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never been very popular, and are not considered very healthy. It is very probable that if the time ever comes when a considerable portion of our food is produced in the laboratory, the world will be attacked by such an epidemic of dyspepsia as it has never before seen. 
Food is both an index of the civilization attained and a factor in the attainment, and as eating and drinking became a finer art, life became more refined and manners more attractive. There is, indeed, a sentimental side to it, and while living would be immensely simplified, the great institution of society, the dinner, would soon become a thing of the past and Brillat-Savarin would become as antiquated as Lycurgus. We Would indeed "return to nature" with a vengeance, but not in the way of which Rousseau dreamed. The subtle delights connected with all our favorite dishes would soon evaporate, and we doubt if we could endure very long to have our food produced in the laboratory of some great syndicate instead of in our own private laboratory-the kitchen. 

THE ARMAMENT OF OUR NEW WARSHIPS.
On another page we publish the official drawings and a digest of the findings of the Naval Board which examined the wrecks of Cervera's fleet. We wish to draw particular attention to the tabular analysis of the gun-fire of our fleet, showing the number of hits made by each caliber of gun, and the ratio of the number of hits to the number of guns engaged for each caliber. The data contained in the table is among the most valuable of all that has been gathered during the war, and it is to be hoped that it will exercise a powerful influence upon the designs for newer and more up-to-date ordnance which we presume are being prepared by the Bureau of Ordnance for the armament of our future warships. 
In the comparison of the relative efficiency of each caliber and type of gun, as shown by the ratio of hits scored to number of guns employed, it must be borne in mind that the table takes no account of the number of shots each gun fired-it is based merely upon the hits actually scored and the number of guns that could be brought into action. However, as the Spanish cruisers were at all times within range, at least of the large guns, it is reasonable to suppose that all of the guns that could be brought to bear were actively engaged throughout the whole of the engagement, and that the number of hits for each gun is a test of its relative efficiency.
The figures in the table are a powerful indorsement of the rapid-fire type of gun. Commencing with the "no hit" record of the 13-inch gun, and 33/100 hit per gun for the 12-inch, there is an increase as the caliber diminishes, the 5-inch rapid-firer scoring 2 1/2 hits and the 4-inch rapid-firer 4 hits per gun. The low figure for the 1-pounder is due to the range being too great, and in a less degree the 6-pounder was similarly affected. 
Evidently then we ought to aim at reducing the weight and increasing the rapidity of the heavier armament of our warships. As we recently pointed out, 10-inch 30-ton guns are being built of equal penetrating power to our 13-inch 60-ton guns, and there are 8-inch 18-ton guns whose penetration is equal to that of our 10-inch 27-ton guns. The smaller modern guns are not only more rapid in their fire, but their trajectory is much flatter and the chances of scoring a hit are that much better. If only a few out of every hundred shots fired reach the mark, it is an obvious advantage to fire the largest number of shots in the shortest space of time, and for this kind of work a gun that weighs over 30 tons is altogether too slow. In view of the terrific destruction worked by such 8-inch shells as did land on the cruisers, it would seem desirable to retain this caliber on our future ships, especially as an 8-inch rapid-firer can now be built that will deliver 4 or 5 shots per minute. 

LANGUAGES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 
According to a Spanish missionary, who resided eighteen years in the Philippines, there is no language that is common to all the islands, but each canton has a dialect peculiar to itself. All these dialects, however, have some affinity, somewhat like that which exists stead 



stead of from top to bottom, as they formerly wrote. 
Palm leaves were formerly used for paper, and an iron style for a pen. They use writing for correspondence only, as they have no books of science or history. The missionaries have had religious works printed in the various dialects of the islands. 
The natives of the Moluccas have a very pleasing way of corresponding with their friends. They arrange flowers of different colors in a bouquet in such a way that the receiver understands, by examining the varieties and their shades (which represent so many characters), what his friend intended to say to him. 

THE UNDEVELOPED RESOURCES OF CUBA. 
Whether Cuba becomes permanently a part of the United States or not, American brains and capital will largely contribute toward the development of many hitherto unsuspected resources, and the island that has so long suffered from misrule may be expected to blossom as the rose. Probably no more promising field for making money through legitimate and wisely directed toil has presented itself to the American youth in this century than does the "Pearl of the Antilles," now that the last vestiges of Spanish oppression have disappeared. 
While sugar and tobacco have been the principal commercial products of Cuba, their importance may soon be equaled by others less generally known. The soil and climate of Cuba are eminently adapted to all tropical fruit and vegetable culture. In fact, these products grow so luxuriantly and naturally there that the natives raise all they need for home consumption without any effort. Bananas grow wild in the most extravagant manner, but the variety is poor and needs only a little scientific culture to make it equal to any imported into the United States. We import some 15,000,000 bunches of bananas into this country every year, and Cuba could produce every one at a nominal cost. Probably the banana, next to the cocoanut, is the best poor man's fruit. It grows without much cultivation, and hence it is the lazy man's fruit as well. But when we come to oranges and pineapples, it is quite a different matter. These two fruits require cultivation and the most careful handling from the time the plants are started until the fruits reach market. 
The Cubans and Spaniards were never willing to pay the price of labor and attention required to make the raising of pineapples and oranges profitable. Long before the war the industry, such as it was, had drifted into the hands of Americans, who systematically cultivated a few plantations, and shipped their products to the United States. The native owners of an orange grove would gather their fruit by shaking the trees or raping the limbs with poles. Fruit thus harvested and shipped to this country was naturally in poor condition, and half the cargo would decay on board the steamers. The oranges were packed in barrels with th same utter disregard for their tender qualities, and less system was employed in this work than an American would give to potatoes. 
It was only natural that shipping oranges to the United States under such conditions should prove unprofitable, and that in time energetic Americans should go into the business and raise and ship oranges at a good profit. Oranges grow as easily in Cuba as they do in Florida or California. There are thousands of semi-wild groves scattered throughout the island which produce fruit so inferior that they are of little value for market purposes. These trees, however, can be budded and grafted with fine Florida oranges, and in two years they can be made to yield large crops of exquisitely flavored fruits. There is an opportunity for making a fortune in securing these neglected trees such as the early growers found in Florida when they first realized the value of the wild Indian orange trees. 
The pineapples of Cuba can be raised to perfection. The famous Porto Rico "sugar loaf" pines can be duplicated in Cuba. People never realized what enormous and delicious "pines" could be produced under good cultivation until the London gardeners raised them in hothouses. Two years ago these magnificent pineapples from London hothouses were imported into this country, and sold as high as $3 and $4 apiece. They were as superior to the ordinary pineapple as a modern 



Cuba. Many little known fruits, such as the gua sapotas, sapodillas, and kumquarts, are commo found in all parts of the island. Many of these h peculiar flavors, and it requires a residence in island to make one acquire a taste for them. On other hand, there are many tropical fruits raised Cuba that only need to be tasted by Americans to appreciated. These can be cultivated with every p pect of success. 
But if fruits are important products of the Cu soil, what must one say of the vegetables? T grow and yield crops about every month in the y Tomatoes are as plentiful as sands on the seash Vines never cease to produce fine tomatoes. In winter it is possible to purchase in Cuba corn, cel lettuce, tomatoes, and artichokes cheaper than in American cities in midsummer. The plants sin revel in the warm, moist climate. 
Winter market gardening must, therefore, fig prominently in the future Cuban industries. G market land is cheap and plentiful. With ten twenty acres, an enterprising American farmer c raise all the vegetables he could use, and ship eno to the United States to pay him a moderate inco The truck gardening of Cuba has been even less de oped than its fruit industries. The vegetables need come in competition with those from our South States, for the time of shipping them north would urally be in the early part of our winter. Then signments of fresh vegetables direct form Cuba fast steamers, would find ready purchasers in man our principal cities. We may soon expect to have termelons in March and April, green pease in Decem and January, and tomatoes all the year round.
Market gardening in Cuba would be the easiest of work that a farmer could undertake. With co erably less cultivation than we give to our gardens farms in the United States, fruits and vegetables duce remarkable crops, and, without fertilizers, same land continues to raise plants and their f with prodigal luxuriance. 
Onions and potatoes raised in Cuba are equal to imported from Bermuda, and they could be ship to the United States at less cost than from the la place. In a very few years the American brains an dustry could monopolize most of the trade in tro fruits and winter vegetables, which is now contr largely by alien West Indian planters. 
The effect that all of this developement of la Cuban industries would have upon our coast trade readily be imagined. Already several new steam lines are in the course of preparation for what i pected to be an active trade with Cuba when the ends. It is the opinion of shippers that the trade the island, when once begun, will develop quickly new industries will spring up with such marv rapidity that the "booming" of our own Wester S in the past will be completely cast into the shade. 
Besides the fruit industry, it is expected that C mines will show unusual resources, and the mu our machinery will be needed to develop these. ore is so plentiful in various parts of the island American steel manufacturers have established there in the past, and one American firm has n $3,000,000 invested in iron mines near Santiago. copper mines of Cuba are also known to be rich the real extent of their contents is not definitely ized. IN the great mountain chains that rib the ter of the island godl and silver have also been covered, but so far no mining for the prciouse m has been attempted. Under the Spanish rule mineral resources of Cuba have never been thorou examined, and no one has ever attempted to systematically for such products. 
Thus, the outlook for hardheaded capitalists energetic business men from the United Stat promising in Cuba, whether the United States tends a protectorate over the island or merely sho fatherly interest in helping the home government maintain peace and order. All that is require Americans to develop the industries of the island stable government, which will guarantee to pr their rights and make a peaceful existence on island certain. G. E.