Here the bison, both wild and tame, will be protected in every way. At present there are but twenty-two bison in the park, but this number will be greatly increased by purchase in the near future.
A numerical estimate of the pure-blooded bison now in existence gives, in the United States, 968, mostly tame, and in Canada, 600, all of which are wild.
There is no place where the old adage, “Put not off until to-morrow,” can be better applied than in the protection of our wild animals. If the American bison is to be preserved, it must be to-day.
Fire damp and carelessness, perhaps, upon the part of one of the miners were responsible for the terrible disaster which again brought Johnstown, Pa., into prominence. Over a hundred lives were lost in the perilous “Klondike dip.”
Although it always seems a little heartless to point to any good resulting from such a catastrophe, it is probable that it will lead to a more careful inspection of our mines and greater precaution against that terrible explosive, fire damp.