The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 16, February 25, 1897: A Weekly Magazine for Boys and GirlsVarious
History
The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 16, February 25, 1897: A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls
Various
History, Modern -- 19th century -- Juvenile literature -- Periodicals
It has a large round body, surrounded by eight arms, which are many times
the length of the body, and which it can twist or turn in any direction.
The mouth is in the centre of these arms. Professor Winchell describes
this ugly creature for us. He says:
"Staring out from either side of the head (the head and body are really
one) is a pair of large, glassy eyes, which send a shudder over the
beholder. At the bottom of the sea the creature turns its eight arms down,
and walks like a huge submarine spider, thrusting its arms into the
crevices of the rocks, and extracting thence the luckless crab that had
thought itself secure from so bulky a foe. Each of the arms is covered
with what are called suckers. Each sucker consists of a little round horny
ridge, forming a little cup, which is attached to the arm by a stem. When
the arm is pressed upon an object, the effort to escape from the grasp of
the arm causes a suction which effectually retains the object."
Professor Winchell goes on to tell that these cuttlefish or octopods
sometimes attain a very great size, and that sailors tell wonderful
stories about them. In one of these stories, the captain of a ship
declared that, while sailing off the African coast, he sent three of his
men over the side of the ship to scrape it. While they were at their work
one of these monsters reached its long arms up from the water and drew two
of them into the sea.
Professor Winchell says that while this may be only a sailor's yarn, it is
at the same time well known that these creatures do attain a fearful size.
The recent discovery of the cuttlefish in Florida may lead to some
extremely interesting discoveries.
HORSELESS FIRE-ENGINE.
A monster steam fire-engine is being built for the city of Boston, and it
is to be a horseless engine.
For some time past the Fire Department has been seeking for some engine
powerful enough to throw water to the top of the very high buildings--the
skyscrapers, as they are called.
An ordinary engine is of very little use for these tall buildings. And an
engine large and powerful enough to throw the water to the necessary
height would be so heavy that no horses could draw it.
The difficulty has been met by the invention of this horseless engine,
which will throw a two-inch stream of water over 300 feet into the air.
The engine is propelled much in the same way as a steam engine. The driver
sits on a seat in front of the engine, and steers it by means of a wheel,
and the engine is moved by steam.
When it arrives at the fire, the driving arrangement is disconnected, and
all the energy of the steam is turned into the apparatus for forcing up
the water.
The engine is sixteen feet long, seven feet wide, and ten feet high. How
terrified the horses in the roads will be when this huge monster comes
rushing toward them, spouting fire, and appearing to move of its own free
will.
LIEUTENANT WISE AND HIS KITE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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