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SUNDAY MORNING.
FORTUNE CAME KNOCKING.
The Prisoner’s Story of a Mining Engineer in
Old Montana,
“Asa genera) thing a civil engineer
in the field gets more 'kicks than hap
pence, yet once or twice in a lifetime
fortune comes knocking at his door
ns it did mine," remarked the chief,
as he deftly extracted a live coal from
the campfire, lit his pipe and settled
himself back on a heap of pine boughs,
with his back against a big log de
clined as a back log for the alf-nlght
fire later on, while the rest of the crew
settled themselves in comfortable po
sitions and prepared to lirten.
We had Btarted the captain, which
was a rare event, for he was a taciturn
man, and had the Indian way of rare
ly speaking, except to give a direction
or answer a question, and then in the
briefest manner possible.
Supper was over, the fried fish, bac
on and bread and coffee had been dis
posed of, and the last man having
spread his blankets, the younger of us
were having a quiet laugh at one of
the chainmen, who declared that he
had the night before gone to the little
stream which ran down the mountain,
a few yards from our camp, for a pail
of water about l o’clock and found
the stream dry, yet at 5 In the morn
ing when we started to get breakfast
It was rushing dwn the mountain side
as noisily as it had the night before
when he turned in. All the old gags
of “why don't you wake up before you
go for waterl” “what brand do you
drink!" “where did you get It!” "do
you have those spells often!” etc., had
been sprung when the chief sr>oke as
above quoted.
He continued: “The way I made my
pile was by aid of just such a stream
as Jim says this one outside is, though
there will be plenty of water in it to
night, judging from the sound of that
storm outside, and a wet day tomor
row, that will not let. us move about
much, so If you care to listen, I'll give
you the story:
"It was at the close of 1868, when
most of you youngsters were In short
pants and I had just completed my
survey of (he territory of Montana and
was thinking of pulling stakes and
pushing on to a wilder and more un
settled country. For 1 thought it was
getting rather thick when they had
four post offices in the state, and there
was nearly 60 at that time, besides
there was more than a dozen lawyers
In the territory, and I knew that there
was trouble for all the rest of us from
then on. I am here, yet I know, hut
then there are few places now cov
ered by the old Stars and Stripes but
are more thickly populated, and I
fought too long under the flag to
oh an go to anew one. The Indians
were pretty thick and rather nasty
that fall and, while I could generally
get along with them, being called ‘Sil
ver that Runs' by them on pceount of
the flask of mercury I carried at times
for the artificial horizon, some of
which 1 presented the chiefs and medi
cine men, to be used as a prize when
they were very sick. The results con
vinced them that 1 was very big medi
cine myself, and as 1 say, 1 could gen
erally get along with them, but the
safe rule with an Indian is never to
truat them this side of the happy hunt
ing grounds, and by the way, the same
rule may apply to most white men. 1
■had moved In close to Helena and oc
cupied myself with the small matters
of mining claim lines and locating
mill sites for the miners, making my
headquarters in Sioux Gulch with the
Horton boys, old friends of mine, who
had found, in the long run, that ranch
ing in that country was fully as profit
able as mining.
"One day 1 was accosted by three
Germans, who had a mine a few miles
up the gulch, called the 'Wild Horse
Mine.' They were in great trouble, for
banking on the continued widening of
the pay streak, they had invested the
best portion of their money in ma
chinery and had almost completed a
fennel in the side of the mountain, to
tap the mine at a point some hundred
feet deeper than the shaft already
sunk, when the mine gave promise
of living up to its name, by suddenly
turning from a vertical vein to one
of 30 degrees downward and inward,
thus rendering a 400-foot tunnel al
most useless. Sadly they abandoned
the idea of a connecting tunnel to tap
the vein and commenced to follow
along the new direction, with the vein
constantly widening and giving prom
ise of richer ore and more abundant
metal day after day. until the chances
seemed to justify the expenditure for
machinery that had just been made.
But a few days before they had start
ed up the new steam drills, feeling
very proud, as they contrasted the
rapid strokes of the drill, which both
lightened their labor and enabled them
to excavate with fully 10 times the
speed of the old hand drills, when sud
denly one of the drills struck a stream
of water, which shot into the mine and
made things lively until they could
get it plugged, which was done after
a few minutes delay.
"Very soon they struck water again
and again, until at last it seemed as if
they could not stick a drill hole into
any of the rock about them without
finding water, which is the last thing
any miner wants to see in a mine.
Well, they got a pump after a vast
deal of trouble, for pumps were few
and far between in this country in
those days, and let the water in
through one or two holes and tried to
control it. It did not seem to succeed
at first, but after two days they sud
denly got control of It and in a few
hours the water ceased to flow / *and
they put in a blast in a tew holca and
blew out a section of rock and then
fled for their lives, foe in two minutes
after the blast was fired the water was
six feet deep in the mine and rising
fast. Tools, drills, pump and every
thing else was abandoned and in a
short time under water, which rose
until it was 10 feet deep, and after
three days dropped to six feet, and
after a few hours began to rise again
slowly until 10 feet was reached, which
continued with regularity for some
days; first, 10 feet, of water, then six
feet, then 10 again. They borrowed a
couple of pumps and rescued their
own at low W'ater and started them
all and pumped until patience and fuel
pave out. No use, stlij that deadly
rise and fall continued.
"The 'Wild Horse Mine' and Its
owners became a busted outfit The
bottom was out of the mine and the
owners’ pockets, for while they had
IfcOOO worth of machinery, which, with
the freight overland, had cost them
SIO,OOO, they had no mine and there
was no immediate call for water works
it that section just at that time. So
they came to me with the proposal
that if I would control the water they
would give me a quarter interest in
the mine. At. first I refused, for 1 con
sidered the stock too well watered to
he of much use to any one but a stock
broker or eastern tenderfoot, but at
the intercession of the Horten boys,
who gave the Dutchmen credit for be
ing good, hard-working fellows, who
would be ruined completely unless 1
cruld find a way to help them out, I
consented to walk over to their hole
in the ground and take loo); at the
lather curious feature of a mine that
had a tide which rose and fell once
;n three days, with a mean variation
o! four feet, and as low water was to
occur that day I started and slowly
walked over with the Hortons and the
Dutchmen.
"As we approached the mouth of the
mine, I noticed a dozen or two yards
from the mouth of the shaft, a fine
mountain rill tumbling over the rocks
with a (all of about 25 feet. It was
about four feet across and a foot or
18 inches deep, and after admiring the
fall a few moments I asked Jake, one
of nfy would-be German partners, why
they had not put up a wheel and used
the water power to run their ore
crusher, instead of the more costly
steam engine.”
“ 'Won’t do,' he replied, 'it will stop
pretty soon and won't run again for
three days.’ I stared at him with
amazement.
"What!” I exclaimed, "not run for
three days?”
“ ‘Yes,’ said he, indifferently, 'it will
stop by 3 o’clock this afternoon.' I
said nothing more, but determined to
be on hand when it stopped and try
snd find out why it stopped. I exam
ined the mine ami found things about
as l have already outlined them, and
casually asked Hans, another of the
Germans, when he expected the tide
tv commence to rise again, when I
was astonished to hear him say 'about
3 o’clock and then the water comes
up about three days, then goes down
again in one day.’ I examined tne
tunnel and by aid cf my pocket com
pass determined its general direction
with reference to the mine ard the
stream, and with my pocket rule in
lieu of a transit made a rough calcu
lation, which 1 kept to myself, sat
down to dinner, after which 1 spent
an hour or more in examining the last
ore taken from the mine.
"Abotlt 2 p. m. I climbed the rock
to the brink of the waterfall and found
the hole in the rocks through which
the stream came, a few feet back of
where it took its plunge. Ail there
was to be seen in that direction was a
hole the size of a man's body, yet while
1 looked the water, which for some
lew minutes had appeared to be rapid
ly getting lower, stopped with a low
rumbling sound. The show was over.
1 turned on my heel and led the anx
ious Germans hack to the office, and
in 15 minutes became the owner of a
tne-fourth interest in the ‘Wild Horse
Mine,’ for the usual sum of a dollar,
etc., with the condition that 1 was to
have sole tontrol of the mine for one
year and that my partners were to
take up work at once on the aband
oned tunnel and run 'it not exceeding
100 feet in any direction 1 named.
Work on the tunnel commenced the
next day at an angle of 60 degrees to
the right of the former line toward
the stream, but 50 feet below the head
of the fall, and 10 days afterward 1
was awakened one morning with the
news from those disgusted Germans
that they had struck water in the tun
nel and could go no further. I think
at that moment that 1 could have
bought the rest of the 'Wild Horse
Mine' for another dollar.
" 'Good.' said I, and put on my hat.
'Good.' grunted Jake; 'bad, bad! 1
tink dot mountains vas vhat you call
one sronce. a f i’t it?’ and ’■•ith the
three walking dejectedly at my heels
we sat out for the tunnel. A nice two
inch stream of water was spurting
from the face of the rock. To make
a long story short. 1 plugged that hole,
loaded it with 30 pounds of powder,
put in a time fuse, had the tools taken
from the tunnel, lighted the fuse and
took to my heels. A minute later a
muffied explosion shook the earth and
a yellow stream of dirty water, the full
size of the tunnel, shot from its mouth.
1 looked at the waterfall. It was
stopped. I sent Jake down the shaft
to see if the water was rising or fall
ing and he came back with a face like
a full moon, with the information that
the water was running out as quick
TE BRUNSWICK DAILY NEWS
as 'nefer was.’ By 6 p. m. that night
there was not a drop of water in the
'Wild Horse mine,’ and but a small
stream flowing from the tunnel.
“The next morning we blew out the
heading of the shaft and found our
selves in a rock chamber 20 by 80 feet,
which was the natural reservoir that
had caused all the trouble fort lie mine;
had furnished the little waterfall with
water and myseif with a comfortable
fortune which is safely invested in
United States bonds, from which 1
carefully cut the coupons every six
months. What had happened? Was
this*the passage from the reservoir t
the outlet above? The fall was simply
a natural syphon, which once started
drew out the water until it was low
enough to let air into the long end
of the tube; when it stopped and took
two or more days to fill up and the op
eration was repeated. When my Ger-.
man partners punched holes in the
rock, they simply added so much space
to the reservoir, causing it to take
longer to fill and therefore the time
was extended to three clays.
“I, having settled the proposition
in my own mind, found the abandoned
tunnel running in the right direction
and far enough below the floor of the
cave to drain it comfortably and quick
ly. When we got rid of the water we
simply traced the vein on the oppo
site wall of the cave and went on tak
ing it out.” Now one word, readers,
don’t, laugh when a man tells you a
curious story. Don’t be ashamed to
ask questions. All sucessful men are
noted for asking questions and are
good, listeners when others talk. And
last but not least, never be too old or
know too much to let someone else
tell you anew wrinkle about your
trade. —Sing Sing Star of Hope.
6UAINT AND CURIOUS.
Three ancient Roman weights were
recently found at Rome. They were of
green marble, with bronze bandies, and
prove that the Roman pound was equaj
to three-quarters of a pound avoirdu
pois.
In Rotomahona, New Zealand, there
is an immense geyser which covers an
area on acre in extent, and constantly
tlirows columns of water to vast
heights, some of them ascending threo
hundred feet, with clouds of steara
wtiUh go much higher.
imagine, if you can, a live-stock
train 16 7-8 miles long-numbering 2,-
357 cars and containing 34,785 bead of
cattle, 38,456 hogs and 22,234 sheep,
nnel you will have some idea of the
record-breaking day for receipts at the
Union Stock Yards, Chicago, on Wed
nesday, July 24, 1901. It was the big
est day ever known in the history of
this big live-stock mart.
The old custom of giving a purse to
the bride at a wedding is still observed
in an odd fashion in parts of Cumber
land. England. The bridegroom pro
vides himself with a number of gold
and silver pieces, and, at the words,
“With all my worldly goods 1 thee en
dow,” hands the clergyman his fee
and pours the c her coins into a hand
kerchief held by the bride. In other
pluces the brid# asks her husband for
a gift of money or property on the day
after the wedding, and this request he
is bound in honor to grant.
\V ind Is lo bo the newest food, says
Heinrich Reli, a nrofessor of chemis
try *.n Merlin. He has secured a pat
ent upon a form of animal fodder
which has sawdust as its chief ingre
dient. He argues that animals have a
decidco liking for young shoots, roots
of shrubs, tree bark and other heavy
food of t..e same nature, and. tiuce
experiments have proved that the nu
triment contained in such growth re
mains in it even after it has become
wood, he observes that, with a little
salt aud water added to it. the saw
dust will prove to be a highly nour
ishing diet.
The other day as l). C. Misner was
passing the Hillsboro (Ind.) Bank he
saw upon the sidewalk what he
thought was a snake- about a yard in
length and of a peculiar color. He
Struck at the supposed reptile with his
walking stick, and was surprised when
the ‘ snake" parted in twain. Upon ex
amination it was ascertained that the
peculiar-looking object was made up
of myriads of small, wiry worms, each
about an inch in length. The mass
was termed exactly like a snake and
was moving along about as rapidly a*
a snail, l.ater in the day Mrs. Sarah
Ketchani, residing north of the town,
found a similar mass of wriggling
worms in her dootyard.
The SttrntT F*lrl.
The petrel is usually named the
stormy petrol. The bird is. under the
name c r Mocher Carey's chicken, the
terror of the sailor, who always con
siders the bird as the precursor of
a storm. It is t::e smallest of tile web
footed birds. Few storms are violent
enough to keep the winged creature
from wandering over the waves in
search of the food that the disturbed
water casts to the surface. Hike the
fulmar, the petrel is so exceedingly
oily in texture that the inhabitants
of the Feroe Islands draw a wick
wick through its body and use it as
a lamp.
"I think.” said the historical novel
ist, "that 1 shall not put any history
into my book."
“Oh. Pereival," his wife said, “1 was
so in hopes that you would make your
next book different from your others.”
—Chicago Record-Hcrald.
When a man finds himsetf in a hole
he must expect his friends to look
down on turn.
WHALES NOT IN DEMAND
FEW LEVIATHANS LEFT AMD THEY
ARE NOT MUCH HUNTED.
It Wu firm Bedford That Cleared the
Sea# of Karth’e Largest C'rearuree lt
Wa* Mr. Itorkefeller Who showed ihe
World How to Live Without \t hale*.
For the whale these are, in the lan
guage of Jack Miller’s farewell, "Hap
py days and many of 'em,” exclaims
the Boston Evening Transcript. After
a strenuous life of four centuries this
is the coffee-and-cigars, the easy-chair
and-slippcrs period of his existence.
Since the time when Columbus crossed
tbs Atlantic he has been hunted and
harried from Arctic pillar to tropic
gost, but the economic cycle has passed
and for the present the whale is en
joying a period of comparative secur
ity, when he may roam the waters in
peace, multiply and people once more
the depleted seas. Let none begrudge
him his repose. The whale deserves
well of the world. What he has in his
humble way contributed to the intel
lectual development of the human race
only the imaginative can compute,only
the ungrateful deny. For four cen
turies he fed the scholar’s lamp and
the victor's torch. For so much of
literature and of science as we owe to
“midnight oil” the thoughtful and the
generous will give the whale due cred
it. But the service he has long per
formed is now done better by another
agency, and he enjoys a comparative
ly unmolested rest.
One day last March, a tale came up
from the tropics as weird as the rank
est yarn that ever came out of a
fo'c's'le, but verified as accurately as
a government report. The New Bed
ford whaling bark Kathleen was float
ing calmly in a placid sea, when she
caught the attention of a giant fin
back. He swam up in his majestic
way, and -when within a few yards of
the ship he dived just below the sur
face and moved slowly beneath the
keel. Then he rose quickly and sav
agely, in the manner of a bucking
bronco, until the ship was sheer above
the water. It toppled over on Its side,
the whale moved on a few feet and
then, with an angry Hip of his tail,
knocked the bark to smithereens.
Now, that may be considered the des
perate parting shot of a maddened,
long-hunted fugitive, the climax of an
ancient feud. Only in order to look on
it in this way, we shall have to give
the whale credit for carrying about in
that huge head of his a kind of Mach
iavellian subtlety and a mind for deep
planned revenge. And as every old
whaler knows, the only thing in a
whale’s head is some three or four
tons of liquid spermaceti, worth in
the New Bedford market about SSO a
barrel. It is a pity this prosaic fact
is so, for it forbids us to indulge in
the poetic fancy of imagining the
whale as entertaining a feeling of
gratitude to the Standard Oil com
pany and erecting monuments in the
deep to the glory of John f). Rocke
feller, who is chiefly responsible for
his emancipation. The petroleum age
for the world spells golden age for
the whale.
Down on the ancient business streets
of Boston, Purchase, High and India,
and along the old wharves, you will
find a score perhaps of weather-beat
en gilt signs which proclaim that
those within sell, among other things,
"Sperm and whale-oil, sperm candies
and whalebone.” But those signs tell
not the truth. They are signs of noth
ing at all but the conservatism of the
Boston business man, who changes his
wares to meet new demands, but
changes not his sign above him. The
prowling newspaper man who asks
the junior partner for information
about the whale-oil trade is met by
an amazed stare and a half-indigant
"Great Scott, man, wake up; this is
1902. We don't deal in whale-oil. We
sell mineral oils.” And when you call
his attention to the sign which he
has seen with unseeing eyes these
twenty years he explains that that is
of the past, and refers you to "Smith
& Cos., around on India square—they
handle the whale-oil, I think." And
then Smith, the commission dealer,
says: "We don't carry any whale-oil;
oh. yes, there is an old fellow- out in
central New York that orders a barrel
once every six months or so. We or
der it for him from New Bedford, but
we don't know what he does with it.
Some old Rip Van Winkle. I guess,
that sticks to the old ways."
After diligent search you find the
one or two houses that do make .a
business of whale products, and you
learn that there is now just one staple
use for sperm oil —minors’ lamps.
Then. text, a few railroad companies
like it for their signal lamps, and for
certain curious purposes, like temper
ing steel, the universal mineral oil is
improved by a slight admixture of
spermaceti.
In New Bedford you will hear the
same story. In the grocery stores and
on sunny porches the old whaling
captains, deep-eyed, hawk-nosed, re
hearsed old times in "the Western
ocean.” The picturesque population
that made New Bedford's wharves
the most genuinely cosmopolitan spot
in America is gone forever. Frank T.
Bullen has written their requiem;
"From ail the isles of the South they
tame —sturdy of limb and clear of eye
from Polynesia: lithe, sinewy and
cruel-visaged from Malaysia, black
with the blackness of soft coal from
East Africa, stolid and haughty from
Arabia, and last, but greatest both in
number and in importance, the stately,
cavalier-like Portuguese from that
Atlantic cluster of jewelled isles, the
Azores. Cape Verde and Madeira,”
Finally, those argosies of clumsy whal
ing barks, “built by the mile and cut
off in lengths as you want ’em,” have
fallen to such base uses as carrying
coal from Philadelphia and lumber to
New York.
But all this talk of departed glory
is told in statistics. In 1846 there
were 736 vessels carrying the Ameri
can flag (practically ail were from
New Bedford), hunting whales in
every corner of the watered world,
from Okhotsk to Arabia. That was a
mighty fleet. Of it today are left but
39 small barks and schooners. Jan. 1,
1859, a year before the civil war be
gan, there were 625 vessels; by 1866,
the figure had fallen to 263.
The annals of ruined New Bedford
fortunes will tell how much of the
decrease was caused by the vindictive
Alabama. The whalers would be com
ing home from four-year-long cruise#
in the Arctic. They knew nothing of
the war that had begun since they left
in peace. They were loaded down with
oily cargo, and the crews reefed and
tacked cheerfully enough to the
thought of homeward bound. Then
would come the astonished encounter
with the Alabama, and the whaling
captain would pace the Confederate’s
deck a prisoner and watch the fruit of
his toil roll off across the sea in big
billows of dense black smoke.
The Alabama scourge was artificial.
After the war the trade picked up. In
1869 there were 338 vessels. Then
came the striking of oil in Pennsyl
vania, and the whaling industry was
doomed.
Of the remnant of the fleet still afloat
24 hail from New' Bedford, four from
Brovincetown, two from Boston and
ten from San Francisco. These are
scattered through the North and South
Atlantic, in Hudson Bay and in the
Japan and Okhotsk Seas. With the
sailing vessels the old fashion of long
voyages that took a large grp from
the sailors’ lives still persists. Some
of the New Bedford whalers have
been away from port since '96. But
on the Pacific coast are half a dozen
steam whalers which go out for but
a few days at a time and tow their
prizes to shore to be cut up and boiled.
This me.hod will soon entirely super
sede the old one, and the steamers
will monopolize what is left of the
whaling industry.
These figures are for America (and
in the whaling business. “America”
meant New Bedford, until a compara
tively few years ago, when San Fran
cisco began to hunt for w'hales with
steamers.) Indeed, no other calling in
the world demands the highest quali
ties of courage and daring. Compared
tc> it soldiering, even in time of war,
is a comparatively serene business.
The percentage of casualties on an
old-fashioned whaling trip would
make the battle of Colenso look like
a child's picnic. It is only natural
that such a calling should attract the
most self-reliant men in the world,
the men w'ho sought fortune in an
unpeopled world, and the descendants
of those men. As early as 1775 New
Bedford, with a fleet of 350 ships, mon
opolized the whaling business of the
world. This monopoly is maintained
so long as the industry lasted. It is
estimated that in 1846, when New
Bedford had 730 ships on the water,
the total investment nr money was
$70,000,000, and the number of people
dependent on this harvest of the sea
was 70,000.
Comparatively the industry has
dwindled to a mere nothing. It may
even dwindle yet more. But it will
never entirely disappear. There will
always be some slight business in the
products of the whale. But New Bed
ford will not be its headquarters. The
twenty-four ships that sail from New
Bedford will disappear one by one.
The whaler of the future will hunt
with steam. He will build his boiling
establishment on some shore near
which the whales congregate. From
this station he will go out every morn
ing, shoot his whale with a harpoon
gun, instead of in the old manner, and
tow him ir. to be cut and boiled the
next day. while he steams off after
more game. Within the past five years
this process has been introduced rt
three places—on the coast of Norway,
on the Pacific coast of the United
States and on the coast, of Newfound
land.
TT*lt*r F<>ntt n n Volant**!*.
The recent discovery in Edinburgh
of a summons c alling upon Sir Walter
Scott, advocate, to attend and join
the Edinburgh army reserve during
the troubled period of 1803, has been
followed by the unearthing of Scott's
reply. Dated from Lasswade Cottage,
July 22. 1803, and addressed to Mr.
James l.aing. clerk to the lieutenancy
of the city of Edinburgh, the letter
reads as follows: "Sir—As I observe
b> the enclosed summons that I am
drawn a soldier of the re
serve. 1 beg to inform you my
intention to claim the exemption pro
vided in favor of volunteer cavalry,
leaving been for 12 years a member
of the Edinburgh troop of the R. M.
Lo.ihiau V. Cavalry. I understand
from Col. Dtindas that the adjutant.
Mr. Adams, is to supply the lieuten
ancy with a list of the corps, in which
>ou will find my name regularly in
serted. If funber verification of the
exemption is requisite, have the goc.d
--n5-s to acquaint Mr. Adams for me.
I remain, sir. "your obedient servant,
Walter Scott.” In spite of his lame
ness. Scott was an enthusiastic—and
immensely popular—Volunteer, and
used to turn out to drill at five in the
morning.—London Chronicle.
An lnt*llitf*t Mid.
The yakamik, or trumpeter of Vene
zuela, a fowl of the crane species, is a
bird of extraordinary intelligence. The
natives use it instead of sheep dogs
for guarding and herding their flocks.
It is said that, however far the yaka
mik may wander with the flocks, it
never fails to find its way home at
night, driving before it all the crea
tures intrusted to its care.
SEPTEMBER 2S
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.
Porous white paper immersed in a
solution of one part of oxalic acid iu
four parts of alcohol and subsequently
dried, forms anew blotting paper br
dried ink. The ink to be removed is
moistened with water, and the paper
is used in the usual manner.
The arrangements for irrigation in
South Formosa are primitive and in
sufficient to secure a constant supply
of water in times of prolonged
drought. Hence the success or fail
ure of the rice and sugar crops de
pends largely on rain falling at pro
per times.
The use of electricity for purposes
of illumination is increasing rapidly
in Peru. The town of Lima is now'
entirely lighted by electricity. Tne
town of Arequipa is also lighted to a
considerable extent by electricity, and
companies are being formed for light
ing Calla, Trujillo and Chlclayo. in
the same manner. The electrical
plant chiefly comes from the United
States.
The importance of designing fly
wheels so as to offer the least possi
ble resistance to the air has been late
ly shown. In tests at a Nurenbcr;:
; electric station, a flywheel driven at
93 revolutions per minute by enginei
of 450 horse power was found to re
quire about 15 horse power to keep it
in motion, and this was reduced about
5.7 horse power by covering the ehan
i ncled arms with sheet iron. The aav
; ing of 1.2 percent of the power of the
| eigines was equivalent to about $270
yearly. In another test, the result
j was even more surprising, and a 630-
horse power engine showed a saving
| ot 30-horse power, or 4.8 percent of
; the total, when a suitable flywheel
j covering was used to lessen the fue
| tion,
Scieniistsare paying much attention
: to the leakages of power and attempt
ing to obviate the loss. Experiments
with railroad trains have shown that
a great deal of energy is wasted in
driving unnecessary projections at the
i ends and sides of cars against the re
!si stance of the air. A distinct gain
has been made even by casting car
j wheels in the form of discs, instead
! of with spokes, for spokes cause a
; greater resistance. Flywheels are now
catefully shaped to meet as, little re
sistance as possible, and a good deal
of horse power is thus gained. In
| one experiment made with a large
flywheel it was found that 30 horse
power wr.s lost on aceoi nt of unaece --
1 sary resistance, the total horse power
j of the engine being 630. *
In most of the accounts of the
eruption of Mont Pelee, Island of
Martinique, flame, smoke and ashes
were spoken of as pouring out of the
crater, c.s this seems to be the pop
ular notion about an eruption, per
haps it might be well to correct it.
The truth is that a‘ volcano throws
out no flame, no smoke and no ashes.
The eruption is produced by the con
tact of water with great masses of
moiten rock in the interior of the
earth. This contact generates steam
at an enormous pressure, and an ex
plosion is the result. The force of
the explosion breaks up the rock floor
of the crater into fragments of every
size, much of it coming out of the
crater so finely powdered that it is
generally called "ashes," though it is
nothing but powdered rock. The
smoke so often spoken of is nothing
but the condensation of the Mara as
it comes out into the air, and the
flame is merely the light from the
red-hot moiten mass within reflected
from the cloud of vapor. J
* 1
H*l im h ( r*. , i
The interest lately excited in En%"
land in what is known as tho “red
light treatment” of small-pox, wherein
the patient is confine-d in a room into
which only red light is admitteu, calls
attention to the remarkable way in
which modern science seems to re
vive and reform empencal methods
of the past. Even so far back as the
reign of Edward IV, smallpox pa
tients were treated by wrapping them
in red covers and putting red balls in
the bed. It was thus that John of
GaciJesden treated a Prince of Wales.
This method has also been noticed as
a popular custom in Roumania. In
recent years, too, a French surgeon
has told of sman-pox patients in Ton
cuin being isolated in alcoves almost
darkened by red carpet hangings, and
of wonderful eures ensuing. In Japan
the patients were covered by red
blankets, and the children given red
toys to play with.—Chicago News.
Ftlt Kail way Signal HUioct.
A stationmaster. one of the pioneers
of signalmen on the Darlington Rail
way, placed a lighted candle in the
w-indow of the station when he was
desired to stop the train, and left the
window in darkness if the line was
clear. The first real signals w-ere
i waved by hand; afterward
those were placed on lofty poles and
surmounted at night by lamps, with
red or white lights. In 1837 the disk
[ signal fixed on a pole came into use,
which was turned eCgewayg when the
; iine was clear. Gradually the sema
phore. adopted in 1842, came into use
just 11 years before the block system
was introduced. In 1856 a plan of in
terlocking the levers was invented,
but it was not until 1859 that the first
interlocking frame was set in action
at W illesden.—London Chronicle.
Fnry.
'ln Moscow a money lender, the
owner of several houses and stables,.
was sentenced recently to four
months’ imprisonment for lending
money at the- enormous rate of 1.82
nerrent-