Newspaper Page Text
the EIG krupp factory,
life in the great iron and
STEEL WORKS AT ESSEN.
Nearly 12,000 Mon Employed—How
;> v the Employes of This Gigantic
Workshop Are Governed.
The steel-casting works of Krupp at
Essen, Germany, says a Philadelphia
Press correspondent, cover an area of
about 1000 acres land in which 11,211
xnen are employed in the production of
steel, and also in the manufacture ok
countless different articles, such as axlesfi
wheels, etc., for locomotives and raH«p
road carriages; rails, switches and sleep
ers for railways, tramways and mining
railways; springs—spiral and leaf—for
locomotives and carriages; parts of all
kinds of machinery used for any purpose;
bridge material and rolls; material for
large pumps as used in mines ; all requi
site steel and iron material for the build
ing of ships of all sizes, for war and
commercial purposes; cannons of every
caliber —the production of them having
exceeded 20,000*-aud last, gun cart
ridges, artillery wagons and shots.
The gross production of iron and steel
averages 280,000 tons per annum.
For accommodations of traffic and
shipping in the establishment are used
28 locomotives' with 883 freight car
riages. About 35 miles of narrow and
broad gauge railroad line is laid through
the establishment. One chemical labora
tory, one photographic and one litho
graphic studio, one priiTting office and a
book-binding establishment are at work
for the sole use of the firm. Telegraph
and telephone communication goes all
over the factory and an engine company
with 68 firemen and 38 fire alarms is also
there for the benefit of the establish
ment.
The entire establishment is surrounded
by a high wall or a fence. There are
only certain gates where the workmen
are allowed to enter. This is done for
the purpose of having them under
thorough coutrol. The relationship be
tween the firm and the workman cannot
be better illustrated than to compare it
with a large family. Krupp and his
officials assume the right to shape and
regulate the entire doings and existence
of their workmen, not only in the
factory, but also at home, and this is
how it is done. At 6 a. m. the men
have to be at work. Every one is pro
vided with a check, on which is his num
ber. When he enters the gate where he
works he puts this number into a large
box. Does he happen to be one or two
minules late, he has an hour deducted
from his work. Is he an hour late, he
loses a quarter of a day, and so forth.
Punctuality has to be observed and ex
cuses are not accepted, except in un
usual cases.
The working hours are, on the average,
thirteen a day, with a reduction for
dinner from 12 o’clock until 1:30 o’clock.
The men get paid by the day, or else
they are engaged in piece work, but in
either case the wages are about the
same.
A man who works by the piece cannot
make as much as he wants to. You see,
it seems to be the principle of the firm
that no employe shall make any more
wages than he wants in order to maintain
himself and his family, if he has one.
Therefore, the man does not get paid ac
cording to his ability, but more so accord
ing to what he wants. It is hard to
termine the wages of the employes on
this account, in order to compare them
with American wages. Living is re
markably cheap in Germany, and the
diet is totally different from what it is in
America. But I should judge, from dif
ferent inquiries which I made ot a num
ber of workmen engaged at different
places in Ivrupp’s establishment, that 70
cents a day is about the average pay
of an employe at Krupp’s.
At 7 p. m. a great bell is tolled in the
works, which can be heard for miles
around, and then the workman goes
home, and if you will follow me you will
see how the members of this large family
are kept depending on their “great”
father, the mighty Kiupp. A number
of stores are situated all around in the
neighborhood, where the workman can
send his wife or his children to buy
goods on a card. Ready money is not
required of him. The clerk looks at the
card and puts the amount of the bill
against the purchaser’s name in a large
book, and the next pay-day the amount
is taken off the man’s wages, that settles
it. In these stores anything may be had
for money—clothing, shoes, dry goods,
millinery goods, house furniture, grocer
ies, meat, etc. *
Now then, the workman has come
home, which is again in a house belong
ing to Krupp, in the immediate vicinity
of the works, where has been erected a
pretty little village. The street are wide
and lined with beautiful beeches on
each side. The houses are each sur
rounded by a large garden and each is
four stories high. In every house dwell
five families, each home being completely
secluded from all others. The accom
modations are perfect, all modern im
provements of comfort are to be enjoyed,
and the. people could not wish for any
thing better. The rent is always de
ducted from the husband’s wages on
every pay-day, and the worry oh an ap
proaching rent-day never troubles him
verj T much. A small strip of a garden,
where a few vegetables may be raised,
belongs to each home too, and the people
do not pay any extra for this. Every
Wednesday and Saturday there is mar
ket held in the colony where the house
wives can go to get their provisions for
the home. Such is the home of Ivrupp’s
workmen, which, though it is enjoyed
by him, belongs to the master and is pro
vided for by him according to his idea
and as he thinks proper.
After supper the men light their long
pipes and they go f orth to the saloon, to
sit behind their beer and talk politics,
play cards or amuse themselves other
wise. Krupp knows this, and he has
also provided for beer. There are eight
large beer halls and a dancing and con
cert hall, bowling alloy, billiards, etc.,
where the men get the largest and best
glass of beer for the least money.
Beside that, however, the colony has
also several schools, where everything is
taught except religion, but nevertheless
Krupp does not object to religion, as he
has also built a fine church at the place,
and the clergyman is paid out of his
private purse.
However, the dominant power of this
great machine of discipline does not end
yet. AY hen the workman is sick—aye,
even when he is dead—the corporation
of Krupp still holds out its influences
over him or his family. Every workman
is compelled, as soon as he enters into
the employ of Krupp, to pay to a sick
fund a small percentage of his wages.
Out of this fund the physician will be
paid when the laborer is sick, the chem
ist gets the payment for the medicine,
and the family of the sick father gets a
small sum to pay the running expenses of
the house.
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.
A Berlin scientist says salt is con
ducive to longevity.
<-afln Peru there is a station on the
cYndes 14,301) feet above the sea.
Brass solder may be made by using
twelve parts of brass, six parts of zinc,
and one part of tin.
Antipyrine in doses of one to three
grains is recommended by Sonnenberger
as a remedy for whooping cough.
A gas stove has been invented to rival
the bookcase folding bed. It is con
cealed m a handsome colonial clock
case.
Lithium is the lightest metal known
and is worth SIOO .per ounce. Gallium
is the costliest metal known and is
w r ortli $3250 per ounce.
It is asserted that, under certain con
ditions, the bark of the quilla tree of
Chili possesses cleansing properties supe
rior to those of the best soap.
, Wonders are being continually ac
complished by electricity. A b rench
electrician thinks he will soon be able
to produce a thunder storm at will,
A correspondent of the Liverpool
Mercury says that he heard some cornet
playing from a phonograph which had
been repeated more than a thousand
times, and ail the notes were as clear and
distinct as ever.
A new carpenter rule has been in
vented by a Boston mechanic. It is of
novel construction, and aside from its
uses as a rule makes a very handy bevel
or square, in which legs may be ad just
ably clamped in any desired position.
The tax-collectors’ receipts of the
ancient Egyptians were inscribed on
pieces of broken crockery. Some of
them, from the British museum collec
tion, have been translated, and show
the tax in Egypt under the early
Casars.
A new chain wrench for plumbers is
especially adapted for use in connection
with pipes, and is so constructed that
the pipe may be turned from right to left,
or vice versa, without removing the
wrench, wdiile it permits of tightening
the chain less than the. length of a link.
The French in Cayenne are to
hold in great dread the Lucilia hovi
inivorax, or man-eating fly. This in
sect lays its eggs in the mouth or nos
trils of sleeping, and especially of
drunken, individuals, and the liatched
out larvae usually produce a horrible
death.
The Colt arms factory at Hartford,
Conn., will soon begin the manufacture
of the 5000 navy revolvers for the
United States Government. The new
piece is a five-shooter of thirty-eight
calibre. Besides being self-cocking, all
the cartridges may he instantly removed
by a pressure of the thumb.
Blacksmiths, who sometimes get hold
of fractious horses, will appreciate the
device cf a Sidney (Ohio) man. The
invention is a horseshoeing rack, and
consists of a pen, readily adjustable to
the size of any anhnal, and in which a
horse can be securely fastened, the rack
being made so that it can be readily
taken down and moved out of the way.
French chemists now obtain from the
essence of birch bark, by rectification,
an essential oil which possesses among
other proprieties that of being fatal to
insect life, and an electrically insulating
tarry substance; and these two products
are so treated and combined with other
substances as to produce an anti-oxidiz
ing compound and an insulating material
capable of the same applications as
ebonite.
By means of recent improvements
made in the manufacture of rides as
many as 120 barrels can now be rolled in
an hour by one machine. They are
straightened cold and bored with corre
sponding speed, and even the rifling is
done automatically, so that one man
tending six machines can turn out sixty
or seventy ban els per day. With the
old riding machine twenty barrels was
about the limit of a day’s work, but the
improved machines attend to everything
after being once started, and, when the
rifling is completed, ring a bell to call
the attention of the workman.
Star Fisli and Oysters.
The Providence Journal states that an
exhaustive study is being made of the
star fish and its habits, and there is no
better place for observation than Nara
gansett Bay. It is a singular fact that
the star fish is but little known south of
Barnegat, and Chesapeake and other
southern oystermen suffer but little from
it. Oyster growers here never knew how
much they lost by the ravages of the star
fish until the season after the 1886
freshet. Fresh water kills the fish, and
they were about all destroyed and the
beds cleared of them at that time. The
succeeding season the yield was enor
mous. One giower states that the de
struction of the fish that season made a
difference of S2OOO to him alone. They I
have made their appearance again, how
ever, and th.s same dealer estimates his !
loss this season at SIOOO. It is doubtful
if any means will be discovered tor their j
abolition other than destroying them j
when caught instead of throwing them
back overboard, as is customary among
many.
An Inquiry as to Our Fla?.
Which is the correct form: “Stars
and stripes” or “stripes and stars?”
Logically, “stripes and stars” is the
correct form; the act of Congress of
April 4, 1818, by which our present flag
is authorized, declares that “the flag of
the Un.ted States be thirteen horizontal
stripes, alternate red and white, that
the Union be twenty stars, white on a
blue field; and that, on the admission of
a new State' into the Union, one star be
added to the union Of the flag.” From
this it is evident that the stripes are the
more important, and that therefore they
should precede. But custom has ordained
that tho stars shall precede Hie stripes;
ar.d as neither name is official for the
11 ig it doesn’t make a bit of difference.
—iV w York Bun.
The Prince of Wales has purchased his
eightieth uniform.
STRANGE SHIPS.
A NOVEL EXHIBITION IN THE
NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Queer Boats From All Parts of the
World —Secrets of Naviga
tion Known By Rude
Savages.
There is a department in the National
Museum that would delight any rightly
constituted boy, or man, either—for a
man never outgrows his boyhood interest
in boats and ships and the mysteries of
navigation. This department tells the
story of the ship. It is not a written or
printed story, but one told by the collec
tion of rasts, canoes, catamarans and
ships that till a large exhibition hall.
An old idea was that the first boat was
a log. There are, however, treeless
lands, where the people have no logs to
begin with. They start, perhaps, by
maidng boats of skins. In some parts of
the world, where there are neither logs
nor skins available, savage men construct
boats or rafts by binding together in
sheaves.
From the log the next step is to the
dug-out, wh ch savages fashioned by
hollowing out a log with fire or rude
tools. When savages began to make
bark canoes they took quite a- step to
ward the modem ship, as a hark canoe,
with its frame-work and outer covering,
illustrates in a rudimentary way import
ant principles involved in the shipbuild
er’s art. Savages, too, observed that the
wind could te used to propel their boats.
It is supposed that the first sail Was a
bush. 1 rom the bush the savage went
to a piece of skin or bark, or a matting
rudely triced up on a pole. It is curious
to note that the forms of sails used on
yachts and ships of the most highly civ
ilized people have been developed nat
urally from the primitive forms used by
savage people.
The primitive is either a square or a
lateen or triangular sail. The lateen
sail is so named because it is the form
used on the .Mediterranean by people of
the Latin races. When men learned
more of the shipbuilding art, and boat
grew bigger, the lateen sail was enlarged,
booms were projected fore and aft, and
the sail extended so as to reach beyond
the liows in front and beyond the stem
in the rear.
Near the centre of the hall a kyak
from the Greenland coast, made of skins
by the Esquimaux, hangs from the ceil
ing. It is decked over as tight as a
drum, and the ends are sharpened and
curved up. In the centre is a hole in the
deck just large enough to admit a man’s
body. The Esquimaux, when in his
kyak, sits squarely on the bottom, his
legs stretched out before him, all of his
body below the waist being under deck.
He has a garment or coat of skin, the
lower edges of which are fastened to the
rim of the hole Qr cockpit, thus making
it water-tight. In this cockel-shell of a
boat the Esquimaux, with paddle and
spear in hand, hazards his life on rough
Arctic seas in pursuit of seal or walrus,
“a human nautilus upon the tide.” There
are kyaks, too, from Alaska, and from
other Arctic regions. Bidark as, or skin
boats from the Aleutian Islands, are
decked over like Esquimaux kyaks, and
are ornamented with colored fringes at
the seams, just as Indians love to orna
ment their clothing.
Some of the bidarka3 are “three
holed,” or have places for three men to
sit in them, and to the little models
shown in the Museum miniature spears
are lashed just as the Indians lash their
spears to their boats when they start out
to hunt seal.
The rudest form of the bark canoe
shown in the collection is from British
Guiana. It was made merely by taking
a single sheet of ba- k of suitable si;aq
curling up the sides and then stiffening
the edges by means of slender splints
bound to them with thongs. The ends
of the canoe are left open and the savage
navigator has to use much skill to pre
vent water from washing in at stem or
stern. An Indian canoe, made by the
Passamaquoddy Indians of Maine, is
shown as a model of this type. It is
made of birch bark, over light wooden
frame, with one thwart amid hips; The
bark is sewed together at the ends and
to the gunwales with dyed wooden
fiber. It has a round bottom—the ends
being alike, sharp and curved upward.
_ A balsa or swimming raft from the
East Indies is made simply of long bun
dles of rushes bound together’. A cat
amaran from Madras, India, is made of
logs, bound together with ropes and
fashioned so that they tend to a point
and bend upward slightly in front. This
is used as a surf boat. When a heavy
swell threatens the craft the native
mariner deserts it altogeter, jumping
into the wave and then clambering upon
it when he comes to the surface again.
On this craft, too, he sometimes sets up
a tiny mast and hoists a bit of cotton as
a sail.
A simple dugout, perhaps the simplest,
is a “donga” from Jessore, India. It is
made from the stem of the tar palm.
The natural form of the tree, with its
bulbous end, is preserved, and the boat
looks like ab g spoon. The native sits
in the bow of the spoon or boat, and his
weight keeps the other end out of the
water.
A dugout made by Chinese fishermen
is a log completely hollowed out from
end to end. Instead of gouging the
logssoasto leave the ends solid, the
simple Chinaman cuts out the ends then
stops them up again with pieces of wood
made to fit the apertures. A dugout from
Ratna, India, made from the trunk of a
Semul tiee, looks much like a shallow
wooden trough with square ends.
The Indians of the northwest coast of
America developed the art of making
boats from single logs to the highest
degree. The huge cedar trees that grow
on the coast, the wood being soft enough
to be worked with their rude tools, af
forded them a natural oportunity that
they did not neglect. The great canoe
that is suspended from the ceilling on
one side of the hall and makes all other
canoes look like pigmies, is a specimen
of the work of the Haidah Indians and
was brought to the museum from the
Queen Charlotte Islands, British Colum
bia. It was hewn out of a single log of
yellow cedar. The length is fifty-nine
feet and the beam eight feet. The ends
are sharp and alike, the stem being car
ried up and finished in an angular sort
of ornament suggested the outline «f a
head of some aquatic animal. The body
cf the canoe is painted a dingy white,
and at each end is a series of figures
painted in white, blue and green, rudi
circles and rhomboids enclosing repre
sentatioug of eyes. These figures art
symbols of totems of the chief wh<
owned the canoe, representing the trade
tions of his family, like the heraldic
coat-of-arms of some royal or noble familt
( of Europe. In this canoe a chief would
set out with fifty or’more men, on a war
like expedition. None but men of con
sequence, who could command the laboi
of many hands could own such a canoe.
To cut down the immense tree, hollow
out the log, and fashion the canoe witl
the rude stone hatchets and chisels with
which these Indians worked, required
the labor of many men for months anc
years. A dugout canoe in which Ifoopah
Indians sailed on Trinity River, Califor
nia, is made like arv old fashioned
wooden cradle, almost as broad as it is
long. It has a gunwale that curls in
board, and round and square ends that
rise to a point.
There are several boats placed together
showing how people in different parts ol
the world hit upon the same form.
These are boats of the corracle pattern,
round as a bowl that the old nursery
rhyme says three wise men of Gotham
went to sea in. There is a Boyne cor
racle in which Irish fishermen take oul
their snap nets and fish for salmon or
the Boyne. It is almost perfectly round.
The frame is made of willow like a hug«
basket, and over it hides are stretched.
Another corracle similar in construc
tion is from the River Dee and anothei
is from India. The latter is a child’s
corracle, plaited like a basket of stin
rushes and has no outer covering. Neat
it stands a bull boat, used by Indians of
Dakota. It is a round boat, about four
feet in diameter, the same being made
of pliant wood and the coverings ol
kins.— Washington, Star.
Creature Comforts for Cattle.
Saturday afternoon there passed
through this city Benjamin F. Holmes, j
general manager of the American Live
Stock Express Company, in charge of
the first train of rapid transit stock cars
ever run west of Chicago. This company
has devised a new car for the transporta
tion of live stock, such as will prevent
the brushing and suffering of
while being shipped. This car will
provide for the feeding and watering of
stock while in transit, and it can be so
divided that each animal will have a
separate compartment or stall. These
compartments or stalls are formed by a
very simple, yet practicable device,
which consist of a series of slats made of
hickory and strapped with steel or iron,
aud operating transversely in grooves o?
channels tormed in the side parts of the
cars and being attached at each end
with endless belt chains which engage
with sprocket wheels situated close to
the roof of the car and mounted upon
coun f ershafts situated in the sills, to
which power is applied by means of a
crank co move the partitions from a
horizontal position in the cars, up longi
tudinally close under the roof, or in
either direction, to form the stalls or
make an open car. The cars carry the
same number of head of stocks as ordinary
cars, and when loaded by means of the
above device, the stock can be separated
very readily. The hay or grain is carried
to the top or attic of the car, and the
manner of placing it in the manger is as
convenient as it would be in a stably
and can be fed at any time while the
train is in motion. Water is furnished
by means of supply pipes, extending on
the oul9.de around the car, to which
troughs are attached by short pipes,
tapped into the main supply pipe, and
i by rotating the main pipe water, which
is received in'a the end of the
1 car, every trough x™! instantly fill up to
the water level in the main pipe, furnish
ing eight gallons to each animal. The
troughs,'lpce the mangers, are built into
the side walls in such a manner that the
interior of the cars are smejoyth. The
ventilation of these car- is by means of
fan wheels, situated in the top and side
of the feed bins.
i The train was composed of seventeen
stock cars and a way car. The wav car
is a model of elegance and comfort,
being supplied With sleeping, cooking
and dining rooms to accommodate three
men, who are furnished by the company,
the number required to take care of the
stock while in transit. The cars are
supplied with elliptic springs, Westing
house air brakes, automatic couplers and
the bisum canting lever trucks, the same
equipments now used ou the best sleep
ing cars. These trains will be run on
the Union Pacific and Milwaukee from
Soda Springs, Idaho, to Chicago or any
point in the East, and will run at the
rate of twenty-five miles- an hour.—
Omaha Bee.
Breadmhking in Norway.
Broadmaking, writes a correspondenv
was another industry which we had a
good opportunity of seeing while we
changed horses at one of the stations.
Contrary to onr expectations, we found
white bread everywhere, but the com
mon bread is a heavy bread, the chief
ingredient of which is rye. It is always
sour; the good housewife intends it to
be so. They have also “fiat bread,”
made of potatoes and rye. It was this
kiud of bread that the two women,
whom we happened in upon, were mak
ing. They were in a little underground
room, unlighted, except from the door.
The walls were of stone and the floor of
earth. They were seated one upon either
side of a long low table, upon whiefy
were huge mounds of dough. The one
nearest the door cut off a piece of this
and molded it, and rolled it out to a cer
tain degree of thinness, then the other
took it, and with the greatest care,
rolled it still more. At her right hand
was the fireplace, and upon the coals was
a red piece of iron forming a huge grid
dle more than haif a yard across. The
bread matched this nearly in size when
it was ready to be baked, and it was
spread out and turned upon the griddle
with great dexterity, and as soon as it
was baked it was added to a great heap
on the floor. The woman said she should
continue to bake bread for thirty days.
She had a large family of men, who con
sumed a great deal; they had to bake
very often in consequence. In many
places they do not bake bread oftener
than twice a year ; then it is a circum
stance like haying or harvesting. We
heard an Englishman say of this bread of
the country: “One might eat an acre of
it and then not be satisfied.”
The telephone was allowed to be used
on Sunday for the first time in London »
few weeks agb.
BIRD ARCHITECTS.
I
DWELLING HOUSES BUILT BY
FEATHERED ARTISTS.
Assembly Rooms Constructed, by
Public Spirited Birds—The Crow
Family Are Famous House Dec
orators —The Gardener Bird.
In lookipg for the artists amoDg the
birds, says John It. Coryell, in the /Scien
tific American, one would hardly think
of going to the crows to find them, and
yet it is among the crows that the feath
ered artists are most common. The
most famous artists of the crow family
are the bower birds of Australia. And
among the bower birds the spotted col
lar bird is the most artistic. It builds
but an ordinary nest for laying of its
eggs and the rearing of its family in,but
to compensate foy the lack of taste dis
played there,it exerts itself like the ideal
Bocialißt to apply its talent for the gen
eral good.
Ordinarily in the bird world the fe
male is the architect, but with the bower
bird this is not the case. The male birds
at certain seasons of the year come to
gether with as much system as the
beavers when building their dams, and
auite for the erection of what have been
aptly called assembly rooms. In shape
these structures are bower like; hence
Ihe name given the bird. In purpose
they are literally for the assembling of
the two sexes at pairing time, when
every male bird in his best plumage at
tends and disports himself in the way
which to him seems best calculated to
win him the object of his affections.
The male birds having given their time
and talents to the building think per
haps that they have the best right to the
privileges of the place. However that
may be, they certainly do most of the
promenading and dancing. They
_ i. 11 „ 1 „ Jl mocAAirnr 4-
actually do d thee, seeming, moreover to
enjoy the exercise. 'they are not so
selfish, however, as to exclude the fe
males from the delights of this pastime,
but permit them to dance as much as
they choose, only observing the decorous
rule of dancing singly instead of in
pairs of opposite sexes. A remarkable
degree of ingenuity and skill are dis
played in the building of the bower. A
flooring of about two feet by three feet 1
is first woven of twigs. Other twigs of
a curved shape are disposed along the
length of the platform in such a way
that the tops meet in an arch over it.
These are held firmly in place by being
inserted in the ground and by having
j stones laid all along their bases. If
l these twigs forming the side of thebborerw r er I
! are found to have projecting twigs on
I them they are removed and others putin
j their places, for nothing is permitted in
[ the bower that is at all likely to in jure
the plumage of the festive birds. Other
twigs are woven laterally into these
twigs to give the structure greater
strength, and the inside of it is lined
with tall, soft grass so disposed that the
tufted heads meet near the roof The
'grass is kept in place by a row of stones
{ arranged along the inner base of the
j bower. The st»-v’“;:e being completed,
| the b V:«s go out upou a search for ob
! jbets With which to orinment not only
J the bower itself, but tiie appr? acbt!3 . _
it as well, for the entrances to tue
structure are marked by well defined
p;wiways lined by small white pebbles
in the manner of some of our country
[ walks. The ornamental objects sought
■ irQ required to be either pure white in
color or brilliant or glittering. Bleached
I bi®bs, bright seeds, g.iy shells, feathers,
J agate and the like substances are most
commonly employed. In front of each
' entrance a little mound overed with or
namental objects is placed.
In Africa there is a bird, which, like
the bower bird, combines the qualities
of architect and decorative artist, with
the difference that this bird divides the
talents between the sexes, the female
being the architect and the male the
decorator. The house, for such it really
is, is a notable affair and covering an
area of fifty square feet in some instances.
One observer has described this extra
ordinary structure in these words: “The
doorway-to this dwelling is placed on
the* lower part of the slope, in order that
rain may not cause an inundation of the
habitation. A level platform of wood
is then built at the higher end of the
structure and a carpet of some soft vege
table material is laid on it. A partition
wall with a doorway is then raised to cut
this portion off from the main room, for
this is the mother’s chamber and the
nursery. Another portion of the dwelling
is then partitioned off for use as a store
room, and it is the male bird’s duty to
stock it with provisions against a bad
season. The remaining space in the house
is retained by tiie male bird as a sort of
guard house and resting place com
bined.” No sort of decoration is allowed
by the mother to encumber the interior
of the house, but apparently she does
not care w'lat the father does with the
outside, provided he first procures food
before giving himself up to his artistic
instincts. The things which he collects
show his catholic taste in art. Anything
glittering or odd in shape will please
him, and, if the truth be told, hi 3 house
in the end comes to look like a refuse
heap o ■ a modified city dumping ground.
The passion of the hammerhead for ob
jets de vertu is such, and so well under
stood among the natives, that when one
of them loses any specially glittering or
gaudy article, he at once sets out for the
nearest hammerhead house and there
searches for it.
In a certain sense the gardener bird of
New Guinea is >mQfe. remarkable than
either of the foregoing birds. It is on
the public assembly room ’ that it ex
ercises all its strange powers. -When
the time for building has come, a level
spot, upon which a stout upright shrub
is growing, is selected, and all around
the shrub, as around a tent pole, the
edifice is erected. The apex of the tent
isftbout twenty inches from the ground
and the base is nearly a yard in diameter.
The sides are formed of stems tightly
interwoven until a waterproof material
is made. An arched doorway is made
in the most convenient side and a gallery
is constructed all around the interior of
the building. An embankment of moss
holds the central pillar firmly in its
place. But it is on the grounds that the
artistic feeling of the bird shows itself,
and these are thus described: “The
grounds cover about the same space as
the house, and are made green and lawu
like by being covered with patches of
moss brought thither for that purpose.
Over the lawn are placed in artistic man
ner bright flowers, fruit and fungi. In
sects, too, which are attractive by reason
of brilliant coloring, are captured and
disposed about the gaounds. Nor is
this all—the inner gallery is also decor
ated with these bright objects. And
when the ornamental fruits, flowers and
insects begin to fade they are removed
and replaced. Moreover, with evident
design, the material of which the house
is built is a species of orchid which re
tains its freshness for a very long time. *
The Prince of Wales Spanked.
The following, taken from a paper
printed in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1844,
is now going the rounds of the press:
Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, accom
panied by the Prince Consort and the
royal children, visited Scotland for the
first time, and tarried a long time on her
way at Balmoral. On the trip the yacht,
in which the people traveled by water,
called at Aberdeen, and, of course, the
loyal inhabitans of that city turned out
in large numbers to do honor to their
beloved sovereign. A guard of honor,
consisting of the merchants of the place,
was formed, and, in all the glory of
black broadcloth and white kids,
paraded on the edge of the dock to
which the vessel moored at just sufficient
distance to prevent people from stepping
on board. Seats were erected on the
bank, tier above tier, like those of a
circus, to accommodate the thousands
that assembled to gaze on the spectacle
of an anointed Queen.
Her Majesty good naturedly remained
on deck to gratify as much as possible
the curiosity oi the bonnveScots', and
promenaded about in full vjew of the
immense crowd. The Prince of Wales,
a child of about five or six years, was
with her. Among other things placed
on the deck for the accommodation of
the Queen was a costly and very splendid
sofa, ornamented with tassels; and the
Prince, like other boys of that age, being
of a destructive turn, began to pull at
one in a manner that threatened to
detach it. His mother observed the act,
and ordered him to desist. He did so,
but as soon as her back was turned seized
the tassel again to give another jerk.
The tjueen appeared to have expected
| something of the kind, for she was at
that moment watching him from the
corner of her eye. In an instant she
turned, aud seizing the luckless heir ap
parent of England by the “scruff of the
neck,” elevated one of her feet upon the
sofa, hoisted the youngster over her
knee, adjusted him in the position
mutually familiar to parents and chil
dren generally, when such ceremonies
are to be performed, and gave him a
sound spanking.
It may be proper to mention, en
passant, for the information of youths
who sometimes find themselves similarly
circumstanced, that the illustrious
sufferer kicked and bellowed under the
afflictive dispensation quite as lustily as
boys of lowlier birth are wont to do.
The amazement with which the specta
tors witnessed the exampl of royal
domestic discipline may be imagined,
but scarcely described in fitting terms.
A dead silence prevailed for a moment,
but was suddenly broken by a tremen
dous roar of laughter, which could not
be suppressed by any thought of dec-,
orum, respect for the or sym
pathy for the victim of her displeasure.
1 The explosion recalled the royal mother
—«a of her position, and, hav ; “
to a Sc„~ * - f nr- ... ’ P
turned toward tno momer U^*
her face suffused with 'T'flGon, she
hastily descended into the and
was seen no more by the expectant
populace.
A Bird Without a Nest.
The term night-hawk is commonlv an»-
plied to several species, all of which
■ have certain peculiarities. From ltd 1
• curious cry ofiG is called chuck-will’s
j widow, this call being uttered so loudly
by the bird that it has been heard for
nearly a mile. About the middle of
March they cone back from their winter’
Eilgrimage; and unlike most of the
irds, they have no housekeeping to
I keep them busy, as they build no
nests. While the robbins, humming
birds, thrushes and others are busily
scouring the country for material with
i which to build their nurseries, the chuck
will’s-widow is fast asleep in some out
of-the-way corner, only coming out in
the afternoon and evening to gather its
supply of food. When the time comes
for laying, our seemingly lazy bird
selects some secluded spot and deposits
her eggs anywhere on the ground, and
the very first glimpse, if we are for
tunate in finding them at all, explains
why she builds no nest. The eggs are
almost the exact color of the surround
ings, and so mottled and tinted that
i only by the merest accident are they dis
covered, and when the two little chuck
will’s-widows come out they are even
more difficult to find than the eggs.
Bemg very sleepy little fellows they
rarely move, and, though standing with
in a few inches of them, the observer
might suppose them to be two old brown
leaves or a bunch of moss, so deceiving
is their mimicry.
Finest State Apartments in Europe.
President Carnot, of France, and Mme.
Carnot live at Fontainebleau this season
in the suite of rooms fitted up by the
Empress Eugenie for her son against his
coming of age. They have the use of
all the private and state apartments of
the palace, all of which have been care
fully kept in order for the past eighteen
years, although the palace has been prac
tically deserted. The state rooms are
said to be the finest in Europe. Fon
tainebleau was created for the tallest
King of h's time, it is said, Francis 1.,
and his height was the unit of measure
ment which the architect took in pitch
ing the ceilings and the cross beams of
the floor. The cabinet makers did the
same, and the sofas and carved chairs,
which were just right for Francis, are
useless for the present generation.
Neither of the Napoleons could sit in
them wltheut using a couple of steps to
mount upon. l'irne.-Democrat. *
Twos Raised to Tens.
Quite a number of silver certificates
are in circulation in this city which have
been raised from $2 to $lO. The two
large figures on the back have b: en ob
literated and the figure “2” on the face
cutout and a figure “10” inserted, be
ing held in place by court plaster. Where
the word “two” is spelled out the last
two letters are obliterated, leaving only
the “t.” It is well calculated to deceive
unless the bill is particularly noticed.—
l urlington Free Press.