Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 April 1893 — Page 4

JOHN 0 , SAXE ON WISHING. Of all amusements of the mind, From logic den to iishinz, Thero isn’t one that yon can find So very cheap as “wishing.” . A very choice diversion, too, If we but rightly use it, And not as we are apt to do, Pervert it, ana abuse it. I wish—a common wish inde d My pur o wore somewhat fatter. That I might cheer the child of need, And not my pride to flatter; That I might make opinion re«,l, As only gold can make it, And break the ty ant’s rod of steel, As only gold can break it. I wish —that sympathy and love And every human passion That has its origin above, Would come and keep in fashion; That scorn and jealousy and hate. And. every ba<e emotion, Were buried fifty fathoms deep Beneath the waves of ocean! I wish —that friends were always true, And motives always pure; I wish the good were not s • few, I wish the bad were lewer; I wish that persons ne'er forgot To heed the pious teaching; I wish that pr .dicing was not So different from preaching! I wish—that modest worth might be Appraised with truth and candor; I wish that innocence was free From tro ichery and slaudcr. 1 wish that men their vows would mind, That women ne’. r were woers; I wi-h that wives were always kind, And husbands always 1 vers. I wish—in fine —that joy and mirth, And every good ideal May come erewhile, throughout tho ea:th, To be the glorious i oal; Till god shall every creature bless With His supremest blessing, And l.ope be ost in happiness And wishing bo posses-ing.

MY BURGLARY.

The bugle was placed in the bolder the horses made a graceful turn and we checked up in frout of “The .Nugget,” the leadiug hotel of Goldtown, a mining cam]) at an altitude of some seven thousand feet in the heart of the Rockies, and seventy miles by the nearest stage route from a railroad. After a supper of mountain trout and game I felt rested. I had come to Goldtown in response to Mr. Furber, the proprietor of the general store of the camp. He wanted a bookkeeper and I had answered his advertisement. My references pleased him; he said “come,” and I did so. Mr. Furber called the evening of my arrival. I found him a thorough business man and a gentleman, and to this writing, now more than seventeen years later, I have never had occasion to change my impression. He briefly outlined my responsibilities and placed a comfortably-furnished room over the store at my disposal; thus I was a room ahead, and the store had a night guard. The day following my arrival I began active duty. The work was abundant, but the associations were pleasant and the mountain air exhilarating; so on the whole I was contented. January the first soon came, and with it a handsome increase of salary. Other Januarys followed with greater cares aud liberal remuneration. I made friends, was trusted and was saving money. Mr. Furber consulted me regarding various ventures, aud seemed to value my opinions. More than four years of devotion to my employer’s interests had passed,when I was informed that I should take entire charge of the financial affairs of the house, involving the managership. “I have been on the lookout for some time," said Mr. Furber to me, “for some investment for you, William, that would he safe and net large returns. I think 1 can recommend the ‘Turkey-point’ mine. I was under the ground yesterday and I find good showings for a wonderful future; they are on a vein now that will assay fully twenty ounces of silver and four and a fraction ounces of gold. There is some hook stock yet; I will take all that is left unless you want some of it.” I had implicit confidence in the business sagacity and honor of my employer, and on his recommendation I placed s6,ooo—all my savings—in the “Turkeypoint.” or three dividends were paid, then the mine “went blind;” the vein was only a pocket of ore that was soon exhausted.

As I was making up the cash one night —several thousand dollars, mostly in gold dust, but some coin—the wealth before me called to mind a rejxjrt 1 had read that morning of an express messenger who took some $30,000 from Wells, Fargo & Co. I weighed the gold dust, counted the coin and placed it in the safe, thinking all the while about the express messenger, tracing him to remote parts and imagining him living in luxury. As I was closing the vault-door a * mine-owner came in. “Wait a minute,” said he; “here is some gold I want to deposit.” I weighed it. “I'll make you a receipt,” i said. “I don’t want your receipt, William,” and he was away. His in tuner and tone so expressive of confidence, made mo dislike my thoughts of the moment before. I meditated. “Am I too honest to be tempted? Why was I thinking of the express messenger?” I tried not toI went to my room by the only stairs that led to the story above, the foot of which began not three feet from the vaults. My room was iu the rear, and below my window flowed a mountain stream, at that season, when the snow was melting off the mountain, swelled to some magnitude. “That skiff,” I thought, while watching the waters, “is the only one in camp. It is less thau forty miles to where the railroad crosses this stream. By horseback the same point cannot be reacned under sixty miles.” I checked my thoughts in horror; what was I thinking of? 1 flung myself in a chair and closed mv eyes to evade my invisible companion, the express messenger; but he seemed inseparable. I took a book and tried to read. My eyes alone traced the words; my thoughts ran on; “Furber introduced me into that ‘Turkey-point’ mine. I lost all I had—his fault. He owes me something.” Then I began to count the dust we were sto. ng for miue owners. “'lhe Crystal Ilock” has about eight thousand. “Yellow Dirt” about five thousand, the “Silver Moon ” between nine and ten; the house owns over twenty thousaud, besides the small deposits.” Was I turning thief? Why I was fighting against my thoughts? Do what I would ®7 mind continued to plan. Many saloons, blacksmith's shops and swalt mines deposited in the Furber

vaults; they were the only secure deposits in the camp. The store of R. I, Furber sold everything from whiskey to mining engines, Insides accepting deposits and doing a kind of banking business. I found, as several days passed, that I was ridiculing the notion of becoming a robber, and at times disgusted with my self for permitting the idea. Then I would think, “Where would have been my destination?*’" During such speculations! found myself figuring on railroad connections and the number of hours’ start I would liuve, wholly unconscious of the accurate preparations I was completing. When in my mind I was lost to my pursuers in India, I must have experienced some of the true sensations of a criminal. I had calculated minutely my disguises, aliases and business enterprises when far away. Toward the latter part of July, after business hours one evening, I carefully removed the contents of the grip that had accompanied me to Goldtown and with it in hand crept on tiptoe downstairs. I felt that I was acting like a sneak, and stepped more firmly; tny foot touched tho broom, it fell and I jumped. The noise of a mouse gnawing made me pause and listen. I crept back up stairs and looked out of my window. The skiff was in its place.

Five minutes later and the well-hung vault door swung noiselessly open. I entered, satchel in hand. I was nervous. I turned the combination too far. I tried again successfully. The match I hold burned my fingers. No matter, I knew every jiole and corner in the safe, and its’ contents were soon transferred to my satchel. I locked the safe and closed the vault door, thinking, “The fewer signs I leave behind the more start I’ll have.” I put the now valuable satchel on the floor and went to my room to take a last look out and see if the way was clear. I heard a sound below like breaking in a window. I stood frightened. Voices were whispering. I staid motionless at the top of the stairs. I could hear footsteps ascending the stairs. I went to my bed aud sat on the edge. Two forms were dimly visible passing mv window; then the light of a dark lantern appeared and I was commanded to throw up my bauds. The gleam of a pistol made mo obey. I was told to come down stairs and open the door or he shot. I walked in front, each arm firmly grasped and the pistol at my head. The meagre contents of the safe angered them; they swore and threatened and finally hound me hand and foot, leaving me on the office floor, where by painful contortions I succeeded in getting my knife from my jxieket aud releasing myself. My first move after gaining my feet was to place every grain of gold and coin hack in the proper place. The following morning the story I felt justified in telling to hide my guilt made me a hero. 1 simply related how I cleaned out two burglars single handed.

In the hour of silent reflection after the attempted burglary I awoke to the awful crime I had nearly accomplished. The next evening I sat moodily tliiuking, alone in my room, when Mr. Furber knocked. He brought his chair beside me aud said: “William, it was my fault that you lost your money in ‘Turkeypoint,’l induced you to go into it. Now I want you to accept au interest in the store. I will feel then that you have been paid.” * * * * My benefactor has not given much attention to business for some years. Goldtown has grown to a booming city aud has two railroads. The general store is a thing of the past. Furber & Company have developed into a hanking concern. The president’s work consists of driving down to the hank on pleasant afternoons at about 4. JO with his daughter—she’s my wife—and our children. lie devotes considerable time telling his grandchildren stories of early times in the Rockies, one of which is how their papa, all alone, kept two robbers from stealing all grandpapa's money.—["Kate Field's Washington.

Cold Walls.

Sanitary and hygienic principles are rapidly making almost complete changes in our modern houses, and everything from garret to cellar is being overhauled aud viewed in the light of science. All of this work means better living, healthier and stronger bodies, and more enjoyment in this world. The improvement may be slow but there is a steady bettering of our surroundings through all this endeavor. One thing that needs attending to in most houses next to the question of a dry cellar is to look at the walls and see if they are cold or warm ones. In wooden houses this is not so essentinl, but stone and brick ones are very apt to have cold, damp walls inside that send a chill all through the house. Walls that face upon the north or west side of the house become so cold and damp in winter shat they are a constant menace to the health of the occupants. The walls are not only cold, but they are damp and moist. If an article of clothing is hung upon them it will get quite moist in the course of a few hours. Such houses have the plastering done right on the brick or stone, and as these latter hold moisture all through the winter, it soaks right into the wall. This was a common way to build the old-fashioned stone and brick houses, and many are the same to-day. It is really as much as one’s life is worth to live in those houses through the winter. The remedy is simple. ' Tear down the old wall and put up laths and do the plastering on them, or if this is too expensive nail laths right on the old wall, and have a second wall made over them. The dampness of the house will be cured almost immediately. —[Yankee Blade.

A Subterranean River.

Rev. Dr. Foster of Boston in his weekly letter to the Chicago Advance, states that there are reasons'to suppose that there is an underground river about a hundred foet below ground, running through Massachusetts and Providence and emptying into the sea. It is supposed that this river, whose waters are ice-cold and. exceeding pure, starts from the White Mountain region and finds its way through au old ravine dug by a glacier, then tilled with gravel and covered over with hard-pan. Water of that ice-cold quality and of great abundance has been found at about the same depth in Providence, in Foxboro and two miles west of Lowell. In two of these cases it is certain that there is a cuvity nearly a hundred feet below ground, through which the water flows, for in each case the drill dropped from ten to twenty feet after reaching water and theu struck a ledge. If there is this stream of pure cold water traversing our Commonwealth, it will be hard to ovor-estimate its value to Eastern Massachusetts in years to come, to whom the problem of a pure water supply is one of great difficulty, but of vital importance. Rialto, by Sctinel Wilkes, dam Cricket, by Cuyler, is expected to pace faster than 2.20 this year.

SOMEWHAT STRANGE.

ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF EVERYDAY JAKE. Queer Facta and Thrilling Adventures Which Show That Truth Is Stranger Thau Fiction. Babies do many queer things, but two-year-old Joseph Wiggins, Jr., of 202 G Mountain street, Philadelphia, beat the record the other day when he swallowed an orange seed ami at once proceeded to grow the sprout of a tine Florida orange tree in his throat. The Record says that the experiment would have proved disastrous for Baby Joseph hut for the kindly intervention of doctors. The little boy’s mother gave him an orange after carefully preparing it for him. Unfortunately, however one seed remained in the pulp and this seed became lodged in the baby’s windpipe, causing a slight difficulty in breathing. Little attention was paid to the matter, but next day the child’s breathing became more painful and was constantly accompanied by a slight choking. Doctors H. R. Wharton and J. P. Tunis were called in and informed by the mother that the trouble was caused by some of the orange pulp. The usual remedies were applied and some relief obtained, but on the following night the condition of the child became serious. After a careful examination the physicians decided that the only means of saving the little sufferer’s life was to perform tracheotomy. Next morning this was undertaken, and a long incision was made in the neck, opening the windpipe. Ak, the point where the latter joined the lungs a hard substance was detectod deeply imbedded in mucus. When removed it proved to be au extraordinarily large orange seed. The wound was closed up and dressed, and next day the boy was ou the road to recovery. The seed was in a particularly dangerous position aud would undoubtedly have caused suffocation in a very short time. While lodged in the throat, the heat had caused it to open at one end and to sprout slightly. It was also swollen greatly beyond the original large size. Is the amphitheater of the Massachusetts general hospital, Boston, on a recent afternoon, one of the operating surgeons, Doctor John W. Elliot, showed a Globe man a little child about three-years-old who had inhaled a bean into the lung, and on whom on operation was ]>erformed for its removal. The operation has proved remarkably successful. The bean, which was of the ordinary size of a white bean, had been inhaled into the right bronchus, aud, as tho right lung was thus shut off from receiving its proper amouut of air, the danger of broncho-pneumonia with a fatal termination became imminent and tracheotomy was performed. The incision, about an inch long, was made in the median line of the neck, and after going through the superficial structures of that part the trachea was reached and incised in a vertical line. The incision was made large enough to admit a very long and slender pair of forceps, which were carefully passed down the trachea and into the right bronchus. A short distance beloiv where the windpipe divides, the end of the forceps touched the bean, which was firmly lodged. Grasping the bean with the forceps, the surgeon broke off a small hit of the offending substance and withdrew it. Three attempts resulted in getting only small particles. It had become softened, aud the soft part of the bronchus had swollen and closed in about it. The next attempt was more successful. The tine teeth of tho head of the forceps buried themselves in the substance of the bean and with careful manipulation it was extracted. Immediate relief was experienced by the little sufferer, and the child is practically well.

“TnEKE are many queer legal papers on file in probably every court of record in the world, but the only court that ever indicted a man for the murder of a sheep is in Gilmer County West Virginia, said Harry L. Sperry, a Wheeling lawyer, at the Southern, to a reporter for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. “In June, 1875, William F. Lively, who has since been prominently mentioned for Governor on the Democratic ticket, and has several times been in the Legislature, was the prosecuting attorney for Gilmer Couuty. He drew up an indictment which went to show that oue Jacob Wiatt, with a gun, the value of which was $2, and which was then and there charged with gunpowder and lead or some ,other destructive substance, in his hand, did willfully discharge and shoot off, to, against and upon the said sheep, the property of one Jacob Burke, and the lead or other destructive substance did strike, penetrate and wound the said sheep, causing it to linger and fall, and that said David Wiatt did set upon the said sheep, and with a sharp and dangerous instrument wound, cut and maltreat it, that it died. All this was according to the testimony of one William Greenleaf, an eye-witness, and against the peace and dignity of the State of West Virginia. Lively got the grand jury to find a true bill, but the case never came to trial, and, legally, Jacob and David Wiatt are still under indictment for murder. The only ease of the murder of a sheep on record.” A “Cai»e Codder” tells the Boston Journal how he cured a setting hen. “I made,” he says, “half a dozen snowballs and soaked them in water. In the morning they were solid ice. I shaped them as near like an egg as possible and then placed them under the setting hen. She smiled. I stood by and watched her. She cuddled the ice eggs under her and chuckled softly to them. In about ten minutes she appeared to get uneasy. She arose and scratched the darlings together and shook herself; then, evidently satisfied, settled down again. Soon she got up once more, this time with evident concern; something was wrong, surely; perhaps the weather was getting cold. She felt wet and ohilly, but, with great perseverance, she sat down again, and again got up, this time for good. She walked out of the box aud then turned and looked in, but she had had enough.” A Portland (Me.) piano tuner says that within the past year he has found mouse nests in four different pianos. The other day he was called iD to see a piano, the hammers of which struck the strings several times when a key was touched. He knew that this was because something was the matter with the hammer-tapes, the purpose of which is to hold the hammers so that they ehaii strike the strings but once. He found that every one of the eighty odd pieces of tape had disappeared and the mouse's nest was soon discovered. It was a bunch large as one’s fist, composed of the missing tapes, chewed into a pulpy mass. The mice generally eater a piano by climbing up along the pedal shafts, and almost invariably make use of the hammer tapes for their nests. A strange case of imbecility is reported from the public schools at Alli-

ancc, Ohio. Btate School Commissioner O. T. Corson is is receipt of a letter from C. C. Davidson, superintendent of the Alliance schools, inquiring what can he done with one of their pupils. It is stated that the pupil referred to is a boy who has been attending school for seven years, and yet is unable to read or write. In conversation and appearance the hoy would impress an observer as being possessed of unusual intelligence. Yet he is absolutely uuable to learn anything. In this connection Doctor Doren, of the imbecile asylum, relates an incident of how a fivc-year-old child was attracted by a drum used by a strolling minstrel band and performed the feat of watkiug, which it had never before attempted. The only man who, it is said, ever escaped from Moyatueusiug Prison, Pennsylvania, died recently in Frankford. There was an execution at the prison the day he escaped and the door of his cell was left open. While the condemned man was on the scaffold the occupant of the cell, who had not yet been convicted and was consequently dressed in his own clothes, walked out and stood among the jurymen and others. Noticing that they had left their hats in the office of the prison, he went to the office, made the excuse that he coukl not bear to see a man hanged and, picking up a hSt belonging to a visitor, signified his intention of getting a little outside air. The obliging clerk on duty opened the door and the quondam prisoner walked out and was soon out of the state. He was not rearrested. Since the great caves of this country were turned into show places a close watch has to be kept on visitors to prevent their annexation of stalactites, “cave acorns,” gypsum crystals, and other curious and beautiful formations. Not even the broken stalactites lying about the floor can he appropriated, for these are gathered and sold by the owners or lessees of these holes in the ground. The slabs cut from cross sections of stalagmites are beautiful when polished, as they show concentric bauds of brown, yellow, gray, cream, and greenish, white, like agates. A big bear chased Peter Hanes, an old man of sixty years, through the woods in Clarke county, Wash., the other day, and was close nt his coat tails when lie ran into the clearing of a neighbor named McCoy. As both neared the house the door opened and Mrs. McCoy appeared with a rifle in her hands, promptly let drive at the bear, and bowled him over dead. Then the ungrateful Peter Claimed the hide, as the finder of the bear, and insisted on his demand until as a compromise it was agreed that he and his rescuer divide the proceeds of its sale.

Ax ice-floe, which carried away a couple of sportsmen from the neighborhood of Odessa, was subsequently driven by a southerly wind over against Otchakoff, where the fisberfolk discovered the frozen corpses lying clo?e together on the ice and still guarded by a faithful aud half-famished dog, which had made no attempt to reach the shore. The animal had apparently preserved its existence on some of the wild duck shot by its unfortunate owners. Mice have caused conflagrations by nibbling matches, aud lined their nests with fractional banknotes, but yield the palm of destructiveness to the California gophers, with their penchant for undermining dams, and the Australian rabbits, whose depredations are estimated to aggregate $5,500,000 a year. A resident of Mobile, Ala., has a strong affection for a pet cat. The animal is said to be twenty-seven years old, has no teeth, aud is also blind. The owner cares for it as attentively as though the cat were a child, feeding it constantly on raw oysters, of which the cat seems very fond. New .Guinea has the credit of producing the only venomous bird known to ornithologists—the Itoir N'Dood or “Bird of Death.” There is no antidote to the bite of this bird, which causes excruciating pains in every part of the body, loss of sight, convulsions, lock-jaw and certain death within two hours.

RELIABLE RECIPES.

Eoas PoAcnED in Milk. Eggs poached in milk are au appetizing and nutritious dish for an invalid. The milk should come to the scalding point, when the egg is dropped in and cooked as if in water. A little of the hot milk is poured over the toast to soften it, before the egg is slipped on. Clear Tomato Soup. —lnto a soup kettle put a cup of canned tomatoes, a quarter of a pound of ham, a slice of onion and a quart of water. Cover closely and boil twenty minutes, then strain. Add a heaping tablespoonful of butter, a level tablespoonful of sugar; suit and pepper to taste. Bring to boiling point again and thicken with two tablesj>oous of corn starch—moistened. Just before taking it up stir in about about a fourth of a teaspoon of soda. Serve with crackers or small squares of toast. Turkey, Stuffed, Cranberry Sauce. —Singe and draw a large, dry-picked spring turkey; pair off the neck, legs, and wings; stuff it; make a stuffing as follows: Soak four ounces of white bread in cold water, press the water out, put into a basin; add four ounces of fine sausage-meat, two eggs, a table-spoonful of chopped parsley, tne same quantity of chopped and parboiled onion, two ounces of mellow batter, salt, pepper, and nutmeg; mix well with a wooden spoon; fill the turkey, truss nicely, and roast to a nice oolor for an hour aud a quarter; untie, place on a dish, put a handful of cress at the lower end, and serve with cranberry sauce in a glass bowl. Cranberry Sauce.—Wash two pounds of cranberries; drain, put in a saucepan with two pounds of sugar; cover, and cook slowly for half an hour; remove the cover, stir, and reduce briskly until the liquid stiffens, when a few drops are put in a cool place for a minute or two; if sufficiently stiff, turn into an earthen vessel, and. cool thoroughly.

Locomotive Stolen.

A curious mishap has occurred on a local railway near Lyons. The train which reaches the former town from Trevoux at 7.30 being considerably behind time, the Lyons station-master telegraphed to his colleague at the other ond of the line. The answer he obtained was a strange one—“ Engine stolen. Send one from Lyons.” On inquiry it turned out that the story was true. The engine driver could find his engine nowhere. Later on the locomotive was discovered at a considerable distance off on the line, whither, no doubt, some practical joker, supposed to be a former driver in the service of the company, had taken it and left it. —[London Telegraph. New figured satins designed specially for gowns made with Empire featureshave tiny ligbt-colored palms, stars, vine-sprays, spangles, or other spots scattered over grounds of dahlia, green, silver, blue, gray, wine color, etc.

LANGLEY'S AIR SHIP.

A CLEVER DEVICE—A. WORKING MODEL. A Fijin2 Machine Devised at the Smithsonian Instiiute. It is stated that Prof. Samuel Pierpont Langley, the successor of Prof. Henry C. Baird in the control of the Smithsonian Institution of Washington, which is one of the recognized leading scientific institutes in the world, and is under control of the Government, has developed a fly-, ing machine which he believes is practicable. The machine is a working model. It is not intended to carry.passengers. In configuration the body portion closely simulates a mackerel. The backbone is a light but very rigid tube of what is technically known a 3 “title metal,” one of the many alloys of aluminium and steel. It is fifteen feet in length and five centimeters, or practically two inches, in diameter. To give rigidity to the skeleton, longitudinal ribs of stiff steel are provided, intersected at intervals by cross ribs of pure aluminium, the result being a lattice framework of great strength. The engines, which are located in the portion of the framework corresponding to the head of the fish, are of the doubleoscillating type. They weigh sixty ounces and develop one-horse power, the lightest of that power ever made. There are fonr boilers of thinlv-ham-mered copper weighing a little more than seven pounds each and they occupy the middle portion of the fish. Instead, of water, a very volatile hydro carbon is employed, the exact nature of whioh is a matter of secrecy, but which vaporizes at a comparatively low temperature, The fuel used is refined gasoline and the extreme end of the tail of the fish is utilized for a storage tank with a capacity of one quart. Before passing on to the the boilers the gasoline is volatilized by going through a heated coil.

There are twin-screw propellers, which would be made adjustable to different angles in practice, to provide for the steering, but which in simply a working model are necessarily fixpd at a certaiu point for a given trial. Screws of various pitches, and ranging from twenty to eighty centimeters in diameter, have been experimented with, but it is not yet definitely determined which shall be adopted for trial. With the smallest the engines develop a speed of 1,700 revolutions a minute. With the larger ones the speed is somewhat decreased. A thin jacket of asbestos covers the upper portion of the body of the fish. It is unusually porous, and probably is employed to prevent undue loss of heat by radiation. The wings or aeroplanes are sector-shaped and consist of light frames of tubular aluminium steel, covered with China silk. The front one is fortytwo inches wide in the widest part and has an extreme length of forty feet from tip to tip. The rear one is somewhat smaller. Both aeroplanes are designed to be adjustable with reference to the angle they present to the air. A tubular mast extends upwardly and downwardly through about the middle of the craft, and from its extremeties run stays of aluminium wire to tips of the aeroplanes and the ends of the tubular backbone, and by this trussing arrangement the whole structure is rendered exceeding stiff. The machine was constructed and perfected to its present degree in a secret room in the Smithsonian Institution, where it now rests. It was conceived about twenty months ago by Prof. Langley, who associated with him in the work of experimentation Chief Cierk W. C. Winlock and Dr. Kidder, a scientific expert employed at that time in the institution. Four skilled workmen in mechanics and metallurgy were put to work at 50 cents an hour under pledge of secrecy. The work want on at odd hours, mostly at night and on Sundays. At the institution the strictest injunctions were laid on the watchmen to keep all intruders off the scent. The watchmen themselves were instructed to turn their backs or walk to the other end of the corridor when word was passed from the chief that some article was to be conveyed to or from the secret chamber. It is said that one employe was discharged merely for being seen on the third floor of the building. None of the regular employes were supposed to know what was going on there. As a matter of fact, very few of them do know that anything is there at the present time. Prof. Langley went to France to superintend personally the making of the central tube, which constitutes the backbone of the structure, and brought it back with him among his personal effects to secure careful handling. It is so light that it can be handled easily by an infant. During his French visit, while in touch with the most advanced investigators, he is believed to have reached his conclusion as to the best model for the general conformation of the proposed air craft, namely the long, thin, tapering lines of the mackerel. In the large lecture room of the National Museum Prof. Langley has succeeded repeatedly in producing successful flight by small models. They would fly as long as the power lasted, the power being applied by means of lightly-wrapped rubber bands, on the principal of the string top. The lightest of those little models weighs sxteen grams, and will soar from one end of the room to the other as freely as a bird. It may be supposed that the gross weight has been so far reduced as to give hope of actual success now, inasmuch as an outdoor trial has been planned. The intention is to employ a tug to tow the experimental party to a creek about forty-five miles down the Potomac, where the experimentsmay be conducted without fear of interruption.

The Largest Apple Orchard.

The largest apple orchard in the world is to be seen in the wilderness of Koolau, Maui, one of the Hawaiian islands. The forest is of native wild apple trees, which are countless in number and stretch from the sea far up the mountainside. These trees vary from forty to fifty feet in height, and "during the harvest season they are covered with fruit of white and red colors. For miles around and up the mountain side and toward the seashore are vast groves of these trees. The crop in these apple orchards which nature has planted so generously in this wild and solitary waste, would fill a fleet of a hundred steamers. The orchard stretches over a country from ten to fifteen miles wide and twenty miles long. Many of these trees bear at least,fifty barrels each. The fruit furnishes the traveller excellent recast, appeasing both thirst and hunger. So far as is known, no commercial use can be made of tbe fruit, from the fact that when ripe it c»» not be kept for more than four days.

POPULAR SCIENCE NOTES.

A Giant Bird. —A member of the Berlin Ornithological Society has seoured a living specimen of an almost extinct species of bird, about twice the size of an ostrich. The scientific name of the creature is Apteryx Sdssdti, and it comes from the northern island of New Zealand. Efforts are to be made to prevent these giant birds becoming extinct. To Explore tub Antarctic Continent. —The probability of a more thorough exploration of the Antarctic continent has directed special attention in scientific circles at the present time to that vast and remarkable region. It is an ice cap, nearly circular in form, and about 3,000 miles in diameter. Its thickness is still a problematical matter, and has been the subject of much theorizing by scientific men, who argue that, if there could be assigned to it a thickness of 15,000 feet, it would present a mass of ice large euough to displace the earth’s centre of gravity nearly a mile to the southward of its centre, a gradual displacement of this sort, caused by the slow accumulation of ice, would, as asserted by some, produce an imperceptible drainage of the oceans from the north to the south, and the gradual emergence of northern and submergence of southern continents. In fact, geologists claim that an examination of our globe exhibits an actual result of this sort. Thus the greatest mass of tlje ocean is gathered about the south pole—the northern hemisphere includes about five-sixths of the land surface of the gloh«—and it is affirmed that this inequality is increasiug, as evidenced in the Slow rising of the northern continents and the sinking of the islands of the Pacific. It is, however, considered more probable by some that the water is slowly draining away from the northern hemisphere and accumulating in the southern.

Solidified Air. —Another marvellous transformation has been effected by means of the new scientific agency. By means of inconceivable cold, air has been reduced not only to a liquid but to a solid. Prof. Dewar, an English chemist, has succeeded in producing in his laboratory a piece of solid air. He has not yet tested the nature or the new solid, whioh is almost as clear as crystal. It may be a jelly of solid nitrogen containing liquid oxygen, much as calves-foot jelly contains water diffused in gelatine. Or it may be true ice or liquid air in which both nitrogen and oxygen exist in solid form. Doubt arises from the fact that Professor Dewar has not been able by his utmost efforts to solidify pure oxygen, which unlike other gases, resists the cold produced by its own evaporation under the air pumps. Nitrogen, on the other hand, can be frozen with comparative ease. It has already been proved that in the evaporation of liquid air, nitrogen boils off first. Consequently, the liquid is continually becoming richer in that constituent which has hitherto resisted solidification. It thus becomes a question whether the cold produced is sufficiently great to solidify oxygen, or whether its mixture with nitrogen raises its freezing point,or whether it is really not frozen at all, but merely entangled among particles of solid nitrogen.

Life on tiie Planets. —Rev. Dr. Dallinger delivered a lecture at Bristol, England, recently, on the planets around us and their possible habitability. Speaking of Mercury, Dr. Dallinger pointed out its chief features and showed that they approximated to those of the earth. Although the heat from the sun there was more intense, it might be tempered by the character of the atmosphere. Venus was yet more akin to our world in every respect, so that life there, as- we know it, was yet more possible. The conditions of the atmosphere indeed were such that the whole globe might be habitable. Mars came next under review, the lecturer explaining its character, substance, atmosphere and other features, which he said made the existence of creatures, if not man, quite possible. People were slowly losing their former notions that there were nothing and nobody in the universe except the world and man. There were other worlds, however, which as far as human intelligence could judge were not yet suitable for habitation, but were gradually assuming conditions which might ultimately make life possible. The lecturer held the opinion that many years hence some means of mental communication with the denizens of the other planets might be established. In the present days of marvelous discoveries ita science all things seemed possible, and the establishment of intercommunication of some kind between this earth and the beings of the planets did not seem more improbable or impossible than the sending of a telefgraph message from England to New York seemed 100 years,ago.—[Pall Mall Budget.

THE SCIENCE OF INSURANCE.

It Had Its Origin in a Problem Suggested by Card Playing. It is a curious fact that the “doctrine of probabilities,” or the scientific basis upon which all insurance rests, had its origin in a game of curds. That is to say, the foundation upon which this great economy depends, and upon which it owes its claims to the confidence and patronage of the community, originated from investigations regarding games of chances. It happened in this way: About the year 1050 the Chevalier de Mere, a Flemish nobleman, who was both a respectable mathematician and an ardent gamester, attempted to solve the problem of dividing equitably the stakes when a game of chance was interrupted. The problem was too difficult for him, nnd he sought the aid of the famous Abbe Blaise Pascal, a Jesuit priest, author of “Night Thoughts,” and one of the most accomplished mathematicians of any age. Pascal solved the problem, and in so doing enunciated the “doctrine of probabilities,” or laws governing socalled chances. Upon this depend not only the laws governing insurance of all kinds, but also the laws governing the motions of planets in space, and, in fact, all astronomical science. This doctrine or theory Pascal illustrated by the throwing of dice. When a single dice is thrown the chance of turning up an ace is precisely one out of six, or one out of the total number of sides or faces. But if a large number of throws are made, it will be found that each face will be turned up an equal number of times. From this Pascal laid down the proposition that results which have happened in any given number of observed cases will again happen under similar circumstances, provided the numbers be sufficient for the proper working of the law of uverage. Thus the duration of the life of a single individual is one of the greatest uncertainties, but the duration, or rate of mortality of a large number of individuals may be predicted with great accuracy by comparison with the observed results among a sufficiently large number of persons of similar ages, occupations ana climatic influences.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Colonel H. W. Feii.den, in the course of an interesting paper on animal life in East Greenland, contributed to the February number of the Zoologist, suggests, as he has done before, that the musk ox might with advantage be introduced into Great Britiyn. He sees no reason why it should not thrive on the mountains of the Highlands of Scotland. In the winter season the musk ox is covered with a long-stapled fine wool besides its coat of hair. This wool is of a light yellow color, and as fine as silk. Sir John Richardson states that stockings made from this wool were more beautiful than silk ones. Young musk oxen are very easily reared and tamed, and Colonel Feilden thinks there could! not be any great difficulty in catching either old or young in Jameson’s Land. The government has lately introduced the reindeer from Russia into Alaska. It would not be a bad idea to try an importation of the musk ox from Greenland.

The great advance that has been made in the metallurgy of aluminum within the past ten years is one of the most hopeful signs of the application of scientificprinciples to commercial problems. When one recalls the status of this matter in 1880, when aluminum was but little more than a plaything, and an expensive one at that, and then refers tothe present condition of the industry, he is impressed with two considerations. First, that so much has been done tocheapen the processes for the extraction of this metal from its ores, and, second, that in all probability the methods now in use will be discarded before 1000. A great deal of laborious and costly work has been done, and the result is that aluminum cau be bought for fifty cents per pound as against sl2 in 1880. * The experiment of the eight-hour day, or rather of making forty-eight hours a week’s work, is now being tried in one of the largest iron works in England, the Salford works at Salford, which is a suburb of Manchester. The working hours at these works have heretofore been fifty-three per week, and the reduction is made on an understanding with the men that the output of the works shall not be diminished by this shortening of the hours. The men are to be punctual and energetic, and to save the owners from loss because of this shortening of hours, by greater industry. There is to be no reduction of wages, and if the epd of a year finds the experiment successful the forty-eight-hour week will be the ]>ermanent arrangement. Tiie sugar possibilities of Florida are so great and sugar so important an article to our country that the United States Department of Agriculture has established an experimental station on the shore of East Lake, opposite St. Cloud, to thoroughly investigate the subject. There have been introduced from all parts of the world 83 varieties of cane and their relative merit and adaptability will be thoroughly tested, and every method of cultivation will be applied and the subject most thoroughly treated in every way and the results handed to the people. In order to fully carry out this work a most splendid experimental factory has been built, so that no pains will be spared to make the investigations complete.

If the present spirit of enterprise continues to manifest itself in Arizona, that Territory’s vast tracts of desert land will soon be transformed into one of the chief sources of its wealth. Within a comparatively short time quite a number of irrigation projects have been inaugurated, having for their object the reclamation of districts varying in area from a few thousands to hundreds of thousands of acres. The latest project for which contracts for the construction of reservoirs and canals have already been placed, contemplates bringing into agricultural and horticultural use 300,000 acres in the Gila river valley, and will involve an expenditure of more than $2,000,000. The Austrian engineer Werner has patented an invention which bids fair to turn the labor of a stoker, or steamboat fireman from the hardest, ugliest, and most unhealthy sort of toil iuto a mere child’s play occupation. His plan consists.in pulverizing bituminous coal and feeding it to the furnaces by means of a pear-shaped “distributor,”* self-acting, under ordinary circumstances, but Withal amenable to the control of the operator. Experiments have proved that coaldust, poured into a strong blaze, will burn almost without a residuum. There will be no raking of ashes and clinkers, next to no smoke, and the apparatus can be worked without approaching the hades of the furnace door.—[Weekly Review. The number of sheep and lambs in the United Kingdom in 1892 was 33.642,808, against 29,401,750 —five years previously an increase of 4,241,058 head. The average value, however, is computed at only 21 shillings 1} pence in 1892, against 2G shillings 2f pence in 1887, and with this loss of 0 shillings 1 pence per head the sheep of Great Britain show a ’falling off in value of nearly £3,000,000 notwithstanding their increase in numbers!

The latest development of steam shipbuilding is the whalebaek, of American invention. Two steel ships of this type are to be built in England for the American Steel Barge Company. One is to be a steamship and the other a towbarge, with a combined carrying capacity of 9,003 tons. They will be used in the iron ore trade between Cuba and Philadelphia, and are to be ready for their first trip in July next. The railroad mileage of Connecticut is greater according to area than any country of Europe except Belgium. Delaware, Illinois, lowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania have, each of them, a larger trackage to the square mile than Germany, France or Holland and each of the states except lowa and New York, has a larger relative trackage than Great Britain. On a single day recently the Scilly islands sent to English markets ten and a half tons of flowers. This striking fact shows the amazing progress of an industry which was unknown r, dozen years ago in the little archipelago. The inhabited islands contain only between three and four thousand acres altogether.

Presence of Mind.

A peculiar accident recently happened on the Chicago and Erie railroad at Harrods, O. A freight train was running twenty miles an hour, when a sled loaded with logs drove upon the track a short distance ahead. There was no snow on the crossing and the horses could not haul the sled across. The driver saw the danger, pulled the pin from the sled doubletree and drove the learn away. He haS not been heard of since and was not recognized. The train struck the sled and a bad wreck followed. A new engine was demolished.-f St. Louis Globe-Democrat.