HE NIC E II C TD^M.
INSURES SAFETY
IN DEEP MINES
Protects Lives by Showing Danger
Point in Cases.
The apparatus shown in the accom
panying illustration is intended espe
cially for use in measuring the venti
lating current in a mine or other place
where it is desired to ascertain the
amount or velocity of the air passing,
such velocity providing the essential
data from which the volume can be
calculated at any distant point or sta
tion. thus oftentimes acting to save the
lives of miners when the ventilation
fails to carry off the explosive gases
from the mine. Hitherto the accuracy
of such instruments, particularly in
coal mines, has been affected by the
deleterious matter carried by the at
mosphere in which they have to be
placed, such as noxious gases, mois
ture, smoke, greasy matter, exhalations
from a number of men and animals,
gases exuding from the pores of newly
cut coal and the like. The inventor of
this apparatus, Joseph Thompson,
claims to have overcome this objec
tion by excluding all the deleterious
matter from the working parts of the
apparatus, and, while employing elec-
A.PPARATUS FOB MEASURING AIR CUR
RENTS.
tricity to transmit the signals, makes
it safe to use in an explosive atmos
phere by inclosing the contact points
in a protecting casing. The vertical
shaft which supports the hemispherical
cups has a metallic disk in contact
with a spring finger attached to the
side of the chamber as shown, but one
side of this disk is covered with a
crescent-shaped non-conductor, which
serves to break the current by Interpos
ing between the disk and the finger
at every revolution. The chamber is
filled with petroleum or other oil, thus
excluding dust and gas from the work
ing parts and serving :>s a lubricant for
the spindle.
i Mirror Hold* tlie Mouth Open.
' Perhaps the invention of William
Hare, as shown in the drawing, will
eliminate the expression "open the
mouth wide" altogether, or at least,
\1 —> 1
' ■■ '>
DENTAL PROP TO PREVENT CLOSING THE
JAWS.
make it uncommon enough not to an
noy the dentist. The arrangement con
sists of a steel frame of the shape
shown, with mirrors fixed in different
positions in the frame to direct the
rays of light into a cavity in any tcoth
and reflect the interior to aid "the dentist
in his work. It will l>e seen that
because of the shape and construction
of the device, when it is placed in the
mouth the cheek is held away from the
•teeth by the projecting brackets or re
tractors, while the tongue is held ?rom
contact with the teeth by the inner por
tion of the frame, the teeth being ex
posed through the opening between
the parallel ribs.
Buckl* and Lock Combined.
Dog collars with locking buckles have
the advantage tf dispensing with the
padlock.
The buckle is well made end fitted |
PADLOCK AND BUCKLE COMBINED.
•with an excellent lock, which is lo
cated inside the tongue and out of the
way, the key entrance being at the
side of the buckle and conveniently
accessible.
Many a man who is considered a'
good story-teller fails utterly when ha
gets home to his wifo.
The lawyer rather encourages other
to tell him their troubles.
PURE ATMOSPHERE
FOR BUILDINGS
New Solution of the Heating and Ven
tilating System.
Pure air In rooms can only bo ob
tained by thorough ventilation, and as
no provision is made in many build
ings for a change of air except by
<< r .siir
HEATING AND VENTILATING SYSTEM.
opening the windows, the latter are
often allowed to remain closed in win
ter. owing to the low temperature out
side. Or, if they are opened and the
cold air admitted, increased heat must
then be provided to make the rooms
comfortable again. An improved heat
ing and ventilating system recently de
vised by George H. Ennls solves the
problem in a much better manner than
is possible with the open window. The
main feature of the apparatus, as
shown, is the installation of a central
ventilating shaft connecting with the
several rooms. Inside this shaft is
carried the direct heating pipe from
the furnace, with branches entering
each room near the ceiling. The hot
air naturally rises through the pipes,
and is discharged into the various
rooms, where it depresses the colder
air in the room, and this finds an exit
through the opening close to the floor,
ascending thence to the top of the
shaft, and passing out. Thus the cold
air is constantly withdrawn from the
room and replaced by the warm air.
Now, if the air for heating is obtained
through a duct leading from the outer
atmosphere into the furnace and thence
to the air shaft the system will be
found well-nigh perfect. In summer
this same system may be utilized to
cool the air of the rooms by displacing
the warm air in the building with the
cooler air from the basement.
ISoat For Land or Water.
With this contrivance the passengers
may enter the boat and be driven
along the beach into the water, and
when finally launched the same appa
ratus which accomplished that work
is used to propel the boat through the
water. Any ordinary form of motor
is used, being geared by chains to the
apparatus shown in the rear of the
boat. This consists of a gear wheel
with concave face secured in a rigid
yoke, with a tilting post carrying a
second gear wheel, meshing in the
first. A second chain connects the lat
ter gear wheel to the propelling wheel.
At either end of the shaft carrying the
rear gear wheel is a yoke, extending
forward and ending in a handle, which
serves to turn the propeller after the
manner of a rudder. In order that the
driving wheel may serve as a propel-
LAUNCHES PASSENGERS FROM THE DRY
BEACH.
ler in the water it is fitted with a se
ries of pivoted blades, which turn at
right angles to the plane of rotation
during the lower half of their revolu
tion To accomplish this a deflector Is
ttached to the side of tho fork, which
throws the blades out Curing half of
the revolution and then returns them
as they pass through the fork.
Carnegie't) Salmon Fisheries.
Mr. Carnegie lias just erected with
in the Skibo castle grounds in Scotland
a magnificent salmon and trout hatch
ery, in which 150,000 ■ ggs are incubat
ing in well appointed boxes. In con
nection also with his Skibo and other
estates in Sutherlandshlre lie is the
proprietor of extensive salmon fishings
in Doruocli firth, and along the Kyle
of Sutherland, and there are several
lakes, bot'i natural and artificial,
throughout his domains that are well
stocked with trout.
LIGHTING DEVICE
THAT IS HANDY
May Be Used in Places Where Illumi
nation is Insufficient.
The primary object of the lnventioE
Illustrated below is to produce a light
ing device which occupies such a small
space that it can be easily carried
about and readily adjusted to a book
or other object, thus enabling the
user to read without discomfort in
places where ordinarily a poor light OP
no light at all can be had, particularly
out of doors on summer nights or in
warm climates, on ship deck at night,
ia the sick room or in poorly lighted
trains or waiting rooms. In the case
of our illustration it is attached to a
pulpit to afford the preacher plenty of
light for reading without injuring the
eyes of the congregation by the glaring
rays of an ordinary light. With the
improved storage batteries recently
Introduced very little discomfort is oc
casioned in carrying the entire appa
ratus to produce this light, the stand
ard which supports the lamp being
flexible and folding with the cord in
side the case which carries the bat
tery. When needed for lighting pur
poses the support is opened and
clamped on the book or paper, throw
ing the light just where it is most use
ful. Of course, for the purpose of pul
pit lighting a larger size of apparatus
DESIGNED FOR INDIVIDUAL USE.
is necessary than for individual use,
the latter concentrating its rays on a
much smaller surface than the former,
but the same general Idea answers for
both purposes. A switch is provided
for turning off the current when not iu
use. The inventor is Burton S. Flill
brook.
Improved Umbrella Drip-Cap.
Our illustration shows a practical
novelty for preventing the dripping cf
water over the floor from a wet um
brella when the owner, or borrower,
enters a roam. Oftentimes the um
brella is taken through the house to
a rear room for spreading out to dry,
and in this case a trail of water is gen
erally left behind across the carpets.
The drip cup here illustrated Is in
tended especially to prevent this, as
CATCHES THE STREAM OF WATER.
well as the formation of the little pud
dles of water wherever the user of the
umbrella stops to transact business or
chat with a friend. The cup is of rub
ber, with a thick end on the tip of the
cone to hold the flexible cup in place
when slipped over the end of the um
brella handle. When the umbrella is
opened as a protection for the person
the drip cup covers the cloth around
the stick, the very place where the
cloth is apt to wear out first. When the
umbrella is in use the device contracts
slightly and is hardly noticeable, but
win:a the cup is in operation it expands
and holds quite a Quantity of water,
which is easily poured out by tilting
the umbrella slightly before opening.
The inventor is William W. Winter.
Plant SIOOO Years Old.
In the town of Hildersheim, Ger
many, is probably the most unique
plaut in the world. It is a rash bush
1000 years old, and sprouts from its
branches have realized fabulous sums.
Some years ago a rich Englishman
offered s2f>o,ooo for this entire tree,
but the sum was indignantly refused.
This wonderful plant clings amid
thickly grown moss against the side
of the famous old Church of St.
Michael. It is claimed that It has
bloomed perennially since the days of
King Alfred, and this statement has
never been disputed, for its record has
been as carefully kept as the pedigree
of the bluest-blooded family in the
kingdom. It is supposed to have been
discovered by some mysterious means
through the medium of King Loul3,
o£ Hildersheim. as far back as 1022.
\AN INGENIOUS UTENSIL]
yf Flat Iron That is Heated In a Novel i
* Way ' %
A German manufacturer has just
brought upon the market a new flat
iron, heated by alcohol, as shown in
/r ajpi
"
FLAT-IRON HEATED BY ADCOECL.
the accompanying cuts. The burner
is to be pulled out of the iron and to
be placed upon the heating grate. The
receptacle Is then to be tilled with al
cohol, as is the little tub. The alcohol
in the tub is lighted, and the heating
bar soon becomes hot, wliereupoa
gases develop and escape through the
HEATING DEVICE FOR SELF-CONTAINED
IRON.
holes of the heating bar. As soon as
the alcohol in the tub Is burned out
the burner is placed back in the iron,
where it is firmly kept by a spring ar
rangement. Heated in this way, the
iron can be used for about fifteen min.
utes before receptacle and tub have to
be tilled again with alcohol.
Suppression of Dust.
The absolute impossibility of entirely
abating the dust nuisance is admitted
by all operators of speedy automobiles,
but several devices to prevent the dust,
or a great portion of it, from reaching
the occupants of the carriages have
been tried by foreign automobilists, one
of the most successful being that
shown in the accompanying drawing,
from Automobile Topics. This is what
may be termed a "splash board," 01
f/'
!
DISPENSING WITH THE DCS*.
air deflector. Two T-shaped bracket!
are fastened diagonally to the rear ol
the car, and upon these is stretched a
light shield of canvas or other suitable
material, mounted upon a spring roller,
like an ordinary window curtain, the
shield being at an agle of forty-five
degrees with the ground. The forward
movement of the car creates a strong
current of air, which, striking the
shield. Is forced downward to meet
the uprising dust, with the effect that
the dust cloud Is broken up and Is
left behind. When not in use the loose
end of the shield is unhooked from the
bracket, and the whole apparatus rolls
up iu a small compass.
Steel Hods.
Hods of steel are being introduced,
which, beside being water-tight, are
said to be from twenty-five to fifty
HODS MADE OF ONE PIECE OF STEED.
per cent, lighter than the wooden hod.
This feature is secured by the bodies
being folded from a single piece of
metal without the necessity of cutting
the metal.
Invented the Postal Stamp.
The inventor of the gummed pot .gt
stamp was a Scotsman, Mr. James
Chalmers, of Dundee, who, in 1834,
suggested the adoption of the present
system of affixing adhesive squares of
paper to envelopes.
Mr. Chalmers was ridiculed, aud,
among others, medical men predicted
that the constant licking of gum would
be prejudicial to the health of the Na
tion. It was not until 1841 that the
plan of Mr. Chalmers received the seri
ous attention of the postofflce author
Ities.
DK. TALMAGKS SERMON
SUNDAY'S DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.
iubjcct: Damcr in Delay—The Folly of
Postponing tile Acceptance of the
Gospel Invitation—Sj lupatliy For tins
Skeptics—T.ine to Be Keligious.
WASHINGTON, D. C. —In the following
discourse, prepared by Dr. Talmage before
his illness, the tolly anil danger of post
poning the acceptance of the gospel invi
tation are exposed on the text, Luke xiv,
IS, "And they all with one consent began
to make excuse."
After the invitations to a levee are
lent out the regrets come in. One man
ipologizes for non-attendance on one
ground, another on another ground. The
most of the regrets are founded on prior
engagements. So in my text a great ban
juet was spread, the invitations were eir
:ulated, and now the regrets come in.
The one gives an agricultural reason, the
other a stock dealer s reason, the other a
domestic reason. All poor reasons. The
tact was, they did not want to go."And
f .hey all with one consent began to make
jxcuse."
So now God spreads a great banquet,
[t is the gospel feast, and the table reaches
icross the hemispheres, and the invita
tions go out, and multitudes come and
iit down and drink out of the chalices of
3od's love, while other multitudes decline
;oming, the one giving this apology, and
the other giving that apology, "and they
ill with one consent begin to make ex
cuse." I propose, so far as God may help
me, to examine the apologies which men
make for not entering the Christian life.
Apolpgy the first: I am not sure there
is anything valuable in the Christian re
ligion. It is pleaded that there are so
oiany impositions in this day; so many
things that seem to be real are sham. A
rilded outside may have a hollow inside.
There is so much quackery in physics, in
ethics, in politics, that men come to the
labit of incredulity, and after awhile they
illow that incredulity to collide with our
holy religion. But, my friends, I think
'eligion lias made a pretty good record in
the world. How many wounds it has
mlved! How many pillars of fire it has
lifted in the midnight wilderness! How
nany simoom struck deserts it hath turned
into the gardens of the Lord! How it
nath stilled the chopped sea! What rosy
light it hath sent streaming through the
rift of the storm-cloud! What pools of
:00l water it hath gathered for thirsty
Hagar and Ishmael! What manna whiter
than coriander seed it hath dropped all
iround the camp of hardy bested pilgrims!
What promises it liatli sent out like holy
watchers to keep the lamps burning around
deathbeds, through the darkness that
lowers into the sepulcher! What flashes
if resurrection morn!
Besides that, this religion lias made so
manv heroes. It brought Summerfield, the
Methodist, across the Atlantic ocean with
iiis silver trumpet to blow the acceptable
year of the Lord until it seemed as if all
jur American cities would take the king
dom of heaven by violence. It sent .Tehudi
Ashman into Africa alone, in a continent
of naked barbarians, to lift the standard
j 1 civilization and Christianity. It made
lohn Milton among poets, Kaphael among
oainters, Christopher Wren among archi
tects, Thorwaldsen among sculptors. Han-
Icl among musicians, Dupont among mili
tary commanders, and to give new wings
to the imagination and better balance to
ne judgment and more determination to
the will and greater usefulness to the life
ind grander nobility to the soul there is
nothing in all the earth like our Christian
religion. Nothing in religion? Why, then,
ill those Christians were deceived when
n their dying moment they thought they
saw the castles of the blessed, and your
:hild, that with unutterable agony you
put away into the grave, you will never
see him again or hear his sweet voice
nor feel the throb of his young heart,
l'here is nothing in religion? Sickness
w'l come upon you. Roll and turn on
pur pillow; no relief. The medicine may
be bitter, the night may be dark, the pain
may be sharp; no relief. Christ never
:omes to the sick-room. Let the pain
itab; let the fever burn; curse it and die.
There is nothing in religion? After awhile
death will come. You will hear the paw
ing of the pale horse on the threshold.
The spirit will be breaking away from the
body, and it will take flight—whither,
whither? There is no God, no minister
ing angels to conduct, no Christ, no
heaven, no home. Nothing in religion?
Oh, you are not willing to adopt such a
l.imal theory!
And yet the world is full of skeptics.
And let mc say there is no class of peo
ple for whom 1 have a warmer sympathy
than for skeptics. We do not know how
;o treat them. We deride them, we carica
ture them. We, instead of taking them
by the soft hand of Christian love, clutch
them with the iron pinchers of ecclesias
tieiom. Oh, if you knew how those men
aad fallen away from Christianity and be
.ome skeptics you would not be so rough
o:\ them! Some were brought up in homes
where religion was overdone. The most
wretched day in the week was Sunday.
Religion was driven into them with a trip
hammer. They had a surfeit of prayer
meetings. They were stuffed and choked
with catechisms. They were told by their
parents that they were the worst children
that ever lived because they liked to ride
down hill better than to read "Pilgrim's
Progress." They never heard their pa
rents talk of religion but with the corners
of the mouth drawn down and the eyes
rolled up. Others went into skepticism
through mal* eatnent on the part of some
who professed religion. There is a man
who says: "My partner in business was
conspicuous in prayer meeting, and he
was officious in all religious circles, but
he cheated me out of S3OOO, and I don't
nant any of that religion." Then there
are others who get into skepticism by a
natural persistence in asking questions,
why or how? How can Cod be one being
in three persons? They cannot understand
it. Neither can I. How can God be a
complete sovereign and yet man a free
igent? They cannot understand it.
Neither can I. They cannot understand
twhv a holy God lets sin come into the
world. Neither can 1. They say: "Here
is a great mystery; here is a disciple ot
fashion, frivolous and godless all her days;-
she lives 011 to be an octogenarian. Here
is a Christian mother, training her chil
dren for God and for heaven, self-sacrific
ing, Christlike, indispensable seemingly to
that household; she gets a cancer and
dies." The skeptic says,"l can't explain
that." Neither can I.
I can see how men reason themselves
into skepticism. With burning feet I
have trodden that blistering way. I know
what it is to have a hundred nights
poured into one hour. There are men in
the arid desert of doubt who would give
their thousands of dollars if tliev could
set back to the old religion of their
fathers. Such men are not to be carica
tured, but helped, and not through their
heads, but through their hearts. When
these men really do come into the king
dom of God, they will be worth far more
to the cause of Christ than those who
never examined the evidences of Chris
tianity. Thomas Chalmers once a skeptic,
Rybert Hall once a skeptic, Christmas
Kvans once a skeptic; but when they did
lay hold of the gospel chariot how they
made it speed ahead! If, therefore. I ad
dress men and women who have drifted
away into skepticism, I throw out no
scoff; I rather implead you by the mem
ory of those good old times when you
knelt at your mother's knee and said vour
evening prayer and those other day's ot
sickness when she watched all night and
gave you the medicines at just the right
»ime and turned the pillow when it was
rot and with l.and long ago turned to
dust soothed you- pains and with that
t'oice fou will never again unles4*.,ou
join her in the better country, told you
never mind, and by that dying coucH
where she talked so slowly, catching her
breath between the words —by all those
memories I ask you to come and take
the same religion. It was good enough for
her; it is good enough for you. Aye, I
make a better plea: By the wounds and
the death throe of the Son of God, who
approaches you in infinite love with
torn brow and lacerated hands and
whipped back, crying, "Come unto Me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest!"
Other persons apologize for not enter
ing the Christian life because of the in
corrigibility of their temperament. Now,
we admit it is harder for some people to
become Christiana than for others, but the
grace of God never came to a mountain
that it could not climb or to an abyss that
it could not fathom or to a bondage that
it could not break. The wildest horse that
ever trod Arabian sanJs has been broken
to bit and trace.
The maddest torrent tumbling from
mountain shelving has been harnessed to
the mill wheel and the factory band, setting
a thousand shuttles all a-buzz and a-clat
ter. And the wildest, the haughtiest, the
most ungovernable man ever created by
the grace of God may be subdued and sent
out on ministry of kindness, as God sends
an August thunderstorm to water the wild
flowers down in the grass. Peter, with
: nature tempestuous as the Bea that he
•ojice tried to walk, at one look from
Cfirist went out and wept bitterly. Rich
harvests of grace may be grown on the
summit of the jagged steep, and flocks of
Christian graces may find pasturage in
fields of bramble and rock.
Though your disposition may be all
a-bristle with fretfulness, though you
have a temper a-gleam with quick light
nings, though your avarice be like that of
the horse leech, crying, "Give!" though
damnable impurities have wrapped you in
all consuming fire, God can drive that
devil out of your soul, and over the chaos
and the darkness He can say, "Let there
be light."
The best place for a skillful doctor is in
a neighborhood where there are all poor
doctors, the best place for an enterprising
merchant to open his store is in a place
where the bargain makers do not under
stand their business, and the best place
for you who want to become the illus
trious and complete Christian, the best
place for you is to come right down among
us who are so incompetent and so incon
sistent sometimes. Show us how. Give
us an example.
Exudations from poisonous trees in our
neighbor's garden will make a very poor
balm for our wounds.
Sickness will come, and we will be
pushed out toward the Red Sea which di
vides this world from the next, and not
the inconsistency of Christians, but the
rod of faith, will wave back the waters
as a commander wheels his host. The
judgment will come, with its thunder
shou solemnities. Oh, then we' will not
stop and say, "There was a mean Chris
tian: there was an impure Christian."
In that day as now, "If thou be wise, thou
shalt be wise for thyself, but if thou
scornest thou alone shall bear it." Why,
my brother, the inconsistency of Chris
tians, so far from being an argument to
keep you away from God, ought to be an
argument to drive you to Him.
No time to be religious here! You
have no time not to be religious. You
might as well have no clerks in your
store, no books in your library, no com
pass on your ship, no rifle in the battle,
no hat on your head, no coat for your
back, no shoes for your feet.
Better travel on toward eternity bare
headed and barefooted and houseless and
homeless and friendless than togo through
life without religion.
Did religion make Raleigh any less of a
statesman or Havelock any less of a
soldier or Grinnell any less of a merchant
or West any less of a painter?
Why, my friends, religion is the best
security in every bargain; it is the sweet
est note in every song; it is tfie brightest
gem in very coronet. No time to be re
ligious? \\ by, you will have to take time
to be sick, to be troubled, to die. Our
world is only the wharf from which we
are to embark for heaven.
No time to secure the friendship of
Christ? No time to buy a lamp and trim
it for that walk through the darkness
which otherwise will be illumined only
by the whiteness of the tombstones? No
time to educate the eye for heavenly splen
dors or the hand for choral harps or the
ear for everlasting songs or the soul for
honor, glory and immortality? One would
think we had time for nothing else.
Other persons apologize for not enter
ing the Christian life because it is time
enough yet. That is very like those per
sons who send regrets and say, "I will
come in perhaps at 11 or 12 o'clock; I
will not be there at the opening of the
banquet, but I will be there at the close."
Not yet! Not yet! Now, I do not give
any doleful view of this life. There is
nothing in my nature, nothing in the
grace of God, that tends toward a doleful
I view of human life.
I have not much sympathy with Ad
dison's description ot the "Vision of
Mirza," where he represents human life
as being a bridge of a hundred arches and
both ends of the bridge covered with
clouds and, the race coming 011, the most
of them falling down through the first
span and all of them falling down through
the last span.
It is a very dismal picture. I have not
much sympathy with the Spanish proverb
which says,"The sky is good and the earth
is good; that which is bad is between the
earth and the sky."
But, while we as Christian men are
bound to take a cheerful view of life, we
must also confess that life is a great un
certainty and that man who says,"l
can't become a Christian because tliere is
time enough yet," is running a risk in
finite.
YOll do not perhaps realize the fact that
this descending grade of sin gets steeper
and steeper and that yon are gathering
up a rush and velocity "which after awhile
may not answer to the brakes.
Be not among those who give their
whole life to the world and then give their
corpse to God. It does not seem fair that
while our pulses are in full play of health
we serve ourselves and serve the world
and then make God at last the present of
a coffin. It does not seem right that we
run our ship from coast to coast carrying
cargoes for ourselves and then, when the
ship is crushed in the rocks, give to God
the shivered timbers. It is a great thing
for a man on his dying pillow to repent —
better that than never at all; but how
much better, how milch more generous, it
would have been il' he had repented fifty
years before! My friends, you will never
get over these procrastinations.
We have started 011 a march from which
there is no retreat. The shadows of
eternity gather on our pathway. How
insignificant is time compared with the
vast eternity! As I was thinking of this
one day while coming down over the Alle
ghany Mountains at 110011, by that won
derful pass which you all have heard de
scribed as the Horseshoe—a depression in
the side of the mountain where the train
almost turns back again upon itseH', and
you see how appropriate is the name of
the Horseshoe—and thinking on this very
theme and preparing this very sermon, it
seemed to me as if the great courser of
eternity speeding along had just struck
the mountain with one hoof and gone on
into illimitable space. So short is time,
so insignificant is earth, compared with
the vast eternity! This moment voices roll
down the sky and all the worlds of light
are ready to rejoice at your disenthrall
ment. Rush not into the presence of the
King ragged with sin when you may have
this robe of righteousness. Dash not your
foot pieces against the throne of a cruci
fied Christ. Throw not your crown of life
off the battlements. All the scribes of
God are at this hour ready with volumes
of living light to record the news of your
soul emancipated.
[CopyTlght, IW2. L. Klopscb.)