The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 7, 1897, Page 25

THIS COW PUZZLED SCIENCE Hpd Milk Tas '\’U('K'JO\\'N N." J., Fet. 2, 1897.— discovered in the stomach of a cow aging to John Risler, a well-known bel, farmer living near here, when it was killed the after part of last month. So .extraordinary is the case genera: regarded wmd so many requests for verif cation have poured in on Mr. Risler that the he has made affidavit enumeratin - articles, which reads in part as follows “This is an exact statement of what taken from my cow’s stomach: One two- penny wire nail, one fourpenny nail, two sixpenny nails, eleven eightpenny and four threepenny cut nails, five fourpsnny nails, one fivepenny wrought nail, thirty nine pieces of nails, two one-inch screws, three pieces of ring, one-half a padlo inety-two (92) aken from the stomach. “‘Some of thers showed that they had I not years, been swal- y- thrived and grew fat upon nails, padlocks and small chain 1s certainly an mic achievements ch meadow hay or ran mash any odd were obtainable. Her d to be for such unusual rews, nutheads and v one respect did this cow differ from any otherof her species. She gave an of milk and more than a how she came h for its ability vthing has never narvel as yet unex- men. ats have heretofore been ¥ eatures re d to be able to apon a lor nual diet of mis- lianeous hardware, but for a varied as- usual articles ch can cb, and the ani- no incon- w has estab- her peculiar naged to pick up no one has as She might still rare-store of b r decided to convert beef for winter and mption by his family. 1en a few go Mr. Risler decided tle must be sacrificed in the family with meat he ng his numerous ani- itating selected this the victim for the en able to z 8 livir not her o without hi cow as ar s one of the best he owned, and Ik as she gave could not be equaled e entire State. There was a pecaliar Not an unpleasant, but taste, which was rath.r iron e, three stones, one hoe | had no at- | a Hardware Shop in Her Stomach.| People Wondered What Made the te of Iron “Why, the best four-year-old cow on my place, to be sure, and all you send me | back is the skeleton of a cow,” was the | energetic reply. | “Hold on a minute,” said the butcher; ‘ “just see what you sent me inside that cow | before you talk about skeleton,” and with that he brought outa peck measure filled with a varied assortment of bardware such as was never produced from the stomach of any cow before. Mr. Risler carefully looked over the col- lection, and after identifying the padlock and a stray piece of chain as some of his own property some months he handed the mass of mark: “Well, I was lucky to get even a eleton if the cow had to take care of all that stuff. But where did she getit? I guess that explains the iron taste in the | milk—and small wonder.” It certainly did explain to a certain ex- | tent the peculiar taste ot the milk, but an explanation as to the manner in which the cow came to swallow such a mass of metal is still agitating local scientists and medical men of Locktown and vicinity, WLo cannot understand how, in the first place, any animal could possibly swallow such a heterogeneous mass and survive, and in the next place, how it was possible to continue an apparently healthy exist- ence under such circumstances. There is, so far as is known, no record of any similar performance ever having been accomplished by a cow or any other | animal. Small stones and even pieces of | metal have been found in the stomach of | animals, but for such a mixed mass to be found in any one’s stomach is without precedent. The only theory which has any possi- bility is that the cow had a perverted taste and took the pieces of metal into her mouth thinking they were good to eat. They passed into her first stomach with her regular food in the ordinary and natural way. There they remained while | the food of the animal was eventually | digesied in the ordinary way. Had the foreign articles been expelled by the first stomach of the cow the chances are that | she would have strangled, while as it was they were practically of no inconvenience, and only prevented the animal from be- coming fat, a form of ploat taking- its | place, which accounts for her well-fed ap- | pearance, while as a matter oi fact she was, 80 far as meat was concerned, as thin as a razor-backed hog. | Sa if you notice a taste of iron in your | milk tell the milkman tochange the cow’s feed. Jraveling Town Libraries. Senator James H. Stout of Menomonie, Wis., 1n establishing traveling libraries in Dunn County at his own expense has done a service to others than those immediately benefited, for he has given the plan a pra tieal trial that will go far toward securing its adoption elsewhere. When he made his | first contribution to the plan sixteen libra- ries of thirty volumes each were put in E—r ; il q o7 =~ // ¢ 1///%4//////1?%////’7/ V) /I / / / / . COW EATING NINETY-TWO PIECES OF HARDWARE. agreeable than otherwise, and dairy ex- perts: who have analyzed the fluid said that there was a trace of izon in the milk, but they could not account for its pres- énce there. The wiseacres of the neigh- cod decided that it must be because there was more or less izon in the water cow drank. eekest of all the hera. shone like thosz of a well- t racehorse. There was every indication that the cow would make prime beef, and she was ac- cordingly sent to the slaughter. y hat “things are seldom what they seem’ better illus- trated than when this same cow, metamor- ed into beef, was returned to Mr. every honest American farmer he jected to being defrauded in any man- and when he saw the beef which the er sent he very prompily made a most vigorous protest. Whereas, he had sent awsy an appa- rently iealthy, fat and well-fed cow, he Teceived in return a beet which would throw discredit upon & maverick. There was hardly meat enough to cover the bones. What . fibrous and as full of muscle as that of thy wiidest steer which ever came over thf diive. A healthy yearling would give & fetter proportion of meat, and Mr. Ris- . ler lostno time in setting out to investi- gate. After patiently listening to the many reasons given by Mr. Risler as to why the .~ meat sent him could not possibly be that of the cow w.ich he had sent tq the butcher, that phlegmatic individual asked, “What did you send me anyhow?" Her glossy sides | little there was was | | operation. Thie number has since been in- J creased to twenty-six, and there is a call | for four more, while all the more lately purchased libraries are supplied with | forty volumes instead of thirty. Dunn | County has 15.000 inhabitants outside of | the city of Menomonie, which has a large public library. The people take a cenuine | interest in the libraries and use them to the extent of their opportunities, and it is said that the good influence of well- chosen reading is already perceptible. Similar experiments are being made in other counties of Wisconsin on a smaller scale. In two counties where there are large Polish settlements the demand for books on American history and politics is especially encouraging. Senator Stout’s experiment, though gratifying in its Tesults, dves not, of course, establish & precedent for the way |in which such libraries are to be made available to the people. It is not every county, or even every State, that is fortu- nate enough to possess one citizen who bas both the mesns and the wealth to make such a venture. Wisconsin, how- ever, has already a system of Ir e libraries founded under a law passed two years ago, which created a free-library commis- sion. The traveling libraries may be brought under this law by means of an amendment to include them, and the friends of the plan are working for this. Of the value of the plan there is no longer any doubt. Furthermore, & system so well adapted to Wisconsin must be equaliy valuable in any neighboring Western State. The subject bas been agitated in Minnesota, but never, so far as we know, with any definite result.,—St. Faul Pioneer Press. which had been missing for | metal back to the butcher, with the re- | THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25 o\ | -~ . DAy CR{\I‘\ a8 S Ghs e "au‘ = '9 26¥ P8 s S ,,?“'. oA < * @) sl e = | FIVE WOMEN WHO HAVE WON RECOGNITION IN—OUTDOOR SPORTS. \Quick With the Rifle, Yet Fear a Mouse~They Love the Exhilara- tion of Outdoor Employment, and Often Excel Their Male Gompetitors in Hunting and Driving women are P {I\lEKIC.&N rapidly | pearance that would offer the least sugges- | b : taking to out-of-door sports. Here | tion of mannisnness. N are five who have recently won dis- on by their ability to lead in the on the wheel and the racecourse. Shooting, cycling and fast driving are | some of the sports which they have taken up, and not only have they excelled their own sex by accomplishing extra- | ordinary feats in their .chosen amuse- | ments, but they are the envy of many of | their male competitors. | Three of these women are modern Dianas and have attracted a great deal of | nouce in their respective localities by | bringing down game of all descriptions, both large and smail. Their unerring | aim with rifle and shotgun has gained for | them the admiration of many an older and exvperienced hunter. Another prides herself on having ex- celled in driving fast trotting horses, while the fifth has accomplished wonders as a century rider on her bicycle. There is not the faintest suggestion of the “new woman” in the domestic life of | | any of these women, and aside from being | high!y respected in the communities | where they reside, they are excelient | wives, mothers and daughters, as the case may be, and sport is followed by them purely for the healthful exercise and amusement which it afforas. | Mrs. Catherine Helsel is the name of one of these modern Dianas whose fond- ‘ ness for roaming over the mountains in | pursuit of game has left her, at the age of | 64, which she reached this month, a | bright, witty and healthy specimen of | womanhood. | At the present time she lives with her | husband, George Helsel, South Board- | man, lkaska County, Mich. The | earlier years of her life were spert in Ohio, where she became a devotee of the | rod, line and gun. Ehe accompanied her “nme: or brothers on their expeditions | and soon became an expert with the shot- | | gun, and few birds ever escaped her un- erring aim. 5 More than forty years ago Mr. and Mrs. | Helsel moved to a small town near Grand | Rapids, Mich., ana every fall spend sev- | eral weeks hunting. As game grew | scarce they continued further north to where #hey are now located, midway be- tween the rich hunting district of the Boardman and Manistee rivers. Mre. Helsel early aspired to large game, and discarded her double-barreled shet- gun for a Marlin 8-pound 38-caliber re- peating rifle. She hasalong list of deer to her credit, and during one season she kiled fourteen of the fieet-footed ani- mals. She is extremely modest in relating her exploits with the rifle, but declares that she is never happier than when in the woods with her dog and gun, and av rs that she now owns the best bear dog that ever sniffed a track. She has one bear- skin rug adorning her parlor which is pierced by a bullet from her rifle. As an evidence of the esteem in which her prowess is held by her neighbors, this expression of opinion by her Iriends is very emphatic: “If you have any crack marksmen in your vicinity, youcan’t trot them out any too quick. We up here in Northern Michigan will bet our last cent on Mrs. Heisel o the run or siand- ing at any distance under sixty yards,”’ “The Huntress of Jackson Hole” is the title given by her friends to Miss Mil- dred Bevington, a young Rocky Moun- tain girl, living on the border of Jackson Hole, in the western part of Wyoming. She has recently been successful in hunting game which men usually find hard to get. She carries a new Sharpless powder-using 30-caliber weapon, and re- cently within a week she has killed half a k-tailed deer. dopted bloomers as a hunting costume, but this has been done purely as a matter of convenience, as dresses are not compatible with the thick sage- brush of the hunting districts. There is nothing masculine in her manner, how- ever, and when she sits in her parlor at home there is notbingjin bgr modest ap- | over a little hummock not more than 500 | | October she accompanied her husband on AMERICAN WOMEN IN THE WORLD OF SPORT She uses the soft-nosed bullets, which, when they hit an animal, spread until they widen half an inch in diameter. The deer which she bas brought down, as a rule, do not run more than twenty yards, | and many have died before half that dis- tance was covered. She finds antelope hunting the most in- teresting and exciting sport of all and de- scribes one of, her recent victories as fol- lows: “I took my pony and went away up above the ranch, tethered the animal and then went along a little biuff to where I could look off across the open country for along way. I brought my field glass into play, but could not see a singie thing. Then I went on a short distance further and scanned the plain again. I had been | out for perhaps an hour and a half when | I happenea to see a glimmer of something | yards away. It was justa little speck of brown that I had seen, and I was not ab- solutely certain that I had seen anything, | but I cocked my rifle and waited. It | seemed so long waiting there that I had almost concluded tha: I was mistaken. Sudaenly, however, up went something on the rising ground. Another jump and an antelope was in sight, followed by four others. I tried to catch sight of one, but they were so smail in the sights that they looked iike little bits of rabbits. Pretty soon I pulled the trigger. The next in- stant they were gone. But I put in an- other shell and ran over to the top of the rise, and there lay one dead. The bullet bad gone into the back of the head and torn a fearful hole.” Mrs. F. Eugene Belden of Chelsea, Maine, is another recent adadition to the ranks of huntresses. Prior to last July | she nad never handled a gun. She was | praficient, however, in the use of the re- volver, but there her skill in the hand- ling of firearms ended. Since that time, however, she has been in at the death in a lox hunt, baving killed the elusive ani- mal herself. Her husband is a great sportsman, and while they were in New Hampshire last summer he taught her the use of the rifle. She took to it handily and began by ex- perimenting on bottles. ‘She improved so rapidly from the beginning that early in a hunting trip into the Maine woods. Shp sighted a deer while on the expedition and- without fear or wavering shot it square in the shou!der. Elated with her success she Getermined to seize every op- portunity of improving her skill, and shortly afterward went to Paris Hill, Me., to try ber luck at fox-bunting aud rode in the fifth hunt of the Buckfield Fur Ciub. The result of the day’s sport was that she killed the first fox—the bivgestand the first ever secured by a woman in the nistory of the club. On the day of the hunt about twenty members of the club were present, divided into three parties. In one party were Mr. and Mrs, Belden and Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Emerton, Miss L. McQuade and F. C. Mower of Auburn. When aear the signpole one of the hounds started a fox in one of the swamps. As the game seemed to be coming toward them the party spread out. Soon Mrs. Belden’s quick eye discovered a fox steal- ing up the hill about forty yards distant. She fired instantly, bolding her heavy double-barreled gun at arm's length with- out resting. The fox tumbled dead, but she was so afraid that he was not quite finished that she emptied the second bar- rel into his body in order to make sure. She is inchimed to rest upon her laurels for the season, but declares that her next expedition will be in search of bear or moose. Mrs, Belden is young, pretty and lady- like. She wears a very becoming hunting costume, censisting of a corduroy jacket and bloomers, with high rubber boots and a corduroy cap to match the suit, She is fond of ali athletic sports and be- sides being a splendid horsewoman is au expert swimmer. { | Of all out-of-door sports in which women ndulge there 18 none more heaithful or exhilarating than riding behind a fast trot- ter.and bandling the *“ribbons.” This is the sort of sport Miss Daisy L. Cram of Knox, Ind:, enjoys, and a short time ago she broke the world’s record for fast driving at the Plymouth races. It was her first bona-fide race, and she compsted with Mrs. Harry Johnson of Akron, Ind., and Mrs. C. C. Howard of Marion. She won with Rockaway in three straight heats, making a record for lady drivers of 2:2414, lowering the previous record by three seconds. That it takes courage to puta trottera mile at this gait no one who has ever sat in a sulky will deny. This characteristic Miss Cram has in an abundant degree. She is the only dauchter of Quincy | Cram, formerly of La Porte, Ina., who | moved to Knox about two years ago. He is one of the best-known horsemen in the State and has helped to make records of such cracks as American Boy Jr., 2:20, and Poines Nix, 2:17. Miss Cram delighted in working them, and at the early age of 13 years she sent American Boy Jr. a mile in 2:30. In her splendid performance at Ply- mouth she pushed Rockaway under the wire in 2:27 in the first heat. The first quarter of the second heat was done in 33 seconds and the half in 1:09. The horses were driven under whip from the turn info the stretch to the wire, and ended with Rockaway beating Marie Corbett, diiven by Mrs. Johnson, by a short neck. The finish was cheered by thousands, and gained for Miss Cram many fricads and laurels. Miss Cram is a young woman, excep- tionally pretty and very popular in her bome. One young woman must not be over- lookec in the recital of wonderful out-of- door accomplishments, She is Mrs, E. A. Rinehart, the wife of a Denver photogra- pher, and her recent performances on the wheel are certainly remarkable. Her fa- vorite spin is a century, and a short (ime ago in twentv successive days she reeled off twenty of them aggregating more than 2100 miles. She is a sturdy and daring wheelwoman, and lately, ‘in company with W. R. Marshall of the Denver Ath- letic Club, made a fast ceatury to Colo- rado Springs out of Denver and back. Together they made the distance of 150 miles in sixteen hours and 'ten minutes, over ‘half the' distance being covered against a strong bead wind. It was the first time the trip has ever been made by a woman. | The two riders started out on their lodg ride at 4 o’clock in the morning and Colo- raco §prines was reached at 1:30 o’clock in the afternoon. On the return journey they had tue wind to combat, and Denver was not reached until 8:10 p. M. Mrs. Rinehart “has also gained the womar’s world’s century record by riding over the Evans course in 8 hours and 5 minutes, a distance of 104 miles. In speaking of her cycling exploits Mrs. Rinenart says: “The chief reason I can give for being able to outdistance other Iady riders is that I am not afraid to ride alone. Ialwaysride when I feel in the mood for it, and I make an invariable rule to dress for: comfort and service rather than discomfort and useless style, *‘As a rule I take my time wben on the road, making occasional sprints to make up for loafing, and invariably finish my centuries early in the evening. Generaliy: I ride alone, but I am never afraid and never stop except to take some reifresh- ments, and ride all the hills possible. “There has been a great deal said about my killing myself, but I would like to state that I weigh 142 pounds, two pounds more than when 1 began riding a_year ago. I fell oft some during the warm sum- er weather, but have steadily gained Mrs. Rinehart’s year’s performance puts a total to her credit of 116 centuries, coyer- ing a distance of 17,000 miles, FROZEN DYNAMITE MISSILES The New and Effective War Projectile Is a Shell Filled With t he Powerful Ex- plosive After Freezing L JJASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 2, 1897. — i\ i In the event of any unpleasant- MM\ ness with a foreign power, a new dynawite projectiie has recently been in- vented which would cause the warships of the opposing nation considerable in- convenience, to say, the least. It is a siell, the most remarkable fea- ture of which is that it contains frozen dynamite and will not explode until it pierces the object at which it is fired. Another entirely new feature of this destructive mis-ile is a slow-burning fuse sufficiently insuiated from the charge to 1 prevent premature explosion while the | shell is traversing the designated dis- tance. Just what can bs accomplished and the terrific amount of damage which would result to an enemy by means of this new addition to our armament can be slightly comprehended by a glance at the accompanying illustration, which is a photograph of a tfarget after experiments with the shell charged with dynamite. The target was of steel, 3 inches thick, but the explosion of the projectile was suffici nt to turn back the edges of the holes into a jagged wreath. The inventor of this new type of projectile is James K. Bakewell, a patent attorney of Pitts- burg, Pa. There is nothing new in the shape of the shell, Mr. Bakewell states, but heis now working on a different style from that of the ordinary shell in use at present. When the party zathered for the experi ment it was not without some misgivings, all being familiar with the danger of handling dynamite under any condition. The Hotchkiss six-pounder, a rapid-fire gun, rested on a recoil mount. The large three-inch steel target was placed exactly 100 yards distant from the firing-place. The cartridge used haa been reduced, be- ing charged with only 700 grammes in- stead of the full service char:e of 840 | grammes. This test was to establish a standard of comparison. . In this instance | a common armor-piercing steel shell was | used. It was loaded with powder simply, and fused. As the party felt assured they | | | preceding one cept that the frozen dynamite was substi tated for the powder used in the first shell. Exactly fifty-five grammes of dyna- mite were used. At the signal the irigger was pulled. Tke shock of the firing was extremely severe, as the gun is what is known as a very high-powered one. The mass of dynamite was so small, however, that 1t couid not be estimated to what ex- tent larger masses coula resist the firing shock. When the party had recovered from the shock and progeeded to examine the result they found the target pierced in the lower left-hand corner, a short distance from the edze. The shell, as m the previous in- stance, had pierced the target completely. The point was protruding an inch beyond the rear surface. The burr around the hole .was"turned back &nough to fully demonstrate- the power of ;the «missile. The face of the plate or target was consid- erably scarred from.the pieces of shell carried forward. « Altogether it proved to the party the absolute practicability of the pateht projectile for’ the purposes in- tended. In "the third round a full service cartridge -of 840 ;rammes was, us The initial velocity attained was cal- culated to be 1950 feet per second. The amount ‘of dynamite in the charge was increased to . 72)¢ grammes. As before the shell had no fase. < The shock and explosion did not vary much from the The shell struck the tar- get in the upper right-hand corner, mid- way between the center and the angle. The point and shoulder of the shell were lost in the backway of the target and the plate was again scarred by the pieces car- ried forward. The fourth round was a repetition of the preceding one, except that the shell charge of frozen dynamite was increased to 8 grammes. The effects were about the same, as can be seen where the shell struck in the lower right-hand corner. In the filth round the projectile failed to perform its mission, but exvloded just after leaving the gun. This was due to THE GUN THAT FIRES THE NEW PROJECTILE. were working on a perfectly safe ground | in this case there was no hesitation in | pulling the trigger of the Hotchkiss. The gunner’s aim was excelient. The shell pierced the target almost exactly in | the center. The difference in effect on | the target between the vowder shell and | the frozen dynamite projectiles following | was very marked, as is shown by tue illustration. The hole where the shell penetrated the steel is comparatively | clear and clearly cut, while the remainder are considerably torn and turned by the explosion. The initial velocity of the missile was measured at 1450 feet per sec- | ond. When the party repaired to the tar- | the fact that the dynamite had been sub- mitted to the freezing proce:s only about half the time of the others. For the sixth and last round a castiron shell was used, on account of the larger shell chamber, allowing a greater charge of dynamite. This time 116 grammes were used in the charge. There was a decidedly good explosion following the contact with the plate and the target was thrown down. The shell being of castiron, however, was powerless against the steel plate, and only a splash marked the spot where it struck, somewhat more pronounced than if the shell had been charged with powder. This concluded the experiments, but \ 2 1 ,. TARGET SHOWING THE EFFECT LA OF FROZEN DYNAMITE. get the point of the shell was found to project fully three inches beyond the rear surface of the plate, while the base was at least an inch from the face of the target. The fuse had blown out of the shell. The preparations for the second round were gone about with more caution. This was 1n reality the beginning of the experiment, as the frozen dynamite was used. The gunner did not relish the idea of standing too near the piece, o a line was attached to the trigger, and he stood some distanca in the rear, with the re- mainder of the party, to be safe from re- coil or premature explosion. All the firing conditions were precisely they were of sufficient moment to attract the attention of military men all over the country. A prominent army officer in this city expressed the opinion that the projectile would play an important part in futurs naval and military affairs. “I watcied the tests with interest,”” he said, “aud the satisfactory re ults ob- tained I think would warrant tbeir being carried out on a much larger scale. I hope the United States will be the first to adopt the invention.” Mr. Bakewell has spent many years in the study of high explosives. He has been retained as counsel in some of the best-known giant powder cases in this the same as those in the first round, ex- country and in Europe.