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!IS SUNLIGHT GROWING LESS.
A New Theory Advanced by an Eminent
Scientist.
Mnch learning has been expended dur
ing the past twenty years in the discus
sion of the question whether or not the
ann is wasting its substance. Anew
tteory in this important topic comes
from Dr. Siemens, an eminent British
scientist, from which the following facts
are culled. The volume of the sun is
about one million three hundred thou
sand times that of the earth, and its dis
tance from ns, in round numbers, about
ninety-three millions of miles. And since
we all of us eveiy day see the wonderful
Affects of the heat and light which even
JJh 8 little world of ours receives, we can
form some faint idea of the enormous
amount of lieat continually given out by
the sun and the prodigious waste that
must be going on.
Should we desire to form any accurate
estimate of the heat and waste, we must
remember that all the light and heat
which is received by the earth and other
planets is a very small proportion of the
amount that is being continually poured
forth. It might be shown, with a mod
erate knowledge of geometry, that the
amount so shed into space, where there
are no planets to receive it. is two thou
sand two hundred and fifty million times
as great as that which is received by all
the planets which form our solar sys
tem.
We naturally ask : What is the condi
tion of a body which is capable of throw
ing out for thousands, and perhaps mil
lions of years, so vast an amount of light
and heat ? For it has been computed
that the temperature of the surface of
the sun would be expressed by 18,000
degn-.-s of Fahrenheit’s thermometer, or
between eighty and niuety times the
temperature of boiling water. So in
tense is the heat of the sun, that no
known substance could remain in a solid
form when subjected to such a tempera
ture.
When thiuking about this enormous
amount of heat, philosophers have nat
urally inquired whether it is being dissi
pated gradually, or whether iAte by some
f means sustained undiminishOTT and if so
Elstained, by what means. There have
“til recently been put forth two tlieo
es on the matter; but recently a third
ihas been broached by Dr. Siemens, and
lit has appeared in the Nineteenth Cen
jfur.i/ under the title of “A New Theory
of the Sun”—that is, ns regards the sus
tentation of its light and heat.
_ Dr. Siemens starts with the assump
tion that all the space between the pinn
ate and fixed stars is filled with some
iking of a much more substantial cliar-
Kiter than imponderable ether, and that
.lie vibrations of this ether produce all
be phenomena of light, including the
variety of colors in the rainbow, or as
leen in a prism. Ho considers that the
naterials thrown off from the sun by its
nergetic action arc through the pres
nce of this gaseous medium “dissociat
d” or resolved into elementary sub
tances; and when so resolved, burst
ito flame under the influence of the
eat. Then he assumes that the matter
o converted is acted upon l>y the sun’s
ttraction, and redrawn into the mass of
re sun by its enormous gravitating
ower.
A Country Dance In Vermont.
A letter from*-Burlington, Vermont,
lys: Let us iMgsent ourselves at a
ninine country dance in Vermont. The
usicians hjve just come in and taken
e seats provided for them on a slightly
ised pi ltform at one end'vif the long
dl. About flity or sixty, “ couples ”of
ydng people are scattered about through
lull, some in merry groups, talking,
osiers, more bashful, clinging to each
<3piers arms and waiting in silence for
t hP music to strike up. After the usual
prelude of shrilling and tooting, Uu>
leader of the little orchestra nods to the
floor manager, who promptly steps ior
ward and shouts, “ Gentlemen, please
take partners for ,” ns the dance
may be. If it is a waltz the expectant
wain awkwardly and blushingly encir
cles tlie fair one with his arnt and begins
to swing, with a sort of rythmic apology
for the prematureness of the embrace.
She timidly places her baud in his and
undulates slightly in sympathy with his
impatience.
At last the leader of the orchestra looks
significantly around his little band of
artists, nods his head upon his violin,
draws his bow with an emphatic gesture
and the music strikesrin. About half
the couples in the fcom have caught the
rhythm of the music; the others swing
■ hopelessly round, changing step and
bumping into ncli other, till something
like a conglomerated deail-lock ensues in
one part of the room, and the dancers
•composing it disengage themselves and
wander away with many blushes to a
more open space, where they try it again.
Nobody seems to notice the little by
play. All are dancing or trying to dance,
and have enough to do to attend to their
own motions. Hcjc is a couple, neither
of whom know how to waltz or have the
slightest idea of "the magic power of
rhythm ; but that does not seem to dis
turb them in the least. Round and.
round they swing, executing the simplest
kind of a circle w ith endless repetition.
Presently they both grow so dizzy that
they stagger against the wall and stand
there panting and peqmiring till their
equilibrium and their *reath is recov
ered, when they launch upon anew se
ries of revolutions.
But there are plenty of good dancers
on the floor whom it is a pleasure to
watch. .They do not adopt the limp,
sesthetical attitude and lazy lope of the
fashionable city waltzer, but go whirling
down the floor at a good lively pace and,
even where the crowd is thickest, carom
from couple to couple like billiard balls.
The lady does not lay her cheek affec
tionately on the yonng man’s shoulder,
nor stretch out her lily-white arm and
feathered fan in the direction of the polar
star, where it meets her partner’s at an
equally inconvenient and ridiculous alti
tude, but she dances in a natural position,
slightly inclined forward and supported
by her partner’s arm, while one hand
rests flrmlv on his shoulder and the other
is clasped by bis disengaged hand.
There is a spring ■and spirit, and en
durance and evident enjoyment about
these country dances which you will look
for in vain in the enervating and per
fumed air of the fashionable salon.
These young people will dance all night
long and be ready for another ball the
next night.
Washed With Gold. —U. 8. Treas
urer Gilfillan received a letter from tlie
cashier of one of the banks of New York
City, who says: “I have lately seen one
of the new 5-cent nickels so perfectly
gold washed as to deceive any ignorant
persons and pass easily among them for
new S5 gold pieces. It was exhibited as
a curiosity and I don’t know whence it
came.”
It is foolish to strive with what we
cannot avoid: we are bom subjects, and
to obey God is perfect liberty; he that
does this shall be free, safe and (juiet;
all his actions shall succeed to his wishes.
How They Play the Piano.
The New Orleans Democrat gives
the following:
_“I was loafing around the streets last
night,” said Jim Nelson, one of the eldest
engineers running into New Orleans,
“and as I had nothing to do I dropped
into a concert and heard a slick-looking
Frenchman play a piano in such a way
that made me feel all over in spots. As
soon as he sat down on the stool I knew
by the way he handled himself that he
understood the machine he was running.
He tapped the keys away up one end,
just as if they were gauges and he
wanted to see if he had water enough.
Then he looked np, as if he wanted to
know how much steam he was carrying,
and the next moment he pulled open
the throttle and sailed out on the main
line, as if he was a half an hour late.
“Yon could hear her thunder over cul
verts and bridges, and getting faster and
faster, until the fellow rocked about in
liis seat like a cradle. Somehow I thought
it was old ‘36’ pulling a passenger
train and getting out of the way of a
‘special.’ The fellow worked the keys
ou the middle division like lightning,
and then he flew along the north end
of the line until the drivers went around
like a buzz saw; I got excited. About
the time I was fixing to tell him to
cut her off a little, he kicked the damp
ers under the machine nine open,
pulled the throttle away back hi * the
tender, and, Jerusalem, jumpers ! how
he did run. I couldn’t stand it any
longer, and yelled to him that she was
‘pounding’ on the left side, and if he
wasn’t careful he’d drop his ash pan.
“He didn’t hear. No one heard me.
Everything was flying and whizzing.
Telegragph poles on the side of the
frack looked like a row of cornstalks.
the trees appeared to be a mud bank,
and all the time the exhaust of the old
machine sounded like the hum of a
bumble bee. I tried to yell out, but
my tongue wouldn’t move. He went
around curves like a bullet, slipped an
eccentric, blew out his soft plug,
went down grades fifty feet to the mile,
and not a confounded brake set. She
went by the meeting point at a mile
and a half a minute, and calling for
more steam. My hair stood np like a
cat's tail, because I knew the game
was up.
“Sure enough, dead ahead of us was
the headlight of the ‘special.’ In a
daze I heard the crash as they struck,
and I saw the cars shivered into atoms,
people mashed and mangled and bleed
ing, and gasping for water. I heard
another crash as the French professor
struck the keys away down ou the lower
end of the southern division, and then
I came to my senses. There he was at
a dead standstill, with the door of the
fire box of the machine open, wiping
the perspiration off his face, and bow
ing at the people before him. If I live
to boa thousand years old I’ll never
forget the ride that Frenchman gave me
on a piano.”
The Couscrlption in Egypt,
A correspondent of the London Post
writes as follows: On my arrival at Ben
isouef I was astonished" to see tho sta
tion platform crowded with shrieking
women twirling handkerchiefs in token
of mourning. I thought that a funeral
was taking place, the shrill cries betok
ening some such ceremony. The scene
was one to attract attention. Ten or
twelve men, their heads bowed low in
despair, surrounded by weeping friends,
were led like dogs, an iron collar around
each man’s neck, and bustled by armed
soldiers into the railway car. Soon tho
train started again on its way, and tho
crowd of shrieking women, tearing their
hair and bespattering themselves with
mud, followed as long as they could keep
up, frantically calling to their departed
■fri.-Ti.lr,. 1,, ,lu<, time the train arrived at
Bibbe, and as it moved into the station
I was surprised to hear similar shrieks
and cries to those I had heard and left
behind at BeDisouef. I looked out and
saw more chained men, and again oc
curred the same scene, strongmen weep
ing while women clung around them,
frantic in their despair. This lime I
called a boy who was on the platform,
and asked him who .the chained men
were and what tbqg had done. Imagine
my astonishment when he told me that
thoy were the new soldiers. “What
new soldiers ?” I asked. - ‘ ‘For the Effen
dina,” was the reply. This iniquity of
dragging men from their homes is being
carried out under the direction of En
glishmen, for virtually Englishmen eon
trol everything fos tho moment. At all
the stations along tho Upper Egypt line
as fas as Assiot, the same scenes were re
pented, causing the unhappy villagers an
amount of woo and desperation which in
any other country would drive them to
revolt against their oppressors. At the
prgsent time England* being in occupa
tion of the country’ and responsible for
order, tacitly countenances thesis abuses,
and is therefore numbered bv the fella
heen among their oppressors. This is
what the native official class desire. It
is to make the English supervision as un
popular as possible, and I am. convinced
of what I have seen, and from inquiries
■ihat I have made, that no pains -will be
spared to bring this about. Tp force
men to be soldiers aganist their will, is a
work in which England of all countries
in the wqrld cannot meddle without soil
ing her hands, By all means let Egypt
have an army if necosSary, but in the
name of everything human stop the
cruelties which are inseparable from the
present system of recruiting.
Asbestos.
Some very fine specimens of asbestos,
says the Virginia (Nev.) Enterprise, are
being found in the Bishop Creek coun
try. Contrary to the popular notion,
this mineral is*generally found in vol
canic regions. The fibre of the speci
mens shown is from four to six inches in
length, and is soft and silky. A strand
of it can be tied into a knot, same as flax
fibre. It is found in what, from the de
scription of it, appears to be serpentine
rock, and not very far from the crater of
an extinct volcano. In the rough, the
mineral looks like so many roots of the
bjeech tree, but on being beaten with a
mallet or small hammer, the whole be
comes a mass of white fibre, with a sort
of satin lustre. It is said that great plariks
or slabs of raw material may be procured.
The ordinary asbestos is used in the
manufacture of a sort of plaster for coat
ing steam drxmsand for fire-proof paint;
but this, it seems, might be spun and
woven into a fire-proof cloth that might
be useful for some purposes. It might
be made into drop euitains for theatres,
and for partitions in places where it was
necessary to guard against fire—that is,
could be utilized in making curtains to
drop across halls and passages in large
buildings in case of fire. Tapestry or
wall paper made of this material would
be a great safeguard against fire.
TALxma and eloquence are not the
same: to speak, and to speak well, art
two things.
Hamilton Steam Engines, Saw and Grist Mills.
ALSO GEN SR AL AGENT FOR THE
CELEBRAIED OSBORN HARYESIER AND SELF BINDER.
SgTThe Best Goods on the Market. We challenge the World. Also dealer in
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JOHN J. WHITE,
may 11th, ’B3 Corner Broad and Hunter Sts., ATLANTA,’gA.
*
pmm phi iaj—
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"WS IN’ THE SOUTH
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SAMPLES SEITT <yT APPUSATSOMt
THE
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THE LADIES’ FAVORITE
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Intending purchasers are solicited to exam
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J*. ID. Sz T. E. SMITH,
Wholesale and Retail Dealers,
59 Broad Street, - - ATLANTA, CA.
For Sale Ay J. ffl. SfOREY, Gieenesto, Ga. *
I. M. TAFPAS &SON, White Plains, Ga.
J*ol9 '8".
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—ONE BLOCK FROM;UNION DEPOT,—
ATLANTA, - - GA.
Rates $2.00 Per Day.
F, I, WHITE, Proprietor.
M AJ B LEI
A. R. ROBERTSON,
DEALER, MANUFACTURER AND BUILDER OF '
Monuments, Large and Small Cradle Tombs, Marble and Granite Box Tombs,
HEAD AND FOOT STONES, at any price to suit purchasers.
A LARGE LOT OF FINISHED WORK ON HAND AND READY FOB
LETTERING ON SHORT NOTICE.
o
US’ My yard, ou thi; corner of Market and Thomas streets, is full of Marble ready to fill
anv order. Give me a call and get ray prices.
A. R. ROBERTSON,
July Bth, 1881. Monument Builder, Athens, Ca.
aUe Lawrence & Martinis 1 ' sg|
F^£? UG ~ S COLDS * SORE throat, bronchitis, asthma, pneu
monia, CONSUMPTION, Diseases Of THROAT, CHEST AND LUNCS.
nil A| || AP TP rt I II Has always been one of the most important
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iv.t.m properties afford a diffusive stimulant and tonic to build up the
sj stem after the cough ha3 been relieved. Quart size bottles, Price SI.OO. ,
A|l T | NT Do not be deceived by dealers who try to palm off Rook and Bye
IF 1 ln . P’^ 6 °ur TOLU, BOCK AND RY’e. which Is the ONLY
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The TOLU, ROCK AND RYE CO., Proprietore, 41 River SI, Chicago, HL
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OFFICE OF
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Just abDve Passenger Depot, Near Water Tower, AUGUSTA, GA.
GUILDERS OF— Eiciaes and BVilers, Saw Mills, GrUt Mills ail all fciais of Mill
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ALFRED;BAKER, President. JOSEPH 8. BEAN, Cashier.
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* 81 BROAD STREET, AUGUSTA, GEORGIA. 1
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janl2 83
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AUGUSTA. - CA.
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feb2nd ’B3
W. J. POULARD,
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AUGUSTA, GEORGIA.
Cotton Factor and Commission Merchant
AND DEALER IN
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AJSO iAuton’e Oreulor Saws. Rubber and father Belting. oteam Pipe Wate*
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GENERAL AGENT Foil 8 ’ ‘
TALBOTT & SON'S,
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AXD **
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Manufacturer of the Following Machines:
Meblett A Goodrich Improved IXL Cotton Gin. Bold’s Patent Automatic Power Screw Press
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to* rrg “ pUy <“*•* Tor further parUcnle, circulars, general infer:
W. J, POLLARD i
HE HAS IN THE ARMY.
The Eloquence Which W.n a. Haldtor’.
Suit.
A distinguished company of lawyers
sat in the Supreme Court-room, recently,
talking over old times. Among them
was Colonel Charles S. Spencer. He was
in his usual happy vein, and told anew
story.
“I was retained, he said, “by mi ex
soldier of the war to sue for the recovery
of some SI,BOO which he had loaned to a
friend. The late Edwin James was
counsel for the defendant. I went to
work zealously for my client. James
cross-examined the plaintiff in his usual
forcible way.
“ ‘You loaned him SI,BOO ?’ Mr. James
asked.
“ ‘I did, sir,’ was' the reply.
“ ‘lt was your own money ?’ Mr.
James continued. ,
“ ‘ It was, sir,’ my client responded.
“ ‘ When did you lend him the money ?*
was the next question.
“ ‘ In July, 1866,’ was the answer.
“ ‘ Where did you get that money,
sir ? ’ Mr. James asked, sternly.
“‘I earned it, sir.’ The words were
said in a meek tone.
“ ‘ You earned it, eh ? When did yon
earn it?’ asked Mr. James.
“ ‘ Duringthe war, sir,’ was the reply,
still in a very humble tone.
“ ‘ You earned it during the war. Pray,
what was your occupation during the
war ? ’ Mr. James asked.
“‘Fighting, sir,’ the mam replied,
modestly.
“ ‘Oh, fighting,’ Mr. James said,
somewhat taken down, and instantly
changed his manner.
“I smiled triumphantly, and even
snickered a little. James was half mad.
Well, we went to the jury, and I, of
course, had the last to say. I sailed
away up to glory. I spoke of the war;
of the lives and treasure which it cost
us; of the awful battles which decided
the fate of the Union; of the self-denial
of the men who left home, wife and
children, and father and mother, and
every thing that was dear to them, and
went forth to fight for firesides and free
dom,'and the salvation of the nation.
“I pointed to the plaintiff as he sat
there, still with the same air of humility,
and even sadness, and I said that was
the sort of man who had fought our bat
tles, and saved the flag, and shed liis
life-blood that we and our children
might enjoy, uncurtailed, the glorious
blessings of freedom wrenched from the
hands of despots by our sires? I worked
up that jury, I can tell you, and the
plaintiff himself drew forth an unpreten
tious handkerchief and wiped away a tear.
I got a verdict for the full amount, of
course. *
“As we were quitting the court-room,
James said: ‘Spencer, your war speech
gained you the verdict. If you hadn’t
discovered through my cross-examina
tion that the man had fought in the war
you would have been beaten. ’
“ ‘Mv friend,’ I replied, ‘if you had
only asked the man which side he fought
on, you might be going home with a
verdict. My client was an old Johnny
Reb.”
STORMS ON THE SUN.
What Has Caused the Late Eruptions on the
Earth.
For several days the sun has presented
a remarkable spectacle when seen withs
powerful telescope. When the clouds
cleared away on Monday morning, the
round, shining disk appeared crossed
through tho centre by a row of spots,
several of which were of large size. All
gave indications of violent disturbance,
especially an elongated group near the
eastern edge. Tuesday this group had
advanced so for upon the disk that its
internal structure was clearly discernible.
It consists of a great number of enor
mous chasms of varying size and of the
most' irregular shapes. These chasms
are collected into two adjoining clusters,
and around them the surface of the sun
is heaped up into fiery mountains which
the astronomers call faculse, and which
are continually changing in form and
position. In places the sun looks as if
gigantic solid shot hod plunged into it,
leaving great, gaping, ragged holes in
the shining disk. But to have mode
some of these holes a cannon shot as large
as the earth would have been required.
In a day or two when it will be fur
ther advanced upon the sun, this huge
group of spots should be easily seen,
without a telescope of any kind, in the
shape of a black speck on the sun, as if
the.god of day were wearing a bit of
court plaster on his shining face. To
making such observations the eye must,
of course, be protected by a dark glass.
A smoked glass will do, but it is much
safer to employ two deeply tinted glasses
of complementary colors, such as red and
green, or deep blue and yellow. The
glasses should be perfectly flat and
smooth, and if their colors are properly
matched, they will show the sun of its
natural hue, but robbed of all glare, bo
that its surface can be scrutinized at
leisure. Used with a good opera glass
or a powerful spy gloss, such a pair of
colored glasses soil serve to reveal many
interesting things in the sun that will
surprise the unpracticed observer.
Great outbursts in the sun are gener
ally accompanied by auroral displays,
and sometimes by violent magnetic
storms. The memorable auroras of last
year, which crippled the telegraphs all
over the northern hemisphere, occurred
while groups of spots like those now visi
ble were passing across the sun’s disk,
and it would not be surprising if in a few
days we should have another display of
the sun’s strange electric power over the
earth. The whole subject, however, is
involved in mystery, and the laws that
govern it remain to be discovered. The
researches of modem astronomers have
shown that outside the round globe of
the sun, as we see it, there is an enor
mous envelope of matter greatly exceeding
in bulk the visible sun, aud intimately
connected with it. What the constitu
tion of this great envelope of the sun is,
how far it extends earthward, how it is
affected by outbursts in tlie visible globe
of the sun, and what part it plays in the
sun’s influence upon his family of worlds
are questions to which science is intently
seeking answers. —New York Sun.
A Little Whirligig.
In the whirligig of time many strange
companionships are formed says the N.
Y. Sun. Here we have Gen. Roger A.
Pryor, who twenty years ago was looking
for Ben Butler to get $25,000 for his
head, in the intimate relations of friend
ship with the ancient ruler of New
Orleans; and now the dashing leader of
the_Black Horse Cavalry, who made such
tenable raids upon the Union forces, is
shaking hands with veterans of the other
side. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee and his staff
from Virginia have gone home after such
an experience, with champagne poured
out by old warriors of the other side,
that, as they reflect over the times and
feehugs of twenty years ago, they must
doubt whether they have not been puss,
ing through a dream.