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0 J THE PHTSBUi-iG DISPATCH, SUNDAY. MAT 22, 18Q2. . '
. tS. , 1 . . . . - .
RESTING THE BRAIN.
A Physician Writes on Exer
cise for Men "Who Work
With Their Heads.
THE TIIEORY OF CHANGE.
One Set of Nerve Centers May Be
Asleep While Others Are Busy,
HIGH LITIXG AND DESK LIFE.
Tse Dumbbells Ten Minutes and Walk Fire
Miles Every Day
PSESCEIBED FOE THE AVERAGE HAS
rWIUTTEX TOH THE DISPATCH.!
The brain-workers I am thinking of in
writing this article are not school children
or college students, but men and women.
Physical training is probably of even
greater importance in childhood than it is
in adult life, because upon the amount and
kind of it received in early years depends
largely the kind of body which the man
and woman must receive, use, and tako
care of. If, when they begin the real work
of life, this body is sound and well propor
tioned, n ith all its parts in good working
order, they have a fair start; if it has been
damaged by heredity, by habits, or by what
is commonly called accident, they have to
carry more or less weight in the race.
I am writing now, however, about men
busy men men who use their brains rather
Dr. J. S. Sittings.
than their muscles in the work upon which
thev are enaed.
The brain is not a single organ, bat a col
lection of many organs, much alike in gen
eral structure and more or less intimately
connected, yet distinct in location and in
function. Each of these sub-brains is com
posed of a croup of cells, and when these
cells act their structure changes a part of
the substance of each is decomposed and
carried off by the fluids which bathe them,
leaving a minute cavity. This loss must be
repaired to enable the cell to recover its en
ergy and power, and for this purpose rest
and a supply of proper nutritive material
are essential.
n The Science of Chance of Work.
If the cells of the nervous centers whose
special functions are perception, ideation
and consciousness are inactive we have
what is known as sleep, but one group of
cells may sleep while others are at
work. The nerve centers or sub-brains
which are used in playing chess, or in
speculating on the Stock Exchange, are no
doubt somewhat different from those which
are active in working out a mathematical
problem, in writing a prescription or pre
paring a sermon: and also for those brought
into plav in painting a picture or compos
ing a piece of music. Certain nerve forces
are active in all these forms of brain work,
but the action of other centers is more or
)es peculiar to each. The consequence is
that one of these sub-brains may be resting,
or. in other words, asleep, while the others
are active; and not only to but it may some
times be put to sleep bv setting the others
or ome of them at work.
This is what in popular language is called
turning the mind from one subject to
another, which is sometimes very easy and
Fometimes so difficult as to be practically
impossible. It is greatly to the advantage
of the brain-worker that he should be able
to control, to a considerable extent at least,
the times when these several sub-brains
Ehall work and shall rest; and an important
means of doing this is through the agency
of physical exercise, involving special exer
cise of will and of conscious perception.
Every educated man, whether he be lawyer,
clergyman, physician, teacher, literary
man, journalist or artist, believes theoreti
cally that he ought to have a certain
amount of physical exercise to maintain
health and to preserve his cowers of thought
and of expression of his ideas in the con
dition of efficiency which is essential to his
purpose; but, practically, most of them pay
little attention to this need until some
sense of discomfort, or loss of power, shows
them that some damage has been already
done.
nifh Living and Good Exercise.
Then thev may co toaphysician, who will
probablv advise them, amone other thinss,
to take exercise. But I am not writing for
men who are under the charge of a physi
cian, nor even for those who are beginning
to fear that they may soon require medical
advice; hopiug'rather that this may be read
by some of the many brainworkers between
25 ai.d 40 years of age who are still per
forming their tasks without special effort.
The completeness and ease with w hich
the work of an organ or of an organism is
done depend largely upon the frequency
and regularity with which its functions are
exercised. It thie exercise is excessive, or
if it is insufficient, loss of power results.
The brain-worker is liable to exercise cer
tain parts of his nervous system, and pos
sibly the mutcles used in writing, to excess,
and to exercise certain other nerve centers
and the greater part of his muscles too little.
The mere los3 of muscular power or of
capacity for continued physical effort,
ft Inch results from this disuse, is in itself
usually a trifling matter to him; but the re
mote consequences may be serious, and this
is especially likely to be the case if, while
takinc little exercise, he continues to eat,
dnnk'and smoke as if he were getting
plentv of it.
The eflects of rich food, of wine, beer and
alcoholic drinks, and of tobacco, are very
different in men who give their muscles
plenty to do from what they are in those
who do not. The effects in the latter class
vary much with individuals; some become
toofat, others thin and dyspeptic; one man
suffers from obscure gouty and rheumatic
troubles, another from diabetes, a third
from incipient and usually unsuspected
Bright's disease, while, in a fourth, an ir
ritable or intermittent heart, producing a
sense of want of breath, is the first symptom
tiiat attracts attention. These troubles
come upon the idle lounger even more fre
quently than upon the brain-worker; it is not
the excess of cerebral exercise which pro
duces them.
.flow Brain Depends Upon Body.
Simple brain work, without special fric
tion or worry, has little or no influence in
producing diseases or discomfort if the or
ganism be normal and healthy to commence
with; but it the brain has to use deformed
eyes, or obtain its blood supply from a
feeble heart, or to use for fuel blood which
contains salts, orleucomalnes, or albumeses,
which are irritating or narcotic or otherwise
harmful, then trouble of some kind may be
confidently anticipated.
"Exercise," or "bodily exercise" or
"physical exercise" are terms commonly
used as if they were related only to muscu
lar action, and the amount of exercise which
a man should take in a day is stated in
terms of mechanical force. For example,
it is estimated that a healthy man ought to
take a daily amount of exercise equal to
150-foot tons, that is to the force required
to lift 150 tons one foot hich.
But the physical exercise which I have
in mind is exercise of the nervous system
also. It would be possible to produce by
electrical stimuli the contraction of the in
dividual muscles concerned in walking in
such a way that each muscle wonld be large
and strong, and yet that the person possess
ing them would be unable to walk because
the nerve centers which control the action
of these muscles had not received their
share of the exercise and training. The act
of walking requires not only that the
mnscles shall contract, but that they shall
contract and relax in a certain order, so as
to co-operate with each other to produce
the desired movements and no others, and
this co-ordination is effected by means of
the nervous system.
When Walking Becomes Automatic
In some kinds of co-ordination, as in
walking, the action of the nervous system
eoon becomes automatic, and is performed
without conscious effort; but when the will
must be exerted in order to produce the
movement desired, the work of the nervous
system is greater, and fatigue and exhaus
tion will result more quickly, not neces
sarily because more muscular force has been
evolved, but because more central nervous
gray tissue has been used up.
The strong muscles of the smith's arm
will give out before those of a skilled
musician if both are set to running simple
scales on the piano.
Du Bois Beymond defines exercise as
"the frequent repetition of a more or less
complicated action of the body with the co
operation of the mind, or of an action of
the mind alone for the purpose of being able
to perform such action better." The defini
tion is in the main a-good one; but the pur
pose of the brainworker in exercising may
not be, and usually is not, to perform the
action better. His objects may be first, to
rest one part of his brain by setting another
part at work to co-ordinate certain muscles;
second, to strengthen the heart snd improve
the circulation and oxidation of the blood;
third, to get rid of uunecessary fatty tissue;
fourth, to improve appetite and digestion,
and fifth, to obtain sleep. The form of exer
cise which will be of most use to him in his
daily life will be that which can be contin
ued for a considerable time without produc
ing breathlessness or irregular action of the
heart, or what is called the exercise of en
durance; yet to this should be added some
exercise requiring rapid action for a short
time the so-called exercise of speed.
Brainwork When Muscles Are Fattened.
"Walking is a type of exercise of endur
ance; practice with light dumbbells is a
good exercise of speed. That form of ex
ercise whose object is to aeveiop strengtn,
such as the lifting of weights, etc., is not a
desirable form for brain workers. Physical
exercise has its evil as well as its good side.
Many people seem to suppose that plenty
of exercise is a sovereign remedy or pre
ventive for most disorders, and that the
more one gets of it the more brainwork he
can do, and the less care he need take in
other respects. This is incorrect; a man
cannot do his best thinking when his mus
cles are faticued. Gentle exercise, such as
walking, will often help the brainwork, be
cause it increases the rapidity of the circu
lation; bnt violent exercise has a contrary
effect. For the great majority of literary
workers athletic exercises are of doubtful
utility.
The question of brain rest and physical
exercise should be considered v, ith reference
to the usual dailv routine of work and to
vacations. It it be possible to give up all
work for a month or six weeks in the year,
and to spend this time in the woods, among
the mountains or on the sea hunting, fish
ing, riding, walking doing almost anything
in fact that will keep one for the greater
part of the time in the open air and sun
light, and which will interest him inmat
ters outside oi his ordinary work, it will be
time and money well spent. This, however,
will not do away with the need for a certain
amount of regular daily exercise when he is
at home attending to business.
A Prescription for an Average Man.
It is impossible to lay down definite rules
as to the amount and kind of this exercise
which is required to preserve health and yet
shall not involve a waste of time and energy.
The most that can be said is that the muscles
should be kept in fair normal condition.
Probably for the majority of men 10 or 15
minutes' work with light dumbbells on
rising in the morning, with a bath and thor
ough rubbing, and from three to five miles'
walk during the day is sufficient and not
excessive.
The force required in walking on a level
surface is estimated as equal to raising one
twentieth of ths weight of the body through
the distance walked. The objections to
walking are that it takes too much time, and
that it is shirked in disagreeable weather
and on hot days. Time, however, is an
essential element in exercise for brain
workers and there are not ten days in the
year too rainy or too hot to permit one's
getting a two mile walk at least some time
during the day. It is important to have
some other object for the walk or ride than
of mere exercise, otherwise it is apt to be
come a disagreeable duty; hence, compan
ionship in exercise is desirable.
The thing to be remembered in deciding
upon the character and amount of the mus
cular work to be done is that the object is
not to obtain strong muscles, but rather
fresh air, good digestion, change of thought,
and sound sleep, and that to insure this it is
far better to begin before one feels the need
of it than afterward; for thus, and thus only,
can one have a reasonable expectation that
the best and pleasantest part of his life will
cone after he is 50 years old.
J. S. Billings, M. D.
LAB0B IN ALASKA'S WILDS.
A Fart of the Union Where TPorkingmen
Have No Cause to Complain.
Harper's Weellr.
The workingman need not complain in
Alaska. Three dollars a 4aTi vvith board
and lodging provided by his employers, are
miners' wages. Indian workmen in the
mines receive 52 a day and "find" them
selves. The cost of provisions adds a dollar
a day for each white employe to the ex
penses of the mining company, and with
these items in the operatins expenses, any
fractions of dividends sufficiently prove the
richness of the mines.
Hvdraulic mining begins in 5Iay and lasts
until October; and unless they are situated
in snow-choked canons, difficult of access,
the quartz mills can run all the year round.
The great Treadwcll mill on Douglas Island
thunders night and day, winter and summer,
grinding out in the 12 months ending with
last May 5769,765 80 sufficient answer to
all that has been said against Alaska's being
or becoming a great mining country.
Weight by the Stone.
Newcastle Chronicle.
Measurement of weight by the "stone,"
says a writer, arose from the old custom
farmers had of weighing wool with a stone.
Every farmer kept a large stone at his
farm for this purpose. "When a dealer came
along he balanced a plank on top of a wall,
and put the stone on one end and bags of
wool on the other untii the weights were
equal. At first the stones were of all sorts
ot sizes and weights, with the result that
dealers who wished to make a living had to
be remarkably knowing in their estimates
of them. But the many inconveniences
evolved by this inequality eventually re
sulted in the stones being made of a'uni
form weight.
MILK OF THE WORLD.
Statistics Show Londoners Use a
Quarter Pint Each Per Day.
THE DURABILITY OP ALUMINUM.
An
Attachment by Which a Bicycler Can
Gire Eis Lady a Bide.
ODDS AND ENDS OF B0IENTIFIC I0EE
rWKITTIN FOB TBI DISPATCH.
A problem which is of the deepest interest
to statisticians, agriculturists and social
economists is the production and utilization
ot milk and milk products in this country.
Steps are now being taken to seeure reliable
data on this subject.
In the meantime some statistics which
have just been collected in England are of
great value. "Within the last 20 years the
number of cows in Great Britain has de
creased in proportion to population. In
186G-70 there were 82.1 cows per 1,000 of the
population, while in 1886-90 there were only
77.9. The absolute number of cows had in
creased, but not sufficiently to keep pace
with the growth of population. In Ireland
the period 1886-90 showed a higher propor
tion (290.8) of cows to population than in
any of the four quinquennial periods, bat
this was not due to an increase in the
number of cattle, but to the decrease of
population.
As reeards the London milk supply, the
figures furnished by the railway companies
show that the total quantity of milk
brought by rail into the metropolis was in
1S90 rather more than 40,000,000 gallons, or
nearly 110,000 gallons per day. Similar re
turns collected nearly 30 years ago show
that at that time the quantity did not ex
ceed 2,500,000 gallons per annum. The
total London milk supply amounts to 133,
000 gallons per day, or 48,500,000 gallons
per annum, which gives a daily consump
tion per head of one-quarter of a pint.
Figures supplied by milk retailers in vari.
ous districts show" an average daily con
sumption per head in the 'West End of
three-quarters of a pint, while in the East
End it is only 0.08 of a pine Returns col
lected from a number of publio institutions
show a mean daily consumption per head of
0.66 pint of milk, 0.51 ounce of cheese and
0.90 ounce of butter.
Taking the country generally, the aver
age consumption per head per annum of
milk, butter and cheese is estimated as fol
lows: Milk, 15 gallons; butter, 151 pounds
(of which 8.8 comes from abroad); cheese,
12 pounds (ot which 6 pounds are foreign).
Beducing all the cheese and butter to their
equivalents in milk, the total consumption
ot the United Kingdom is 2,546,000,000 gal
lons, of which 1,129,000,000 are produced
abroad and are imported in the shape of
butter or cheese. The 1.417,000,000 gallons
of milk produced in the United Kingdom is
thus accounted for: Consumed as milk, 570,
000,000 gallons; butter, 617,000,000 gallons
(representing 105,000 tons ot butter); cheese,
221,000,000 gallons (representing 100,000
tons of cheese); and miscellaneous (con
densed milk, etc.), 6,000,000 gallons. Even
these results are only tentative, but they
throw an interesting light on a most diffi
cult and complex subject and are instructive
and valuable to statisticians who are cover
ing the same ground in this country.
Artificial Nose and Ear Manufacture.
It is quite the fashion to attribute to
aluminum adaptability for every conceiv
able purpose. In the majority of cases
there is some warrant for doing so, as the
new metal lends itself kindly to all kinds of
conditions and uses, and among these is the
manufacture of artificial noses and ears.
Wonderfully good imitations of these mem
bers were formerly made in wax, celluloid,
wood, porcelain or vulcanite. Vulcanite
was the substance most in favor, from its
lightness, strength and small liability to in
jury. After being vulcanized, the piece
was painted by an artist in oil colors, as
near the color of the skin of the intended
weareras possible. For attaching it to the
face springs were at first tried, bnt there
was a strong prejudice against them on ac
count of their supposed tendency to inter
fere with the circulation and cause irrita
tion and possibly imfiammation or absorp
tion of the tissue. Finally it became
customary to keep the nose in the
required position by fixing it to eye glasses,
and in this way the wearer could almost
defy detection. For this purpose alumi
num is now iu vogue. It is strong and
light, and is easily covered with muslin,
which is afterwardpainted. It has thus be
come a matter of even greater ease to adjust
a portion of the nose or ear with perfect
nicetv and have it painted to so nearly re
semble the tkin that covers other portions
of the face that the fact would remain un
known it you met the wearer a dozen times
in a week. Scores of people are daily met
on the streets who are wearing some such
appliance, and many of them have been do
ing so so long that they have almost for
gotten the fact themselves. Five times out
of seven the loss of the nose is caused by ab
scess centrals which break just inside the
nostrils. The disease then attacks the bone,
which decays very rapidly. Sometimes a
portion of it is saved, but this is the excep
tion and not the rule.
A Hallway Accident.
A singular suit has been brought in a
Vienna court. A firm of electrical engineers
constructed a miniature electric railway for
the defendant, who intended it as a Christ
mas present for his children. As the de
fendant pleaded, when the suit for payment
was brought into conrt, that the electrio
railway was a failure the electro motor
being insufficient to set the train in motion
the Court demanded an "expert opinion"
on the capacity of the apparatus. A day
was appointed for the trial trip, which took
place in the hall oi the court, in the pres
ence of the Judge, a reporter, two experts
in electric installations and the representa
tives of the eontending parties. A large
board, upon which the rails were laid, was
fixed in the hall and the train was set in
motion. At first it moved quite smoothly
along the line, but suddenly the carriages
underwent a mighty jolt, the entire train
got oil the line, and the drama of a "derail
ment" in miniature was exhibited before
the commission. The experts declared that
the faulty construction of the rails was the
cause of the accident. The adjustment of
the rails was ordered and another day was
fixed for a further trial before the Court.
The moral ot which is that it is impossible
nowadays to keep electricity out of any
thing, even a suit for children's toys.
Tandem Bicycle Attachment.
The popularity of the bicycle has greatly
increased since the discovery of the fact
that it is just as well adapted to feminine
requirements in the matter ot exercise and
enjoyment as to those oi the sterner sex.
To some devoted couples, new arrangement
will appeal very forcibly. This is a tandem
attachment to a safety bicycle for use by a
lady. The price of the attachment is com
paratively small, and the cyclist by having
it and attaching it to his own machine finds
himself in the enviable position of being
able to take any lady friend for a run when
occasion requires.
A Useful Plaster.
A material combining the best qualities
of the ordinary plaster and those of fire
proof cement is being used in London. One
of the advantages claimed by the manufact
urers of the plaster is that the plasterer can
commence a room in the morning and com
pletely finish it before the day is out with
out special preparation of the surface. Tne
next day there is a hard surface, which con
tinues to toughen until the result is a wall
or ceiling which will withstand damage
from any sort of rough treatment. It is
also claimed that walls, ceilings and bat
tened or strapped walls which are coated
with this material will never crack. Used
pure this plaster lies on the ceiling like
gauged putty.
Compress Heater and Steriliser.
A useful appliance has been introduced in
hospitals In the shape of a compress heater
and sterilizer. This enables all the advan
tages oi the ordinary compress to be
markedly increased. The points claimed
for the new device are that there is no
moistening or wringing of hot oloths neces
sary; that it does away with the use oi oil
silk or cotton, as it cannot wet bedclothes
and will retain heat longer than the ordl
narv compress, and the compresses may be
applied to different patients without wash
ing, as they may be easily sterilized and
freed entirely from germs. The steaming
of poultices and plasters, etc., is facilitated,
ana food for infants or invalids may be pre
pared in the sick room without any escape
of steam. This device is also eminently
adapted for the sterilization of instruments,
sponges, bandages, milk, etc. The steril
izer is opened from the bide, and thus all
condensation of steam on dressings is
avaided, and any part of the dressing may
be removed at pleasure without rendering
the remainder liable to excessive moisture.
New Method of Preserving Xogi.
X new method of impregnating logs with
zine chloride in order to preserve them is
in use in Austria. The process is very
rapid, and has the additional advantage of
being applicable to the timber as soon as it
is felled. The zino chloride solution, which
has a specific gravity of 1.01, is forced into
the thick end of the log by a force pump.
To this end an iron diss ot suitable diame
ter and furnished with a cutting rim is
forced into the end of the log and secured
by clamps. The preparatory work for im
precrnatine each loe takes from three to four
minutes. "When a pressure of two or three ,
atmospheres has been maintained at the
thick end of the log for a few minutes the
sap begins to exude at the opposite end,
and when this is followed by a weak solu
tion of zinc chloride the operation has been
completed. About two gallons and a half
of the solution are required per cubic foot
of timber treated. One disadvantage of
the process which has not yet been over
come is that it does not distribute the solu
tion so uniformly as some qther methods.
Tet Another Insulator.
Another claimant for that bonanza of the
electrical field, a durable and effective in
sulator, hails from Germany. He mixes
three parts of steatite with two of powdered
chalk or magnesia aud chalk, and thor
oughly incorporates the ingredients until the
material has a uniform, "soapy" touch.
The mixture can then be compressed into
dense masses, and is ready to be worked up
into any convenient form. To increase the
insulating properties ot the chalk it is
kneaded with three parts of resin or shellac
dissolved in alcohol until a sort of dough is
obtained. This is then dried, powdered,
warmed with constant stirring to 30
centigrade, and finally compressed into hot
molds.
Durability of Fare Aluminum.
In view of the conflicting statements that
have been made with regard to the various
qualities of aluminum, some statistics lately
received from Germany are ot interest. The
results ot the loss in weight in three spoons
of different compositions, after continuous
use, are given.' A silver spoon lost 0.403
per cent per year; an aluminum spoon lost
0.630, and a German silver spoon 1.006. It
thus seems evident that as regards durabil
ity there is not much to choose between sil
ver and aluminum, while the alloy wears
away more easily than either.
New STethod of Mine Ventilation.
A novel device has been used to produce
an air current in a shaft in Pennsylvania.
A small steam pipe enters the top of a
wooden airway for a depth of nine feet, and
the steam escaping from this pipe causes a
rush of air which obviates the use of a fan.
So considerable is the effect of this steam
ject that 8,604 feet of cubic air is carried
out at the outlet of the shaft every minute.
This system has been so successful that it
is regarded as more practical than the air
fans now in common use.
WELLINGTON'S FAMOUS BALL.
Belles and Beanx Who Really Danozd the
Dance of Death.
Manchester Times.
The Duke and Duchess of Richmond were
living in a fine hotel on the Rue de la
Blanchissere which stood on its own
grounds and had a fruit and flower garden
extending to the city ramparts. Their
Graces moved in all the sbciety of Brussels,
and entertained a great deal. The Duchess,
who had issued 220 invitations for her ball,
proposed to recall them when she heard that
Napoleon's army was advancing. But the
Duke of Wellington, to prevent alarm, re
quested that the ball might take place.
Nevertheless, many English families were
frightened away from Brussels, and post
horses were kept harnessed in the Duke of
Richmond's stable, in case bad news from
the scene of the conflict should make it ad
visable for his children to be sent to Ant
werp. The majority of the people of
Brussels were violent Bonapartists and
were prepared to entertain Napoleon in
great style should he force the British army
to retreat and enter their city in triumph.
So it was that the Duke of "Wellington
and many of his officers went to the ball
after the business of the day had been at
tended to. While the merry couples were
flying around, a dispatch from the front was
handed to Wellington. He asked the Duke
of Richmond for a private room where he
might consult with some of his generals
who were present. The Duchess' dressing
room was the only convenient room safe'
from intrusion. Candles were hastily lit
on the dressing table at which Wellington
eat with a map before him. and having ex
plained certain points to his staff tbey all
rejoined the company. They left the house
before 10 o'clock, and succeeded in doing so
without attracting any attention. Very
lew, if any, of the dancers guessed how
near at hand was the crisis which was to
decide the fate of Europe, and it never en
tered the heads of the young girls that some
of their partners were dancing the "dance
of death."
SEVENTY-FOUR DOUBLE COUSINS.
An Interesting Family Relationship Case
Among French Canadians.
Pearson's Weekly.
The French Canadian people are famous
for the size of their families, and for the in
tricacy of their family relations.- Every
one in a given neighborhood is quite sure to
be related in some way to every one else.
A surprising illustration of these charac
teristics is found in the village of St Marie
de Beauce, in the Province of Quebec.
There lived the two families of Bheaume
and Horin; and in each of these families
there were eight children four boys and
four girls in each case. As the young peo
ple grew up, every Rheaume boy married a
Horin girl, and every Morin boy a Rheaume
girl, until all were married in this way.
Large families of children were born to
all these unions; so that at last accounts,
there were 39 Rheaume children in the
third generation, and 35 Horin ehildren.
These 74 children, living in one village,
are, therefore, of a degree of relationship
nearer than cousinship: they are what is
known as "double cousins." This rela
tionship is not of unusual occurrence; but
so great a number of "double cousins" liv
ing in a single village was probably never
known before.
BILL NYE IN A ZOO.
fle Interviews Mr. 0'Hoolihan on
Leading Questions of the Day.
A NEW DISTRIBUTION OP BBAINS.
Hoir a Good Man Fought Valiantly to Save
a Tough Speak-Easy.
,
IMF0RMATI05 AS TO ENGLI8H HUMOR
WRITTEN FOE THE DISPATCH.
Cincinnati has one of the most attractive
soological gardens in the United States, the
fauna displayed there being of an unusually
robust and attractive quality. Fondness
for a close study of animal lite has ever
been a characteristic of mine, and on arrival
in any city of considerable size I register,
send up my luggage and Inquire at once for
the zoological gardens. Soon afterward
you may see me engaged in studying the
sloping shoulders of the giraffe or the low,
retreating forehead of the crocodile.
At the Zoo in Cincinnati.
Prof. Louis Agassiz, with whom I have
lectured a number of times to standing room
only, divides the earth into three fauna,
viz.: 1. The arctic. 2. The temperate. 3.
The tropical. The arctic fauna was homo
geneous, and embraced tho northern ex
tremeties of the several boreal continents
down to the isothermal zero. Possibly I do
not make myself quite plain, but a little
thought will make this perfectly clear.
Oatmeal Isn't Popular TJp North.
The arctic fauna embraced those anim als
which, like the polar bear, prefer a strictly
meat diet during the winter, exhibiting a
strong repugnance to oatmeal and adhering
to their heavy jaegers the year round. The
arctic fauna also embraces the walrus, the
penguin and the pemmican. The salt horse
and Cincinnati quail are also found as far
north as the utmost limit of exploration
and human vertebrate.
Rodentia and pachyderms do not do well
in the arctic fauna. The season is too short.
I would never take my pachyderms too far
north. Insectism does well here, and some
gallinaceous birds, notably the penguin and
the toboggan, but pachyderms and articu
lata are very seldom found here.
Cincinnati has two good specimens of the
polar bear. This animal is found in the ex
treme north, subsisting mainly on kippered
herring and young explorers. The white or
polar bear can sit for hours on a cake of ice
without taking cold. What a wise arrange
ment of nature this is which enables the
polar bear, even when heated and perspiring
alter a long, hard chase after an explorer, to
seat himself on an iceberg with impunity
while eating his explorer.
Living on Polar Axle Grease.
This animal is also enabled to go for days
without food. Last winter, for instance, is
said to have been aver v severe one on arctle
fauna. Toward spring, it is said, thousands f
ot arcticammals were driven troni their usual
haunts by cold and hunger, many of them
barely eking out a wretched existence by
licking the axle grease off the north pole.
The polar bear, however, pulled through
without great suffering and in very fair con
dition, while thousands of other arctic
animals died off, owing to the fact that
curiosity regarding the open polar sea is ap
parently falling off, and the carnivorous
animals of the polar regions are now often
seen to pause and look at each other as who
should say: "Don't it seem to you that it
is getting to be a pretty long time between
polar expeditions?"
About the only real merit attached to the
Arctic regions, it seems to me, is the fact
that there is said to be absolutely no ma
laria there and very few mosquitoes. On
the other hand, the tropical fauna must con
tinually grapple with a very malarial cli
mate, the very sine quinine of a climate,
as it were. The tropical fauna is repre
sented in the Cincinnati zoological collec
tion by a number of good sp ecimens, among
others a pair of chimpan zees, called Mr.
and Mrs. O'Hoolihan. Mr. O'Hoolihan is
somewhat below the medium height and re
sembles the late Mr. Crowlev, of New York.
Mr. O'Hoolihan has a pale gray eye and
John C. Calhoun whis kers. In politics he
favors a republican form ot government
with a Democratic majority. Socially he
is rather liberal, and would no doubt lead a
double lite if he had not been placed where
his actions are constantly under the public
eve, as it were.
A Scene for a Bembrandt.
One of the most touching plotures I have
ever seen, I think, and one well worthy of
the brush of a Rembrandt or a McDougall,
is that of Mrs. O'Hoolihan on a Sabbath
morning fussing around among Mr. O'Hooli
han's John C. Calhoun whiskers with a fine
comb. Mr. O'Hoolihan favors the election
of Senators directly by the people, and also
urges that in this day of popular prices for
good entertainments seats in the Senate
are too high. He would favor making them
10, 20 and 30 cents.
Mr. O'Hoolihan also favors the free and
unrestricted coinage of silver, together with
a more rigid rule regarding its absorption
by those who already have some. His
theory is that the Government should offer
a certain percentage ot premium to those
who now have money, and by that means
ascertain truthfully what amount each
citizen has. Then it should announce that
it had made a slight error as to the mean
ing of the law, and turn right around
with what silver it has and what it can
coin by means of a new brick and tile
machine which will make money as fast as
a big factory can make carpet tacks, and
even up the whole thing so that all man
kind may start in square again. Mr. O'Hoo
lihan favors also the apportionment of
brains in the same way, if possible, other
wise the able men would fool the other
folks out of their money again in a week,
and all this apportionment would have to
be gone through with again. He does not
know yet very fully how he Vlll even up
the gray matter business, but he thiuks it
can be done.
A Socialiatio View or Brain.
He claims that when surgeons are able to
open the skull of a foolish person that has
failed to grow, thus giving room to the brain
so that the idiotic, by having a gore or a
gusset put into the skull, have been able to
almost think inside ot a week, whereas they
formerly did not know enough to ache when
they got hurt, he thinks the day is not far
distant when the man who knows too much
may be made to "whack up," as it were,
with the mental pauper. Proper officials will
go around with a brain tester for people to
think against, and by means of a graduated
scale the official can tell whether a man
knows more or less than the law allows.
In this way the smart Aleck who knows
wis
it all, and who tells his parents how to grow
up and be good men and women, will be
oompelled to fork over some of his ability to
the poor fellow who has failed as a sand
pounder.
a Mr. O'Hoolihan favors more rigid mar
riage laws, especially requiring those who
marry io refrain from shooting each other
within the first vear. and also restraining
them from publishing their divorce pro
ceedings, so that children are liable to get
hold of them. He believes in having
suitable places, where people may go
to get their divorce business and soiled
linen attended to.
The Trouble With English Humor.
Asked his opinion regarding English hu
mor as compared with Irish and American
humor, he said:
"The English humor oi to-day is of a
restful character, and used mostly as a
means of relaxation. In the days of Thack
eray and Dickens; Englishmen seemed to
enjoy a mirth-provoking humor of the
American order, it seems to me, but now it
runs largely to puns and petty larceny. It
is a sadder humor than ours, a good style to
adopt during Lent. English humor with
sulphur and treacle can do no harm, I
think.
"An Englishman came over on a Cunarder
the other day, and the passengors put the
customs officers 'on to him' because he
seemed to have swollen up so rapidly the
day before "he reached New York. But how
do you suppose he got out of it? He told
the officers that the day before he landed the
passengers got him to talking on the tariff,
and before he had an idea of what he was
doing he had enlarged upon itl
"He turned out to be the song and dance
editor on the staff of Punch, who was com
ing to America for his health, also for the
purpose of organizing a school of what is
called Whitechapel humor, which is quite
popular in England now."
The Elephant's Overalls.
The Cincinnati zoological works possesses
the tallest and handsomest giraffe grandi
flora that there is in America, so I am told.
It can easily eat out of a third story window,
and belongs to Rescue Hook and Lad
der Company No. 3, of Cincinnati.
The Elephant Wat Sol Feeling Well.
The elephant was feeling very poorly
when I saw him. His skin looked dry and
feverish. When he walked his overalls
rattled together like tin clothes fastened
together with wire.
The mandrill is a strange looking beast
with a brief but spirited tail. It has a
blue nose, but flushes easily if taken by
surprise. It then goes and buries its face in
its hands in an embarrassed way, erroneously
thinking that it is secure from view.
It was on board a train between Wheeling
and Pittsburg the other day that I heard a
sad tale. It was told to me by a refned
Kentucky gentleman, who was attending
church a few weeks ago when the shrill cry
of fire burst forth on the street of the
village. The pastor had been unusually
interesting in his talk and unusually strong
in his vigorous attacks, especially upon
gambling, drinking aud the desecration of
the Lord's day. Every one was greatly
interested, for the pastor's heart was in the
work and his burning words were listened
to with rapt attention, for his language was
as powerful as it could be without violation
of clerical etiquette and the statntes in such
case made and provided.
A Pastor Breaking the Sahbath.
Fire, however, had broken out in the
hotel near by, it seemed, and so in the
midst of his eloquent and fearless battle
against these vices he broke off suddenly to
aid in saving property. He formed a
bucket brigade, and aided by the four other
pastors, who had also hastened to the scene,
a line of pails soon extended from the near
est pump to the ladder running up the side
of the building.
For hours the good man fought the flames
without ever pausing for breath. The hook
and ladder company did the swearing while
he carried water. They pulled clown ivy
vines, ate hotel pie, filled the air with im
precations and ever and anon rolled up
their sleeves to see if their muscles had
grown any since they had last examined
them. .
Finally, seeing that the hotel could not
be saved, and that a little cottage near it
was threatened, the pastor said: "Let us
save this little home at least. Put blankets
on the roof and keep them wetted. Work
with a will, boys, and we may save this
little 'cot even though the hotel perish."
ilo Had Saved a Spoak-E.i-y.
Finally, after hours of struggle in the
choking smoke and heat and discourage
ment, the flames dieddown and, surrounded
by ruin and wreck, the little house stood
by itself safe and unscathed. The pastor
went in to see if everything still remained
unharmed and to receive the thanks of the
occupants. There was no one there, but on
the table, face down, were four unusually
good hands, running all the way from the
straight to the bobtail flush, while in the
center of the table stood the tempting jack
pot, and near by, on a sideboard, a tall re
ceptacle with willow environments con
taining spirits, arranged and dramatized by
a gentleman named Pepper.
The cottage was what is called in that
country a "Speak-Easy."
A "Speak-Easy" is not a moral place.
The pastor put on his coat and princess
vest and went home, and as he went some
one heard him say: "Whoso is simple, let
him turn in hither. He that reproveth a
scorner getteth himself shame, and he that
rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a
blot." Bill Nye.
MONKS POSSESS THE 8ECEEI
They Manufacture Benedictine Liquor and
Thus Increase Their Income.
The liqnor "Benedictine" is distilled
within a monastery in France by monks
(who alone possess the receipt), much on
the same principle as that of the Great
Chartreuse, to which the Benedictine has a
great resemblance both as to color (to the
yellow Chartreuse, not the green) and
taste. Its greatest property, and perhaps
the secret of its unique flavor, lies in the
excellent quality of the very old brandy
used in its distillation.
The bottles are of a peculiar and special
shape and manufacture, and every precau
tion is taken to prevent imitations of the
liquor for which the Benedictines of Fecamp
are notorious,yet not withstanding their vig
ilance, imitations are made and aold, but the
"Benedictine" still continues to increase
the already large fortune of the diligent
and persevering monks at Fecamp.
How the Uanar la Worked.
Do you know how a bazaar works? The
principle is a very ingenious one. Some
ladies borrow money from their husbands,
buy materials and mnke up fancy articles,
which they send to the bazaar. Then they
change places, borrow more money, and buy
the articles back again.
I I
THE BIG SHOW BILLS.
Nearly a Million' Feet of Space Cov
ered With Gorgeous Paper
IN THE TWO CITIES EVERT WEEK.
Rivalry of Theaters for the Windows and
Files in the Streets.
PASSES FOR HANGING LITH0GBAPHS
rworrriir tob thb dispatch.!
One of the most remarkable facts of civil
ized life is the number of important busi
nesses that exist of which the public have
the most absurd ideas. Bill posting is a
conspicuous instance of this. We see great
posters 'pasted on boards around vacant
lots or old buildings, and as we glance at
the announcements or pictures there dis
played we regard the whole affair as a very
unimportant element in city life. We
know that men go around with piles of bills,
buckets of paste and brushes, and that,
with a few dexterous movements, they con
vert a space full of tattered paper, ot an
expanse of old boards, into a brilliant dis
play of dramatic scenes in many colors.
We see them do this, but few of us stop
to think that these men are part of a sys
temized business that involves many thou
sands of dollars of capital, an army of work
men and the most careful arrangements by
men of long experiences. Yet there is no
business in the city that calls for more care
ful attention than this of bill posting.
A fetf figures will convey some idea of
its extensive character. In Pittsburg and
Allegheny there are, under the control of the
city bill posters, 75,000 lineal feet of board
insr, averaging ten feet in height. This is
750,000 square feet that is covered with bills
of various kinds all the year around.
Bills That Make the Boys Stare.
Besides this there are 3,000 "three
sheet" boards. A "three-sheet" bill is
about 3)4 feet wide by 7J feet in
height Spaces on which can be
pasted up 20,000 "one-sheets," each S
by lyi makes up the total space of free read
ing and art work that is placed at the dis
posal oi the' inhabitants of the two cities by
the work of the billposters. To paste up
all this paper every year 1,200 barrels of
flour are used, with the services of 22 men,
who are constantly employed, while extras
are put on when there is a rush. Three
horses and wagons help to carry the paper,
paste and men to some extent, but not alto
gether. Since rapid transit has become
general in tne two cities, bill posters have
been able to use the street cars extensively,
and a great part of the routes can be covered
in this manner that formerly required the
use of wagons.
The largest stand in the city is 550 feet
long, by 12 feet high, but most are 21 to 43
feet long, by 10 in height The theaters use
a great deal of the bill board space, but not
all of it This was shown a week ago,
when, notwithstanding that seven of the
eight regular places of amusements were run
ning, Bamum's circus occupied with its an
nouncements and pictures no less than 7,000
feet of boarding, 10 and 12 feet high.
The Space Is Never Idle.
During the regular winter season, each of
the eight theaters uses on an average 4,000
sheets of paper on the boards and walls, ex
clusive of lithographs, which are known
technically as "window work." When the
season is over, commercial announcements,
patent medicine announcements, railroad
bills, etc., fill the space. It is never idle.
The bill poster goes about his work in a
methodical manner. Before he leaves the
bill room he has his paper all methodically
arranged, so that when he arrives at the
board he is to cover he can take each sheet
of paper just as it comes, and put it in the
right place. Suppose it is a 28-sheet stand
that is, a bill seven sheets long and four
high. The operator takes the sheet for the
left upper corner and pastes it neatly in
place with a very few touches. Then he
takes the other" top sheets and adds them
one by one. Then he commences on the
next row and works across, and so on, until
he has the whole 23 sheets in place, and
shows you a large picture in which you can
not distinguish the joints save by very close
inspection.
The bill poster is very matter-of-fact
He does not care whether it is Shakespeare
or farce comedy that he is illustrating. All
he cares for is to do his work in a neat
manner, so that no one else in the business
can criticise, and then let who will admire
the subject of the bills: That is no concern
of his. It is not an uncommon thing for
bill posters to be actuallv unable to read.
but they never make a mistake in putting
up a bilk Their system is too good for
that
It Takes Skill When It's Windy.
It takes long training to make a bill
poster. When a sheet of paper is pasted it
has a miserable knack of sticking together
in folds and tearing at awkward moments
unless it is handled with professional skill.
Especially is this true on a windy day, when
it is only by allowing so much for wind, and
holding the paper in a certain position that
it can be safely affixed to the board. But
the old hand knows all about this, and he
will put up a 28-sheet stand in a gale of
wind without a mistake, while pedestrians
can hardly keep their teet,and are obliged to
hold on tneir hats with both hands.
In posting for a theater the bill posters
commence Thursday morning to cover the
boards in the outskirts ot the two cities, and
work in toward the center, so as to finish by
Saturday afternoon. The managers of the
attractions at the theaters desire to have
their paper shown as long as possible, but it
is recognized a3 the professional thing for
bill posting to be done in this way. so that
each attraction gets the same length of show
ing on the bill boards. The three-sheet bills
that are posted at the entrance to theaters
are covered with the announcements of the
shows for the next week as soon as the per
formance has commenced on Saturday night
It is supposed that by that time the current
of attraction has drawn about all the patron
age that will fall to it, and the next week's
show is entitled to the boards.
Utilizing All Available Space.
The experience of bill posters enables
them to tell at a glance how big a bill they
can put in a certain place, and it is inter
esting to see how they will fill all the avail
able place with odd sheets that fit in. A
28-sheet stand has been put up, perhaps,
and there is still a space at the side about
four feet wide. TJp goes a three-sheet bill
in the space, consisting of a picture or a
well-worded announcement ot the merits of
the show, and that much more advertise
ment is secured that 'would be lost but for
the forethought of the bill poster.
There is a great dealpf rivalry between
theaters over securing space ih windows
and on temporary piles oi building mate
rial, lumber, etc, tha( is not in the bands
ot the city bill posters. If a store is empty
for a few days tne owner is besieged by the
advertising agents of the theaters to give
the use of his show window tor the litho
graphs and show bills of the attractions.
Sometimes he divides his window, giving
half to one theater and half to another, but
more often it all falls to the house whose
agent has been quickest in getting the ear
ot tho owner. Then comes the struggle.
The brilliantly colored paper is put in on
Saturday night, so as to make sure of that
much-prized advantage, a "Sunday show
ing." On Sunday, especially if it is a
bright day, there are thousands of people I
on the streets wno spenu tneir time in lac
tones, mills, stores and offices all through
the week. They are walking about on Sun
day for recreation, and they derive a good
deal ot it from the study ot the show bills,
with the result that they will most likely
patronize the attraction that has caught
their fancy in the lithographs.
Wear a Gay Dre on Snnday.
Fifth avenue, . Smithfield street, Sixth
street, and other prominent downtown
thoroughfares, are always gay on Sunday
with colored lithographs and show bills, and
the ingenuity displayed in getting the an
nouncements into places where they will
attract the most attention can hardly escape?
the notice of any ordinary observer.
There are extensive building operations
going on across Smithfield street from Thb
Dispatch office. No sooner had the occu
pants of the buildings that have since been
demolished closed up than the whole block
was covered with glaring announcements of
some of the theatrical attractions in ths
city. About the first of April, when there
are a great many empty store-rooms, the
windows are covered with gay lithographs,
and the whole town breaks ont into all ths
colors of the rainbow, and a good many
others that no respectable rainbow wonld
own, all settingforth the merits of different
theatrical entertainments.
Sometimes two sets of theatrical adver
tisers will meet in the small hours of Sun
day morning, while each is trying to steal a
march on the other in the way of sticking
up bills and lithographs in some spot that
has been neglected till now. Then there is
a row, and sometimes blows exchanged, in
the heat of the moment Each party has
waited till the other was supposed to have
gone to bed, and hence the complication.
Plastering One Over Another.
Then one party will paste up his bills,
and ten minutes after the other will come
and cover them with his own. Occasionally
there will be a dispute over some store win
dow. Say that one theater has managed to
get into the store and cover the whole In
terior of the window with lithographs.
There is nothing for his rival to do but to
stick up his paper outside, thus hiding ths
inside display. This was done in Pittsburg;
a few weeks ago, and the man who had se
cured the inside came along about 3 o'clock
Sunday morning and saw it In a very few
minutes he had pulled down all the outside
lithographs, allowing his own to be seen
again.
At the conclusion of his work he chuckled
softly and went home to bed, satisfied that
he had spoiled his rival's little game com
pletely. But his opponent was still on the
alert He happened to see what the other
was doinsr, so he made his way back to his
theater, procured a bucket of black paint
and a big brush, and returned to the win
dow. When the morning sun shed its rays
on the scene it revealed ablack, blank space
where the inside man expected to see a
handsome display of his lithographs, and
the air was blue for ten minutes or so. He
cooled off in the course of time, however,
and when, in the afternoon, he met his
rival, smiling and innocent, the two men
shook hands, as the defeated one murmured:
"I pass." .
Watched His Faper All Night.
It is only three weeks since an advertis
ing agent "of one of the theaters spent all
Saturday nitcht walking up and down before
a vacant store on Fifth avenue to protect
his "Sunday showing," that he had ar
ranged with much care and elaborateness
about midnight, and that he could not af
ford to trust to the tender mercies of his
rivals, who might have spoiled his work.
There are eight theaters in Pittsburg and
Allegheny, counting the museums, and each
theater puts ont on an average 1,500 litho
graphs every week during the season. Ons
wonders where room can be found in the
windows of the two cities for these 1,200
lithographs, but there is plenty of room for
them, and for 100 or so additional, if neces
sary. To procure the privilege of placing
these lithographs in snow windows it is in
cumbent on the theater managers to give
away a certain number of passes every
week, many people accepting passes who
would not give the use of their windows for
money enough to buy the tickets two or
three times over. This is one of ths inex
plicable peculiarities of human nature, for
most theater managers detest deadheads on
general principles, particularly "lithograph
deadheads."
The city bill posters have to give away
300 regular season tickets to theaters, each
ticket admitting two persons, besides spend
ing thousands of dollars directly every year
for the space they use for their bill boards.
It takes a great deal of capital, as well as
experience, to carry on the business of post
ing bills in Pittsburg. G. C. J.
CUBIOTS GEJJIUS IH H0RWAT.
A lock That Has to Be Opened by Puffs
or the Breath.
Age of Steel.
A lock constructed on the most curious
scientific principles has lately been ex
hibited by an inventive genius in Norway.
It consists of a bolt which fastens the door,
and is held in position by a weak spring; a
pendulum is suspended from a hook on the
inside of the door, which, when set in mo
tion, strikes an iron hammer, causing it to
fall on the head of a bolt and press it down
so as to release it from the fastening of ths
door, and a hole is bored through the door
opposite the bob of the pendulum, which is
set in motion from the outside by blowing
strongly through the hole. The security of
the lock thus depends upon the fact that
several puffs of air aro necessary to cause
the pendulum to vibrate with a sufficient
amplitude to reach the hammer, and each
successive puff must be given at the exact
moment when the pendulum passes the hols
or opening on its journey toward the ham
mer. The exact time of vibration of thependulum
is made known to the person unlocking the
door by means of a second pendulum which
he carries, consisting of a string to one end
of which is attached a weight, and provided
at the other end with a loop by which it
can be conveniently attached to a hook on
the outside of the door. This key pendu
lum is previously so adjusted as to length
that it vibrates in exactly the same period
of time as the unlocking pendulum on the
inside of the door. To unlock, the key
pendulum is hung on the outside and setin
motion, and each alternate time it passes its
lowest point the operator blows strongly
through the hole in the door, setting the
unlocking pendulum into synchronous vibra
tion, which, after a few puffs of air, strikes
the hammer and frees the bolt
IF THE EARTH WOULD STOP
The Convertlon of Motion Into neat Wonld
Burn TJp Everything.
The globe revolves with a surface speed
which varies from a little over 1,000 miles
an hour at the Equator to nil at the Poles.
It is now an accepted axiom of physics tha
heat and motion are convertible terms, and
that all motion suddenly arrested is in
stantly redeveloped as heat
The diurnal motion of the earth trans
lated into heat would raise the temperature
of the whole globe above the point at which,
its seas would evaporate, and even its sur
face materials become liquified if not re
duced to vapor. But beyond this it is
probable that the molten matter beneath tho
crust would, by virtue of its semi-fluidity,
burst through the thin, melting envelope
and overflow the ruins of the world. In a
word, the sudden stoppage of the earth's
diurnal revolution would mean an equally
sudden return of primeval chaos.
PENETRATES
STOPS PAIN
WOOD'S
3ENETRATING
PLASTER
FAR IN ADVANCE OP
ORDINARY POROUS
AND OTHER PLASTERS
Sold by Druggists Everywhere
New York Depot 1 9 Wniiam Street
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