The Dupuyer acantha. [volume], December 05, 1901, Image 2

About The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
Ufte g^antha.
OEOKGE W. MAGKE, Editor.
DUrüYER,
MONTANA.
The new cone on Mount Vesuvius,
formed during the late eruptions, has
been suddenly engulfed into the crater.
The mountain has now assumed its
old appearance.
Dr. Hans Blum, one of the biograph
ers of Bismarck, has become mentally
deranged, owing to his losses through
the recent failure of the Leipziger
bank, and has been placed in an asy
lum. He is a son of Robert Blum, who
was executed in Vienna during the
revolution of 1848.
In cold countries, where snoW pre
vails during a long winter, many of
the animals' change the hue of their
coats to a white tint. The Arctic bear
and fox are white throughout the year.
The northern hare is brown in sum
mer and white in winter. The weasel
is especially curious; it retains its
brown coat until the first snow ap
pears, and then whitens in a few
hours.
Forty years ago President Lincoln
appointed John Jap Jackson of Park
ersburg, W. Va., judge of the United
States circuit court and he still holds
the position. During all these years
he has never failed but once to hold
court at the appointed time. That was
when confederate troops under Gen.
Loring were in possession of Charles
town, where the sessions were held,
and the session assigned for that date
had to be postponed.
It is announced from Constantinople
that the Sultan has had to be bled.
For some time he has manifested a
somnolent tendency. Recently he slept
continuously for fifteen hours, and af
ter awaking for about an hour he went
to sleep again. He was only roused
by his Arab body physician applying
ice to his temples. The physician then
intimated to the Sultan that his condi
tion indicated excess of blood, and that
bleeding was necessary in order to ob
viate danger to the brain. After mak
ing the doctor swear on the Koran
that no injurious results need be ap
prehended, the Sultan let himself be
bled, and his quick-witted servitors
gathered the blood into tiny phials,
which can be sold to the faithful at
100 piastres each.
Dr. L. O. Howard, entomologist of
the department of agriculture, has
just made public some startling state
ments of the property losses caused hy
insects. He believes they aggregate
over $300,000,000 a year. The Rocky
Mountain locust or western grasshop
per in 1874, ate up $100,000,000 worth
of growing crops. The chinch-bug
alone has eaten $300,000,000 worth of
corn and wheat in the western states
since 1850. As for the mosquito, apart
from the losses believed to be due to
its pernicious activity in the spread of
yellow fever and malaria, it is an im
mense depredator of real estate val
ues. A New Jersey newspaper re
cently estimated that its extermina
tion in that one state alone would add
to its real estate valuation not less
than $100,000,000.
The miners of the town of Pas Da
Calais have elected Mile. Lea Bourdon
as their queen of the coal carnival.
This young woman is in the coal trade
in the capacity of a sifter, and al
though her work is so grimy she has
a beautiful complexion, which, no
doubt, added to her good character,
gave her the necessary number of
votes, although the competition was
keen, her fellow-candidates being
drawn from the cleaner walks of life.
The car which carried the queen and
her maids of honor was decorated with
flowers, picks, lanterns, etc. Mile.
Bourdon is only 17, and the coronation
in the center of the town made a very
beautiful tableau. To be coal queen en
titles her to a small annuity from the
treasury of the town, and with her
French thrift she will save this for her
dot.
As the steamer Sheffield was leaving
,the river Scheldt one evening recently
the captain and passengers observed
the unusual phenomenon (in thse lati
tudes) of a large waterspout. The
steamer was a few miles off West
Capple, and from a heavy thunder
cloud lying due west of this point, and
computed to be about ten miles dis
tant, a dense black column was
formed, which appeared to fall by a
sinuous course into the sea. At this
I distance the surface of the sea—where
the waterspout touched its surface
was at once surrounded by a smoke
like obscurity. Hundreds of tons of
water must have dropped heavily into
the sea. The black line of communi
cation between the cloud and the sea
fell precipitately at first, then for
some distance appeared to encounter
I a fresh current of air and was borne
along laterally, after which it dropped
into the sea. The phenomenon contin
ued dashing up the surface of the sea
jlor about four minutes.
NOTES ON SCIENCE.
CURRENT NOTES OF DISCOVERY
AND INVENTION.
Spirit Slate-Writing — How Mysterious
Sentences Aro Prepared in Advance—
Tricks in All Trades and Especially
Among Fakirs.
FRAUD SLATE WRITINGS.
Spiritualistic slate writing, if clev
erly done, always makes a marked im
pression on a magician's audience, be
cause it utterly baffles their efforts to
detect the trick. They see a small cab
inet suspended above the stage by
means of cords or ribbons. It has an
open front, and is empty. The magi
cian turns it around so that every
part of it may be seen, and taps it in
side and out with his wand, to show
that it is hollow.
On a stand near by he has a small
easel, a common school slate, a bottle
of India ink with a quill pen in it, and
a few sheets of ordinary white writing
paper. All these he passes around
among the audience for examination.
Then he fixes a sheet of the paper to
the slate by means of wafers, places
the slate on the easel, and the easel
in the cabinet, together with the bot
tle of ink, the latter having the pen
still in it.
Having allowed the audience to see
the articles thus arranged in the cabi
net, he throws a large silk handker
chief over it. Mysterious sounds are
immediately heard, and the cabinet
shakes as if some living thing had en
tered it. When the sounds and the
shaking cease, he removes the hand
kerchief, showing an inscription writ
ten in bold black letters on the paper,
and the pen, not in the ink bottle, but
lying on the bottom of the cabinet.
He then removes the paper from the
slate and passes it around for exam
ination, when the writing is imme
diately recognized as having been done
with India ink.
The explanation of the trick is sim
ple. The writing was done in advance
by the performer, the fluid used being
a solution of sulphuric acid of the pur
est quality. To make the solution 50
drops of the concentrated acid are
added to one ounce of filtered water.
Writing done with this solution is in
visible until exposed to heat; when
so exposed it comes out perfectly
black, looking exactly like dried India
ink.
The heat is applied by means of an
electric current running over wire with
which the slate is wound. The cords
by which the cabinet is suspended con
ceal copper wires, which conduct the
current to the slate. Black silk threads,
suitably attached, enable the perform
er to make the sounds in the cabinet,
to cause the cabinet to shake and to
jerk the pen out of the ink bottle.
Several sheets of paper are prepared
in advance, pach with a different in
scription, the performer telling one in
scription from the other by secretly
marked pin pricks.
AUTOMATIC VIOLIN IS PERFECTED
IN THE EAST.
In this age of automatons it is not
surprising to find automatically oper
ated musical instruments. Everyone
has heard the self-playing piano and
musical box, and soon everyone is
likely to hear an automatic stringed
instrument, very similar to a violin,
for a Massachusetts inventor has just
devised an instrument of this kind.
The component parts of this novel
invention are strings, a belt bow, a
frame and pneumatic devices, by
means of which the bow is enabled
to travel over the strings in whatever
2^3SE3EBBS
L
3
\
THE AUTOMATIC VIOLIN,
direction may be desired. These de
vices are connected with a lever,
which is controlled by a progressively
moving actuator, and the position of
which may be varied to suit the move
ment of the bow. On the neck of the
instrument there are also two inde
pendent finger-bearing strips, In which
are movable rods.
Music of any kind, it is claimed, can
be played on this mechanical violin,
which, furthermore, is so constructed
,that It will last a long time and, if
properly used, will not readily get out
of order.
AMERICANS AS INVENTORS.
The United States grants 25,000 pat
ents each year, or nearly as many as
all the rest of the world. England
grants 8,000" a year, France and Ger
many each about 7,000, while Canada,
Australia, Austria, Italy and Russia
about half as many each. An interest
ing fact is that more patents are
granted in proportion to the applica
tions than ever before in this history
of the Patent office, showing that me
chanical genius is not chasing as many
rainbows as, formerly. American in
ventive genius is shown in all lines of
invention, but succeeds especially in
machinery for manufacturing, trans
portation and labor saving. Europe
and the Orient have begun to find
American industry very useful and
necessary to them.
HELPS VIOLINISTS.
Young people who are learning the
violin will be interested to know that
a device has just been invented which
is likely to prove of much service to
them. It is in the form of a support
for the arm, and it is asserted that by
its means the instrument can be al
ways held in an absolutely correct po
sition.
The inventor is a distinguished vio
V
THE ARM REST.
linist and the device is indorsed by
Dr. Laborde, a Paris physician, who
thinks so highly of it that he spoke
in its favor a few days ago before the
French Academy of Medicine. The sup
port consists of a semi-circle which
enfolds the lower part of arm a little
above the elbow, and which is con
nected .with a belt that can be length
ened or shortened according to the size
of the arm. Its main usefulness lies
in the fact that it prevents muscular
fatigue, keeps the shoulder in a prop
er position and finally gives the arm
that power over the instrument which
it must have in oraer to produce the
best effects.
Dr. Laborde has thoroughly tested
it, and he maintains that young vio
lin players who use it will learn more
quickly and more easily than those
who do not use It.
THE PANSY FAMILY.
There is a funny old story about the
pansy which many children know, but
many, again do not. The pansy has
five petals and five sepals. In all pan
sies two of the petals are of plain color
and three are gay with stripes and
spots of bright color. The two plain
petals have but one sepal between
them, while the two smallest, or the
gay, petals, have a sepal each, and the
one large petal has two sepals.
As the story goes, the pansy repre
sents a family—a mother, two daugh
ters and twc step-daughters. The
mother is very cross and cruel to her
stepdaughters, obliges them both to
sit on one chair and wear homely
dresses, while her daughters have a
chair and very gay dresses indeed. But
why doesn't the father object to such
treatment of his daughters? The ques
tion is, can you find the father? He is
at home. Oh, yes. But you will have
to tear the house down, taking out the
wife and children, to find him. He is
a little bit of a man, with a white
wrapper on and a night cap. But, poor
man, he is sick, and, if you look close
ly, you will find that he sits with his
hands on his knees, and a look of des
pair on his face and his feet in a tub
of hot water.
RAINED SNAILS AND TOADS.
Saratoga, N. Y., and vicinity had an
experience the other night, the like of
which even the oldest inhabitant can
not remember. It was a precipitation
of small toads and snails, the visita
tion occurring principally between 9
and 11 o'clock. A rainstorm prevailed
during the most of the afternoon and
increased greatly after nightfall.
Shortly after 9 o'clock, what ap
peared to be hailstones rattled to
earth, but on examination they proved
to be snails in their shells, many of
which were'gathered by the astonished
people. The snails were almost im
mediately followed from the sky by
small toads, averging from one-half to
three-quarters of an inch in length.
While the heaviest precipitation of
toads and snails was after 9 o'clock,
there are many who say that a num
ber fell in the afternoon etorm. From
what section the storm scooped up
the toads and snails that were dropped
on Saratoga soil no one seems to
know.
The fire losses in the United States
in 1900 were $161,000,000, as against
$153,000,000 for 1899.
DAIRY AND POULTRY.
INTERESTING CHAPTERS FOR OUR
RURAL READERS.
How Successful Farmers Operate This
Department of the Farm—A Few
Hints as to the Care of Live Stock
and Poultry.
A Swiss Condensing: Factory.
Some interesting particulars are
given by Mr. F. C. Harrison, bacteriol
ogist to the Guelph Experiment Sta
tion, in a description published by him
of the great condensed milk business
of Henri Nestle and Co., carried on by
them at Vevey, Switzerland, and else
where. The article says: The milk
suppiy is drawn from over 250 villages,
but the firm does not buy from indi
vidual farmers. When the peasants
wish to do business with the company
they form into a co-operative society,
and appoint one of their number as
manager. They then sign an agree
ment which binds them to feed certain
foods to their cattle, to keep their
sheds and utensils clean, and to do
many other things for the good of the
milk. The manager arranges the terms,
settles difficulties between the com
munity and the company, and exercises
a general surveillance over his society.
The Nestle company have twenty-five
inspectors, each with a horse and rig,
whose duty is to drive continually from
village to village, seeing that all is
right and in good order. The inspec
tor is always drawn from a remote vil
lage, has no association with the vil
lages he calls at, and is selected for
his vigilance and experience. The
company also have their own veter
inary surgeons, whose duty is to ex
amine all milking utensils, and see that
they are scrupulously clean, also that
the byres are clean, well ventilated, and
drained. The cows' diet is confined to
hay and grass, and the inspector must
see that no forcing foods, like oil
cake, are used. Milk is transported in
cans to the factory, and is there care
fully weighed, sampled, and tested
every day, to ensure that all cream is
present.
The contents of all cans are then
turned into a huge vat, where the milk
remains until required for boiling. It
is then run into a copper boiler and
carefully scalded. Syrup cooked in an
other boiler to the right temperature
and consistency is added, and the two
are then mixed together. Next the
milk is pumped into the condensers,
and there condensed within a vacuum.
The condition of the contents is ascer
tained by means of a tube attachment,
which is rotated into the interior of the
chamber near the bottom and drawn
out with a sample for examination.
Condensation completed, the hot fluid
is run out into cans to cool. To give
an idea of the immense size of the
Nestle factories it is sufficient to say
that they daily handle 26,000 gallons
of fresh milk, the production of 15,000
cows.
Methods of Preserving E çrs.
Doubtless some of our readers are
interested in the question of preserv
ing eggs. For such we publish the fol
lowing from the London Rural World:
The method most commonly in use
is as follows: The eggs are placed in
a large vessel or tub, holding large
or small quantities, as the case may
be, and these are all piled up, one on
the top of the other. A preparation
composed of a mixture of five gallons
of water with one gallon of fine slaked
lime, to which about a gallon of salt
has been added, is made, an'l
when the water has dissolved
as much lime as it can, it is
poured over the eggs until thev
are entirely covered, keeping back any
lime that may be at the bottom which
has not been dissolved. The eggs may
be kept in this manner for a very long
period, but one drawback to this sys
tem is that the shells of the eggs be
come so brittle that they break with
the slightest touch. It is necessary to
keep adding a little lime from time to
time, otherwise the preparation wil
lose its effect, and the eggs will noi
be in a very good state when the tinu
comes for them to be taken out. Whei
the eggs are wanted for use, they an
talcen out of the solution and wipec
dry, but they should be used as soo'
after as possible, as they do not keei>
very long. It may here be said, and
this applies to all methods of preserv
ing eggs, that it is absolutely essential
that the eggs shall be put down quite
fresh—if possible, the same day as laid
—otherwise they will not preserve
nearly as well.
Another method adopted is that of
placing the eggs in salt. This keep-,
the eggs in splendid condition, bui
there is a slight taste given to them,
but it is not by any means disagree
able. The salt absorbs a little mois
ture from the interior of the egg, henct
the inside becomes rather loose, and
as there is a rattle when shaken, it
gives one the idea that the egg is stale
Another method in common use in
some parts of the country is that ol
making a mixture of sulphur and lamp
black. The eggs are placed into a box
with a small hole in one side, and the
mixture referred to is put upon a
saucer and lit inside the box. The
eggs are by this means entirely cov
ered over with a covering of black;
and it is claimed for this system that
the eggs can be kept for any length
of time, and always be quite fresh and
sweet. Whether this is a good method
or not, can best be judged by the read
ers. Personally, we do not recommend
it, as the eggs being quite black would
not increase their market value—rather
the reverse.
There are other systems adopted in
various parts, but the ones that we
have given are the chief English ones.
There is another by which It is claimed
eggs can be kept fresh for a long time,
and that is by dipping them into wax
or paraffine; but this is a tedious meth
od, and one that involves much time
and labor.
The very best way of preserving eggs
is by freezing them, and this is the
only way, we think, by which eggs can
be kept quite fresh and good. Of course
there are very few poultry keepers who
are able to do this as very few possess
a freezing chamber, and are thU3 able
to freeze their eggs. For this reason
we have put it last, as to the ordinary
poultry keeper it is quite useless.
Too much importance cannot be at
tached to having the eggs perfectly
fresh when they are put down, and un
less they are in this state they will
never keep. No egg should be put
down that is more than twenty-four
hours old, and even less than this is
advisable.
As to whether fertile or infertile
eggs are the better for preserving, it is
a difficult matter to determine. We
think—and several experiments that
have been made go to prove it—that
the infertile ones are the most suit
able.
Sheep In Orchards.
I agree that when a pig gets an apple
containing a worm there is no danger
that the ^vorm will cause any damage
to the future apple crop. But as an
insect destroyer the pig is nowhere
with the sheep. The trouble with the
pig is that it is too much like a man;
when it lies down and goes to sleep
it is oblivious of all its surroundings.
It sleeps just as soundly and snores
just as loud as its human cousin, and
when an apple drops it doesn't hear it
or go for it until its sleep is out. The
instinct of the worm teaches it to get
out of the apple as quickly as possible
after it drops. I have stood and
watched an apple after it struck the
ground, and seen the worm come hust
ling out in a hurry and go for some se
cure place, and before the pig gets the
apple the worm is in some safe hiding
place. Not so with the sheep; they
never sleep so soundly but they will
hear an apple falling rods away, and
they are up and there before the worm
can get out, and that worm is travel
ing to the bourn whence no worm ever
comes back to curse the apple grower.
Yes, pigs are good, but sheep are a
hundred times better.—Rural New
Yorker.
To what extent does feed affect the
individuality of a cow? This is a
question that has yet to be answered,
so far as conclusive experiments are
concerned. It is doubtless true that
feed is constantly changing the charac
teristics of animals, but we do not
know how rapidly the changes takf
place, nor do we know Just the effect
each food has. To a certain extent we
are feeding in the dark. The Maryland
experiment station has been feeding a
herd of common cows for several years
and noting the effect of proper feed
ing on individuality. C. F. Doane,
who reports on the results, says: "No
very material results could be noticed
the first year from the extra feed and
care the herd received, but through
subsequent years there seems to be a
steady improvement. Judging from
the records of these cows, it is a ques
tion if the quality of a dairy cow does
not depend almost as much on the
feeding as on the breeding. It is also
a question if cows that have a more or
less pronounced beef tendency, or, at
least, would not be called good ma
terial from which to build up a dairy
herd, cannot, with proper management,
be developed into profitable dairy
cows." This is a view of the matter
that will not strike some of our inves
tigators very favorably. It has against
t the generally accepted truth that we
lave now so many good dairy cows
that It will hardly pay to spend time,
feed and effort in an attempt to reverse
a tendency already strongly developed
in a direction opposite to that of milk
production.
Harvey Johnson of Iowa says: When
our litters are of sufficient age to turn
out we usually put two and sometimes
three litters together in a pasture
where there is a good warm and dry
building and plenty of good grass.
Near where the sows feed is a small
enclosure with a low trough in it, and
by a little persuasion and some tempt
ing bits of food we expect to have
the pigs feeding nicely at three to four
weeks of age. The feed is increased
as their capacity for handling it is in
creased, but we are careful to under
feed rather than overfeed—feeding no
more at any time than they will eat
clean. We allow them to run with the
dams till they wean them, unless we
wish to breed the sows again.