COLONEL HARRIS FOLLOWS HIS FAMILY ABROAD
Gertrude's receipt for growing oranges in a northern climate was as
follows: Let a child hold a large and a small orange in her hands, and
give away the large orange, and the smaller will begin to grow until,
when eaten, it will look bigger and taste sweeter than the large fruit
given away. "Try it!" Gertrude often said.
That was the principle by which Gertrude Harris was always acting. If she
had flowers, fruit, books, pretty gifts, or money, her first thought
always was, "How can I make somebody happy?" With such a generous soul,
part nature's gift and part acquired by self-sacrifice, the life of
Gertrude was as buoyant and happy as the birds in a flower garden.
The decision of Gertrude's father to take her and meet his family in
Europe was not known in Harrisville except to a few. Most of the
colonel's friends supposed that he was busy planning some new business
adventure, in which he might employ his surplus capital and his undoubted
business abilities. Because of the recent calamity, and the hardships of
the employees in connection with their strike, he thought it unwise to
make public mention of his future projects.
The more Gertrude meditated upon her father's plan, the more dissatisfied
with herself she became. The idea of going to Europe and leaving George
behind was unendurable. He needed rest more than she. True, he was to
follow later, but she wanted him to cross the ocean on the same steamer,
and she earnestly desired that the one she loved best should share all of
her enjoyments. It was, perhaps, a test of her love that she constantly
longed to lose herself in him, or better, possibly, to find herself in
him.
Two days before the date fixed for their sailing, as George left the
Harris home, Gertrude was urging him to accompany her and her father,
when he ventured to say, "Gertrude, this is what would please me
immensely, take my sister May with you. I will gladly pay her expenses.
And when your summer's travel is over, I want May to study music abroad."
"Capital!" said Gertrude. "Both you and your sister May shall join our
party. Please don't say another word on the subject, nor tell father,
till we meet tomorrow evening," and she kissed him an affectionate
good-night.
The next evening before the stars shone; Gertrude sat on the piazza
anxiously awaiting him, for she had good news for her lover. Gertrude's
white handkerchief told him that she recognized his coming, though he was
still two blocks away. How light and swift the steps of a lover; though
miles intervene, they seem but a step. An evening in Gertrude's presence
was for George but a moment. The touch of her hand, the rustle of her
dress, and the music of her voice, all, like invisible silken cords, held
him a willing prisoner. The love he gave and the love he received was
like the mating of birds; like the meeting of long separated and finally
united souls.
"George, this is your birthday and the silver crescent moon is filled to
the brim with happiness for you and May. Yesterday I had a long talk with
father, and I asked him to let me stay at home and to take your sister
May to Europe. What do you think he said, George? Never did my father so
correctly read my heart. He drew me closely to him, and while I sat upon
his knee, said: 'Daughter, I have decided that it is wise, even in the
interests of my business, to take George with us.' He also said that I
might invite your sister May to go, and that he would pay all the
expenses. Oh, how I kissed him! I never loved my father so much before.
Here, George, is a kiss for you. Aren't you glad now, that you, and your
sister May are going with us? No excuses, for you are both going surely."
"If it is settled, Gertrude, then it is settled, I suppose, but how do
you think May and I can get ready in so short a time to go to Europe?"
"Well, George, you can wear your new business suit, and in the morning, I
will go with May and buy for her a suitable travelling dress and hat. In
Europe we can procure more clothes as they are needed."
Gertrude was now very happy. The dream of her life was to be realized.
She wanted George near her as she traveled, so each could say to
the other, "Isn't it beautiful?" That is half of the pleasure of
sight-seeing. The small orange kept by Gertrude had doubled in size,
and she never before retired with so sweet a joy in her soul. That night
she slept, and her dreams were of smooth seas, her mother, Lucille, and
George.
It is needless to say that May Ingram was overjoyed. She had been fond of
music from her childhood, and had given promise of rare talents. She had
taken lessons for two years in vocal and instrumental music in the best
conservatories in Boston, George paying most of her expenses. For six
years May had been the soprano singer in the highest paid quartette in
Harrisville. Though she occasionally hoped for a musical education
abroad, yet these hopes had all flown away. Her parents could not aid
her, and she had resolved not to accept further assistance from her
generous brother. At first she could not believe what George told her,
but when the reality of her good fortune dawned upon her, taking George's
hand in both of hers, she pressed it to her lips and fell upon his
shoulder, her eyes flooding with tears.
"Well, May," said George, as he kissed her, "can you get ready by noon
tomorrow?"
"Ready by noon? Ready by daylight, George, if necessary."
That night was a busy, happy time for the Ingrams. So much of ill-luck
had come to the father, and so much of household drudging to the faithful
mother, that work and sacrifice for the children had ploughed deep
furrows across the faces of both Mr. and Mrs. Ingram. Opportunities for
advancement now opening for their children, both parents found the heavy
burdens growing lighter.
Before sunrise George and May had packed two small trunks, by ten o'clock
Gertrude and May had made necessary purchases, and the two o'clock
express quickly bore the second contingent of the Harris family towards
New York, which was reached the night before their steamer's date of
sailing.
For some reason, perhaps because the elements of superstition still
lurked in the mind of Colonel Harris, he decided not to stop any more at
the Hotel Waldorf. It had brought him ill-luck, so his party was driven
to the tall Hotel Plazza which overlooks the Central Park.
Fortunately George had inherited a talent for untiring investigation
and the power of close observation. His reasoning faculties also were
excellent. Besides his education, gained in a practical school at Troy,
George, with, his father, James Ingram, had made many experiments,
mostly after business hours; each experiment was numbered and the various
results had been carefully noted. Before leaving Harrisville his
investigations were all drifting towards great possible changes in the
production of iron and steel. He was glad to take this trip to Europe,
as it might afford him opportunity to verify or change some of his
conclusions. He resolved to use every moment for the enlargement of his
powers.
After bidding May and Gertrude good-night, he told the colonel that he
should now take the Elevated Railway for the steamer "Campania," as he
wished to observe at midnight the firing of the great battery of boilers
of the steamer; and that he would return in time for breakfast with the
party. "Let eight o'clock then be the hour, George," and the capitalist
and his trusted superintendent separated for the night.
The elevated railway was not swift enough to carry George Ingram to Pier
No. 40, so anxious was he to see the midnight fires started in the
hundred furnaces of one of the two largest steamers afloat. It was
fifteen minutes to twelve o'clock when he reached the dock, and provided
with a letter of introduction to the chief engineer, he hurried as fast
as possible to the officer's cabin.
The young engineer's night ashore had been spent at the opera, and,
advised of George Ingram's visit, he had promptly returned to the
steamer. Mr. Carl Siemens, engineer, was a relative of Siemens Brothers
& Co., Limited, the great electrical and telegraph engineers of London.
His education had been thorough, and he was very proud of his steamer the
"Campania," especially of the motive power, which he helped to design. He
gave young Ingram a cordial greeting.
For two hours they examined and talked of mechanism for ships and mills,
and they even ventured to guess what the earth's motive power might be.
It was now five minutes of midnight. The chief furnished Ingram an
oversuit and the young engineers dropped through manholes and down
vertical and spiral ladders into the cellar of the steamer, the bottom of
which was thirty feet below the water level.
"The 'Campania,'" said Siemens, "has a strong double bottom that
forms a series of water-tight compartments which, filled with water,
furnish ballast when necessary. On the second steel or false bottom
of the steamer, fore and aft, are located the boilers, furnaces,
and coal-bunkers. We have fourteen double-ended boilers, fitted
longitudinally in two groups, in two water-tight compartments, and
separated by huge coal-bunkers. Each boiler is eighteen feet in diameter
and seventeen feet long. The thickness of the steel boilerplate is
1-17/32 inches. Above each group of boilers rises 130 feet in height a
funnel nineteen feet in diameter, which, if a tunnel, would easily admit
the passage of two railway trains abreast."
George saw the fires lighted, and when the furnaces required more coal,
suddenly a whistle brought fifty stokers or firemen, the automatic
furnace doors flew open, and a gleam of light flooded everything. Long
lances made draft-holes in the banks of burning coal, through which the
air was sucked with increasing roar. The round, red mouths of the hundred
craters snapped their jaws for coal, which was fed them by brawny men
whose faces were streaked with grimy perspiration, and their bodies
almost overcome by heat. The hundred furnaces are kept at almost white
heat from New York to Liverpool.
"Four hours on, and four hours off, and the best quality of food are some
of the recent improvements," said Siemens.
George Ingram shook his head, and his heart ached as he witnessed the
stokers, and resolved to do his utmost to mitigate the hardships of
labor. "What are the duties of the stokers?" inquired George.
"Our stokers," replied Siemens, "must be men of strength and skill, for
they both feed and rake the fires. The ashes and slag must be hoisted and
dumped into the ocean, and twice an hour, as the gauges indicate, fresh
water is let into the boilers. Daily the boilers convert into steam over
a hundred tons of water, which, condensed, is used over and over again."
"What quantity of coal do you use?"
"About three hundred tons per day, or an average of nearly two thousand
tons per voyage. The coal carrying capacity of the "Campania," however,
when needed as an armed cruiser, can be greatly increased."
Siemens led Ingram to see the gigantic cranks, and propeller shafts. Each
of the several cranks is twenty-six inches in diameter and weighs 110
tons; the shafts made of toughest steel are each twenty-four inches in
diameter, and each weighs over 150 tons. The propellers are made of steel
and bronze, and each of the six blades of the two screws weighs eight
tons. It was now past two o'clock and George thanked Mr. Siemens and said
he should be pleased to examine further his department when at sea. It
was past three o'clock when George turned off his gas at the hotel.
At eight o'clock the next morning the Harrises met promptly at breakfast.
Promptness was one of Reuben Harris's virtues, and fortunately all his
party were agreed as to its absolute necessity, especially when several
journey together, if the happiness of all is considered.
"George's eyes look like burnt holes," whispered May to Gertrude.
Overhearing his sister's remark, George added: "Yes, May, and they feel
worse after my two hours last night in the stokehole of the 'Campania.'"
"We thought after our long railway ride and the concert yesterday, that
you would gladly welcome a little sleep," said Gertrude.
"I did sleep four hours, Gertrude, but my owl-visit to the steamer was
highly instructive, and when we get to sea, you all will be delighted to
help me complete the study of the marine engines on the 'Campania.'"