Aug. 10, 1906 (Friday)

THOSE PESKY GEOGRAPHY QUIZZES JUST GOT HARDER: A new island has sprouted among the Aleutians, at least temporarily. Evidently, a land mass has sprouted between the already established Bogoslof Islands -- named Castle (right, I think) and Fire -- about 50 miles west of Dutch Harbor. According to a report that likely came from the Bering Sea Patrol -- dated yesterday from Tacoma, Wash. -- the new island has risen to about 900 feet. Boiling water surrounds the base of the island. The revenue cutter Perry (above) could not get close enough to either make an accurate measurement of the island's length -- or cook any poached eggs.

TRIP NORTH ENDS IN TRAGEDY FOR A SEA COW: The New York Aquarium recently spent $3,000 to bring a sea cow, or manatee (right) up from Florida for a closer look by Northern eyes. However, the beast, bought in Miami about two weeks ago, has died. One major cause: a bullet, which had been fired into her back before she was bought. People are wondering why the purchasing agent missed the hole. A feeder spotted the hole once the animal had been on display.
A message to the New York Zoological Society prompted three doctors to hustle over. Once the manatee was manacled, the doctors found a .38-caliber bullet about a foot under the outer hide. Everyone thought that was the end of the problem. But the animal became ill about four days ago and lapsed into a coma at 1 a.m. yesterday. She was dead within four hours.
This has made this a costly exhibition. Nobody has officially confirmed that the animal cost $3,000, but nobody has denied the published reports, either. That means the eight-day exhibit cost about $375 a day. The hide will be mounted and presented to the Museum of Natural History. No word on where the slug is going.

NAVY WOULD PREFER TO USE ANOTHER WEAPON-DELIVERY SYSTEM: John Sweeney, a 17-year-old from Ericson, Neb., recently wrote the secretary of the Navy to ask for advice on gaining admission to the U.S. Naval Academy. To help push his own cause, Sweeney described some of the experiments he has conducted in launching dynamite. He told Secretary Bonaparte that he can throw .064 ounces of dynamite 150 yards with the help of a Winchester rifle. He thinks he could launch 400 pounds of dynamite about six miles if he had a large siege gun. A news report that was filed yesterday with a Washington, D.C., dateline paraphrased Bonaparte's response this way:
Secretary Bonaparte repled to the young man that his experiments were better adapted to taking him to a cemetery than to the Naval Academy and suggested he abandon them and adapt some other means of preparing himself for a naval career.