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