Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 July 1896 — A Harvest of the Sea. [ARTICLE]

A Harvest of the Sea.

Along the northwest coast of Ireland, on the border of the Atlantic, dwells a hardy race of men whose chief occupation, when not engaged in fishing, consists in the manufacture of "kelp.” This is of great commercial importance, as front it is obtained nearly all our iodine—a body of vast use in medicine. During the winter months the kelpburners set out in their frail IHtle “curraghs” (small eanoe-llke boats,, about twelve feet long, made of canvas) and, proceeding along the coast,, till the boats with the seaweed, from which the kelp is made. In this way are assisted by the women, who, bareheaded and shoeless, take their turns regularly at the oars, and are almost as expert at it as the men. After a storm is the time selectd for obtaining the seaweed, as by the force of the waves it has been torn up from its bed, and is cast in along the shore in large quantities. Sometimes, in these excursions, the boatmen come across valuable treas-ure-trove, and occasionally, alas! a mangled corpse cast In from some illfated vessel. When the boats are laden the seaweed is brought to a small creek, and there placed in heaps out of the reach of the tide. From this it is carried in creels on the backs of men and women to a point further inland, wherfedt has to undergo a process of drying. A The drying consists in exposing irtO l the sun and wind, and the better to do this, they have rows of large stones laid, about twenty yards ill length and a few feet in height. Along the tops of these they scatter the seaweed. The drying takes months, so that spring is well advanced ere It is ready for burning. This does not matter, however, as owing to the fuel—the peat or turf got from the bogs at hand—not being yet cut and dried (or “win” as it’s termed) it is summer before the burning in the kilns can commence. The kiln is a deep trench dug in the ground. Alternate layers of turf and seaweed are laid in this till full, and the whole is kept burning for about three weeks, until it cakes together in a large black mass resembling coke, but much more solid and heavier. Thisis the “kelp.” It is then broken into blocks about fourteen inches square, and brought by boat to the villages, where it is sold, to be shipped to more profitable markets. Dublin Herald.

The Hungarian crown, tile royal head-dress worn at their accession by all the Austrian emperors, is the identical one made for Stephen, and used by him at the time of his coronation, more than eight hundred years ago. It is of pure gold, and weighs niiie marks and six ounces (about fourteen pounds avoirdupois!. It Is adorned with fifty-three sapphires, fifty rubies, one emerald and three hundred and thirty-eight pearls, but no diamonds, it being a notion of the royal Stephenthat diamonds were unlucky.