Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / Dec. 23, 1908, edition 1 / Page 9
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CIIAIILOTTE DAILY OZZl OOIX-Ef-SLOT FOOL TABLE. ' A great deal of walking about and searching for talla , and collection has been saved' pool players by the Invention f an Englishman, who baa devised a pool table an which all the balls pocketed roll into the name re f f ptacia. at one end, sad are released with a . coin. Two Inclined Chutes run along the aldea of the table from one end to the ether and at the low er end meet two other chutea which . lead to a. box-like attachment la the mddlle of thivenl, : Ai each- ball la pocketed It la tossed by Ha own momentum Into the chute end flnda -its war - Into the general .receptacle. '-K0 TIME) LOST COLLECTING. This -has an opening .at the front ..large enough to permit the players to ; reach in and take out the balla they . anoyance ta considered of making a round of the table after each turn and collecting from the varioua pockets, it will be aeen that this new form . of table has- much to commend It to those who like their game to pro grew without trivial and unnecessary V' ARTIFIOAXj 6TJ3THGHT. Clear daya or cloudy daya any at will by photographers in their own tudloa . This la through the Inge nulty of a, Massachusetts man who has invented an apparatus for producing ' artificial ekyllght effects. In one corner of the studio, near the celling. 4m ImM lttl M SAM . Wmm artificial light, though electricity is of this la a glass partition, hinged in the middle, ao that it can be adjust CAN RX.GULATB RATS.' . v. d to vary the angle at which the light strikes It ' I In front oft this la a series of screens. - By (Changing the angle of wW vs uuvu eauu wuukib vi IViuuviua screens, almost any light can be pro duced, from the glare -of bright sun light to the shadow of a cloudy day. The Illustration shows an electric light bulb, with reflector, ao arranged that It can be raised or lowered on cords, , behind, the partition and Increases the possibilities of the apparatua 1 FOR ICE-CREAM CAN'S. When Ice cream is mentioned the Interest of some, eighty millions of people In the United States Is arous ed. Therefore, the Iowan who In rented an attachment to keep Ice cream i rum opKiuni in me sany ice that fills the buckets they are placed . In nay be looked upon as a benefac tor of the race. . This device is a h6ldsscan in place, metal baad, provided with a hook and slots so . that it can be fitted around vans of various sisea; - Prom the sldee'Of the .band propect lugs, to which spurs ere pivotally adjusted. When the can la placed in the buck et, the spurs engage the sides of the latter and hold the ean In f place Pivoted aa they are, the spar adjust themselves to the circumference of the bucket Many f a quart of Ice or earn has been spoiled ifrom the Can upsetting or being Jolted- about ao much that the lid has come loose and the salt water has leaked la and tainted the contents. All .hail ta the gentleman from Iowa. - HAXDV FOR COOKS. , . ' Housewives - and cooks have an Iowa man to thank for a measuring device which enables-thm to dole out as many as eight cupful of - In gredients at once and feel sure that the amount "is accurately measured. The device Is a cylinder of generous circumference, divided into four com rurtments, each of which has the ca i Hoiiv of two teacuoa. - The cylinder 1 .as flits .In it at. then points and f "ng one side Is a rod, to which a i -!a sliJe is attached. This" allde ' i te rnovfd to any part of the rod . 1 ! rif l In t ? f t the slots, thus l : a v-1 f f the cspicity re '. to, t--r. ..v or ight enpa f I i r-r - r ... :ln 11 ".. r BB 1 MM Tk IBJ 'W. mmW A. WBk ,1 'mMv 5 : , i f SCIENCE AND INVENTION ADJUST SLIDE FOR QUANTITY. Any odd numbeY of cupfuls, of coarse, can be gauged by filling the vessel to within half of the top compart ment Cooks usually measure quan tities In old cups,' and frequently the slse and shape of the cups make an Important difference In the propor tions. This Is obviated by having a standard measurement intone utenalL IMPROVED ME7C8 BELT., v An Improved belt for men, exceed ingly unique In construction, is shown In the Illustration below.f It over comes the objections of the elastic belt and also those of the unyielding leather pelt. . This belt la In two sec tions. . At ' the back, between the two straps, are several email springs. which five the resllency desired. The buckle usually aeen In .. the front' Is BELT WITH SPRINGfU . missing. Instead the belt is attach ed to the trousers by detachable fast ener!. . In fact, this belt la not worn outside the trouaera but Inside. The advantage of the springs will be ap parent with the varioua motions of the body the springs - expand .or relax ' as required. ' SHOE-POLISHING, APPARATUS. . The daya of the old-fashioned blacking brush for polishing the shoes have passed. With the assistance of a couple of strips of soft cloth and soma elbow grease a very muoh bet ter polish can be obtained. Unfor tunately the polishing cannot be sue cessruiiy accomplished by the wearer HOUSEHOLD SHOE POLISHER. i ... .- of the shoes. " The' work must1 be done by a second person, unless an appafttua similar to the one shown here Is employed.' A glance at the illustration will ahow how easily and quickly the polishing can be done. Many a dime can be aaved with the aid of this apparatua, which would pay -for the cost In a short time, in this apparatus there ia a platform upon - which to rest the foot - At each aide' are rollers over which the polishing cloth moves, an abutment ai we enaa preventing the ciotn rrom extending beyond the ends. Being clean and sightly, this polishllng ma chine would make a welcome addition to any household. NEW KIND OP MALL. For the purpose of driving posts into the ground, - a mall invented by an Arkansas man will be found unusually efficient It takes two men to operate it. -but It does the work of mora than two, for It not only TAKES TWO .TO WORK IT. drives the posts more rapidly,'' - but finds no obstacle in hard abound. The mall - consists of a tapering block, larger at Its bottom than at Its top, and of heavy) hard wood. . On the bottom la an iron-plate, to protest it from the effects on the continual bat tering it receives and keep It from ! I i splitting, and around the middle Is an ItPB band. ' t - - Four Iron handles are fixed to the band by hinges and two men, each taking two handles, can raise the block and let It fan on a post. Its own weight' being sufficient - to provide more driving power than there Is In the awing of an ordinary mall. By practice, this Implement, clumsy as ft appears, can be operated aa rapidly as, a aiedge hammer and with far mora effect : v-, v ' K , . . . -.- "-... ' IMPROVED COFFEE VBX. . Any methods adopted by the owners J of restaurants and cafes to hasten the service and shorten the time required; to nil the customer's order, are always, welcomed. The busy business man has -no time ta spare for the noon-day, quickly aa possible. To facilitate mat- patented n Ingenious attachment for,- coffee urns which saves a great deal .NOj 6PIGOTS TO TURN. the sDlcot There Is no ' turning of handlea, With , an arm full of dlshea on one aide and an empty cup and aaucer In the other, the waiters mere ly press the cup against the spigot and the coffee runs out .With each press ure on .the automatic spigot -.only enough- coffee passes to flU the cup. The-time-formerly consumed in de positing, the cup and turning on the spigot la eliminated. The waiter simply presses the rim of the cup against the spigot and In a few seconds haa a cup full of coffee, at the same time re taining the othsr arm full of dishes. NEW HEDGE TRIMMER. Hedge trimming haa been made easy, by' the Ingenuity of an Oregon man, who baa devised a machine that will cut aa many branches as a dosen men working by hand at once; will cut them atralght and will cut them with' out any difficulty. The machine con sists of a largo number of teeth set In a row and all operated by the same shaft which la turned by-a handle. Their'effect Is that of sq many pairs of shears working, in the same .line aide by aide. The device la - fastened to the operator's body by a harness so that It sets firmly,- and. while he guides the knives with his left hand. OPERATOR TURNS CRANK. : with his right hand he turns the crank that opens. and closes .them. Naturally, thia machine has much more power than there la In a man s "hands, , - and ' It crunches through branches of au six a At the same time, cutting a wide swath, as does, K can ha guided so that the work 1 done In much better style than Is . possible when a single pair of hears 'la us$d. s , , tuyi mama rv rivw-i i From the number and variety 'pf collapsible, convertible and combina tion chairs ef all aorta that are on the market the designers would seem to have reached the end of their rope. Hera aotnea .a Call forn Ian. : however. with an Invertfble chair which seems to be the slmnlest one of the lot This la a combination rocker and standard chair, 'and all that la needed to trans-. form It from one to the other la to turn It upside down, or right aide up, which ever way you like to regard it The chair Is shaped like a piece 'Of mission furniture, and . the rockers, which are abort, serve as curved arms when It la atationary. They, arepro tected when down by .a metallic sheath, which also figure aa an orna ment when they are up. The back Is so made that it slides up and down in a groove and can be adjusted - In whichever position Is required. WlthaL the chair la a sturdy and attractive piece of furniture, and la likely to be popular on Ita merits. . ' ) ;'PREvrTS JaimrvG hands. ' Even the hardest kind of labor can - i. ' - ' ';'- . -. '-v be made easy end less exacting on the worker, as evidenced by the non-Jarring attachment for too!sr shown here. Naturally, -when tools are struck by, a heavy hammer or mallet, the hancU -of the operator holding the tool arj . jarred to an extent depending upon, the force of the' blow. That this Jar- ring can be eliminated la shown by ' this attachment. It can be applied to; a variety of mechanical tools, such at , nail punchea, rock drills, etc. The at- tachment -coaslsts of a sleeve which! fits over a handle havinz a red ace J " i 1 1 1 1 i i . HANDS PROTECTED FROM JAR-:-RING. , . . ' - " , ' diameter, around which a coll spring la placed. This spring Is atlff enough to hold the tool firmly for use, so that the point cau be placed exactly on f the desired spot, " but la ; sufficiently eiaatio to relieve the hand of any shock when the blow la atruck. Ths coll spring also enables tha ool to be pressed firmly against the material, so that It la In the right Tltlon, and yet. when the blow hi delivered, the shock Is taken up by the. spring and not felt by the hand or arm, affording a grateful relief to the nerves. BASKET FOR CLOTHES. An excellent device that -would be of great assistance -to the-housewife the combined clothes and clothespin receptacle ahowa In the Illustration below. Ordinarily the wet clothes are carried from, the waahtub to the yard In an ordinary wicker basket for at tachment to the clothesline. The dripping water collects In the bottom of the basket, aoon rotting and de stroying It The basket ahownr here la made of galvanised wire to prevent rusting. The mesh being wide, the water from the wet clothes readily HOLDS CLOTHES AND CL0THE8- . ' . ... PINB. ; drains off. At one end la a receptacle for the reception of clothespins, while suitable straps are secured to the -back by which it can be supported at some convenient point These straps are also used to carry the receptacle. I. THE -WORLD 'ON A STRING. Atlas ' la far outclassed-today, for through the ingenuity of a man in Il linois a 10-pound 1 "schoolmarm can yank the world op to the ceiling with one hand. This device la for use la classrooms where apace la at a pre mium. The globe La- encircled by a meridian ring with flanges on either side, a yoke, with hooks on the ends, engages these flanges and by means of the books the whole apparatua la at tached te the celling by pulleys. In this ; ; FULLS UPOR DOWN AT'WILL, way it can be lowered to a convenient height when needed and - pulled tip out of the way when not in use. ane meridian ring can be turned. around to any position, aa It slides on ' the yoke, and the globe, of course. Is piv oted on the ring and can be rolled In the other direction. Two cords sup port .the globe ao thatits movement up and down la even and both cords are carried throuxh a thrld pulley and meet In a handle, which hanga along the wall where the teacher can reach It . i .s -V HEN LOCKS HERGSS TSs Every hen ia now her own policeman. since an Iowa man has given her case his attention. This man baa invented a nest with doors that close automatl cally when the chicken leaves and re mains closed until some person opens them. They can, too, be fitted with a BDrtng lock that cannot be opened ex cept by the owner. If the latter so de sires. The doors of the nest fold in ward and ere operated by means of i a spring, wwen is reieasea y mi weight of Mra Hen as she steps ma jestically out cackling proudly in the knowledge that she has done her duty by society. Thus closed.' the. nest is proof against the predatory, vlsltv of the weasel or. any other barnyard thief, to say nothing of other chickens ef cannibalistic tendencies. The whole device Is a simple one, and could prob- Nursing Mothers and Malaria. The Old Standard GKOVES" TASTELESS CHILL TONIC drives out malaria and builds up the rys tem. For grown people . and chil dren, toe. 1 . ' :rT-Z ' - . . . ' t : i .... i . .:t-.t. ,: . m HER WEIGHT RELEASES SPRING. - - t , -.s bly tut made tjr a farmer wlta a me chanical turn of mind substituting weights and pulleys for1 aprlnga The annual . saving In eggs through .such precautiona aa thta means a consid erable' gum of money. . , , , SCIENCE NOTES. 'The ideal electrical conductor i one which would , combine tha tensile strength of steel and thd conductivity and ruat resisting qualities of steel. The. first effort to obtain thia combi nation ,waa attempted by electrically placing a copper coating on ateel wire, but the coating in this Instance- waa so soft aa to be unable, to withstand the amount of abrasion to which it waa aubjected la uae Later a. ateel billet waa placed In a sleeve of copr ner and the two metals drawn out to gether Into a wire. The objection to the latter prooess was that the con tact between the two metals waa not complete and oxidation of tha steel took place e.n tha copper waa flaked off. By a process recently perfected by J. Ferreol Mounet a homogeneous union between the two metals Is brous-ht about by applying a thick coat of copper to the outside of a bil let of ateel while both are heated to a high temperature, thug really welding the copper to :, the ateel. The heat drlvea out all air and allows the plas tic copper to mix; with the softened surface of the bluet most intimately After cooling, the coated billet is re heated and run through rolls to reduce It to rods and finally to wire of any else. The copper and steel draw down equally and the softer metal haa the same thickness throughout The roil ing - and drawing harden the copper so that it becomea very dense and in excellent condition to resist wear, and It Is stated . that ao - perfect la the union of the metals area before roll ing, that efforts to break the copper away with a hammer on a tongue made by aawina- radially into the edge of a transverse section or disk cut from a coated billet have been unsuc cessful.- f A project launder consideration which contempltea - the Improvement of the River Rhone, so that tha city of Lyons will be restored to tha pom Hon of importance It once held as an Inland port, and the establishment of a great power plant to supply the city of Paris. At present, although the riv er ia navigable In a direction from Lyons to the sea. It Is only navlgabl upstream as far as Seyesse, so that water communication with the Lake ef Geneva Is Impracticable, A Paris company haa made proposals -to the French government for the construe tlon of a barrage across Rhone below Bellegrade. forming above stream reach of 1 miles to the lake,, and downstream a waterfall which It la es timated would yield -100,009 horse power for transmission to Paris. The company further offers to construct the necessary facilities to enable ves sels ta pass through the dam. In this way navigation would be opened di rect with Geneva, v..-..- ';vy - The United Statea derelict destroyer Seneca Is rapidly nearing completion at Newport News maul the novel craft will aoon be placed In commission. Her particular function win be to keep the waters of the Atlantic Coast clear of derelicts which includea all kinds of floating menaces to ahlpplng. The headquarters of tha fieneca win prob ably be at Tompkinsvllle, Staten Is land. Arrange men te will be made by which any Incoming or outgoing ship, upon locating a derelict may com municate the , fact ty wireleaa tele graphy; It " is to be hoped that the success of tnl venture, concerning which there cannot be any doubt, will lead the other maritime natlona of tha world to build similar vessels for safe guarding inoae routea of travel which lie within their several Jurisdlctlona. A novel means of making a railroad fill without the expense of the trestle work usually made . use of for thia purpose, has been followed by . the Western Paciflo Railway In crossing a tide flat In the southern part of the San Francisco bay. In some places the ' total .Height of the fill waa T5 feet, and on this account, aa well as the insecure quanty of the ground the erection of trestle work would have been very expensive. As a sub stitute, two suspension cables support ed oy neavy towers were swun over the work and the. construction tracks were laid . In the usual way. - en the completed JUL but when the nd f ma - cump waa reacnea toe track u continued over the tide fiat and sup ported from the two cables by means or short lengths of 1 l-z-lnch cable. a. sufficient stretch of - track - being huner in thia manner to allow three id-ton dump cars to ne run out be yond toe nil at a tune, when tne fill, haa . been brought up to grade, the suspended tracks are Imbedded upon it andr a fresh length of track hung, upon the cablea- - - The experiment - . Of pumoln ell tnrougn a nneo pipe nas proven a success In California., where the trial haa been tried on a line 282 miles long from Bakestleld to Porta Costa on the San Francisco bay. : The oil of thia section is so heavy that it can not be piped practically through the tubes which are ordinarily made use of for this purpose).' but the move ment 4i the on is greatly facilitated by forcing a certain amount of water into the pipe with it . ua tne in terior ef the pipe are cut corrugations about one-elgihth Inch deep, these spiral curves making a complete cir cuit every ten feet Thus the water Dumped in with the oil roes to the outside of the interior or the pipe and following the rifling . forms a thin sheen. about the oil. .. . The two- move along together.-the oil forming- a central core that doea not come into direct contact with the pipe. Relay pumping ' stations : are established every twenty-three miles. Thia line cost four and a half million dollars, and the daily movement of oil la be tween 17,000 and 20.000 barrels. ,An alloy of allumlnum called mag nalium which has rapidly come into favor la Europe haa many remark able qualities. Its melting point is between 1185 and 1250 degrees Fah renheit; its specific gravity Is 3.4 to 2.S7, accrl!-e to' the percentage of tha alloy; -If lias na edit, resisU exl-' dlzation and is takl to be almost un affected ly rtry or riamp.a.r. water. ammonia, carbonic add. .i:;-hurate o hydrogen and most or.- :i.n: .-!! Salt water attacka magntuum el.gh ly, but whrn tne .nlloy is xpfsi-,i sea water the metal may be i rote. t by a lacquer, . The alloy Is said to show almost no magnetic Influence but tts electric and thermal conduc ttvlty ia about B per cent, of that o pure copper. - Ita color is silvery white In contrast to the grayish tint of . alumnlnum. Magnaliuna, -Uk pure aluminum. can be cast In liquid condition, tha castings machln lng about the same aa brass and th machine surface possessing a mirror- like smoothness, and silvery - color. Cast in i dry sand the usual quality of magnalium haa a tensile strength of 18.000 pounds per square inch, ana a -shrinks -of about I s-4 Per cent. In lathe' work the tool speed can be twice aa a-reat as that used on aluml num. - Some alloys of magnalium are very ductile and can be forged, rolleL drawn, etc- sharing an advan tages of alumnlnum in this respect in view of the very rapid develop ment and progress of aerial naviga tion. It la oroDOsed to establish a sec tion at the Royal Polytechnic School of Naples. In which young engineers shall be trained in all that refers to the problema of flight, so far aa It is known. . both from a tneoreucai ana practical point of view. t - PROGRESS OF THE DAY., i.Th life 'of a" fox 'is 1 years." ;. TJhe proportion of left-handed peo ple ia one in six.' ,. " i, . HoOlow copper rods t have been found to be the beat lightning rods. England eats between 80,000 and p.OOO - tortoises every t year. i ' Under ordinary circumstances, the Ufa of a'woodea boat Is four time that of steel, i-, , 1 f- ' - The ' average age of persona who die by 'accident is thirty-five , and half year a 7 ; ?:-.... - . 1 --mm - - J ' - SoldUra of 'Berlin built a pontoon bridge across tha river Spree in. 40 minutea reoentiy.'.' -1,'-. , The most approved design of storm door construction represents aa In vestment of no less than U.tOO. The famous Lachlne Rapids of the St Lawrence are -to be spanned by a bridge and the channel widened, -..; -Condemned to death, a prtooner In Greece la kept - In confinement - for two yearn before the sentence ta cit' rled; out - Tha coffee production of the Islands of Java and Sumatra.. In 107, was only abputvhalt that of the previous, K 40000 wireless telegraph plant la being . erected at Newport which will -have a working radius, of 1.2 SO miles. , ' ' ' ' f The cost of the proposed electric freight tube system for New York oity will cost from - 180,000,900 ' to tl00.000.000. I '' An attemnt to establish a munlcl pal brewery in Berlin resulted in a dismal canure. it did plenty oi nuu neat, out lose money. h Tha total' capacity of the streams of Switzerland la eatimated at one mil lion " horse-pa wer, ! one-quarter - of which ia availed of at present Trade of the United States with Its American neighbors In 1107 amounted to nearly $1,000,000,000, against a lit tle mora than a third as muoh a de cade ago. . . To prevent the "theft of electric light bulbs a socket is now made which locks with a key, so that re moval la Impossible without . the key. Telephones permanently, secured fe the chairs have been Introduced into aome ef the leading barber shops and have been found, to be a welcome in novation. Burma -has petroleum fields which have scarcely been . .touched. Great possibilities of trade In India await those mwdo shall develop the industry. The mumber, of passengers carried by the railways, of tha United States la the year ending June 80th, 19" 4, waa 7,B07,SXS, being .(0,171,111 more than for the previous year, For use on rural delivery routes a letter box haa an electric attachment which gives the alarm in the house some distance away, when mail mat ter haa been deposited within by the carrier, :Vio-p::':..r"':,''S 'c:h:;4 Telephone ' companies are endeav oring to collect part of the telegraph tolls where the messages ate deliver ed b- telephone. The telegraph com panies claim that they are entitled to make this use or tne instruments and resist payment There are 157,000 models -tn the patent- office which are about to be lodged in the .National Museum, si any of them are of historic interest They will continue to be under the Care of the Commissioner of Patents. The first ateel Ingot cast in Den mark waa produced recently at Copen hagen. It ia to- be used as the ped estal of a-bust of G. A. Hagemann, the director of the Polytechnic School at Copenhagen. The Alaska-Yukon-Portland exposi tion will be held on. the grounds of the Washington University, which will fall heir to the buildings and power plant Three of the buildings will be of reinforced brick and will be made use of permanently by the University upon the closing of the exposition. Of the exports of the United States to the other countries of North Amer ica aa a whole manufacturers formed in 1904 12 percent, of the total; South America, 84 per centiJEurope, 27 per cent; Asia, 75 per cent; Oceanica 83 per cent, and Africa, 44 per cent A ferryboat in use in the harbor of Glasgow Is supplied with a decs wmcn can be raised and lowered 17 feet, in fact it la a floating elevator. This feature is necessitated by the differ ence of the levels of the two. landing stages made use of by the craft. The' platform ia capable of holding 14 carts and, with its loa3, it is raised or low ered aa the case may be during each trip by a special engine. . Guam,' which Is one of the moat un inviting- of our possesfdon;t will be equipped with an experimental station through the means of which its re sources "will be Investigated and en couraged. Dr. W. H. Evans, of the Office of Experiment Stations, has vis ited the Island and selected a site for the station at Agana. The station will be conducted under the' immediate supervision of the office, with H. L. V. Costenbble aa an agent In charge. "and TheAstrocomlcal Astrophys!csI Society of Am-riva wfi l:f.-t ita next meeting in tii summer of 1309, j;roo ably at the Yerkes Otwrvatory. The txact date has not yet Dti-n nxed, but It ia expected to precede by a lew days the Winnipeg meeting of tne British Association for the Advance ment of Science, -which will open on August 25th 1809. . Within the past few years the agi tation for hard roads has nearly ceased in the Prairie States, and, com, cldent with such subsistence, increas ed attention has been given to earth roads. When the hard road agitation was actively going on. there was lit tle or no demand in tne farmers" Insti tutes for articles or discussions on road topics; but recently there haa tieen large demand for Information concerning the care of earth roads. An, authority on thia subject says: Unless a community ta willing and able to maintain the earth reads in a rea sonably good condition. It la useless to txpect that it will be willing or able to support a hlgh-claaa wagon road; and therefore the -dissemination of correct Information concerning -' the construction and care f earth roads ia politically, economically and physical-ly-theflrst step toward a better form of construction.": --: ,. ' By the use of a new piece of ma chinery, known aa a-dust manlpula- ' tor, the ash-bin refuse of a portion of the City of London la now reduced to a material having the appearance and quality of garden mold. The machine la described aa a hlgh-apeed centrifu gal dlslntergrator, pulverizer and mixer combined. The hammers, weighing SO pounds each, of special alloy steel, a-e ' hung on an axle In a steel box. and this axle makes 1,000 revolutions per minute. The refuse Is fed Into a hop per and can be passed through the manipulator at the rata of four to five tons an hour. Large objecta like' old buckets are picked out of the re fuse by hand, and any obstinate metal which Cannot be reduced by the ham mere la automatical ejected from th machine through a door at the front The pulverised material la aold to farmers as a fertiliser: heavy land ia aald to be lightened and made to work better by plowing In a good- dressing of this material. Briquettes made of this material mixed with tar in pr porttone of Sl.g gallons of tar to the ton of pulverised, refuse hv; feeon 1 burned In a boiler furnace -without giving off any smoke, .- v , . w, l6ujrTAIXKKRSL; Tha Pioneer Conditions of Ufa In tha . Kl .;..-;.;: Appalachians, .- . Berea Quarterly.'- " . '-.---:.;" ...(-. ' -2;Take; the conditions it country, life anywhere and . Intensify them , many ' degrees and yon will have mountain Ufa as It passes on to-day In the pine- scented atmosphere of the Blue Ridge and the great Smoky mountains.: The mountaineer Us a colonial11 survival,., with all the pride and, self-respect which belongs to a .landholder; and his lack; of worldly superfluities rath er than otherwise, contributes . to his - noble Independence of spirit. But all this must be found out by eympathetla . approaches; for our mountain friend la reserved, shy, not to aay suspicious, ' And often appears at a reat disad vantage in hia flrat contact .- with , 'furrinera."':v;.. -; yt7i', ; .!.... ,.; :.,v To begin: then, with the nionr conditions,, we have remoteness from markets and a corresponding shift in farm acUvltles, many f the old-fah- - ioned household manufactures soap, , sorghum molasses ("long sweeten In'") and the beautiful erodueta of the - fireside Industrlea anrvtvlna. . Ready money la Scare and tn i ml mainly from forest products where ' there are streams to , float the logs, and' from cattle a . crop that ' can - walk' to market -V ''M- 'i-r. '' Such a coramunltv In the' Anna.' lachian- mountains, as-on the old ' NewiYprk or Ohio frontier, naturally rears large families and haa a much Intensified family . life and family feeling, parents and children, broth ers and sisters, are much ahut lnta their owh society and tbe feeling, of, the clan grows, r Many of the aartifi clallties. and conventions of life are quite powerless to assert themselves in these Isolated valleye. . ' The fight with nature Is still ef a primitive order. A tree Is an enemy.- We "find great "deadenings" flelda where the treea have been girdled and left standing in ghastly nakedness so , t that the little bUU tongue plough rrr . scratch the soil between them and the sun ahina m to mature crop. - Much skill ia shown in cfouzhina- In ' such fashion as not to leave tha soil unuuiy exposea fo tne .washing or the heavy Southern torrent. Tha , fight with briars and bushes is a hard one and you may aee the whole fam ily afield father, mother, boys and girls not to .be pi'-d, bat -rather congratulated on atbll at once so sociable -and so healthful.'' ' "'. - v Out of this Intense family feeling grows the feud. ; In a sparse popula- tion the government fails to lnsnlro either confidence or dread, and when i a. man U killed by some drunken bully the impulse la strong for the 'next of kin" to take Justice Into his own hands. -. ; '..'. s:- . The antiquarian finds endless Inter- ' est in the BriUsh survivals, which are readily traced when one begins an in telligent search. - Here Is ths pattern in -a "bed klver," . which you have seen, perhaps, in English tapestry, and which must have been transmit ted from mother to daughter for two or more centuries.- Here Is a. snatch of song that you will not eas-l ily find in a book, but which harks back to circumstances of English town life quite remote from- the ex perience of the singer. Professor Bhaler of Harvard once found a man in Wise county,. Virginia, hunting . with an English crossbow. Of course he owned a rifle as well, but powder as hard to get and he had not lost the tradition of the art by which the famous crossbow had been made mong his British forebears. We say British because the Scotch and Eng lish straina are everywhere mingled In the mountains. The traveler stop ping at a lonely cottage may hear the ' mother quiet an unruly child by say- inr "Behave, now, son. or Clavers ill get you!" It is doubtful whether the woman knows anything of the b6gey she thus conjures up to "haud the wretch in order," but she is really referring to Claverhouse. the Scotch roug:h rider, who harried the Cove nanters in ancient day! One of the most important things1 : to learn about life In the mountains is that Appalachian America con tains all grades of society. They are clad much alike, and all are . sudi cUntiy primitive to the gaze' of an outsider, but the -distinctions are real and keenly felt. Every county has iss aristocracy Us select families that hold themselves quite apart from the common when it comes to marrittges and higher social function.. Far be low the landowners are tho renters. The mountains have their share of idleness and of crime, but the viog of tha mountains are lircrly of the Homeric type, which are r?a'i!y '--- corrupting than tne si.-.J vt a mere artificial cenii.aon. : .
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 23, 1908, edition 1
9
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