The Washington gazette. (Washington, Ga.) 1866-1904, October 09, 1868, Image 1

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THE WASHINGTON GAZETTE. BY JAS. A. WRIGHT AND HIGH WILSON. THE WASHINSTON GAZETTE. TERMS.—-Three Dollars a year in advance. er No Subscriptions taken for a shorter time than six months. Gold Beating. Ths origin of this art is not known, but it seems to hoof some antiquit}-, ft was known in Greece, and is men tioned by Ilomer. The ancient Peru vians made very thin sheets ot gold', and railed them together on the walls of their temples. On the coffins of the Theban mummies, specimens of original leaf are met with, where the gold is in so thin a state that it re sembles modern gilding. The art seems to havf been practiced in India, as there are rude specimens of gilding at Tippo Sahib's palace at Bangalore. The thickness of tho leaf is spoken of by Martial as like a vapor, and by- Lucretius it is compared to a spider’s web. From a description by Pliny, of Homan gilding, the thinness of the leaf bore no comparison with that of the modern gold beater. By his ac count, an ounce of gold was made in to seven hundred-and fifty leaves, each four fingers square. This is about threo times tho thickness ot the leal now in common use; but some qua! - ties are so thin, that two hundred and ninety thousand sheets make a pile only one inch in height; and speci mens have been made only one three hundred and sixty-seven thousand and live hundredths of an inch in thick ness, which is one thousand two hun dred times thinner than, ordinary printing paper. Tho thinnest gold loaf ot French manufacture, is not thicker than the four hundred and eighty thousandth pact of an inch, that of the English is about the three hundred thousandth part. To prepare the gold for heating, it is melted in a black lead eruciblo, with borax, in a wind furnaeo, and as soon as it is iu perfect tusion, it is poured into an iron ingot mould, six or o'; lit, inches long, three qua> tors of an inch • wide, previous*} yroasej (tWii heated, so* as to make the gicaso run and smoke, hut not so as to H um-. When the gold is fixed and solid, it is made red h<H, to burn off the unCiUOtis mat ter, and then forged into a long plate, which is further extended by passing it betwoon polished steel rollers, till ii becomes no thicker than a ribbon, or a sheet of paper. The plate, or rib bon as it is eallod, is carefully divid-d by compasses, aud cut by bheurs into equal square pieces; each of these pieces is again worked by hammer on the anvil tilt it is one inch square, and is then annealed, to correct the rigidi ty acquired by tho forging aud Hat ting mill, each piece weighing about six grains, and therefore in this state, being about one seven hundred and sixtieth of an inch in thickness, one hundred and fifty of them weighing two ounces, the quantity commonly operated on at a time. These are now to be extended by beating; and to effect this, it is nec essary to interpose some smooth body between and tbe hammer, for the pur pose of softening the blow, and de fending the gold from its immediate action, as also to place between every one of the plates some intermediate substance, which, while it prevents their uniting together, may suffer them to exiend freely. These ob jects are attained by means of certain animal membranes: these are ot three kinds, and used for different purposes. Firtt, The outside cover is commonly parchment, made ot sheepskin. AVe ondly, For interlaying with the gold in the early stale of the piocess, they use fine vellum, made of calf-skin; aod, Thirdly, For tho latter part of the operation they use the intestines of oxen, which are slit open, and pre pared for this purpose only, and hence called gold-beater’s skin. The manufacture of this article is a I secret, which, it is said, only five men in the world now know. The art of preparing it has brought a fortune to the manufacturers. VVickstead, of London, attained the highest perfec tion in the art in tbe last generation, and promised to leave the secret to a relative at his death-bed. In bis dy ing gasp, be called the relative to his to open the mystery, but died, and it remained still a secret. F. Puck ridge, of London, is the most celebra ted maker now. With great perse- j verance and expense, he succeeded iu j perfecting tho art. He has promised, j it is said, to reveal the secret to his ! nephew. The bed on which tho gold is bea ten, is a smooth block of black mar ble, weighing from three hundred to six hundred pounds, about nino inches square on the upper surface, fitted in to a wooden fra mo two feot rquare, so that tho fiame and marble surface are one love!. Tho back and both sides are furnished with a high ledge and tho front, which is open, has a leather fitip fastened to it, which the gold beater uses as an apron for pre serving the fragments of tho gold which may fall off. Tho only tools are three hammers, having round and somewhat convex tacos; tho first, or heaviest, called ti e cutch hammer, is about four inches in diameter, anil weighs from seventeen to twenty-five pounds; the second is eallod the sho dcring hammer, and weighs about twelve pounds, having the samo di ameter ; and the third, still nearly of the same diameter, weighs aboutt.cn pounds. Tho t-quaro pieces of gold— one hundred and fitly in number— above mentioned, are interlaid with leaves ot vellum, about threo or four inches squat c, one leaf laid between every two, and about, twenty more are laic! on the outside. Over these is drawn a parchment case, open at bulb ends; ;w and over theso ahother, in a contrary direction, so that tiio vel- I inm and plates of gold are kept tight and close. The whole is then beaten alternately with the right and left hands with the heaviest of the threo hammers, ■ which rebounds by the elasticity of the skin, and saves the [ labor of lifting, litl the gold is exten ded to tho breadth of tho vellum. Each leaf is then taken out by a deb ate pair of while wood pincers and cut into four pieces with a steel knife, and put between the skins of a “sho dor,” tour and a half inches square, and three-quarters of an inch thick, containing about seven hundred skins i which have boon worn out in the fin ishing prpeers.. 'file beating is thcr repeated with the lighter hammer for two hours. As tie? gold will spread unequally, the “blinder” is beaten up on, suTer uip have reach ed the edges. Tho" effect of tiiis is, that the larger leaves coru« out of the edges in a state of and ist. This allows time for the smaller leaves to reach the full size <>f the “shodor,” thus pro dneing a general evenness of the size ot the leaves. Each leaf is again cut into four pic. ccs, and placed b-tweon tho leaves of a mould composed of about nine hun dred of tho finost skins, five inches square, and three-quarters of an inch thick; this is the last and most diffi- cult stage of the process ; and oti the fineness of the skin and judgment of tho workman, the perfection and thin ness ot the leaf of gold depend. Du ring the first hour the hammer is al lowed to fall principally upon tho centre of tho mould. This causes gaping cracks upon tho edges of tho leaves, the sides of which, readily eo alesco and unite without leavifig any trace of tbe union after being beaten upon. At tho second hour, when the gold is about the one hundred and fifty thousandth of an inch in thick ness, it for the first time permits the transmission of the rays of light. In pure gold, or gold but slightly alloyed tho green raysaro transmitted; and in gold highly alloyed with silver, the pale violet rays pass. The mould then requires in all about four hours beat ing with a seven pound hammer, when the gold will havo arrived at the ordi nary thinness f r the gold leaf of commerce. It is then taken out of the mould, and tho rough edges are cut off by slips oi ratau fixed in par allel grooves of an instrument called a “wagon,” the leaf to bo laid on a leatbercushion for that purpose. The leaves thus prepared are placed in a bock capable of bolding twenty-five leaves each, which havo been rubbed over with red ochre, to prevent the gold clinging to tho paper. The dryness of tho catch, shader, and mould is a matter of extreme im portance. They requiro to be hot pressed every time they are used, al though they may bo used daily, to remove tbe moisture which they ac quire from tho atmosphere, except in extremely frosty weather, when they acquire so little moisture that then a difficulty arises from their over-dry ness; the brilliancy of the gold is diminished, and it spreads very slowly under the hammer. On the contrary if the cutch or shoder be damp, the gold will become that which is techni cally termed hollow or sieve-like— ! that is, it is pierced with innumerable mall holes, and in the moulds in its WASHINGTON, WILKES COUNTY, GA., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, ISGS. more attenuated state, it becomes re duced to a pulverulent state. This condition is more easily produced in alloyed gold than in fino gold. It is necessary that each skin of tho mould should bo rubbed over with calcined gypsum each time tho mould may be used, in order to prevent the adhesion of the gold to the surfaceol the skin in tho process of beating. Gold used for beating is never quite ptiro, because pure gold is too ductile to be worked between tho gold bea ter's skin; tho finost gold for the pur pose has threo grains of alloy in tho ounce, and tho coarsest twelve grains. But in general, the alloy is about six grains to tho ounce, or ono-eigbtieth part. The alloy is silver or copper, or both, and tho color produced is of va rious tints accordingly. T.vo .ounces and two pennyweights of gold are delivered by tho foreman to tho work man, who, if skilful, will return twen ty thousand, leaves, or eighty books, together with one ounce aud six pen nyweights of cuttings. The loaf in this perfection is so thin that a hair of tho head falling in between tho leaves and tho tool will cut ton or twelve of the leaves. And, although this leaf is thb thinnest sub stance known to science, it is perfectly air-tight. lion. B. H. Hi'l on the Georgia Riots. In nothing is tho unscrupulous charactor of tho present dominant party more clearly seen than in tho persistent efforts which they are ma king to provoko disturbances at the Snuth, or tho unblushing falsehoods wiih which they pervert nt.d aggra vate all the details of pretended rebol outrages, t'lioir object is to make political capital in tho present Pros! denliul campaign, and this object is equally accomplished by the incendi ary agitator who seeks to’ alionato the deluded blacks, or the lying now»- puper oorrespondeut who' inflame* equally the Northern mind by tales of pielerffied -outlay?**. ! Wre"' am! untiring efforts of tho one aro only equalled by the unblushing mendacity of tho other, mid any failure on tho part of the first to furnish material sufficiently stimulating, is more than atoned for by the fruitful imagination ar,d facile pen of tho second. Thus they arc equal participators in advanc ing tho common cause of tho party— tho one by inflaming the antlpalhios of race, and exposing Southern life and propeity to tbe hazard of the torch and tho sword, and tho other by embittering tho bate of sections by calumny and falsehood. The wisdom and forbearance which has been exer cised by the Southern people has in a great measure disappointed the hopes of the agitator, and wo havo less than the usual crop of disturbances; but this has only tho more stimulated the ingenuity of tho newspaper corre spondent to pervert every potty inci dent and dish up tho plain record of events into a narrat.vo sufficiently spicy and horrifying. Tho late negro riot at Camilla, Ga., has been tho fruitful theme cl' more than thb usual Radical misrepresenta tion, and tho columns of the Tribune. have teemed with tho most distorted perversions of tho real facts of the case. To correct these falsehoods, the Hon. B. 11. Hill, who is now in New York, has addressed an able and inter esting letter to that paper, in which ho fully and clearly sets forth tho truth of the matter, and which must carry conviction to every unprejudiced mind. Wo will briefly indicate tho points made in the letter. | Ho shows that Radical agitators, j under tho pretext that the Democratic i party intended to rc-enslave the ne groes, had beer; encouraging thorn to arm themselves and to hold nightly drills in military style. This had boon done with a two-fold object: first, to place them tho more fully under Bad ical control ; and second, to provoko collisions which might influence the Northern people, by the story of “reb el outrages.” The policy of the South ern whites was precisely the reverse, since in the first place, their lives and property would be endangered by any outbreak; second, it would load to the ruin of the crops; third, fry exciting the passions of the Northern people it would prejudice the interests of tho Democratic party in tho coming elec-' tion. Hence, they resolved first, 10 boar tamely every insult, and second | to invoke the aid of the civil aulbori-! lies iu repressing these armed meet ings. A proclamation of tho Govern or was obtained, prohibiting these military drills i ad armed assemblages; and in pursarfcc© of that proclama tion, tho Sheri! met tho rioters and begged them 0 desist from holding their armed melting. Thoy persisted, and the Camit-% riot was tho result. Camilla is a end! village, of not moro than three hui.ired inhabitants, and with a largojmsemblago of negroes, all armed, aud exeilod by inflamma tory speeches from their leaders, Pierce und Mi ijihy, would havo been sufrjeciod to ah ffio dangers of pillage and arson. '"T' Mr. Hill, in the concluding para graphs of his letter, prssses upon the. attention of Mr. Greoly certain con siderations which to the Southern peo ple arc al! controlling, but w hich the advocate if eqp.d rights and univer sal phi hint bbopby studiously ignores. Says ho: “ Tho Camilla riot, properly under stood, will exhilit to tho -Northern people more cl.'arty than a thousand speeches could, the exact reason why tho Southern whites are, at present, unwilling to ext'ind universal, indis criminate suffrage to the negroes. It is because they can bo taken posses sion of by a very few bad white men seeking office at thi-ip hands, and make terror to society, and destroyers of nullity for pi op- riy and' security for families, Man} i tho moro intelli gent understand apd topuUiato these influences, butts n groalcr numbor do not. “ In these very counties of Leo and Dougherty, in w Huh Pierce and Mur phy resido, I do .(ersonally know (for I plant in both tlVono counties) that in 1806—after tho surrender, mark you— lands wore seilingjfrom §lO to §2O per aero Immediately alter the passage of theso rccoßstrrtfcon measure 4" these very lands oorarqjpiccd declining, and 1 d>. know that or-mo of them havo recently been soft (with cotton as !;:gU as.it *n ~ jiy : ' :A ) at one dol lar per aei’ i’iT. “ To hateQ**' live iiiitrJ* jmt&rrtxd-Srwr property ilei>wteM|M is,, certainly a fearful and sad t; cun;,"on. Lot every man in tho North place hitflsolf, his family and his preqerty in this condi tion in his nativo country, and then, wlion ho makes-the most peaceable efforts possible, in a lawful way, to avert theso dangers, iot him hear him self denounced ns ‘ a robcl,’ ‘ an ene my,’ and ‘a traitor,’ and guilty of ‘rebel outrages,’ and ho will have some idea of tho exact condition of the Southern whites many of whom did. all in their power, like tho writer, to | prevent secession-, and who have never seen tho day wheh they would not [ give their lives to preserve the Con stitution. “ Our people hear these evils. Is thcro any other peoplo on earth who would bear them so patiently ? Why do they bear them ? Because they look hopefully to tho Northern people to rescue them. They love every man North who is willing to rescue them. They want, above ail things, peace. They will make any other sacrifice, accede to any other demand the North can make, to sccuro peace. But they can not and they will con sent, by- their own act, to dishonor themselves by disfranchising their wisest and best men, arid agree to a scheme which must place their wives and their ehildion and their little remnant of property under liio dom ination of ignorant, semi-barbarous negroes, excited and led on by a few bud white men, who have no dosiro but to got office at the hands of these negroes. Why should they, for peace, consent to that which must destroy all peace?” llow to Fit Collars to Horses’ Shouloebs. —It is very important to have a collar fit nicely and snugly to tho shoulders of tho horse. It enables him to work with a great deal moro ease and to apply a great deal more strength. It prevents galling and wounding, as the friotion is avoided. Collars aro so made, or should bo so made, as to throw the chief force on tho lower part of the shoulder. The horse can apply but little strength on the upper part, and for this reason breast collars are coming greatly into vogue—as tbe strength is exerted on th'- lower part of tho shoulder. But wo startod out to tell our readers how to make a now collar fit tho shouldors of the horse. The collar should be purchased of the proper size; just be j >rc putting it on for the first time, mmorse it in water, lotting it remain about a minute, and immediately put it on tho horse, being careful to have tho bames so adjusted at the top and bottom as to fit the shoulder, and then put tho horse to work. The oollar, by being wet, will adapt itself to tho shoulder, and should dry on tho horse. When taken off it should be left in tho samo shape it occupied on tho horse, and ovor after you will have a snug fitting collar and no wounds. — Valley Farmer. Sorrows of Childhood There are parents who deliberately lay themselves out to torment their children. Thcro aro two elassses of parents who are the most inexorably cruel and malignant; it is hard to say which class excels, but it is certain that both classes exceed all extraor dinary mortals. One is tho utterly blackguard: the parents about whom there is no good no pretense of good. The other is the wrong headedly con scientious and religious. You may find parents who, having started from an humble origin, having attained to wealth, and who, instead of being glad to think that their 'chil dren aro bettor off than they them selves were, exhibit a diabolical jeal ousy of their children. You will find such wretched beings insisting that their children will go through need less trials and mortifications, because they themselves went through the like. Why, Ido not hesitate to say that one of tho thoughts which would most powerfully lead a worthy man to value material prosperity, would bo the thought that his boys would havo a fairer, happier start in life than lie had, and would be saved tho many difficulties on which lie still looks back with pain; You will find parents, especially parents of the Pharisaical and wrong-headedly re ligious., class, who seem to hold it a sa wed duly to make t he liitle things urn (nippy.'; who sjslcmntiq|)ly ondeuvor oti‘a thing as possible'; who never praise their children when they do right, but punish them with great se verity- when they do wrong; who seem to hate to sec their children lively or cheerful iu their presence; who thoroughly repel all sympathy or confidence on tho part of their children, and then mention as a proof that-their children are possessed by tho devil, that t heir children always like to get away from them; who re joice to cut off any little enjoyment — |rigidly carrying out into practice tho |fundamental principle of their creed, which undoubtedly is, that “nobody should ever please any body else, be cause in either case he is sure to dis please God.” Then a great trouble, always pres sing heavily on many a little mind, is that it is overtasked with lessons. You still see hero and there idiotic parents striving to make infant phe nomena of their children, and recor ding with much pride how their chil dren could read and write at an un naturally early ago. Such parents arc fools beyond question. The great use to which the first six or seven years of life should he given, is the laying the foundation of a healthful constitution in body and mind ; and tho instilling of those first principles of duty and religion which do not need to be taught out of any books. Even if you do not permanently in- Ijurc tiio young brain and mind prema turely overtasking them,—even if you do not permanently-‘blight the 1 bodily- health and break the mind’s cheerful spring, you gain nothing. Four child at fourteen years old is not a bit farther advanced in his ed ucation than a child who began his years after him ; and the entire result of your stupid driving has been to overcloud somo days which should, have been the happiest of liis lifo. Who is it? —He is not Noah, nor Noah’s son, nor a Levite, nor John tho Baptist, nor yet tho wander ing Jew, for ho was with Noah in the ark; the Scriptures make mention of him particularly in St John, St. Mark, St. Luke, go that we may believe that he was no impostor, lie knows no parent, he never lay upou his mothers breast, his beard is such as no man ever wore; he goes barc-footed and bare legged, like a grave old friar. Ho wears no hat in summer or winter, : but often appears with a crown upon 'bis head. His coat is neither knit nor spun, nor hair, silk, linen or tvool- VOL. in- >O. 25. on, bark nor sheepskin, yet it abounds with variety of colors and fits close to tho skin. Ho is wonderfully tem perate ; ho never drinks anything but cold water; ho would rather take his dinner in a farmers’ barn than in a kings palace, no is very watchful; he sleeps not in bed, but sits in a sin gular kind of chair, with his clothes on. Ho was alive at tho crucifixion. Nearly all the world hear him. Ho once preached a short sermon, which convinced a man af his sin, and cans, ed him to weep bitterly, 110 never was married, yet ho has favorites whom he loves dearly, for if ho has hut one morsel of meat ho divides among them. Though ho never rides on horseback, he is in somo respects equipped as horseman are. He is an advocate of early rising, though ho never retires to bed. His prophecies are true that tho moment you hear his voice you may know what is approaching. Now who is this prophet, and what did lie foretell? Conditions Necessary for Successful Ag riculture. It is becoming and more ap parent every year that in order to succeed well in agricultural pursuits there must bo certain favorable indi cations for the best success, in farm ing. Hence tho doctrines of mixed and special husbandly must in a cer tain degree yield to llio latter condi tion of tilings. It is illlo lor tho cot ton growing Status to compote with the northern farmer iri raising winter apples, and because a man may raise cotton in the Middle States, it is no reason why he should do it. Special localities are adapted to special productions. The animal kingdom bus its fixed geographical boundaries, and so does tho vegetable kingdom. But this is not all, nor is it by any moans the most important, consideration. In order to succeed well in cultivating any production of value at tho present day, thoro must bo iidilNgeneo. Iloricc when any one community laUos up sheep husbandry, we find thut ,whole population fiuaii- I_; „>• 4£jjj£4 --aa-lri.t, ‘ . .fja—?”* • . nptner w’erds, they nave. Been euu eated to the btflinoss. Let -a nor tec in the businoss take a flock of five hundred sheep, and the chances aro as to ten to one that bo would/mute an entire fui.'uro in the businoss ot sheep raising, u nless he the fit of bis Vicighbn «»’ experience. same is truo of orcharding, SofiSe poisons suppose it a.’ 1 easy thing ti> raise an orchard, but w o would rath ® undertake to fit a boy for college than to teach him bow to plant a.n orchard with tho right kind of trees, and taken cate of them in all their details till lio had a handsome and productive or chard. In a community where or charding is mado a business, one neighbor has tho benefit of the others’ expernneo, and thereby avoids mis takes that would otherwise interfere with bis success. Mon frequently havo groat fears that if the town in which they rcsido should dovoto its w hole energies to somo speciality tho market would bo overstocked. But one town or one country is only an item exceeding small in this great, country. Still ar other advantage arising from this community of labor is tho acquired reputation a place may havo for good articles, and thus an extra price may be obtained for everything it may have for sale. Orange County butter had a reputation that demanded a great advance in price over other but ler tquully good. If a man now-a days buys a Vermontit buck or horso ho must pay a round price for it. If a man wants u Jcr.-oy cow ho must go to Winthorp lor her arid pay a great price. A Jersey cow from any other place would hardly bo worth looking at so long as ono is for sale from that town. Hence we still argue the propriety of making a speciality in firming whore the conditions are tavorablo. Such communities aro always more independent as farmers. Thero aro somo towns in this State best adapted for orchards, and the more tiio people devote to it the better. Jf sheep have proved a success, pursue tho business. A few towns in tins State can do well at hop culture. Olhors aro superior grass districts. Now there are many towns in this State where a man can raise two tons of bay to tho acre, and sell it at a good prico vyitli a ready market, more easily than other towns can raise one ton to the aero with a poor market. There aro many farms whore mixed husbandry is best, and probably thoro are but lew farms where exclusive utlemion to ono thing would 60 advi sable. A man may have a good farm, vet it is not adapted to tho raising of fruit; still it tnay be desirable for him to have a few apple trees for bis own use, and he would do well to muko special effort to secure a low trees tor this purpose. We believe the future development of our agricultural re sources and tho wealth of our farmers hereafter must largely depend on this careful adaption of each locality l’or its be„t production. Maine Farmer.