The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 15, 1896, Page 25

THE SAN CO CALL, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1896. 25 The Bicyele @Girl and Her Last Season’s Wheel 4 She Jakes It Apart, Paints and Polishes It { | i | } and Then Makes It Serve for Decorative Here is an important bit of news that will be of intense interest to every bicycle rider, The brainy bieycle girl has discovered “what to do with her last season’s wheel. Her clever discovery solves a provoking vroblem, as it transforms the ugly, rusted ard decrepit bike into a beautiful artistic triumph. In every city this, the lutesziw idea, is developing into a full-fledged fad. | Sonew, however, is this latest proof of the | bicycle girl's genius for doing bright things that only those who are decidedly abreast of the times have heard of it, and to few has the pleasure been granted of beholding the charming result of her handiwork. This winter will see a change in the home of the bicycle girl. From cellar to - Toof her home will look ‘“bicycley,” to coin a word. Golden mural wheels will . greet the eye in the drawing-room, sil- vered chains that once groaned with dust | and grease will be draped on the mantel- piece, and every part of a bike's anatomy, beribboned and ornamented, will serve a -decorative and useful purpose. Hereafter when curious persons wonder what has become of the old wheel al!l they will bave todo to find out is to visit the ' rome of some bicycle young woman and look at the walls of the living-rooms. Here is an artistic exvlanation of the | " secret—one of the sort that he who runs may see if he cannot read. This very de- " lightful state of affairs is all brought | about through a little artistic ability and | gold-colored paint. i The picture that accompanies this arti- | cle shows what happens after brisk polish- | ing and a little golden paint bav- been | combined. The girl who is driving the | nail in the wall will fasten that wheel that she has in the same place. She has made | the wheel look as if it had bathed in a ray of sunlight and the sunlight had forgotten | ™ go away. The rest of the bicycle that lies on the floor is sure to become bits of | decorative art before long. | It bas required a deal of clever thought | on the part of the girls who ride wheels to | conceive decorative uses for all the curi- shaped parts that go to make up the bicycle as a whole. Thereis a frame, for instance. It is ugly in itseli, but when gilded and decorated with ribbons of a | color that will make it harmonize with | the wallpaper it forms no mean addition to the general ensemble of the room, The front forks of a wheel apparently icontain mo elements of beauty, and yet | when beribboned and decorated with little | brass hooks form a very convenient arti- | cle from which to hang button-hooks, | glove-buttoners, etc. The handle-bars may be utilized for hat-racks, or if the young woman wishes to manufacture a chair with a back like nothing else it wrench Purposes ceived for which the bicycle is respensi- ble, but none that have been really more charming than this or more popular than this bids fair to be. The possibility of this idea being adopted by persons with both long and short purses results from the fact that tnere is absolutely no market for old bicycles at present. Not so very long ago the decrepit bike was repaired and sold as a second-hand wheel 10 per- | sons of smail means who could in no other way purchase a machine. Now, | however, thata very fair bicycle can be | bought first hand at $20, the old machines | e at a discomnt, and the bicycle col- lector, that is, the girl who buys the old machine and .then tears it to pieces, pays about what shé likes. To effeet this transformation the up-to- date bicycle girl gets up e “bicycle- decorating house party.”’ She invites her friends and tells them to come prepared to work. Old gloves aredrawn on and | aprons hunted up and thus attired the girls look full of business. Then the con- demngd bicycle is brought up from the | cellarto be dissected. One girl is made the gilder and given two -camel’s hair brushes—one for the finer work in hand and the other to lay the gold paint on thick. Another girl takes the and attacks the nuts. The others bring a stepladder and a basket of pretty hued ribbons. Then the work of demolition of the old and the re- construction of the golden mural wheel begins. All the girls take part in plan- ning the decoration. What does not sug- gest itself to one does to another, and the symposium of ideas is responsible for a much prettier effect than a single bicycle girl could work out. ‘The seat is carefully | gilded and encircled with a wide blue rib- bon. It is then hung in a corner of the room. It presents an odd but pleasing appearance, and catches the eye of the visitor. This bizarre effect is sought after and the bicycle parts readily lend them- selves to it. The bicycle tires are bathed in gold and inflated. Then an oval picture is robbed of 1ts old-fashicned walnut frame and set i the golden circlet. Suould the bicycle ’s small brother investigate its infla- tion with a pin, the effect would collapse, but she wisely forestalls his arts by hanging it high. The balls from the bear- ings are polished and placed in the pin tray as souvenirs. So the golden mural wheel is wrought by the bicycle girl. To Glean Ships’ Bottoms. Numerous indeed have been the inven- tions for cleaning the bottoms of ships when they become foul with barnacles and marine growth. This might seem an easy task to those who have never seen DEVICE FOR CLEANING SHIPS’ BOTTOMS. Ttere seems to be no doubt at all that humanity is becoming more intellectual, but the Sorosis Club of New York has re- cently been discussing the guestion as to whether, while the race is developing mentally, it is deteriorating physically. Even to those persons who place the pre- cedence of mental endowmentsover physi- cal at the highest notch this is a serious problem, for the body is the foundation aya the superstructure will be sure to be no stronger than the base. The earica- tures seen in the comic papers of the Boston boy with evidently more head than health, if they tell of conditions existing anywhere outside of imagination, should make laughter lead to reformation. It may reasonably be supposed thatas WHEELS FOR MURAL DECORATION. y Over at San Rafael lives a bright little | | girl who for a year past has been undergo- |ing the tortures of skin-grasting, and who for another year must almost weekly suffer through the same ordeal. A year ago Jessie Provdfoot, the daugh- ter of a well-known lumber-dealer over | there, invited a number of her friends into the yard of her father’s residence to play. A bonfire seemed the most enjoyable way of passing the time, and a merry blaze about the fire, some one pushed Jessie into the flames, and in an instant her clothes were burning. The screams of her companions brought assistance and the clothes were torn from her body, but not before her hip and right side were so badly scorched that the skin came away in great patches. For a time the girl’s life was despaired of, but she mended slowly and was finally out of danger, though the little body bore fearful evidences of the fire. It was found that one placa on her right side, 16 inches long by 9 inches wide, would not heal and her parents were ad- vised that she would never be well and comfortable unless skin-grafting was re- sorted to. There being no alternative it was de- cided to begin operations at once, anda | search was begun for friends who were! willing to part with a portion of tneir cuticle to help out the little sufferer. As soen as it became known what was wanted there were plenty of volunteers, was soon burning and, in their frolies |, and within a short time the first piece of skin was placed on the raw flesh. Some of those who came forward to assist in mak- ing the little girl whole were ladies, but the large majority were men, and each n turn presents himself or herself for the doctor’s knife, having the consolation of kuowing that while they may suffer some discomfort and pain the object of their self-sacrifice is being carried out slowly but surely. The most curious featurs of the case is the amount of skin that must be cut from the obliging friends before the terrible burn is obliterated. The place to be healed is measured by NEW SKIFF PROPELLER. Curious Case of Skin-Grafting at San Rafael Yards of Cuticle Have Been Gut From Obliging Friends to Obliterate a Little Girl's Terrible Burns inches, but the extent of cuticle necessary to bring it into a healthy state will be measured by yards. A comparatively small percentage of the pieces cut for grafting “take” and those that do shrink after being placed on the raw flesh and when growing healthily are not mora than half as large as when they were removed from the arm or lower limb of the original owner. Jessie’s mother keeps a faithful record of the names of the little one’s benefactors and the extent of cuticle they have con- tributed, and when it is over a computa- tion wiil be made that will be very inter- esting to all concerned. Dr. Jones, who does the grafting, says that the tedious task isabout half done and that it will progress more rapidly as the burned space grows smaller. Napoleon’s Title to Nobility. In May, 1813, the Emperor Francis, anxious to salve the lacerated pride of the Hapsburgs, produced a bunale of papers purporting to prove that the Bonapartes had once been ruling princes at Treviso. “My nobility,” was Napoleon’s stinging reply, ‘“dates only from Marengo.”” He weil knew that when the battle should be fought that wonld undo Marengo his no- bility would end. In other words, with- out solid French support he was nothing, and that support he was fully aware he could never have as King of France,— Sloane's ‘‘Napoleon in the August Cen- tary, humanity advances in experience all the best will be culied from the teachings of past civilizations, and that Spartan strength and endurance and Greek grace and beauly of body will be more and more a part of the perfections of the coming race. When our leading physiologists teach us that advancement to be permaneht must be attained by the care and training of both mind and body in harmony, we may set down the anticipa- tien of the men of the future centuries having colossal heads and frail bodies as a mere nightmare. Speaking of this discussion Dr. W.S. Thorne, ex-president of the State Medical Association, mentioned the poet Pope and the statesman and historian, Alexander Stephens of Georgia, as examples of how agreat brain can be sustained by a very feeble body. But the doctor points out that these examples do not properly enter into the argument; the question is of the race and such individuals are not among the links that knit the generations each to each. They are very interesting studies of something abnormal, but the variation from the type is not perpetuated. Such men bhave no children, orif they do the second generation 1s very feeble of both mind and body, and the race goes on un- changed by their advent into the world. Dr. Thorne is decidedly of the opinion that bodily strength is not being sacrificed in the effort to build up the brains of young Americans. In fact, he holds that while there are exceptions, such as the ones just cited, men considered as a race cannot possibly have highly developed minds without fine physiques. He says: “The general result of physical training in our schools and colleges and gymnasia Race Tendeney [s to Build Up Both Brain and Body San Francisco Doctors Give Their Views on the Gomparative Mental and Phys- ical Development of Mankind before breakfast and that it has a fine effect in developing the chest. It will be interesting to note that three are two reasons given why the proposition under discussion is contradictory. Dr. Thorne says the race could not retrograde physically while it went forward mentally, gecanse it takes a vigorous body to sustain good mental stature, and Dr. Anderson thinks the proposition contains a contra- diction, because just in vroportion as peo- ple become intellectual will they use their intellects to improve tbeir bodies. Dr. Anderson says that Max Nordau, in his fears about modern degeneracy, is mistaken and that his philosophy is false. He thinks that man must have dyspepsia or something seriously wrong with him, because no man thoroughly sound would look out upon the world through such pessimistic spectacles. Dr. W. F. McNutt says that he has not examined recent statistics on the subject, but he thinks it not improbable that the general vitality of the race has been lowered in modern times by the skillful prolongation - of ‘the lives of -consump- tives and other seriously unsound per- sons.. This interference with nature’s sterner methods of promptly cutting off the weak enables the weakened individuals to perpetuate and multi- ply their lowered vitality and has a large effect on the aggregate fig- ures, so that where the physician’s power pulls the rate up in.one way it pulls it down in another. There is no doutt, he says, that the average duration of life is in modern times much longer than it was. He doubts if modern man has as much endurance and power to resist disease as formerly. If, however, the consumptives and such be elimin- inated from the calculation, and only those of the race considered who furnish a good foundation for progress to build upon, he believes that we are improving physically, mentally and morally. So, if Sorosis will listen to the wisdom of San Francisco she will decide her problem with a hopeful, happy answer. For Shoeing Horses. Many years ago, when the inventive abilities of the American people were just awakening, an old blacksmith made the statement: “Well, they can make sewing machines, but they will never be able to make a machine that will shoe a horse.” - THE LATEST IN would be a matter of small difficulty to do so. Inasmuch as gilded chairs are all the - ashion nowadays this latter idea will un- questionably prove very popular. It always takes the brain of the woman " who loves to fill her home with ornaments 10 conceive a sort that no one else has, or at least that few possess. Possibly this is | why the bicycle girl so promptly decided to paint the pedals with the golden mix- | ture, fasten lone ribbons to them and then bang them from the lambrequins. The | effect is charming, and the tasteful use of | ribbon is the only absolute requirement | . 1o bring about the desired result. Think of the round and slabbed crank of spring steel being used as a parlor orna- ment! Yetit is, and it makes a very pretty one, too, only it has to be used in con- junction with others just like it. When | gilded and tacked upon a wall in the form of a letter “S,” thiscompany of cranks - presents a very attractive appearance. Then there is the chain. Thisis one of those parts of the bicycle which can be put to a dozen different uses in decorative | form. For instance, carved and fastened | in the form of a hook, it will serve as an admirable article upon which the tennis bat may be hung, or the golf stick depend, ‘and there are plenty of other ways to make it both useful and ornamental. The wheel itself, minus the tire, of course, when gilded and smartly decorated with ribbon, gives a very unigne effect to the wall on which it is placed, and causes the room to present anything but a stiff ap- pearance, Ii appears aimost shot to the .core with sunshine. Tnere is, perhaps, no feature of the bi- cycle, when considered from a decorative “standpoint, that can be utilized in a more attractive manner than the lamp. A col- lection of lamps by cyclists is something of a fad by itself, but the decoration of the walls of a room with them might at first ; bé considered an impossible task. Itis, however, not only not impossible, but de- ‘lightful in effect. There are so many kinds of lamps nowadays that they are discarded much sooner than they used to be, for the simple reason that the cyclist is inclined to become tired of one kind and sigh for another. So it is that the bicycie girl who deco- rates may have infinite vnriet): of lamps, One particularly fetching fashion that is popular with ber, in the matter of lamps, is to arrange them in rough imitation of 8 swan. Inside each lamp a wax candle is placed. In the evening these cgndle- are lighted, and the effect to the eye is charm- ing indeed. Of course every lamp {s gilded. The glass in the lamps varies in color, sometimes red, occasionally green, and ch in a while white. Of course this fact ust be kept in view by the young woman ien arranging the decoration. The varie- gated colors which shine out when the “lamps are lit give a most curious effect, and almost puzzle the eye, so unique is ‘the combination. It looks for all the woxld justas the colored signal lights of a steamer, arranged one above the other, would appear. There bave been all sorts of fads con- the bottom of a vessel that has just fin. ished a voyage around the Horn. It is covered with a veritable garden of all sorts of vegetable matter that hangs to- ward the bottom of the ocean at least six feet. In this there Is a colony of barna- cles and shell fish, al! seeming contented and happy. To readily remove this un- desirable accumulation is the aim of many inventors; most of them have been fail- ures and at pr sent the best accepted way to clean a ship is to put herin a drydock and scrub her off. Mark W. Marsden of Philadelphisa, Pa., however, has been granted a patent on an invention to accomplish this work that seems 10 possess some qualities that will make it successful. Whether it will prove | 50 or not cawronly be found on a practicai trial. Mr. Marsden’s apparatus is reaily a sort of drydock, although it does not neces- sarily have to raise the vessel out of the water. An end view of it is very much like the letter U, and the vessel to be cleaned, in theory, passes through the up- rights. At the bottom and sides of the in- terior of the uprights is arranged a series of brushes that are operated by engines in the uprights. The apparatus is of course hollow and capable of being filied with water like the ordinary drydock. The vessel to be cleaned is made fast at the bow and the cleaning apparatus sunk to the proper depth and run underneath her. Water is then pumped out and she 18 allowed to rise until in close contact with the sides and bottom of the vessel, The brushes are started in motion and the cleaning machine towed aft, removing in its progress all of the accumulated grogth and leaving her as “‘clean as a whistle. How a Letter May Be Recalled. The public is not as familiar with its privileges about postal matters as might be supposed. Many times people would like to recall a letter after it has peen mailed. This can be done, even if the let. ter has reached the postoffice at its des- tination. At every postoffice there are what are called *‘withdrawal blanks.” On application they will be fornished, and, when a deposit is made to cover the ex- vense, the postmaster will telegraph to the postmaster at the latter’s destination asking that it be promptly returned. The applicant first signs this agreement: *I¢ is hereby aereed that, if the letter is re- turped to me, I wili protect you from any and all claims made against you for such return, and will indemnify you for any iossyou may sustain by reason of such action. And I herewith deposit §—— to cover all expenses incurred and will de- liver to you the envelope of the letter re- turned.” In many cases persons have made remittances to fraudulent parties or irresponsible firms, not learning tl.eir true character untit sfter the letter had gone and have succeeded in Trecalling them, There is an instance where a Kansas City merchant had reraitted a dishonest travei- ing man adraft for §175, and by means of a withdrawal rescued the drafi jast in time, Globe-Democrat. 2 ’ The portion of the State of Washington embraced in its northwest division and bounded by the ocean and Puget Sound | constitutes an area of which less is posi- 4 tively known than that of any otner of | equal magnitude within the limits of the | United States. The s=ction involves 10,000 | square miles, only a small portion of | which has been explored. The land bor- | dering upon the sound and the ocean !u‘ fairly well known <o fishermen and hunt- | ers, but of the great interior little is | known, ‘ The Olympic range of mountains, some | of them 10,000 feet in elevation, forms the dividing line between the east and the west. Within the recesses of the range are valleys, well wooded and watered, and: capable of high cultivation. Lakes fed by mountain snows aré very numerous, and some of them are said to surpass those of Switzerland in scenic charms and grandenr. The streams flowing from these lakes are very precipitous and copious in vol- ume, Rising mn high altitudes, their courses are obstructed by waterfalls, many of them of great Leight and of entrancing beeuty. One of these streams is the Quinault, which flows into the ocean from the east. Its course abounds in cataracts, and is Falls of the Quinault in the Olympic Mountains A Paradise for the Hunter and the Artist in the Great but Little- Known Range of the Far Northwest often throuzh deep and gloomy canyons. Charles Weidner of this City recently vis- ited the river and brought back some beautiful views of its falls. The journey was extremely difficult and accomplished after great effort. Mr. Weidner describes the Olympic Peninsula asa paradise for the hunter and the artist, and will raturn next summer. The d:fficulties in reaching the interior are said to be aimost unsurmountable, bat an expedition is now being formed to make the attempt as soon as the snows of 1897 disappear. It will bring back au- thentic informatiou of this little known land. THE FALLS OF THE QUINAULT RIVER. is eminently in the direction of race im- provement. “Itenables the naturally weak and feeble to acquire- an academic training without physical degeneracy, which under no other conditions would be possible. Itisa well- established belief among our best medical thinkers that mental development and physical training should go hand in hand, and the experience of the last decade amply justifies this belief.’”’ In this connection the doctor calls atten- tion to the practice of Gladstone in main- taining himself in splendid physical con- dition by means of regular exercise, and says that without such a body his vast and long-sustained brain work could not have been accomplished. The directors of our educational insti- tutions are very carefal to keep in check the tendency of some students to go to ex- cgss, either in the way of becoming book- rms or making athletics the all in all of life. That our race is degenerating physically bhe denies and states: “In a recent visit to the Vatican museum in Rome I carefully noted the size of many of the ancient Roman and Greek busts found there, and as the size of the head bearsa *1 very close relation to the size of the body, itis apparent that in physical develop- ment these classical races did not exceed, or even equal, the average of the present Anglo-Saxon.” Speaking of the advantages of the har- monious training of both mind and body, Dr. Thorne quotes Du Bois Raymond, the greatest of living physiologists, as saying “‘that exact, systematic and sustained movements of the muscles actually in- crease the gray matter of the brain and spinal column.” That improvement of the mind also has a powerful effect in improving physical nealth is as well known, and has recently been distinctly observed in the noted improvement of the general health of the children now being trained in the Illinois asylum for the feeble-minded. These unfortunates, the doctor says, can not only be improved, but they can be so developed by physical and mental training as to become resnonaible/ and self-sustaining citizens. De. Winslow Andersen is another of our prominent physicians who does not think there is anythiny in the outlook to make us fear that the body will not keep pace with the mind in the evolution of the race. He says, however, that up to a very recent time in cur history, say twenty years ago, there was great danger of the evil now be- ing discussed by Sorosis. Now the train- ers of youth all over the land understand the peril of the neglect of systematic exer- cise in the schoolsand colleges, and by the present methods tbe boys and girls will KTOW up Wwith healthy bodies and minds. The doctor is a great believer in *‘mens sana in corpore sano” and speaks of the fine physiques of the English. He says that even the ladies over there think noth- ing of a ten-mile walk before breakfast as a constitutional. He says that while at college he used to take a two hours’ row t HORSESHOEING. So far he has been correct, but John L. Ream of Axtell, Kans., has just been granted patents on a contrivance that takes all the science out of the work and makes it possible for almost anybody to shoe a racer. With Mr. Ream’s machine it is no more work to put a shoe on a horse’s hoof than it would be to put it on a fence post. This is accomplished by making the horse as much like a fence post as possible, The apparatus consists of a couple of upright beams and a series of blocks and tackle intended to clasp the horse on all sides. No matter how fractions a horse may be he has to behave himself once he is in the clutch of this apparatus. The animal is driven between the uprights and his halter fastened to a ring in the ordinary way. Then by releasing certain ropes a framework descends and catches him so that he w8nders what is the mat- ter. Before he has found out he isail in a knot. Ropes and tackle seize the leg to be worked on and in an instant it is straightened out in just the desired posi- tion. By turning a windlass it can be raised or lowered to suit the blacksmith’s pieasure, and he can proceed with his work while smoking his pipe and have no fear of having his head kicked off. —_————— Propelling Attachment for Skiffs. Samuel N. Emith of Minneapolis, Minn., is the inventor of a propelling and steer- ing attachment for small skiifs and row- boats that should be of great service to all owners of pleasure craft on smooth waters. It is so constructed that it can be fastened to any boat in a few minutes and un- shipped as quickly and put away in a place of safety, thereby preventing the vessel from being stolen and also being tampered with. The general shave of this contrivance is like a rudder, the propeller being located at the point where the blade would be,and the motor being fastened on the handle. Itis all made so as to swing freely from side to side. The method of ehipping and unshipping is by a specially constructed plate and a clamping attachment held in place by a pin that can be easily taken out or replaced. The principle upon which Mr. Smith has worked in his construction might be called the “tube” prineiple. All the work- ing gear is inclosed in tuves, and the or- dinary square gearing is used in convert- ing the power from one angle to another. The motor is really no part of the inven- tion and can be either spring or electric. The principle on which the apparatus works ought 10 be a saving of power. There is no pressure against the rudder blades-to cause friction. It the propeller is placed at a line following the keel the vessel will be driven straight ahead. If turned to one side or the other the stern of the vessel will pe driven in a corre- sponding direction and so cause the prow to turn as desired. The greater the angle at which the propeiler is turned the sharper turn the vessel will make. ot i ot il “One man in 203 is a “‘six-footer.”