Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume], November 02, 1899, Image 4

About Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925

Image provided by: Wisconsin Historical Society

                
THE BARBER’S TALE.
From orient to Occident
The whole wide compass round,
There never yet lived barber man
Whose speech did not confound.
From Joliet to Jericho
The tribe talks on and on,
But in Chicago there is one
Who second is to none.
In State street does this razor man
His time and tongue employ,
Assisted by two other chaps
And one black-colored boy.
And as each eager customer
Takes up the master’s chair
The barber tells him stories while
He cuts and trims his hair.
One day a country farmer called,
Whose hair had run to waste,
And as he had a train to catch
Desired a “cut” in haste.
“Be seated, sir,” the barber said,
“To please you I’ll not fail,”
And straightway did that barber man
Begin a weary tale.
Snip, snip, the merry scissors went,
Till many a lock was shorn,
And still the barber’s tongue ran on
With story stale and worn.
Then out and spake that farmer man,
In scornfullest retort,
“Yes, yes, good sir, I listen, but
B’or God’s sake cut it short!"
“Oh, certainly,” the barber said,
And quicker plied the shears,
And faster went his nimble tongue
About the farmer’s ears.
The victim kept bis eyes close snut
And with his face distort
Cried out again, ‘Oh, barber man,
Why don’t you cut it short?”
“Your wishes, sir, shall be obeyed;
There isn’t much more left;"
And helter-skelter dashed his tongue
Till nigh of breath bereft.
Then from his chair that farmer man
Jumped up with angry snort
And shouted, “I can stand no more,
So I will cut it short!”
But when he his reflection caught
Within the mirror glass
He raveii and swore and stamped
around
And cried, “You long-tongued ass!
You’ve only left me my bare scalp!
I’ll drag you to the court!"
Whereat the barber bowed and said,
“You bade me cut it short.”
I meant your tale, you blundering
fool!”
The countryman exclaimed.
“You should have said so, then, good
sir,”
The barber piped, unshamed.
For words have meanings many, sir,
As Webster doth report.
And if your train you want to catch
You'll have to ’cut it short.’ "
* —May Jones.
ANTIDOTE FOR SNAKE BITE.
Scientist Who is Extracting Serum
From Snakes.
Dr. Joseph McFarland, professor of
pathology and bacteriology at the Mod
ico-Chlrurglcal college, i’hiladelphia,
has been carrying on for several
months experiments to secure an an
tidote for snake bites. He has gath
ered a remarkable collection of snakes.
He says:
“The experiments with snake venom
which 1 have been making since last
April are the first of the kind which
have ever been attempted in the United
States or witli (lie poisonous snakes of
America, but 1 do not claim originality
of method, us 1 am closely following
hi the footsteps of tin' noted scientist,
Dr. A. Calmette, director of the Insti
tute I’asteur of Lille, France.
“At tlie present time l)r. Calmette
has upon the market an anti-venomous
serum, or ‘anti-veneue,’ as it is called,
which he derived from the venom of
the cobra di capello or snake-eating co
bra of India, which is probably the
most deadly of all snakes. Although
Dr. Calmette's anti-venomous serum,
has been seldom if ever used In this
country, it. has been successfully em
ployed and has saved many lives in
India.
“To carry out my experiments along
all lines 1 have been anxious to secure
several specimens of the cobra di ca
pello, but so far I have not been suc
cessful, as sailors appear to lie most
superstitious regarding these snakes
and it is most difficult to get a sea cap
tain to include them among his cargo.
However, through the kindness of Dr.
Calmette, with whom 1 have been in
correspondence, I have reeeiv. some
dried venom from these snakes and I
expect to make some experiments with
ft soon.
"In regard to the serum which 1
hope to secure in the course of time, I
tuny say at the outset that I wish to
disprove the alleged value of alcohol
as the ideal antidote for the poison of
a venomous snake. Whiskey is an un
failing aid of death after snake bite,
and more persons die from taking it as
an antidote than from the bites. Whis
key inc-eases the rapidity of the cir
culation. it helps the poison to jour
ney quickly through all the arteries
and veins.
"To be sure, a small amount of stim
ulant is not a bad idea, but it should
be slight, very little Indeed. To give
all of any stimulant it is possible to
drink at such a time is little short of
criminality. There is no doubt that
more persons die from the effect of
drinking whiskey to cure snake bites
thun from the oites themselves.
“The bite of a poisonous snake, if it
receives proper attention at once, is by
no means as dangerou-' as most persons ;
Believe it to be. In fact, i think one of
the most important factors of danger
at such times is the physical fear rf
the result. Instead of whiskey the per- j
•on bitten should take strychnine lib- J
erally, and there nekd not be the
slightest fear of too much being taken
into the system. Administer this poi
son until the bitten one has symptoms
of lockjaw, and then it may be known
that the snake poison has been baiiied
and rendered entirely harmless. Of
course it should be taken as
soon as possible after the in
fliction of the wound. The first thing
to be done when one is bitten by a ser
pent is to tie a ligature (meaning a
cord or something of that sort) tightly
around the limb bitten and a short
distance above the wound.
“Undoubtedly there are different de
grees in the strength of snake venom,
according to the snakes. The rattle
snake to be most feared is the swamp
diamond back. These snakes often
grow to a large size, and they fre
quently knock their victim down when
they strike, so great is the force of the
blow. It is a curious fact that the larg
er the rattlesnake the more deadly
seems to be the bite. The water moc
casin of the south, or ‘cottonmouth,’ as
it is locally called, is another danger
ous snake.
“There are only two venomous
snakes in the United States, namely,
copperhead and the harlequin snakes.
The latter snake is a small but beauti
ful reptile, i might say, however, judg
ing from my experience in handling
venomous snakes, which has been con
siderable, that they are, without an ex
ception, extremely loath to bite. In
fact, as a practical illustration, it
would not take a large sum of money
to induce me to put my hare hand and
arm into the cage of rattlesnakes, as I
have no fear that I should be bitten.
I would hesitate a longer time, how
ever, before handling the copperheads,
as they are a much more active and
vicious snake. However, several of
them got loose in this room the other
day and were caught by my assistants
without difficult l ' ’Hid made no attempt
to bite.”
Dr. McFarlanu said regarding the
preparation of the anti-venomous se
rum; “in the first place, the poison
is extracted from the snakes. After I
have secured the venom it is evapo
rated in a vacuum and kept in a dried
state until I am ready to use it, when
it is dissolved in distilled, sterilized
water, after which it is ready for ex
periment upon the lower animals.
“The best method of procedure for
the purpose of vaccinating large ani
mals destined to produce anti-veuom
ous serum consists in injecting them
from the outset with gradually increas
ing quantities of the venom mixed with
diminishing quantities of a one in sixty
solution of hypochlorite of lime. The
condition and variations in the weight
of the animals are carefully followed
in order that the injections may be
made less frequently if the animals do
not thrive well. Quantities of stronger
and stronger venom are in turn inject
ed, first considerably diluted and then
more concentrated, in order that the
animals (horses) may give a serum
equally active for the various sub
stances which determine the various
local actions it is necessary, when they
have already acquired a sufficiently
perfect immunity, to inject the venoms
derived from as large a number of dif
ferent species of snakes as possible.
The duration of the treatment is of
considerable length, at least a year, be
fore the serum is sufficiently active to
be used for the purposes of treatment.
“At the present time I have two
horses in the ( tails downstairs which
are getting on well and which have
gone through the above process of in
oculation with snake venom. In this
particular I have been associated with
Dr. E. M. Hanck, veterinary surgeon.
“When the time arrives that the in
jections of large amounts of snake ven
om are accompanied with little eleva
tion of temperature, and only a slight
oedema is manifested at the sight of
injection, a trial bleeding of twenty
ccntimeterc of blood will he made, the
blood being taken from the jugular
vein, if the tests for antitoxic value
are favorable the horse is tiled a large
quantity, the blood being collected in
sterile bottles and placed in a refriger
ating room for sufficient time (about
twenty-four hours) until coagulation
allows the clear serum, which contains
the antitoxin, to separate. The serum
Is drnwn off by pipettes and preserved
by the addition of one-half of 1 per
cent, of a suitable chemical.
“As with the venoms, so with the
anti-venoms; disappointment is likely
to meet the experimenter at the last
minute. All the horses will nut fur
nish the same degree of antitoxicity in
their serum, and the test upon rabbits
will sometimes show that the serum
from a horse most carefully treated is
weak.
"Although the anti-venomous serum
does not act directly upon the toxin,
but only through the cells. It begins to
exert its influence immediately after
it is introduced into the body, of which
the following experiment is a striking
demonstration. A rabbit, having re
ceived intravenously two milligrams
of venom, two minutes later is inject
ed with five centigrams of the anti
venomous serum in the vein of the op
posite ear. The animal showed no ill
efTects of the poison and has remaine'd
perfectly well.
“This serum may be employed in hy
podermic injections in all cases of bites
from venomous snakes or scorpions,
and I feel satisfied that It will neutral
ire the efTects of the venoms of the va
rious species of American snakes.
Kven the most serious cases can al
ways be prevented and poison In*
checked if within an hour and a half
at the outside after the bite the serum
is injected into the veins.”
A community in Alabama contain
ing 400 colored people and but two
white persons is about to be incorpo
rated.
DUST PICTURES A NEW WRINKEE.
Professor Edward P. Thompson has
published a remarkable work on the X
rays, which is the most comprehensive
digest of all the experiments made
since Roentgen’s discovery. Exhaus
tive study has been made of what are
known more recently to scientists as
dust photogarphs, and yet while this
is perhaps the first publication of the
strange phenomena, the publications
given are asserted by Professor Thomp
son to be simply based on hypotheses
and are subject to a very decided
change when the scientists begin furth
er experiments. It is to William J.
Hammer, a member of the American
Institute of Electrical Engineers, that
we owe the discovery of these dust
images detailed by Professor Thomp
son.
Mr. Hammer in his workshop has a
portrait formed of fine dust upon a
pane of glass. The circumstances under
which it was obtained are peculiarly
interesting. Mr. Hammer happened
to be in some place where an artisan
was removing a photograph from an
old frame. Tim glass which protected
the portrait exhibited a fac-simile in
dust on the inner surface. The glass
had not been in contact with the photo
graph because of a thick passe-partout
surrounding the picture. Neither was
the glass an old negative photographic
plate.
Further test and inspection tended to
prove that the dust picture was execut
ed by some action of the heat or light
of the sun. Professor Benjamin F.
Thomas of the University of Ohio
scarcely thinks that the result was due
to convection, because the dust print
was so sharply defined. He thinks the
principle of the discharge of bodies by
light may be applicable perhaps, but
further experiment would be necessary j
ns a more sectire foundation.
“It is common,” Professor Thompson |
says, “to find the print of a picture in a
book upon the opposite page, being due
merely to the pressure of the Inked
surface, as in the art of printing. This
explanation cannot be applied to the
dust portrait, because there was no
NEGRO DECKHAND.
The Jolly Roustabout Extinct From
the Mississippi.
One who makes a trip up the river
and watches the antics of the negroes
and listens to their weird songs and
tales will not agree with the iconoclast
who says that all the beautier and the
picturesque features have faded out of
the steamboatman’s life. Asa line of
negroes goes up the hill under the glare
of the searchlight with their peculiar
swinging tread and sing the music,
which seems somehow to be an essen
tial part of the action, the sight is one
which has a strange wildness about it
and a fascination too. The nogro is
not the same as he was before the war.
Conditions have changed ton much for
that. Rut he has retained his love for
the fantastic and most of those barbar
ic customs which civilUation seems un
able to eradicate from the African
mind.
The first mate has undergone a
marked metamorphosis and to his
change is due some portion of the new
features in the deckhand’s character.
Time was when the first mate had a
vocabulary which would make an ordi
nary sailor's parrot die for shame. He
had this vocabulary and the negroes
held the same opinion as the one who
answered when asked if he did not ob
ject to the mate's abuse : "No, boss:
dat’s whut he’s paid for. He's got ter
make out he’s doin’ somethin’ an’ it
don’t do ns no harm." Now the deck-
contact between the photograph and
the glass.”
It would be well now that dust photo
graphs exist to examine carefully the
glass before removing an ola picture.
Perhaps in the near future the world
will be enriched by many fine speci
mens of these peculiarly produced
images.
Mr. Hammer has also an historical
collection of incandescent lamps, which
were arranged on shelves in a glass
case standing obliquely in the sunlight
about an hour a day. After the lapse
of many months the very fine dust
within the case lodged upon the inner
surface of the glass in such a manner
as to produce oval dust figures corre
sponding somewhat to the shapes of
the lamps and some of them appear af
ter reproduction. Professor Thomas
thought, when the figures were inspect
spected closely and the circumstances
were known, that the sun and lamps
acted as agents in their forqpaUon.
As to the correct explanation, the
matter has not been sufficiently dis
cussed by scientists to enatile him to
render the opinion of others, but it is
of interest in connection with the
Roentgen rays and the discharge of
electrified bodies by light. Asa matter
of course, the surfaces of the lamps
would reflect the light in such a way
as to make bright spots —movable,
however, with the sun —upon the glass
of the containing case, and if the lat
ter were in any sense charged by nega
tive atmospheric electricity, this light
would cause a variable amount of dust
to be attracted according to the inten
sity of the rays striking the glass.
Professor Thompson also details a
remarkable scries of experiments made
by Professor Sanford of Leland Stan
ford university, California, and by Pro
fessor McKay of Packer institute,
Brooklyn. The images produced were
termed electrographs, and were made
by placing a number of coins on the
sensitive side of a photographic plate,
covering each side with tinfoil and
wrapping the whole thing in black pa
per. The upper tinfoil was then re- 1
hands actually object to being sworn at
when the oaths become too vigorous.
The pay of the deckhand is usually S6O
a month, even when the business is
only moderately heavy, and last winter
during the big rush a crew of negroes
| refused to ship because the wages did
not suit them. They were offered S9O
per month, but wanted SIOO for the
trip.
The first peculiarity which strikes
the observer about the deckhand Is his
walk. He has climbed up the steep
river embankment when there was mud
all over It and he has come down that
same side with a heavy weight upon his
beck. He has adopted a step which
prevents him from slipping and this
gives him a peculiar shuffling step un
like any movement seen elsewhere. He
combines with this a hoisting of the
shoulders and a peculiar turn of the
head acquired from turning his face to
let n sack host upon his shoulder. These
three traits are distinctive and give the
deckhand a strange appearance upon
the levee or anywhere off a boat away
from the river.
As he works going up the inclines
or along the gang plank, precariously
resting upon a levee’s crest, he has a
rythmic sort of chant which fits in with
his music. Always the same class of
songs are sung. Usually there are no
words, but some leader chants and the
others voice the chorus as they bend to
their tasks. There are sack songs and
barrel songs and music for the cotton
bale and the ordinary package. The
music varies with the task, as the
moved and each coin was touched suc
cessively with the wire from a positive
pole, the other wire being connected
with the tinfoil on the lower side. Per
fect reproductions were obtained.
But this method, of course, differs al
together from that of producing dust
images. When the German scientist
Professor Reiss began experimenting
for the production of electrographs he
laid a coin upon a plate of glass and
charged it electrically for half an hour.
Upon removing me coin and sprinkling
the plate with dust an accurate engrav
ing of coin was visible on the glass.
Professor McKay's experiments of
producing magnetographs are also in
teresting in this connection. He ob
tained photographs of different objects
in the dark by means of radiations
from the poles of an electro-magnet af
ter two hours’ exposure but it need nut
have been so long, as he obtained clear
images in five minutes in one experi
ment with frequent variations of a
current by means of a rheostat, and by
approach and recession ot the arma
ture.
The elements involved in the experi
ment were arranged in the following
order; First, a large inverted magnet
for supporting 100 pounds, the poles
hanging downward. Next in order was
a wooden board pressing flatwise
against the ends of the poles of the
magnet. Next, the objects and the
sensitive plates backed thereby and all
inclosed in a completely opaque wrap
ping extending over the sides, face,
back, etc., of these two elements. Next
in order was an armature about as
heavy as the magnet would support.
Very accurate photographs of the dif
ferent objects were produced. The
photographs were not due to light, for
be tried the experiments in different
ways and with various precautions.
Of course the greater part of Profes
sor Thompson’s work is devoted to the
X ray, but to the lay mind the above
phenomena give a curious insight into
the experimental work of the electrical
scientists of today.
bale is lifted forward and allowed to
drop, has a catchy swing to it. Down
go the sharp hooks and the bale starts
up to fall with a quick thud. So does
the music.—Memphis Scimitar.
AUTLjiN.
Now the last sheaves are garnered in
the barns,
The fields all bare, the gleaners all
gone home.
Ripe apples fall from overladen
trees,
And boys and girls go nutting in the
woods.
That wear a braver pomp than sum
mer’s green.
The squirrel buries deep his winter
hoard.
The swallows gather on the red farm
roofs.
The plowmen toil across the fallow
lands.
And flails are loud on every thrash
ing floor.
The kindly earth has yielded up her
fruits.
Troubled and swollen, the river
twirls among
(The withered reeds, and ghostly in the
moon
Look all the misty fields and dim
woodsides.
And all the distant outlines of the
hills.
—Mary A. Marl—.
Ryan, the Australian, was whipped
by Choynski in seven rounds.
SIR JOHN WATERS A FINE SPY.
Thrilling Adventure When Captured
by the Spaniards.
Sir John Waters was the most ad
mirable spy ever attached to an army.
In the Peninsular war he gave to Lord
Wellington accurate and valuable in
formation about the Spaniards. Once
he was taken prisoner by Spanish
dragoons while clad in the English uni
form. He was supposed to be a stupid
Britisher who could not understand a
word of French or Spanish, and hib>
captors talked freely before him. Then
he learned that they were going to kill/
and rob him at an old mill where th o
company was to stop for dinner. They
would pretend that they had shot him
because of his attempt to escape. On
reaching the mill the dragoons dis
mounted and want into the house,
leaving their prisoner outside, in the
hope that he would try to escape. As
soon as they were out of sight Waters
threw his cloak on a near-by olive
bush and put his cocked hat on top.
Empty flour sacks lay on the ground
and he crawled into one of them. A
moment later the dragoons came out,
fired heir carbines at the supposed
prisoner and galloped off, intending
to return later to rifle the body. A
horse loaded with sacks of flour stood
near the door and Sir John, still en
veloped in the sack, managed to
throw' himself on the horse’s back, as
if he were part of the load. The own
er came out, mounted and rode away
without detecting the peculiar con
tents of one of the sacks. When far
enough away for safety, his position
being uncomfortable, Sir John freed
himself from the sack and sat up.
The horseman, happening to look
around, saw the man covered with
flour and imagined a ghost was perch
ed behind him.
He fell in a faint and the supposed
ghost threw' him to the ground and
galloped off. Sir John reached the Eng
lish camp without further adventure.
—New York Press.
GREAT ENDURANCE OF MOOSE.
It Can Travel as Fast and Much Far
ther Than a Deer or Caribou.
While the peculiar pacing gait of a
moose will not carry him over the
ground as rapidly as the deer or cari
bou, his endurance far surpasses that
of either of those animals. For a
short spurt or in very deep snow the
caribou can easily discount the moose,
but for an all day’s jaunt, where the
course is fairly open, the moose has no
rival. Many years ago when Sir Ed
mund Head was governor of the pro
vince he owned a tamed moose that
performed remarkable feats of speed
and endurance. On one occasion the
governor wagered £SOO that his
moose could travel from Frederickton
to St. John over the ice, a distance of
eighty-four miles, in faster time than
any team of horses in the stud of
Lord Hill of the Fifty-second regi
ment. A sledge was attached to the
moose and another to the horses. The
river ice was covered with about
eight inches of snow. The start was
made opposite government house at
8 o’clock in the morning. In seven
hours the moose and his driver were
on Market square, St. John. Lord
Hill’s team was distanced, one of the
horses expiring at Gagetown and the
other reaching St. John three hours
behind the moose.—Lewiston, Me.,
Journal.
DEWEY'S MISSING DISH.
When a warship goes out for target
practice it is the custom to place all
glass, chinaware and other fragile
articles in the hold of the ship—as
close down to the keel as possible—in
order to prevent breakage by the con
cussion that follows the firing of the
guns. This led to an amusing incident
at Manila after the destruction of the
Spanish fleet. Life on board the Olym
pia was gradually settling down to its
accustomed routine and dullness, when
one day at luncheon Commodore
Dewey asked his colored bey, Jim,
where some dish that he missed from
the table had gone. “I ain't had no
chance to git it yit,” was Jim’s answer,
“since I put in de hoi’ just befo’ dat
target practice you had de udder day,
commodore.”
FROM “A BROADWAY PAGEANT.”
I chant the world on my western sea,
I chant copious the islands beyond,
thick as stars in the sky,
I chant the new empire, grander than
any before, as in a vision it
comes to me,
I chant America the mistress, I chant
a greater supremacy,
I chant projected a thousand blooming
cities yet in time on those groups
of sea-islands,
My sail ships and steam ships thread
ing archipelagoes,’
My stars and stripes fluttering in the
wind,
Commerce opening, the sleep of ages
having done its work, races re
born, refreshed,
Lives, works resumed—the object I
know- not—but the old, the
Asiatic renew’d as it must be,
Commencing from this day surrounded
by the world.
—Walt Whitman.
CHINKS.
New spheres of influence, since that
they are spheres.
Don’t fit togeuier closely, and, me
thinks,
We’ve here the reason wliy the Chinese
empire
Is made up quite exclusively of
chinks.
—D'.trolt Journal.