The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 14, 1897, Page 27

.gardineg the United States. TIIE SAN ‘FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, MARCH 14, 1897. 27 THE LUMINOUS LIFELINE TO SHIPWRECKED MARINERS (&= FJASHINGTON, D. C., March 13.— |J > Toe life-saving service of tne MM\ Government is experimenting with a decidedly new idea in life lines, the results of which are proving highly im- portant. Itisamong the probabilities of the near future that the crews of vessels wrecked within the range of the life-sav- | ing stations will be able to see the line | shot to them from the mortar from the | time it starts on its career-until it reaches them. This marked addition to the chances of ving the lives of shipwrecked seamen is | ention of Reuben H. Plass of 508 | vette avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. Mr. | 11 be remembered as the inventor stem of maritime ocean buoys, | which it was intended should form a | 1in of communication by meaas of | cable and telephone between America and Europe. : In spite of the magnificent work of the life-saving corps of the Government and regardless of the apparatus for the render- ing of aid to the shipwrecked which is at their command, many a life has been lost by the inability of the persons who are clinging to a wreck to see the line shot at them from the shore, or, if it reached the rigging, to tell just where it might be seized ubon. As, in such cases, minutes mean lives, the inability to see and grasp the lifeline withont the delay of a second bas lessened the population of the earth by several in many, many instances. The idea which Mr. Plass has success- fully evolved is to provide a lifeline which emits a phosphorent light of sufficient Juminosity to be visible for a long distance immediately it leaves the mortar’s mouth | and is shot through the gale and across the waves to the wreck. In the past ifit happened to be daylight when the life savers were at work they could by means of their glasses tell whether or no they had landed a lifeline ahoard the wreck. It unfortunately happens though that the majority of wrecks occur at night and therefore a luminous lifeline becomes an invention of the first importance. By its use the life-saver can fe!l just exactly what has happened to the line. There need be DO more uncertainty. Mr. Plassis more than confident that the final results of the experiments with his invention will be the adoption of the | luminous lifeline by the Government. He is a very practical sort of a man and not | at all given to theorizing on possibilities | not warranted by facts. “The idea of the | Iluminous lifeiine was suggested to me,” | said Mr. Plass, when questioned regard- ing the matter, *5y reading an accoont of | the wreck of the bark Nason on the reefs | of Cape Cod a few years ago. In this case | fe-savers shota line out to the wreck, | ut cou'd not tell for a long time, in fact | not until daylight, whether the line nad | reached the bark or not. When daylight | cime to show how the wreck had stood | the beating and surging of the waves, the | men who composed the crew were seen frozen in the rigging, while the line, { which meaat life to them, lay within | their reach. They had not seen it. They | bad been unable to find it at all. “It seemed a great pity to me then that such a thing as that should be, and the | thougnt came, ‘Why could not a line be so constructed that it would be luminous?| Then there never need be anything like | the loss of life on the Nason for a similar | cause’ The theory was admizable, I was | firmly convinced, and ought to be carried | out. But just how to do this was a poser. | Of course phosphorus must of necessity be | a prominent factor in any such invention. ‘ The principal thing to find out was how | to phosphorus stay on a cable. 1 It Is Govered With Phosphorus and Resembles a Fiery Serpent Hurtling Through . the Air;fin Experiment of the United: States Life-Saving Service | L it WY AN 4 R\ { 1! A\ \24/\\ A Then again, the line in the process of be= ing fired from the mortar ana the chafing it receives in the rizgging of a wreck would be apt to ignite the phosphorus. Phos- phorus takes fire at a few degrees above the temperature of .the human body, and it wouid only be the natural result of the fricrion eansed by paying out the cable rapidly to make the line ignite. “Well, I worked along this line for a long while, but finally I mahaged to make a combiration of chemicals with phos- phorus which I believe has entirely solved the problem. The exact figure at which the solution of phosphorus the line is coated with will ignite is 114 dep., while the temperature of the body is 98 deg. Sumner 1. Kimball, general super- intendent of the United States Life-saving Service, has been making a thorough test of my invention. He isnot quite ready yet to give the result of hisinyestigations, but I am not feeling atall nervous because of anticipating that my invention will not be recommended to the Government for adoption.” Persons who have never lived along the coast or in the vicinity of the shores of the Great Lakes may find it hard to realize the full measure of importance with which Mr. Plass’ invention is bardened. The lifeline' is really the most important and principal aid to life-saving of which the Government service can boast. More than 75 per cent of persons rescued from wrecks are saved primarily if notdirectly througa the lifeline. The mortar from which the lifeline is shot is of bronze, with a smooth two and a half inch bore, weirhs with its car- riage 185 pounds and carries a shot weizh- ing seventeen pounds. This projectile is a solid, elongated cylinder, fourteen and a half inches in length. Into the base of this is screwed an eyebolt for receiving the shotline, tue bolt projecting euffi- ciently beyond the muzzle of the gun to protect the line from being burned off in firing. - When the gun is fired the weight and inertia of the line cause the projectile to reverse. In discharging the gun any chargs may be used up to the maximum of six ounces. There are three sizes of lifelines in use by the Government Life-saving Service. A range of 695 yards has been obtained with the large line under favoraole cir- cumstances, although it is not strong enough to sustain the hauling of what is called a whip line, or the lines which gives the victims of storm and wreck immediate aid and support in getting ashore. It is estimated that the luminons life- line of M. Plass will be visible with as much distinciness as if the light were emitted from a 56-candle power electric bulb. In that way, unless the storm was too dense, the line would be visible 1ts en- tire length from shore to wreck and the watchers on the beach could teil just what progress toward salety was being made by those whose lives they were striving to save. Train Set on Fire by Ice. On the northern division of the Mil- waukee and St Paul railway a train, which was composed of several carloads ot ice and lime, came into collision with another at one of the junctions. The ice and lime were thrown togetber, and this contact was the cause of the mischief. Gradually the ice melted, and the water trickled down upon and slaked the lime. The intense heat developed set fire to the woodwork of the cars and caused con- siderably more damage than the collision. ———————— The weight of the average-sized man is | 140 pounds; of the woman, 125 pounds. ORIGIN OF THE AZTECS IN AMERICA TRACED BY A BIRCHBARK MANUSCRIPT fi«l BIRCH-BARK manuscript now | JEZR'€ being examined by the authorities | Y of the Emithsonian Institution at | WasLington is likely to change the entire | theory as to the origin so far as America | is concerned of the Aztecs, held to be the | original inhabitants of Mexico. Professor Warren K. Moorenead, archmologist of the Ohio State University and 2 man| famous for being versed in Aztec lore and | knowledge, makes in this article the first | accurate statement and the only one re- garding the manuseript, which was dis- covered by a workman at Fairfield, Iowa. Despite his learning regarding the hiero- glyphics in which the Aztecs transmitted ir history from generation to genera- tion, Professor Moorekead has been unable | to satigfectorily decipber the inscription | upon the birch bark. | For this reason he | forwarded the manuscript to the Smith- sonian Institution. The results of the ex- amination by the experts there will be far | with a coating of pitch. | blow with a pick, causing it to split Startling Discovery Made by a Workman—Ancient Theories Gontroverted—Mexico's Old-Time Inhabitants May Once Have Dwelt in lowa ing, which is from his own pen, the statas of thefind from an archmological stand- point. This is what he says: “To the Editor: The Ohio State Archao- logical and Historical Society of Cotumbus | received early in FeBruary a most remark- | able relic. On September 2, 1396, a labor- ing man of Fairfield, Iowa, while exca- vating for the water works, brought to light what was apparen a chunk of | wood, except that its surface was encased The object was found about ihree feet below the surface. | Its dimen-ions are something over a foot | in length by eight inches and five or six | | inches thick. | ““Out of curiosity the workman struck it “The bark is extremely thin and its natural color is well preserved. This is due to the fact that it was sealed almqst airtight. The edges are torn and broken and there is every evidence thata part of it is missing. I nad further excavations maae, but there was no more fragments or relics of any description and the work- man positively asserted that the manu- script was found in a fragmentary condi- tion and that he had sealed between glass all that he had found of it. “The wood is of oak, and shows marks on the end of having been rudely hewn with stone axes. With the manuseript were received letters from prominent cit- 1zens certifying to the character of the workman. A letter from the editor of the REPRODUCTION OF THE VALUABLE AZTEC MANUSCRIPT. more important than might be thought at first consideration. Unquestionably itis the first genuine Aziec manuseript ever unearthed within the borders of the United Btates. Professor Moorehead says, over his own signature, there is small doubt of its gen- uineness. It has long been held that the Aztecs inhabited certain portions of tuis country as eacly, if not before, their ad- vent to Mexico. This find and the ancient appearance of the hieroglyphics as com- pared with those even many centuries old seem to give strong color Lo the belief re- Professor open, revealing a space in the center in which lay a roll of birch bark covered on one side with strange hieroglyphics, The workman was intelligent enough to know that the find was of some value and, tak- ing it to his home, carefully spread out the manuscript and encased it between glass in a frame. The matter was brought to the attention of Miss Emma Clark of Fairfield, who had heard of the museum at Columbus, and she wrote there, describ- ing the find in all its details. I concluded that the find was certainly worth examin- ing and persuaded Miss Clark to send the wooden receptacle and manuscript for my Moorehead states succinctly in the follow- inspection. Ledger, the county paper published at Fairfield, states ‘Griffith is & laboring man of about average intalligence und in- iormation, and would hava neither the ability nor the knowledge to mislead any- budy as to the circumstances. Nor is there anv_ practical joker in this vicinity who would have the knowledge to exe- cate u plan like this and keep auiet 2bout it. Nor has there been interest sufficient in matters of this kind in the community io furnish such people basis for work.’ “A tree some filty or sixty years old grew directly over the spot, the holiow iog, or wood, being found under 1ts roots, The gum, or wax, which notonly fastened the pieces together but made the recep- tacle practically water and air tight, haa been evenly distributed by turning the block over a Tnis was plain, because the block was not only covered with <oot, but was a!so slightly charred. The char- aciers are written in red, evidently the juice of some plant. The work is neat. “‘After a careful examination I decided that I could not read the characters and, furthermore, that no one could read them, that a great deal had been published on Aztec and Maya manuscripts, but that no one couid translate them, and that one- hall of the archaologists who claimed to read them gave different translations of the same manuscript. The characters are manifestly Aztec or Maya and were made, I think, by some of the highly cultured tribes of Mexico or Yucatan. A party, for some unknown reason, set out mnorth, carrying this little box and, on account of a decrease in strength, either through sickness or war, buried the mannscript at the point where it was found. Itisnot at all probable that the whole thing is a hoax, for if it Werea ‘fake’ we must ac- count for the ¥nowledge on the part of the wogkman who found itol Aztec and Maya glyphs, which is not in the least probabie. There are very few men in this country who know anything about thess hiero- glyphics, and it would be impossible for uny one in Fairfield to make them unless he had a work at hand containing plates | of the Maya hierozlyphics. There are only a few such books in existence and hey are very high priced. The characters are not Indian, For instance, take the grotesque human fig- ure shown in the middle section, around which is the sun symbol. . The sun sym- bol with the character in the left-hand upper corner of this middie piece and all the characters in the upper piece are very like those upon the tablets of Central American ruins and to the four msanu- scripts or books preserved in the European museums. Combinations of straight lines and dots are strong proof of the southern origin of the maunuscript. There hsve been several fraudulently sculptured stones found in the United States, but they are all totally different from t and do not appear either aboriginal in concept or ex- ecution, “I have sent the box and the birch bark to the Smithsonian Institution at Wasii- ington for further examination, with a request for an opinion as to their mean- ing and age. Whatever may be said the find is one of great interest and value to the archmological world, and- there is every indication that it points to an ex- ploring party sent north from the Aztec country. ‘WarreN K. MOOREHEAD, “Curator - Department of Archwology, Ohio State University.” The most generally accepted belief con- cerning the Aztecs has been that they came from some porvon of Asia, It is supposed they made their advent into 1 Mexico about the year 1180, for from that time_or soon after their history seems to have been interwoven with that of the Toltecs, a race of people who seem to have left records of history before the Aztecs began to makeevidence of theirs, although the latter are declared by archologists to have antedated the Toltecs in point of residence in Mexico. Owing to the indefiniteness which has enshrouded the origin of this remarkable people there has been any amount of dis- cussion and contreversy among scientists learned iz archwology as to the origin of the Aztecs. While the beliel previously stated, that this race had 1ts birth in Asia, was widely cherished there were many who differed from the statement that it was immediately from Asia that the Az- tecs came who settled Mexico. These sci- entists held that no matter where this people came from in the first place they had previousy-to entering the borders of Mexico found residence in other portions of the North American continent. Some aeclared the Aztecs found their way to America Irom Japan. It certainly is true that every vear at least one Japa- nese junk drifts from a point close to the shores of Japan to the California coast. Instances of this sort have been known where the Japanese fishermen who com- posed the crew of the junk when she started on her voyaze have lived to téll their strange experience. Therefore sci- ence has held thatin some such manner as this tne original North American Aztecs reached these.shores. No one has at- tempted to explain how they managed to extend their wanderings according to what several archmological discoveries ‘have indicated, but there seems to be scattered evidence, brought to light at rare intervals, of the residence in various portions of the country of m: mbers ot the Aztee race in fairly good numbers, Al this has, of course, been very largely theory, because the authenticity of the evidence referring to the Aztecs has been frequently denied. At last, however, there seems to be something tangible in this Iowa discovery. Thata mere work- man should be able to counterfeit the Aztec characters and all that goes with Ahem 1s, of course, an impossibility. The peculiar formation of the ‘characters re. ferred to shows, as Professor Moorehead states, that they were not the product of the skilled hand of a scholar of any tribe of the red Indians. Only the Aztec him- self or some one of modern days well learned in the Aztec hiervglyphies could have prepared the birch-bark manuscript. The Jalmud in Enghsh, A company for the publication of a forthcoming translation of the Babylonian Talmud has been incorporated under the name of the Talmud Pubtishing Com. pany. Dr. Michael L. Rodkinson of Cin- cinnati is the translator of the work. The stock consists of 200 shares of $50 a share. Several shares have already been sold butthe company is in no hurry to dispose of the stock and is looking for a competent publisher. It will then issue the work in bi-monthly volumes at $2 50 per volume. Dr. Rodkinsan bhas already translated six volumes out of the twenty tbat make up the Babylonian Talmud. Several days ago Dr. Rodkinson re- ceived a letter from a friend who isa prominent atiorney in St. Petersburg, Russia, telling him that a wealthy client of his, Dr. Raqovin, had subscribed 50,000 rubles, to'be paid to-him for the transla- tion of the Talmud 1nto the Russian lan- guage. The money has been deposited in 8t. Petersburg and the necessary papers have been drawn up. Dr. Raqovin has also made a clause in his wiil to the effect that it he should die before the comple- tion of one-half of the translation of th Talmud into Russian, under the direction of Dr. Rodkinson, that gentleman should receive 25,000 rubles and the remainder of the 50,000 rubles upon the completion of the second half. “The donor of this large sum of money,” said Dr. Rodkinson, “is a thorough He- brew scholar and a master of the English language, and it was after reading the first volume of the translation that he made the offer. Dr. Raqovin is desirous of giv- ing the Russian public an opportunity to read the Talmud in their native laneuage. The Emperor Nicholas, during his life- PROFESSOR WARREN K. MOOREHEAD. time, offered 100,000 rubles for a transla« tion of the Talmud in‘o the Russian and paid a Dr. Pinner 20,000 rubles for a trans. Iation of one volume into German.”—New York Times. Nearly every castle in England has its underground pas:ages, and none are more notable in this respect than the grand fabric that stands on the summit of the cliff at- Dover.