ork, and under his direction magazines and armories were arranged, gun
platforms were built, and sixteen guns were taken on board and mounted.

In the crew of the _Teutonic_ were some fifty sailors who were members
of the British Naval Reserve. To them rifles and cutlasses were
supplied, and they in their turn were transformed into regular
man-of-war's men.

The rest of the crew was made up from sailors drafted from other
warships, and then the _Teutonic_ was ready to take her place in the
great Jubilee naval parade.

So fine an appearance did she make that she was put at the head of one
of the seven lines of vessels in the review, and Captain Cameron, her
commander, received a flattering letter from the flag-officer of his
division, congratulating him upon having the neatest merchant vessel in
the parade.

It took just forty hours to change the _Teutonic_ from a merchantman
into a war-vessel.

Captain Cameron is highly delighted at the praise he received. He also
is a member of the Naval Reserve, having the rank of lieutenant.

* * * * *

Sandy Hook, which is the first point of land sighted in entering New
York Harbor, has been again converted into an island.

This strip of beach is a continuation of the New Jersey coast. The
curious thing about it is that it has never been definitely settled
whether it is a peninsula or an island, as it is continually changing
its character.

The first mention of the Hook, says a writer in one of our current
journals, appears in the diary of Robert Juet, who was the companion of
Hudson during his third voyage in 1609. It was then an island.

On maps and charts in the possession of the New York Historical Society
it is represented both as an island and a peninsula.

It was certainly an island in revolutionary times, for when Lord Howe
retreated from the battle of Monmouth by the Navesink road he built a
bridge to Sandy Hook Island.

Twice during the last century it has tried to get away from the
mainland.

In 1870, the New Jersey Southern Railway laid a track along the west
beach for a distance of three miles.

This trestle is now the only connecting link between the island and the
mainland, the water for more than a year having been washing away the
neck of land which joined Sandy Hook to the coast-line.

The War Department owns part of the Hook. A proving-ground for guns,
armor, etc., has been established there.

The Assistant Secre