Marshall County Independent, Volume 4, Number 47, Plymouth, Marshall County, 4 November 1898 — Page 6

SCIENTIFIC TOPICS

CURRENT NOTES OF DISCOV ERY AMD INVENTION. Tln.T RaOmjr, First Seen at t!ie Omaha .s , .it . am Uw-Swrt the Mc of (fee Atr.ise Kfiin-b A Harbor lie- j fem: Mine Leather ami tettnloid. larilM r :- Hl. t it ut- f.ir Ce 1 1 nloid. Cernum leather workers luve rceently been experimenting with a new procesi . preparing leather by means of which it becomes almost transparent, tire:, elastic and water-proof, it is claims! also that it is almost incombustible, and in this particular is a vt -.y great Improvement upon celluloid preparations and those made of other animal substances or rubber. The process, which is a trade secret, tooi' to some extent in saturating r'ue leather with hot oil. then kneading it and rolling it. It absorbs a large mount of oil, becomes tenacious and of the consistency of tortoise shell. Its ralae in the arts is likely to be very grear. ant; especially in electrical work it is supposes1 that it will be more effective tor certain pin puses than rubber. may be of any thickness, as bp seme peculiar process it may be man" thicker than tbe natural hide. This is through a sort of fulling operation. Experts who have examined the üatf :ia! are enthusiastic in commending ii. Kef reshimj Sleep. Sleep, refreshing sleep, has a wonderfoJ intiucTce. It is the time which the vital force uses to repair the sysem. to assist digestion, and to prepare the whole being for the labors of a i:ru day. Even forty winks'' in many eases is a great benefit, and in many cases of fever and nervous troubles patients should never be aroused unless it is absolutely necessary to adBÜnistei medicine. Opiates, when given frequently but mock the patient with a Ulillni relief, likely to result in -orne aggravation of the trouble; thej more or le.s paralyse the digestive organs, prevent vital repair, goad at brain into feverish dreams, and leave rhe nerves irritated and finally depressed rather than rested. A Tiny Train. The diminutive train which forms ihe subject of this illustration, says ths 3 intific American, was constructed by Thomas E. McGarigle of Niagara Falls, who claims that it is the smallest traiu ever built for the conveyance of passengers in seated cars. It was built for OSS in the grounds of the transSllssissippj and international exposition at Omaha, the space devoted to the miniature railroad being iocat d in the main thoroughfare, where it cxtenda foi over l,i00 feet. The greatest interest naturally centers in the locomotive, which is in ' 'tv respect a faithful reproduction at th" pa Us ami working of a fttll--ued passenger locomotive. It is of the standard eight-wheeled Amerit an rype, with a leading truck, four conpied driven and a tender carried 0:1 'TO trucks. The gauge of the track hi twelve and one-h: If inches, the top of the smokestack is twenty-five inches above the rails, and the total length JToni the point of the pilot to the end of the tender is seven feet three inches. Steam to drive the little fellow Is raised in a wagon-top boiler ten inches ia diameter. This boiler is built of steel and was tested to 300 pounds' pressure to (he "square inch. The ridings of the locomotive are all complete, and include sand box, bell, wbistb sad even a steam brake benees the drivers. The engineer has to utilize the whole tender as a foot place, and he must, perforce remain at all times seated in order to get at Uft throttle, reversing lever, etc. The fender is of the two-truck type. Its wheels are VS laches in diametei and its capacity is fifteen gallons of water. Passengers are cairied in the twoseated cars of the design shown in the Hlu-.tra.tion, and the hauling capacity of the locomotive Is ten such cars, conveying twenty passengers, a total load of 4,000 pounds. The scale on which the locomotive is built is about one-seventh of the size of one of the Isrge-t engines in use on the New York Central railroad. A Mooie Motor. It has become the fashion among enterprising traders to attract attention to their shop windows by the exhibition of some moving object, generally actuated by c'ockwork. A distinctly novel idea in this direction i3 that recently adopted by certain American bicycle dealers, who have succeeded admirably in not only attracting attention to their wares, but Is showing at the same time the perfection of their workmanship. They show, in brief, how the wheel of a cycle may be driven by mouse-power. The bi( yt le ia either attached to a frame or hung to the ceiling ßo that the front wheel is clear of the ground and can run easily. .lust above the top f this wheel and fixed to the steering bsd of the machin is a motuse cage with no bottom, but so close to the rJre that the animal within has no room to escape. The weight of the nonce Is suifleient to give the wheel

an initial movement, and the poor little creature trying to run to a refuga provided for It in the cage keeps up the motion in treadmill fashion. Usually there are two mice in eac cage, and one or the other le generally doing work on the wheel.

Stasis Tlirmigh I'.er Skin. Paris scientists are wildly excited over the marvelous Mile. Lena, Who hears musk through the pores of hdr skin and shows the effect in certain attitudes and expressions of the face. savs the New York Press. At this tin s when she is tinder hypnotic influences, she is photographed, and then, if the developing of the negative is done near her, she gets to trembling and fainting. She feels the cold of the developing solution and the movements of the developing dish. It is supposed that when hypnotized she gives foith through the pores of Ii. r skin an invisible substance or fluid. Which is the vehicle of her sensibility, booming a kind of human battery, producing a special kind of electricity enpable of being photographed. Hr experiences when the negative is being developed occur after she has been awakened. Mile. Lena is a model and much appreciated by Paris artists and sculptors for her grace, patience and docility. Oer Harbor Defense. This is the kind of mine which was placed in our harbors during the WSJ for defense against possible attack. Its charge is from 225 io 26i pounds. Th body of the mine is made of cast iron, says the Scientific American. It is ol a hemispherical shape and is four feel in diameter and about two feet in height. The shell is two inches in thickness, and at the crown is a fillir.5 ' plug, with eleetrieal connections ovei Which is bolted a wroimht-iron cap Raining Sunken Vessel-. The attempts to float the sunken Spanish warships has taxed the minds of the best engineers in the country. Cylinders full of air have been attached to the ships and air bags have been applied, receptacles containing compressed air have been placed inside ol the ships until they could hold nc more. This Is done at low tide; then pontoons are attached and. as the tide rises, the entire wreck is lifted fröre, the sea bottom end may be removed a' pleasure. In working on some of the enormously heavy sh:;is. however, it has been found that the deck and framework wre not sufficiently strong to stand the tremendous pressure, but will burst upwards, completely destroying the body of the ship. Fame and fortune await the inventor whe w ill arrange an appliance by means of which the larger ships can be snfel raised. The method- now employed arc amply strong for smaller craft but almost utterly ueseies for the heavier types. One of the most feasible plnns is the employment of hollow metal cylinders filled with compressed air. These must be small and ca.-ily attached to the ship. A number of small ones are of much more value than a few large ones. Where it is possible to pull a cable tinder the ship, the work of attaching these cylinders is much simplified. One admirable suggestion is the enclosing of the hull in a cage or netting made of strong wire or tables. This netting is fastened to pontoons which form a continuous line around the hull. To the netting or cage the small air cylinders may bo attached at frequent intervals: in fact, the entire bottom as far as it can be reached may be packed with them, each fastened independently o!' the others to the cage. Adjusted at the lowest tide the rising of the watet will furnish a lifting power most prodigious, while the rocking of the structure will assist in working the huU loose at the bottom. Snakes' EjWa Always Open. One of the most curious facts witii regard to snakes Is that their eyes are never closed. Sleeping or waking, alive or dead, they are always wide open. This is because there art no eyelids. The eye is protected only by a strong scale, which forms a part of the epidermal envelope, and is cast off in a piece with that every time the reptile molts. This eyeplate is as clear and transparent as glass, and allows the most perfect vision, while at the same time it so hard and tough as to perfectly protect the delicate organ within from the thorns and twigs among which, in flight from enemies or in pursuit of prey, the reptile so often hurriedly glides, as any close observer of the habits of the snake can readily discover. Compuratlre I'ae of Letter. To those who have never considered the subject it might appear that each letter is of equal importance in the formation of words, but the relative proportions required in the Engilsh language are these: A, 85; b, 16- c 30; d. 44; e. 120; f, 25; g. 17; h, 641. 80; J, 4; k. 8; 1, 40; m. 30; n, 80; o, 80; p, 17; q, 5; r. 02; s. 80; t, 90; u, 34; v, 12; w, 20; x, 4; y, 20; z, 2. It is this knowledge of how frequently one letter is used compared with others that enables cryptogram readers to unravel so many mysteries.

1 PH HE ME

Spahl Yields Rule Over Cuba and Porto Rico. THE ISLAND DEBT IS HERS. Sweeping Terms of the Proto ol Have Keen Strictly Adhered T Agreement M to the Philippines Vet to He Reached. Spain has agreed to the first two articles o! the protocol. The negotiations of the Humano-American peace commission have reached the point Where the discussion is about to be transferred from the A; bin tit to :he Pacific. The clauses agreed to state: 1. That Spain relinquishes all claim and her sovereignty over and title to Cuba 1. That Porto Rico and the island in the Ladrones. Guam, be ceded to the United States. Spain agrees to assume the Cuban debt. Would Kiijoin Gov. IMMA The coal operators of Lnnois Interested in the Virden situation are preparing s petition to be presented soon in one of the United States courts for an injunction to prevent Gov. Tanner from interfering With the importation of laborers. Karly Settlement Is I'robulde. An eatiy settlemen: of the coal mining troubles at Vil len. 111., is probable. There are indications that With:n a few days the mine rs and the operators will be exchanging overtures looking 10 the peaceable resumption of work. lurv Make No Kceom inenila t ion 4. The Virden coal miners" riot jury. Impaneled returned Its verdict and was disc harged. Xo one in any case wa censured or condemned in any way, and no isinestions or recommendations are made to the grand jury. To Micke Naval Demonstration. The entire north Atlantic squadron will shortly be assembled at New York ready to make a hostile demonstration in Spanish vaters should any hitch occur over the peace negotiations. Liberal tela in Germany. In the German elections now in progress of secondary electors for choosing the members ol the Prussian diet the scanty returns thus far reeived point to liberal gains. Pear Finhteen Were Drowned. The steamer L. It. Doty, with her erew of eighteen nie; is missing. Chicago marine men think they were lost in the great storm of Oc t. 1.",. Defaulting "state Treasurer enteneeti. Hiram c. Qerrish, the defaulting deputy state treasurer of New Hampshire was sentenced to t wo v. ars at hard labor in the state prison. Have Saile.i for Manila. The Second and Third battailous of the Twentieth Kansas regiment sailed on the transport Indiana tor Manila.

CHAVANNES. FAMOUS FRENCH PAINTER, PA3SPS AWAY.

Pierre Puvis de Charannei French painter., is dead. the Chavannes was acknowledged tic great master of mural decoration anions the moderns. He occupied the distinguished position of president of the National Society of Pine Ails, the society that founded the Paris salon of the Champ de Mats. He was born at Lyons in 1S2.",. of a noble BurgUO dian family, and he never was capable of adapt ins himself to republic an ideas. His father was an engineer, and had set his heart upon the son following the same profession, but Puvis turned to painting while still in his early twenties. His success was entirely PhrUtlan KudPHVorerit af Iowa. The thirteenth annunl convention ol the Iowa Christian Endeavor association met at MarshslltOWn. The sein tary's report shows a membership of UX.71U in the state. The junior soc ie ties have a membership of nearly 11,-000.

AaeeaS the ar- Propus.,1. All the powers have accepted th c zar's Invitation to take pait in a con ferenee looking to the disarmament of the nations.

ILLINOIS BANKERS ADJOURN. J. 1.. Hamilton, -Jr., of Hnopetdon Was BleeteS President. The bankers of Illinois ended their two days' annual convention at Jollet. They adopted resolution declaring for sound money and an elastic' bank currency. J. U Hamilton. Jr., of Hoopeston was elected president. The other officers: First vice-president, H. HEfurris, Champaign; secretary, V. L. Mover. Chicago; treasurer, A. B. Hoblit. Blooming ton. KEEP THE PHILIPPINES. President McKinley Hm Arrived -it a President Mc Klfilej has decided to keep all the Philippines. The Unite. 1 States will assume 140,000,000 cd' the Philippine debt in consideration oi .1 quitclaim by Spain. The stars and stripes will wave o 1 an island empire in the eastern seas. Oppressed races numbering 8, ,000 persons will be freed and civilized. FIRE ON STUDENTS. "inn city Pottos Disperse Ktotaas College Men. At Sioux City, la., the police tried to break Up a party of fifty students engaged in molesting residents near the Morning Side college. The students charged, but the officers cheeked them with a volley from their revolvers. No on-' was seriously hurt. SfeMIUaa May He Ambassador. A successor to Col. John Hay. ambassador to tireat Britain, will be s. -

; lected by President .Mc Kinley withia j the next fortnight. The nam of SenI at or McMillan of Michigan is most fre- ! qtiently mentioned. la junction Page Are Dismissed. The injunction cases brought by the Chicago-Virden Coal company, to enjoin the miners from interfering with he operation of the mine, were dismissed in the chcuit court by complainant. Kiuht Persons Were Drowned. The schooner St. Peter of St. Vincent stink about Bve miles northwest of Sodtts, on Lake Ontario, will: all on board save Capt. .lohn I). Orifin. who iras resc ued. Bight persons perished. Partial Vletorjr for Dreytfa The court of cassation lias decided to grant a revision of the Dreyfus ease and will institute a supplementary inquiry. The courts declined to order the release of Dreyfus. Supplies for Deweya Sleet. The cruiser Buffalo will carry to Admiral Dewey's fleet 'ac t ween 600 and Ton recruits, besides a quantity of supplies of various kinds for oui navy in the Philippines. Win Ics and Indians fight. . pitched battle occurred near Canyon City, Ore., between nineteen white men and live Indians, which resulted in the killing ol' all the Indian- and one while man. Ileax.v Bbtpmentu of The shipments of wheat and corn from Philadelphia since Jan. 1 hava aggregated 25,000,000 bushels. due to his own hard work, for he had small instruction. After some time pent in Italy, under the influence cf Couture, he returned to Paris and in ISäO made his first exhibit at the salon. After this first success he seemed to fail and for the next nine years his works we re rejec ted. In 1 SJ 1 'haamies discovered where his strength lay in painting the walls of his brother's country house. Prom that moment his fame was secure. A list of his noted mural decorations would fill a catalogue. Hut he did not, like most cd' his class, grow rich from bin brush. His ric hest contract vas that by which he earned 150,000 from his decoration of the Boston public library. g 1)11 f El 1 oi Xcirlh Carolin,,. Trouble before or upon the day of i elec tion is feared in North Carolina, and both segroes and whites are armj sd. The negroes are reported to be acting very diplomatically and deter- , mined not to be the Aggressors. To Suceeed President Kittehford. The successor of M. V). Ratchford, national president of the United Min t Workers, will probably be Vice-President Mitchell of Illinois. Hatchford I indorsed Mitchell.

A SWISS WEDDING.

MANY VARIETIES SEEN BEYOND THE ALPS. May Day I a Period Sacred to Lotct Th wmjth ami the Well Governed Little K 'iu!lic -The tU M-.n !ut Tmk Pa!n to Please. HERE is no other luiopean country in which there la so large and so essential a variety of marriago customs as there is in Switzei land, one of the very smallest countries ia any eon- ' . 1 s3- I .1 rfc , evy, ... tiuent. No connill this 1'Ctry ean ppect be at all compared with Switzerland, except vast China, the unm11 red and Immeasurable empire of Asia. Switzerland and China! Waat a couple. In Lucerne, Switzerland, the marriage customs are rather pretty, stay day is a day sscred to lovers, a day of ardent courtships. Upon its dawn and. Indeed, until its midnight the lover who would rot only woo but win must, prociaim the intention of his intentions distinctly and pay his mistress several prescribed courtesies. The most Important of these is. perhaps, the planting of the courtship pine, or May tree. At flay he plan's before her father's door a wee pine tree heavy with fruit of tinsel and flowers of ribbon. This Is considered the most marked attention a Lucerne lover can offer to the maiden of his devotion. If his suit is acceptable her parents invariably reward him with lavish entertainment. And nothing else so proves that a Swiss family is lifted quite off its feet and carried A BRIDE FROM ÜNTBRWALDEN. helplessly 'own the stream of mad ' motion as when it plunges into stintless hospitality. On the eve of a Lu-.erne marriage the maiden friends of both bride and bridegroom gather together at his boose for a frank little festival called "the love-garland tying." Each maidn contributes a basket or kerchief full of gay flowers, and each binds up a nosegay or a coat bouquet, or both and, going home through the hue moonlight or the gray dawnbreak. each girl bangs her flowers upon ta doorknob of her favori. youth's dwelling, or as often tlings her fragrant challenge through the open window. These flower.- the young man is supposed to wear to the morrow's wedding. An Indian Sherlock Bolases. The traveler Charlevoix, who died in 1701, tells a story of an Indian who rivaled "Sherlock Holmes" One day a piece of meat was stolen from his wigwam, and he started in pursuit o: the thief. He had not proceeded far before lie met with some persons, of whom he inquired whether they had seen a little old white man w ith a short gun, accompanied by a small dog with a short tail. Asked how he could thus minutely describe a man whom he had never seen, the Indian answered: "The thief I know is a little man by his having made a pile of stones to stand upon in oreler to reach tbe venison; that he is an old man 1 know by his short steps, which I have traced over the leaves in the woods, and that he is a white man I know by his turning out his toes when he- walks, which an Indian never does. His gun 1 know be short by the mark the muzzle made in rubbing the bark off the tree on which it leaned; that his dog is small 1 know by his tracks, and that he has a short tail I discovered by the mark it made in the dust where he was sitting at the time his master taking down the meat." Old Medal l'lon-eel l . A Waterloo, Iowa, jeweler has an interesting relic in the form of a medal cast in 1S09 in coninieunoration of the consummation of a treaty of peace between certain Indian tribes of the Ohio valley and the United States. On one side the medal bears a bas-relief portrait of President Madisou and the words: "James Madison, prevsi dent of the United States. 1S09" On the obverse there are symbolical devices, one being a pipe and tomahawk c rossed, the pipe overlaying 'he weapon, indicative that peace is supreme over war. A pair of c lasped hands are shown, the wrist ef one hand being naked and the other showing the embroidered cuff of a soldier's coat sleeve. This particular medal was plowed up in Nebraska, and was about eight inches underneath the surface of the eround. It is of silver.

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LAYING BRIDGE CABLE.

Men Who Nee.t steady Head and Firm Hand. The w-orkmen on the cables follow closely after the builders of the iron roadway. These men are engaged in more perilous employment.it" anything, than the former, says Oodey's. They climb nimbly up to the very summit of the huge towers, and then, w'thout clinching, proceed to desc-end the inclined cables. It makes tbe spectators 1 below tremble for them, so dangerous : is the descent, but the workmen have ! no fear, else thy would be unfitted for the duty required of them. Alter sliding down the .'able a drzen feet they I stop and turn around and face the j towers. The men working the derrick slowly swing out to them the end of a eabie about three inches in diameter. Another man earrk b out to them j by mean8 uf a small hami puiiey and mnn ., mahnt 1.1. i .r ct.nl whii-h the ... . .UUV I'.lllll VJ l öll ' I. . . ... v cable-workers sei.,- with their pincers ; and clasp around the lai-e cable, on which they are resting. Then, while , the steel Is still hoi and malleable, the small cable, with its ?nd secured in a I thick bolt of .-deel. is brought into position and the end wedded into the redhot steel band encircling the main cable. The workmen pound and for;e away, hammering, twisting and bending the metal be töre it cools off. The wedding must be done rapidly, and the workmen have no time to stop and think of the dangerous position in which they are placed. Probably the only BUppbrt they have comes from their legs, which they wind tight ly around the cable, as they swing their arms ami upper nan of the body with violent exertion. When this cable ia forged into its place the workmen take a few moments of rest and then slide down to the next joint, where the same operation is repeated. Cable after cable is attached in this way. until there Is a regular triangle of steel work and dangling cables, looking lor all the world like a spider's we'... Bat there is order In this colossal gphk rweb suc h as never existed in the homes of the insect that weaves the web in our homes and woods. Gradually one part of the bridge after another is finished, and when the "false work" of scaffolds is removed the structure stands out in all the beauty of i's finished state. The bridge buildeis must not only be skilled in their work, but they must have the hardihood and daring of the sailor, for most of their work is performed at an altitude higher than the topmast of any sailing vessel. They labor in all kinds of weather when the sun is pouring down its torrid rays in midi summer or when the mercury registers! zero to winter. HE LOOKS DIFFERENT. S latin Pasha has had experiences such as fall to few. By birth an Austrian, he made his first journey to the Soudan twenty years ago. He wa.s governor of Da. a when Cordon was in Darfur suppressing the slave trade and a little later, when Cordon was governor-general of the Soudan. Be had responsibilities and perils by night an-j day and bore them so bravely that be was appointed governor-general of Darfur. The mahdj about this time discovered his "divine mission' and thenceforth the life of Slat in Pasha was one of conflicts, imprisonments, escapes, crowned by the final triumph of Kitchener's forces. His foes at one time were they of his own household, for when the mahdi took El Obeld, Slatin Pasha's men began o ascrine his misfortunes to the fact that he was a Christian. A nominal adoption ol the Mohammedan religion was the result - a ruse of warfare. While Cordon was besieged at Khartum. Slatin Pasha hail an interview with the mahdi. to whom he made the oath of allegiance. Moreover, he wrote to Gordon asking him to surrender. These things did not save him from being thrown into prison and having Cordon's head brought to him. After sixteen years of such adventure Slatin SLATIN PASHA. Pasha (who is an English commandeT of the Hath and a colonel in the Egyptian army) escaped from his hut near Omdurman and fled to Cairo, wher at. last he found freedom ami friends His return to Omdurman with Sir Herbert Kitchener, a conqueror where be had been virtually a captive, is the edimax of a career of amazing vicissitude. The portrsi here given eif the pasha in his Civilized garb shows a different man from the' one we have been used to seeing in turban and gown. Ilireh Canoe for the Orient. Hangor manufac turers are sending canoes of birch and canvas te Palestine. Japan. India and China. One recently sent to India was to the order of a Hritish officer, and the cost ol transportation was more than $7ä. A canoe just ordered is intended for a trip up the river Jordan.

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