The times. [volume], June 29, 1902, Image 19

About The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903

Image provided by: Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA

                
Ni^iTifflNsyrji-'^^
_AM'=WAR BARBER SHOP.
'?"I'm a .iollr jnclc tar." paid Hon I'owline,
i "My lioin'e is the Ocean's breast,
'And iio real lar alloat or -ishore
Wcnrs whlskers o'cr his vest."
When tlie rhymer who pennod tho above
lines showod tlH-m to a "real tar" with
the qnrry, "why''" Jaek replicd that saiior
men norer wore vests aud aliuost as rarely
fctod whlskers.
"I'm isafe liolh ways," paid tho hnddlng
poet. nnd he rusbed into print with his story
of what "Hon l.owline" said.
Some KOllormen say that when the same
truthful poi't trlod to record the actual sny
lng of "Ben Bowllne-," when the lattor first
nndertonk to shave hlmself at sea, he saw
his wriling tablet ?o up in smo_. beoausobe
had ur.t taken the trouMe nor had the fore
4=ight to do his wiitlug on asbestos.
At rarelntervals the same poet undertakes
<o contlnue his rhyincs of tho sea and of
Jack's hal.it of daily sbaving with littlesuc
<ess. Shnviug atsoa is such .1 dlflicult task,
-even to the oldest aud most cxperlencod tar,
that Jack wou'd be Ilkely to prove danger?
ous to any rbyxner who would cssay to be
-omc poctical over such a thitic.
ln this plctui-eit is seen how two of Uncle
Bara'.s tars, now stntioned on one of the
fhips of the North Atlantic squadroh, have,
throuch a mutu.-il agreeinom to stnnd or fall
together, undortaken to shave each other
.without the assistancc of the shlp'-s barber.
The ship's barber at the time the picture
was taken was ondeavoring to shave the
oldest hard shell able seaman aboard with a
pair of pincers. "The Dago pulls some of
them out." said .Tnck to Dick Dead Eyo, "and
then cirs out the others. Let's start our
own barber shop."
"Contont," said "Dead Eye," and he leaned
his boad on tho main boom and jsmilingly
placed his life in the hands of his fellow-tar.
Rcmcmberlng another of the sea poet's at
tc-mpts at rhyming. Jack piped out as he
Iatbcrcd tne face of "Dead Eye"??
"When .Tack's at sca he shaved would be,
E'en though the waves roll high.
As a s-hnvor hc has the savor of the sea;
Scorned are the dangers nlgh.
Most of tho ships in TJncle Sam's navy
have a regular barber aboard, who onlists
as a landsman at $16 a month. If hc ls on
a battle ship. with a complement of between
four hundred and five, hundred men, he will
more Ihau triple that sunt ln a month
through his labors as a shaver.
Ho doth lathor and shave, though the wind
it doth rave
Through tho topmasts, the ratllnes, the
shronds;
Though his razor is tin hc *_naves off your
cliin
And sings "Ho, to the dark, lowerlng
clouds."
Peaches Were Costly.
Blgnon, who for years kept a colcbrated
restuurant in Paris, diod rcccntly, and
his friends are now telllng tbc following
.rtory about him: One winter evenlng
'Count Paul Peniidoff, a distinguiEUed Rus
fciuu, entered the restaurant and ordered
a Tery plain dinner. When the bill was
Ibrougbt to him he looked over It carefully
and then sumrnoned Blgnon.
"How ls this?" be asked. "You charge me
EO francs for two peaches."
"Y<s, Count," answered Blgnon, with a
How bow.
"But are peaches so rare, then?" asked the
Count.
To this Blgnon repllod with his most
pracious emile: "It is not peaches that are
irare, Count, but Desnldoffs.*'
The Russian Fiuilcd and pnld the bill.
ISwindling Chinese Dead.
I A curious industry- in China la tue.manu
jfacture of uiock money for offerlhgs to
She dead. The pieces are oniy half the
lelze of real colns, but tlie dead are sup
?poM-d not to kuow thedifferenee.
The duiaraj- *volns nre made out of tln,
bammcred to the thlnness of pap'cr and
Staaiped out to the size roquired.
Try An Oak Steak.
TVood Is to be the nowest food, says
Helnrlch Reh, a professor of chemistry In
Berlln. He has secured a *patent upon a
form of aulnial fodder which has sawdust
ns its chief ingredient.
He argucs that anl'mals have a declded
likitig for young shoots, roots of shrubs, tree
bark and other heavy food of the same na
turc, and, siuce cxperiments have proved
that the nutriment contained in such growth
remaius in it even after it has become
wood, he bbscrves that with a little salt and
water added to it the sawdust will prove to
be a highly nourishing dlet.
He has statistlcs to prove 1? Pine, blrch,
popl.-ir, alder, acacla, beeeh and walnut
woods and straws have been analyzed cheml
cally by him, and he finds that the wood has
vastly more albumen, nitrogen and fatty
substnuce than the straw.
The inventor claims that "a very chcap
cattle food can be prepared ln this manner,
to which may be added potato peelings,
coruhusks and shells of graln and the resldue
from the sugar btet after -the sugar has
been c-tracted."
At all seasons of the year 5 o'clock, morn?
ing, ls tlie coldest of the __
FURNACE WITHSTANDS TERRIFIC HEAT.
? Carborundum furnaces are the greatost
power consuuicrs In the world. This oue's
Tcngth ls 1G feet, wldth C feet, while the
Jieigbt of the brick walls is 5 feet. Thu
walls are built loose, no niortar or other
Jjindor being used.
The mixture from which carbotundum Is
jUiadc ls composed of sawdust, saud, eokc
iend salt. lt l* ptled 10 feet high and luto
jthe 01-68 1,000 clcctrlcal horsepowcr is di
ixectcd and left on for thlrty-slx hours.
Entiroatlng that 10 men working steadily
all day long hardly cqual the ouergy.of a
_lng!e horse power, it ls evident that this
furnace consumes cnergy amounting to the
force of 10,000 men. ln doing this it re
quire's very little attention, thus making lt
clear that such wonderful power consumers
do not help the cause of labor.
The same amount of energy consumed by
this furnace would operate several exteiislve
mauufaeturing plants employing thousands
of hands. It ls believed that this furnace
consumes as large a unlt of elcctricity as
any apparatus in the world, which makes lt
thorbugnly interesting and a vcritablc curi
oslty.
MEMBER ?. A. R. ALSO CONFEDERATE VETERAN.
James Anderson, a deputy eberlff, ot
Sprlngfleld, Mnss., has the unusual ols
tlnction of being the only man who enjoys
membershlp In the Grand Army of the
nepublic and In the corresponding organiza
tlon of Southern soldlers known as the Con
federate Veterans.
Mr. Anderson's conneetion with the Con
(fcderate Veterans came about in a happy
! manner and has resulted In muchfraternlty
between the blue and the gray. He was. a
member of Company M, Thtrty-first Mainc
Volunteers, and thus had an opportunity to .
place an estlmate on the bravery of the
Confederate soldier from personal experl
ence. .
The garrison at Fort Davis, in front of
Petersburg, of which Mr. Anderson was a
member, was under practically contlnnous
fire from November, 1S64, to Aprll 2,18C5.
A visit to Petersburg in lS02chanced to be
at the time a delegation from Michigan was
present, to return a battle flag belonging to
the Petersburg Grays. "While at the hotel
on the evening of his arrival Mr. Anderson
was surprised to rccelve a call from Mr.
Hugh R. Smith, who stated that he had
been delegated to invite Mr. Anderson, as a
Northern soldier, to be present on the occa
sion of the return of the battle flag. Mr.
Anderson accepted the invitation.
Great was his surprise to bear not only
cxprcssions of loyalty to the United States,
but of lore for the flag from the men who
had fought the federal armies with suchde
terrnination 35 years before.
While Mt. Anderson was marveling at his
cxperience he suddenly found himself forci
hly pulled to his feet and introduced to the
gathering by Mr. Slmon Seward, one of the
foremost business men of Petersburg, who
said: "Mr. Commander, hcre's anothe:r of
l^iysf-G^u^re^wewanttohear
from you." Mr. Anderson was taken bj
surprise, but spoke from nls beart In a
manner that captivatedhieaudlence.
The result was that A P. BM Camp ot
Confederate Veterans, of petersburg, re?
celved an invitation to send a delegatlon of
its members to visit E. K. WHcox Grand
Army Post, of SprlngficTd
The Invitation was accepted, and on a
wlntry night In February the Southernexs
nrrlved and were royally entertained.
So delighted were the confederate vet?
erans with the hospitalitv shown them in
Springfield that upon their return home
they sent an invitation for the WHcox Post
to vislt A. P. Hill Camp. The G. A. R. men
went to Petersburg, and by so doing estab
Iished a lasting friendship between tho two
posts.
Soon after the visit of the Grand Army
men to Petersburg a. P. HHI Post voted
unanlmously to make Mr. Anderson a con
trlbuting member of rhocamp. a distlnctlon
enjoyed by no other Nr,rtheru soldier in any
Confederate camp in the South.
Smallest Of Yertebrates.
In the Philippines ls to be found the small?
est vertebrate anlmal la the world. It Is a
flsh, which is known to the natlves as sina
paran, and has been baptized by the United
States Flsh Commisslon "Mlstlchthys Lu
zonensis." It is almost transparent.
The Filipinos consider lt a delicacy and
use lt with sauces and with rice. Hundreds
of the tlny creatures are required to mnko
a good dis'h, but fortnnately the fish is found
in mauy places and in large numbers.
LOADING WHEAT BY ELECTRICIIY.
Behold the electrlc stevedore! It suf
fereth not from fatigue and it quittcth not
even at the lunc-h hour, and yet lt loads
wheat upon a vessel in a style far beyond
the possibillties of hiini.nn hands.
Just watch it, If you please. The sacks of
grain come aboard by a sort of trolley and
are dnmped into the hold at the rate of one
every two seconds. It ls, ln fact, the latest
achievemenlof glectricity as applied for
power puritp.cs.
The phot'jfcaph is from the Year Book of
the Departft-nt of Agriculture.
HOW LOCOloilVES HAVE fiROWN.
Photographed sido by side is shown In a
striking manner how the railroad locomotlvo
has grown within the last 40 years.
In tho foreground is seen the largest typc
of engino in use in 1S50; behi'nd it is the big
gest-Iocomotive of today, such as Is oru
ployed ou tho Rallimore and Ohio or the
Pennsylvania. The latter is capable of
drawlng nfc;e than a dozen times as many
cars as tlfcformer.
The phwgrapb. is from tho Year Book of
the Depaftaent of Agriculture. *
Bosnians As Carvers.
Very artlstlc are the household articles
wrought by ordinary peasants in Bosnia.
Moreovcr, those who fashloned them had
no dclicatc tools for that purpose, and, as
a rule, used only common kltchen knives.
In thlngs artlstlc those children of tho soil
delight, and there ls hardly autensilin their
hunible hoines which ls not decorated and
ornammted ln some way. The articles in
the acrompanylng picture furnish n fine es
ampl*. of their sklll as wood engravers. They
inclvfleshepherds' flutes, a distaff, an instru
meni for carding wool and vessels for hold
Ing water. In each case tho engraving is
bfvmonious and truly artistic both as re
jjards conception and execution.
During the last year or two many tourlsts
from all cOu-tries have gone to Bosnia, and
that ls Why the flne artistic ability of these
untutored peasants is now attracting atten?
tion. -__^
Emerald nnd beryl are preclsely the.same
substance, except for coloring matter; ame
thyst and rock crystal are likewUe identl
caL
Easy Death For Dogs.
In Paris a new method for dcstroying lost
?dogs has bec-u devised. Thirty of the con
demned ahimals are placed iaa cage, which
is rolled on to a platform and then sinks
by hydraulic force about six feet into the
c-arth, where it is hormetically closed. Car
bonlc acifl is then turned on, and la the space
of 40 seconds every dog dies without a strug
gle.
"By the old system," says Mr. E. S. Glavls,
who has studied this new method, "namely,
the use of common gas, the dogs suffered for
two or three minutes. In the London pounds
a mixture of carbonic acid gas and chloro
forin is used but the authorities in Taris
decided that as carbonic acid gas is one oi
the most powerful anaesthetirs known the
chloroform was superfluous.
'In the pouuds of some of the cities in the j
United States electricity ls used for the de
struction of dogs, but, while this causes In-j
stant death, only one dog can, as I undeH
stand it, be kiiled at a time.'' \
The cost of the new Iethal chamber li]
Tarls was ?1,030.
Mesico's navy is the smallest in the worlj
la proportion to population. She has tv
dispatch vessels, two gunboats and five se
ond-elass tropedo boats. These are mannj
by 00 olliccrs and 500 men.
To Electrocute Flies.
It is a Kliode Island man who has
patented an apparatus for killing tlie
electrieitv Itlooks somewhat like a mi
iron. piaeed vertically, with a horizoltil
shelf hanainS beneath. ; f
The eriitfron is compOsed of wlres wflth
are conneoted" with an electric battcry|D:,i
the wi.-e< are so close together that I ty
allghtln/ean hardiy fall to stand up&at
least two oi them at once. The w rei te.
ing alternatively ncgatne and positlvf !ae
insect in- rhe mere act of lighting up* the
maebinccompletes a circuit and is ins|ttir
At i'nfervals the horizontal shelf n
?mored and the dead mea^brushec
Bisst Is A Coffin.
wt urns are now contrlvances to k.cp
thf- departed near us and remove much
*.e horror assoclated with burial of the
dfad in graves.
-fie bust is an excellent iikeness of Mrs.
tfon Picrce Spencer, a desceudantof Pres
ifleat Pierce. lt is made of plaster of paris
and modeled from a photograph of the
lady. The east stands upon a small metallic
safe of indestructible materlal, alumlne and
Htanium, the latter being the strongest
metal known, this receptacle contalnlng tha
ashes of the deceased.
The bust urn rests on a portable oak cabi
net and occupies niche No. 101 in the lower
rotunda of the columbarlttin at Mount C.1I
vet, tidjoming Lutheran Cemetery, Brooklyn.
It ls the flrst ever dedicated to the preser
vatlon of mortuary ashes.
The most dangerous vegetableirritan.pol
son Is that of the itchWood tree. of the J-iji
Islands. One drop of the sap falllng <_-.,yia
?hand Is as palnful as a touctt 9ta.'hofmaij,'
SKFIETON IN A TSEE
Travelers through the wild dlstricts of
the State of Sonora, Mex., not infrequently
come across a human skeleton fastened in a
tree. It is a reminder of the warfare of the
Yaqui Indians of that state. one of the last
tribes to accept the peaceful condltions es
tablished by President Diaz.
Instead of burying the bodies of their
victims or leaving them nnbnrled In the
licld. the Yaqnis fasten them securety inthe:
branches of trees, where their bones serve
as a warning to shch as follow after.
Except ln Isolated parts of Sonorn, the
Yaqtils now glve little troublej and Presl-.
dent Dlaz's good sotdlers will soon estabtlsh
peace throughout the entlrs state.
New Potato Planter.
Here is a novel and practicnl way ot
planting potatoes and seeds. The new de
vice intended for 'this purpose consists ot
several tubes, each of.which is a certain
distance away from the others.
The reason why the tubes are so aranged
is in order that the potatoes or seeds may
fall- into their proper piaces as soon as they
are dropped through the tube. Seeds, whon
sown, must be placed at regular dlstancos
apart from each other, and they are bound
to tall in their proper piaces if dropped
through tubes that have been properly ar
ranged.
Great Herring Machine,
Very clever is a Swedish inventor named
EJtenberg, who has constructed a machine
which takes herrings as they -come from
the net, sorts them into the four sizes rec
ogntzed by the trade, scrapes off their
scales, cuts off their heads, spllts, cieans
and washes them Inside and out.
The machine does all this automatically,
and turns out twenty thousand herrings
per hour.
One of the big floatlng herring factorles
which go out from Goteborg to the herring
banks Is to be equlpped with the astouish
Ing apparatus, which ought to effect a revo
iution in the price of bioaters.
Finds IJidden Gold.
In all ages men of learnlng and science
have dreamed of the posslbllity of ftnding,
by the use of an instrument, metal hldden
iu the earth, but it has remained for Fred
H. Brown, of Garvanza, Cai., to work out
the idea to a practlcal solutlon.
He has invented a machine which he calls
an electrical dlvinlng rod and ore analyzer.
It will detect the presence of and analyze
metallic ore In rocks instantly, whetheron
table dump, top of ground or in tunnels or
shaf ts. It gives a positlve Idea of the com
parative quality and quantity of the metal
contained in the rocks, and Is most valuable
in assorting ores ia dumps.
In telling about his divining rod Mr.
Brown said: "I measure the rcsistance of
the earth as a conductor between terminals
a definite and Known distance apart. These
measurements are repeated at various points
in the vicinity, and they are then compared
with each other. If the reslstance so meas
ured at one point varies from that at an?
other point to a material degree, then the
presence ln the earth of an ore or mineral
at the point where the vibratlon occurs is
Indlcated.
"The next step ia to determlne the depth
of the ore, mineral and the like, beneath the
surface of the earth. This result I accoin
plished by varylng the distance of space be?
tween the terminals. For instance, if the
ore ls located 50 feet below the surface of
the earth, then Ita presence will not be Indl?
cated If the measurements of resistance are
taken through 100 or less feet of earth, for
the reason that the" current. following the
well-known law of sceklng the path of least
reslstance, will pass dlrectly from one terml
nal to another and wlthoat being affected
by the ore or mineral.
. "If, however, the distance of separatlon
of the terminals be Increased to 200 or more
feet, then the ore or tha mineral will offer
a path of less reslstance to the current as
compared with the reslstance offered thereto
by the same distance of the earth wlthont
ores or minerals, and hence, by thus varying.
the distance, through which the measure?
ments are taken and comparing such meas?
urements, the depth of the ore beneath the
surface.of.JLhe.earth may be accurately'de
. jermiaedf "?
His Memory Best
Three men were d'spnting In Rerlln the
other day as to ?vhlch of them had the best
memory, and, flnally, they asked Oscar
Blumenthal, a well-known writer, to de
cide the matter.
"Read me any page of Goethe's pros?
works," said one of the three, "and I will
at once repeat it, word for word."
"I can do better than that," said the sec?
ond one. "Put me ln a corncr of this roora
and I will play three ganies of chess sitnul
taneously without ever looklug at th*
boards."
"That's nothlng to what I can do," said the
first speaker again. "Begin a conversatioa
with me now about the most abstird thlnqs
possible, and at the end of an hour I wlli j
repeat the entlre conversatioa to you."
The third man was sllent, and Blumenthal
said to him: "Why don't you tell ns what
you can do? A few minutes ago you were
boastlng a good deal Qf your wonderful
memory."
"I know lt," was the reply, "but I did no.
then know that- my two friends took tho
matter so serlously. And as they are so
much In earnest I will not try to surpaa_;
them, for I cannot forget that each of them |
did me a favor yesterday."
"Yesterday?" asked Blumenthal.
"Yes," was the reply.
"And you have not yet forgotten lt? Ia
thac case the laurels belong to you, for yoa
have, Indecd, a wonderful me_tory.'*
Atfflosphere In Tabloids.
By a French chemist ls clalmed the Ia-.
vention of a method of compresslng sea alr.
Into tabloids. Those, therefore, who wlsh j
for a change of alr will ln futnre only have j
to go to the nearest chemist's and buy ai
bottle of Margate tabloids or half a dozen
Rlviera pastilles. j
So long as the drugs are properly fiis
pensed the inventlon will be welcome. It
would beunpleasant to ask for Bournemouti.'
pastilles and to rocolve Instead the Cologne
(not the eau de Cologne) variety. The latter
form has 79 dlstinct smclls.
Largest Steam Hammer.
I_ the Bcthlehem Iron Works Is the larg?
est and costliest steam hammer in tha
world. This powerful poundlng apparatua
is used for the forgtng of large mu_se_ of
metal, such as armor plates and shafts for
steam engines, which require the heaviest
ot force to press them tothe necesaaryhard
ness, so as the lnterior ls rendered as thor
oughly worked as the exterlor.
Thls.glant battering ram weighs-125 tons
and Is vertlcal acting, having a hammer at?
tached to a piston rod, which Is raised by
steam power, with a working pressuxe of
120 pounds to the square Inch.
The hammer staads nlnety feet above the
ground and measures thirty-elght feet acrosa
Its base, and its fall produces theblow. The
terrific veloclty of tha blow ls said to be
about equal to the strlklng force ofa dozen
locomotives golng at full speed.
One of the largest and most Important
forglngs of this hammer turned out was the
ingot of steel, welghing ninety-niae grosa
toas, whlctt formed the breech ?nd of the
new 18-inch army coast defence gun, the
largest weapon ln the world, now being ftn
Ished by the government at the Watervllet
Arsenal.