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THE COUNTRYMAN.
439
which it lias been made, as the speci
men before us attests.
The discovery is an accident, and
■was made by a neighbor of Dr.
Coates, a practical man, unacquainted
'with the theories of books, or tl^e ex
periments of others. In last October,
‘lie boiled the juice of his sorghum for
'three hours, in a wide-mouthed boil-
•er. He took the molasses thus ob
tained, and put it aviay, intending to
use it such. „ „ ;
It chanced that it wa3 put into a
•vessel with a wide, and open top-—a
stone jar, or a common churn, we are
not.sure Which. A thin cotton cloth
'was tied over the top, as a protection.
A few wvqeks ago, on examining the
■syrup,,dt ivag discovered that a large
deposit of sugar had been made, the
result, doubtless, of the slow evapora
tion allowed by the cotton cloth. This
was taken out, tied in a cloth, allow
ed to drip, and then dried, and the
resalt was the sugar before us.
What improvement can be discov
ered upon this mode of obtaining su
gar from sorghum, remains to be seen.
But it is a great point gained to know
that sugar may thus be made—and
made so easily.
The experiments heretofore instituted
have, we believe, all relied on rapid
boiling. This obtains no sugar, but
simply converts the syrup into a bh ck,
bitter stuff, fit for nothing. The fail
ure of the rapid process, and the suc
cess of the slow, both point to gentle
evaporation as indispensable. Wheth
er it may not be hastened by the ap
plication of moderate beat, and how
far this may be advantageously done,
are points to be investigated. With
time, and patience, the process, as we
have seen, is extremely simple. We
doubt not, that, by proper investiga
tion, and pains, a mode of expediting
the transformation will be readily dis
covered. The facts established by
the discovery we have described, will
serve as guides to further enquiries.—
Richmond Sentinel.
:o:-
Recipe for Toilet Soap.—“Fiist
boil a lye from oak or hickory ashes,
strong eifougli to eat a feather ; put
this lye into tubs until it settles, and
then strain through a.coarse towel.
Pat about three gallons ol this lye
into a large wash-kettle, or pot, and
after boiling a few minutes, add to it
8 lbs. of clear lard, boil briskly for
four or five hours, adding, frequently,
several gourds full of weak lye, until
a good soap is made, entirely free from
grease.
Now draw the fire away from the
pot, and stir into the soap, salt, until
the soap becomes tliin, and runs off of
the paddle, like buttermilk; it is then
turned. Put the fire under again, and
after boiling the soap for fifteen min
utes,. pour into it about two quarts of
weak brine, and take the pot immedi
ately from the fire ; the soap, which
will rise like fcam to the top, must be
skimmed off immediately, into wash
bowls.
You may perfume it with oil of ber
gamot, cinnamon, lemon, sassafras, or
any other perfume, as your taste di
rects. It may be colored, by stirring
into it a small quantity of verrmllion,
Spanish brown, or Venetian red—I use
vermillion.
' If you desire to marble the soap,
you must mix the coloring matter with
only a small portion of the soap, and
after .pouring a tliin layer of the
white soap into the mould, stripe it
over again ; and so on, until the pan
is full. I use store pans for moulding,
and tyhep hard, cut it by the square
into cakes of desirable size—let these
dry for about one week, then smooth
them off with a plaue.
The trimmings may all be melted,
and moulded over, so that nothing will
be lost. ”
■ :o:
Military Power of the ConPED-
ERAcy.—“There is no example in his
tory, says the Atlanta Confederacy,
of the military power exhibited hv
the Confederacy. With no previous
martial habits—with a population im
mersed in civil pursuits—she presents
the extraordinary spectacle of half a
million of men in arms, out of a popul
ation of little more than five millions,
including the eleven Confederate
States,and excluding the slaves. Theie
is no parallel to this in modern times.
The highest ratio of the European ai-
mies, to the total amount of the popul
ation of the States to which they re-
spectively belong, is one and a half
per cent. The military on the war es
tablishment, in France, is about 500,-
000, out of a population of 36,000,000.
Austria, Russia, and Prussia present
about Hie same proportion, while Great
Britain is below it. The yankee na
tion has about 700,000 men under
arms,which, ina population of 23,000,-
000, is little more than three and a
quarter per cent."
:o:
Significant.—“The New York
News, of the 13th inst., speaking of
the effect of invasion upon the cur
rency, says : ‘It is a matter ot surprise,
with some, that gold should have fal
len, yesterday, m the face of the be
wildering condition of affairs in Ma
ryland. We think, however, that
there is little cause for wonder. The
fact that, after three years of hostili
ties, taxing’the utmost resources of the
Federal Government, the 'Confeder
ates are able to invade the North, and
threaten the Federal capital, has im
pressed out money -dealers with the
conviction that the war is a failure,
that the appeal to arms must be relin
quished, and that peace is at hand.
It-is this .prospect of an approaching
peace, that has favorably influenced
the price of greenbacks, despite of the
startling intelligence from Maryland.’ ”
—:o:
Proof Positive.— During the rc«
cent raid on this place, a man in hot
haste rushed into the presence of a
military officer, and the following con
versation occurred;
Excited Individual—‘I’ve caught
a spy.’
Officer—‘Indeed ? Have yon proof
to convict him V.
Excited Individual—‘Yes, sir. The
most positive proof.’
Officer—‘Take a seat, sir. Take a
seat. What is the evidence V
Excited Individual—‘Why, sir, I
saw him in the house of an old lady,
on the other side of the river, stealing
silver spoons ’—Macon Confederate.
— .... —_
“Dr. John Percj, in his volume on
iron, lately published in England, thus
refers to the ‘American question’:
Northern Georgia nov' furnishes the
rebellion with rails, machinery, loco
motives, field and siege guus, and
small arms, as well as articles of man
ufacture not requiring iron. Atlanta
is the heart and lungs of the rebellion,
as Richmond is its brain. The work
men at Atlanta have succeeded in do
ing what is, perhaps, a unique feat
in iron work ; they have machinery
for cutting out the. ruined part of a
rail and inserting a new piece.’’
:o:
“The Realm, an English paper,
describes a singular scene. Some cot-
ton has lately been imported into Far
rington, where the mills have been
closed for a considerable time. The
people, who were previonsly in the
deepest distress, went out to meet the
cotton ; the women wept over the bales
and kissed them, and finally sung the
doxology over the welcome importa
tion.”
:o:
Gen. Butler.—“Gen. Butler has
beeu made a member of the American
Tract Society. An eastern paper says
it would not be safe to allow him ac
cess to tiie tracts, while waste paper
brings a high price.”