The Butler Weekly Times Newspaper, April 27, 1887, Page 3

l SHADOW ON OUR LIVES, me cense ani leafy woodland, m each lofty tree-top down, ed with dashes of the sunlight is the shadow coe! and brown, how different ts the shadow mich our soul of lig! ceprives ont far from many shadows ever lifted from our liv en our life is young and buc re 3 ris, in careless moments uttered, nd by us forgotten soon 1 \ bw with those whose hearts are wounded, | a the freshete swell in averush ug, | pon the ice. Their color is a deep yall us more than gyves, h chasalste tanen ith aaniat aosmuce we never | white, shaped [ke s ‘ | tends from the back around etting of th crimson, gold and purple set sky be won; shadow from our lives en our sunset fates to twilight, the final hour is here athe world around ts passing, ithe world to come is near: on our memories thron aroun i us ni the ftesh with spirit str we never, never, nev ift the shaiows*from our lives 4 Dunn English, in N.Y. Independent. —_—< += ——— ARCTIC ANIMALS. Habits of the Seal in Far Alaska. eet etd ddd sss | u on 2 JSesves the Walras—The Polar Bear in Icy Habitation—A Curious Bill of Fare—Hunting the Grampus. jenance of life forms the chief ofthe mute race of Alaska. The le to obtain food supply is the borbing thought throughout the cycle of their existence. Nature to have provided certain ani- peculiarly adapted to the hyper- region, and eminently fitted to sustenance to the race who have tund the exigencies and severe ic changes of an Arctic zone. ncipal animals inhabiting the of Northwestern Alaska are the members of the seal family. mus phocsy is represented by the da, or ringed seal; the P. hinus, or leopart seal; his- a equestro, the rar ddle- and the smooth black variety mas P. barbata. Ringed seals humerous, and are caught by tivesin various ways. During inter these phocw, rising to the strike against the thin, young make a hole. Through these y crawt upon the smooth sur- eile steeping at the brink. In my spring the first glimpse of them to forsake their wa- and to bask in the warm sto afford great pleasure to amphibious creatures. When in these positions the hunter upon all fours in as stealthy a 4s possible. CAUGHT IN A NET. after a gale, the ice is broken o small leads, a net made of eal hide is stretched across the and the seals, rising to blow, entrangled in the meshes. the last decade breech-loading us have heen used by the Mutes ing, but previous to their intro- Spears made w:th copper or heads were used, the frame for g the spear being carved from iwory. To the end of the spear coil of seal line is attached, to intervals, bladders of the seal ed. In these ways the hardy hunt the animal which affords tot only food, but also oil for mps and hides for their clothing. the ley wind sweeps over the expanse of sea, carrying with it Pllictes of snow that, striking » cut the skin like a charge of fog and snow mist envelop ® Mute hunter has to Grit amd nerve to face condi- no white man has ever yet intensity of the storms winter in the Arctic can be imagined. The piercing Sccompanied by drifting snow shuts every object within a few ly from view, the acute cold every crevice in a and the constant blinding that ned by the snow condensing the eyelashes and face and freez- into thin ice, are a few of the experienced by a resident SUMMER SPORTS. s the summer, when the ocean is Mfrs trom the grasp of the foe- Seals disport themselves at the iitevery Stream and rivulet, in fateh fish or sea fleas. Then “Xis called into requisition. In Leonstruction of skin and wood ter, launched upon the waves, Quietly and gently upon the seal = 3 GIO 4 53 _ WalF Lt si te teektt 0Se | GR of Al»-ka north of the Aleutian } ering for boats and canoes, and also until within range. Natcrally a very and it is at this portion of the coast inquisitive animal, an imitation of the | line that the walrus is most often chot. crooning noise p:culiar to the phoca is | Some of the whaling ains have | sufficient to make a seal swim on tke | told me stories of walri top of the water with its head protrud. | boat d using their tusks ing, thereby insuring a good obj-ct to | : but this, altho aim at. Whistling is also retorted to | ty in attracting the seal to the surface. The variety of seal known as the | “smooth black hair’ is highly prized | by the natives throughout the Terri A walrus is eagerly sonzht after by the It forms the head of the drum | | used at dancing purti ands. Its large hide forms the cov- | THE GKAMPUS. of white whale serves as boot soles entirely imp to ws Saddle-backs are seen to the north of Point Hop are very handsome and conspicuous | nimals as they lie basking ter. in the san | and from this peculiar marking they derive tl HOW SEAL MEAT Is COOKED. Seal meat as cooked by the natives is | 51" of a dirty briek-red -t shinned, the bleod 4 ining in the inclose t “ the meat unable to es seal meat } pon the b | sembling is to the s Bat if ‘ £ th bled, and the 0 rves as v a few hours, the Phe Mutes bay When | custom which is) observed frozen there is scarcely any flavor peo the first white wh: ceptible in the meat. | killed. After the carcass One of the sights that a warm spring | 08 She t male of the villas in the month of May affords to the ob- | 0" hunting party sits upon the beach, e and, facing the dead) whale, intones 2 baked, becomes the of server is the m er of seal that cover : s : the ice Young pups searcely a month | 2eties of invocatious to the deceased, | old, fie in itv to tReir dams, | imploring its s not to return to the sometimes wa away from the | S¢% and the 1 other members air-holes and uttering plaintive eries | Of b's family against his cap-ors like the bleat of alamb. At this sea-} 5™all portions of the lip and fins are cut off ant buried in th: earth. Be- fore this ceremony takes place no one is allowed to commence stripping the blubber or working upon the body. When a seal is brought on shore it is laid upon its back and some fresh water poured over its head, so that the spirit will not go back to the sea and warn off the other phoce. White whale blubber resembes limburger cheese in taste, while the flesh, if of a calf, 1s tender and palatable. The fins, when boiled and covered with vinegar, are an excellent subs‘itute for pigs’ feet. — H. D. W. in San Francisco Chronicle. a ee eth A POWERFUL CRANE. son of the year the pups can be taken with the hand, and the sled dogs make excursions on the ice for the purpose of catching these helpless little ani- mals, which are scarcely larger than a young lamb. Forty years ago immense herds of the bulky walrus might be scen disport- ing in the waters of the Behring and Arctic seas. Owing to the prices which their ivory tusks were valued at hunt ing of these pinnipeds became a source of profit to the whalers. As a conse- quence of indiscriminate slaughter their number has been sensible re duced, and except around Bristol bay mud flats and upon Walrus island of the Pribyloff group, but few walrus are now seen in the Alaskan seas. CLUMSY BRUTES. There is perhaps no animal in natare that appears so clumsy and so ill adapted to locomotion as this enor- mous brute. Upon land they are utterly helpless. When striving to effect a landing upon an icefloe or rocks they use their fore flippers to hold on by and wait for of each wave to hoist desired spot. 1 saw yg the past summer a cake of ice some thirty feet long by fifty feet wide entirely covered with walrus. As the steamer passed in through the lead the wash from her propeller startled the animals, and in « few min- utes the entire herd in its hurry to get into the water crowded upon the edge of the ice floe, lifting the mass up into the air some twenty feet. They fairly rolled and hustled over one another in their anxiety to escape. Unless shot di- rectly in the brain both walrus and seal sink imme liately, but if the bullet has been aimed correct the body floats within a brief space of time. Some- times after months elapse bodies of walrus and seal shot by the whalemen float on shore and are thankfully wel- comed by the natives. The natives tell me that the walrus has one pup at a birth, that event taking place during the month of May or June. Through the winter these animals float upon the ice fields, aud when the ice breaks up they rest upon the rocky shores of St. Lawrence island, and also pass north through Behring strait with the pack. Whalers sailing through.the Arctic ina fog are often warned of the proximity of heavy ice by hearing the peculiar fog-horn snorting of the walrus. WEIGHT OF THE WALRUS. Some idea of the weight ofthe walrus may be gained by the statement that the skin alone averages from 200 to 300 pounds. The entire carcass will cer tainly weigh not much less than a ton if the animal is fall grown. Walrus meat is highly praised by the Mutes. Tts taste is somewhat acid, but, in com mon with Arctic fare, its oleagenous nature renders it suitable as a heat- giving food. The immense hide is used for covering boats after being scraped te remove the hairy surface. In huat- ing the walrus the rifle is used by the natives, but it would be safe tosay that within the past few years not more than 100 have been killed between St. Lawrence island and Point Barrow, owing to their shy nature. While wal- rus ivory has so depreciated in value that it does not pay to bring it to this port, ademand has sprung up for the hides, which have been found to make the finest and most durable leather for belting purposes. The use of the tusks that form the appendazes to the walrus head is to enable the animal to dig for clams and other shell fish, an] also the bulb roots of sea weeds that are to be wh i } a urn is first visit on a farm, found at the moa‘hs of the num‘rous * arned from his first t < small str-ams and creeks that flow into "Ye this description of butter making: the 2 ei See ee ey just see how a ie the Arctic. In the vicinity of Point ont — to Fos : ee Lay and Iey cape beds of clams abound, | MAS€S) utter with a barre 5 ; j Stick! e A Floating Machine With a Lifting Power of One Hundred Tons. A crane, constricted for the Mersey Dock and Harbor Board has a jib of sufficient rake and height to command the hatches of the largest ocean steam- ers, and is also adapted for lifting dock gates in and out of place for repair, For this latter purpose it was necessary to provice lifting power for 100 tons, with a projection of about 6 feet over the side. The extreme rake of the jib is 49 feet, which gives a projection of 22 feet 6 inches over the outside of the fender timbers when the jib is athwart- ship, and the weight which can be lifted at this rake is 30 tons. Any load between 30 and 100 tons can, of course, be lifted at an inter- mediate rake. The crane is mounted on rollers running on a roller path fixed on the top of a circular girder built into the barge, and the steam engine by which the lifting, turning and “topping” gear is driven is planted on the crane, and revolves with it. To avoid the inconvenience of using an unnecessarily heavy block and chain when lifting moderate loads, the crane is furnished with two pur- chases, one for loads up to $0 tons, and the other up to 100 tons. Grea* attention has been paid to the provision for counterbalancing the load lifted by the crane, so as to avoid change of trim in the vessel as the crane turns and as the weight upon it varies’ The plan adopted is a com- bination of fixed and shifting ballast, so designed as to reduce the weight of the latter to a minimum, and so facil- itate its manipulation. Water is used for the shifting ballast, a centrifugal pump driven by an independent en- gine being provided for pumping it from the front tank to that at the rear, while it returns by gravitation. The barge upon which the crane is mounted is 130 feet long and 48 feet beam, the draught being about 5 feet, 6 inches. Twin screws with independent engines are used in order to give great- er handiness, and the after body of the barge being of twin form, the screws are well protected from injury when lying alongside a quay or ansther ves- sel. The forward part of the barge is strengthened, and a bed is formed on the deck on which a heavy load can be deposited. The speed over the meas- ured mile was a little over five knots per hour. The London Engineer re- gards this as the most powerful float- ing crane im the world.— Scientific American. se —Your wife has retired with a sick headache, your little boy is suffering with the mumps, your baby is teething, your cook is taking her “evening out,"” and you are not feeling very well your~ self—enter a crowd of jolly neighbors to give you a ‘surprise party!""—Puck. —_-<- --A little city boy, who had just re- eo assistance Lup to the Have Just Receive their Spring Stock of DRY GOODS, — CLOTHING, HATS, CAPS, BOOTS, SHOES, NOTIONS. Millinery, Carpets, Our Spring stock this season is complete in every department, we have all the latest novelties of the season and a&: handsome a line of goods as we have. every handled. Call and examine goods and prices.