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NORTH GEORGIA TIMES
G. N. KINO, (.Proprietor
S. B. OAKTER,
A CLOCK MARVEL
The Extraordinary Work of an
Untaught Genius.
A Timepiece Showing a Railway
and Other Wonders.
in the loft of an old barn at Pittston,
Penn., is in operation a .bit of mech
anism which, when completed, will
rival Wf fentrftmrco it.
state. It consists of * massive clbct,
something after the fashion of the cole
Stated fltrasburg clock, standing 12
feet high, 7 feet wide, and S feet deep,
The clock is reached by a small ladder
composed of boards nailed to the
weather- boarding of, the barn.
The clock as it now stands is com
posed of two parts, on the lower one of
which there are eight dials. No. 1
_
shows tho ordinary clock dial, with
minute and second hands; No. 2 a scr¬
ies of figures which tell the number of
minuter; No. 3 the number of hours
which havo passed since tho beginning
of the year;’No. 4 the number of days
which have passed in'the year, and by
a complicated and ingenious construc¬
tion of machinery, one figure is skipped
by Hie dial i# leap year. No, -5 is a
split-second dial, such, as is used in
timing races, and, which, by the sim¬
ple touching of a spring, is made to
stop at the quarter sfecond. No. 6 tells
the time of meridian, forenoon or after¬
noon, and also the hour of day by the
twenty-four-hour system. No. 7 tells
the number of days which havo q nise i
in the month, and No. 8 the day of the
week.
But it is in the upper section of this
great piece of work that tlio genius of
the maker is displayed at its best. Oa
the base of this part is a mmiiltUrc' rail-’
way scene, situatod, as it appears to the
eye, on the edge of a beautiful city.
The scenery surrounding the spot is un¬
usually nqtqrql, j^as shifts
to evening by a masterly effect hun¬
dreds of stars aro suddenly nude to
twinkle, first faintly and then in full
distinctness, iu tho disc representing
the heavens. Tho m chanism which
operates the stars is so arranged that it
takes two hours for the invisible wires
holding them to descend from tho re¬
cesses of the cabinet to a point over the
city. A prominent feature of tho sceuc
is a small railway station. Tue tracks
of the railway emorgo from a tunnel at
the right-hand corner, and, with the
bell on the engine tolling and the
whistle tooting merrily, tlio train pulls
up at tho station. Here, by automatic
arrangement, a stop of five minutes is
made, during which the door of the
waiting room opens, and three passen¬
gers make their appearance, Tlio
station agent also appears, tho flagman
throws a switch, gives tho signal, and
the train then resumes its journey.
During its absence a second engine
makes an appcaranco, coming to the
front from a cleverly constructed
side switch, which si always se¬
curely locked upon the approach of the
first train. The realism of the scene is
heightened by the presence on the re¬
verse sido of the station of an ever-vig¬
ilant gatekeeper, who lowers the gates
and waves the danger signal at the ap¬
proach of trains. There is also in cp
peration an imitation of an electric
street car, which passes the station in
time to receive passengers from the
train.
In the centre of the clock, just over
the miniature representation of the city,
there is an alcove, in which appears, at
intervals of five minutes, one of a dozen
figures which represent the twelve
stages in the life of man, from the little
toddler just learning to walk to the
gray-haired and aged grandsire. As
the twelfth figure makes its appearance
at the close of each hour, old Father
Time, with an hourglass in his hand,
appears at an opening in the top of the
cabinet and strikes the hour of the day
on a silver boll. On two small dials,
located on either side, are two human
hands, the one pointing to the season
of the year and the other to the week of
the year.
The inventor and sole originator of
this ingenious contrivance is a young
mechanic named Thbmas Fitzsimmons.
Thomas is only 23 years of ago, has
never had any education beyond that
acquired in the common schools, and
was never identified with a watch or
clock making establishment. His knack
at inventing odd things is purely inher¬
ent, and since he was old enough to bo
about his spare time has always been
SPRING PLACE. GA., THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 1890.
devoted to mechanical experimenting.
The clock has enlisted his attention for
four years, and now lacks but the paint¬
ing and decorating to make it fit for
public exhibition. During all this time
young Fitzsimmons has worked at other
odd jobs and earned a comfortable liv¬
ing .—Here York Sun.
They Mere Hornets.
Wo were waiting on tne depot plat
form in a new town in Alabama, and as
the dozen of us walkod up and down
soaukoiie eepladra- w«p»* nest
oa a bush across the track. He pointed
it out as a wasps’ nest, but a short,
solid man, who had a head like a ettn
non ball and a jaw denoting great' lirm
ness of character, at ouoe replied:
“1 beg your pardon, sir, but you
have made the very common mistake
of classing the wasps with the hornets.
That is a hornsts’ nest.”
“And, I Deg your pardon, sir,” pro¬
the otlipr, who .was ,.a planter,
“but hornets don’t nest that way. They
build mud houses undtr tho eaves of old
buildings, and one won't sting you un¬
less you pick him'up. Mv hands do
cl aro that no wasp can sting, if lie wants;
to, while on tho contrary a hornet—”
“1 beg to differ with you, sir,” inter
rupted the solid man. “That is q
wasps’ neat. Y*u‘Wo right -about the
wasp being a peaceful iuse.ef, and I
think I will take the nest along for a
souvenir. They say they are a sure
cure for quinsy.
“Do you know a hornet from a
*^•1 «! should iemar • arkl" • ,
/
_ l i at’; i, 1011 y0U gC r0l1S ™ 1
that that nest I want you to tell , me whether
it was occupied by hornets or wasps.
Gentlemen, look out for yourselves!"
He started for the woodl Aud we fol¬
lowed, and when we reached a safe dis
.
tatice -and looked back, the man with
the iron jaw was just cuttiug off the
limb which held the nest. Ho held it
up and called to u i to come and see it,
but this call was followed by a yell
which would have done cedit to a
Comanche warrior with a double Adam’s
apple in his throat. Tne big yell was
followed by a series of hoots, whoops,
exclamations and ejaculations, and these
were accompanied by gymnastics of an
intricate character. He jumped, dodged,
twisted, and cavorted, and Anally
started down tho track on a gallop.
Seventy minutes later, aud jist a3 the
train whistled, he cams out of tho
woods, dead lame, one eye shut, his
nose a9 big as his fist, and his head
bare.
“Hornets or wasps?” queried the
planter.
“Hornets, by thunder!" groaned the
victim as he hurried to get his valise.
Shoplifters of Paris.
sorry to say, observes a corre¬
spondent of the San Francises Chronicle,
that women term almost the whole part
of the individuals who are arrested for
stealing m Paris shops. They aro di¬
vided into different distinct classes—
professional aud habitual thieves, thieves
who are compelled to steal from necessi¬
ty, monomaniacs and deranged persons.
Professional thieves are distinguished
by tlieir assurance. They generally
wear large cloaks, under which stolen
articles may easily be hidden, a peas¬
ant’s stylo of dress with plaits falling
straight down, excellent for conceal¬
ment, and their underskirts aro supplied
with hooks on which the cloth or stuff
stolen can be suspended. There are
also false pockets that correspond with
real one3, and so deep that a fine collec¬
tion of articles can bo shoved into them.
They generally wear easy shoes, nnd
the stockings aro cut off at the end so
as to let the toes move about freely,
when the feet arc taken out of the boot.
Pieces of lace, silk handkerchiefs or
other light articios are dropped on the
floor, as if by mistake, and without the
saleswoman perceiving it, quickly tho
purchaser’s foot picks it up and places
it under her skirt and thoro you are.
Professional thieves only steal valuable
articles, and they do a big business.
Many shoplifters are household ser¬
vants. Accustomed to indulging in
small thefts, anl always to tho detri¬
ment of their masters and raistressos,
they pick up what they want just when
they need it most. As for those im
polled to stetfl by necessity, governesses
supply the largest contingent, and
gloves are about tho only things they
care for. A pair that costs only 30
cents is far too dear for their meager
purse, and they cannot show their
naked hands in the house where they
a»s giving lessons to the children of rich
parents.
A TERRIBLE ORDEAL
A Hunter in the Grasp of a
Huge Grizzly Bear.
He Lies Still While the Brute
Mangles His Body.
There were two Americans in the
Santa Clara Valley of California at an
early day—brothers—named Howard
Michael ..Oyeragker. They owned
Wgo farms, had popular.!. a wide iicqi', #
and were very They
also the best rifle-shots and the most'
cool .and successful hunters in the
county. I havo "seen M.chacl, al a
turkey-match, kill his bird at 600 yards.
They used to kill wild geese, coyotes, t
mountain quail, and hare on the run
with their Henry rifle). Still, tjibugh
thoy had shot hundreds of deer,antelope
and elk, they never went grizzly hunt
ing. At last, in 1868, in the Sa^
Benito mountains, Howard Overacker'
had his boar adventure, aud the details
are very characteristic of the habits of
the grizzly.
The elder Ovoracker was ttrna in the
primet>f lifs, extremely strong,
lean ^ad, iu his motions.
brj»yt*V «,ad a man named' Ferguson
formed thereat of the party. They
left camp and separated, taking nearly
parallel ravines. Howard was slowly
working his way through the dense;
thorny hushes, called by Californians
-chapparnl, when he suddenly came dpoh
a largo and old grizzly at close quartors.
The animal was less than twenty .feet
ai#ttat) aftd nfc oncc> with a roar of
rnge, threw himself upon Overackor.
The hunter, with .that marvellous
rapidity which such men acquire, put a
bullet, into his foe, threw out the shell
and had pumped another cartridge into
tpe rifle when the giant of tho wilder
ness struck him. The blow delivered
with the right paw struck him on the
face aud neck,- hurlrtLlhe -gin* iut® the
bushes, and felled him to the ground.
The grizzly instantly caught him in
three places—one paw over tho ribs,
breaking two, and tonring them loose;
the other paw on the ankles, ripping
and crushing the flesh; the teeth and
jaws closed on the thigh, mangling tho
flesh and tearing it from the bone.
Overacker, though perfectly conscious,
lay without a motion through this
terrific assault.
The bear suddenly got his hold on
the thigh, and caught Ovcracker by
the shoulder, breaking aud crushing
tho bones together, From tho time
when he rose against the man to tho
time when he dropped him a bundle of
broken bones and torn flesh, the grizzly
had seemingly put forth one tremen¬
dous effort. Overacker said after ward he
was no stronger in the bear’s grasp than
a cat would be in his own. The bear
left him a moment, walked about in a
circle, returned suddenly and bit pieces
of flesh as largo a marble from various
parts of Overackcr's body, and then
took his final departure.
Overacker, a few minutes later,
seized the branches overhead aud strug¬
gled to his feet, but, to use his own
phrase, “all turned black,” and his
companions found him half an hour
later. For weeks he wa3 not expected
to live, but his wife’s nursing and his
magnificent constitution pulled him
through. Two years later Ovoracker
returned to the same region and shot
two largo grizzhos without any assist¬
ance. One of them received eight
Henry rifle bullet% before he succumbed.
This littlo sacrifice to his vanity being
accomplished, he hunts no moro bears,
and even discourages the light-minded
sneer at the California grizzly. I asked
the veteran whether he would have used
a bowie if he had had it while in the
grip of tho forest king. Overacker
smiled grimly: * ‘It was a very large
bear—as large as an ox. If John Sul¬
livan had been in my place, and had
driven a bowie through the bear’s hear t
he would havo boen killed in the death
struggle. As for a revolver, it would
have been suicide to havo tried it. But
if the bear had been fifty feet off when
I saw him, instead of twenty feet, I
could have kept out of the way long
enough to kill him.”— N. Y. Post.
In Imminent Danger.
Jenny—Here comes Jack, auntie. I
wish you would come down and stay in
the room.
Auntie—Why?
Jenny—I’m afraid he is going to pro
pose, aad I can’t trust myself—he looks
to poor and so handsome.
Buffaloes as Pets.
Mr. Hornaday places the buffalo very
low, indeed, in the standard of mental
capacity, and makes this stupidity the
cause of his extermination, But if tho
monarch of the pla:ns lacked intellect,
he certainly did not want for affection.
The manner in which the bull buffalo
protected the calves of the herd is a
glorious example of paternal instinct,
An army surgeon related the following
instance to Mr. Ilornaday: “He was
; n camp onc evening when his attention
W as arrested by the curious action of a
litUo knot of six or eigh( . bllff;lloes
sufficiently near to see
clearly, ho discovered that this littie
knot was made up of bulls, standing in
a close circle, with heads outward,
while in a concentric circle, at some 12
or 15 paces distant, sat at least a dozen
grey wolves (excepting man, the
most dangerous caemy of the buffalo),
doctor determined to watch the
perform auce. After a few moments
tho knot broke up, and still keeping in
a compact mass, started on a trot for
^tho main herd, some half a mile off.
To his very great astonishment, tho
doctor now saw that the central and
controlling figuro of this mass was a
poor little calf, so newly born as
to bo able to walk. After
50 or 100 paces the calf laid
down, tho bulls disposed themselves in
^ c i rc i e a , before, and ihe wolves who
b a d trotted along on each sido of their
retreating supper, sat down and licked
their chops again, and though the
doctor did not see the finale, it being
and the camp distant, he had no
t l ou bt that the noble fathers did their
whole duty to their offspring, and
carried it safely to tho herd." The
^buffalo, / if taken when young, submits
i with surprising readiness to tho ro
strainfs of captivity. Mr. Hornaday
declares buffalo calves make excellent
PUtsburg Dispatch.
True to His Trust,
-In the pioneer pccisA-th-* basket? -
Helena, Montana, thought nothing of
sending $1,000,000 worth of gold dust
by tho freighting wagons across the
country 200 miles to Ft. Benton for
shipment by river. They intrusted the
treasure to acquaintances who chanced
to be making the trip, exactod no
bond and felt no anxiety. The mil¬
lions went through safely, although tho
boundary of (lie British dominions is
temptingly near part of the route to
Ft. Benton. Banker Horshfield of
Helena to!b an interesting story ot a
man by whom he once sent $150,000 in
gold dust from Ileloua. Tho dust was
put in the pocket of a jacket, which
was worn next to the body. The man
who carried tho treasure was only a
casual acquaintance of tho hanker.
Two or threo days out from Helena the
stago by which the trip was being made
met with an accident. It rolled down
a hillside, aad the treasure carrier was
badly hurt. Several of his ribs
were broken. lie was taken to a cabin,
and there he lay in agony, with the
dust still fastened about him, positively
refusing to let it be removed until Mr
IlershtielJ could bo sent for and the
trust could be returned to his hands.
Men may not bn more honest in Mon¬
tana than elsewhere, but it is a fact
that thefts of bullion have bcon of rare
occurrence. — Globs- Democrat.
Lucky He was In Debt.
“I always laugh,” relates an old resi¬
dent, “when I remember an experience
I had when a boy. I lived in the coun¬
try, and one day another boy and my¬
self had occasion to go to town. lie
owed me 50 cents, and was to pay me
when we reached town, where ho in¬
tended to get change for $1. In go¬
ing to town we had to cross a cicek.
It was early in winter, and the ice was
strong enough to hold me, but he was
a great deal heavier, aud in following
me he broke through. He at once be¬
gan to yell and scramble for dour life.
The water was quite deep and he was
in considerable danger. I worked with
might and main for fifteen or twenty
minutes and finally succeeded in pulling
him out
“By Jove,” I exclaimed, as I puffed
and panted after my exertion, “it was a
pretty tough job getting you out of that
creek.”
“Yes, gosh blame it,” he replied,
“and you wouldn’t have done it if I
hadn’t owed you 50 cents.”
Professor—Can any one in tho class
tell me the familiar sobriquet by which
the followers of William Penn addressed
him? Student—Yes, sir; his nibs.
Vol. X. New Series. NO. 7.
BURIED ALIVE.
A Sure Method of Ascertaining
if Life is Extinct.
Fire Applied to a Corpse’s Fin¬
ger Will Raise No Blister.
About once in so often the newspa¬
pers are filled with accounts of prema¬
ture burials, and writers with abnormal
imaginations are in demand to paint in
vivid colors the agonies that must have
been endured by the hapless wretches who
up and found woko themselves dead. A
few days since such a case was re portel in
South Carolina. Whcu the coffin of a
young girl who had recently been bur¬
ied was exhumed the body was con¬
torted in a horrible manner, tho tiDgcr
nails were deeply buried iu the palms
of the bauds, the face was lacerated,
aud tho appearance of the corpso indi¬
cated that death had not finally come
without a fearful struggle. It was a
good story, and whether or not it was a
“fake,” it will probably start the fakers
of the newspapers to work, and there
will bo no lack of similar blood-curd¬
ling tales for a month or two.
A well-known Chicago physician read
the yarn refetrod to, and he was so
much wrought up over it that he came
down-town to the office of the Herald
to learn whether the case was duly
authenticated.
‘•There aro plenty of people moulder¬
ing under the sod," he said, “who
were buried before life became extinct,
but they were never made aware of the
fact. Coffins nowadays are hermetically
sealed, and there is not enough air in
one of them to bring a person to life
out of a trance. The lungs must have
a certain amount of oxygon before the
heart will begin to act, and one full in¬
halation would exhaust all of tho
oxygen in a modern casket, and tho
lungs would, of course, be unable to
take .another. AU these, stories qi
fearful sufferings endured by persons
buried alive arc false; there’s nothing
to them.
“No doubt, bodies aro frequently in¬
terred while life is yet extinct, but
this would not be tho case if everybody
knew of a certain infallible and abso¬
lutely certain test of death. Such a
test I have. It has never, so far as I
am aware, boen in print, and the Her¬
ald could do no better service to hu¬
manity than to publish it. I was a
coroner once upon a time, in one of the
Southern states. An old colored man
had died suddenly, and I was called
to sit upon the body and determine the
cause of death. When I arrivod the
man had been dead twenty-four hours,
and his friends in tho neighborhood
wore preparing to hold the funeral. I
impanelled a jury; the family of the
deceased testified to the extent of tlieir
knowledge; but I was unable to find
that the old follow had any disease
sufficient to kill him. I looked at tho
body, and examined it carefull 3 r . Then
a thought struck me, and I lighted a
match and applied it to the end of one
of tlic fingers of the corpse. Immedi¬
ately a blister formed. I had the dead
man put back into his bed, applied va¬
rious restorations and today that same
old colored man is alive and well.
“That is the test. Do you see the
philosophy of it? If you are alive you
cannot burn your hand without raising
a blister. Nature, in the effort to pro¬
tect Ihe inner tissues, throws a covering
of water, a non-conductor of heat, be¬
tween the fire and the flesh. If you
were dead, and flame should come in
contact with any part of your body, no
blister would appear, and the flesh
would be burned. The blood has been
Withdrawn from the arteries, and your
body is like so much beefsteak.
“All you havo to do is to apply a
match to any part of the supposed
corpse. If life remains, however little,
a blister will at once form. Simple,
isn’t it? Why, it is so simple that the
most ignorant person in the world can
apply it, and no expert physician could
settle tho question of life or death any
more certainly.”
Willing to Work.
“Why don’t you work?" said a chari¬
table lady tho other day to a tramp
fore whom she had placed a nicely
cooked meal.
“I would," replied the vagrant,
I had the tools.”
“What sort of tools do you want?”
asked the hostess.
“A knife and fork.”— The Ledger.
Catching Colds.
“Come around to my office," said a
prominent physician to a reporter of tho
Philadelphia Enquirer, and I will tell
you about colds and many of their most
common causes.” Seated in his office
the doctor began by telling of the
twenty-eight miles of pores in the hu¬
man body. “Now, it is not the ex¬
posure to the col d of all or a large
portion of these pores, which causes
one to take a cold,” said he, “for
doubtless you have seen workmen in
rolling mills rush from tho intense heat
into tho cold air to cool off, and in the
Turkish bath, where this sudden change
is experienced, I have yet to hear of
cold being contracted.
“But let this air strike a small por¬
tion of the body, and soon you find you
havo contracted a severe cold."
‘ Most colds arc contracted without
the reciprocaut kuowmg where they
come from. They are mainly due to
drafts. Street cars, with their numer¬
ous airy passages between the window
and the frame, their poorly adjusted
ventilators, and their frequently opened
front doors producing a current of cold
air can be charged for most of the colds.
•‘The clothing lias also a great deal
to do with the contracting of colds.
Take, for instance, those pretty little
capes of fur or cloth worn by Ladies.
They are actually cold feeders. They
offer no protection except to the neck,
and are never removed on entering the
theatre, a church or a warm room. As
they arc uot porous, of course tho
wearer, who doubtless looks very
charming, contracts a cold which red¬
dens her nose, and causes har to cough,
aud be generally miserable. Women,
however, are very careless, and often
expose themselves to danger which
would kill a man. For instance, they
will wear heavy flanuel during tho day,
and when dressed for the evening this
warm aud necessary covering is entirely
removed from the uppor portion of the
body and tucked away neatly in tho
cot*eh A clonk through which,.;he air
enters freely is thrown around; the
shoulders and arms, and it is a wonder
to mo that moro severe colds and even
more serious complaints are not con¬
tracted. I know there arc but few men
who could stand such exposure.
“Men aro equally careless at times,
and by ‘bundling’ up expect to kehp
away colds. This is folly. Look at
men wearing great storm coats, and to
keep cool having on thin underwear.
Now they should have on thick under¬
clothing aud a medium weight over¬
coat. It must bo unusually cold to re¬
quire the wearing of such a coat. The
neck should be always covered from
cold blasts, aud I havo often been told
that my coat collar was up by those
who did uot understand the reason.
This is also the benefit, and probably
the origin of tho high collar. When
retiring a different suit of underwear
should be put ou so that tho daily de¬
posit of matter from the pores could be
thoroughly aired out of the cloth.
Colds in the head are caused by damp
feet very often. See how I prevent
that," nnd liftiug his shoe he showed a
neat rubber sole fastened on to the
leather one. “This combines all the
benefits of the rubber shoo with those
of leather, and unliko cork soles does
not heat the foot unnaturally. The
main thing, however, to prevent colds
is to keep out of drafts and cold cur¬
rents of air, and in coming into a warm
room after walking briskly not to re¬
move the warm wraps suddenly and so
take a chili.”
Identification at a Bank.
One thing that a paying-teller must
be very careful about is the matter ot
identification of persons who present
checks. In tho case of small checks—
say of $100 or less—a personal iden¬
tification is not always required. It the
applicant seems “all right,” and can
show a marriage certificate containing
his name, or any similar document not
likely to be in tho possession of any but
the rightful owner, the money is paid
over. Caleb B. Bradbury, one of the
oldest bank- tellers in Boston, has had
men show him their names marked on
their linen or engraved on a watch-case.
On anything like a large amount, how¬
ever, a formal identification is rigidly
insisted upon, no matter how much the
applicant may protest or how angry he
may be at what he sometimes denounces
as impertinence.— Boston Herald.
Ornithologists have traced 500 names
formerly considered obscure to theit
original source.