THE SCRANTON TRIBUNE SATURDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 17, 1896.
s
FORTUNES TAKEN
FROM PINE TREES
Money Made in the Working ol Turpen
tine Orchards.
VALL'E OF THESE NAVAL SUPPLIES
It Is Hard Work, TIicurIi, nnd the
li.-tnms Are Not Alwuvs Fabulous.
VhrreOiir ltcsiii, Pitch and Tur
pentine Come I'rom.
One of the principal Industries at
muuy southern ports Is the shipping of
"nn-vul Bloivs," that is, resin, ronin,
l.iii of turpentine, common pitch,
l.uv.ir's pitch, tar and oil of tar.
These -Southern products are valued at
J-KJ! 'H.itOii a year. Kesin. or crude tui -1-L'Miiitf,
is the material obtained ly
tupping or bleeding; the trees. Spirits
ol turpentine is the liquid obtained by
disullliiK the crude resin, llusln, or
telephony, is the residue after the dis
tlll.iuun of resin, t'ommon pitch Is the
ivsiJue from the dry distillation of ros
in. Brewers' pitch, which Is used fur
itinti.ig the Interior of beer kegs and
b.irivls, Is obtained by stepping the
llr-tillalloti of resin before ull the oil
b is been tl.'stilletl. Tar Is produced by
di. tilling the wood Itseir, and oil of tai
ls obtained by distilling the tar. Each
of these articles is srparated, commer
cially into several different grades, and
every grade has Its own name.
The Sun's Georgia correspondent thus
describes the "tnrpent'ne orchards" of
that section: A pedestrian might
blurt from Brunswick on the Atlantic,
const, nnd without going much out of
his w.iy walk westward to the Missis
sippi river without once leaving the
sluiflo of the pine forest, except In
crossing the innumerable rivers. The
forest Is about 100 miles wide, bcg'.n
tilv.g on the North Carolina coast and
swerving westward along the gulf, till
It reaches Louisiana. Some of the
workmen who help produce the naval
s forts live r.9 much In the shade as the
fi.icst-dwclilrsr tribes in Africa, and
do rot emerge from the pine shadows
ten limes in ns many years.
Of this tremenJotis extent of forest,
2,2"0.(it) acres are constantly kept at
v ork producing naval Ftores, and" N50,-
v v ucres or n-w or virfrm trees ir
utppiu annually to Keep up the supply,
for trees' can bo worked profitably for
four years only, and then must either
have a long rest or be cut into lum
1 er. It looks ns If this Industry ought
to Give constant Independent work to
very unemployed man in the south,
ns it' a man need only buy o few acres
of pine land at $2 to $3 an acre, or bet
ter yet, rent a tract fop the purpose
of "turpentining" It, as it is called,
fird bo sure of making a good living for
the neNt four years by tapping the
treci all on his own account; in other
words, to be ns Independent as the
tm-all farmer who raises his own crops.
Thi.-i was so once, but it Is not the case
now. Capital has been as busy with
ti"-peiitining ns it has been with the
other Industries, nnd It is practically
Impossible for n, small owner to get
even the price of Ills labor by turpen
tlnlrnr his own little tract. The big
producers set the pace, and there is
no longer any chance for small opera
tors. THE TURPEXTIXER.
The turpentiner is ns well known an
Institution in the pine belt as Is the
commission merchant In fruit and veg
ctuWe sections. He Is In a sense n com-
ii.!.i jn merchant, but besides that he
Is a manufacturer. Generally he does i to the wood In the shnpe of a broad let
not own an acre of land, but he must ! ter V. ten or a dozen of them, one above
have a capital of not less than $5,000 ' another, each of the points bearing
to bi-Kin a profitable business, and he j downward so as to form so mnny shal
luiovs that In the four years of his . low gutters to conduct the sap into the
operations with a plant he must spend ' box. This chipping is repeated every
Not only must he know all : week from March till October or No
abi ih producing; and manufacturing vember. The soft resin which accumu-
rnv.il stores, but lie must have a good
ii!' -i of the country. In the whole pine
!nlt there are about forty of these
lav;.;o operators at work, and they pro
duce the greater part of the naval
t'toi-i s of the world.
The turpentiner with his capital
ivudy must first select his location with
v.s much care as a farmer selects his
land. He requires a solid tract of about
4,0H ai res of forest that has not been
tapped, nnd on this space there must
be not fewer than 100,000 well-grown
p:u trees. To find such a tract, and
to be able to rent it, Is not always easy;
but this is only a beginning. The tract
nai l be near enough to a railroad or i
to a navigable stream to give him good
shipping facilities, and there must be
an unfailing supply of water for op-eraiii-g
the still. Such tracts are found
generally far away from civilization.
ui:d usually they are in the hands of
Moveral owners and each owner of
course must be negotli4d with. Some
owners of pine land object to having
their trees turpentined, believing that
It injures the lumber. There Is no hag
glln.'f about the price, for the price for
turpentining is as well understood as
the market price for resin. The sub
sections Into which a big turpentine
orchard ls divided nre called crops,
and an orchard must contain not fewer
th:m twenty crops to be profitable. A
crop is a sufficient number of trees to
give 10,000 b(xes; and as from two to
four boxes ure cut In large trees, about
4..r.00 or B,000 trees are necessary to
comprise a crop, which should cover
about 200 acres. As the trees will yield
profitably for four years, and no longer,
the renting of turpentine land ls always
fur periods of four years; and the
standard price ls $"i0 for ach crop of
10,000 boxes for the four years. This
gives the lessee the privilege of tap
ping the trees, cutting away under
brush, and operating his works on the
premises, but nothing more. He must
Hot cut down or otherwise destroy
trees; and it is to his own Interest to
protect the forest against fire. At this
rale he pays 1VA cents a year an acre
for land that Is worth about $2 an acre
In the market, and he asserts that
when he leaves it the trees are as valu
able as they were before. The general
opinion Is that turpentining Injures the
trees and lessens the value of the lum
ber; but there are two sides to that.
DOWN TO BUSINESS.
With his 4,000-acre turpentine orch
ard secured, averaging about twenty
five good well-grown trees to the acre,
the turpentiner next selects the spot
for his works. If he can have his own
way about It he puts them close to
both rail and water. Where the rail
road crosses a small stream Is just the
spot. He need not bother about a sta
tion, for the railroad company will
gladly enough build a little siding to
to hU still, knowing that a great many
thousand barrels of freight will be
snipped within the next four years,
(inly rough Bheds are necessary and
thee quickly go up. nnd then along
cones the still. The copper still gener
ally used has a capacity of about 8C0
Ballots, or enough to carry a charge of
twenty to twenty-five barrels of crude
turpentine. The 4,000 acres of good
trees furnish Just enough resin to
charge such a still twice In twenty
four hours during the working season.
And when the still ts erected tender
foot passengers In the cars generally
think that they have discovered a
moonshiner's lair, for the outside of the
stills are very much the same.
The labor question ls the least of the
turpentiner's troubles; indeed. It is
hardly a question at all. The first
steps are hardly taken toward estab
lishing a plant before men begin to
appear as if they dropped from the
trees. No matter how isolated the site,
there are negro cabins on or near the
tract, and their occupants want work.
Then the turpentiner has a fo'lowlng
of his own, men who have worked for
him In other orchards and they stick
to the "boss." Wherever he goes, they
are r--ady to put up their cabins and
remain In the same employ, sure of
work in that spot tor the next four
years. The colored man as a rule pre
fers turpentining; to plantation work.
On the plantation his "keep" is part ct
his pay, and he handles only about $10
a month. But In the backwooas all his
provisions must be bought, as far as
the employer is concerned, so there is
no Inducement to board him, and he
receives from $1 t S1.25 a day, and
supplies his owrp provisions. It
amounts to about the same thing t the
end, bat the man has the felicity of
spending ISO a month Instead of $10.
His cabin is soon built In the new
orchard, generally close by a clear spot
whore he can make a little garden.
With the vegetables that he can raise,
the fish his wife and children can
catch, and the game and birds his gun
can bring down, the cost of living is
reduced to a trifling expenditure for
corn meal and bacon, coree and sugar.
The worklngman Is as familiar as his
fchief with the pecularities of the long-
leafed pine. It has a number of dis
tinctive features, and he knows them
all. No 'man of science can tell him
much about the three sections that
compose the trunk of the tree the bark,
the papwood. and the heart. He knows
that It Is the sapwood which supplies
the How of reun. and that the bark and
the heart are as useless to him, as
if they were not present, the sapwood
being the comparatively soft folds ly
ing between the bark ami the heart.
Ju a big tree the heart may be a foot
thick., and It is full of resin, but the
resin will not flow. It is this heart
which supplies what In the north is
called fat nine, and here in the south
is c alled llghtwood. Cut down the tree,
and In a lew years the bark and the
sapwood decay and disappear, but the
heart remains, almost as hard and as
Indestructible as iron. The planter
hunts out these hearts for fence posts,
because they ure so full of resin that
they will stand In the ground for a
generation without Injury. The tar
maker must have them, too; but the
heart is worthless to the turpentiner.
IMPORTANCE OF THE WEATHER.
The weather Is of as much Import
ance to a turpentiner as It Is to a
farmer. Give him steady, long-continued
heat, or a series of cold rains,
and he Is sure of a poor crop. A cold
spring Is equally bad for him. But
work In a new orchard begins before
spring opens; the boxing may be done
any time through the winter, to be
ready when . the sap begins to How.
The boxes are not ordinary boxes, but
triangular holes cut in the trees. Two
hundred thousand of these boxes must
be cut In the orchard, at an expense
of about $2,5'J0. No trees of less than I
twelve Inches diameter oupht to be
boxed, but trees of not more than eight i
inches are often made to do duty. The
lower pnrt of the box Is cut about
twelve inches above the ground, and
the hole is mndo seven inches deep,
planting from the outside to the Inter
ior nt an angle of 33 degrees. This
makes a pyramid shaped cut Into the
tree, and forms a cur that will hold
about three pints. While the boxers
are nt work, other men. or sometimes i
women or boys, are raking around the '
trees, removing all the pine needles 1
nnd chips for a space of three or four ;
feet, and burning the fltuff in little ;
heaps. This is done so that in case of
fire In the woods the flames will not
reach the box; and for the same reason
as much as the underbrush ns possible
is cleared away and burned.
With the earlier days of spring the sap
begins to How, and then the turpentine
orchard becomes a busy place. The
boxes are all ready, but without further
treatment no appreciable quantity of
rap would flow Into them. To start
the flow of sap and guide It Into the
right channels, the men go to work
with their odd-looking tools and chip
or hack the trees Immediately above the
boxes, cutting away the bark at the
proper points and making Incisions In-
lutes in the boxes is dipped out about
seven times in the first season and
poured Into barrels to be taken to the
still. Each crop of 10,000 trees should
yield about forty barrels of dip or soft
rels In the first season, glvlns a total
of 6.600 barrels for the whole orchard
In the first year. The flow becomes
greatest in the hottest months. July and
August, and decreases as the weather
grows cooler. As soon as the exuda
tion is arrested and the crude resin be
gins to harden. It Is scraped from the
chip and the boxes with a long-handled
scraper. This material is called scrape.
or hard turpentine, and It contains only
half as much volatile oil as the dip.
The scrape amounts to about seventy
barrels to the crop the first year and
increases to 120 barrels In the second
year. In the whole four years the en
tire orchard of twenty crops should
yield about 120.000 gallons of spirits of
turpentine, the average from each tree
for four years being about a gallon and
a half of spirits and thirty pounds of
high-grade resin.
DISTILLATION.
The distillation Is a matter that re
quires great care and experience to
prevent loss In spirits of turpentine, to
obtain the largest quantities of rosin
, 1 1 4 1 ll 1 1 1 mc inieca, uaiiiiuva - .v..... i
of the higher grades, and to guard
against overheating. After heating the
still somewhat beyond the melting ;
point of crude turpentine, a small !
stream of tepid water from the top j
of the condensing tub ls conducted
into the still and allowed to run until
the end of the process; and it Is by ,
a peculiar noise made by the boiling
contents of the still that the distiller
knows when to stop a sign that would
have no meaning to a beginner. After
all the spirit has been evaporated, the
fire Is put out and the residuum is
drawn off by a tap in the bottom of the
still. This molten rosin Is first run
through a wire cloth, and then through
cotton cloth into a large trough; then
It Is ladled into barrels.
There is not much danger that tur
pentine will be overdone, for the prof
Its are not large enough to attract any
except men who have been brought up
In the business and know no other.
The best that can be said of the profits
Is that they are reasonably sure, for
they are ridiculously small. The $5.i"0
capital required is for the still and oth
er works, barrels, advance on labor
and rent, houses, sheds, tools, wagons,
and mules. The cost of four years'
operating a single crop, or one-twentieth
of the wholo orchards, is esti
mated ttt $2.H(i8.50. of which $125 Is for
chopping K'.OOO boxes, tl'i for inspect
ing and tallying the same. 112 for cov
ering the boxes, $40 for rnklng around
the trees, $355 for chipping the boxes.
2Z3 for dipping the resin and scraping
stands, $333 for hauling the dltminirtt
and scrapings, $222 for distilling at 20
cents a barrel, $305 for 122 spirit bar
rels ai jj.in, L'ts.w tor making and fill
ing 795 resin barrels at 30 cents, $K0 for
superintendence of the crop, and $50
for rent. This gives the following to
tal expense for operating an orchard
of twenty crops for four years:
Labor, rent an1 materials $10 170
Interest on capital Invested (Jij.OOii) .. l'joo
Depreciation of plant, 10 per cent.
a year for four years OftO
Taxes and Incidentals 'fc;o
Total expenies .$jn,ooo
The 120,000 gallons of spirits of tur
pentine produced in the four years,
together with 12,000 barrels of rosin,
should bring In the market about $60,
000 at average prices. It may be a
little less, according to the supply and
demand. But without such a great rise
in prices, the turpentiner. with his $5,
000 capital, his own labor for four years,
and his risk from fire and otherwise,
mnkes $10,000 in the four years, or $2,
600 a year.
Delicate Tc-lc.
Mr. Blnks Whnt's that you are putting
up on the top shelf?
Mrs. Blnk That's Fido's csndy. He
can't eat this cheap kind we get for tbe
children. Chicago Record.
CLAIMS THE EARTH
IS NOW WABBLING
Our Planet Bacomiot Erratic and Un
certain. It Is Said.
IT IS BEGINNING TO LOSE ITS SPEED
Doleful Prospect for the Hamas, Race
A Million Years Hence Is Outlined
by a Washington Astronomer.
Facts I'pou Which lie Hi M
Conclusions.
Washington Letter, Pittsburg Dispatch.
Is this spinning-top called earth
slackening its speed, and showing signs
of "Running down," by clearly evident
wabbling? Is a question that Is now
iH-ing investigated at the Naval obser
vatory. Every clear night In somg one
or the big and little buildings which
give the heights beyond Rock creek the
appearance of a Moorish city. Professor
Ueorge A. Hill, of the observatory
force, is literally Immersed to his neck I
in a desperate endeavor - to tind out
why the earth does not turn evenly and
steadily on Its axis as any well regu
lated planet should. This a til other
absorbing Investigations have been
progressing for a considerable period
at this most Interesting of all the na
tional properties, but they have been
barely mentioned In the public prints,
probably for the reason that they aru
supposed to deal with abstruse scien
tific problems, but more probably for
the reason that no public report has
yet been made of the work In hand.
But the fact that the earth Is dis
covered to be wabbling to such an ex
tent that degrees of latitude are not
stationary but constantly changing
brings at least this feature of investi
gation close to the most stupid mind,
and makes It interestingly If not alarm
ingly "popular." There Is no necessity
for present alarm.
NO DANGER AT PRESENT.
Even if the tremendous speed with
which the earth revolves upon Its axis.
more than a thousand miles an hour, is
slacking. It will be some thousands or
hundreds of thousands of years before
n,,v appreciable difference In the length
vi lne Uav and ni(;nt ls notlceable, and
lho prcsent generation need not fear.
thercfore, that the sphere will in their
day cease Its, revolutions and swing
around in the orbit with probably the
same side always towards the sun.
What the reason Is for this erratic
performance Prof. Hill does not pre
tend to explain. He will only say that
the source is believed to be Intrinsic,
and not duo to perturbations caused
by planetary or solar lnlluence. It is
his duty to observe the perturbances
from day to day and report their char
acter at the proper time.
For many years errors of computa
tion of latitude have been observable,
but It was not until 1SS9 that Prof.
Rustuen, of Berlin, discovered that
there was a constant and In some sense
periodic change from established lines
of latitude. Dr. Chandler, of Boston,
declared the cause to be the Irregular
motion of the earth on its axis. The
Germun Astronomical society took up
the matter, and careful observation
showed this to be the fact. The work
of investigation was at once parcelled
out among observatories in various
ports of the world, the Washington in
stitution being assigned a portion.
CURIOUS RESULTS OBTAINED.
The results have been curious In the
extreme. It has been incontrovertibly
established that the poles of the earth,
Instead of pointing always towards the
same spot, In space, do not, in fact,
ever do so, but are constantly wab
bling exactly like the stem of a top
which has so far lost the force with
which it was started as to show signs
of weakening and stopping.
Imagine the North Pole to be a real
projection Into space (as some people
possibly believe) in the form of a glgan- '
sheet of papsr spread stationary in
space where the point of the pencil can
touch and mark upon the paper as the
earth revolves. Instead of the point
spinning around and simply making a
dot like a mighty period mark, It will
begin to truce ail sorts of eceenttic
curves, extending a distance ufthlrty-
I one n-ei on eucn siue in every direc
tion irom wnr.t may be called the nor
mal pose or beginning.
This wabbling, therefore, eonstanly
makes a change of latitudinal lines
ranging from nn almost inappreciable
divergence up to an extreme of about
C. feet.
It is pretty clearly established that
there is a periodicity of these perturba
tions, but Just what are its time and
phenomena is not yet known, as the
work of observation has been so brief.
Prof. Hill Is led to believe that during
a period of fourteen months the pole
Increases its vagaries to a maximum
and returns gradually to the minimum.
AVmrpn tv thp tib
AIN&Vt 1K t-N IHh, STARS.
It must seem marvellous that an as-
.
tronomer, by observing the apparent
movement of a star billions of miles
distant, can detect this small but high
ly Important perturbation of the earth,
but that Is the method by which con
clusions are reached. The artations of
the star (any star may be selected for
the work) In crossing and recrossing
a given celestial line, tells the whole
story. The necessary computations are
intricate and exhaustive, but the won
derful instruments now in us. very
much simplify the work.
It is probable that within a few
month:) the reports made to the Ger
man Astronomical society by the var
ious observers will enable that body to
give to the world one of the most cur
ious disclosures that ever emanated
from the field of scientific research in
regard to terrestial phenomena, and
possibly some conclusion may be
reached touching the cause of the wab
bling of the poles. There will be no
theorising, however. The real scientist
never theorizes in a scientific report,
yet he must theorize and speculate In
private or his road to truth and fact
would be much longer and more mo
notonous than It Is.
One theory Is that the earth Is losing
the force with which It was started
upon Its revolutions, hut this Is met by
the fc.ct that since the first computa
tions of the time of the dlurnrl revolu
tion there has been no modification of
the day's measure.
EARTH'S WEIGHT SHIFTING.
Another theory is that there is an un
usual distribution of weight, and this
seems to be the more plausible. But If
the weight were stationary a new axis
would be formed and the wabble would
disappear. The wabble being periodic,
the weight must be shifting, but also
shifting periodically and constantly,
and it may be due to the tides and to
tome law influencing them which Is ynt
unknown. It Is possible the constant
change of latitude occasioned by this
wabbling may lead to a gradual change
of zones and seasons on the globe.
Whatever the phenomena mny mean
the report of the German Astronomical
society, based upon the aggregation of
reports, of which that of Professor Hill
will be an important part, will be
awaited with great Interest.
Another absorbing work In progress
at the Naval Observatory is a collabor
ation with other observatories in cata
loguing all of the stars from the first
to the ninth magnitude, inclusive, in the
northern celestial hemisphere and for
23 degrees south of the celestial eq .la
tor, which Is as far south as the most
southerly observatories at Washington
and Algiers can reach. . This worl; at
Washington is In charge of Professor
H. N. Skinner, who has made upwards
of 20,000 observations, and catalogued
about 9,000 atara in a belt. which in-
eludes all stars between 14 and 1C de
grees south.
CATALOGUING THE STARS.
The first star catalogue worthy of the
name was constructed by Prof. Argel
ander, of the observatory at Bonn, in
Germany, who began his work in 1839.
Fchonfeld took up the work when Ar
gelander died, and the result is a cata
logue in four large volumes of about
400.000 stars. In the same field in which
astronomers of sixteen observa
tories are now laborlhs with
the advantage of Instruments
that are vastly superior to those
psed by the pioneers. The field of Profes
sor Skinner's labors may be popularly
indicated by stating that it Includes
four degrees in width of the belt in
which Sirius, the moBt brilliant of the
so-called fixed stars, is situated.
The exact cataloguing of these stars
will enable astronomers to describe for
each other the position of comets with
greater exactness than heretofore. It
has already resulted in the discovery
of many variable stars not known as
such to Argelader or Pchonfeld. Pro
fessor Skinner is theluckydlscoverer of
no less than four of gi eat interest in the
field allotted to him. This vast work
may also lead to discoveries of incal
culable importance in regard to the
course our own solar system Is pur
suing through the eternal depths of
spat.e whether It is a systenn as is sup-
posed by some, revolving in harmony
with other greater or lesser systems
around a vaster center than the center
of any single one of such systems; In
short, the disclosure of the universal
scheme to a vastly greater extent than
can now be conceived In a scientific
sense.
TRAVELING THROUGH SPACE.
It Is now an accepted theory among
astronomers that the system of which
our litttle globe is a part Is traveling
with Inconceivable velocity somewhere
through space, but astronomical sci
ence ls yet too young for wen a gues3
as to the direction. It must require
hundreds or thousands or tens of thou
sands of years for even this swift mo
tion to change our relative position in
regard to the nearest of the llxed stars
to an extent sufficient upon which to
base a tenable theory. That there
has been such a change since astron
omy became one of the st iences Is well
established. Moreover, many of the
fixed stars, so-called, are known to
have a motion of their own. and the
discovery and record of this motion,
which is called the "proper motion," in
distinction from the apparent motion
due to the swinging of the earth In its
orbit. Is an important feature of pres
ent and future work In connection with
the cataloguing of these stars, and giv
ing them a local habitation and a name:
by which the least departure from their
"fixed" position may be known at once.
Still another task of collaboration is
under the direction of Pror. Dustman,
which is a re-observation nnd cata
loguing of several hundred of the more
Important stars for purposes similar to
those which led to the cataloguing of
all stars of the ninth magnitude or
brighter.
THE MAGNETIC NEEDLE.
Another work possibly more utilitar
ian in Its character than those de
scribed is In progress in a mysterious
cavern in the hillside near the main
building of the observatory. This is
called the magnetic establishment, and
it Is devoted to observations of the
strange, and to a great extent. Inex
plicable antics of the magnetic needle.
In a vault beneath a little structure
composed entirely of wood, are the
magnet ographs. Every precaution has
been taken in the construction of the
vault to Insure isolation of the magnets
from disturbing local Inliuences, even
to the exclusion of all direct communi
cation with the outside nir. A continu
ous temperature of about 70 degrees is
maintained by ingenious automatic
machinery for Increasing or decreas
ing the heat. The only uivertlng force
In the vicinity is an electric railroad a
fourth of a mile distant, and numerous
tests have discovered the exact lnllu
ence of the current, which is consid
ered in the observations and deduc
tions. In this mystic vault is seen the
most remarkable evidences of those
magnetic disturbances which travel
w'th the sPee1 of thought, not only
from one part of the earth and its gas
eous envelope to another, but also from
sun to earth, from planet to planet,
and probably (who knows?) from suns
and systems which hold intimate mag
netic communication with each other
throughout the universe.
THRESHOLD OP KNOWLEDGE.
These studies are yet In their young
est infancy, and improved Instruments,
magnets, lenses, photography and
mathematical machinery may, at no
distant day, reveal wonders in the
scheme of world creation, growth, d.
cay and death, of which the most vivid
imagination of a Poe or a Flammarion
could not have the faintest conception.
It is not generally known even to
Washlngtonlans that there are nights
set apart for visitors at the observa
tory when any( of the public who
wish to probe the mysteries of the
celestial universe which the nnkutl eye
cannot see may look through the m. g
! niflcrnt 12-1: ch ' qua'.onal. Jup ter, wlih
hls remarkable btlts ana live saiel.l;es
,,h iittiB f.fty. ntlB reeint1tf H senvrpt
only one hundred miles in dla.neter,
and having its orbit a bare 100.UOO mtleu
from the huge bulk of the planet, has
not been seen from the Naval Obser
vatory), has Just passed from view on
his way to become morning star. But
Saturn ls a wonderful and awful spec
tacle, with Its vast rings and many
brilliant satellites. But If the pi inets
are not numerously on exhibition at thU
time the visitors yet do nn lack enter
tainment. Prof. Bouger, who presides
usually at these dark senaocs. turn3
the huge tube upon the star cluster in
the constellation of Hercules, the most
biilllant of thus? astound ng aggrega
tions of suns which ure supposed to be
long to one system, and which iw-
either invisible or appear merely us a
faint nebulous spot to the naked tye;
or he will direct it to some of the won
derful colored stars; or to the btau
Mful quadruple star, Epsllon Lyra?, or
to the Ring Nebulae, near Alpha Ly
rae, which may appear almost exact
ly like our own milky way to dwellers
upon some plunet sltuatsd wllhin Its
magic clrcl?.
These are illustrations of the won
drous spectacles that may be ses-n
through the 12-inch equatorial. The
great 2-lnch equatorial is not available
for visitors, as its every moment must
be utilized for scientific purposes every
evening favorable for observation.
Thus it will be seen that the great Na
tional observatory, with its vast mn-
chlnery for celestial observation, Its
testing of binoculars, shronometers and
compasses, its production of naval al
manucs, is not wholly devoted to work
Hint mny be celled merely for utilitar
ian and nautical purposes, but that Its
large crop of able scientists are also
engaged In labors which are the main
purposes of the great observatories of
the world, and which have for their
purpose the discovery of the most mys
terious problems of the form and phe
nomena of the universe.
Sho'll Gigirlc ConMantiv.
"I'm no worrlod about my dnUBbtpr."
sal'l the wottinn In the new fur clonk.
"Sh noes ahotit no solemn, ro dppreFsetl.
I'd slve. the world, doctor, to sie her
emile a c.iln.' '
"Thiit's ensy enough," nnnwerd th doc
tor, briskly; "gat her into a church choir.''
New York Recorder.
Xot Altogether Bad.
The Chicago And do you find the wai?r
so very bad?
The Elsewhere Oh, no. With nlal
rtre'sln It Is not at all bad. Detroit
Tribune.
Thru. C'orrrcl.
She wrltp herself down hcncetoi-th Mrs.
But there's more In her life still than krs.,
- And nohoijy oncht
To ko away with the thought
That she knows even yet Just what blrs,
Petrojit Tribune.
CONVENTIONAL CIVILITY.
We Are Gradually Losing- Our Polite
ness, It Seens.
From the Post-Express.
A New York paper which ls not noted
for over delicacy of feeling has been ar
guing, with no little awekenlng of gen
eral Interest, that the conventional po
liteness of correspondence Is not worth
while. Apparently without many scru
ples itself, it yet sneers at the public
for the "falsehood and Mummery" of
Its use of "Dear Sir," and "Yours truly."
and it asks why "Esq.," or "Mr." or
"Mrs." or "Miss" should be written on
a fully addressed envelope, since the
postoffice officials do not care a rap
whether "June" be married or single,
and will take It for granted that
"Thomas" is Mister. It even has cal
culated thaf the American public
wastes 8,333 years every year In this
meaningless courtesy, and the value of
this time IUt'Stlma's at fully ten mil
lions of dollars, w.ilch to a practical
people Is surely disgraceful.
What other reform can be more Im
portant than this? If it be true that
such merely conventional civility Is
foolish, or worse, let ub consistently
have done with it all. Away with the
cheery, but quite unconsidered, "Good
morning;" and silence the cordial,
"How do you do" that rarely waits for
the answer. Banish the gentle raisins
of the hat; the needless nod und smile;
the kind word that comes more from
the head than heart; the wave of the
hnnd and the cry of "Farewell." Let
us meet and pass as locomotives, that
are only on business bent. Let brevity
and directness mark our speech nnd
selfishness our every action, and think
of the years and yeurs that will be
"saved!"
CARRIED FURTHER.
Nor here alone can we stop. Soci
ety's closer and more elabcrate rela
tions will be quite idle courtesies; at
dinner It will be every one for himself
and may the hlndmust lose his dessert;
and there will be no formal calls, no
"pleasant time" fibs to well meaning
hosts and hostesses, no need of ac
knowledging invitations, no mainten
ance of reticence, nor regard for the
preservation of dignity, no curbing of
anger, nor hampering of liu'tviduality.
Let us. In short. If the World's view is !
correct, be savages once again without
the barbarian's reverence, let us be im
plicitly true, no matter how the truth
burns or hurts: and perhnps in the
centuries that we "save" by the abo
lition of conventional courtesy, there
will be time to do nil we accomplish
now through the kindly help of others,
to bear more burdens all alone, to get
over disappointments, and slights, and
unkind deeds and words, and wipe the
tenrs that at first would flow while we
still were sensitive- to the world's true
opinion. What is the use. Indeed, of
nil of life's amenities; why should men
lauffn, or birds sing, or flowers bloom,
or women comfort with smile of love
If there be no gain to them? Why are
the fields so lovely, and why the lavish
radiance of the autumn woods, and
were It not better if the sun slumped
into the ocean without touching with
glory the sky and wave? Why Is not
life all cold and hard and hurried?
Shall we not do what we can to make
it so, by omitting conventional cour
tesies! HAVE GONE TOO FAR.
The fact ls, we have pared down un
necessary politeness a good deal of late.
It will not stand much more. In Paris
and Germany now men raise their hats
to one another, but we have not the
time for that; in France, at least, every
funeral procession stops traffic and Is
greeted by reverently lifted hats and is
do not trouble ourselves; in the old days
our fathers signed themselves In their
letters, "Believe, Sir, Your Very Affec
tionate and Humble Servant to Com
mand." nnd lnds nriilrpttneil thpir fath
ers as "Respected Sir." The one lis beenf
shortened to "Yours truly, or "Yours;
and the other to "Dear Father," and
"Dear Pop." Shall eight thousand years
be saved by shortening them any more?
We are reminded of the sneering com
ment of a Westerner when told Caesar's
famous apaphthegm, "Venl, Vldi, Viol."
"It is too verbose," said he. "Casear
could not have seen without comlng.nor
well hve conquered without seeing, so
one word would have been sufficient for
the despatch."
We shall be willing to save our share
of 8,000 years by shaving off the little
conventional civility which remains to
the beginning and end of our letters,
when it is shown what good use has
been made of the time gained when bi
cycles were shortened to "bikes" and
gentlemen to "gents." For, whatever
they do with it, that time costs its sav
ers dearly.
IS HOXOIt OF VASf'U DA ti.V.M V.
Preparation in Portugal to Coin
nicinornlc His Voyage to Indin.
From the Sun.
Portugal Is mnlilnR preparations for
the eel-.-hration of the four hundredth
enniersay of the palling of the Por
tuguese navigator, Vasco da Gama, on
his vijyage around the Cape of Good
Hope to India. He was born in the
town of Sines, in Portugal, in I'M, and
died on Christmas Day, 1524. On July
8, H97, Da Gama set sail for India, and
In May following, having passed the
Cape of Good Hope, lie landed at Call
cut. Prior to that time, European ram
mcrce with th east had been through
the Mediterranean only, and the open
ing of the water route sailed by Da
Gama resulted In a complete recon
struction of the line.-i of Kurouean and
Asiastie commerce. There is to be in
celebration of the four hundredth an
niversary of the sailing of Da Gama
' an exhibition ut Lisbon Illustrating tin-
contributions of Portugal to the art of
! navigation, nnd setting forth her tro
j phies of discovery, which nre almost
us glorious as those of .p;tlit. and in
that period eclipse those of any other
tiutrllinic power.
Portugal Is u small country, with u
land area one-third leva tiian that if
the state of New York, and with a
population half a million th:in thai
of the state of Pennsylvania, but It has
turned out In its time some celebrated
navigators. Cabral and Da fcSouzi
among them. It Is a somewhat peculi
ar circumstance in the history of ocean
navigation, which the Portuguese e:-le-brntioti
of the voyage of Da Gama re
calls, that the chief navigators of Eu
rope have usually been natives of
minor kingdoms and without the ad
vantages which would naturally ac
crue to a representative of one of the
larger governments. Christopher Co
lumbus, as every school boy knows,
was a native of Genoa nt times when
the Italian peninsula was sub-divided
ninotis; numerous petty governments.
John Cabot was n Venetian who nailed
In the service of England as CVIuin
bus had sailed In the perviee of Spain.
Amerigo Vespucci was a Florentine
who sailed originnlly In th? service of
Ppaln. and afterward transferred him
self to the Portuguese service, and
then went back to the Spanish service
for a second time.
Vitus Behrlng. after whom Mi'hrl'-g
Straits were culled, was a Dane by
birlh who served under the naval flag
of Russia. Magellan, after whom Ma
gellan Straits were named, wa a na
tive of Alemtejo. In Portugal, and was
the first to complete th circumnaviga
tion of the globe. In 13J2. Vtr.izznnl
was a Florentine, whose voyages of dis
covery were undertaken under the pro
tection of the nag of Franc-. Hendrlck
Hui'son was an Englishman, and it
seems sin prising to many pom .ins In
this day familiar with the preemin
ence of Fnglnnd as a maritime n-'t'on
that he should have been In the service
of the Government of HoMand when
he discovered Manhattan Island.
b
Tkew liar Cnpauleif ni ""
treat In 4S boar ivlthvatlZl
m IneoaTonleacn, aftretlousf wTW 1 1
EVA M. HETSEL'S ,
Superior Face Bleach
Posltiielj Renmes All Facial Blealsia
! tiwre Ire'klcH. Tan. Minlmru. Bliu-s-acads.
Liver f-j.ots i im les n::a fclllow Cora
I'irxmu if lm'.irs will use rov HipTior 1'uoo
lilnucu. Not it eoeintnif, but ii tnecicmo n-tiiirL
acts U. l out I y i. ll tbe s!:i:i, ram.-vine nil discol
uraimns, nnd can it tbo grratHt purify lag
K't lor tlio con p';i-iion in i-xi-ti'ine. A
terfi'etly rlcir nnd fputles rouiploxion rn
i olitaiu- d in rery in.tanco 1 y ii i'S'. Pric
41 pt-r bottle, rursalout K. i. Helwl'-i Hair
Diessiin: und K m.ic irr Parlor. 3 .0 Lacka
wanna avu. Mail order Eilud promptly.
J OitXo's
STABLE and FARM
9 -swfc..
MICA AXLE GliEASt.
BCS' Ih 1H WOPi.0 ton Hi A M fikCCIIS
HEW TOM CARRIAGE GREASE.
fOll U0H7 WAQ0KS .M MAM.CMIIIMS
BOSTON COACH AXLE OIL,
CHAPR AHB BTTR.IHA:iJSASI0DMk
XTiunsan i certiro tin
Kiimnnvunoikll VII...
k BST LHHR mSMII HI 1HAQ9lt
EUREKA HARNESS OIL
I TH BIST HAPMSS OIL tiA(J
Iruw harvester oil
I .A tM HAtt B0OI FOR I ARU ACHlHRr
W0RITErJ,mmC011
ELECTRIC
IVBPlCATiSlO
LAHJtRH OIL
f i Coach and Carriage Cand
landici H
V-FOB 8AH KVBV.WJB!
FOR SALE BY THE
ATLANTIC REFINING CO
SCRANTON. PA.
THE
HOOSIC POWDER CO.,
ROOMS I AND 2, C0.TLTK B'L'O'G,
SCRANTON, PA.
SfliNING AND BUSTING
POWDER
MADE AT MOOSTC AMD RUSH
DALE WORKS.
LAFUN 4 RAND POWDER CO'S
ORANGE GUN POWDER
Electric Dattorioi, Electric HxtjloJerj, for ax
ploUlut,' blasts, tiufuty Fund, nud
Repanna Ctcmical Co. 's
HICiH
EXPLOSIVES,
UP TO
i
Tt7rrfTfffrtTffi'ttnt?nnnTfnnffT!TiffTfi;i
Ilii'llllltifHlllliiitiUltitet mummt
Eskblishrd 186S.
ma Genuine
tr-
M
-
E
h
i
PIANOS
At a time when many manu
facturers and dealers are making
the most astounding statements
reardingthe merits aud durability
of inferior Pianos, intending pur
chasers should not fail to make
critical examination of the above
instruments.
EL. C. RICKER
General Dealer in Northeast
ern Pennsylvania.
New Telephone Exchange Building, 11!
Adams Ave., Scranton, Pa.
'.iHpiTiiTr.fifiiiiiMfrtnnflnmiffnnnwHnfiiii
ilU-'ilUiilliU
THE DICKSON MANUFACTURiNGCO
SCRANTON AND WILKES-BAP1RE, PA Manufacture of
LggoihgIevos, Stationary Engines, Boilers,
IXISTISG AND PUUI'ING MACHINERY.
Oeneral Ottteti SCRANTON, PA.
I . .' C X. f V LT 1 1 r w re. w ,
was
For aate by JOHN H. PHELPS, Pharmacist, cor. Wyoming Avanv and
Spruoo Street, Scranton, Pa,
Pill dies
GAS AND ELECTRIC flltB,
Steam and Hot Water Heating
FURNACE WORK.
THE
ill I GONNELL CO.,
ttUlCKIWAMU 1VEML
E.
Manufacturer at tfc CelabrtatoC
CAPAClTVl
loo.ooo Barrels per Annum
JAMES MOIR,
THE MERCHANT TAILOR
Has Moved U HU Ntw Qwtm
402 Lackawanna Avenue.
Entrance on aid next to Flnt Natloilal
Bank. Ha baa now In
8
Comprising rarything iwqilalte for fln
atarahant Tailoring. And the Mine oaa
- be ahown to adrantato in eie ail
oiaiy ntiea np ro
A SPECIAL INVITATION
b Bztended to All Readers of The Trlba
o to Coll an "OLD RELIABLE" In HI
New Business Home
DATE.
0v?f 26,009 In Use.
04
t4
r a
r
Mihtn In doubt what to use (of
Nervous Debility. Loss of Power,
Impotencr.Atrophy, Varicocele and
other weaknesses, from any cause,
use Seilne Pills. Drains checked
and full vigor quickly restored.
troiviMitM. n.fi tnxblM mult foully.
Mailed for$l.uv;6boxest500. With
3.00 orders we tin a guarantee to
cure er refund the money. Address
PEAL ME0ICINE CO tlereiaod, U
ROBINSON'S SOUS'
Lager
Beer
Brewery
in in en
Hole
J