Newspaper Page Text
A.N OLD SWEETHEART OF MINE.
As one who cons at evening o’er an album all
alone.
And muses on the faces of the friends that he
has known;
Bo I turn the leaves of fancy till in shadowy
design
I find the smiling features of an old sweet
heart of mine.
The lamplight seems to glimmer with a flicker
of surprise
As I turn it low to rest me of the dazzle in
my eyes.
And I light my pipe in silence, save a sigh
that -oems to yoke
Its fate With my tobacco, and to vanish in the
smoke.
’Tis a fragrant 'Retrospection, for the loving
thoughts that start,
Into being are like perfumes from the blos
soms of the heart;
And to dream the old dreams over is a luxury
divine,
When my truant fancy wanders with that
old sweetheart of mine.
Though I hear, beneath my study, like a
fluttering of wings,
The voices of my children and the mother as
she sings,
I feel no twinge of conscience to deny mo any
theme
"W hen care has cast her anchor in the harbor
of a dream.
In fact, to speak in earnest, I believe it adds
a charm
To spice the good a trifle with a little dust of
harm;
For 1 And an extra flavor in memory’s mel
low vine
That makes me drink the deeper to that old
sweetheart of mine.
A face of lily beauty and a form of airy
grace
Floats out of my tobacco as the genius from
the vase;
And a thrill beneath the glances of a pair of
azure eyes
As glowing as the summer and as tender as
the skies.
I can see the pink sun-bonnet and the little
checkered dress
She wore when first I kissed her, and she
answered the caress
With the written declaration that, “as surely
a- - the vine
Grew hound trie stump, she loved me,” that
old sweetheart of mine.
And again I feel the pressure of her slender
little hand
As we used to talk together of the future we
had planned
When I should be a poet, and with nothing
else to do
But to write the tender verses that she sot
the music to.
"V\ hen we should live together in a cosy
little cot
Hid in a nest of roses, with a tiny garden
spot,
here the vines were ever fruitful and the
weather ever fine.
And the birds were ever singing for that old
sweetheart of mine.
When I should be her lover forever and a
day,
And she my faithful sweetheart till the
golden hair was gray;
And we should be so happy that when either’s
lips were dumb
They should not smile in heaven till the
other’s kiss had come.
But, ah, my dream is broken by a step upon
the stair,
Aud the door is softly opened, and my wife
is standing there;
\ et with eagerness aud rapture all my visions
I resign
To meet the living presence of that old
sweetheart of mine.
—James Riley , in Boston Pilot.
SEVIL! ESBLUNDERSL
BY BERTIIA liERTON.
A scraw', of “not available,” across
the top of a p: im looking sheet of manu
script, and it was refolded and passed to
the left hand ot the table, with an air
that bespoke its final disposal; then the
young editor gave his attention to a more
interesting sub;ect.
That literary men, especially editors,
should have nine to devote to sentiment
aud love making, would hardly be sup
posed, when one takes iuto consideration
their arduous duties, and as Herman
Seville sal in his cosy sanctum with a
formidable pile of bulky packages before
him. while at his side, and gap.ng like a
hungry young robin, stood th§ capacious
and suggestive waste basket, no one
would have suspected that lie was pen
ning a tender little note, most carefully
■worded, ami literally l rimming with
sentiment and fervor.
Incredible, it would nave seemed, yet,
so it was: and he had sandwiched it in
as a sort of relish among less delectable
business.
Twice he read it over to see that he
had said exactly what he meant to,say,
to see that he ha 1 used lluwerv rhetoric,
impassioned and eloquent language. \ es,
as he carefully folded the note and laid
it by itself upon the table, he felt that
he had left nothing unsaid: ana well
satisfied with the effort, calmly c onfident
of its effect, he proceeded to the busi
ness ot the morning, which was the con
sideration of the vast accumulation of
manuscripts before mentioned that
awaited his verdict ot approval or dis
approval.
I here they la in various shapes and
sizes, according to the fancy and con
venience of tlieir respective writers, aud
through that long summer morning Her-
man s-exilie read aud criticised and
crossed out redundant wo ds and
phra-es, aud iuto the hung y basket
dropped rejected articles.
A few marked ar-ccpted were pushed
to his right hand, but those were for
tunate ones, fot the editor was extremely
fastidious, and inferior articles never
appeared in his columns, consequently
the aspirants to the heights of excellence
contained in that paper were kept in a
continued and a decidedly uncomforta
ble state of suspense regarding their
articles. *
One there was among the number that
particularly pleased the young editor. A
eket h sko t and lively and interesting,
interspe.sed with plenty of dialogue,
the language beautiful and fiowery, the
sentim nt tender and pure, and that was
euphonious nora dc plume of “Pansy
Blossom” was given,” the real name Mil
lie McKay, and tiie editor repeated it to
himself musingly.
She was evidently a writer of ability,
and he would just write her a little note
of acceptance, with a request, also, that
she would become a regular contributor
to the paper.
Then he thrust it into an envelope and
laid it beside another undirected wrap
per which contained the little poem with
the fateful words, “not available,”
branded upon its first page.
If " as almost dinner time, and editors,
as well as more commonplace mortals,
feel the cravings of appetite. Herman
.'Seville began to think of the wants of
his inner man; then his thoughts went
back to the sentimental note he had writ
ten to the girl he loved, and glancing at
the first lines, that there should be no
mistake, he placeed that also in aa en
velope.
Just then the telephone set up such a
jabbering that lie sprang up and answered
a message; then he directed those letters
and mailed them on his way to dinner.
And, as he seated himself at the hotel
table, and a trifle impatiently, perhaps,
awaited the tilling of the bill of "fare, he
had the calm self-consciousness of having
done a big stroke of business.
Yes, he had really done much more
than lie gave himself credit for.
That same evening he called at the
home of Ethel Vinton, the young lady to
whom he had that forenoon penned such
a tender iittl« note.
He was to be her escort to an opera,
aud the anticipation of spending the
evening by her side was very pleasing.
His surprise, therefore, may be imagined
when, instead of his charmer, he found a
note awaiting him. Ehe had decided
not to attend the opera, and the maid
handed him a letter. Ah! that would
doubt!e-s explain Perhaps the dear girl
was ill; and with that regretful thought,
the editor consigned the note to a breast
pocket in the immediate region of his
heart. Then he went back to his
sanctum.
A lady, tall and angular, with her
head and face enveloped in a bright,
green veil, that quite enshrouded her
features, arose from liis oltice chair as he
entered, with a bow which did credit to
her early training. Then, in precise and
measured words, she proceeded to ex
press her gratification at being at last
appreciated. That her little poem must
be a success she had been confident, and
she was delighted at his request. Cer
tainly, she would furnish a poem week
ly, on any sub ect, in any style ef verse,
and of any desired length.
“It was so easy for her to rhyme,” she
said, aud she threw back the folds of
vivid green that had Concealed her face,
and revealed the thin, lank visage of a
maiden of forty-five summers.
She had a sallow complexion, her
piercing black eyes were small aud glit
tering, aud about her temples she wore
short, corkscrew curls that bobbed up
and dosvn in her earnestness,
Her gaze was fixed upon the editor’s
face, and he seemed quite mystified re
garding her meqaiug; but when at last
she paused for breath, ho gave utterance
to his thoughts.
“.My dear madame,” lie said concilia
ting]}', as the elderly aspirant Bp poetic
fame stepped expectantly forward, “I
think there must be a mistake.”
llow, or where the mistake had- been
made lie was still at a Loss to determine.
“A mistake!” exclaimed woman,
in a high-pitched tone. “Il§& can it
be? Ytou needn't deny that you wrote
this; your own name is signed to it;”
and she held before him the note which,
he had written to Millie McKay, the ac
ceptance of her sketch, the request that
she should become a regular contributor.
Yes, there at the bottom of the page
was his name; but the address on the
envelope was to Mehitable Smith.
“The dickens! What have I done?”
Herman Seville ejaculated, and he drew
from lus breast pocket the note which he
had been so impatient to read; the pre
cious note that was to explain why Ethel
Vinton had refused to attend the ope:a
in his company. The wrapper only en
closed his own note to Ethel, but inside
of it instead of the tender sentiments
which he had written, was Mehitable
Smith’s poem, the “not available,” and
he passed it to the indignant lady.
“You see I have made a blunder,” he
went on, apologetically. “This, madam,
was designed for you, and I sincerely re
gret that I should have raised any fai-e
hopes regarding your poem; but really
we have more articles of that kind on
hand than we shall be able to use for a
long time.”
“You may spare your regrets,” Miss
Smith exclaimed, indignantly, as her
small black eyes flashed fire. “Men are
false, all of them, and I might have
known that your word could not be de
pended upon;” then drawing the green
veil over her sallow visage, she dashed
from the room, aud Herman Seville be
gan to pace the floor.
it was an unfortunate mistake, but
he would call at Mr. Vinton’s in the
morning and Ethel would laugh at the
ludicrousness of the affair.
But he was not through with trouble; I
for although he slept that night, his vi
sionswere haunted withelderiy maidens,
maidens with piercing eyes and huge
bundles of poems, and he arose an hour
earlier than usual aud aided his digestion
by a morning walk.
Tint forenoon he called at Mr. Vin
ton's re-idence, but again Ethel sent ex
cuses, and he returned to his sanctum
with the uncomfortable feeling that he
had not been guided by heaven’s first
law in his literary work of the previous
day.
Another surprise awaited him. Seated
at the street window of his office was a
lady, young and bright, and piquant in
expression, with large ha el eyes, qnd
fair thoughtful face; her vivid lips had
a bewildering, fascinating curve, though
they seemed a tri;ie too firmly set, and
in her cheeks was a tint like the lining
of a rare scasliell.
She aro-e and met him with an open
letter in her hand.
“1 do not think that this is intended as
an open insult,’’ she said in a low.musical
tone, which the editor thought, was in
expressibly sweet, “i ut I cannot put any
other construction upon it. Perhaps
, you can explain :” and the beautiful
hazel eyes looked tip questioningly to
Herman Seville's face, as she placed in
his hand the note designed for Ethel
Vinton.
That note, which he had penned so
carefully, which he had read and re
read that mistakes there should 1 enone;
aud VVat a mess he had made of it.
“Have a seat, Miss McKay,” the editor
said, as he drew forward the most com
fortable chair of which his sanctum
could boast; and the young lady settled
down to listen to the untangling of mis
haps that Herman Seville had brought
upon himself, through his own careless
ness, and in spite of all efforts to retain
herself, Millie McKay’s amusement at
his misfortunes found tent in a low,
musical laugh, at which, notwithstand
ing it was at his expense, the editor
took no offense.
That explanation, however, did not
make it appear that Ethel Vinton was
anything more than a good friend, nor
that the tender, little note which had so
awkwardly fallen into Millie McKay’s
hands was aught but sheer nonsense.
May that editor be forgiven for his
unLfuthfnines > for he seemed to be
verifying Mehitable Smith’s assertion
regarding the falsity of mankind.
1 bat it was exceedingly gratifying to
Millie McKay to learn that her sketch
had been accepted may be believed, and
also that she was desired to become a
regular contributor to the Weekly Jour
nal', for she was dependent upon her
own exertions, and from her indifferent
success in the past she had about de
j cided to relinquish authorship.
When the young authoress left Her
j man Seville’s officeit was with a lighter
I heart than when she entered it. The
i note, that she had felt a* insulting, had
not been designed for her; indeed, it
had meant nothing at all, or so that
I handsome editor had made her believe,
and she went back to- the small, third j
story room, that was kitchen, parlor, i
sleeping-room all in one, and, commenced *
another story forthwith,
And when she had gone Herman
Seville leaned back into his chair and fell !
into a reverie, the burden of which was,
that he did not much care if Ethel Vin
ton was offended, or Mehitable Smith,
either, and because a oertain article was
not available, he was sure he was not to
blame; (was man ever known to be since
Adam's day?) and of one- thing he was
certain he had secured a nuo writer for
the paper.
She was a very agreeable girl, too:
she would bo a pleasant acquaintance,
and so she proved, in time, more than
acquaintance, or even friend, for Millie
McKay finally the became the editor's
wife and was not obliged to write
sketches for a living.
And thus the mishaps that were caused
by Mehitable Smith’s unavailable poem,
resulted, also, in bringing to Herman
Seville true love aud happiness. —Yankee i
Blade.
The Wood Buffalo.
There still remain some of the wood
buffalo. This is an animal larger than
the American bison of the plains. They
are larger, coarser-haired and stronger
horned. * I mention this peculiarity of
difference in the horns because it is be
lieved that the shape and the broken
and the crooked nature of the horns of
the prairie buffalo has been caused by
the habit of digging into rhe gravel,
whereas in the more northern species
they had to contend with other con
ditions, where straight horns would be
of more use, for instance, they use them
there for clearing aside from their path
way the brush and luxuriant under
growth. These animals would weigh
at least 150 pounds more than the buffalo
of the Saskatchewan plains.
In the northern regions the vetches
and grasses as so high, and the snow
falls not heavy, they have
not had to paw and break the crusted
snow, as was the habit of the buffalo,
and that may account for their superior
size. In the country where these are
found horses can not be used in pursuit,
and they are stalked in the same manner
that the moose aud the other large
animals are. It is difficult to form an
accurate estimate of the number of
these animals that may yet be left, but
perhaps investigation may show that 500
or 000 may yet remain in scattered
bands. Owing to the»fact that the horse
can not be used in pursuit, it is more
difficult for the Indians to hunt them,
and, indeed, to find them, than it was
in the old days of hunting upon the
plains.
So rank is the undergrowth of this
rich country, and so difficult is it for
the Indians to get at these animals,
that perhaps just now any attempt on
the part of the Government to afford
protection to them would be useless. If,
however, some regulation would prevent
white sportsmen from deliberately com
ing into the country to hunt these ani
mals for mere pleasure it might result to
advantage. At pie-ent it would be
vexatious to the Indians, and of no great
use, as the animal has become in its
habits so much like the moose that he
is liable in a great measure to protect
himself.
Why a Baseball Curves.
Lovers of baseball may find it con
venient to keep in mind this explanation
of the pitcher's curve from Mr. 11. A.
Proctor: If the bad is advancing with
out spin, or is spinning on an axis lying
along its course, the cushion of com
pressed air carried forward by it is coni
cal—or rather conoidal—and therefore
resists the progress of the ball equally on
all sides, affecting only the velocity. But
iu the case of the curve, where the ball
is spinning on an axis square to its
course, the air in front of the advancing
side of the spinning surf ace cannot es
cape so readily as if there were no spin,
and escapes more readily on the other
side. Hence the resisting cushion of air
is thrown toward that side of the ball
where the spin i 3 forward . id removed
from the other side, and the ball is de
flected from the region of greatest re
sistance.
An Indian and a Panther.
A short time since a bloody fight oc
curred between an Indian and a panther
twenty miles south of Mercer, Texas. A
party of Indians from a neighboring vil
lage were out hunting wild turkeys.
One of the party who had strayed away
from his companions met a large panther
i and shot at it, wounding the beast and
greatly infuriating it. The panther was
in close quarters and rushed upon the
Indian before he could reload, and a
bloody fight ensued. The Indian drew
his knife and when the panther sprang
j upon him cut the beast’s throat from ear
to ear, but at the same time the animal
fastened its fangs in the throat of the
Indian, and a death struggle com
menced. When the other Indians reached
the combatants both the Indian and tb.e
tpautker were dead. Globe-Democrat,
NATURE'S MEDICINE CHEST,
INTERESTING FACTS CONCERNING
IMPORTANT MEDICAL PLANTS.
Tlie Poppy that Grants Man Forgot
-I'nlnes Deadly Nux Vomica and
Cinchona the Febrifuge.
In a lecture before the St. Louis Botan
ical Society, Dr. Vasey made the follow
ing statements concerning important
medical plants: The Opium Poppy is a
native of Asia and the south of Europe,
and is still found wild in the countries
bordering the Mediterranean Sea. it is
an annual plant, two or three feet in
height, or higher under favorabl© cir
cifcrnstances. The process of procuring
tire opium as practiced by the [ resent
inhabitants of India and Persia is said to
be nearly the same as that described by
Oioscorides nearly 2000 years ago. A
tew days after ihe fall of the lio-wer, men
and women proceed to the field where the
plants-are cultivated, and, with a suit
able knife, make- several horizontal in
cisions in thecapsules, taking care not to
penetrate the cavity. A whit© juice
xlows from the incision and collwte in
the form of tears on the surface. The
field is left in this state for twenty-four
hours, after which the thickened juice
is scraped oil with blunt knives. Each
poppy head yields opium but once. The
juice, when removed* is in the state of
an adhesive granular jelly. It is placed
in small earthen vessels, where it is
beaten, and moistened with saliva.
When of the proper consistence it is
made into masses of variable size,
wrapped in poppy leaves, and placed ia
the shade to dry, after which it is ready
for market.
About seventy years ago chemical in
vestigations of Opium led to the uiscov- j
cry of morphine, and-subsequently of
several other alkaloids, and of late years
morphine has become the principal form
in which this important medieine is em
ployed. The only obstacle to the profit- j
able cultivation of the opium poppy in
this country is the high price: of labor.
CINCHONA;.
Nothing was known of this drug prior
to about the year 1630. At about this
time it is stated that the bark of the
cinchona tree was administered by an
Indian for intermittent fever to a Spanish
official, living nearLoxa, in Penn. Eight
years later the Countess of Cinchona,
the wife of the Governor of Peru, was
cured of the same disease by this rem
edy. She then caused large quantities
of the bark to be prepared and distribu
ted to the sick, and it was soon after
ward introduced into Europe. The
rapid increase in the use of oinchona
finally threatened to exhaust the supply,
so that about twenty years ago the peo
ple of Peru and Bolivia began the culti
vation of the tree, and it has since been
introduced into other parts of the world.
Its culture has been so successful that
the supply of the bark is now greater
than ever before and the price greatly re
duced. No section of the United States
is adapted to it.
STRYCIINOS NUX VOMICA,,
the tree from which strychnine is ob
tained, is a native of India and adjoining
countries. The horny nuts, which are
the part employed in medicine, are flat,
about an inch in diameter, and covered
with short velvety hairs. The use of
these nuts is said to be very ancient.
They were certainly known in Germany
in the sixteenth century. A London
apothecary in 1640 remarked, that their
chief use was for poisoning, dogs, oats,
crows and ravens, and that they were
rarely given as a medicine. The alka
loid strychnine, which is the active prin
ciple of this nut, was obtained by Pel
liteurand Caventau, two French chem
ists, in 1818.
In small repeated doses mix vomica,or
strychnine, acts as a tonic. In large
doses it causes weakness and trembling
of the limbs, then rigidity, spasms and
death. Its marked action upon the
muscular system led to its use as a
remedy for paralysis and muscular de
bility, in which it is very successful.
BELLADONNA.
Atropa Belladonna is-n perennial her
baceous plant, native to Central and
South America, the Caucasus and Asia
Minor. It belongs to the nightshade or
potato family. The name belladonna,
which is Italian for beautiful lady,
originated from the practice of using the
distilled water of the plant as cosmetic.
All parts of the plant possess active
properties, but its part principally em
ployed is the fleshy root, which is a foot
or more in length and an inch or two in
thickness. It is generally gathered from
the plant growing in its wild state,
though in a few places in Europe and
this country the piant is cultivated.
The chief use of belladonna at the pres
ent time is in tha treatment of nervous
diseases, as a sedative, and for the pur
pose of producing dilation of the pupil
in certain diseases of the eye, and in
surgical operations upon that organ, in
1884 several chemists prepa ed from the
plant an alkaloid called astropine, and
it is in this form that the drug is now
generally used.
RHUBARB.
The root called rhubarb is o-ne of the
oldest known medicines, and much in
vestigation has been made by naturalists
to determine the plant which produces
it, but it can hardly be said that we yet
know definitely what is the botanical
species. There is reason to believe that
it is the root, not of one, but of several
species of the genus liheum found
growing in Russian and Chinese
Tartary. The common rhubarb of
the gardens is thought by some
botanists to be hybrid between two of
these. From a very early period rhubarb
was brought overland by trading cara
vans from Central A.sia and taken to
Turkish ports, whence it came to be
known as “Turkish rhubarb.” In 1687
the Russian Government obtained full
control of the trade, and appointed in
spectors to see that none but genuine
and well-prepared roots were imported.
The overland trade to Russia was finally
destroyed by the opening of the northern
ports of China to foreign tra lie. Since
that time these ports have been the
chief source of supply.
COCOA.
This drug, obtained from the plant
known a 3 erythroxylon cocoa, has hardly
yet found a fixed place in our materia
medica. There is great hope, however,
of its future usefulness. The plant is a
small hrub, three or four feet high,
somewhat resembling the tea. The
leaves are somewhat aromatic and bitter.
It is a isative of tlie mountains of Peru
and Mexico, and has been used by the
natives of those countries from time
immemorial, fora purposes similar to tea
and coffee. Large quantities of the
leaves are now* exported to Europe and
tlie United States for medicinal pur
poses. Probably the most important use
when future improvements shall be made
will be for producing local anesthesia
in cases of surgical operations. If it can
also be applied successfully in capital
operations it will prove to be one of the
most important contributions to the
amelioration of human suffering.— tit.
Louis Sayings.
SCIENTIFIC AM) INDUSTRIAL.
I
In the State of Maine there are 54,000
j pounds of ground wood fiber and 188,-
iOO ) pounds-of chemical wood fiber made
| daily.
A society Iras been founded in Paris
for the soientific study of tlie month and
its accessories in their various affee
j tious.
The National Telephone Company, of
! Scotland, has several submarine cables
ol seven, eight aud nine miles in length,
| which give perfect satisfaction.
In the new process of making watch
springs the steel wire is first treated to
an oil bath, and is then brought to the
proper degree of heat by electricity.
With the old method the wire was
heated first and then plunged in oil.
| The smallest known flowering, plant,
j scarcely visible to the naked eye, is
Woltfia microscopia , a water-weed of.
India. Two species of the same genus,
the larger about one-tweuty-fifth- of an
inch in diameter, grow in the eastern
United States.
One of the chief industries of Bul
garia is the production of the attar of
roses. The sheltered Valley of Kezanlyk,
known as the Vale of Roses, is the center
of this production, and - the product of
this district was 1,100,000 francs in
1884. Steps are being, taken to en
courage the industry in other parts of
the Bulgarian territory..
Dr. N. A. Randolph, art English phy
sician, states that minnows which thrived
in brook water, and remained alive in it
without food for irtany days, died m a
few hours when placed in distilled water
properly aerated. He holds that one of
thechief dietetic advantages of salads and
uncooked vegetables in general is that
the mineral elements have not been re
moved from them.
Dr. Underwood, the customs medical
officer at Kin-Kiang, China, attributes
the comparative immunity of the Chinese
in that region from typhoid fever—not
withstanding that most of the factors '
favoring the disease are present in
abundance—to the fact that “cold, un
boiled water is rarely or never used
when tea can be had.” The explanation
is simple: A boiling temperature de
stroys the typhoid poison.
Poison for some animals is food for
others. Hogs can eat henbane or hy
ocyamus, which is fatal to dogs and most
other animals. Dogs and horses are not
easily poisoned with arsenic. Goats eat
water hemlock with impunity; pheasants,
stramonium; rabbits, belladonna; and
morphia is said to be innocuous to
pigeons. There is some truth in the
old saying that “what is one man’s meat
is another man’s poison.” This is due to
habits and idiosyncrasies.
There has been an official inquiry into
the loss of the British ship Athelstan,
which was burned from the spontaneous
ignition of her cargo of coal. According
to the account given by a London con
temporary, during the time the fire was
confined below the deck, the Captain and
chief mate were surprised to find flames
issuing from the tops of the iron fore
and main masts, which were hollow, and
had a number of perforations in them
below deck for the purpose of ventila
tion. They operated like two chimneys,
touuake a furnace of the ship’s hold..
A telephone transmitter by Mr. .John
M. Graham, of Pittsburg, Penn.,, says
the Scientific American , consists of two
pairs of contact springs,' arranged to
press opposite ends of electrodes carried
by springs bearing on the diaphragm,
one contact spring of each pair being
connected with one terminal of the in
duction coil, the electrodes operated by
the diaphragm being connected with the
terminals of the local battery, whereby
the current in the local circuit is re
versed during each vibration of, the
diaphragm.
The World’s Largest Tunnel.
An engineering work that has taken
over a century to construct can hardly
fail to offer some points of interest in its
history and illustrate the march,of events
during the years of its progress. An
instance of this kind is to be found in a
tunnel not along ago completed, but
which was commenced over 100 years
ago. This tunnel, or adit, as it should
be more strictly termed, is at Schemnitz,
in Hungary. Its construction was agreed
upon in 1878, the object being to carry
off the water from the Schemnitz mines
to the lowest part of tlie Gran Valley.
The work is now complete, and it forms
the largest tunnel in the world, being
10.27 miles, long, or about one mile
longer than St. Oothard, and two and a
half miles- longer than Mont C'enis.
The bight is !) feet 10 inches and the
breadth 5 feet 8 inches. This tunnel,
wliich has taken so long in making, has
cost very nearly a million sterling, but ii
appears to have beep well spent—at
least the present generation has no
reason to grumble, for. the saving from
being able to do away with water-rais
ing appliances amounts to $75,000 a
year.
There is no further point, however,
worth notice, for if we have the advan
tage of our great-grandfathers in the
matter of mechanical appliances, they
were certainly better off in the price of
labor. The original contract for the
tunnel made ia 1782 was that it should
be completed in 30 years and should
cost $35 por yard run. For 11 years
the work was done at this price, but the
French Revolution enhanced the cost
of labor and materials to such an extent
that for 30 years little progress was
made.
For 10 years following much prog
ress was made, and then the work
dropped for 20 years more, until the
water threatened to drown the mines al
together. Finally the tunnel was com
pleted in 1888, the remaining part cost
ing $lO5 per yard, or more than three
times as much as the original contract
rate.— Omaha Bee.
The Clay Ripe.
“Tlit? clay used in making pipes, is
obtained chiefly from pits located in
New Jersey, although there is a large bed
of clay being worked at Glen Cove, Ij. I.
The clay hosts $3 a ton at the mines,
but, with freight charges, &c., it amounts
to about $5 per ton before it is lauded at
the factory. As soon as it arrives the
d»y is spread cut and seasoned by being
exposed to the heat of the sun,* which
generally occupies several days. It is
fliers mixed with water and passed throu
gh a mill, which crushes it and removes
the stones and grift which cling to the
crude day. It is then kneaded with the
hands in the same manner in which
bread ia kneaded, and carefully freed
from all foreign substances.
“After the clay has been brought to
the proper consistency it is carried to a
workirnui csullcd a ‘roller,’ who sits before
a bench, on the top of which lies a
a smooth, square board. In making a
pipe the ‘roller’ takes in each hand a
small lump of the fresh* clay and deftly
rolls it out to the desired length and
thickness leaving a knob-tike lump at the
end of each piece, which latter is form*
ed into the bowl of the pipe.
“At this stag® of its manufacture the
half-made pipe is laid upon a measure,
which marks the regulation length of
the stem. If the latter ban been made
too long it is then clipped off. When a
dozen pipes have been thus formed they
are passed to another workman, who sits
at a complicated machine, in which the
pipes are further manipulated. The mao
at the machine first oils the clay, after
which he places the rudely-shaped pipes
in a mould and inserts an oiled and
polished wire through the stems, mak
ing the aperture through whioh the
smoke is drawn in using. The mould is
then placed in the machine and the su
perfluous clay is forced out.
“Tlie pipes have now taken on their
final shape and are laid in the sun to
dry, after which they are polished and
put in a large earthen receptacle called
a ‘sagger,’ which is covered and arrang
ed with a dozen other saggers in the kiln.
The door of the kiln is then securely
fastened, and the fire, which is fed with
eharcoal and coke, is started and kept at
» wiiite heat for fifteen or twenty hours.
The fire is then allowed to die out slowly
and when quite extinguished the doors
are opened, the saggers allowed to cool
and their contents examined. The pipes,
which before were of a dull blue color
and very limp and soft have become per
fectly white and hard. The finished
pipes that have been examined and
found perfect are carefully packed in
barrels and boxes, and are then ready for
shipment.
Valuable Find.
Hitherto all the lithographic stones used
in this country have come from Bavaria,
where the mines have long been worked
aud are fast becoming exhausted. Now a
perfect lithographic stone, in large sheets,
has been discovered within a hundred
miles of Austin, Tex. This will add
another important industry, and aid in
the prosperity and development of the
South.
From the Ex-President of tlie New York
State Senate.
State op New York, Senate Chamber, I
Alajsny, March 11, 1886. |
I have used Alloock’s Porous Plasters in
my family for the past five years, and can
truthfully say they are a valuable remedy and
effect great cures. I would not be without
them. I have in several instances given some
to friends suffering with weak and lam backs,
and they have invariably afforded certain and
speedy relief. They cannot be too highly com
mended. Edmund L. Pitts.
Bowdoin College, Me., conferred the degret
of LL. D. on M. W. Fuller and Gen. Howard
A Pill In Time, Saves Nine!
Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Purgative Pellets are
preventive as well as curative. A few of these
‘Little Giants,” taken at the l ight time, with
little expense and no inconvenience, will ac
complish what many dollars and much sacri
fice of time will fail to do after Disease once
holds you with his iron grasp. Constipation
relieved, tlie liver regulated, the Blood puri
fied, will fortify against fevers and all con
tagious diseases. Persons intending traveling,
changing diet, water and climate, will find in
valuable, Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Purgative Pel
lets. in vials convenient to carry.
A walnut grove planted now would make I
good twenty year endowment.
If all so-called remedies have failed, Dr■
Sage’s Catarrh Remedy cures.
Absinthe drinking is said to be the latest
alarming “fad” in New York.
Use Long’s Pearl Tooth Soap for cleansinj
your teeth. 25 cents at Druggists.
Beck & Gregg Hardware Co„
ttotale Hardware, :
ATLANTA, GA.
—DEALERS IN— f
Wagon Scales.
Ci-" w i'lto for j
Do you want **KEa;S£, , HS ,e Inspirator* I
j w ami a|v iv-
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MAGONI , Gr-A.-
Begins 51st Annual Session October 3d, 1888-
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Apply early for catalogue to
REV. W. C. BASS, D. D-, President
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lIA I.TIMOKE, MI). . —,-eriot
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