Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

GOLD IN THE SEA. / Oceans Contain in Solution an Un¬ thinkable Sum of Wealth. About One-Tenth of a Grain in a Ton of Water. A great many people are aware of the fact that sea water is said to hold in solution largo quantities of gold, and perhaps some silver besides. In the strictly scientific world, however, this has been an open question for more than thirty years, and it has re¬ mained for an eminent chemist in the University of Sydney, Australia, Pro¬ fessor Liversidge, to offer from a series of exhaustive tests not only con¬ clusive proof of tho presence of gold in the ocean, but also to determine with some degree of precision the amount The results of Professor Liversidge’s researches is little less than astound¬ ing. Where no previous investigator lias been able to find more than a minute trace, which, if represented in figures, would not perhaps amount to u tenth of a grain per ton of sea water, this Australian professor has firmly demonstrated that ail sea water contains more than half a grain per ton, and that much of it contains more than a full grain. Of course, this amount is still very minute, for a grain of gold dissolved so as to remain in solution iu water will not, when precipitated,show more than a thin film, like a trace of oil, on tho top of tho water, Nevertheless, when even this smull quantity is con¬ sidered in relation to tho enormous volume of water in tho sea, tho total amount of gold which the ocean con¬ tains mounts up to simply an unthink¬ able sum. At from half to ono grain per ton, a cubic mile of sea water contains be¬ tween 130 and 200 tons of solid gold. At $20 an ounce—the actual value is aomewhat in excess of this—a ton of gold is worth a littlo short of $500,- 000. In other words a cubic mile of sea water contains gold to the value of between $05,000,000 and $130,000,000. Ou the surface of tho globe it is computed that thero aro from 300,- 000,000 and 400,000,000 cubic miles of ocean. Taking tho smaller of these estimates, at half a grain per ton, the total amount of gold in the sea would be above thirty-live million billions. At one grain per ton it would be just twice (his- iu figures, $75,000,000,- 000 , 000 , 000 . It, is almost impossible to grasp the magnitude of such u sum. Some com¬ parisons will help. The total amount of gold in all the world at the present time is calculated at something like $5,000,000,000 or $0,000,000,000. The computed wealth of tho United States, and thin is tho richest nation on earth, is something like $60,000,000,000 or $70,000,000,000. Tho gold wealth of tho ocean is a million times this. The ocean is, indeed, a gold mine com¬ pared with whoso value the present wealth of all the nations of the world sinks into insignificance. — New York Sun. The Culture of the Sponge. Tho department of state has just re¬ ceived through the conciliar agent at Mitvlene a communication from Char- alampos Ohorphiop, who calls himself a "merchant and fisherman ot sponges.” This Greek gentleman de¬ sires to obtain a concession which shall enable him to propagate sponges in the waters of Florida. Ho under¬ stands the artificial culture of these animals, and he proposes to bring with him skilled men and special ma¬ chinery. Incidentally ho is willing to instruct American citizens in the art of propagating sponges, which ho be¬ lieves will tend to the “development of the public richness.” It is his opin¬ ion that tho waters of Florida eau bix made to supply the world with sponges. He offers to pay into tho treasury ten percent of the proceeds of his indus¬ try during twenty years, at the cud of which time he will turn over to the government all his machinery, boats, etc. For many years past it has been realized that something ought to be done iu the way of sponge culture iu Florida waters. The natural supply of these auimals is diminishing at an alarming rate, owiug to over-fishing, Iu fact, they aro well-nigh threatened with extermination. Being stationary and incapable of flight,they are wiped out by sure-handed slaughter. The evil is not beyond repair, inasmuch as sponges can be propagated almost as easily as oysters, but a seemingly in- surmountable obstacle is presented by the professional fishermen, who will not tolerate grants of marine areas for the purposes of such culture. They say that giants of the kind would soon place the fishery in the hands of monopolists. These toilers of the sea aro deter¬ mined to defend their means of liveli¬ hood to the uttermost. They are the sort of men who shoot on occasion,and the least they would do would bo to destroy the boats and other apparatus of any specific sponge farmer who at¬ tempted to invade what they cousi- dered their territory. Furthermore, they profess the conviction that the artificial propagation of sponges is wholly impracticable. In this idea they are wrong, if any faith is to be put in the experts of the United States fish commission, who claim to have proved their theories by careful ex¬ periments. They assert, that, if proper measures were taken, the sponge fishery of Florida could he re¬ stored to the highest productiveness within a few years. Unquestionably, a considerable appropriation of money would be required, but it would be trifling compared with tbe cash value of the augmented crops. The sponge reproduces its species by means of spores, corresponding to eggs, which aro set free iu the water. After being “hatched” the young ones swim about for a while, eventu¬ ally attaching themselves to a rock or other object. The mature t-ponge also produces little buds, which detach themselves from the parent and float away to begin life ou their own ac¬ count. Tho scientific culturist, how¬ ever, makes use of neither of these natural processes. Tho method ho adopts is extremely simple, though re¬ quiring care aud skill. Traveling over the fishing grounds in a boat he pulls the sponges to the surface with a hook on the end of a long pole. The freshly-tackled sponge is not taken out of the water, but is held beneath the surface, while the operator cuts it into pieces. The knife used is as sharp ns a razor so that as little injury as possible shall be done to the tissues of the sponge. The animal is cut up in such a manner that each piece shall retain a part of the original external surface. Finally, each fragment is fastened to a bit of stone by a wire and is then dropped to tho bottom. In shoal water un easier and preferable method is to thrust a small splinter of wood through each fragment and stick it into the bottom. In this way a number of sponges are made out of a single sponge. Some of the fragmentary ones die, but the great majority of them survive. For three or four mouths they seem to be sickly, but at the end of that time they recover aud begin to grow with sur¬ prising rapidity. The planting must always be done where the sponges will not be rolled about by tho waves— Philadelphia Times. Japan's National Beverage. Saki is tho national beverngo of Japan, and until recent years was tbe only fermented liquor known iu that empire. It is obtained by the distil¬ lation of the beat kinds of rice. In appearance it resembles very pale sherry, though its taste is somewhat acid. The best saki is white, but there are many varieties, and the poorer people of Japan have to con¬ tent themselves with a turbid sort. A glass of saki is drunk at every func¬ tion and ceremony of daily life; even all offerings to the gods at the reli¬ gious festival--, whether great or small include a cupof s-’aki. An Eye Blackened by a (Juail. Tho American Field tells of au acci¬ dent on the Corral Hollow Railroad which gave Aeorge Leviilsky of Stock- ton, Cal., a.'bhrt’k eye. Some men, Lsvinsky among them, were ou one of several flat cars,riding along the railroad, when a bevy of quails arose and started to fly straight for thetraiu. The passengers jumped aud waved their arms, and oue of the bewildered birds hit Leviuskv iu the eye. The bird fell dead to the plat¬ form, while Levinsky’s eye was bruised so badly that a physician had to at- tend to it. DOFFING STRIPES. An Interesting Experiment in Prison Reform, Good Conduct Earns Exemption From the Convict Garb. Th£ most original experiment iu prisip reform which has yet been tried has tome time since been put into effect at Ohio’s penitentiary at Colum¬ bus, A striking, almost startling change in the conventional prison stripes of the convict has been made. This, the first announcement of this important departure, will doubtless ex- cits wide attention and comment. -t is, in brief, regulating the cloth¬ ing of the convict by his conduct. Under the system now in vogue iu all prisons, every convict wears the same uniform. The prisoner whose in¬ stincts are vile, whose ideas are thor¬ oughly steeped in crime, is the same, :n the appearance that clothing gives, *s the man whose instincts are of high grade, hut who, through weak¬ ness, has violated the laws. Penologists have long held that the intelligent convict could be more thor¬ oughly reformed by mental processes, or methods akin thereto, than by the physicul penalties that prison rules have caused all offenders to suffer. This is exactly the idea from which Warden E. G. Coffin of the Ohio peni¬ tentiary, conceived his plan of help¬ ing the prisoners to reform by grading their clothing. There are to be three grades, one hardly different from the ordinary suit of the civilian, while the other two bear in greater degree the mark of the prison. The first grade of clothing is of gray cloth, with nothing to indicate that it is anything else than a citizen's suit. The second grade will consist of gray aud white checked goods, and the third grade will be that of the present regular stripes, as now worn by all. A prisoner upon entering the prison will be placed in the second grade,aud after the expiration of six mouths, without being reported for any infrac¬ tion of the rules, will be entitled to be placed iu the first tc Every prisoner of the o Peniteu- tiary who is not reported for the violation of a prison rule until January 1 will be permitted to wear the first grade uniform as soon as it is possible to procure it. The prisoner who during the time men¬ tioned is reported for one infraction of the rules, will be eligible to the first grade in ten days thereafter. The prisoner who has two reports against him January 1 will not be eligible to the first grade fur twenty days. If a prisoner has three or more reports against him he will not be placed in the first grade until three continuous months have passed without au unfa¬ vorable report regarding him. Warden Coffin, iu talking to the writer, said: — “I am fully satisfied that all good citizens will lieartily approve the step I have taken, I do not believe that it is right and just that a man who has so conducted him. self as to maintain au unblemished reputation for years should be classed, clothed nml marched witlj one who is daily committing infractions ngaiust the rules of the prison. 'It holds out no inducement to the worthy prisoner to continue his efforts iu well doing. There should be some mark of dis¬ tinction to separate the .good from the bad- It seems to me the graded uni¬ form is the best method of accomp¬ lishing this purpose.” The Ohio Penitentiary has long been known by the fact that the in¬ mates thereof are treated with more humanity than in almost auv other State prison. The policy that has actuated the authorities.has been that men are much more inclined to re¬ nounce evil life and to become good citizens if the attitude of the officials toward them is that which human be¬ ings might naturally expect.—New York Herald. In the Schoolroom. Teacher—What is your mother's name? Six-year-old—Mrs. Rogers. Teacher—But what is her Christian name—what does your father call her? Six-vear-old (in a piping voice)— Different things.—Washington Times. t i * Sfcp Took Her Precious A Buffalo woman we'' to Caiifor- nia to 6peml the a cou pl e °* weeks ago. She is great lover of flowers. She hr' uer yard full of them in the gI ,.imer and her house full of them in the winter. Her particular pride is a bigcalla. When she was making up her list of things to take to California she included the calla. She read the list to her husband. When she came to the c ilia he said: “Now, I wouldn’t take that calia.” “Why not?” she asked, with some asperity. “I never thought so much of a plant in my life as I do of that calla, and I just know it will be full of blossoms this winter, aud I wouldn’t miss seeing them and smelling them for the world. ” The first letter home contained this paragraph: “I must tell you about that calla. It was the greatest bother you ever saw. I almost wore myself to a shadow taking care of it. But I car¬ ried it along, thinking of the lovely blossoms it would surely have this winter. By the time I got into Cali¬ fornia I was sick and tired of it and nervous and worried and all that. But I remembered the comfort the blos¬ soms would be to me when they came. When I got up on the morning of the last day I looked out of the car win- dow,aDd may I never see Buffalo again if the train wasn’t running through a field of callas so big that I couldu’t see its limits. I just sat dowu and had a good cry. To think that an ordin¬ arily sensible woman should cart a twenty-pound loot aud lily 3,000 miles just because she wanted to see it in blossoms, and then find millions of the same lillit s growing wild in the fields. It was enough to make an angel weep, Then I took the calla amj threw it out of the car window.— Buffalo (New York) Express. Telephoning Without Wires. “The most interesting experiments I know of now being conducted are those of telephoning without wires,” said J. T. Marbury of Nashville at the Howard. “N'o mention of it has as yet been made iu the papers, but to my mind the scheme gives every prom¬ ise of being successful. A friend of mine, by the came of T. A. Edwards, who has been a telegraph operator for a good many years, conceived the idea that as the ground currents of electric¬ ity had long been used in place of the old-time return wires, they could be used for the entire circuit. He ex- perimented for several years with tele¬ graphing without wires, achieving partial success. He then learned that other men were investigating the same subject, and abandoned the plan sub¬ stituting telephoning for telegraphing. In this he will be successful. I have used it for a distance of a quarter of a mile, aud it was entirely satisfacto¬ ry. 1 am not an electrician, aud my friend has not yet completed his appa¬ ratus,so I will not attempt to describe it.”—Washington Star. Horseless Carriage Accident Paris has had its first serious motor carriage accident. The Automobile Club had had a run to the Paviliion Henri IY. at St. Germain. On the return, in going down the steep de¬ scent between St. Germain and Fort Marly, the leading carriage, in charge of the Comte de Deon, came to grief. In trying to steer between a heaviiy laden farmer's wagon aud the steam tramway train that runs ou the side of the road, the automobile carriage was- turned suddenly, knocking off one of the front wheels and throwing out the nine occupants, A Paris lawyer had three ribs broken, M. Georges Berger, who was director general of the 1389 exposition, aud another gentleman were badly bruised, while the rest got a severe shaking up. How It Happened. “Did I ever tell you how I got licked iD school once?” “No.” “Well, I got it. Yon see, half a dozen of us boys arranged to jump ou the teacher at a given signal, and——” “You were the only one that jumped?” “Exactly!”—Chicago Record. During the last year eight non-com¬ missioned officers in the British army have been promoted to lieutenancies. The Point of Yiew. Helen (looking over fashion maga¬ zine)—Now, who do you suppose would be seen in such a horrid immodest bi¬ cycle * suit as this? Edith—That? Why, that’s a bathing suit! Helen—Oh! Isn’t it just too lovely for anything! Let’s see how it’s made. —Puck. One Secret of Long-exity. Those anxious to prolong this rapid transitory existence of ours beyond the average span, should foster his digestion, negatively by ab¬ staining from indiscretions in diet, and affirm¬ atively by the use of that peerless stomachic, Hostetler's Stomach Bitters, when he experi¬ ences symptoms of indigestion. The impair¬ ment of the digestive function is fatal to vigor. Subdue with the Bitters, also, fever and ague, biliousness and constipation. The football champion of the present may be¬ come the hack driver of the luture. it is a pleasing thought. If you have tried Dobbins' Floating-Borax Soap you have decided to use it all the lime. If you haven't tried it you owe it to yourself to do so. Your grocer has it or will get it. Be sure that wrappers are printed in red. A deficit in health is much better than one in pocket. “I enclose Centbeville, R. I.. March C. of 1892. two dollars to get some your Tetterine. It has done wonders on three persons to whom I had given a little ot my small supply. They were radically cured of eczema.” Yours respectfully, Rev. C. P. Gaboury. 1 box by mail for 50c. in stamps. J. T. SnuPTRlNE, Savannah, Ga. “Walter Baker & Co., of Dorchester, Mass., U. S. A., have given years of stuil y lo the skil¬ ful preparation of cocoa and chocolate, and have devised machinery and systems peculiar to their methods of treatment, whereby tbe purity,palatability retained. and highest nutrient preparations char¬ acteristics are Their are known the world over, and have received tbe highest indorsements from the medical practitioner, tlie nurse, and ilie intelligent housekeeper food-product and which caterer. There extensively is hardly used any may lie so in i lie household in combination with other foods as cocoa and chocolate: but here again we urge the importance of purity and nutrient value, and these important points, we and feel sure, may be relied upon in Baker’s Cocoa Chocolate .”—Dietetic and Hygienic Gazette. A 50-Cent Calendar Free. tor Perhaps the most beautiful Calendar issued the year '97 is The Youth's Companion Art Calendar, which is given to each subscriber to the paper for the year '97. It is made up of foul- charming pictures, beautifully reproduced in twelve harmonious colors. It is in form a four- page folder which, when extended, is 10x24 Inches in size. The subjects are delightfully attractive. This Calendar makes a desirable ornament for a mantel, centre-table or writing desk. It is offered for sale only by the pub¬ lishers of The Youth's Companion at 50 cents per copy. Only because of the enormous num¬ ber published is it possible for the publishers of The Companion to send it free to all Companion subscribers. Deafness Cannot be Cured by local applications, as' they cannot reach the diseased portion of the ear. There is only one way to cure deafness, and that Is by constitu¬ tional remedies. Deafness is caused by an in¬ flamed condition of the mucous lining Of the Eustachian Tube. When this tube gets In¬ flamed you have a rumbling sound or imper¬ fect hearing, and when it is entirely closed Deafness is the result, and unless the inflam¬ mation can be taken out and this tube restored • to Its normal condition, hearing will be de¬ stroyed forever, Nine cases out of ten are caused by catarrh, which Is nothing but an in¬ flamed condition of the mucous surfaces. We will give One Hundred Dollars for any case of Deafness (caused by catarrh) that can¬ not be cured by Hall's Catarrh Cure. Send for circulars, free. F. J. Cheney & Co., Toledo, O. Sold by Druggists, 75c. Hall's Family Pills aro the best. FITS stopped free and permanently cured. No fits after first day’s use of D.r. Kline’s Great Nerve Restorer. Free $2 trial bottle and treat¬ ise. Send to Dr. Kline, 931 Arch St.. Phila., Pa. Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup for children teething, softens the gums, reduces inflamma¬ tion, allays pain, cures wind colic. 25c. a bottle. After physicians had given me up, I was saved by l’iso’s Cure.— Ralph Ekieg. Williamsport, Pa., Nov. 22, 1893. If afflicted with sore eyes use Dr. Isaac Thomp¬ son's Eye-water. Druggists sell at 25c. per bottle. St. Vitus’ Dance. One bottle Dr. Fenner’s Specific < ures. Circular, Fredonla, N. Y. i28 i j B ’<• Doses One Dol lar is true only of Hood’s Sars-i- parilla. It is economy to get Hood’s win-u you need a blood purifier und nerve tonic because 33 ■ Gy Sarsaparilla The best—in fact the One True Blood Purifier. Hood’s Pills euro take, easy Liver to Ills; opera easy te. 25c. to a ght 5? costs cotton planters more than five million dollars an¬ nually. This is an enormous waste, and can be prevented. Practical experiments at Ala¬ bama Experiment Station show conclusively that the use of “Kainit” will prevent that dreaded plant v • disease. All about Potash—the farms results of its United use by actual States—is ex¬ periment on the best in the told in a little book which we publish and will gladly mail free to any farmer in America who will write for iu GERMAN Nassau KALI WORKS, St., New York, 93 Business Course to one perso.i iu every county. Please apply promptly business to Georgia College. Macon, Georgia. i vi t— Hi [515 o CURES WHERE ALL ELSE WHS. Best Cough Syrup. Tastes Good. Use in in time. Sold by druggists. I _