Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 November 1883 — Page 6

PACIFIC TIME.

STANDARD TIME.

Hitherto There Have Been Flfty-tliree Kinds of Time; Now There Will Be bat Five—How the American Continent Is Arranged in Divisions. [From the Chicago Tribune.] We present herewith a map explaining the standaid time which was adopted at noon Nov. 18 by the railroads of the North American continent, and In connection herewith ane published tables showing the difference between the now time and the local or solar time of the leading cities of the country. A change somewhat similar to that which is now effected in America was brought about in England as long ago as Jan. 13, 1848, and a reform could no longer be delayed in this country owing to the complications arising under the old dispensation. It may not be generally known that the railroads of this country have been conducted of late years under flfty-tbree different kinds of time, the difference between the times being very slight in some instances, but enough to make people miss trains repeatedly, besides causing other inconvenience. FIVE GRAND DIVISIONS. The fifty-three kinds of time were repre-

THE RUSSIAN MONKS.

A Convent Which Possesses a Costly Imperial Autograph. According to tradition the Apostle Andrew visited the place where the city of Kieff now stands, on the high shore of the Dnieper, and, erecting a cross there, said: “in this country there shall shine a great Christian state.” Ten centuries later Vladimir, the great Prince of Russia, baptized his people in Kieff, and shortly afterward, perhaps on the spot trodden by St. Andrew, the first Russian convent was founded. The monks dug their cells in the ground, and thus the famous catacombs were made. I have visited these catacombs. While my monkish guide, with a taper in his hand, led the way and pointed out the last resting place of this -or that saint, I wondered at the gigantic work performed by Russian monks centuries ago. To dig an underground cell, to spend a whole lifetime in it, to die and be buried there—what a faith must these austere men have possessed. Dark and narrow were the cells they lived in, but they spread the light of Christian faith far and wide in Russia. Prayer was their special vocation, but they also worked hard. They destroyed the pagan temples and built Christian churches in their stead. Their academy ■was for centuries the only institution where theology, philosophy, and the sciences were taught. In the catacombs the monks mortified their flesh, prayed to God that He would forgive their Sills ftnd also the sins of the world at large, wrote chronicles, painted holy images, prepared vegetable medicines, and buried the martyrs who perished at the hands of Tartar khaus, Russian Princes, or pagan mobs. Centuries have passed, and what do we see in these catacombs ? The holy relics and dry bones of these old monks are exposed to the sight of curious people. The monks no longer live there. They go there only for the purpose of trade. Large metallic plates are put up at the grave of each of the fifty canonized saints, and esvery day the monks obtain piles of money from the pious pilgrims who come there from all the Russias. They sell the tears of St. Theophilus, the weeper, the oil that runs from • the grave of St. John of Many Sufferings, and drugs from the grave of St. Agapit, the Physician. In this manner the Kieff' convent has gathered many millions of rubles, and beside it owns bushels of precious stones. During the Crimean war, the Czar Nicholas borrowed from the Kieff convent 2,000,000 rubles upon a note in his own handwriting. Nicholas never paid the money back. Once when the late Czar Alexander visited Kieff the prior seized the opportunity to remind him of this debt to the convent, showing him Nicholas’ note. Alexander shed tears, kissed his father’s autograph, and said: “Truly, holy father, it is my beloved father’s handwriting. Oh, what a treasure yon have! Keep it in the sanctuary, and guard it better than your own eyes.” With that he returned the note to the prior. It is the costliest autograph in existence. — St. Petersburg Cor. New York Su/n.

Without Price.

When Bonamy Price, the English economist, was in Washington several years since he dined with Secretary Bobeson, when President and Mrs. Grant were present, and proposed, much to his host’s dislike, that each one should write down his or her 1 ideas about heaven, which he intended to

MOUNTAIN TIME.

sented on the old railroad maps by an elaborate system of colors which would confuse an ordinary observer. Under the new system there are five divisions of time on the North Amerioan continent: Intercolonial, embracing; Nova Scotia and New Brunswick; Eastern, taking; in the New England States, New York, Pennsylvania, and the States south of Pennsylvania; Central, including Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, and the Btates north and south of them; Mountain, comprising the roads west of the Missouri river in the mountains; and Pacific, taking in the lines on the Pacific coast. THE FIVE COLORS. The five colors cannot be given in the map herewith presented, but the divisions aro marked by shades, and the change will be comprehended at a glance when these facts are recalled. The time in which the earth revolves upon Its axis is divided into twentyfour equal parts, termed hours, and for convenience in measuring distances the distance around the earth from east to west is divided into 360 parts, called degrees of longitude. The surface of the earth, therefore, travels as many degrees in one hour as twenty-four is contained times in 360, or fifteen. From this it is seen that there is a difference of one hour actual time between each succeeding fifteen degrees of longitude

compare, and, by showing how they differed, prove that there was no such place. The situation was becoming alarming, especially to the ladies, and the hostess was about to give the signal to leave the table, when Mr. Robeson, out of patience, arose and thus addressed the Professor: “I have an idea of heaven, and have written it down. ‘Heaven is a place without money and without Price.’ ”

The Thermometer as a Remedial Agent.

Being called to prescribe for a patient living in the hills above Keyport, who had long been afflicted with epilepsy, and whose mind was now somewhat I noticed a remarkable pallor of countenance, and that the surface of the body was very cold to the touch, so produced a clinical thermometer to ascertain the temperature. The young man evidently looked upon it as a part of the treatment, and, further impressed by the admiring awe of his relatives, closed his lips upon it with as pious a care as though it had been Tyndall’s prayer-gauge, and speedily seemed oblivious of all earthly things. So wrapt was he that when I went to withdraw the thermometer, he gave a start like one rudely assailed. “How did it affect you?” queried I. “Very well indeed,” he replied; “I think it has made me feel much better.” And then, raising his hand with a air of benediction, he added: “It had such a quieting influence.” An hour afterward I visited a young domestic in another family, who was convalescing from a mild attack of typhoid fever, where the temperature had ranged from 100 to 102 degrees for several days. While here I related the above incident to her employer, who laughed heartily; but the girl, with a look of scornful superiority, cried out: “Pooh! he must’nt ever have seen one before! Why, I have had two at a time in my mouth, and I thought nothing of it.” “Why was that?” asked I. “When I was on Randall’s island.” “Yes, but why ? What were two used for ?” “Because—because,” blurted she, in confusion, “my fever was so high they couldn’t tell it with one!”— Medical Becord.

British Forests.

The forests of the United States have been so mercilessly stripped of trees that a wood famine is almost inevitable in a few years. The lumbermen have been allowed to do practically as they pieased, and they have pleased to reap always and sow never. But an end is coming to that reckless method of procedure,'‘and the lumbermen themselves are beginning to see that “something” must be done. “That something can, of course, only be planting on a large scale. Happily, there is little fear of similar dearth in Great Britain; none, at any rate, until the greater landlords are reformed out of existence. For almost the sole reason that England and Scotland are so thickly wooded is the perseverance of the landed class in tree-planting. One family alone, that of the Dukes of Athole, has in a hundred years planted scores of millions of trees. The “planter Duke,” who commenced operations in 1774, planted 27,000,000 trees, covering 15,000 acres, principally upon the Dunkeld hills and in their neighborhood. The present Duke of Athole plants from 600,000 to 1,000,000 trees every year. The terrible storm which destroyed the Tay bridge blew down 80,000 of the Duke’s trees, but the loss was hardly noticeable.— St. James’ Gazette.

CENTRAL TIME.

around the earth faster going east and slower going west. FIFTEEN DEGREES AN HOUR. The railroad officials of the continent decided to adopt as their standard of regulation the time of the Greenwich observatory, London, England, and as the longitude in which their roads were situated was so many times fifteen degrees westward from Greenwich, they made their time that many hours slower than Greenwich time. Hence the 60th degree of longitude is four hours slower than Greenwich time; the 75th, five hours slower; the 90th, six hours; the 105th, seven hours, and the 120th eight hours—thus making five different standards between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. These five standards are shown on the map in the order just men-: tioned, viz.: Intercolonial, Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific time. MERIDIANS. The 90th meridian, on which Central time is based, is nine minutes slower than Ohicago solar time. The 75th meridian which gives Eastern time, is one hour faster than Central time, or four minutes slower than New York city solar time. Inter-colonial time, being based upon the 60th meridian, is two hours faster than the Central time. Mountain time, which is based on the 105th meridian, is one hour slower than Central time.

Reducing the Blemishes.

A sallow complexioned old lady, accompanied by a remarkably unprepossessing daughter, walked into an Austin photograph gallery. “Be you the photograff man?” she inquired, wiping her spectacles, and carefully adjusting them to the various spurs, dips, angles and sinuosities of her Corinthian nose. “yes, ma’am,” replied the artist in plate glass and chemicals, “can I do anything for you ? r ’ “No, I’m too far over the bay to waste any mechanical genius on me. It’s my daughter, Partheny, here, that I wants tuk. ” “AH right, madam, will you”— “Can’t yer soffen down her complexion a little, an’ tone up her nose what was broke failin’ out a winder?” “I think so,” replied the artist. “An’ kin yer wipe off them freckles ?” “Oh, yes.” “I’ve seen photograffs of dead oodles of our relation, an’ I’ve allers noticed that the picters flattered ’em clean out of sight. I know enough about the biz to recognize that you’ve got the whole thing in yer own hands, an’ kin turn out a perfessional beauty or a jimpli-cute-of the first water, just as yer please. Do you think yon kin reduce those ears a trifle—jest a leetle. I know Partheny has got big ears, but still she ain’t no jack-rabbit. Partheny is a generous girl, as yer kin see by her ears.” “I think there will be no difficulty”— “How about that air squint in the left optic ? Do yer think yer kin manage that ?” “Oh, yes, I can touch it up with India ink.” “What* particular pose do yer think Partheny would take best in, full face or a side show?” “You mean quarter view or a profile?” “I guess I do. Yer see the photograff is goin’ to a young feller what put an advertisement into a newspaper for correspondents, and Partheny’s writin’ to him. Now yon see how necessary it is for the picter to kinder favor her little blemishes. You’ll do the fair thing by Partheny, won’t yer ?” “Certainly. What size, madam, cabinet or cards ?” “Which is the biggest?” “Cabinet.” “Guess then we’d better try her on a cabinet. Es the photograffer does a good job, the bigger the better. What’s yer figgers ?” i “Pour dollars a dozen for cabinets.” “How much for one ?” “Same price; it is the negative that costs, not the number.”' “Well, all right. Just go ahead an’ square them shoulders back a little, an’ bring the nose down fine, an’ wipe off the freckles, an’ straighten the eye, an’ reduce the ears, an’whiten the complexion—an’ the hair! It won’t be red in the picter, will it ?” “Oh, no. There will be no color shown but black.” “That’s a comfort. Gracious! Partheny, what would he think if yer sent ’hn an oil paintin’ taken from life! Kin I stay in the room?” “Oh, yes.” “All right. Strike an artitood, Partheny, that won’t give you away, an’ we’ll rope in that young man as ante aa yer afoot high.”— Texas Siftings.

The Preacher’s Child.

It was in the family of a well-known D. D. in Boston. For some reason there has been a slight delay in the usual prompt payment of the quarter’s

EASTERN TIME.

Pacific time based upon the 120th meridian, is two hours slower than Central time. The several meridians are indicated upon the map, as well as the territory included in the diflerent divisions. The irregularity in the boundaries is caused by the various roads wishing to adopt as their standard the time of the meridian nearest which the greater number of their lines are situated. The country is indebted to two citizens of New York for the original suggestions leading up to this important innovation. The idea occurred to Prof. Cleveland Abbe, of the Signal Bureau at Washington, and his plans were elaborated by Dr. F. A. P. Barnard, of Columbia college. Prof. Abbe proposed his plan as early as 1878 at a meeting of the American Meteorological society. It is unnecessary to review the many discarded suggestions made from time to time in regard to time standards. Suffice it to say that' they were all found to be too sweeping and revolutionary. The scheme which is now adopted has received the emphatic approval of a number of scientific associations, among them the American Meteorological society, the American Geographical society, the Canadian Institute, the International Geographical Congrees at Venice, and the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg.

salary; and the pastor and his wife, unmindful of the presence of a small philosopher of five years, were planning household economies until the money came in. Suddenly the little maiden remarked with great seriousness, not unmixed with disdain, “Now, papa, I’ll tell you what I should do. I should give my people plain prayermeetings till they paid me that money!” The Congregationalist.

Curious Incidents in the Oil Regions.

“Talk about tumbles in the price of oil,” said a veteran operator on the Bradford Petroleum exchange, “nothing like the one of the winter of 1860 has been known in the modern days of the trade. That was the winter that Jesse Heydrick put down the old Farmers’ and Mechanics’ well, or rather the company that he formed put it down, • and that was the first company ever formed to develope the oil territory. The well came in good for about 3,000 barrels a day, and half of it couldn’t be taken care of, but ran’ down the creek in a regular flood. Oil was oil then, and was worth sl3 a barrel. Pittsburgh was the only market, and we had only one way to get oil there, and that was nv running it in barges down the Allegheny river from Oil City. Of course it was necessary to have freshets to transport it in this way. The winter that Heydrick struck his well the river was frozen over., but he was bound to get some oil to Pittsburgh. He succeeded in cutting a way through, and ran ten flat-boats down. He sold all his oil for sl3 a barrel. The next day a thaw set in, and in two days the river broke up. Then the boats began to run, and in a short time the market was overstocked, and in less than a week oil was selling at 90 cents a barrel. “The early days of oil production were attended by many curious incidents. One of the queerest was a streak of luck a well owner struck on the creek in 1863. He had drilled a well down to the third sand, but found nothing but water, and three days’ continuous pumping failed to bring anything else to the surface, so he abandoned the well in disgust. The next •day a neighbor of his, who was operating on an adjoining lease, came over to see the disgusted well-owner, and informed him, with much excitement, that since the pumping of water had ceased at his well g.-eat trouble had resulted at the other well, which had yielded thirty barrels of oil a day as long as the water was being pumped, and upon the stopping of the water pumping had filled up with water and produced no more oil. “The result was that the man who owned the producing well hired the less fortunate operator to keep his pump going, for which he paid him S4O a week. The producing well was thus restored to its former condition, and things worked satisfactorily for six months, when suddenly one day the well that had been yielding nothing but water began pumping od and the one that had yielded oil in turn became a water well. The changed situation resulted in a lawsuit, which was won by the owner of the well that had at first yielded nothing but water.*— Bradford {Pa.) Cor. New York Sum.

Geemaxy has 500 mills for the manufacture of wood pulp, and such a degree of perfection has been reached in its manufacture that even for the better qualities of paper it is a complete substitute for rags. Wood, pulp constitutes 75 per cent, of tlyfe paper stock used in that country.

INTERCOLONIAL TIME.

Self-Dependence.

Never do for a child that which he can reasonably do for himself, is an admirable maxim, but one that we, as mothers, too often fail to adopt as our rule of action. Hew many scenes we can all recall of a fretful, exciting child demanding service of a frail mother, which he is much better able to perform himself! And by this one mistake alone thousand of women allow children to hang as a weight about their necks, while they might not only be self-helping in a large degree, but save her many steps in the performance of other duties. To be sure, children will be waited upon if they may; that is but natural, and in this as in other things much depends on the way we begin with them, so that the mother who is waiting till Jennie and Kittie are big girls to help her will probably wait in vain. We recall a family of children we once knew, whose mother appreciated this fact, and practiced most successfully what we now preach. The father was a mechanic, a man determined to lay aside a little from time to time for the rainy day that may come to all, and the mother agreeing with him in his policy, put all her woman’s-wit to work to help him to accomplish his purpose. The children were small, and there were six of them, but the two oldest were girls, aged 11 and 9. At this time the mother determined to dispense with the help she had felt obliged to keep and arranged her household accordingly. To begin with, each child, from the oldest to the little toddler of 2|, had his own drawer and hooks for his clothes, and when they were folded from the bars all that did need mending were sorted, and each little one’ took his clothes and put them where they belonged. Then, when a bath night came, each one knew just where to get clean clothes to put on, and those for the next day’s wear carefully laid out. Nor was this all, but the soiled ones were also put where they belonged. Now by this one arrangement, it is only one of the many unusual things those children did, what a world of wear and worry the mother saved herself, only one similarly situated can properly appreciate. But they did more than help themselves, for selfhelpfulness developes a desire for general usefulness, and each morning, when the breakfast was over, the two older girls washed the dishes and put the kitchen in order and brushed up the crumbs in the dining-room, while the mother put her room and the sit-ting-room to rights. Moreover, the children made their own beds before school time; the two little girls who slept together, one at each side of the bed worked together in making theirs, as ( did the boys next younger with their little bed. The three older ones of the family needed no help whatever to prepare them for school, but when they came to the breakfast table, were ready, with the exception of removing the large work aprons they always wore till the work was done. So by 9 o’clock, that mother with baby dressed for the day and wee Edith made tidy, was ready to take up her sewing, and that without feeling tired and flurried and out of breath from undue hurrying. In fact, there seemed to be no hurry in that home. The work was so ordered and divided that, with a family of children that would ordinarily require two women’s constant effort to care for, the mother with their help did it all, with more ease and satisfaction than is usual in families amply supplied with help.— Exchange.

Frying Fish.

The theory I have suggested is that melted fat cooks by convection of heat, just as water does in the so-called boiling of meat. If that is correct, it is evident that the fish should be completely immersed in a bath of melted fat, and that the turning over demanded by the greased plate theory is unnecessary. Well-educated cooks understand this, and use a deeper vessel than our common frying-pan, charge this with a quantity of fat sufficient to cover the fish, which is simply laid upon a wire support, or frying-basket, and left in the hot fat until the browning of its surface, or of the flour or bread crumbs with which it is coated indicates the sufficiency of the cookery. At first sight this appears extravagant, as compared with the practice of greasing the bottom of the pan with a little dab of fat; but any house .v ife who will apply to the frying of sprats, herrings,, etc., the method of inductive research, described by Lord Bacon, may prove the contrary. This method, to which we are indebted for all the triumphs of modern science, is nothing more or less than the systematic application of common-sense and definite measurement to practical questions. In this case it may be applied simply frying a weighed quantity of fat used as a baththen weighing the fat that remains and subtracting the latter weight from the first, to determine the quantity consumed. If the frying be properly performed, and this quantity compared with that which is consumed by the method of merely greasing the pan bottom, the bath frying will be proved to be the more economical, as well as the more efficient.— W. M. Williams-, in the Popular Science Monthly. .

Stage Immorality,

The people must have amusement, and if denied a healthy, innocent, home growth, they take what they can get from other sources. Mind you, I don’t mean to say that French plays performed in France are immoral. They are only such when presented to ns. This sounds strange, but it is true, all the same. Woes growing out of evils peculiar to a community make material for literature either in novels or the drama. Their exhibit nas a tendency to correct the ill. On this account we consider Lady Macbeth, a murderess, highly proper to look upon, while Lucrezia Borgia, an adulteress, is regarded with horror. And why? Murder is our crime, adultery that of France. —Down Piatt. The highest peak in Nevada is Mount Jefferson Daria, its attitude being 13,075 feet.

How Did It Happen?

If truth were not stranger than fio' tion, the following incident might seem the most improbable of all improbabilities. Yet, it is true, every werd of it, and the “eye-witness” referred to is the father of the gentleman who sends us the singular narrative. “One Saturday night in 1872,1 was on a ferry-boat crossing from Brooklyn to New York. “The boat was crowded, and as soon as it was in the dock there was the usual struggle to see who oould get off first. As I was hurried on by those behind me, I saw, twisted about the coattail button of a man in front of me, a gold watch-chain, and dangling at the end of it a handsome gold watch. “Before I had time to call the man’s attention to it, the crowd separated us and I lost sight of him. “But the incident made a strong impression on me, and I wondered and puzzled as to how that watch got on that button. Several years after, business called me again to New York, where I met Mr. S , who took me home with him to dinner, and introduced me to his brother. “After the meal was over, the conversation turned upon the curious tricke which a noted psychologist was performing in the city. Immediately the incident of the watch occurred to me, and I was about to mention it, when my host said: “ ‘That reminds me of a remarkable thing which once happened to me, and which I have never been alile to explain. I was coming over from Brooklyn one night, in the winter of ’72, and my brother George here was on the same boat u ith me, though I didn’t know it. There was a great crowd and much pushing in getting off'the bo£ t. “ ‘When I reached home, and was about to throw off my coat, my wife exclaimed: “Why, what is that on yout coat-tail?” I took of the coat, and there, twisted around one of the buttons, was a watch-ohain with a gold watch at the end of it. You can imagine our surprise when wo recognized the watch as my brother George’s! When he came in, a little later, that evening, he did not know of his loss, and when told of it could hardly be convinced of the facts. Indeed, I have seen many good people who have smiled incredulously at the story. What do you think of it ?’ “ ‘Think of it!’ I answered, ‘why, I saw it at the time!’ and then I related to my astonished hearers what I had seen and wondered at so many years. “ ‘But what is your explanation of it ?’ I asked my host. “He shook his head. ‘Who knows? My own theory is that my brother find I passed on to the boat together. In the crush, I was crowded up against him and in some inexplicable way the chain was wound so firmly about the coat-button as to pull the watch from the pocket. But in what way, I have never been able to satisfy myself, It will always remain a mystery to me.’ “It has been a mystery to me, also, ever since.”— Youth's Companion.

A Peculiar People.

There are some odd facts in regard to the result of .6,000 or 7>ooo years of Chinese civilization, and we presume that those who may speculate upon the probable condition of the Anglo-Saxon on or about the Ist of January 800 A. D., will not overlook a few of the salient features which have grown up over the advanced age of the Mogolian dynasty. Just think of it; there is not a road in all the broad expanse of populous China where even a wheelbarrow could be driven or a horse led except around Shanghai, and here the English have built them. They have no cemeteries; no tombstones’ mark their last resting place on the earth. Those who own private gardens bury their dead and those of their friends therein. Those who have no gardens or plats of ground lay the bodies of the dead in rough boxes on the surface of open fields. The Chinese regard the souls of their ancestry as links in the length of a great chain, which, they say, enables them to reach up to the Supreme Source of life and Ruler of the universe. This is the reason why these remarkably quick-witted, keen people will not tolerate the construction of a railroad in their country. They declare that the locomotive and rattling trains would certainly violate the sacred charm influenced in their hehalf by causing the abrupt, sacred flight of their ancestry, who are hovering around them. They have no banks in China, and no coin of value except our silver and that of Mexico. They have no lawyers, but they have a perfect, rigidly enforced system of Saw and order. The principals alone ean plead their cases. The first social rank in Chi a can only be attained by literary merit. All Chinamen read and write because education is compulsory. Every man in China is free to compete for a literary degree, and last year 107,000 candidates for this honor were entered at Canton for examination. Those of this large number who pass muster here are free to advance to the higher national grade competition at Pekm—held annually there —and when they pass this ordeal they become mandarins, and! live in high estate'at the public expense. No military man is allowed to compete for these liberal honors in China. This annual selection, from the whole Chines • people, of its rulers, who represent its best thought and mental power, has probably been, the greatest and most potent factor of their remarkable vitality and preservation as a nation, but at the same timo it increases the wonder that they should have stood still on the avenue of progress for hundreds of years.

Parley Vous.

There is a beer hall “over the Rhine” to which the French people of the city resort. The proprietor, a good-natured German, has a sign displayed which reads, “French spoken here.” “Do you speak French?” was asked -of him one day. “Nein, nein,” was his response. “Well, who does speak it, then?” “Oh, some of the Frenchmen vot comes in.” —Cincinnati Saturday Night. Rhode Island and Delaware together are smaller than the Yellowstone Park.