View of the Imperial Palace at Pekin, r _ J _ - - The Chinese imperial palace is the principal architectural feature of the Forbidden City, and is itself more forbidden still. To reach the palace it is necessary to pass three great walls, first, there is the great sixty-foot thick wall of the entire city. Within this is the wall of the Imperial City, six miles In circumference. Within this again is the wall of the Purple Forbid den City, which is sacred to the Emperor and his family. The Purple Forbid den City, or Tze-Kin-Cheng, is nearly square, its sides facing the four points of the compass. Two walls running froui north to south divide the space Into three parts. The central part contains the principal building. To this division the chief entrance is the Wu Mun, or Meridian Gate. Inside this gate is a large court, and running through it an artificial stream, spanned by Ave bridges of sculptured marble. Another gute at the end of the bridges gives admission to the Palace of Supreme Peace, or Tai-ho-tieu. the princi pal hall of audience. Here the dignitaries of the empire meet anil kow-tow to His Majesty. To kow-tow is to kneel thrice and knock your forehead on the ground nine times. To the innermost palace no man is admitted. It 1s here that the emperor lives, surrounded by his uncounted wives. 90000000000000000000000000 | Tfo NM Brn State of | | tt|e gait Industry. 1 g Interesting Processes, g Booooooooooocooooooooooooo eON'SPICL'OUS among the nat ural resources of the State of Michigan are the forests which cover a considerable extent of Its surface anil the large deposits of salt which underlie a great portion of its area. In the vicinity of Manistee where the "salt blocks" which form the subject of the present article are located, this deposit consists of a stra tum of rock salt, which is from twenty five to thirty feet in thickness. Salt blocks are usually built in connection with sawmill plants, with a view to making use of the refuse as fuel, and for this reason the city of Manistee has of late years become such a large producer of salt that about half ol' all this commodity manufactured in the iSiate is made at that point. As soon as the site of a well has been eelec'teii, ■*. cellar is excavated and planked up and a derrick, usually about eighty feet high, is erected and the work of driving commences. The IOP VIEW OF A GRAINER, SHOWING THE BRINE, RUNWAY, AND AGITATING PADDLES. first operation is to sink a section of ten-inch pipe, by means of a sand pump, to a depth of about 4(M) feet, from which point the well is continued by Inserting an eight-inch pipe within the ten-inch pipe and driving it down to the rock formation, the eight-inch pipe extending from the rock up through the ten-inch pipe to the sur face of the ground. From the rock formatioa down, the rock is drilled without any pipe casing. except through such portions as are liable to cave. Salt well Nr. 5 at Manistee, which is described in the present ar ticle, is fairly typical of the wells in this vicinity. The ten-inch pipe reaches OF SALT. to a depth of 400 feet, the eight-inch pipe to a dapth of 010 feet, where the rock formation is encountered. The bed of rock salt, which is thirty fe«t in thickness. reaches to a depth of 1985 feet, making a total depth of 2015 feet. The yield pumped from this well amounts to from 12(XX) to 2400 bar rels of brine in twenty-four hours. SALT TACKEUS AT WORK IN THE STORAOE ROOMS. The accompanying diagrams and photographs represent the modern state of the art. As the brine is pumped from the well, it is delivered to the storage cisterns, from which it falls by gravity to the settlers, and from the settlers to the grainers. In the settlers it is heated to a temperature of about 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Upon being al lowed to cool, the gypsum, which, If It were not removed, would form a coat ing on the steam pipes in the grainers, is precipitated, and as soon as precipi tation is completed the brine Is drawn to a long box running across the head ends of the grainers. and from the box it is fed to the grainers as required. The latter are long, shallow tanks, near the bottom of which, and extending throughout their full length, Is a series of steam pipes. The brine being ad mitted to the grainers. the steam is turned on, the liquor soon acquires a high temperature, and rapid evapora tion place. To assist the precipi tation of the grains of salt, the surface of the brine is agitated at frequent in tervals by means of a series of paddles which are operated by a lever at the end of the graiuer. The salt accumu lates at the bottom, until in the course of twenty-four hours there will be a . layer from six to eight inches deep. The salt is lifted from the grainer by means of long-handled, perforated shovels, and U deposited on the run away. As soon as it is thoroughly drained. It is shoveled Into carts, run out over the storage bin, and (lumped. The plant under consideration con sists of five wells, three cisterns each eighteen feet wide by I<M) feet long and eight feet deep, and six settlers twelve feet wide, 175 feet long, and eight feet deep, capable of holding I about 24,000 barrels. When these cis terns and settlers are all full,they hold enough brine to manufacture over 10,- OUO barrels of salt. Pftrt of the salt manufactured In this plant Is made by the vacuum-pan pro cess. In operating the plant the pans are first filled by gravity, after which the gravity supply pipe is closed, and the valve in the pipe connecting with the settlers is opened, the brine being drawn into the paps by the vacuum therein as the evaporation proceeds. The water and the air pumps are in serted, steam is admitted to the steam belt, and the process of manufacturing salt begins. The atmospheric pressure being removed from the surface of the brine,the latter boils violently at a tem perature wnich seldom rises above 150 degrees Farenhelt. The brine rushes upward through the tubes, and under the rapid evaporation the brine becomes so dense that it can no longer hold the salt in solution. Fine crystal grains are formed, as the liquid circulates through the large three-foot opening in the steam belt, and falling to the bot tom of the pan they pass to the foot ot the elevator, whence they are taken up and dumped into the drainage bins. After the salt has remained in these bins for a period of sixteen to eighteen hours, it is drawn off into carts, wheel ed to the storage bins and dumped. It Is customary to use the pans for not longer than twelve consecutive hours, at the end of which period they are emptied, boiled out with fresh water, and cleaned. One of the pans is run during the day and the other during the night, each pan making in a twelve hour run from 600 to 700 barrels of salt, the combined production being from 1200 to 1400 barrels a day. In the manufacture of salt it is a recognized necessity that a large quan tity must be kept in storage, and for this purpose the salt is dumped into vast storerooms which measure from 200 to .">OO feet in length, and the same in width; the amount in store frequent ly aggregated 400,000 barrels. As these rooms are from sixteen to twenty feet deep the salt becomes tightly packed, and has to lie worked loose by packers with picks, shovels, grubhoes, etc., who proceed to quarry, break tip and pack the salt into barrels. With the coarser grades of salt made in the grainers this is not a difficult matter, but the finer grained, vacuum-pan salt becomes compact and very hard, and the packer soon finds himself confronted by a wall of salt tweuty feet in height and as white, if not as hard, as marble. To undermine and bring down this mass ii j i ■*- "*■ ■ yy I VACUUM PAN PLANT. A, vacuum pan; B, steam belt; C, conden ser; D, spray plate; E, air pump; F, cold water pump; G, steam pipe; 11, sealing tank; K, hot water pump; L, elevator; N, brine pump; R, iirine settler; S,irine tank; T, water tank; U, brine va™ V, drainage bin. of salt is a dangerous operation, and involves long delays; and to overcome these difficulties, the companies have used a compressed-air driven spiral auger, which is ten Inches in diameter and provided with a double spoon point. The auger is mounted on a truck and the back end of the shaft is attached to a tliree-horsc-power ro tary air drill machine. A row of holes is driven into the salt wall at a height of ten inches from the floor for a dis tance of six feet into the mass, the holes being drilled as closely together as possible. After an interval of oue to three hours, a fall of salt takes place, a mass equal to 400 or 500 bar rels of salt being brought down in each section. The saving of labor by the use of the compressed-air drill is shown l»y the fact that sufficient salt can be undermined arid caved in tills manner in one-half day to keep the packers at work for two or three days following. -—Scientific American. A Cheerful Notice. The following notice was lately af« fixed to a church door in Hertfordshire, England, and read In the church: "This is to give notice that no person Is to be burled in this churchyard but those living in the parish, and those who wish to be burled arc desired to apply to the parish clerk." A BRIDE WITH PASTED EYELIDS. One of the Odd Marriage Customs Id Korea. In Korea when a girl Is married she appears at the wedding ceremony with her face painted a ghastily white, her lips dyed scarlet and her eyelids past- HBIDE WITH HEB EYELIDS PASTED. Ed together, so as to deprive her en tirely of sight. As for the groom, he wears a hired suit, a hat of woven horsehair and a pair of shoes closely resembling "Arctics." The life of the Korean woman, while secluded, is not as unbearable as that of the women of many other Oriental nations. They are poor, and conse quently compelled to work very hard, but as a rule they are well treated by their husbands. They have pretty names, meaning I'lum Blossom, Treas ure, etc., but after marriage are known only as So-and-So's -wife, until they have a sou. after which they are known as the mother of that son. lias 3,000,000 Silkworm Eggs. Professor Carl Braun, of Bangof, Me., has 3,000,000 eggs in cold storage in his laboratory. They ure the eggs of the silkworm, and were sent to him from Japan. Professor Braun is Pres ident of tlie National Science Associ ation, and long has believed that East ern Maine is a good place to start a silkworm industry. He is planning to keep t'-e eggs in cold storage until the hatching time comes around and then the sun, warmth and stir will do the rest. He says silkworm culture offers an alluring opportunity to Maine women and girls to branch out into a new line of work. He has made a number of experiments and has found that silk can be "raised" in Eastern Maine. In Line With the Majority. "Why, it's old Diogenes!" cried Skininus, as the ancient philosopher, lighted lantern it. hand, plodded slow ly down the street. "Hullo, Diog.," cried Patroclus in bantering tones: "fouud that honesl man yet V" The sage stared up at them. "Honest man!" he grumbled. "I'm not looking for an honest man; I gave that up long ago." And he turned to hobble away. "Then what are you looking for?" cried young Ilerclius. Diogenes paused. "I'm looking for a hired girl," ho growled: "ours left yesterday."—Cleve land Plain Dealer. Tough on the Joker. The contributor wrote a joke about a plumber whose bills were always normal. "That," said the editor, reject ing it, "is not a joke; it's a lie." The contributor tried again with a story of the plumber whose charges left nothing to be desired on the score of size. "That," said the editor, who had suffered, "is not a lie; neither is it a joke."—Scraps. Historic Bell of Kennebunk. The bell which called Kennebunk to celebrate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Unitarian Church was cast by Paul llevere.—Portland (Me.) Eastern Argus. How Boys of 1784 Dressed. Until the time of the Involution children dressed precisely like their parents. This goes to explain their painfully mature air in their portraits. In the illustration reproduced of the boy in calico, we have one of the first attempts at change. Cotton iiad come into general use and was worn both summer and winter. Figure calico in high colors Is the material of this boy's wit.—New York World. INE STATE'S PROGRESS. SENATOR SCOTT TELLS HOW PROS PERITY CAME TO WEST VIRGINIA. Itmirkable Growth of Dnilneu Under the McKinley Administration Coal, Oil and Lumber Industries Are Active There Is Mora Money In the Banks. "West Virginia came Into the Repub lican column in 1892, when it gave President Harrison a plurality of 1471 votes," said United States Sen ator Nathan B. Scott, a member of the Executive Committee of the Ite- Dublican National Committee. "We followed this up with a plurality of 11,487 for President McKinley in 189G. This year we expect that West Virginia will give President McKinley a plurality of 20,000 votes. "Our State Is growing steadily ev ery year as a manufacturing State. Our big industries are those of iron and steel, tin plate and lumber. We make considerable pottery and glass ware, have many textile mills, and manufacture to a certain extent many of the goods that enter into daily consumption. That these industries have improved under the administra tion of President McKinlej goes with out saying and the people know the reason why. "Coal Is probably the largest product of West Virginia. In 1805 we mined 11,400,000 tons; last year our output was 15,750,000 tons. The Increased demand was caused by the better times. It gave employment to nearly 11,000 more me». Not only that, min ers worked In 1895 only 195 days. Last year they were busy nearly ev ery working day. With a large output from our coal mines, with activity In our lumber mills, the demand for the products of our rarms and of our fac tories has Increased considerably. "West Virginia farmers grow di versified crops. Our oil belt is an other source of profit to the State. Five years ago we only produced eight million gallons of oil; last year upwards of twelve million gallons. We are pumring oil In enormous quan tities and there is no sign of the sup ply decreasing. Wool is one farm product from which our people have learned something. In 1890 all the sheep in West Virginia were worth less than .$900,000. Since then their value has increased 50 per cent., while the wc-l is selling ->t 100 per cent, more than It brought while Prof. Wil son's theoretical free tariff trade was experimenting with the country at the expense of nearly every Industry, whether of farm or field, in the United States. "You must remember that West Vir ginia has a population of about 1,000,- 000 people, and we do not claim to do big things. Still our farmers can look with satisfaction at the value of their live stocit, which has increased by nearly $5,000,000 since 189G; also at the amount of money on deposit in the banks of our State, which has in creased from $5,000,000 on July 18, 1894, to $10,000,000 on June 30. 1899. The increase in the number of depos itors has been equally gratifying, from 16,288 in 1894 up to 31,000 last year. With these facts of gain in the wealth of our State there has been a corresponding decrease In the number of business failures. The liabilities of those who were in trouble in 1890 were nearly $700,000. Last year they were only $250,000. Our people, too, appreciate the feature of the gold standard law, yhlch simplifies their currency. They realize the difference between the administration of the na tional finances under President Mc- Kinley when they compare them with the mismanagement under President Cleveland. Then we were borrowing money from Europe at whatever rate of Interest the foreigners chose to make us pay, while during the last year we have been loaning money to Europe, and still have more that we can spare to send there should it be needed. "The State of West Virginia Is In a small way but the reflection of the conditions in all of the other States of the Union. If the people every where would but vote according to their sound thought and better judg ment, then President McKinley would be re-elected by acclamation In the electoral college, just as he was renom inr.tcd by acclamation in Philadelphia." Lots of Help Wanted, The Omaha World-Herald was Mi*. Bryan's personal organ in ISOli, and during that campaign it made the prophecy daily that in the event of McKinley's election the depression and distress among the working classes would be widespread. The best proof of the falsity of this prophecy is found on the want pages of the World-Her ald. The last Issue at hand contains the advertisements of two females and seven males who want situations, while on the same page the "help ! wanted" advertisements ask for 107 females and 115 males. This is in ad dition to the "agents wanted," and does not include the advertisement for 1000 men for railroad work. The ca lamity prophecy was a failure in Mr. Bryan's own Slate, as it was else where. The People's Wealth. Savings bank deposits in the United States in 1894 and in 1599, compare as follows: Year. Depositors. Deposits. 1899 5.200,000 $2,178,800,000 1894 4,800,000 1.771,200,000 Increase, 1599 400,000 $407,G00,000 Southern Object Lesson. Tennessee produced nearly a million tons more coal last year than in 1895. i That ought to ye an industrial object lesson to the South, especially as prac tically the whole of It was used at the factories of that State. I A GREAT NATIONAL DANCER. It 1* On Dependence;on Foreign Ships to Carry Our Commerce. The present disturbed condition of Europe, with reference to far eastern complications, as well aB those arising in Morocco and elsewhere, has called attention to American dependence upon foreign shipping for the carriage of their foreign commerce. If the na tions of Europe should become involved in a great war, which many believe to be imminent, there would be a wholesale withdrawal of foreign ships from the channels of trade to provide transport for troops and munitions oC war. As nine-tenths of our foreign com merce is carried in foreign bottoms, it is obvious that the withdrawal of a large portion of that shipping for other than commercial uses would deprive our people of their only means for sup plying our constantly growing foreign markets. Freight rates would rise to a prohibitive amount in respect of many of our commodities. Our surplus pro ductions would accumulate upon our hands in enormous quantities, prices would fall, wages would be reduced and industrial stagnation and loss of employment would be widespread. The conditions existing between 1803 and 1800 would be re-established in even a more intensified form. This country is the leading export nation of the world, and the future growth of that trade seems illimitable, provided, always, that we have an abundance of ships in which to send our products abroad. But a cheek at this time, when the broad foundation for an enormous export trade is being laid, would have a most serious and far-reaching effect upon our people and our resources. The stability of our foreign trade can never be assured so long as 00 per cent, of it is carried in foreign ships. AVe send three-quarters of all of our exports to Europe, and American ships carry the ridiculous proportion of but 1.30 per cent! Foreign ships carry a billion dollars' worth of our products to Europe, and our own ships carry less than thirty million dollars' worth. No greater danger confronts the United States to-day than that caused by our dependence upon foreign ships for the carriage of nearly all of oui exports. Of our exports to all the world less than 7 per cent, are carried in American ships. Apart from the commercial calamities possible, and, as some people believe, probable, through the withdrawal of the larger part of the fast foreign shipping upon whicli we are uow dependent, for the auxiliary naval and military uses of the great powers, our great weakness upon the sea emphasiaes our only real national danger. Congress cannot remedy this condi tion too soon. Troper provision must be speedily made for tLe attraction of American capital Into sliip-building and ship-owning, so that at the earliest moment possible we shall become pos sessed of the ships we may require for all of the necessities of our foreign commerce. Our export trade is closely approaching a billion and a half dol lars in value. At its present rate of growth less than a score of years will tind it valued at three billions and re quiring double the shipping of to-day for its carriage. Foreigners will then have us all the more at their mercy if we do nothing to establish our own ships upon the seas. Foreseeing Just such a possibility as this, Thomas Jeff.rson, as long ago as 1793, in a great state paper, predicted that a nation which allows foreigners to do the great bulk cf its foreign car rying, "will be disarmed of its de fense, its productions will be at the mercy of the nation which has pos sessed itself exclusively of the means of carrying them, nnd its politics may be influenced by those who command its commerce." These words were pro phetic of a condition that actually ex ists in respect of the United States to day. His Proper Place. Mr. Altgeld announces his intention of taking the stump as soon as the Kansas City nominations are made As a Cabinet possibility in the case of Democratic success, Mr. Altgeld will make a strikingly horrible example. democratic Politic*. The Hon. William A. Clark, of Mon tana, Is another Democratic million aire who lias been treating the country to an exhibition of the sort of politics that obtains in that party. Goods Were Not Delivered. Mr. James J. Van Alcn is one Dem ocratic millionaire who is not in touch with liis party this year. He made a bargain with it in 1S0:2 and la 1 led to receive the goods. The Yellow Kiel. The suggestion that a yellow Journal ist be given second place on the Kan sas City ticket is an excellent one. Yel low journalism Is the running mate of yellow politics. Of Course It Does. A decrease of 254.000.000 pounds in the quantity of wool imported in a year shows the value of protection to wool to the American farmer. Dead Against Them. The party that opens the mills has opened the eyes of the people. That is another reason why the Democracy cauuot win this year. Cheaper IHiitdiea. Matches were a dollar a gross cheap er last year than in ISOS. That was not much of a burden on the working man or his wife. A Difficult Count. It would be lin possible for the censu* enumerators to count the roorbacks printed in the Democratic newspapers. A (Setter Knnner. It must be conceded that Aguinaldo is holding out longer than any of th€! assistant Democrats.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers