A BIG MA WONDZRFUL INVENTION OF AN ARMY ENGINEER. GNET. a Distance of Six Miles. Prove of Great Service in War. There is a big twelve-inch gun Willet’s Point, N. Y. It an nocent-looking and a big coll of , telegraph cable wound around the muzzle end of the piece suggests that is (Government witl an economical method of broken-down ordnance. The gun, however, 13 powerful electro-magne excepting those of natu struction at the ir the earth known as the magnet poles I'he big magnet is the invent W. R. king the engineer corps of the tioned 1 and st ‘ing experiments with it When ceived the i mense elect thought is experimenting ”» tne Colonel commander sta- 107 ere, or + t heavy insulated tele of the fort wet fastened across the breeches of The pieces of iron and were forming cannon, chains a was charge » work unde 1ient soon $ importance I Ot been lot was discovered or I a vessel's en pass the fort ur ound. When everything we had found whe the core. one of the working this net were given before members of the American Society for the Advance ment of Science. One of the exhibi- tions attracted a great deal of at'en- tion, as it best illustrated the power the magnet possessed. Fhe test consisted of four cannon balls being suspended from the snuzzle of the gun. The balls weighed, on an average, 430 pounds each. The first one was placed under tho muzzle of the gun, and, notwith- standing the smallness of the point of contact, made so by the shape of the suspended object, the ball was held very firmly. A second cannon ball was placed under the first one; then a third was put under the second, and when the fourth ball was held up by the magnetic attraction exclamations of surprise came from the spectators, Thesmallnessof the central point of bearing of each Of held up, was considered to be the best exhibition of the power. Daring a recent series of experi- ments an iron tray, heaped up with bolts, and other articles made of iron, was given to a soldier, and he was directed to hold the tray in front of him and walk toward the magnet. When the soldier arrived at a point about fifteen feet from the gun the conteats of the tray departed with a rush and lodged on and about the muzzle of the big gun. The soldier had all he could do to keep the tray from following the scrap iron. | This text has suggested the possi. | bilities or big electro-magnets being used to defend forts and earthworks from lana attacks. A row of them of suffieient power would draw the | smaller arms out of the hands of the | infantry while the advaneing column still some distance from the plece of attack, leaving the soldiers | at the mercy of the garrison of the fort. was BLOWN UP BY A BEOMB. Ravenous Shark. One of the oldest sea captains wha visit this port is a German who years ay ft his fatherland to take servize in one of the English vessels plyloag he @xX- A In conversation a few days ago most an account of his citing experience.” “A great shark,’ said he, “had followed us—our vessel was not very wrpe—for five days, on one of my arly voyages. It was impossible to satisfy his ravenous hunger, and he almost everything that threw overboard. We tried in vain to capture the animal and al- most decided to give up the attempt. Then, unhappil bin-boy died, vd we, of course, made pre bury him sailors wish ved, in the the ‘e watched closely for the shark morning of the funeral, narations a8 to be depths of sea. wishing him to make he ship’s little favorite wot seen him for an But we hs body, burial non balls to th i “Pe Cid of the sea, had | water when the gre its mighty The hody were JHWS wi sailors "And yet, according to the of a scientific investigation recently made in England by Lindsay Johnson, the natural of their pupils is circular. By varying the quantity entering the eyes he has pupils cats and tigers change from straight lines to perfect circles, and while under the influenca ol atropine, which suspends fora time the muscular control the eye, they are always circular The normal form of the cat's pupil is. then, the same as that of the hu. man pupil, but: when submitted to the influence of light its bebavior differs. In a brightalight our pupils become very small circles, while those of a eat turn into ovals or nar row slits, The general effect is the same in either case, namely, to di minish the quantity of light passing into the eye Curiously enough, in the larger animals of the cat tribe, such as tigers, the pupil sometimes behaves exnetly like the human pupil, and when brightly illuminated contracts into a minute circle instead of be- coming linear. In the case of domes. the older the animal the more frequently does the pupil of results of cat's shape of light geen the ’ of of Victims of Wild Animals™™ Ferocious as the rogue elephant appears to be, its rocord as a man- killer is far below that of other ani mals in India, Thus in India, in 1875, the tigers killed 828 persons and 12,428 domestic animals; wolves killed 1,061 persons; leopards, 187 persons and 16,157 domestic animals ; while the elephant is charged with but 61 persons killed and 6 domestic animals. Rogue tigers, wolves and leopards are far more to be dreaded than rogue elephants, 5 UNDERGROUND TRAFFIC, Underground Road for New York City. The sabject of rapid transit again being considered by a commie- sion consisting of Alexander KE, Orr, the President: Seth Low, John Claf- lin, William Steinway, and John H. Inman. : The latest scheme for underground traffic is presented by Chief Engineer W. B. Parsons, who estimates cost of building at sixty-six millions of dollars. It is proposed to traverse the entire length of New York by an underground road as soon as a feasi- Lle scheme shall be presented. Above Fourteenth street the underlying rock comes close to the surface, and tunnelling ean be carried on through this with comparative cheapness Proposed CABLE RCAD ~ PRY ERY I k 4 2 AGREAT WORK, Extentand Importance ofthe Chicago Drainage Canal. i 1 8 cient , and to waterways by COmine Lawrence with ew harbor conditions wil ready first in he bridge problem, which the time of hundreds of housands, will The de- of the exposition perfected railway service of the eity. with net-work of electric, and elevated has kept pace with growth, «nd terminal track elevation, abolisgh- ing railway grade crossings, has been The final housing of merchants in structures and mechanical de- team traffic of its business streets will soon ‘ome. will be intrenched for a port and 1 wasted try IAs be solved. its 8y8- Chicago 1 i possible parallel The large commercial use of the tension of Lake Michigan thirty miles further west, involves the im- provement of the Illinois to its junc- tion with the Mississippi. This drawing fourteen feet of water, It is unfortunate that the government works in this really noble river could reference to the future. Removal of the old dams will be Imperative, and it 1s well that the Sanitary District has authority under the laws of its creation to safeguard the new fluod. and in so doing to waterway to the Mississippi. The Mississippi Commission—who are privileged to assist that stream in as n storage reservoir to aid their labors. The Carrara marble quarries in Ttaly are practically inexhaustible. Business Is increasing in Manche ter (England) ship canal. A ‘ A BELGIAN MANDARIN, The Romantic Career of a Chinese | Custom Official, While the young American bicy- | z4isis, Messrs, Allen and Sachtleben, were crossing the Desert of Gobi, they heard much of a mysterious and powerful official called the Ling Darin No one could tell who or what was. Finally, as they emerged from the desert, starved, ill and ragged, they were met by a richly dressed mandarin, according to the story they tell in thie Century. He greeted them cordially in clear but broken English, and, mounted on waiting horses, they were attended into the city of Su-chou “lt was some time before the idea flashed across our minds that this might in- deed be the mysterious Ling Darin about whom we had heard much. ‘Yes, said he, ‘that what I am { called here, but my real name is Splingard He then went on to tell us that he was a Belgian by birth; that he traveled extepsively as the companion of wofen, an | had thus be- come so thoroughly nequainted with the country and its pe s return to th the ( custon he 8O in ple that, on lie had been ‘Ooast, Lhe hinese government by mandarin Fight of the Dervishes. The Dervishes themselves fonrless to a fault, but nothing against riflemen. again they rushed on certain death with a kind of fascination. In one instance, while a company of ry were advancing, an Arab man rode out from behind a and charged straight into the men, Horse and rider fell dead on the bayonets of the front rank, pierced by a score of bullets. His saddle, which is preserved at Halfa, was pierced by seven bullets, On wits nessing scenes like this, one under- stands how formidable must have been tho Arab invaders of Southern Furope and Northern Africa during the early days of Mohammedanisn, when firearms were unknown. The fearlessness ol the Dervishes equalled only by their fanaticism, Toward the end of the day at Arguin, where a number of Arabs had taken refuge in a house and could not be turned out, the roof was set on fire; after a short interval an old man, reading out of an open Koran. walked quietly out of the door, followed bya dozen spearmen, we could Again and - re do infant- horso- wall A Sofa. tfofa.’’ which has come to be a common term for a sublimated lounge, or the seitle of our grand- mothers, is the Terkish name for a | reception room for servants or the | visitors of servants. 1 { LIKE PEARLS, | Bhe's the handsomest of girls, | And her teeth are just like pearls, Which is hardly an original thing to say ; Yet. like pearls, they are white, and, to her intense delight, They nre often found in oysters nowaday . NOTES AND COMMENTS. Axornen ‘‘wonder doctor’ been discovered in Germany. a shepherd named Ast, living small village of Radbruch. last few weeks over 1,000 have visited him from all parts of Germany. The people stand crowds about the man’s hut, waiting for his advice, His success is said to ba remarkable. Tur Czar of Russia promises to be one of the most popular monarchs in Europe. He has completely won t St. Petersburg populace by his lack of fear in going about gireets the capital nnattended—n trast to the manner of The police, however, do 1 ways, and they that he will be in the In the persons rf in i ie the grent Lis 3 constant fear Sioux CIty, experiment qovernn for 12 000 t common propor 1] offer thems - reformers, as leaders and Where this aspiration, acct timental view of what one man—an i he young, and no than “1 myself’ ——can accomplish also joined to even a fair amount of judgment and patient willingness to undergo traini and to submit to rebuffs, it produces some truly spien- did results, are ready to formers and as prophets. ferment of ympanied by the sen- anknown, other is ng Over against the opinions of the visiting English labor leaders on the condition of the poor in New York City must be placed some statistics regarding London municipal govern- ment, furnished by Home Secretary Asquith the other day. He described the overcrowding in London as ter- rible. There are about 400,000 per- sons living in homes of one roum, and 800,000 “living two or more in a single room.”’ inspection of workshops, Mr. Asquith says that ‘‘only five out of forty. three District Boards have appointed inspectors specially for the purpose.” In Lambeth, with a population of 975.000, there is not a single public bath. In St. Pancras, population 214.000, there is not a single public library. End there is neither a public bath nor a public library. critics talk about New York they find ft convenient to fomget facts these. “You often hear passengers ask,” says a travelling man, *' ‘I wonder how fast we are going?’ and it is the ensiest thing in the worldito ascertain with the aid of a watch, The rails on nearly all railroads are thirty feet in length, and you can easily tell when each rail joint is passed over —“—- truck- count Lhe nu of number { and divide the jie number of rails Pinnt and muitipi numberof { re in this simple is one of which ired.”’ MAKING SERMONS How Evangelist Moody Goes ts Work About It. The tunnel was entirely obs to be an On a closer nroved to be exuded and t fibrous f by what appeared body of ation the snow ite. It had bottom, sides in mations similar ir ap At first it was believed to have collected only near the mouth of the tunnel, but investication showed that it ext i : ’ the entire iength SHOW epsom. been {from the y Of the tunnel long pearance to fine asbestos, ended of the excavation hundred feet Mr Gibson and his frien procured heavy clubs and beat their way through the en- tire distance, The stuff crumbled like spun glass. and made a beauti: ful carpet on the floor six inches thick. several Saw It at Last. * “One day,”’ says an American, “1 went into a book shop in the Strand and asked for Hare's ‘Walks in Lon- don.’ In America the book is sold in one thick volume. The clerk brought it intwo. ‘Oh.’ I said, as 1 looked at them, ‘you part your ‘“‘Hare’’ in middle, do you? ‘I, sir?’ he said. with a bewildered look. ‘Oh, no, 1 saw he didn’t ses the joke. books and wont away. A week later as the clerk saw me he rushed from the back of the shop, Inughing vocif- erously. “Good! Pe shouted. ‘Cape ital! Part your ‘Hare’ in the mids dle! That's capital sir, capital?’ * Coal gas was described and manu. factured by Dr. Clayton, of Eng. land, as carly as 1789,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers