Chapter IV: Part 4

Before presenting objects for comparison it may be well to pass in review the elements which compose all objects. Decoration is the application of ornament to form. It therefore presupposes knowledge of both form and ornament, for form must be understood by itself, and ornament by itself, before the proper ornament may be selected for the given form. The elements of form are length, breadth, and thickness. A mathematical point is conceived to have no dimensions, a mathematical line but one, and a mathematical plane but two. But in actuality there is no tangible object without the third dimension--thickness. Still, where two dimensions are very much more prominent than the third--as, for instance, in a plaque, in the side of a room, in a single elevation of a building, or whenever merely the surface of an object is viewed--the third dimension may be left out of consideration. Lines and the surfaces they bound--that is, length and breadth--are the two elements of form which play the chief part in decoration.

If the two vases which are represented in the view by vertical and horizontal, straight and curved lines, were actually before us you would have difficulty in finding any vertical lines, and the horizontal lines would turn out to be circles. The lines in the view mark the apparent terminations of the surfaces. For purposes of study, however, you must regard objects of three dimensions as bounded by lines, just as they appear in photographs, drawings, or other flat representations, geometric or perspective. In regarding objects from the point of view of decoration there is still another element to be considered; that is, the element of material, the substance of which objects consist, for it is evident that the ornament which would be appropriate to wood, for instance, might not be appropriate to metal or to stone. The element of material is of great importance in practical decoration, but of less importance in theoretical decoration. Lines and surfaces are therefore the two chief elements of decoration to be considered at present. Color, being an element of an entirely independent nature, will not be considered at all.

First, lines. The lines down one side of an object may be called the profile of the object, while the lines surrounding the object may be called the contour or outline of the object.

Profiles and outlines are made up of any number of straight and curved lines connected at any and every variety of angle. The view (Fig. 2) shows a few possibilities of combination of lines into profiles. The particular thing to be observed in these profiles is that individual curves are preceded or followed by curves which curve in the same direction or in the opposite direction--that is, regarding the curves as concave or convex from a given side of the profile, sometimes a concave curve meets a concave curve, sometimes it meets a convex curve. In these particular profiles the straight lines which unite the curves are so small and so insignificant that they appear as mere connections. Where the adjoining curves are homogeneous the connection is called continuous--_raccords continus_, as Mayeux puts it. When the adjoining curves are different, the connection is called contrasted--_raccords contrastés_. In the view all continuous connections are marked _a_; all contrasted connections are marked _b_. Now follow these lines up and down slowly and deliberately--not once or twice, but a number of times. See exactly where the connections occur, and where the connections are continuous, and where they are contrasted. In these profiles are shown forth and made evident two of the most important and general laws not only of ornament, but of all artistic composition: First, that connected curves of the same kind must run substantially in the same direction; and, second, that for purposes of strong contrast curves of different kinds must be joined--that is to say, that where contrasted connection is desired, the difference in direction must be abruptly and sharply indicated. In the profiles in the view the various curves have been continued in dotted lines beyond the profiles, so as to bring out and make clear these two laws. You see that wherever there is a _b._ the dotted lines cross at, or nearly at, right angles, and that wherever there is an _a._ there is no crossing at all of the dotted lines. The essence of these two laws is of such importance in all artistic and decorative composition that beginners might well be put to drawing profiles until the principles involved have been absorbed and made a part of artistic apprehension. The profiles in the view are all pleasing, because the laws are observed. Try your hand at drawing profiles in which the laws are not observed, and you will quickly perceive the difference. The most beautiful of pure profiles are those presented by Greek entablatures. The most beautiful of Greek outlines are those presented by Greek vases. The beauties of Greek sculpture and of renaissance design belong so strictly to the domain of pure art that they may not be used for comparison in an article on ornament.

As outlines are composed of profiles, the same laws govern. That the curved line is the line of beauty stands out most evidently in the study of antique designs. Vertical lines and horizontal lines are the lines of support and strength, and must always have proper consideration; but in pure ornament the office of straight lines seems to be confined to connecting curves and to emphasizing their contrasts.

The next view (Fig. 3) is to illustrate the progress already made. On the upper line are the three rough outline sketches for modern articles, of which the final use and destination are shown on the lower line. In the sketch to the left the fine effect is produced by a few curves, of which the connections are boldly and finely contrasted. In the second sketch an equally pleasing effect is produced by curves, of which the principal ones are continuously connected, while in the third sketch there is a pleasing exhibition of both kinds of connections. The lower line gives you your first notion of the use of ornament in marking and embellishing the lines of form.

The next view (Fig. 4) exposes forms in which the above laws are violated, and by whose ugliness you can not fail to be impressed. On the top line are objects of which the curves are so weak and undecided that it would be difficult to state whether the connections are continuous or contrasted. In the second line is shown how ugly is the effect when straight lines are substituted for curved lines, and in the third line is shown how ugly effects may be produced even by curved lines when not used in obedience to some accepted and apprehended principle.

There is another presentation of form which is in reality but a modification of profile, but which, because it looks as if it had been separately applied, and also because it is separately treated in books, must be considered by itself. The term “molding” has been given to variations in surfaces which have both useful and ornamental uses. Moldings are as old as architecture, and vary with schools of architecture.

In the next view (Fig. 5), taken from Mayeux’s work, are given the most ordinary Greek moldings with their French names. However necessary it must be for the architect, and however admirable it may be for the art student, to know the names of all moldings by heart and to be able to describe each one accurately, such proficiency is not required at present and is not necessary for the understanding of the present theme. Some moldings have square edges, some round. The curved edges of some are simple, of others complex. Each has its name, and of some the name is descriptive. The term molding would seem to indicate that moldings were made apart and subsequently applied to the main object. Whatever be the origin of moldings, the same rules apply to them which apply to other profiles, with the additional rule that moldings must always be kept subordinate to the principal object. For instance, in the view (Fig. 6) the pedestal marked _bon_ is good, because the body of the pedestal is the principal object and it is clearly seen that the moldings at the base and at the top are subordinate and merely ornamental, while the pedestal marked _mauvais_ is decidedly bad, because more vertical space is given to the moldings than to the shaft, confusing outline, weakening the shaft, and destroying the sense of strong and steady support.

Readers may at once make use of the information already acquired by seeing how these rules apply to their own lamps, candlesticks, pieces of furniture, etc.

The next view (Fig. 7) shows incidentally how much better it is under all circumstances to mark with fillets and lines the changes from one curve to another, for you certainly see how much more substantial character and beauty has _B_ than _A_.

Finally, let it be said, and said emphatically, that though there are profiles which require the use of the compass to draw them, and though all architectural details must be worked out with mathematical accuracy, those profiles and outlines are the most beautiful where it is evident that artistic skill governing a free hand has controlled and where mechanical assistance is so subordinate as to be overlooked.

There is very little to be said about surfaces or forms of two dimensions. The principal requirement is that outlines should be agreeable and must be well defined. In fact, the two qualities are inseparable, for a well-defined outline is agreeable and a badly defined one is sure to be disagreeable. By well-defined is meant that its particular shape should easily appear and be clearly distinguishable. For instance, a square should appear with sides distinctly equal; a circle should have but one center. In an architectural opening either arch or entablature should prevail, and the character of the arch should be evident. In the examples presented (Fig. 8) in the view these principles are violated. The first figure is so clearly a square that at first, and before you have examined it closely, you think it is a square. It leaves an indefinite and consequently disagreeable impression. The same criticism applies to the second object, apparently a mirror. The glass is round, but the frame is so irregular that the impress of the circle is destroyed, and there is left an undecided and therefore uncomfortable sensation. In the third example the arch is so poorly defined and so weak, while the entablature above it is so strong and so prominent, that the result is a composition that fails to give pleasure, because no distinct idea is conveyed. In the last example the outlines of the arch are so indefinite that its character is indistinguishable. You can not see which prevails, the round arch or the pointed arch.

The same principles apply to smaller objects and to details, as seen in the next view (Fig. 9). To the left the date plate on top is bad in comparison with the one beneath it, because its direction is not so well marked and its corner projections are too large. In the lambrequins on the right, those are good in which the general direction is properly marked, and in which subdivisions are kept properly subordinated. Lambrequins have so entirely gone out of use nowadays that it is difficult to recall the time when they were regarded as indispensable parts of furniture.

There is one other point to which your attention should be called--that is, stability. If an object be intended to stand, its center of gravity should be so well within its base that there will be no danger of its being upset by the ordinary uses to which it is exposed. Pots and pans, pitchers, lamps, and candlesticks, of general and daily household use, should have bases so broad and weight so low that the accidental bump of the inexperienced “help” will not be inevitably fatal.

When utensils are made more for show than for use, as those in Fig. 10, and are to occupy places of comparative security, beauty more than utility may be considered in the proportions of their supports. Where utility has disappeared altogether and the suggested outline of a vase, for instance, is used for purely ornamental purpose, supports may be done away with altogether, as appears in these drawings of Italian tapestries of the seventeenth century (Fig. 11).

The stability of pendant objects must also be considered. It is evident that the perpendicular line of suspension must be the line of equilibrium, and that these two must correspond with the design (Fig. 12). Whether any objects should under any circumstances be exposed to the real and apparent danger of falling is a question. We have got so into the habit of hanging pictures, engravings, and other works of art in our houses, and of seeing them hung in galleries, that we have lost sight of the incongruity of the custom. Pictures should be impaneled, and be permanent parts of the walls on which they appear. But, then, how could they be moved when owners tire of them, or tire of their houses, or how could they be gathered together in museums for purposes of study and public enjoyment? Picture frames are of comparatively modern invention. The idea of buying a picture for the purpose of selling it again was not entertained before the fifteenth century. Pictures were as substantial parts of churches and houses as were shrines and fireplaces.

Having very cursively reviewed the elements of form, we are in a position to understand decoration, which is simply the application to form of ornament.

* * * * *

The highest authenticated points at which flowering plants have
heretofore been found growing upon the Andes are at about 17,000
feet, although the Kew Herbarium contains several specimens labeled
as having been found at altitudes of from 17,000 to 18,000 feet.
Sir Martin Conway has brought back from his recent explorations in
the Bolivian mountains at least half a dozen species from 18,000
feet and upward, the highest being from about 18,500 feet. They
include a saxifrage, a mallow, a valerian, and several _Compositæ_.
_Compositæ_ likewise attain the upper limit of phanerogamous
vegetation in Thibet, where, in latitudes from 30° to 34°, one was
found by Dr. Thorold at 19,000 feet.

STEAM TURBINES AND HIGH-SPEED VESSELS.[F]

BY THE HON. CHARLES A. PARSONS, F. R. S.

[F] Abstract of the Presidential Address to the Institution of
Junior Engineers, November 3, 1899.

All heat engines at present in use take in heat from a source at a high temperature and discharge most of it at a lower temperature, the disappearance of heat in the process being the equivalent of the work done by the engine. In all cases at the present time the source of heat is from fuel of some kind, and after working the engine the residue is discharged in the case of the steam engine either to the condenser or in the exhaust steam when non-condensing. In the gas engine it is discharged in the waste gases and into the water jacket around the cylinder.

The earliest records of heat engines are found in the Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria, about 200 B. C. He describes a reaction steam turbine, a spherical vessel mounted on axes supplied with steam through one of the trunnions from a boiler beneath; the steam escaping through two nozzles diametrically opposite to each other and tangential to the sphere, causing the sphere to rotate by the reaction or momentum of the issuing steam, and analogous to a Barker’s water wheel.

Thus, the first engine deriving its motive power from fuel was a crude form of steam turbine, and though it could have been applied to useful work, and could easily have been made sufficiently economical to replace manual and horse power in many instances, yet it lay dormant till 1629 A. D., when Bianca suggested the same principle in a different form. Bianca’s steam turbine consisted simply of a steam jet fed from a boiler impinging against vanes or paddles attached to the rim of a wheel which was blown round by the momentum of the steam issuing from the jet.

The piston engine is, however, of comparatively modern origin, and dates from about the year 1700 A. D. Engines of this class are so well known that it suffices to say that they have been practically the sole motive-power engines from fuel in use from 1700 up to 1845, and have constituted one of the most important factors in the development of modern engineering enterprise.

Air engines were introduced about the year 1845, and although the larger engines of the Stirling type were very economical in fuel, yet, on account of the inherent difficulty of heating large volumes of air within metal chambers or pipes--a difficulty arising from the low conductibility of air and consequently the overheating and burning of the metal--they have only come into commercial use for very small powers.

During the last thirty-five years gas engines have been perfected, and more recently oil engines, and in point of efficiency both convert a somewhat larger percentage of the heat energy of the fuel into mechanical energy than the best steam engines. All successful oil and gas engines are at present internal-combustion engines, the fuel being burned in a gaseous form inside the working cylinder.

Very numerous attempts have, however, been made to construct internal-combustion engines to burn solid fuel instead of gas. Some have been so far successful as to work with good economy in fuel, but the bar to their commercial success has been the cutting of the cylinder and valves by fine particles of fuel. This difficulty is not present when the fuel is introduced in the gaseous or liquid form, and hence the success of gas and oil engines; but could this difficulty be overcome, the solid fuel would be the cheaper to use.

Internal-combustion engines, gas engines, oil engines, cannon, etc., owe their superior economy in fuel to the very high temperature at which the heat is transferred from the fuel to the working substance of the engine, and consequently the great range of temperature in the working substance of the engine. In steam engines the temperature is limited by the practical difficulties of deterioration of metal and materials involved in the construction.

About fifteen years ago I was led by circumstances to investigate the subject of improving the steam turbine. In recent times several attempts had been made to apply steam turbine wheels of the Hero and Bianca types to the driving of circular saws and fans. The velocity of rotation with either of these types must necessarily be very high in order to obtain a reasonable efficiency from the steam, a velocity much in excess of that suitable for the direct driving of almost all classes of machinery; gearing was considered objectionable, and it therefore appeared desirable to adopt some form of turbine in which the steam should be gradually expanded in small steps or drops in pressure so as to keep the velocity of flow sufficiently low to allow of a comparatively moderate speed of rotation of the turbine engine.

The method adopted was to gather a number of turbines of the parallel flow type on to one shaft and contained in one case, the turbines each consisting of a ring of guide and a ring of moving blades, the successive rings of blades or turbines being graduated in size, those nearer the exhaust end being larger than those near the steam inlet, so as to allow a gradual expansion of the steam during its passage through the turbines.

The form of the turbine was that of a rotating drum, with outwardly projecting rings of blades which nearly touched the containing cylindrical case, and on the case inwardly projecting rings of guide blades which nearly touched the drum. In the first examples of the engine there were two groups of turbines right-and left-handed on each side of the steam inlet, the exhaust taking place at each end of the turbine case, so as to completely balance end pressure from the steam. More recently one series of turbines only has been used, those on the other side of the steam inlet being replaced by packing rings or rotating balance pistons which balance the end pressure and divert the whole of the steam through the turbines on the other side.

The steam entering the annular space between the shaft and the case passes firstly through a ring of guide blades attached to the case, and is given a rotational direction of flow; it then passes to the succeeding ring of blades attached to the shaft, by which its direction of rotation is reversed, thereby impressing the difference of its rotational momentum in torque to the shaft. The steam then passes to the second ring of guide blades, and the process is repeated, and so on, gradually expanding by small increments at each ring of blades; the succeeding rings of blades get longer and wider, and at intervals the diameter of the turbine drums, cylinders, and rings are also increased. In condensing turbine engines of the larger size an expansion ratio in the turbines of one hundredfold and upward is attained before the steam passes to the exhaust pipe and condenser.

The loss of power present in engines of the piston class, due to cylinder condensation arising from the variation of steam pressure in the cylinder, is not present in the steam turbine, as the steam pressure remains constant at each turbine ring and each part of the cylinder and barrel, and the numerous tests of steam consumption that have been made have shown that compound steam turbine engines of moderate sizes when working with a condenser are comparable in steam consumption per effective horse power with the best compound or triple condensing steam engines of the piston type. They have been constructed in sizes up to about one thousand horse power for driving alternators and dynamos, and several sets of about two thousand horse power are nearing completion.

The application of the compound steam turbine to the propulsion of vessels is a subject of considerable general interest, in view of the possible and probable general adoption of this class of engine in fast vessels.

In the turbine is found an engine of extremely light weight, with a perfectly uniform turning moment, and very economical in steam in proportion to the power developed, and, further, it can be perfectly balanced so that no perceptible vibration is imparted to the ship. The problem of proportioning the engine to the screw propellers and to the ship to be driven has been the subject of costly experiments extending over several years, with the result that a satisfactory solution has been found, giving very economical results in regard to pounds of steam consumed in the engines per effective horse power developed in propelling the vessel, results which are equal or superior to those so far obtained with triple-expansion engines of ordinary type in torpedo boats or torpedo-boat destroyers. The arrangement adopted may be best described by saying that instead of placing, as usual, one engine to drive one screw shaft, the turbine engine is divided into two, three, or sometimes more separate turbines, each driving a separate screw shaft, the steam passing successively through these turbines; thus when there are three turbines driving three shafts, the steam from the boiler passes through the high-pressure turbine, thence through the intermediate, and lastly through the low, and thence to the condenser.

As to the propellers, these approach closely to the usual form. It has, however, been found best to place two propellers of approximately the same pitch on each shaft at some considerable distance apart, so that the after one shall not be seriously affected by the wash of the one in front. The advantage of this arrangement is that a sufficient blade area is obtained to carry the thrust necessary to drive the vessel with a lesser diameter of propeller, and so permitting of a higher speed of revolution of the engines.

The problem was complicated by the question of cavitation, which, though previously anticipated, was first practically found to exist by Mr. Thornycroft and Mr. Barnaby in 1894, and by them it was experimentally determined that cavitation, or the hollowing out of the water into vacuous spaces and vortices by the blades of the propeller, commences to take place when the mean thrust pressure on the projected area of the blades exceeds eleven pounds and a quarter per square inch. This limit has since been corroborated during the trials of the Turbinia.

This phenomenon has also been further investigated in the case of model propellers working in an oval tank of water, and to permit of cavitation at more moderate speeds than would otherwise have been necessary, the following arrangement was adopted: The tank was closed, plate-glass windows being provided on each side, through which the propeller could be observed, and the atmospheric pressure was removed from the surface of the water by an air pump; under this condition the only forces tending to prevent cavitation were the small head of water above the propeller, and capillary attraction.

In the case of a propeller of two inches in diameter, cavitation commenced at about twelve hundred revolutions, and became very pronounced at fifteen hundred. Had the atmospheric pressure not been removed, speeds of twelve thousand and fifteen thousand respectively would have been necessary.

Photographs were taken with a camera made for the purpose, with a focal plane shutter giving an exposure of about one thousandth of a second, the illumination being by sunlight concentrated on the propeller from a twenty-four-inch concave mirror.

Photographs were also taken by intermittent illumination of the propeller from an arc lamp, the arrangement consisting of an ordinary lantern condenser, which projected the beam on to a small concave mirror, mounted on a prolongation of the propeller shaft, the reflected beam being caught by a small stationary concave mirror at a definite position in each revolution and reflected on to the propeller. By this means the propeller was illuminated in a definite position at each revolution, and to the eye it appeared as stationary. The cavities about the blades could also be clearly seen and traced, the photographs being taken with an ordinary camera and about ten seconds’ exposure.

A series of experiments was also made with model propellers in water at and just below the boiling point, dynamometric measurements being taken of power and thrust with various widths of propeller blade, the conclusion arrived at being that wide and thin blades are essential for fast speeds at sea, as well as a coarse pitch ratio of propeller.

The first vessel fitted with steam turbine machinery was the Turbinia. She was commenced in 1894, and, after many alterations and preliminary trials, was satisfactorily completed in the spring of 1897. Her principal features are: Length, one hundred feet; beam, nine feet; five-foot draught of water under the propellers; forty-four tons and a half displacement on trial; she is fitted with a water-tube boiler of eleven hundred feet total heating surface, and forty-two square feet of grate area, with closed stoke-holds supplied with air from a centrifugal fan mounted on a prolongation of the low-pressure turbine shaft. The engines consist of three compound steam turbines, high pressure, intermediate, and low pressure, each driving one screw shaft; on each of the shafts are three propellers, making nine in all; the condenser is of the usual type, and has four thousand square feet of surface.

When officially tested by Professor Ewing, F. R. S., assisted by Professor Dunkerley, she attained a mean speed on a measured mile of thirty-two knots and three quarters, and the consumption of steam for all purposes was computed to be fourteen pounds and a half per indicated horse power of the main engines. Subsequently, after some small alterations to the steam pipe, she was further pressed, and is estimated to have reached the speed of thirty-four knots and a half. She was, and still is, therefore, the fastest vessel afloat; she has been out in very rough weather, is an excellent sea boat, and at all speeds there is an almost complete absence of vibration.

In the Turbinia the exceptional speed results principally from two causes: 1. The engines, screws, and shafting are exceptionally light. 2. The economy of steam in the main engines is greater than usual.

At full speed the steam pressure in the boiler is two hundred and ten pounds; at the engines, one hundred and seventy-five; and the vacuum in the condenser twenty-seven inches, representing an expansion ratio in the turbines of about one hundred and ten after allowance has been made for wire-drawing in the exhaust pipe.

The first vessels of larger size than the Turbinia to be fitted with steam turbine machinery are the torpedo-boat destroyer Viper for the British Government, and a similar vessel for Messrs. Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Company.

These vessels are of approximately the same dimensions as the thirty-knot destroyers now in her Majesty’s service, but have slightly more displacement. The boilers are about twelve per cent larger, and it is estimated that upward of ten thousand horse power will be realized under the usual conditions, as against sixty-five hundred with reciprocating engines.

The engines of these vessels are in duplicate. Two screw shafts are placed on each side of the vessel, driven respectively by a high- and a low-pressure turbine; to each of the low-pressure turbine shafts a small reversing turbine is permanently coupled for going astern, the estimated speed astern being fifteen knots and a half, and ahead thirty-five knots; two propellers are placed on each shaft.[G]

[G] On her second trial trip the Viper attained a mean speed of
34.8 knots, her fastest trial being over 35 knots, or about
41 statute miles per hour, with an indicated horse power of
11,000. This vessel is of about 350 tons displacement.

The latter of these two vessels has commenced her preliminary trials, and has already reached a speed of thirty-two knots. The manipulation of the engines is a comparatively simple matter, as to reverse it is only necessary to close one valve and open another, and, owing to there being no dead centers, small graduations of speed can be easily made.

In regard to the general application of turbine machinery to large ships, the conditions appear to be more favorable in the case of the faster class of vessels such as cross-Channel boats, faster passenger vessels, cruisers, and liners; in such vessels the reduction in weight of machinery, as well as economy in the consumption of coal per horse power, are important factors in the case, and in some vessels the absence of vibration, both as regards the comfort of passengers, and in the case of ships of war permitting greater accuracy in sighting of the guns, is a question of first importance.

As regards cross-Channel boats, the turbine system presents advantages in speed, absence of vibration, and, owing to the smaller diameter of the propellers, reduced draught.

As an instance, a boat of two hundred and seventy feet length, thirty-three feet beam, one thousand tons displacement, and eight feet six inches draught of water could be constructed with spacious accommodation for six hundred passengers, and with machinery developing eighteen thousand horse power; she will have a sea speed of about thirty knots, as compared with the speed of nineteen to twenty-two knots of the present vessels of similar size and accommodation.

It is, perhaps, interesting to examine the possibilities of speed that might be attained in a special unarmored cruiser, a magnified torpedo-boat destroyer of light build, with scanty accommodation for her large crew, but equipped with an armament of light guns and torpedoes. Let us assume that her dimensions are about double those of the thirty-knot destroyers, with plates of double the thickness and specially strengthened to correspond with the increased size--length, four hundred and twenty feet; beam, forty-two feet; maximum draught, fourteen feet; displacement, twenty-eight hundred tons; indicated horse power, eighty thousand; there would be two tiers of water-tube boilers; these, with the engine space, coal bunkers, etc., would occupy the whole of the lower portion of the vessel; the crew’s quarters and guns would be on the upper decks. There would be eight propellers of nine feet in diameter revolving at about four hundred revolutions per minute, and her speed would be about forty-four knots.

She could carry coal at this speed for about eight hours, but she would be able to steam at from ten to fourteen knots with a small section of the boilers more economically than other vessels of ordinary type and power, and, when required, all the boilers could be used, and full power exerted in about half an hour.

In the case of an Atlantic liner or a cruiser of large size, turbine engines would appear to present some considerable advantages. In the first place they would effect a reduction in weight of machinery and some increase in economy of fuel per horse power developed, both thus tending either to a saving in coal on the one hand, or, if preferred, some increase in speed.

The advantages are, however, less pronounced in this class of vessel on account of the smaller relative power of the machinery and the large quantity of coal necessary for long voyages, but the complete absence of vibration at all speeds, not to mention many minor considerations of saving in cost and reduced engine-room staff, are questions of considerable importance.

A SURVIVAL OF MEDIÆVAL CREDULITY.

BY PROFESSOR E. P. EVANS.

[_Concluded._]

In the seventeenth year of her age Miss Diana Vaughan joined the Freemasons, entering the lodge (“triangle”) of “The Eleven Seven,” at Louisville, and passing rapidly through the different grades until the “Elect Palladistic Knighthood” was conferred upon her after she had given satisfactory proofs of her Luciferian orthodoxy. One thing she refused to do--namely, to stab the host with a dagger--since this act implied a recognition of the sacramental character of the Eucharist. She maintained that there would be no sense in piercing the consecrated wafer unless it was believed to be the real body of Christ; but as she rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation as a childish superstition, she was unwilling to make a fool of herself by assaulting a piece of ordinary bread with a show of wrath. She would not hesitate to commit sacrilege, but did object to being silly. This scruple, or rather this lively sense of the ridiculous, rendered her unpopular with the Freemasons, inasmuch as it marred the performance of their most important and impressive Satanic ceremony, and thus gave her rival, Sophia Walder, an advantage, which she was quick to improve.

We need not follow the career of Sophia Walder, known to the infernals as Sophia Sapho. She is said to have been born in Strasburg, September 29, 1863, as the supposititious daughter of a Protestant parson, Philias Walder, and a Rosicrucian dame, Ida Jacobsen, with whom the clergyman lived after having murdered his wife in Copenhagen. Her real father, however, was the devil Bitru, who declared her to be the predestined great-grandmother of antichrist. In 1896, while in Jerusalem, she gave birth to a daughter, the grandmother of antichrist; this child was also of demoniac paternity. Owing to her uncompromising Luciferianism, she was a favorite of the Freemasons, and excited the jealousy of Diana Vaughan, who tells with zest of the practical jokes played on her. Thus, at a banquet of the Freemasons, somebody put a few drops of Lourdes water in her glass of lemonade, which caused terrible pain and threw her into spasms, from which she finally found relief by vomiting fire. This incident is cited by a Catholic writer, Dr. Michael Germanus,[H] in his Secrets of Hell (_Geheimnisse der Hölle_), as conclusive proof that “Sophia was possessed.”

[H] Michael Germanus (a Latinization of “_Der deutsche
Michel_,” the personification of the German nation,
analogous to the English “John Bull” and the American
“Brother Jonathan”) is the pseudonym of a priest, Parson
Künzle, of Feldkirch, in the Tyrolese Voralberg.

Bitru’s proclamation of Sophia Sapho as the prospective great-grandmother of the incarnate antichrist is given in full. It was dictated in Latin by Bitru at a meeting of Freemasons in Italy, and written down by Luigi Revello, and bears the devil’s signature, composed of Satanic signs and symbols, darts, sword, cords, lightning, bugle-horn, trident, and crowing cock.

This climax of absurdity ought to have served to expose the trickery and trumpery of the whole affair, but it produced the very opposite effect. Dr. Germanus refers to “Bitru’s sign-manual as highly interesting,” and characterizes “the documentary evidence as thoroughly convincing”; those who refuse to recognize the truth in the face of such positive proof he accuses of imitating the ostrich and willfully shutting their eyes to the light.[I]

[I] A photographic reproduction of this document is given in
Diana Vaughan’s biography of the Italian statesman Crispi,
which contains numerous illustrations and portraits of
Crispi, Mazzini, Lemmi, Garibaldi, Giordano Bruno, and
other “Palladists,” or Masonic worshipers of Satan. The
original French title of the book is “Le 33ᵉ ⁂ Crispi. Un
Palladiste Homme d’État démasqué. Biographie documentée du
Héros depuis sa Naissance jusqu’ à sa deuxième Mort. Par
Miss Diana Vaughan.”

The salvation of Diana Vaughan is described as due to her intense admiration for Joan of Arc, a feeling which was ardently fostered by the priests with whom she chanced to come in contact. One day, as she was attended by Asmodeus, Astaroth, Beelzebub, and Moloch, incarnate in “the counterfeit presentment” of fine gentlemen, she obeyed a sudden and irresistible impulse to invoke the Maid of Orleans, when these devils were immediately stripped of their disguise, and stood before her in their true character as imps of hell, with hoofs and horns, and emitted an intolerable stench. No sooner did they perceive that they were unmasked than they vanished with a fearful howl. This miracle made a deep impression upon her, and led to her conversion. She took refuge in a Parisian cloister, and, after severe penance and proper instruction, was received into the bosom of the Catholic Church. During this period of penitential seclusion she wrote her Memoirs, which produced an immense sensation in clerical circles, and were pronounced by a high ecclesiastical dignitary to be “worth more than their weight in gold.”

It must be confessed that in weaving this tissue of fabrications Taxil showed consummate skill as a romancer and a profound knowledge of the possibilities of human credulity. He made a happy hit in calling the heroine of his Stygian story Diana, since in the annals of witchcraft the pagan goddess of the chase is wont to frequent the nocturnal assemblies of demons, and in mediæval theology the phrase “_congressus Sabathi cum Diana_” was a common expression for intercourse with Satan. Another masterly stroke was to represent her deliverance from the snares of evil spirits and the hallucinations of Luciferianism as a miracle of grace wrought through the mediation of Joan of Arc, thus furnishing an argument in favor of the canonization of the Maid of Orleans, which the cleverest _advocatus diaboli_ would be unable to answer. At this time Taxil prepared also a Catholic prayer book entitled _Eucharistic Novena_, published under the name of Diana Vaughan, and containing forms of supplication against unbelief, worldly indifference and lukewarmness, hardness of heart, blasphemy, and unchastity. The covert sarcasm which pervades the entire manual of devotion comes out most clearly in the section on the violation of the seventh commandment. A copy of the work, which had been approved by the Archbishop of Genoa, was sent to Cardinal Parocchi, with a letter signed “Your Eminence’s most devoted servant in Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Diana Vaughan,” and five hundred francs, of which two hundred and fifty were to be used for organizing an international antimasonic congress, and the rest to be given as Peter’s pence to the Pope. The cardinal replied with great cordiality to his “dear daughter in our Lord,” called her conversion “one of the most glorious triumphs of grace,” and added, “I am reading at this very moment your Memoirs with burning interest.” He gave her his blessing, and conveyed “the thanks and special benediction of his Holiness.” Numerous letters of a like character were received from the Vatican. On May 27, 1896, the General Secretary of the Apostolic See, Verzichi, wrote that “his Holiness had read her _Eucharistic Novena_ with extreme pleasure”; two months later the Pope’s private secretary, Vincenzo Sardi, thanked her in the name of Leo XIII for her exposure of Crispi, and bade her “continue to write and to unmask the godless sect,” and the _Civiltà Cattolica_, the official organ of the papacy, praised her “inexhaustibleness in precious revelations, which are unparalleled for their accuracy and usefulness. Freemasonry is confounded, and seeks to evade the blows of the valiant championess by denying her existence, and treating her as a myth. It is a pitiable shift, but Freemasonry can find no better refuge.” “Your pen and your piety,” wrote Monsignore Villard, October 15, 1896, “are predestined to demolish the foes of mankind. The good works of the saints have always met with opposition, and it is no wonder, therefore, that yours should be combated.”

Naturally, there was intense curiosity to see this new convert and powerful defender of the faith. This inquisitiveness was easily allayed at first by the plea that the cloister to which she had retired must be kept secret, in order that she might be safe from assassination by the Freemasons. Meanwhile the medium of correspondence was a bright American girl, employed as copyist in a Parisian typewriting establishment, who wrote all the letters at Taxil’s dictation, and received a monthly salary of one hundred and fifty francs for her services. After a time he deemed it politic to introduce her privately to select circles of Catholics, who were thereby enabled to testify to her existence, since they had seen and conversed with her. The following incident may be mentioned to illustrate the adroitness with which she played her part: M. Pierre Lautier states that he once breakfasted with her, and offered to pour a little Chartreuse into her coffee, but she refused it with a singular sign of aversion, and took a few drops of old cognac instead. As an ex-Luciferian, she instinctively shrank from a drink made in a cloister, or what she called “an Adonaïc liquor.” That she should have thought of such a feint on the spur of the moment indicates that she had not only made a thorough study of her rôle, but also had been endowed by Nature with genuine theatrical talent. A full account of the solemn sham, published in the _Revue Mensuelle_, served to strengthen the faith of waverers in the reality of Diana Vaughan, and furnished an admirable opportunity for discoursing on the difficulty of throwing off Satanic influences; for here was a young lady who, although she had received absolution and thus become a child of grace, could not forget the terrible effect of a few drops of Lourdes water on one of her former demonolatrous associates, and recoiled with horror from a glass of Chartreuse. Taxil and his confederates confess that they often “doubled up with laughter” over the success of their imposture, and indulged in jokes about it in their writings. Thus Dr. Bataille, in the first volume of The Devil in the Nineteenth Century, remarks, as a peculiarity of Diana Vaughan, that she “is very fond of wearing male attire,” but no allusions of this kind, however pointed, seemed to have excited any suspicion of guile in minds predisposed to credulity by Nature and by education.

Taxil’s long series of mystifications, extending over a dozen years, culminated in the convocation of an antimasonic congress at Trent, on September 26, 1896, to the president of which Leo XIII addressed an apostolical brief with his benediction, and expressed the hope that the assembled representatives of the Church would not rest until the “detestable sect” had been unmasked and the evil utterly eradicated. A “central executive committee,” consisting of a score of Italian papists, issued a circular summoning all Catholics to join “the new crusade,” and declaring that the Vatican had now raised a war-cry against Freemasonry, “the den of Satan,” as it did eight centuries ago against Islam. Taxil was received with ovations, and did not hesitate to poke fun at the venerable prelates to their very faces. With an assumption of modesty he reproved them for what might be misplaced enthusiasm. “One can never be sure,” he said, “of a converted Freemason, but must always fear lest he may return to his former friends. Not until the convert is dead can one be wholly free from this anxiety. I am well aware that this general principle applies also to myself.” But even this daring dash of irony, hardly hidden under the gauzy disguise of self-distrust, did not cool the ardor of his admirers, who continued to greet the harlequin with “_Evviva Taxil_!” His photograph hung among the pictures of the saints, and the mere mention of his name called forth loud applause, whereupon the prince of mountebanks rose and bowed. A few Germans had the good sense and courage to protest against these demonstrations, and to doubt the existence of Diana Vaughan and the sincerity of Taxil, whose sole object, as Dr. Gratzfeld asserted, was to “lay a snare for Catholics and anti-Freemasons, and scoff at them when they are caught in it.” This skepticism created intense excitement, and was severely rebuked by an Italian priest and a Parisian prebendary, who averred that they knew Diana Vaughan personally, and could vouch for her saintliness. A French monk used such violent language in his reply to Dr. Gratzfeld that the presiding officer, although indorsing his views, felt constrained to call him to order. “Any doubt of Diana Vaughan’s existence or of the genuineness of her revelations,” exclaimed the Abbé de Bessonies, “is a sin against the antimasonic cause!” The Spanish delegates introduced a resolution demanding that all Freemasons should be legally incapacitated to hold any civil office or military command; the resolution was adopted, with the amendment that “wherever it may be feasible” such laws should be enacted and executed. The manner in which Taxil met the allegations of his opponents is highly characteristic. “A priest of the Holy Sacrament, Father Delaporte, had often declared that he would gladly give his life for the conversion of Diana Vaughan. She attended mass in the cloister for the first time on Corpus Christi, and left her sacred retreat on the following Saturday. On the very day of her departure Father Delaporte died. And yet there are persons who doubt the existence of Miss Vaughan!” The burst of applause elicited by this irrefragable argument proved his accurate appreciation of the logical powers of his auditors, whose minds had been fed on the nutriment which may be wholesome as “milk for babes,” but, when persistently administered to adults, converts them into intellectual milksops.

Although the congress was attended by many of the chief dignitaries of the papal hierarchy, and the Romish Patriarch of Constantinople sat there in state with a golden crown on his head, Taxil was its ruling spirit. On his motion, it was resolved to establish antimasonic associations in every land under the auspices of the bishops and the direction of national committees, and a commission was appointed to investigate the Diana Vaughan affair. A few months later, on January 22, 1897, this commission made an indecisive and utterly nugatory report, to the effect that “no thoroughly convincing evidence had been furnished for or against the existence and conversion of Diana Vaughan and the authenticity of the writings attributed to her.” This evasion of the issue, however, did not shake the confidence of the ultramontane press, nor prevent its positive affirmation of the points which the commission had discreetly left in doubt. As a reward for this fanatical zeal and steadfast credulity, the editor of The Pelican received a special apostolical benediction, and was thus encouraged to “resist the raging of Satan.” “Stand firm!” he exclaimed. “The Holy Father is with us, and who is over him?”

With the Congress of Trent the mystification which Taxil had been playing off on papacy for so many years had reached the acme of success, and nothing now remained but to wind up the plot with a drastic _denouement_. Accordingly, Diana Vaughan issued an invitation to a conference to be held on April 19, 1897, in the great hall of the Geographical Society of Paris. It was also stated that other conferences would be held in the principal cities of France, Italy, England, and the United States. The programme for the evening was quite elaborate, beginning with a lottery for an American typewriter and ending with a series of fifty-four stereopticon pictures representing, among other fantastic scenes, Sophia Walder and her serpents, events in the life of Diana Vaughan, the apparition of the devil Bitru in Rome, Eden and Eve with the fatal apple, sacrilegious stabbing of the host on a Satanic altar in a Masonic lodge at Berlin, and finally Leo XIII with the encyclical letter _Humanum genus_ as a flaming sword in his hand, the archangel Michael on his right and the apocalyptic St. John on his left treading the triple-headed dragon of Freemasonry under foot. The audience consisted chiefly of priests, with a few Protestant clergymen and Freemasons, and an unusually large number of newspaper reporters. The typewriter was won by Ali Kemal, correspondent of the Constantinople journal _Ikdam_, who only regretted that it did not write Turkish. Taxil then appeared on the platform, and began his address with the words: “Reverend sirs, ladies, and gentlemen! You wish to see Diana Vaughan. Look at me! I myself am that lady!” After this startling exordium, he proceeded to relate how from his youth up he had always had an irresistible inclination to play practical jokes. Once he frightened the inhabitants of Marseilles by discovering a shoal of sharks in the harbor, and again he set the archæologists all agog by announcing the existence of a city, built on piles, at the bottom of Lake Leman. But these were “childish things” compared with the manner in which he had humbugged the Catholic clergy for nearly a dozen years. We need not report the details of his discourse; it is sufficient to say that he gave a full account of the deep-laid plot from its first conception to its final consummation at the Congress of Trent. Each new disclosure called forth cries of “Liar!” “Scoundrel!” “Vilifier!” “Villain!” and similar epithets, but nothing could disturb the cynical composure of the speaker. As a precautionary measure, all persons had been required to give up their canes and umbrellas at the entrance, otherwise the angry words would have been emphasized by blows. The shameless impostor coolly referred to the numerous presents received, among which was an Emmenthaler cheese, sent by the Marquis de Morès, with pious sayings carved in the rind. “It was an excellent cheese,” he added, “and served to strengthen me in my fight against Freemasonry.” The money remitted to Diana Vaughan in ten years amounted to more than half a million francs, and flowed into the pockets of Taxil and his confederates. He expressed his thanks to the clergy for their aid in carrying out his scheme, and attributed their co-operation chiefly to ignorance and imbecility, but partly also to dishonesty, declaring that among the many dupes there were not a few knaves. As he left the hall he was threatened with violence, and took refuge in a neighboring _café_, under the protection of the police. No one thought any longer of the pictures which were to form such a novel and attractive feature of the entertainment; indeed, this forgetfulness constituted an important although unprinted part of the programme in the minds of those who arranged it.

How difficult it is for constitutionally credulous persons, in whom this disposition has been nurtured by education, to take a rational view of things when a strong appeal is made to their prejudices, is evident from a statement published in the _Osservatore Cattolico_ of Milan, in May, 1897, that Leo Taxil was held in durance vile by the Freemasons, one of whom personated him on the occasion just described. Another Catholic writer asserted that Diana Vaughan did not appear at the conference because Taxil had been bribed by the Freemasons to have her shut up in a lunatic asylum.

The history of Taxil’s imposture has been circumstantially narrated in a book entitled _Leo XIII und der Satanskult_, by Dr. J. Ricks (Berlin: Hermann Walther, 1897, pp. xiv-301; price, three marks). The author, a doctor of divinity and pastor of a Lutheran church at Olvenstadt, near Magdeburg, has collected his materials from authentic sources and treated the whole subject with remarkable thoroughness and impartiality. His work is a valuable contribution to the voluminous annals of religious superstition and credulity.