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crisps“ " ‘should be the case, I am not MUST SHQUT STRAIGHT 1.02.13 SOBERTS’ PLAIN WORDS .cro THE ARMY. Officers as Well as Men Must Be- come Expert With the ' Rifle. A moot important order has been issued to the British army by Lord Roberts containing complete and deâ€" tailed instructions as to a radical reform of the system of instruction in shooting. Henceforth, as the reâ€" sult of this emphatic and plainly- worded order, instruction in the use of the rifle will take its proper place as the most vital part of the army’s training. The order, it was stated, was isâ€" sued with the approval of the Sec- retary of State for War, and it read as follows: “Considerable as has been the im- provement in the shooting of the army during the last few years, our experience in South Africa has 'brought home to us the fact that our soldiers cannot as yet take the fullest advantage of the admirable weapon which has been placed in their hands, or use it with that skill and precision which are so essential to success in war. “While I deeply regret that this sur- prised, for I know, from many years anxious watching over the progress of rifle shooting in our army, how comparatively few ofliâ€" cers take any real interest in thisâ€"- by far the most important part of the soldier’s trainingâ€"particularly to those who belong to the cavalry and infantry branches of the serâ€" vice. “Too frequently the musketry course is still looked upon as a somewhat irksome business which has to be got through as quickly as possible, and sufficient consideration is seldom given as to whether the results achieved are satisfactory or not. - DEPENDS ON THE OFFICERS. “Success or failure in rifle shoot- ing depends entirely upon the offiâ€" cers, and I now most earnestly deâ€" sire to impress upon them the im- perative necessity for their becoming experts in the use of the rifle them- selves, and for assisting me in carrying out a. far more complete and finished system of instruction than exists at present. “The value of the instruction imâ€" parted to. the men is entirely de- pendent on the ability of the officers to teach, and on the zeal with which they enter on a task which demands careful preparation, patience, and energy. . , “I expect, therefore, that all offi- cers will do their best to become competent instructors, and that com- manding officers will assure them- selves of the fitness of their officers to teach, by watching them when at work With. their nonâ€"commissioned officers and men, and will impress upon them that keeness in musketry, and good results, will be the first claim for advancement. “In the same way sabordinate officers will be held responsible that the nonâ€"commissioned officers under command ‘ are capable instructors, and will not recommend any for promotion whom they do not con- sider as such." A reference to the importance of continual practice, especially in the case of instructing officers, .follows, and then Lord Roberts emphasizes the necessity for thoroughness in the elementary education of the recruit. A RECRUIT’S TRAINING. "I regard the present short period of recruit training in musketry as insufficient," he continues, _“and I direct that a system of training be established which will ensure that no recruit is pronounced qualified until he has acquired a thorough knowledge of musketry, and can handle his rifle with skill and con- fidence under all conditions and in all positions. “The recruit’s training in mus- ketry should commence 14 days af- ter his arrival at the depot, and should be continued daily until he leaves to join his corps. When re- cruits join their corps daily instrucâ€". tion will be at once resumed. The following will be the course: (a) Care of arms. (b) Instruction in training. (c) The firing exercises, both in 'drill order and field service or- derâ€"one exercise at least to be formed daily. (d) Instruction and practice in judgâ€" ing distance. A short exercise daily. (e) Instruction in firing from behind cover, and in snap-shooting. (f) Instruction in the theory, pow- ers and mechanism of the rifle and its ammunition. .g) A course of lectures and examâ€" inations on the whole of the above subjects. “When a proper system of recruit training is established, the soldier may be expected to be so expert with his ride that repetitionoi eleâ€" mcntary lessons will seldom be noâ€" cessary. As yet this has not been achievfl, and until it has been all soldiers now in the ranks must be exercised as frequently as possible in the same course as that laid down for the recruit. _ g TAKE YOUR TIME. “The sole object of the range practice is to produce good marksâ€" men, and this can not be arrived at hurriedly or without due delibera- tion. The aim should not be to expend a. certain quantity of am- munition, but to make every shot fired a. practical lesson; v this can only be done by careful marking of each shot, and explaining to the men the causesof failure. "‘Exercise with blank ammunition, miniature cartridges, or merely ‘snapping,'_ on the lines of the rapid magazine and snap-shooting prac- tices of the regulation course, should be frequently practiced in quarters throughout the yean. It is by snapâ€"shooting at short ranges that battles in the future will probâ€" ably be decided. The importance of practice at short range is also emphasized, and then Lord Roberts continues: “I am convinced that straight shooting, which is the result of care- ful training, is at least as important on the modern battlefield as tactical combinations, to the practice of which so much time and trouble are now devoted. "I cannot, therefore, too strongly impress on every general officer com- manding that it is his most im- portant duty to attain and main- tain a high standard of efficiency in musketry throughout all ranks in his command. "I shall hold every general officer, commanding personally responsible that he, by whatever means he may consider best, will endeavor to ~atâ€" tain a standard which can only be considered satisfactory when it has attained the highest efficiency. “On January 1, 1903, general offi- cers commanding will ieport to the Adjutantâ€"General, in detail, the steps which they have taken to in- troduce a better system of train- lng'll NEW TDRPEDD BOAT TYPE THE BRITISH VELOX MAY START A NEW ERA. the Turbines and Old- Enginesâ€"Great Re- sults Expected. When the British torpedoâ€"boat de- stroyer Viper went ashore on Ron- onquet Rock, near Alderney, in a fog and was totally wrecked a year ago the‘ critics were loud in their condemnation of turbine-driven craft. ,_A little over a month " later the Cobra, a sister ship, on her way from the builders, foundcred in the North Sea, and out of ,the 79 persons aboard only 13 escaped. The boat had buckled amidships, her back broke and dOWn she went. At once there was a howl against the turbine boat, coincidence, unforâ€" tunately, having marked those boats; but buckling spines became maniâ€" fest in the regular type driven by the ordinary engines, and the (leâ€" famers had to admit reluctantly that the steam turbine was not in itself responsible for the mishap. The remarkable speed of the - turâ€" bineâ€"driven vesselsâ€"over 32 knotsâ€"- had attracted the attention of the whole world, and their untimely loss left the question of the steam tur- bine as a means of propulsion for naval craft still undetermined. Now it is to have a further test. The Parsons company has built the Vel‘x, outwardly a substantial dup- licate of the Viper, and she is now the property of the British Governâ€" ment. ‘ For the Velox is promised a perâ€" formance equal at full speed to that of her unfortunate pioneers and also the assurance of economical run- ning C ombines Style . ___..,.___‘_ TI-IE JEWEISH RACE. Its Dispersion and' Statistics as to Its Christianization. Recent statistics show that there are scattered throughout the world about ten million Jews. Five milâ€" lion in the RilSsian Empire, one mil- lion and a half in Austria and a like number in America, 600,000 in Germany, in the Balkan States, 300,000; ‘in Great Britain, 200,000 ; in Belgium, 150,000; and in Turkey, 125,000; in 'France, 85,000; in Asia, 300,000; in Southern Africa, 80,- 000. According to an article in the Sc- maine Religiouse of Geneva, by M. Le Roi, a, wellâ€"known authority on the subject, the following are the figures relating to the conversion of the Jews to Christianity during the last century. The total number be- tween the years 1800-1899 inclusive is, he reckons, about 224,000. The Greek Church has received out of this number 74,500; the Protestant Churches in Great Britain and Amâ€" erica, 72,000, and the Roman Catho- lic Church 53,500. The figures for the year 1808 give,~'thcse results : In the Protestant churches: were adâ€" mitted 1,450 Jews, in the Roman Catholic Church 1,250, and in the- Greek Orthodox, 1,100. Out of the children born from mixed marriages 1,450 children received holy baptism. Nowhere have the conversions been so numerous as in England, where, according to the same authority, 30,000 cows were received into the Church of England during the 11incâ€" teenth century. In France, where the Jewish population numbers about 82,000, the conversions durâ€" ing the century were 600 only. In Germany there are at present 125 converted Jews who actually preach the Gospel. ' 1f the statistics of the who-1e num- ber of Jews are taken as a basis it will be found that the ratio of conversions is exceedingly large in England. While Russia, is credited with a Jewish population of five millions, Great Britain has only a twentyâ€"fifth of that porpulati on cre- ditved to it, viz., 200,000. The pro- portion of conversions, therefore, is one in seven in England to the Church of England, which certainly strikes us as very large, to one in sixtyâ€"seven in Russia to the Orthoâ€" dox Church. If these proportions are anywhere accurate they certainly form a sinâ€" gular commentary on the methods adopted. In Russia coercion and persecution had marked the policy adopted toward the Jews, in Eng- land there has been perfect liberty. and, in fact, the Jews have been rather potted than otherwise. Ap- parently the Jew had much to gain in Russia by beecming a Christian, and nothing to gain by becoming one in England. ‘ Warsvaw,.of which the entire popu- lation is three-quarters Israelite, has- been generally reckoned to contain more Jews than any other city, but the palm mus-t be awarded in this respect to the city of New York, whose Jewish population exceeds 400,000. Budapest comes next, with 170,000; then Vienna, and Odessa each with about 140,000 ; London, with 120,000; Berlin, with 110,000; Philadelphia, with 100,000. Paris, Amsterdam, Lemberg, Salonica and eight other cities have a Jewish population equalling that of modern Jerusalem, namely, 50,000. __.___+_______ TAKING PRECAUTIONS A nervous commercial, who carries with him wherever he goes a coil of rope, was asked by the landlord of a small hotel near Bâ€"-â€" what the rope was for. “That's a. fireâ€"escape,” explained the visitor, “and I always have it with me, so that in case of fire I can let myself down from the win- dow." “Seems like a rather good idea,” said the landlord, “but guests with fireâ€"escapes pay in advance at this ;hotel.” AT MODERATE SPEED. This is accomplished by a combinaâ€" tion of steam turbines and small- auxiliary engines tripleâ€"expansion type. The steam turbine, like the electrically driven motor, can be run most economical- ly,at full speed, intermediate rates of running resulting in loss of driv- ing power in ratio to steam or electricity used. Now, everybody knows that a war- ship, unlike a merchant craft runâ€" ning upon a regular route, ‘must fre~ quently vary her speed, and seldom in peace time is she called upon to make her maximum speed for any lengthened period. The turbine, therefore, is not primarily fitted for naval craft, because it must either be run at very low speed or the very highest speed. But Mr. Parsons has undertaken to meet these objections and the forthâ€" coming trials of the Velox are awaited with keen interest by the engineering world. If he succeeds in his present endeavor he will not on- ly establish firmly a. place for the steam turbine in the engine rooms of a large share of the world’s warships 'but he will have gone a long way toward solving the vexed question of economy of coal consumption at all running rates. It isn’t necessary to live in the midst of a time of coal strikes to appreciate the value of that fuel, for the pounds saved on shipboard mean not only money saved to the people running the vessel, but the lessened demand for fuel space means more room for cargo of one sort or another, and on a naval craft that much less dead weight to be driven through the water. Only one faâ€" miliar with the scheming of the na- val architect and the marine enâ€" gineer realizes how jealously he ap- portions every pound in the vessel’s getâ€"up and with what discourage- ment he views the slightest INCREASE OF WEIGHT. From the popular descriptions first built the public has a. fair un- given of the Turbina when she was derstanding of what the steam turâ€" bine means. It is an adaptation of the modern windâ€"mill in principle. but there the likeness ceases. Where the farmer’s helper has a. dozen blades, the turbine has several thou- sand. In the turbine there are none of the familiar piston rods, shifting valve gears, revolving cranks, slid- ing parts and balance wheels. The propeller shafts become the' balance wheels, the casings of the turbines become the cylinders and the thouâ€" sands of little blades studding the shaft collars become the pistons. These blades stud the collars as thickly as porcupine quills and are turned at just the proper angle to receive the maximum impulse of the entering steam, which passes spiral- ly from one end of the casing hold- ing the turbine to the other. The steam, still full of life, then passes into another, or lowâ€"pressure, cas- ing, where it finally cxpends itself before going on to the condenser, to be turned again into the water for use in the boilers. In the ordinary engine steam is exhausted at a pressure of seven or eight pounds, which means seven or eightpounds oi propulsive force sent wastefully into the condenser. With the turbine, steam is ultimately ex- hausted with a pressure of one- pound absoluteâ€"meaning a saving in coal, for coal means steam. The many of the dangers present in fast simplicity of the turbine removes moving reciprocating engines; breakâ€" downs are few and far between; and the engines themselves require less attention. Compared with the usâ€" ual type of terpedo boat destroyers' engines, the turbines for the same power are 30 per cent. lighter, and while occupying about the same floor space, do not demand the same head roomâ€"thus permitting the ma- chinery to .iie lower ‘in the' boat, of the ordinary . something that adds not only to the stability of the craft, but keeps the motive power much better hidden FROM AN ENEMY'S SHOT. The Velox is 210 feet long and has a maximum beam of._21 feet, and special attention has been given to the feature of longitudinal. strength. She will have two highâ€"pressure and, two low-pressure turbinese-the high-l pressure turbines will drive the two outer shafts and the two low-presâ€" sure turbines will turn the two inâ€" ner shafts. Each shaft will carry two propellers, one forward of the other. Here comes the There will engines of moderate power novel feature. I turbines. speeds, steam from the boilers to these engines, which, in turn, will exhaust into the tm‘bineS. Where the remaining powâ€"j the steam will be fully utipia COl‘d- er of ized. When it is desired to make the 30 odd knots of which the Velox will be capable steam is fed directly from the boilers to the high-pressure turâ€"‘0f WOOd bincs and the auxiliary engines are disconnected, for it would not be safe to have them working at any- thing like the number of revolutions thoroughly possible and safe for the turbines; in fact, a reciprocating enâ€" gine would be racked to pieces long before it attained such velocity. How well the steam turbine can work in passenger steamers the Clyde passenger. boat King Edward has amply proved. This vessel has been running in ter boat of the same line, the paddle wheel steamer Duchess of Hamilton. The King Edward makes 18';- knots an hour, while the. Duchess of Hamâ€" ilton makes 16;» knots, yet the King Edward burns relatively less coal and her mechanical perform- ance in other respects has been be~ yond question. Anticipating the performance of the Velox the Admiralty has order- ed two third-class cruisers to be pany. These vessels are to be 360 be engined by the Parsons com- built by Messrs. Beardmore and to feet long, to have 41â€"foot beams, draughts of 14 feet 6 inches, and,‘ with displacements of~ 3,000 tons, to make 21% knots. The performance per ton of engines has been set very high by the Admiralty, and should the ships live up to it the turbine will be an established naval factor forl’the future. _____+.____ ~ THE OLD CIRCUS MAN. When the Great Giant Went in Bathing. “The greatest of all giants, said the old circus man, “was a, great. feller for goin’ in bathing; he never neglected a chance for that. But at the same time he had to ,use some sort of gumption, or we had to use it for him, about where he went in, on account of ’the danger there was from overflows caused by his displacement of the Water. I well remember how we first came to realize this. “About twenty rods or so below the show’s- winter quarters there was a little pond formed by damâ€" miug a brook that ran through our place. There was a small grist mill on this pond, turned by one of those oldâ€"fashioned overshot water wheels. “The giant walked down to this little pond one warm spring day just before we took the road that year, never thinking for a minute of what must happen if he jumped into a small body of water like that suddenly, and plunged in. “Snakes and alligators ! The pond overflowed all round, and start- ed the grist mill off its foundations and carried away the old wheelâ€"it was like a flood you know, of course, down there at that endâ€"and done about $750 damages. "Well ! That opened our eyes you know, to the necessity of using some sort of caution about where to let the giant go in swimmin'. Obviously, it wouldn't do for us to let him jump in anywhere, into any little bit of a pond that we might come across ; it would cost us t00 much money. “And so he and the old man had an understanding that he wouldn't go in anywhere without the old man's permission; and we used to keep him out of the water all we could after that, except when We showed at towns on the Great Lakes or at places on the coast." ._..__._+_â€"â€"â€"â€"â€" GARNETS AS BULLETS. Bullets made of precious stones are rarities in. warfare. But during the fighting on the Iiasmir frontier, when the British troops defeated the rebellious Hunsas, the nativcs used bullets of garnets incased in lead. The British preserved many as curiosities. ‘ ._- H [to some of us'. 'to effect fuel when we burned wood: be two-triple expansionl which I are coupled by the two high-pressure! When running at cruisingl will be fed directlyl competition with a sis“ THE OLD FAMILY WOODPILEH Feature of Life Formerly Which Iswjn of Interest Just Now. “As homely as a woodpilo used to G be a common expression,” said a man who had just read something about the advance in the price of. wood; “but I tell you a woodpilo would look very cheerful just now There was no strike at least not where I lived. A man was known in those days by his woodpilo. When you saw a, long pile in a backyard early in the sea‘ son, it was a sure indication that' the owner was a generous and a gooc’ neighbor. When you saw a measly load of wood of all lengths heaped in confusion, it was a sure Sign of a measly man. ' “An honest pile of wood was 4 §fect wide, 4 foot high .and‘8 feet ’long, or 128 cubic feet. That was The honest, woodchopper’s wagon was made to hold a cord, |but the man who'bought the wood did his own measuring, or had it done in the backyard. The amount laid in by a man in good circumstances depended upon the ,number of fires in his house and lupon the climate in which he lived. ‘The average family in a climate where the winters were severe burn- ed about 20 cords of wood during cold weather. The wood was usual- ly delivered and stacked before the first of November. The laying in of the winter Wood by a man who unâ€" ~ derstood his business was not a haphazard transaction. There was a stipulation for so much hard and lso much soft wood. The hard wood was hickory and oak, where it could ibe obtained; the soft, ash, poplar, 'walnut or hackberry. The soft wood when seasoned burned quick- ly, and was used principally in stoves. The hickory was used most« ly in the oldâ€"fashioned fireplaces, be cause, as we used to say, it kept fire. In other words, it burned slowly and gave out a more uni‘ form heat than THE QUICK BURNERS. “In contracting for the winter supply it was always stipulatof that a certain number of logs, that is, cuts in the cord length, unsplit, Should be delivered. These logs were sawed or chopped into lengths that would fit. in the back of tlu. fireplaces, and were put on early in the evening, so as to get under way by ,the time the family retired. “The head of the house or his scr~' vant covered the back log, as it was called, with hot ashes, and in the morning, if the backlog was what a. backlog should be it would be a solid mass of live coal, and ' lthis was the starter of the fire for ithe day. In the days when wood Was chopped instead of being sawed lthe chips were utilized as burners [mostly in the stoves, and care was taken in laying in wood to get that which would yield good chips in the chopping. .once in wood in this respect. “The man who sold wood had to be square with his customers in de- livering just whatvwas contracted for. If he undertook to sneak in a few cuts of green elm or sycamore they were thrown out when the wood was corded. You couldn't fool a good housekeeper with Wood that sobbed, as green elm and hickory did. The good housewife also had a good deal to say about the sort of wood that was laid in. Not' only on account of the readiness with which the wood burned, but on ac- count of the ashes it produced. The ashes were used ‘in those days in the |making of soap. In the backyard of every well regulated household there was an ash hopper. The ashes were dumped into this and by being wet down they produced a lyc essential in producing a certair [kind of soap which was considereu necessary in a4 household.‘ ‘-‘But the old woodpile, like a good many other things, has had its day There was one other thing in con- nection with the old Woodpile which it is not so pleasant to remember, It was the place of judgment in fa- imilies where there were negroes on :rCCalcitrant children. “I never knew why, but in the old days when the head of tho househoch felt himself called upon to chastise a servant or his child, In! 'took him behind the woodpilo. And when a father wanted to emphasize a threat he usually said: “ ‘I will lead you behind thu woodpilo if you don’t mind.’ ” mg.“ MOTORS AND MAILS . Hungary, which was the first coun try on the Continent to adopt cyclcl for the collection and delivery 0 letters, is about to make anotho notable departure in the use a motor cars for the work. It is pro bable that in a short time the use 0 horses for this work will be entire]; [ discarded. Sea, Urchinâ€"Did you win out in the race with the mermaids ? Sea, Horseâ€"You bet ; they were all tail-endcrs ! There was a great differ-I rater: "4; ~. ‘3, «~ch ,~ A F: ai‘jyvlrfl ‘M mesa: *( ,;<.â€".‘.-« 7 , A .r. .4 mu; .1 I ~un 's ‘1‘":ng .N-‘l 3‘3 . -. uw- f~ :32- 4" w.“ usa"'