THE CHARLOTTE MESSENGER
/ a
VOL. 111. NO. 49.
THK
Charlotte Messenger
IS PUBLISHED
Every Saturday,
AT
CHARLOTTE, N. C.
Jn ' lie Interests of the Colored People
ol • Country.
Mile mu l well-known writers will contrib
. i* * ils col ii in ns from different parts of the
amt rv. mill it will contain the latest Gen
ei.'il N* v's of Hie ilay.
in Messenger is a first-class newspaper
mi.! will not allow jiersonal abuse in its col
nniiis. It is not sectarian or partisan, but
n !e| km it lent—dealing; fairly by all. It re
i > the light to criticise the shortcomings
•*t 'ill public oilieinls—coni mending the
worthy, ami recommending for election such
men as In iUs opinion are liest suited to serve
tii interests or the p«*ople.
il is intended'to supply the long felt need
. . i new sjvtper to advocate the lights and
defend i lie interests of the Negro-American,
esj.e. iall\ in the Piedmont section of the
4 ’aroliuiis-
SUBSCBIPTIONS:
(Always in Advance.)
I year - - - $1 50
* months - -1 00
0 months ... 75
i mouths 50
o months - - 40
Address,
W.C. SMITH, Charlotte NC,
How i hermotueters Are Made.
If thermometers were all of uniform
cm liber and graded accurately there
would, of course, be no difference in
their records. But the fact is that many
are imperfectly made and carelessly
graded, and these, of course, will give
widely differing results. The first point
in the cuustiuctionof the mercurial ther
mometer is to see that the tube is of uni
form caliber throughout its whole in
terior. To ascertain this a short column
of mercury is put into the tube and
moved up and down, to see if its length
remain ; the same through all parts of the
tube, if a tube Whose caliber is not uni
form is used slight differences arc made
in its graduation to allow for it. A scale
■!if eipial parts is etched upon the tube,
and from observations of the inequalities
ol the column of mercury moved in it a
table giving the temperatures corre
sponding to these divisions is formed. A
bulb is now blown on the tube, and while
the open end of the latter is dipped into
mercury heat is applied to the bulb to
expand the air in it. The heat is then
withdrawn, and, the air writhin contract
ing, a portion of the mercury rises in
the lube and partly fills the bulb. To the
open end of the tubb a funnel containing
mercury is fitted, the bulb placed over
a flame until it boils, thus expelling al|
air and moisture from the instrument,
and, on cooling, the tube instantly fills
with mercury. The bulb is now placed
in some hot fluid causing the mercury
within it to expand and How over the top
of the tube, and when this overflow has
cca cd the open end of the tube is heated
with a blow-pipe flame. To graduate the
ir, trument, the bulb is placed in melting
ice, and, when the top of the mercury
column has fallen as low as it will, note
is taken of its position referred to the
scale on the tube. This is the freezing
point: It is marked as zero on the ther
mometers of Kclsius and Reaumur, and
as :ft» u on the Fahrenheit system. To
determine the boiling |>oint, the instru
ment is placed in a metallic vessel with
double walls, between which circulates
the steam from boiling water. Between
th** freezing and boiling point of water
100 equal degree* are marked in the
centigrade graduation of Celsius, 180
degrees on the Fahrenheit plan, and 80
degress on the Reaumur. On many ther
mometers all three of these graduations
are indicated on the frame to which the
tills* is attached. Home weeks after a
thermometer has been made and graded
it may lie noticed that when the bulb is
immersed in pounded ice the mercery
does not quite, descend to the freezing
point. This is owing to a gradual ex
pansion* of the mercury which usually
<>i-N mi for nearly two years, when it is
found that (lie zero has risen nearly a
wli.de degree. It is then necessrry to
< nil down the scale to which the tube is
f i-tenid, so that it will read accurately
the movement* at the mercury. After
thin change, the accuracy of the thermo
fin ter is assured, as there is no further ex
pansion of the mercury column. — Jnter
(/<■ in.
A turned is pro jected to lie bored tinder
•Bray's Peak, in the Rocky Mountain..
Il will be placed -1,000 feet below the
summit of fhc mountain, will lie about
wsf*foo feet long, and will direct com
munication Iwtween the valleys in the
Atlantic k|ojk* and those of the Pacific
dd«\ with a sltorb’iiirrg of some 300 mile*
in the traiiHinontanc distance.
The railrondsof thin country own abouf
freight cars used in revenue ser
vice, which represents capital to thf
ainoym of at least $400,000,000.
THE GOLD FEVER.
A TALK WITH A CALIFORNIA
ARGONAUT.
The First Piece of Gold Found
Now Kept at the National Mn
seuvn—Early Scenes in
the Gold Fields.
The original cause of the great Cali
fornia gold fever—the first fever germ—
is at the National Museum. It is secure
ly sealed in a little glass bottle,and there
is no longer any danger of contagion. It
is a little flattened piece of gold about
the size of a gold dollar. It is the piece
found by Marshall, while digging a mill
race the year before the fever set in. It
was sent direct to the Smithsonian in
Aifgust, 1848. The following is a copy
of the letter that accompanies it:
Han Francisco, August 23, 1818.
This paper contains the first piece of gold
ever discovered in the northern part of Up
|K*r California. It was found in February,
1848, by James W. Marshall, in fcho race of
Captain A. Sutter's sawmill, about forty
five miles from Mutter’s Fork, on the south
branch of the American Fork. It was beaten
out with a hammer by Mr. Marshall to test
it s malleability. It is presented to the Na
tional Institute, Washington. D. C.
J. L. Folsom.
J. L. Folsom w'as a captain in the
United States service. There are many
yieecs of gold in California claimed to be
the first found, but none of them have
the facts in favor of their claim. The
discovery of this piece of gold by Marshall
led to the search of more, and it was
found. It was the seed that up to 1880
had produced $1,200,000,000 in gold.
Prior to this discovery, Indians and a few
missionary priests had been collecting
some gold in other parts of the State,but
this was the very first piece found in the
gold belt, and it led to the great rush to
California in ’49.
Dr. I*. M. Dawes, the dentist of West
Washington, was one of the forty-niners
who started out from • Washington. He
was talking over the matter w ith a Star
reporter for a little while last eventng.
“A party of us,” he said, “took a sail
ing vessel at Baltimore in March, and we
were seven months and fourteen days
making the trip Jo Han Francisco. There
were my brother and cx-Scnator Sargent,
then a local reporter in Washington, one
or two other Washington boys and my
self, and there were quite a number of
others from Baltimore to make up the
party. That was the way Sargent first
went to the State he afterward repre
sented in the Senate. We had a pretty
hard voyage. The Captain of the vessel
treated us so badly that when we got to
Rio de Janeiro we complained to the
Consul and had him removed. This
caused st delay of fourteen days. Then
at Valparaiso we had to unload a steam
engine atid other cargo, which caused a
delay of twenty days more. It was a
very weary voyage before we got to Han
Francisco. Sargent did not go all the
way with us. He got off at Valparaiso,
and from there sailed to San Francisco in
another vessel. I remember that he
studied Spanish all the Way from Balti
more to Rio de Janeiro.
“When we arrived at San Francisco
several of our party who were carpenters
stopped there. They got sl6 a day for
working at their trade there, and thought
it better than taking the chances in the
mines. There were six in my party who
went into prospecting. Every thing was
fever and excitement there then. All
sorts of sensational reports of big finds
were circulated, but there was not as
much outlawry as many people suppose.
In San Francisco there was considerable
gambling. It was not much of a city
then. All the buildings were frame, and
the gambling-houses were like the frame
harrarks they put up for soldiers. The
gaming-rooms were in front and the bar
in the rear. Gambler* would pay SSO a
night for each table. They never counted
the money, but just stacked it up on the
tabic, and measured it in that way. The
gamblers were the only men who wore
w hite shirts.
“There were no courts. If a man com
mitted an offense in the diggings he was
tried by twelve men selected for the oc
casion, and their decisions were prompt
and just. For that reason there were few
crimes committed. Our gold was left in
camp without any one to guard it and it
was never stolen. I would sometimes
leave a day's diggings in a j»an out in the
sun to dry. No one ever disturbed it.
For serious crimes the jury of twelve
would hang a man; for petty larceny
thev would horse-whip him and give him
twenty-four hours to get out of camp. If
a man sunk a pit and threw a pick or
shovel in it he could go on prospecting,
and if he returned any time within ten
days lie would find his claim to the dig
gings respected.
“When our party landed,” he contin
ued, “we went to Sacramento, where we
.got three yoke of oxen and a wagon that
had come overland, and started for the
CHARLOTTE, N. C„ SATURDAY, JULY 9, 1887
diggings, well stocked with provisions.
We went first to South Fork, then to
North Fork or Feather River. There was
so much mud that we had to abandon our
cattle and wagon and carry our packs on
our backs. We did pretty well, but I
was sick and had to keep out of the
trenches and give up mining for a while.
When we dissolved partnership at North
Fork a sack of flour fell to my share and
I sold it for S2OO. I then bought a boat
and gun and shot quail and jack rabbits
and sold them in San Francisco. Quail
brought $7 and $8 per dozen dead, and
sl2 alive; and jack rabbits $7 and $8
each. The second time I went back to
San Francisco the cholera was raging
there. Men were dropping dead like
sheep.
“I went to the diggings again, and
we came across a big rock near Middle
Fork standing high out of the water,
which whirled in a swift eddy around it.
We knew if there was any gold in that
locality it would be right in this eddy.
So we filled bags with sand and mad? a
dam to turn the water aside so that we
could get at it. The very first dip of my
pan brought up $2lB worth of gold.
After working there a week we divided
up, and each got S9OO as his share There
were six of us.”— Washington Star.
The Gerrymander.
The history of the word gerrymandet
is interesting. In 1811 the anti Feder
alists, or Republicans, as they were then
called, after a bitter contest, succeeded
in electing their candidate for Governor
of Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry, and a
majority in both houses of the Lcgisla
ture. In order to maintain this majority
in the future, they proceeded to re-ar
range the Sentorial districts of the
State, which had hitherto been formed
without any division of counties, by di
viding counties so as to secure an anti-
Fcderalist majority, even though the
counties were, m reality, strongly Fed
eral in sentiment. The Federalists pro
tested, but in vain; the divisions were
made without even a consideration of
the propriety of the act; the work was
sanctioned by the Governor, and became
a law by his signature; wherefore his
political opponents soundly castigated
him through the newspapers and at pub
lic meetings. In Essex County the ar
rangement of the districts in relation to
the towns was singular and absurd.
Russell, the veteran editor of the Boston
Sentinel , who had strenuously opposed
the scheme, took a map of that county
and coloring the selected towns, hung it
on the wall of his editorial room. One
day Gilbert Stuart, the eminent painter,
was in the room, and looking at the
map remarked that the colored town
ships resembled some monstrous animal.
He took a pencil, and with a few touches
drew a head, wings, claws and tail.
“There,” said Stuart, “that will do for
a salamander.” Reyolds looking at the
hideous figure exclaimed: “Salamander)
Call it gerrymander.” An engraved
copy of this map was widely circulated
by Russell, and the word was immedi
ately adopted into the national political
vocabulary as a term of reproach for
those who change boundaries of districts
for a partisan pur|K>se. —lnter-Ocean.
Underdressed Children.
Nearly 50,000 children under five years
of age die annually in the United States
of pulmonary affections, and there is no
doubt that a large proportion of these
deaths are due to needless exposure to
cold and wet, and to the ignorance or
neglect which so generally prevails with
respect to the matter of clothing. The
absurd delusion which suggests that to
harden children it is essential to expose
their legs and chests to the piercing blasts
of winter, their bare feet to the wet, cold
earth, their uncovered heads to the sum
mcr sun, leads to many an illness which
terminates fatally. We might reasonably
exjH-ctthat examples of that belie! would
bo furnished from among the Ignorant
poor; but not so, we can see on our street*
anyday in the winter months the children
of our most intelligent classes clad in ex
pensive dresses, with neck, arms and leg*
jierfectly bare. The average moth**
exercises little more discretion in dressing
her children than an American savage
The South.
Csityrtsslsaal Wit.
The pages of the Congressional Record
are thickly strewn with “[applause];”
“(laughter];** “(great laughter and ap
plause),” etc.; but the reader of the con
text often has difficulty in discovering
the real occasion for the enthusiasm or
hilarity of the members. The speeches,
are as a rule, commonplace, the wit stale
or pointless, the jokes dismally stupid.
Congressional wit does not differ from
that of the mart, the street, or the sa
loon; it* life departs when removed from
its surroundings,and very little of it will
bear printing.— The American Magas the.
POPULAR SCIENCE. .
Italian astronomers say the world is
eight million years old, and has been
peopled about fifty millions.
The “canals’* on the surface of Mars
extend from sea to sea across the planet’s
continent, and are about fifteen miles
wide.
The reptiles of Brazil are now reported
by Prof. E. D. Cope to number sixty-two
species (twelve being newly discovered),
of which eighteen are batrachians, fifteen
lizards and twenty-nine snakes.
- The height of a proposed exhibition
tower in Paris is so great as to render a '
hydraulic lift impossible,and a huge screw
and nut, pressing a cage up and down,
have been substituted, insuring safety
and celerity.
The red stars above the ninth magni
tude have been catalogued by Mr *G. F.
Chambers after sixteen years of labor.
The list gives 711 stars as distinctly
reddish or orange, of which not more
than a dozen are really ruby or carmine.
Among the many masses of meteoric
iron which have been described, only
nine, according to Prof. W. E. Hidden,
have l>cen seen to fall, the places and
dates beiug: Agram, Croatia, May 26,
1751; Charlotte, Tenn., Aug. 1, 1835;
Braun au, Bohemia, July 14,1847;Tabarz,
Saxony, Oct. 18, 1854; Victoria West,
Africa, in 1862; Nejcd, Arabia, Spring of
1865; Ncdagolia, India, Jan. 23, 1870;
Rowton, Shropshire, England, April 20,
1876; Mazapii, Mexico, Nov. 27, 1885.
The increasing difficulty of adding to
the world's stock of knowledge of the
Arctic regions is turning the intention of
explorers to the more distant but fresher
fields for research lying about the South
Pole. An Antarctic expedition is now
being fitted out by Baron Nordenskjold,
and is expected to leave Sweden in the
Autumn for an absence of eighteen
months; while it is probable that during
the next few years several other expedi
tions be attracted to the unknown ice
seas of the Southern Hemisphere.
The demand for cheap aluminium has
stimulated researches in every possible
direction. Mr. James Mac Clear in a
paper before the Society of Chemical
Industry describes a new method for
manufacturing sodium and potassium
cheaply. As now made according to the
Deville method aluminium depends upon
sodium. With caustic soda at $55 a ton
the metallic sodium costs about 25 cents a
pound, allowing 17 cents for fuel and
materials. With sodium at this price
aluminium can probably be put on the
market at $4 a pound, or about one-fourth
of its present value.
It is a fact worth noting that no comet,
so far as is known, has ever come in con
tact with the earth, or mingled its sub
stance with the earth's atmosphere. The
neanst approach ever observed was
Lexell’s comet of 1770, which approached
to within 1,400,000 miles of the earth,
and subtended an angle of 2 de
grees 23 minutes, the largest apparent
diameter yet observed in any
comet. It has not not been seen
since 1770, though an orbit was com
pleted for it of only five and a half years,
and astronomers are of the opinion that
perturbation by Jupiter may have
changed its orbit to one of long period.
Money Value of a Wife.
Let a man become a widower and he
soon learns what the financial worth of a
wife was to him. When he is compelled
to hire the fowl cooked, the garments
made or mended, the washing and iron
ing done, he finds that about one-half of
his income is required to meet these out
goes. Who saved this expense before!
Let the cold fingers and the silent lips in
the graveyard bear testimony. The
famih purse should be as accessible to a j
faithful wife as to the husband. What,
nia i would consent to l>ecome a partner |
in a company in which his brother partner
should alone have control of the com
pany's funds? There is no one thing
more degrading and depressing to a hard
working wife, than to feel that she must
beg like a tramp for every cent she spends
’ beyond her food, which as truly !*elongs
| to her as though she earned it as a
j domestic or shop girl.— New England
j Farmer.
A Watery Cowi
•n a milk adulteration case at Chelten
ham, England, the other day, a sample
I of “babies’ milk” sold by the defendant
was proved to contain ten per cent ol
j added water. At the request of the de
fendant, however; the cow, responsible
, for the simple was milked in th«
presence of the intqiector, ami the hulk,
in legal phraseology, proved to corre
j spoml exactly with the sample. The in
! sjH*ctor said (presumably): “How shall
we deal with a watery cow? The law
makes no provision for punishing •
cow guilty of watering Her own milk.” _
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
JULY 10.
Lesson Text: “ The Flight Into 1
Egypt,” Matt., *l., 18-23—Golden
Text: Ps. xvlifl., 10—Commen
tary by the Rev. R. S.
MacArthur. D. D.
INTRODUCTION.
Matthew alone records this part of our
Lords life. This he does in harmony with
the plan of his Gospel. Christ’s life and work 1
are the heart of Old Testament prophecy. Its
fulfillment in him in most unexpected ways,
often through the malice of wicked men, is
an argument for the inspiration of the Script
ures. We may see in to-day's lesson how
God can watch over his Church even in its
times of greatest danger.
THE LESSON.
Vs. 13-15. The angel , etc.— This expression
in the Old Testament generally refers to the
angel Jehovah, the Second Person in the God
head. Strictly speaking, here it is an angel
in the ordinary sense of that term, and refer
ence seems to be to the angel Gabriel, who
(Luke i.,26) appeared to Mary to announce
the birth of the Lord. The word angel
means simply a messenger. So used, it is
applied to prophets,to persons,and even to in
animate objects—to any person or thing which
accomplishes God's wilL But in this applica
tion it is limited to a race of beings of su
perior intelligence and holiness, who did
Rod s will by ministering to the heirs of sal
vation. This messenger appeared now to Jo
seph in a dream. The case is peculiarly urg
ent; there must be no delay. Immediately,
therefore, he arose and took the young child
—the child, according to the usual scriptural
method, is again mentioned first—and his
mother. Egypt was at this time subject to the
Romans, hut it was not under the control of
Herod. It had been for centuries familiar to
the Hebrews. The way was easy. The Jews
were numerous there, and had synagogues
there. Here the translation of the Old Testa
ment- into the Greek was made: here the
philosophers of the Greeks and Jews came
into contact. It is certainly remarkable that
in the land where the people of God had suf
fered, the Son of God should find protection.
During the lifetime of Herod they might not
return, but his death occurred probably soon
after their flight. The prophecy here cited is
from Hosea xl., 1, Its primary application is
to Israel in Egypt, but in the child Jesus it
has its complete fulfilment. Israel was called
God’s son, God's first-born. There are many
points of similarity between Christ and Israel
in Egypt In him all types and prophecies
find their completion. Near the site of the
Egyptian temple is the traditional place of
Christ's temporary residence in Egypt.
Vs. 16-18. The massacre of the innocents.
—To Matthew we are indebted for this evi
dence of Herod’s cruelty and God's prov
idence. The wise men did not return to
Herod. It soon dawned upon him that he
trot mocked , i. <*., treated with discourtesy;
in a word, that he had been “outwitted,
made a fool of,” as Lange expresses it. This
was not the design of the wise men, but it un
doubtedly was the conclusion to which Herod
came! two motives now influenced his con
duct: first, he would gratify his wrath
against the wise men: and second, he would
be sure of destroying the child Jesus. All
the children —all the boys. This is the true
meaning of the word. Male children alone he
desired to slay—not only those in Bethlehem,
but also in the vicinity, the adjacent districts.
Two years old and under.— It is difficult to
decide on the exact length of time here in
dicated. It may mean all under two years,
or all who were entering the second year.
If Matthew adopted the usual Jewish method
of reckoning, as it is likely he did. he would
reckon a child who had just passed the
second year as two years old. Herod would
judge of the age of Christ from the time the
star appeared. But the number of children
slain could not have been great. Bethlehem
was a small town. Its vicinity was not
populous. Dr. Hackett, as quoted by
Dr. G. W. Clark, supposes the
whole number was not more than
twelve or fifteeu. Enemies of the gospel have
seized upon this incident os if it were an ut
terly improbable record. Many questions
also' have been started by it. It has been sup
posed by some that thousands of children
were slain. This act of cruelty was quite in
harmony with Herod's character, and it took
place probably shortly before his death. We
need not he surprised that Josephus passes it
over in silence. The chief interest to us is in
its connection with the childhood and preser
vation of Jesus. In the sorrow which re
sulted from this act of cruelty the
evangelist finds the fulfillment of the
prophecy in a secondary sense.
Rama.— A city about six miles north of
Jerusalem; not Ramah in the land of
Ephriam, where Samuel was born and
buried. This prophecy is typical. Its prin
cipal reference is to the captivity of the Jews
and their assembling at Kama previous to
being taken to Babylon. Rachel, the niothe/
of Joseph and Benjamin, is dramatically re
presented as rising from her tomb near
Bethlehem, and weeping for her children,
and her voice is heard in Rama. Herod's
deed fills Bethlehem with similar outcries of
grief.
Vs. 19-23. The holy family returns from
Egypt.— Again Matthew is alone in the rec
ord here given. Herod is now dead. His
death occurred at Jericho in the seventieth
year of his age and the thirty-seventh of his
reign, as the result of a loathsome disease.
The time is fixed by an eclipse of the moon,
which occurred in the seven hundred and fif
tieth year of Rome, or four years before the
boginning of our era. Again the angel ap
pears in a dream to Joseph, and urges him
io return to the land of Israel. The i/ are
dead. —Not Herod alone, but those who aided
him in the diabolical work; especially his son
Antipater, who was heir apparent, and who
would gladly seek the destruction of a rival
heir. Ft is said that five days liefore Herod
died he had his so - ., who liad aided him in
the death of his two elder brothers, put to
death. The return from Egypt was thus
brought about. The sojourn must have been
short. Archelaus received half the kingdom
on the death of Herod. His title was eth
iiareh. The other half of the kingdom was
divided between Philip and Antipas. each re
ceiving the title of tetrarch, or governor of
the fourth part. After nine years the Roman
emperor Augustus banished Archelaus because
of his cruelty. He slew 3,000 lews at once in
the temple at the beginning of his reign. No
longer had Judoa a native K lug. The sceptre
had departed. The sacred soil was immedi
ately under the feet of mighty Rome, with a
Governor whose headquarters were in Caes
area. He itas afraid.— The presence of
Archelaus alarmed Joeeph. Again he was
instructed by God in a dream, and he turned
aside into Galilee, and dwelt in a city called
Nazareth. Four times Joseph was honored
by a revelation of God's wilt Pales
tine was divided into three parts—
(*ali lee on the north, Ha maria In the cen
tre and Judea in the south. In
Galilee Joseph would be safe under Herod
Antinas, who was gentle and kind as com
pared with Archelaus. Nazaretl. means
branch; there the Branch was to grow up.
It was a small city under the hills of lower
Galilee, about seventy miles north of Jerusa
lem and midway between the Jordan and
the Mediterranean. It was situated on tho
side of the hi'l. The place was dot even
Terms. $1.50 per Aim Single Copy 5 cents.
named in the Old Testament, nor mentioned
by Josephus. It was not a harsh critic, but
the excellent Nathanael, who asked : “Can
there any good thing come out of Nazareth?”
Nazarene. —There is much difficulty in ex
plaining this word. The word itself does not
appear in the Old Testament. The best ex
planation probably is that Matthew does not
intend to refer to any one prophecy. He has
in mind the general language of the prophets
in regard to Christ as the Branch, and espe
cially regarding his despised condition among
men. That condition is well set forth by his
being called tho Nazarene. All that the
prophets had said regarding Christ’s humil
ity would find its illustration in that
despised term. The evangelist concentrates
these various prophecies in that one word,
Nazarene. To-day it is a word of honor.
The despised town is held in everlasting re
membrance. Jesus gave it something of his
own glory and exaltation.
POINTS TO BE REMEMBERED.
1. God still watches over the Church, and
guards even his youngest and weakest dis
ciples from the wiles of their ioes.
2. Safety is found only in implicit obedi
ence to the divine command.
3. The enemies of God are also enemies of
one another, and will liasten their own de
struction. God thus makes the wrath of men
to praise him.
4. Believers must be identified with Christ
In his lowly life at Nazareth, that they may
be prepared to share his glory in the New
Jerusalem.— Sunday-school World .
Minstrels and Burnt Cork.
The popular idqa is that we put some
sort of greasy preparation on our faces to
make the burnt cork come off easily,
says a famous negro minstiel to a Phila
delphia News reporter; but if a man
wants to become permanently black, all
he need do is to grease his face before he
blacks up. It would keep him scrubbing
all night, and he would have to take
the skin off before he could get it out.
The preparation of the cork is simple.
The property man put his corks in a pan,
pours a little alcohol over them, lights
the alcohol, and the heat does the rest.
A little rubbing between the hands
smoothes out the lumps and the grit.
There’s another way to take out the grit,
which is to drop the burnt cork into a
tub of water, and the grit goes to the
bottom. All he has to do is to skim off
the floating substance, and he has the
fine particies. A little water makes this
into a paste ready for use.
Unfamiliar with the Classics.
It was on a west-bound train. A
Boston young gentleman had struck up
a conversational acquaintance with a
Detroit young lady.
“Do you like Smollett?”
“I—l guess I’ve never seen him.
Who’s he with?”
The Boston young gentleman started,
but, fearing that he had been misunder
stood, he heeded not the query.
“You are surely fond of Fielding?” he
continued.
“Oh, yes, it will do,” replied the
Detroit girl, “but slugging is what Hike,
and you just wait till our big four get
after your bean eaters—they’ll make ’em
think its raining base balls out in the
back end of your park.* ; — Chicago
Tribune.
A Novel Park.
A rich New Zealand Prince, full of new
zeal and so forth on the subject of public
parks, has presented to his government a
large district of wild country w’hich he
owns, for park purposes. One of the most
interesting features of'the park that is to
be, is a genuine volcano that is alive and
kicking, besides an extinct volcano that
might be made to erupt on the Fourth of
July and other holidays, by artificial
means, and a lake of boiling hot water.
Picnic parties will find the latter very
convenient for the production of hard
boiled eggs steaming hot. No matter
how stringent a prohibition law New Zea
land may adopt, with two volcanoes in
the park visitors will be able to find
plenty of the “crater.”— Texas Siftings.
Dead Capital in Farm Fences.
It is said that the amount of “dead**
capital invested in farm fences in tho
United States alone reaches the immenso
aggregate of $5,000,000,000, and that
the construction of new fences and the
renewal of old ones involves an outlay of
no less than $200,000,000 annually. It
S difficult to fix an approximate idea of
what immeuse sums as these represent,
but some conception of this enormous in
vestment may be formed upon the fact
that it nearly equals the capital stock of
ill the railroads in the country, while
the annual expense almost parallels tho
?ntire revenue of the National Govoin
gent.—Chicago Times.
Childish Precocity.
Here is • story of childish precocity
from the Boston Hwlg^t , illustrating tho
, wsy these little ones puzzle their elders.
I Paterfamilias, in a spirit of mischief, was
attempting to confound the knowledge
| of his six-year old by asserting that the
i face of a clock was not a face, because it
! did not hare eyes; but the alphabet waa
fresh in the child's memory, and she im
mediately upaet her parent's argument by
pointing triumphantly to the Homan nu
merals II ii|>on the dial, with the con
vincing. “Oh, yes, they have; them am
two Is!”