VOL. LVI.
HARTER,
AUCTIONEER,
MILLHEIM, PA.
J C. SPRINGER,
Fashionable Barber.
Next Door to JOURNAL Store,
MILLHXIH, PA.
JgUOCKERHOFF HOUSE,
ALLEGHENY STREET,
B KLLEFONTE, - - - PA
C. O. MOMILLEN.
PROPRIETOR.
Good Sample Room on First Floor.
•VFre* Bass to and from all Trains. Special
rates to witnesses aud jurors. 4-1
IRVIN HOUSE.
(Most Central Hotel In the Cttyj
Corner MAIN and JAY Streets,
Lock Havea, Pa.
S. WOODS CALWELL, Proprietor.
Good Sample Rooms for Commercial
Travelers on first floor.
D. H. MINGLE,
Physidau and Surgeon,
MAIN Street, MILLHUM, Pa.
JQR JOHN F. BARTER,
PRACTICAL DENTIST,
Office in 2d story of Toudinsoa'a Gro--
eery Store,
On MAIN Street, MILLHXIM, Pa.
BF KINTF.R,
a FASHIONABLE BOOT A SHOE MAKER
Shop next door to Foote's Store, Main St.,
B>t>. Shoes and Gaiters made to order, and sat
isfactory work guarauteed. Repairing doue prompt
ly and cheaply, aud iu a neat style.
8. R. PEAL*. H. A. McKi*.
PEALE & McKEE,
ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
Offlc opposite Court House, Bellefonte, PS.
C. T. Alexander. C. M. Bower.
A BOWER,
ATTORNEYS AT LAW.
BELLEFONTE, PA.
Office In Carman's new building.
JOHN B. LINN,
ATTORNEY AT LAW.
BELLEFONTE, PA.
Offlce on Allegheny Street.
QLEMENT DALE,
ATTORNEY AT LAW.
BELLEFONTE, FA.
Northwest corner of Diamond.
HOY,
ATTORNEY AT LAW.
BELLEFONTE, PA.
Orphans Court business a Specialty.
C. HEINLE,
ATTORNEY AT LAW#
BELLEFONTE, PA.
Practices In ail the courts of Centre County.
Special attention to Collections. Consultations
In German or English.
J. A. Beaver. J. W. GepharL
JgEAYER A GEPHART,
ATTORNEYS AT LAW.
BELLEFONTE, PA.
Offlce on Alleghany Street, North of High.
Y° CUM * harshberger<
ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
BELLEFONTE, PA
jQ fc.K ELLER,
ATTORNEY AT LAW.
BELLEFONTE, PA,
Consultations In English or German. Office
In Lyon's Building, Allegheny Street.
""yPik HARTTWOS. W. . SEEDER.
IJASTINGS & REEDER,
ATTORNEYS AT LAW,
BELLEFONTE, PA.
Offloe on Allegheny street, two doors east of the
olßoe occupied by tbe l&fce firm of Haiu
Inge. dMY
Skc WmMrn Jn^iuL
THK OLl> FARMHOUSK.
The easy chair, all patched with oars,
Is placed by ihe cold hearth-atoue ;
With wttohlug grace, In the old tire-place,
The evergreeus are strewn,
And pictures hang on the whitened wall,
And the old clock ticks In the cottage ha. .
More lovely still, on the window sill,
The dew-eyed flowers rest,
While 'midst the leaves on the moss-grown eaves,
The martin builds her nest,
Aud all day loug the summer breeze
Is whisperiug love to the bended trees,
Over the door, all covered o'er
With a sack of dark green baize,
I .ays a musket old, whose worth is told
In the eveuta of other days;
And the powder-flask, aud the hunter's horn,
Have hung bealde It for many a morn.
For years have fled with a noiseless tread,
Like fairy dreams away.
And in their flight, all shorn of Its might,
A father—old ami gray;
And the soft winds play with the snow-white hair,
Aud the old man sleeps in his easy chair.
Inside the door, on the sanded floor,
Light, airy, footsteps glide,
And a maiden fair, with flaxen hair.
Kneels by the old man's side—
An old oak wrecked by the angry storm.
While the Ivv clings to its trembling form.
THE TRUE RING.
WANTED, a clerk at 650 WasUiug
tou street.
Tins was the advertisement that ap
peared in one of the morning papers of
a large city. Many a young fellow who
had beeu seeking employment for
weeks felt his hopes rise as he read it.
Fred Baker heard it at the breakfast
table the day after it appeared; his
sister Louise said: "Oh Fred ! I for
got to tell you that I saw in yesterday's
paper that Mitehell & Tyler want a
clerk ; that will be the place above all
others for you. It is a splendid store.
Of course you can get the place if you
are not too late. You can take a letter
from Uncle Horace ; his influence and
and your appe&ri iuee settle the
matter. I heard Mr. Mitchell wa* real
fussy about his clerks, but I m sure he
can find nothing to object to in my
handsome, well-dressed brother, and
the elder sister looked admiringly at
Fred's fair face, smooth locks and well
fitting suit.
" Perhaps I'll call around there after
a while." Fred said carelessly.
"Please hurry and go now, won't
you?" his sister said; "I'm afraid
somebody has snatched up the place be
fore this time."
Fred fiuished his breakfa t in a leis
urely way, put a few extra touches to
his already careful toilet, lighted a cigar
and sauntered forth.
"Better throw away your cigar be
fore you go in. Mr. Mitchell may ob
ject to that," said Louise, who stood in
the front door as he passed out.
"He'll have to take me as I am,"
Fred said with a lofty air ; "all gentle
man smoke. Ido not propose to be a
slave to Idm or any other man."
He called in at his uncle's oflic on
the way and procured a letter of rec
ommendation. Thus equipped, he felt
coufident of success.
Just behind him there walked witb
bright step a boy of fifteen, a year or
two younger than himself. This was
David Gregg. He, too, had seen the
advertisement, and was on the way that
very minute to 650 Washington street.
He was the eldest of a family of chil
dren whose father had died at the be
ginning of this long winter. David had
taied hard to find employment, had im
proved every moment in doing odd jobs
for anybody, had studied the papers
and answered advertisements until he
was well-nigh discouraged. The places
were sure to be tilled by persons who
had influential friends ; he had none,
for his father had removed to the city
from the country only a short time be
fore his death, and now, more because
he applied for everything he heard of
than from any hope of success, he had
risen very early that morning, made the
fire, and while his mother was prepar
ing breakfast put himself in the neatest
possible order to go to Mitchell & Ty
ler's.
When he appeared at the breakfast
table looking so bright and neat, his
mother thought he was a son to be
proud of, the handsomest boy in the
whole city, yet his face was actually
homely as far as beauty of features was
concerned ; his clo'hes were coarse, and
he had no flashing pin, or gold cuff but
tons like the elegant young gentlemau
who now walked before him,
What was the reason that among the
large number of boys who filed in and
out of Mitchell & Tyler's private office
no one ot them had been selected to till
the vacant clerkship? Mr, Mitchell,
the senior partner ot the firm, had ask
ed some plain, straight forward ques
tions of them. " Where do you spend
your evenings ?" "Do you play oards,
go to the theatre ?" etc., for Mr. Mitch
ell had declared to his partner, "If
there is a boy in the world who has
good habits and right principles, I'm
going to hunt him up if it takes all win
ter," so it turned out that many of the
boys could not give satisfactory answers
to the searching questions, and others,
when Mr, Mitchell sounded their knowl
edge of figures, were not ready-reckon
ers.
They came and went for one whole
day, and as soon as the door was opened
the next morning candidates came flock
ing in like birds.
And now it was Fred Barker's turn.
He stood before Mr. Mitchell, his hat
MILLIIEIM. PA., THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 14,1882.
on. his hea<l, his eigar removed from liis
mouth, it is true, but the smoke there
of eurliug up iuto the merchant's face.
He presented his letter of iu.roductiou.
Mr. Mitchell read it, then aaked a few
questions. Meanwhile his practical eye
was taking it all in—tiie cigar, the im
itation diamond, the large seal ring,
the Hushing necktie. He knew in a
twinkling where Fred Barker probably
s]>eut liia evenings, and that it would
bike more money to indulge his tastes
than he could honestly earn.
To Fred's astonishment he presently
heard, "I do not think, young man,
that you are just the one wo have in
miud for this place," Then before ho
know it he was bowed out.
The next boy who was admitted did
not advance with such an over confi
dent air. He held his hat In his hand
and spoke in a modest, respectful man
ner.
" Have you any recommedatioii ?"
" No, Bir, I have none," David an
swered, a little dejectedly. "We have
uot been long in the city."
"Well, you need none, if I can trust
my eyes," Mr. Mitchell remarked to
himself. The bright, frank face and
the manly air of the boy impressed him
most favorably; he was still more pleas
ant when he drew him into conversation
and learned what books he was lond
of, and how ho was going on with his
studies evenings, although he had been
obliged to leave the high school and
earn his living,
Mr. Mitchell hat! very sharp eyes;
he took note of the well-brushed gar
ments, the shining l>oots, the snowy
collar and culls, the delicately clean fin
ger nails—even by such small things
as these is character read—and above
all, the look of sincerity and honesty
sbiueJ from the blue eyes.
" Well, David." Mr. Mitchell said
as he got up and walked backward and
forth, "what if I were to tell you that
you can have the situation providing
you will work a part of the Sabbath?"
It was a most cruel test. The boy
hesitated —just a moment—then he said
while the color rose and his voice chok
ed, " I should say, sir, that I caunot
accept it."
"Not even when your mother needs
money so badly ?"
" No, sir, my mother would not use
money so earned. She has always
taugtit me to obey Ood and trust him,
come what will."
" That has the true ring, pure gold,"
said Mr. Mitchell, bringing bis hand
down 011 David's shoulder. "My dear
boy, I want yon, and I do not want you
to do any work for me on the Sal>-
bath. I will pay you teu dollars more
a month than the Inst clerk received,
because I am glad to find one lx>y out
of a hundred who remembers his moth
er's teachings, aud fears to disobey his
Lord."
Brilliant Marriages.
THE BIOOEOT PART of the city of Lon
don is not the city at all,but the boroigh
of Westminster, and the Duke of West
minister, the lord of the fashonable
"West End," with the richest rent-roll
of any man in England, was quietly
married recently at Holkliam, in Nor
folk, the seat of the Earl of Leicester,
to a young lady thirty or thirty-five
years his junior. The bride is Miss
Catherine Cavandish, youngest sister of
the third Lord Chesham, who five years
ago married the Duke's third daughter,
and who is consequently both son -in
law and brother-in-law to his Grace of
Westminster. An older sister of
the bride is the wife of the Earl
of Leicester, at whose country
house the ceremony took place. The
Duke's first wife was Lady Constance
Leveson-Gower, daughter of the Duke
of Sutherland, and she died only eigh
teen months ago, leaving eight children,
whose noses will possibly be more or
less disjointed by#his second marriage.
Another brilliant marriage, which at
tracted great attention in London a
few weeks ago, especially among Cath
olio families, was that of Lady Emily
Pelham-Cliuton, sister of the young
Duke of Newcastle, to Pr.nce Alphonso
Doria Pumpbili, youngest son of the
late Prince Philippe, whose magnificent
palace and gallery on the COTSO surpass
all the other private hou°es and collec
tions in Rome. The Doria villa, beyond
the Janioulan Hill, is one of the most
charming of the suburban resorts of the
forestieri in Rome's sunny winter weath
er, and it was within its stone walls,
more thau four miles in circuit, that
Garibaldi made his heroic stand against
the French mercenaries in 1849. Don
John, the older brother, who lias held
the title for six years, is about forty
and yet unmarried, and he went on
from Rome to act as his brother's best
man taking also his niece, Donna Maria
Massimo, daughter of the Duke de
Rignano, to be one of the bridesmaids.
The marriage service was celebrated by
Cardinal Manning at St. Mary's Church,
and after the cermony the relatives and
special friends breakfasted with the
bride's mother, who is still Duchess of
Newcastle because her son, who sue -
ceeded to the title at fifteen, is still
• * ower young to marry. '
PUT in a few sunflower s<els for pro
ducing an occasional feed for poultry
next fall and winter.
Au Inferior florae.
The writer met the jookey Rutherford
while dining at the Winter Palace in
St. Petersburg a short time after that
huge |Mirtiug wranglo, and, iu the
course of a conversation on turf matters,
the astute prodder of horse-fiesli said,
with a childlike and ingenuous smile:
"Would you like to know the dead
inside facts as to how that raco was won?"
"Why, you rode the best horse,
didn't you ?" we asked.
"Not a bit of it," replied the jockey,
with a grin. "The fact was that Ruther
ford was only about tho fourth choice,
ami was uot rated at more than eighth
or ninth iu tho pools. True Blue, Katy
Pease and Thatl Stevens all hod the call
over Rutliy. But it happened that my
horse was a 'bolter,'and to steady lxim
and prevent his tlyiug the track I put
blinders and goggkis on him. You
noticed them, I suppose?"
"There were two horses rigged that
way," we replied.
"Exactly; Stevens was a nervous
critter also, and as loon as his trainer
saw how the goggies steadied my horse
he put'em on Thud too. The day
before the race a big idea occurred to
me. I got a oouple of pairs of magni
fying lenses and quietly put'em in place
of the plain glasses in the goggles of
both horses. Catch on to the idea?"
"Well, partly."
"The only difference was that in
Stevens' bridles I fastened the glasses
with the bulge inside, so as to make
them diminishing glasses, don't you
see?"
"Like looking through the wrong end
of an opera glass, eh?"
"Exactly. The result was that, while
Rutherford was encouraged all the way
by the course seeming only a couple of
hundred yards long, the quarter flags
apjieared ten miles apart to Stevens.
You see, a horse can be discouraged
just as well as a man.
"Great scheme, that."
"Well, I should smile, Rutliy
thought he was in for a little quarter
race, and it kept up his heart, so that
when he had nearly doue the last mile
and swung into the homestretch, and I
called on him to let out his last link, he
thought the Judges' stand was right
under his nose, so he came home like an
express train on a down grade; but
Stevens, who thought he had about fif
teen miles further to go, went all to
pieces, as you remember, and almost lay
down on the track, he was so meutally
eave.l in, as it were."
A New l.lght.
A few days ago the patent oflice issued
papers to Mr. William Calver of Wash
ington, for a discovery which, if it pos
sesses all the merits claimed for it, will
be hailed with gratitude by both busy
manufacturers and toiling housewives.
The invention is no less thtin the pro
duction of intense heat by a peculiar
arrangement of mirrors. Calver was
i>orn in Englaud, but came to this coun
try when very young. For a numlier of
years he resided in New York. Ho has
been a citizen of of the district for up
ward of ten years, and has during that
time l>een absent much in Arizona, look
ing after his mining property. He has
beou looking for a long time for some
method of working miues and reducing
the ore by a more cheap process than
that in vogue. By a happy chance,
equally as singular as that which befell
Newton, he stumbled on his discovery.
The whole invention simply consists
of an arrangement whereby the rays of
the sun are reflected from any number
of mirrors upon a common focus. Hap
pening to direct the light from two ordi
nary lcoluug glasses upon the same sur
face he noticed that the resultant heat
was about doubled. He proceeded witli
his experiments, and succeeded in re
ducing wood to ashes and metal to a
liquid state by simply concentrating
upon them the reflected light of the suu
from 20 small mirrors with flat surfaces.
The principle is an unexplained one. It
has never hitherto been suspected that
lapping one ray of sunlight upon another
increased the heat. The model patented
by Mr. Calver consists of a number of
small looking glasses, arranged in rows
upou a frame so fixed ttat they can be
converged upon any one point. A work
ing model, of which he has a number,
was exhibited to a reporter in the yard
in the rear of his residence. Forty in
nocent, guileless looking 15 cent framed
mirrors, each 3J inches, were arranged
upon a frame propped up like an artist's
easel, and bearing a striking resembl
ance thereto.
Facing the easel was the fragment of
what was once a bain door, also propp
ed up and partly covered with a worn
and faded sheet of zinc that bore unmis
takable evidences of having been burned
through iu several places. It was but
the work of a minute to converge the 40
mirrors upon a space 3 J inches by 3|
inches upon the barn door, and then the
revelations began. As each mirror cast
its quota of sunlight upon the common
store, the parallelogram of light grew
whiter and more dazzling, until at last
it looked like a patch of electric light.
But little patience was required to await
results. In less than 30 seconds a thin,
curling puff of smoke gave evidence of
the progress of the experiment. In a
minute the board was bursting out in
flames. The focus was then shifted
upon the zinc. In a few momenta it
began to turn color, then sliriuk as if
anxious to get away where it was cooler,
anil then, in loan than three minutes,
the entire surface covered by the focus
was literully melting, drop by drop. To
melt zinc a temperature of
oyer 700 degrees Falir, The most won
derful feature übout the whole thing is
the brilliancy of the light. Each mir
ror julds not only heat but light. The
40 mirrors produced a light more bril
liant than an ordiuary electric tight, A
hand, held so as to intercept the focus,
becomes as white as driven snow. A
white handkerchief defies ordinary sight,
and conveys but an impression of beau
tiful, impossible whiteness. It is as
hard to look at as the sun itself. The
immense practical value of the inveu
tion can be readily understood. Mr.
Culver's forty mirrors boil water in less
than no time. An egg placed in the
water is done hard quicker than by fire.
Meat and vegetables are cooked in 10 or
15 minutes. A half hour's sunshine any
time between 9 a. m. and 4 p. m. in the
summer will do the cooking for au or
diuary sized family for a week if neces
sary. By the mirrors engines can be
run, wills dug. mines worked, oro melt
ed and refined, every kind of cooking
performed, and, in short, there is no
variety of industry in which they can
not succeas fully compete with mule
power, steam or electricity. There are
many curious tilings in connection with
Mr. Culver's discovery. More heat can
be gotten from the mirrors in winter
than in summer, strange as it may ap
pear, for the earth is then over 3,000,000
miles nearer the sun. Three thousand
degrees Fahr. decomposes water, and
this heat can be readily produced with
the large mirrors, 1000 of which, one
foot square, will run the largest engine
in the world. In the West the process
of concentrating the sun's rays will be
of immense benefit. Statistics show that
there are over 1,000,000 square ink of
territory in the United States where
there is, on au average, but one cloudy
day in a mouth for eight mouth in the
year. All the rest are clear. The heat
produced by the thousand foot-square
mirrors will do more work in 15 min
utes than can be ordinarily done in a
ilav, and a day's steady work will out
strip a week's progress by other meth- !
ods.
The heat mirrors will make ice as
easily as they will melt steel, A few
large sized ones will operate a machine
large enough to usher into existence 100
tons of ice a day. It is the intention of
the inventor to vigorously protect his
patent and to shortly begin the manu
facture of his mirror furnaces. Probably
lie will make a lot of the smaller kind,
convenient for tourists, which can be
packed away in a trunk and yet large
enough to do all the cooking for the
party iu a few miuutes.
The heat from the mirror can be
thrown a long distance. Mr. Calversays
he can make a heat powerful euough to
melt the goddes of liberty on the cupola
of the capital by putting bis mirrors
several squares awav.
The Went Indian Sugar Crop.
The Jamaica Sugar crop is reported
the largest that has been realized for
many years, over three thousands tons
having been sold in one parish of the
island for shipment to Canada. Despite
the long prevailing droughts, which
have been general in the West ludies,
and nearly two hundred fires in the cane
fields of Cuba, the crop of sugar produ
ced this season in the latter island has
been finally fixed by careful compila
tion at six hundred and one thousand
five hundred tons, being an excess of
twenty-three and three- quarters per
ceui over the last crop. This will be
welcome news to the world generally,
but, as our owu sugar belt lies under
climatic influences approximating those
which have for some months been so
favorable to West Indian cane fields.
Louisiana planters may take a special
interest in it. Tlio cane plant during
the early stages of its growth requires
but little moisture, and in Barbados,
where sugar culture has been most care
fully studied by Governor Rawson, any
marked excess of rain during the first
six months of the year is injurious bo h
crop which is being reaped and to
that which is to follow. The same is in
a measure true of the Louisiana cane
crop, which therefore, shows great fluc
tuations in different years (as in 1877
and 1878, when the yield of the two sea
sons varied about seveuty per cent). It
is noticeable that the two largest Louisi
ana crops—those of 1853 and 1861—
were made in seasons which were ex
traordinarily favorable to West Indian
sugar planters, though a fine sugar sea
son in the Antilles does not insure a
similar one in Louisiana. The yield of
the present crop on our Gulf coast will
of course depend largely on the weather
of the next three months, as it begins to
ripen .in August or September and is
usually not fit for the mill until Octo
ber, and is sometimes reduced by severe
November frosts. But as yet nothing
calculated to mar the prospect of good
returns has been reported.
If we keep well and cheerful and the
mind constantly active we never grow
old. By and by we get to the end of
the journey but we never grow old.
Ha Spoiled the Box Trick.
There are several ledgerdemain per
formers at the various auction shops.
The Magic Box trick is a favorite meth
od of entertaining customers and col
lecting a crowd, A few nights since the
auctioneer announced with a worthy
flourish of his jaw that he would render
the great trick. He got out a number
of boxes,filled them with handkerchiefs,
and.h&ts and case knives,and allowed the
audience to lock them up. Then tak
ing an empty box he handed it to a tall
man, evidently from a southern mining
camp, and told him to hold it high over
his heath
"Now, gentlemen, I will cause a
transformation to take place which de
monstrates that the hand is quicker
than the eye. I will cause the oontents
of the locked box to appear in the box
now held in the air, and to do it before
your eyes."
Just as tho crowd began to edge up
close to detect the modus operandi of
the per former, a small boy at the end of
the counter called out in a squeaky voice
"You forgot the socks!" Immediately
the performer hauled down some socks
and began to retail them to the crowd
at three for two bits, after which he
pulled some undershirts from the shelves
and offered them at bed-rock figures,
while the knowing ones laughed at the
poor dnpe, who held the box in the air
for about fifteen minutes. Presently
the nature of the hoax dawned upon
him. and hurling the box at the head of
the auctioneer, he left the place amid a
howl from the crowd. "His trick is to
see who is the d—dest fool in the
crowd," said the auctioneer, and the
merriment was nnbounded.
Last evening the hand-me-down per
former attempted to repeat the trick, but
with less happy results. After the pre
liminary oratory he handed the box to a
green looking man near him. As he
leaned over the mineralogical person
grabbed him by the collar and yanked
him clean over the counter. Getting him
over on the floor he steered him all over
the place, and played with his head,
using it to beat the floor with as if be
supposed it was a drum-stick "How
do yon like the box trick?" he shouted
as he stood him on his head for the fifth
tyne. The crowd howled with glee, for
in the person of the animated old man
thay recognized the party who had been
fooled a few nights before. After pitch
ing his prey in behind some old shirt
boxes he strolled out remarking:
"When anybody wants assistance in a
box trick, send for Jim Black, Pueblo,
I'm a boxer, myself."
The Red Snapper.
Probably tlio best fish added to the
list of those that are edible within the
past ten years is the red snapper. Ten
years ago this fish was almost unknown
here, though occasionally one was sent
to market as a curiosity, and attracted
attention because of its brilliant color. It
was formerly eaten to some extent by
the people of Cuba and the coast ot the
Gulf of Mexico, but was never used as a
food in this latitude until about eight
years ago, and it is only within three or
four years that it has become such a
favorite with the general public, and
one of the most popular for table use.
In 1878 the first scientific description of
the fish was made by Professor G.
Brown Gould, of the United States Fish
Commission. The fish is hard and firm,
resembling closely the sheephead in
flavor, and its best qualities are develo
ped by baking. It is caught both on
the east and west ooasts of Florida, and
at different points in the Gulf of Mexi
co. It is caught entirely by hand, with
drop-lines, and affords much sport to
the fisherman, as it is gamy, and when
caught wull make a lively fight to es
cape. These fish run together in large
schools, and average about twelve
pounds in weight. The largest one
ever exhibited in New York weighed
thirty-two pounds. The red snapper
is not in market now, the season ex
tending from the first of September to
the first of May. Every year the
quantity sold shows a steady increase.
The average price last season was fif
teen cents a pound.
Woolen Mill Machinery Wears Out.
Much new woolen machinery is re
quired each year to replenish that which
has actually been worn out. Excellent
authorities establish the average life of
the entire mechanical equipment of a
woolen mill being twenty years, and as
there are about 9,000 sets of machinery
in use in the United States at the pres
ent time, it follows that an average of
450 sets become worn out and has to be
replaced each year. Four hundred and
fifty sets of machinery means 1,300 to
1,500 cards, about as many self-operat
ing spinning mules, 10,000 to 15,000
looms, and other machinery in propor
tion. A 200 spindle mule costs $750,
and one with 300 spindles costs S9OO.
To replace the mules alone, therefore,
which are annually worn out in the
United States necessitates a disburse
ment of over $1,200,000 per annum
among the machinery manufactures,and
to replace the cards and looms required
for the same purpose costs a much
larger sum.
True civility is a form of good-will
toward men. 'Everything is gained
and nothing lost by civility,'
Time-Balls.
in bis abstract of replies to various
questions touching the working of time
bails, General Hazen says: "Three meth
ods of constructing the ball are mentioned.
The first is by making a light framework,
either of wooden hoops or of iron or steel
wire, and covering the skeleton with strong
black canvas. The ball must be weighted,
in order to drop instantly, the amount to
be added being determined, if desired, by
experiment. It is estimated that a ball
should weigh from twenty to fifty or more
pounds in order to move quickly, the
weight varying with the diametor of the
ball and its exposure to high winds. The
second method of construction is that of
the New York ball, which is composed of
twelve thin vanes of sheet ooppei, disposed
radially, half of them semi-circles, the rest
crescents; by this device the visual effect
of a solid ball is secured. The weight of
the ball is 125 pounds. The third method
of construction is illustrated by the Bos
ton ball, which is made of rolled plate
copper, one-eighth ot an inch in thick
ness. It is four feet in diameter and
weighs nearly 400 pounds.
"The essential part of the apparatus is
that which provides for the releasing of
the ball at the right instant. There are
four different plans described in detail.
In all of these the ball is raised to the top
of its staff by a windlass, or directly by
hand, and held securely till within a few
seconds of the time of release, when the
releasing apparatus is applied, and the ball
falls at the automatic giving of the signal
by the clock. The devices described differ
from each other only in the way the arm
ature of the electro-magnet operated by
the clock is connected with the hoisting
apparatus, or the rope which detains the
ball at the top of the staff till its release.
AA New York the circuit through the clock
arid electro-magnet is closed at *he instant
the ball is released, while at Boston the
bail is detained at the top of the staff by
the electro -magnet, and tLe releasing of
tnc armature, when the circuit is broken,
causes the ball to falL The length of the
line is an important tactor in determining
the choice between an open or a closed
circuit. The New York bail is dropped
directly trom Washington over a line 24i'
miles in length, the St. Louis ball directly
from Glasgow, Mc. at a distance of ISO
miles, the Boston ball from Cambridge,
Mass., at a distance of four miles. The
circuit in ail these cases is necessarily open
to prevent interruption, the operating
clock closing the circuit, but at Boston, by
the use of a relay, a local circuit is used
for the immediate dropping of the ball,
which is a closed circuit.
••The percentage of failures in dropping
the ball is variously estimated from one to
five From the practical worfcmg of the
St. L >uls ball, it is found that the number
of failures m three months was two and a
half per cent. The Boston ball tell seven
months in succession with no failure, and
tecords three failures in the last year.
The leading cause of failure has been a
break in the telegraph line. The New
Yora ball has never been prevented from
dropping by a high wind, but could not
be hdfsted three times during the last win
ter on accouut ot sleet. The Boston ball
was not hoisted once each winter since its
erection, on account of ice. At such times
the failure to drop the ball is of not much
importance, as usually on account of
stormy weather the ball could not be seen
Irom any great distance. Tne answers to
the question upon the degree of accuracy
possible in the dropping of a ball are in
general devoted to a discussion of the ac
curacy attainable by the daily signals
from a a ell-t quipped observatory. This
is estimated from leas than 0.1 in good
weather to 1 or more in cloudy weather.
The accuracy of dropping a ball, however,
depends not only upon the accuracy of the
clock signals, but also on the condition ot
the telegraph lines and the adjustment of
the working relays. Professor Pntchelt
estimates that under ordinary circum
stances, over a circuit of one or two hund
red miles, a ball will be dropped within
half a second of the truth,
•♦The distance from an observatory at
which it is possible to drop time-balla or
control clocks depends wholly upon the
possibility of 9ecunne constant telegraphic
connection. Professir Langley would
undertake to control clocks in any part
of the United Slates if an uninterrupted
electric current is provided. Mr. Hamb
let would undertake to drop a time-ball
at any point within 300 miles from the
buildißg of the Western Union Tele
graph Company, New York City, provided
a satisfactory co npensation is given the
company for the use of its wires. The
sending of signals from an observatory by
which a clock can be legulated is possible
to a great distance from the observatory
through telegraph connections."
No doubt this is ail very ingenious, but
the most practical part ol the suggestions
seems to be involved somewhere in Pro
fessor Laugley's electric current. No
matter where time-balls were erected in
great cities they would be seldom seen by
anybody, as is now the case, and unless
they could in some way be made to serve
as media of communication between the
astronomical clock and electric batteries
scattered in all the homes and offices of
the people there seems to be no special
object to be gained by increasing the
numbers of them. Nor is there any suf
ficient reason for supposing that the aver
age man is specially troubled as to the
exact moment of time in any given hour,
Doon or another. Again, lb ire is no
earthly probability if all the world's time
pieces were right that men themselves
would be any more likely to "come to
time," and the first and last study of man
is not *'time-balls, )> but mankind.
A Sly Trap.
Mr. White, of .Newcastle, N. H., has a
brood of chickens which have the run of a
portion of the yard, the old hen being kept
shut up. The chickens are fed with
moistened meal in saucers, and when the
dough gets a little sour it attracts large
numbers of flies. An observant toad has
evidently noticed this, and every day along
toward evening he makes his appearance
in the yard, hops to a saucer, climDS in and
roils over and over until he is covered
with meal, having done which he awaits
developments. The flies, enticed by the
smell, soon swarm around the scheming
batr&chian, and whenever one pasaes
within two inches or so of his nose his
tongue darts out and the fly disappears,
and this plan works to well that the toad
has taken it up as a regular business. The
chickens do not manifest the least alarm
at their clumsy and big-mouthed play
mate, but seem to consider it quite a lara.
NO 37.