Evening Star Newspaper, April 25, 1891, Page 14

KITES AS MOTORS. THE COMING AIR SHIP.’ Experiments in Aerial Navigation Disclosed in United States Patents. | WINGS, BIRDS AND KITES ‘The Darius Green Notions Abandoned—Devel- | opment of Mechanical Ideas—Aluminium May Make the Flying Machine a Practical ‘Thing—Results of Invention. — | ‘Written for The Evening Star. i TERY RECENTLY THE PRACTICAL! world was surprised to read in the daily press with circumstantial minuteness an ac- count of the incorporation of a company to structed to float, how equipped and so on, just as if some superb ocean steamship or govern- ment war ship was the subject of its enthusi-| astic story. And well may the enthusiasm of | the writer for the press be allowed. for to navi- gate the air was the dream of man long before marine navigation by steam, and almost the bare thought of its accomplishment inakes the | heart even of the skeptic beat faster upon a | contemplation of the teeming possibilities of the subject. Who is so indifferent to the enormous profits that it would yield as to neglect the opportunity to enter “on the| ground fioor” a corporation that first made | practical serial navigation by building and equipping a line of air monsters to ply between New York and Liverpool, San Francisco and other cities, with such safety and speed as to run down the eagle without a qnaim of There simply would be “milli ms in mind can scarcely com far reaching effects of th» rid whick seri The trafic of the would bring about. railroad for local p: the aerial ship for ¢ and express transpor! MEX WHO ¥ In the earliest legends of m: {ideas which show that he hi aspired to sail in the air, “as free as a bi he ancients | had their stories of Daedalus and Iearus, father | and son, who bein; risoned in Crete es- | 3 of wings made of " ver, being a headstrong mindful of the paternal caution not »high, approached too near the *un. By the heat his wings were headlong into the sea and was drowned. | navigation steamship and the nd freight traflic, agh passenger, mail ANTED TO FLY. | re found many The Christian «pi 1 man in his imagina- | tion has pictured himself in the life to come in | flowing robes of tieecy white with feathered | Wings and wing s on his feet i And the poet, Doubtless man got the idea of flying with wings from his observation of the birds of the sir, and he has, with great pains and infinite ingenuity, tried’ in many wavs to successfully imitate the feathered navigators of heaven's azure vault. But his many imitations are all failures, judged by any practical and useful standard. ‘The English and the French, particularly the latter, have given much thought and labor to ward solving the problem of aerial navigation, but I ha e only of what has been done in tae matter of aerial naviga- d from the American patents recorded in the patent office and the various | methods proposed therein that have its aceom- | lishment for their object. PATENT WIXoR. Of the many diferent efforts to solve the | Problem of support and propulsion that by wings is amon@ the earliest. Two distinct ideas | in regard to the manner of their application | have obtained. One, the elder of the two, in- volves the use of an attachment consisting of | two side wings and a tail wing applied to the | operator by frames and joints and operated by | continued action of his arms and legs in « manner somewhat similar to swimming, the | ierence in the density ot water and air being | compensated for in the greater extent of sur- | face presented by the wings in one case over | the hands and feet in the other. This idea has | been mo:iitied by adding « balloon from which | the operator is suspended by ropes connected to the frame of the attachment. While thus | suspended he operstes the wings and flies in the ditection desired. The other idea is to Sustain a car by a belloon and to draw the de- vice by birds harnessed to the car. CHARIOTS DEAWN BY BIRDS. Corsets or frames of suitable size and shape to receive the bodies of the birds are pivotally attached tothe car. The birds are secured in the corsets and have only to fy. the direction of their flight being changed by mechanical means, independently of the wills of the birds. Still another :nethod, involving the use of wings, is to apply them to the sides of a car to be operated by the occupant or by steam power. KITES AS MOTORS. Another old-time means to accomplish aerial Bavigation is the kite, or aeroplane, as it is alled in the art of serial navigation. In some in the water or on the land, while in other in- s the navigator sits in a euspended car or d to a rope, the end of the rope being free or else tied to a boat on the water or a drag on the land. In several cases the plane ached to a bailoonand is adjustable by the onaut in the car to different angies to guide or influence its direction. It is enpposed to ascend or descend in the dircetion and at the point desired by tilting or adjusting the plane at an angle up oF down, as the case may be. £0 as to have itact_on the atmosphere as an in- clined plane. Ithas been used, however, in more recent times simply to give’ stability by having it fixed or adjusted to extend along the sides of or beneath the balloon, just as the stability of a boat is increased by having exten- sions projected to engage the surface of the water. Another purpose is subserved by this manner of its use, and that is to aid the easy descent of the ship by presenting a broad and extended surface to the atmosphere. At length attempts in the direction indicated scem to be generally recognized as impractica- ble and futile. It has apparently come to be conceded that if man is to navigate the air it must be in machines less rude and primitive, in machines formed in stricter obedience to natural and mechanical laws; and, as will be told later on, some few have gone 'so far as to try to entirely eliminate from the problem the Principle of buoyancy and to rely solely and wholly on mechanical means, notwithstanding the dreaded fact that any accident to the rais- ing machinery would result in the instant fall and utter destruction of the ship and all hor precious freight. This defect, though, was to partially avoided by means of the parachute. A SCREW-PROPELLER WHEEL. The fan wheel, or more accurately speaking, the serew-propeller wheel, was seized on as the thing to both raise and propel the ship. It may be stated here, however, that its use for this purpose, after the mechanical means of wings had been generally abandoned, was not new. for it had been tried early i the art in this country applied to balloons to propel and guide them and arranged in such manner that it could be used also for communicating a ver- tical ascending movement to aid the balloon to rise and to give a forward and backward pro- n to the whole device when in the air. Another invention consisted of a rocket-shaped balloon with rotary fan wheels and discharge pipes passing out at the stern of the ship, the kction of the wheels forcibly driving the ait out of the stern of the balloon through the pipes, propelling the ship in the same manner asa rocket. ANOTHER FORM OF SHIP. Another means of somewhat like principle is that of producing and maintaining a supply of kus or vapor or air in @ receiver and forcing the same from a discharging nozzle at the rear end of the ship under great pressure, whereby the impact of the escaping gas against the par- ticles of the surrounding air in which the ship Hoats canses it to be moved. These remarkabie means of propulsion are not to be considered less seriously from antilitarian standpoint than balloon patented to another inventor made of ribs, covered with an air-tight cover, from which the air is to be exhausted until a vacuum is produced. It is unnecessary to say that such a balloon is utterly worthless, as the ribs ean- not be made strong enough to sustain the crashing weight of the atmosphere and at the same time light enough not to overcome the buoyancy of the balloon. In another patent th» car is provided with one or more gas cham- bers, which are connected by pipes with pump, and other pipes extend both from the pump and the chambers to the neck or mouth of the balloon. Through the latter pipes gas ix admitted to or withdrawn from the bailoon. ‘The chambers are filled with gas compressed therein by means of the pump. If it is desired to inflate the balloon suitable stopcocks in the induction pipes are opened and the gas is admitted. When it is desired to exhaust the balloon the gas is drawn out by the pump through the eduction pipes and returned to the chorabers. By these means the balloon can be male to ascend or descend at the will of the operator, without any waste of gas or throwin, out of ballast. This idea is highly thought of an being substantially the same, or, if varied, the balloon itself is divided into compartments and the gas is withdrawn from « number of them to cause it to descend. ALUMINIUM MAY Do TT. That wonderful metal aluminium, {tis now thoaght by many. will make practicable serial navigation. Whether it will do so remains yet to be proved. In t second patent granted this country for aerial navigation, in 1861, it is used today, the means and arrangement |}, proposed to construct the engines which drive the «crews of aluminium. And it is stated in sum/lry patents since issued that certain parts of the ship are to be of this metal. If the ship could be made very light, and yet strong enough—so the inventors argue—the problem would be nearly, if not quite solved. Air being aresisting medium, they believe that all that is necessary is to rotate the screws fast enough and the ship will be raised and propelled in air us it is propelled on the water. But with the motive powers now known it has not been possible to rotate the screws swiftly enough to raise the ship. In comparatively recent years ‘ricity has been proposed, thus or apes | th the weight of the engines and boi fuel. But such schemes have always proposed the use of a balloon of sufticient y to exactly oat the whole device, the idea being to use the screws to accomplish positive ascent and descent, propulsion and If the ship is constructed of aluminium, it will. of course, be lighter and a smaller balloon will be necessary. ‘This is very desirable for the smaller ihe balloon the more easily it can be controlled. modernair ship. It mustbe of aluminium and be sustained by a balloon, to which it must be closely secured. Its shape, when so connected, must be substantially that of a cigar, thus offer- ing the least resistance to the air. There must be planes and screws at its sides to steady it and other scre-vs at both stem and stern to pro- Peland guide it. In addition the screws must driven at incredible speed by stored elec- tricity. One can imagine such a ship quietly and swiftly traversing itscourse in a calm sea of air; and it is said to have been accomplished. But when that calm sea shall have become a raging tempest, sweeping through space with the force of a gale, what will be the fate of this creation imagination? Can we picture it con- temptuously flinging aside the driven air and keeping its steady course to port like its Brent counterpart, the ocean steam hip? Or rather, would it not be blown like a bubble “where the wind listeth,” its swiftly rotating iving in vain to get a purchase on the Aerial navigation is not yet a fact; but the t aap nord of aeronautical art and science cannot doubted. Who can successfully contend but that somewhere in the tracklow future we will see “*The heavens fill with commerce, Arsosies of marie sailse Pilo's of the purple cwilight dropping ‘with costly bales” ae HERMIT CRABS. Some Curious Points About Creatures That Live in Borrowed Shells. 667\HE HERMIT CRAB HAS SUFFERED injustice from the report that he is accus- tomed to devour mollusks for the purpose of tak- ing forcible possession of their shells,” said Mr. Benedict of the Smithsonian Institution to a writer for Tae Star. “The fact is that he never adopts such a method of procceding—if for no other reason, because thore are always plenty of vacant shells to supply him and his kind with a domicile. It must not be supposed either that the hermit resides in one establish- ment all his life.+He grows, like any other crustacean, and, just as other‘ crabs cast their coats and adopt fresh ones, so does he vacaic the quarters that he finds too small for his comfortable accommodation, moving at proper intervals into more commodious rooms. ‘Thus Mr. H.Crab may rent as his tenemegt, from his birth to old age, a dozen or more empty shells of increasing sizes. Necessarily, he may not always find one that suits him perfectly when he desires to move, just like people, but he must take the best hie can find; and this will account for the fuct that you often discover such an individual dragging about an establish- ment entirely too big for him, or, what is worse, with an insufficient roof over his—tail. “it is his tail that the hermit crab is anxious to protect. It contains his abdominal parts and is so soft that any fish is likely t> bite it off, regarding it as an exceptional tidbit. Therefore be stows away this undefended ex- tremity in any suitable ‘shell that he can find. Without such’ defense for his exposed part life is a distress to him. It is great fun to extract three or more hermit crabs from their shells, set them naked in a bowl of water with only one shell in itand watch them maneuver for it. They will fight ferociously, if it comes to the point, but, preliminarily, they will resort to all sorts of wiles to first secure the shield that renders the successful one a giant against Pygmies. It is as if as many unarmed men were contending for a loaded revolver. The vulnerable tail of the hermit crab is like the heel of Achilles—only more so. “There is a kind of hermit crab in the West Indies that lives almost altogether upon land, in holes beneath the roots of trees and else~ where. They dwell far from the water and carry with them shells as heavy as are borne by any species of their kind—some of them weighing more than a pound apiece. At their breeding seasons they go to the water and pre- sumably exchange their shells there, when necessary, for bigzer ones. “It seems a curious freak of nature to find hermit crabs making bits of sponge their homes instead of shells. ‘This is accounted for by the fact that Mr. H. Crab has adopted as his home a shell on which a little sponge has started to grow. After a while the sponge en- tirely covers up the sheil, the lining material of which becomes absorbed, #0 that the crab is found housed in the sponge, as if he were quite at home. “At other times sea anemones will grow upon a shell that has been taken bya hermit crab, and they will grow and multiply until the crab is obliged to dreg around # whole colony ot anemones. Mr. H. Crab thus appears like a gorgeoue flower pot, carrying with him an animal bouquet displaying all the colors of the rainbow. ‘These anemones have myriad: cells that contain poison darts like’ thos of the Lilliputians, which feel to the hand like ings of nettles. It is imagined that these stings protect the crab from enemies.” BATHS FOR BOYS, A Suggestion for Public Baths in All the Wards of Washington. PHYSICIAN CONNECTED WITH THE Museum of Hygicne has suggested u novelty in the way of a system of swimming baths for Washington, which strongly recommends itself both for originality and common sense. If his idea is carried out a permaner? open- air tank for bathing will be established in cach ward of the city. For each bath a convenient lot will be taken, perhaps 70 fect in length . by 25 feet in width, and simply dug out as if for a celiar, with a flooring of concrete and sides of brick and asphalt. This will be filled with water so as to make an artificial pond, in and out of which there will be an incessant flow. ‘The bottom will be at such a slant that at one end there will be a depth of only two feet or so, gradually increasing to five feet at the other end. Around each pon, according to the plan, will bea high fence, and inside the fence will belong benches divided ronghly into com- partments for the bathers to plice their clothes upon. The institution being especially in- tended for the benefit of the boys they will not be required to wear any bathing clothes, inas- much as any sort of garment for swimming is destructive to juvenile happiness. Priva will be complete, and thousands of male persons who would not take any baths at all otherwise will rejoice in unrestricted ablutions. WHAT THEY WILL cost. The notion is that the baths shall be open from morning until nightfall all summer long. Each one will cost only about $1,000, eluding the fence, and the attention of a single police- man will'be sufficient. It ix recognized by hilosophers generally that it isan imposai- Bitity to keep boys out of the water. I they can find no better place they will go swimming in the mud puddles. On many an occaxion, at times of flood, has the typical fat Washington “copper” been seen in the act of chasing a crowd of youngsters out of some hole beloe treet level where the water has gathered ina pool. Naked as when they were born, the youthful bathers scatter in every direction, rousers in hand and regardless of ‘proprietios. How much better it would be to give them some such accommodations for natatory exercise as those suggested. A project advanced recently in New York city is to establish there public baths in the different wards, where the poor are to enjoy cleansing free of charge. But the water is to be supplied only on the shower-bath principle, and pictures seriously published in the news papera show rows of «mall whole schools ata time, standing patiently a courting physical smallest le expenditure of fluid, it being esti that in this way one person can be thoroughly washed with just one-tenth of the quautity of water requisite to accomplish the same purpose ina tub. As fast as’ the spray from above falls upon bathers in this saving manner it flows away and is not used over again. Unfortunately the fact is not to be dis- muted that boys, when they bathe voluntarily, Ro it tor the fun of the thing and their ‘notion of enjoyment is not standing under a trickle. ‘Therefore it is to be feared that with them the proposed New York institutions will never be popular. INGTON, D.C, OCEAN TREASURES. Some Things of Value Which the Sea Contributes to Mankind, FRUITS FROM THE DEPTHS. Skins and Seales of Fishes That Are Available im the Industries and the Arte—Curious Uses to Which Sea Weeds Are Put—Sea Slugs and Polypt. 'EW PEOPLE ARE AWARE OF THE many curious uses to which the products of the tribe of fishes are put, but a Sra reporter has gatered some information upon that point from conversations with the scientists at the National Muscum. The spines of the ray are employed by the Indians of Brazil as points for their arrows. Sharks’ teeth are likewise util- ized for arming weapons, as well as for trinkets, and the jawbone of the “‘boaleo” is rendered serviceable as a comb by the natives of Dacca, the teeth being small and closely set, 60 as to be available in removing the loose fibers from cotton wool. The jaws of the “sleeper shark” are worn for head dresses by the North Ameri- can aborigines and fish bones are used by the Eskimo for canes. The osseous portions of sharks und skates aro transformed in Japan into imitation tortoise shell, while among the islands of the Korean archipelago the children shake the dried eggs of the skate in their rattles. FISH SCALE ORNAMENTS. Many ornaments for ladies, of various sorts, are manufactured from fish scales both in this country and abroad. They aro worked up, either plain or colored, for making artificial flowers and other fancy work. The Chinese have a method of grinding up fish scales and using the powder as adry pigment for employ. nt in paintings. ‘The skins of many marine als—such as the seal, walrus, white whale and porpoise—have long been commercially utilized. Eel skins have been found available ior the throngs of whips, dried sole skins to clarify coffee, and shark and ray skins for shagreen leather. Whale skins are turned out, 60 feet in Ienght by 12 inches wide, for wheol bands to drive machinery with. Skins of vari- ous flat fishes are dressed and prepared for gloves, as well as in the shape of upper leather for shoes. Skins of soles arc likewise rendered suitable for purses, while skins of thornbacks serve cabinet makers instead of sandpaper, being very much more durable. In Egypt fish skins from the Red sea are found useful for the soles of shoes and in Gloucester, Masa., the skin of the cusk is tanned for’ upper leather. In parts of Russia and Siber ¢ skin of the burbot, cleaned, tretched and dried, serves the country people & trimming for’ their dresses, and “also in- stead of glass for the windows of their dwell- ings, being as transparent as oiled paper. ‘The inhabitants of the middle coast of eastern Asia clothe themselves with the tanned skins of salmon, the scale marks giving a very neat pat- tern to the leather. SHARK SKIN WATCH CASES. From a certain portion of the skin of the angel shark the Turks make beautiful sea green watch cases. European workers in ebony use the rough skin of the blue dog fish, like emery paper, for smoothing their work and prepar- ing it for polishing. ‘The hides of the same ani- mals are utilized for shagreen leather. Among the most peculiar preparations of Norway are the fish flours, composed of the flesh of fish re- duced to, powder. from which. biscuits are made, which are alleged by chemists to contain four times the nutritive mattersof beef and six- teon times those of milk or of rye bread. Dried loaves of putrid pounded fish are commonly eaten in Africa ‘and South America and esteemed & delicious diet. It is not commonly realized that seaweeds produce s large annual income for the world’s ‘They are an interesting sort of plants anyway, varying in size from almost micro- scopic dwarfs to giant vegetables like the great sea-tangle, which grows to a height of 360 feet, asingle specimen nourishing myriads of ma- rine animals. These curious growths subsist those which develop on-the earth from roots, but commonly they have merely an at- “Innent to some rock or other anchor, which holds them stationary while their branches uous about, deriving from the sea water all the tenance they need in the shape of carbonic acid and ammonia, aswell as of alkaline and earthy phosphates and carbonates. Many kinds of seaweeds are used directly in commerce for tue mauufacture of soda, iodine, bromine and gelatinous extracts. In’ Scotland and other northern countries they are utilized in winter for feeding horses and cattle. Upholsterers use the plants tor stuffing furniture as a substitute for horsehair—also mattresses and beds for children, because their aromatic odor keeps away insects. Packers employ seaweeds for wrapping fragile object and chemists obtain rom thein no end of chlorides, sulphates, sili- cetes and other sach valuable products. NEPTUNE’S GARDENS. Seaweeds form in the Atlantic ocean great banks, particularly along the path of the gulf stream, where ships pass through great spaces entirely covered with them. Sometimes the banks take the form of apparently cndless ser- pents, to which the sailors give the name of “Neptune's Gardens.” The bunches of vesicles filled with aiz which support the weeds at the surface of the water they call “tropical grapes.” In these floating meadows of marine vegetubles exist enormoas stores of material in readiness for use by man, but no practicable method has thus far been devised for bringing the stuff profitably to market or for spreading it upon the soil, Which it would do so. much to render fruitful. Seaweeds, applie€ as manure, pos- sess remarkable properties which are not alto- gether understood as yet. Asa fertilizer they are tmsurpassed, but & peculiarity possessed by them is that they act with wonderful rapidity, producing at once from soji that has been un- roductive most plenteous crops. On the ench shore of the British channel the collec- tion of seaweed is carried on upon an extensive scale, more than 2,250,000 tons being gathered each year with drags and rakes. Marine plants, manufactured for kelp and iodine, afford large revenues. Kelp is pre- pared by burning the dead weeds until they are reduced to hard cakes, in which condition itis sent to market. From these cakes is made entire supply of iodine used by the world, and the immense value of this latter substance in medicine and in photography renders it by far the most important of all seaweed products. ihe average yield of iodine from a ton of drift- weed kelp is abou* five pounds. The propor- tion of iodine in sea water is so small that it requires $0,000,000 pounds of the fluid to fur- nish one pouna of the material to the plants. IRISH MOSS AND 178 USES. Another sort of seaweed employed in com- merce is the Irish moss, from which is ob- tained a jelly useful for administering to con- samptive paticute, ax well as the well-known cosmetic for the hair known as “bandoline.” The best of this moss is gathered in the neigh- borhood of Scituate, Mass., between May and September of each year. A similar plant is jected in large quantities below water mark to the north of Cape Cod and sold for making yuddings, blanc mange and sea-moss farina, Tris aloo used by brewers for clarifying sod by calico printers. By the Malaysa species of seaweed is col- lected which, boiled down, produces a kind of gine called “agar-agar.” This material is utilized almost exclusively by becteriologists for breeding consumption, bacillj and other such cheerful germs upon. "This is because it is susceptible of being rendered in great purity and the bacteria finds it a most able diet. Thousands of tons of seawoeds are athered annually on the coasts of China and japan, packed ix bales and carried to all parte — Sourene i (fed sa for the . For the be are mized in ‘soups, and With’ rice, Raa aud vegetables. One advantage of the by bakers for SOME THINGS MADE FROM SEAWETD. Patents have been granted at various times for making paper out of seaweeds and SATURDAY, PRIL 25, 1891-SIXTEEN PAGES. many dishes fromthem, such ims wien Iv, will be & godsend to the poorer classes when fresh vegetables are scarce. THE SILK WORM OF THE SEA. Of the things of value which come from the sea there is no end. The beautiful dye known as Tyrian purple was formerly procured from a sort of mollusk, the coloring matter being obtained from a single vein in the back of the animal. Sepia is the dark fluid from the ink bag of the cuttle-fish. ‘The gall of the carp is used in Turkey ava green paint and forstaining paper. A certain bivalve in the Mediterranean attaches itself to the bottom by a rope made of fiber so beautiful and delicate that it is woven into all sorts of exquisite articles, the useful- ness of the golden threads thus employed hav- ing earned for the spinner thereof the name of the “‘silk worm of the sea.” Many kinds of shells, whole or cut into pieces, are circulated as money in Africa, India and other parts of the world. Nota few savage peoples utilize the shells of mussels, snails and oysters for drinking vessels, oons and other utensils, ‘The mother-of-pearl oyster aud many mussel and snail shells are cut like onyx into cameos and made into but tons. Some large and thin shells serve the purpose of glass windows in eastern coun- trick. Shell flowers, shell earrings, shell brooches and shell bracelets are worn in civi- lized lands. Parchment is manufactured from the intestines of seals and the same material is employed by the Eskimo for clothing and biankets. The stomach membranes of the halibut are rendered serviceable in Greenland for window panes, and the same people use walrus leather for harness and seal nets. Oil is obtained from various mammals and fishes of the ocean, from the porpoise, for the lubricat ing the most delicate machinery, from the cod- fish for medicine, from the whale for illumina- tion, and soon. “Among other such oils are those of the sun fish and cramp fish for rheu- matism, and menhaden oil for paint soap, mak- ing and currying leather. The and debris of the fisheries form fish guano. THE BRA SLUG AND CUTTLE FISH. Among the curious products of the sea util- ized in commerce is the sea slug, known as the “‘beche-de-mer,” resembling a prickly cucum- ber, brown or black in color, and from eight inches to two feet inlength. This delicacy, ap- | preciated only by the gourmet, is minced and served in a thick soup. It is taken at low water upon shoals and mud banks, over which the fishermen wade knee deep; when their fect come into contact with a slug it is picked up. Sometimes the slugs are dived for in deeper places by experts. People in this country do not appreciate for eating purposes the hideous cuttle fish and other polypi, which afford so profitable and extensive a fishery along the fediterranean shores and in eastern seas. Nevortheless, the epicures declare the flesh of these many-armed and pulpy horrors to be of exceptional deliciousness. “They bring large prices in the markets, dried, being usually taken in the shallows or captured in deep water by means of carthea jars strung together and lowered to the bottom of the sea. The = are permitted to remain for a certain num- er of hours in order that the animals may seek hiding places in them. Inasmuch as the creatures are attracted by white or bright ob- jects the fishermen deck places in the creeks and hollows in the rocks with white stones and shells, over which the polypi spread them- selves. SHELLS USED FOR TRUMPETS AND PIPES. Some kinds of sea shells are used for trum- pets and fog horns as well as for lamps and vases, while the natives in certain parts of the world make out of shells very beautiful pi a short ebony stem being inserted into a hole at the apex of the spire. So precious was the Tyriat purple ofancient times, above referred to, that in the reign of Augustus one pound of wool dyed with it sold for about $170. This is not surprising, inasmuch as four pounds of the liquor from the mollusk used were required for dying a single pound of wool. Thus the rich Tyriau fabrics were worth their weight in gold. ‘The secret of this dye was lost for centuries and its rediscovery in modern times has not been useful, owing to the finding of the value of cochineal and coal-tar colora for similar pur- poses. ‘The mother-of-pearl shells which are manufactured today into so many articles of ornament and utility are those of certain large b sqsard of oysters obtained from several parts of the world. “Their substance is formea of alter- nate layers of very thin membrane and of car- bonate of lime, but the pearly luster is produced by minute wavesin the layers. ‘These furrows upon the surface shed the brilliant reflection that is so beautiful to the eye and the same ef- fect may be produced by ‘scratching parallel lines, thousand or more to the inch, upon 8 PEARLS THE MOST VALUABLE OF ALL. ‘The most valuable of all sea products is the Pearl itself, and the largest specimen known is in the possession of an Englishman, Mr. Beres- ford Hope. It is two inches long, fourand one- halt inches in circumference and weighs three ounces. The father of the present Czar of Russia devoted twenty-five years’ search to the collection of pearls for a’ necklace which he presented to his wife. Each gem in the collec- tion was required to be a perfect sphere, and also it was demanded that none of them should ever have been worr by any one else. With Pearls it is as with rubies; small ones are so plentiful as to be a drug: ‘but big ones are a great rarity. Fishing for them is a lottery, in which the prizes are few and the blanks numbered by millions. It is believel by the Hindoos that pearls are drops of dew which fail into the shelis of the oysters, the mollusks rising to the surface of sea in the month of May to catch the drops in their shells. Julius Cwsar presented to Servilia a pearl valued at $250,000; Clodius, the Roman glutton, swallowed one worth €40,- 009. Sir Thomas’Gresham, emulous of the example of Cleopatra, in order to exhibit his loyalty, gromd a poset which had cost him $45,000 into a cup of wine, in order to thus fitly drink the health of his queen. A pear! nearly three inches long, pear shaped anil said to be perfect in all respects, is stated to be in the collection of the Shah ‘of Peria, but the most beantiful pearl known is in the Museum of Zosima at Moscow; it weighs twenty-eight carats. Pearls have always been held in high value by mankind. Ia the New Testament the kingdom of heaven is compared to a pearl of greut price, and the New Jerusalem was re- Yealed to St. John as having twelve doors, each of which was a single pearl. ——___ EVOLUTION OF THE KNIFE, The Development of This Useful Implement . From the Sharpened Flint. “This case full of implements which we have newly placed on exhibition is designed to show the development of the tool which we call the knife, beginning from the eatliest times,” said Prof. Mason at the National Museum to a Star reporter. “First, you observe, is the fragment of flint which the savage split by banging it on top witia stone hammer into a number of flakes. Thesmalle: ones were used for arrow points and the bigger ones for knives, their edges being split off #0 sharp that you might almost shave with some of them. Noxt you see the flint fake inserted into a handle of split wood or bone, and, as further improvements, the fastening of this primitive knife in the handle by the rosin of trees and by cord of one sort or another bound around to secure it ‘The most beautiful knife in the collection is this exqnisitely , molded blade of nish jade belonging to the stone a walrus tusk. Yon can y find a more admirably formed weapon among the products of modern cutlery wares. Most curious of the modern tools here is this sailor's knife, square at the end instead of pointed, to it stab- bing in a row or the dangerous, hailing of ake weapon from aloft. Its blade drops out at the end of the handle when a catch is touched, so eat task ne Be 9 xa with one hand and 4 oF open the Without the nood of A MODERN UTOPIA. The Beautiful City of Vineland, New Jersey, Described. A MODEL SET OF PEOPLE. Only Two Constables Required to Keep Or der—Plenty of Wine Made, but Prohibition Strictly Enforced—A Prosperous and Well- Ordered Community. Written for The Evening Star. DATE MY LETTER FROM THE LOVELY town of Vineland, which in the spring and to many of your roaders it is unknown. Ashort time since it celebrated its twenty-eighth birth- day in Cosmopolitan Hall by addresses from Prominent clergymen of the town, poctical and humorous recitations, music and an allegorical Landis, whose extensive travels in Europe, more especially in the south of France and Italy, created the desire to transplant the vine in all its luxuriant variety to this soil, so con- genial to its growth. land (35,000 acres) in acomplete state of nature, he was the pionecr of this section. He brought from Italy acolony of the cultivators of the stape and settled them within a few miles of Vineland, which he called ‘ i they have by industry and knowledge of the mofes of cultivation made that whole region blossom. The small fruits, tho strawberry, raspberry and the Lawton blackberry also Grow here in great profusion. STRINGENT PRONIRITION. Lest the wine industry should lead toabuse he laid the foundation of the suecess of Vine- land in the establishment of prohibition by the most stringent laws. This was the first town, I believe, in New Jersey to raise the standard of the crusade against that enemy of home and ace, intemperance. Every facility was offered ere also to the manufacturer by grants of land and aid in capital, and at this time within the limits of the corporation there are glass factories, aper box, tool, button and several large shoe factories, extensive steam saw mills and other mechanical industries. The principal thor- oughfare of the town—Landis avenue—is twelve miles in length. From the West Jersey railroad depot to the end of the borough,about two miles, there are situated the elegant sub- urban residences, “Homes for the Feeble Minded,” for both sexes, state institutions. The lower part of the avenue is devoted to business. The stores contain all that isneeded by persons of means as well as the common necessaries of life. Here the busy tide of traffic flows on from “rosy morn to dewy eve,” but at night a silence fails upon the place unbroken by the shouts of tavern revelry or other haunts vice. The effect of the law of prohibition is seen in the brightness of the eye and the glow of health on the cheek of youth as well as in the matured vigor of mauhood. From about midway the avenue is laid out on the plan of the Champs Elysees of Paris. It is a broad thoroughfare, bordered by a wide sweep of lawn each side shaded by double rows of trees, forming a bower over the entire sidewalk. The residences are surrounded by extensive rounds, highly ornamented and inclosed with edges of the arba vitwand other evergreens and flowery shrubs. Scarcely a fence is to be seen. The vista between these rows of trees, with the great wealth of greenery from the well- trimmed hedges and the wide lawns, is one of great, beauty. | Parallel with and’ crossing ndis avenue are streets and avenues which vie with each other in beautiful designs in grounds and residences. One of these, East ayenue, is the most conspicuous, and upon it is situated the convent and boarding school of the Sisters of Charity, a branch of the institu- tion of Madison, N. ONLY TWO CONSTABLES REQUIRED. Vineland requires but two constables to pre- serve good order and to protect the rights of its citizens, and so seldom are they called upon to exercise their authority that when they do make arrests they grow tender-hearted and allow their prisoners in the “lock-up” the range of the corridors. A few nights ago two disturbers of the peace of this quiet town, who had been placed “in durance vile,” battered down the door and fled; another prisoner, more teful for the kind treatmen’ of these guard- 18 of the peace, refused to avail himself of the opportunity and remained to tests to the mode by which these ungrateful “‘vagrums” had escaped. The officers when arraigned pleaded guilty to the charge of tenderness and offered to pay the fine of these ingrates. ‘The terrors of the law are reserved foz the chicken thief, against whom the police exercise all their severity. “The “sneak. thief’ is an. un- known variety of tho species in this locality. Fruits and flowers bloom and ripen, untouched by the passere by, though in many instances they border the streets and roads. As near an approach to the millenium es I expect to nee is found in the peace which reigns between our colored brother and the summer is a veritable Arcadia, though no doubt | tableau of Temperance crowned by Peace and | Prosperity. Vineland was founded by Mr. C.K. | your and | You are too humbled to crow over.” Owning a large area of | and elect him to that position. | Forney’s election depended on the two Senators | from Kentucky, the Hon. Laz. Powell and the card, “Thanks and compliments of the Presi- dent.” JNO. W. FORNEY'S DEFEAT. The sounds of melody yet lingered on the air while the notes of preparation wont on and with great strides the dread spectre of war with desolation and death in ‘its train approached the city, #0 soon to be the center of all war-like movements. The peace congress had met and adjonrned and nothing to satisfy the warring sections had been evolved from all ite discus- sions. Congress met in extra session on the 4th of July with many empty seats. Tennessee was represented by ex-President Johnson in the Senate and in the House of Representatives Emerson Etheridge was recognized by For- ney, who against the protest of many of his friends placed names of these Representatives from the south on the roll, and as though in retribution for siving the first encouragement to carpetbagism, wit all the afflictions which followed in its train, these members of Congress without constitu: ents and of his own creation, voted toa man | Against him, and elected Emerson Etheridge to the clerkship. It was a gloomy national | holiday. I went to Forney's house to con- | congratulate him on his defeat, which, in the | opinion of many, served him right; but i found him too is with Prostrated. sHe was alone. the crowd the successful candidate, and he said, ntcred: “Well, you have not lett me.” 0,” T said. “Icame to congratulate you on defeat and to say it served you right; but He admitted the defeat would bea very heary {load to carry, and I suggested that his republi- j ca friends should pension the venerable As- bury Dickens, so long secretary of the Senate, TURNED INTO A VICTORY. He revived at the suggestion, and sent for Gen. Cameron. the Hon. David Wilmot, one of the best of men, and thus the ball was set in motion, and, as it moved on, it was found that Hon. Jobn C.’ Breckinridge, one of nature's noblemen, blessed with every attribute that could add dignity to manhood. Late at night Forney found me, he having justleft a republican caucus, and said if I could induce Breckinridgy and Powell to vote a blank or retire from_ the Senate I could have the entire patronage of the secretary's office. refused to place my two friends in such » position, the more espe as Forney, forgetful ‘of our _ intimac with Senator Breckinridge in the pasi, aud how as Vice President he had stood by Forney when persecuted by Buchanan, | Ropvews Removar Sue MAKES A DROP IN FURNITURE FOR TEN YEARS We have carrial the finest stock of Mousebold Pram ture to be found th this city. FOR TEN YEARS, As our patrons know, we have sold Furniture lower than any other house in Washington. FOR TEN YEARS Our money-saving and satisfaction ¢iving cretit eye tem has enabled housekeepers to furnish their homes more cheaply and comfortably on credit than others have done for cash. BUT FOR THE NEXT THIRTY DATs We shal! offer our entire stock of handsome, service. able and seasonable Furniture, such as Ketrigerator Baby Carriages, Matting, &c., at firures that will sur. Pass in cheapness, for cash OF on credit as cheap as for cash, all former offers, If you don't want furniture now you will someday, ‘and tis offer will never occur again, so buy Row. RUDDEN, THE FURNITURE DEALER, *pSim = «9D and G32 Tehet. nw. SD filled his papers with abuse of him. Failing to move me he sought Gen. Thos. L. Critten- den and Gen. Jamex 8. Jackson of Kentucky and appealed to them to see Breckinridge and Powell, which, relying on Forney’s promises that his election would enure to my benefit, they did and Senator Powell actually offered to vote for him if, as bo said, it would benetit me. I protested against it, but they voted blank, and thus John W. Forney was ‘elected to the secrotaryship of the United States Senate. I had but one intermew with him after that und it is needless to say he kept none of the promises made to secure that position. THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. afternoon when the Rhode Island and other troops crossed the Long bridge and invaded “the sacred soil” of the old dominion. I can see them now as they passed the office of the National Intelligencer, and a more beautiful sight thar that splendid regiment presented I never saw. Sunday came bright and beautiful. The fight at Manassas and the first Bull Run was going on and Washington had few citizens unmindfal of the result. The streets were crowded all day, anxious faces inquiring for news went unsatisfied until night, when the first evidence of bad news the War Department forbidding us to ublish any news from the __ battle eld and closing the United States mail to the National Intelligencer. I could not convince Mr. Henry J. Raymond when he returned from Bull Run of this fact, and he went to the War Department to protest, but in vain. I thought Mr. Russell of the London Times rather en- Joyed it, as the dispatch bag of the British le- gation was beyond the power of te War De- rtment, and of it Mr. Russell availed himself. e next day brought confirmation of the worst reporte in the crowda of re which filled our streets, and so the war made its first im- Pression on Washington. Jouy F. Coxte. A Letter From Europe, From Judge. A modern young lady who is being educated in Europe sends her old father one of those let- ters so fashionable over there—written cross- wise, upside down, dingonally, &., &c. His attempts to read it are illustrated by our artist. watermelon. They bloom and ripen within full view of him, with no intervening fence nor house dog to offer impediments to. the enjoy ment he finds so unrestrainable elsewhere here in this Utopia they are safe. Ifeel I am taxing the credulity of our southern friends in this statement, but. as Paul Pry says: “I willre- pair to the nearest magistrate and make oath” to this existing fact, “Sometime ago arrests were made of persons cunght stealing flowers, and being brought be- fore the worthy mayor, who has been recently re-elected, and the evidence being conclusive, ‘for they were caught red-handed, his honor ad- ministered a severe lecture upon the outrage committed against the owner of the beautiful flowers, they were superb specimens of the chrysantemums, and was about to impose a fine when some dne said: “Your honor, these lowers were stolen from your own garden.” “Oh, indeed,” suid the mayor, whose garden was gorgeous in itsarray of these beautiful flowers, “if you are ever brought before me again I'will impose a heavy fine upon you.” it was his ox that was gored and he thus ad- ministered Vineland justice and mercy, which issoclosely blended. ‘his reminds me of astory told of Col. Bob Ingersoll, who on one occasion committed some contempt of court and the judge after a reprimand fined him $10. Col. Ingersoll. admitted the justice of the sentencs und said, “Judge, will yoube good enough to loan me ‘that amount to pay my fine?” ‘No, sir,” said the judge. “I will remit the fine, the’ state of Illinois can better afford to lose that amount than Ican.” A THEOLOGICAL CoLLEGz. Here is located the Theological College of the Sacred Heart, presided over by the Very Rey- erend Father Porcille, an eminent member of the Fathers of Merey, of which he is the pro- vineial. “Ihe college grounds are very esten= sive, and it fronts on the fine Natural ‘Park, hich is about to be embellished. Like all in- stitutions of ita character it has students from all parts of the country. ‘The town contains churches of every denomination, schools. pub- lic and private, » school of art, Young Men's Christian Association, under whose au courses of lectures are delivered daring the winter, a circulating library, and literary so- Cieties are numerous, Every facility is offered for the cultivation of music, for which Vine- land is remarkable. By a concatenation of circumstances, after years of travel,abroad, and study at the Couservatory of Musi in Milan, Madame Meda Blanchard Coyle found in this charming spot a nial home, where the tones of music, ‘the odor of its flowers pervade the. v ‘abounding musical talent induced resume her profession asa vocal teacher, i: BE ? s Hie Gj i Hl F a i | i i cs l Casu Ou Cazvrk. READ THESE PRICES Fora Oak Anttone-fintshed Bed Room Suites, Spice 400817 cash, or 818 on credit. ‘Tpiece Parlor Suites, solid walnut frames, apbo! tered in plush oF best baurcloth.for @22 cash oF $30 va A few weeks only elapsed before that bright | creait. Good WOVEN-WIRE BED SPRINGS for #2: cash or €2.50 on credit. BRUSSELS CARPET, @0e. cash or fe. on credit. Good INGRALN CARPET, 35e. cash or 400. on eredit. Vceew and lay all CARPETS free of cost anddou': (Larve for the waste in matching ficuren, Cur terms are the castest of sny housein the etty: oly # mall payment at time of purchase and the bal Came from | ‘ein EASY WEEKLY or MONTHLY PAYMENTS. No notes required and 6 per cent discount allowed ou all eccuuLte settiod in thirty Gaye GkoGams CREDiT Hovuse aloe Ti oad 7 Tt ow Niuw Grxonaxs. EW ORGANQIES. NEW BATISTE. KEW CHALLIS. NEW INDIA SILKS. NEW SERGES. NEW PLAIDS. NEW STRIPES. NEW CAPES. NEW PARASOLS. NEW ROBES. NEW SATINES 4 BEAUTIFUL LINE OF DRY GooDs, CHOICE STYLES, AND AN ABUNDANCE OF DESIGNS: TO SELECT FROM. ONE PRICE. W. M. SHUSTER & SONS, apt «6919 PENNSYLVANIA AVE X.W, ‘ ir you buy cu tine Jou can't get cash prices. If you Saaen vay ah awiul interest.” Compare Our w e. Ii Beet book’ Feat Wire Springs, Sold elsewhere #7.50 1088.30. _—_ Gfoot Extension Table, qi