The Medford mail., March 13, 1896, Page 3, Image 3

THE TELEPHONE IDEA.
First Suggested In This Country
by the Croaking; of Frogs..
s r 1 ' . . )
Something About Dr.. Cnthmn the Con
structor of the First - Transmitter, I
and the Manner of Hli
Discovery. '
It is not common knowledge, except
-o those familiar', with electrical and
telephone history',, that the first tele
phone was constructed in Racine, Wis.,
ot1 V.i inmntni. TW i n f,,cK
man, is now a. resident of Chicago, says I
the News, of thatity.-
His litigation with the Bell Telephone
company, extending over a period of ten
years and costing: one hundred thou
sand dollars, has been reported from a
legal standpoint, but as it is one of Mr.
Cushman's principles that personal
reminiscences are in bad taste, he has
seldom given a formal interview. The
venerable inventor, seventy-seven years
of age, who built the first telegraph
lines in this part of the "far west,"
pursues his business with more alert
ness to affairs than the average young
man.
In a corner of the room is a largo,
worn piece of muslin on which is paint
Ed in tbia colors a representation of a
telegraph line stretching away in
the distance, connected with a crude
instrument, set on two logs, near which
is a frog sitting by a stream. This ' old
relic represents the telegraph line of
"good cedar posts," which Dr. Cushman
constructed west from Racine for the
Erie & Michigan Telegraph company
in 1851, and the experimental lightning
arrester which led to his discovery.
It is a reminder of the days when
Dr. Cushman was associated with Prof.
Morse in "the pioneer days of teleg
raphy. On his desk is the first tele
phone transmitter, contracted in 1851,
twenty-five years before the Bell
patents were taken out. It is a small,
square box, with a speaking1 orifice and
containing mechanism on the same
principle as that of the modern trans
mitter. : In 1S51 Dr. Cushman undertook the
construction of a lightning arrester, his
object being to take the lightning that
struck the wire and run it into the
ground, the instrument being so con
structed that it would not interfere
with the light current rued in tele
graphing. . This instrument wa& placed
out on the prairie on two logs and in
order to know when it had operated a
Mriple magnet with a sheet of thin iron
at the poles, similar in construction to
a modern "receiver," was placed ia the
corner of the box. ' In case the light
ning passed through' the instrument
the electro-magnet would pull this
strip of iron down into the range of a
permanent magnet, which wonld re
tain it until the instrument was in
spected.' A similar device was placed in the
basement of the building at Ea?ine and
connected with the other end of the
, line. One day while a thunderstorm
was coming up. and Dr. Cushman was
watching the instrument, the croaking
of frogs was heard, thirteen miles
away.' This is the explanation of how
the old painting wjth the crude instru
ment and the croaking frog is identi
fied with the, discovery of the tele
phone. Dr. Cushman is the inventor of the
fire-alarm system in use in Chicago.
His patent-office reports, he says,
"would weigh a ton,? and contain a
great number of his electrical patents.
To the priority of Dr. Cushman there
is said to be no donbt, and the contest
of the validity of the Bell patents be
gun in 1S55 was at last taken to the
United States elistrict court of Boston
in 1S93, when? it is now pending.
Dr. Cushman is a descendant of the
historical Cushmans who r me to Vir
ginia in 1640. He was a friend of Hor
ace Greeley and most of his prominent
contemporaries in what might be called
the era of rapid mechanical develop
ment. In early life he was a newspa
per reporter. Some twenty years of
his life was spent in central Ohio, and
he says: "I never doubted that Uod
made that country."
RETARDING PHYSICAL DECAY.
How Ufe Could Be Prolonged to Nearly
Twice Its Canal Length.
Without eating and drinking there is
no life; but we may select certain kinds
of food containing a minimum amount
of the elements which cause the ossific
blockages in the system. -An English
physician, Dr. C. F. De Lacy Evans,
who made many researches in regard to
our food, comes to the conclusion that
more fruit should be eaten, especially
apples, grapes and bananas, they being
rich in nutritious elements. Being de
ficient in nitrogen, they are "best for
elderly people, as they keep the blood
in a better condition than flesh.
Flourens, in his well-known work on
Human Longevity," cites the case, of
. thi Italian centenarian Cornaro, whose
recipe for health and long life was ex
treme moderation in all things. Flour
ens Kisself insists that a century is the
normal life, but the fifty years beyond,
and even two hundred years, are human
possibilities under advantageous condi
tions. Hufeland also believed in two
hundred years as an extreme limit.
Sir James Crichton Browne, M. D., con
cedes, in a late address, that Flourens
was right. Duration of growth gives
the length of life. Hufeland held that
the human body grows till the age of
. twenty-five, and that eight times the
growth period was the utmost limit of
man. But if twenty years be taken as
the time of growth, even five times that
will give us a century. According to
Flourens and Cuvier, man is of the fru
givorous or fruit and nut-eating class
of animals, like the gorillas and other
apes and monkeys. Man has not teeth
like the lions and carnivorous beasts,
neither has he teeth like the cows and
, herbivorous ones. Intestines in the
man are seven or eight times the length
of the body; the lion's are but three
.' times the length of his body. Herbiv
orous animals, like- the- ooir, hvo in-
itine torty-aijht tfmra thtklontrfh of
Ike body.
rally and primitively frugivorous, and
was not intended to eat flesh. Fruit is
aperient, and apples act on the. liver,
and are good brain, food also,
us they contain much phosphoric acid.
As to the effect .of certain . climates,
perhaps too much stress has been laid
upon that. We find that Thomas Parr,
who lived in England, died in his one
hundred and fifty-third- year, and was
dissected by the celebrated discoverer
of the circulation of the blood, Dr. Wil
liam Harvey (who expressed no doubt
of his age), was never out of his native
country. Accounts of men who havo
lived -to extreme age in Ecuudor and
Mexico indicate possibilities. A cli
mate -that allows much outdoor living
is the best for health. More depends
on food than on any climate. Exer
cise, fresh air 'to live in and to sleep in,
daily bathing and freedom from medi
cine are the important t bin gs. . ' I n J uly,
1S93, the' Courier-Journal, of Louisville,
published a long account of James Mo
Mullin, who died in Carlisle county,
Ky.', at one hundred and seventeen
years of age. ' When Button, Unfeland,
Flourens, and men. of that class, who
had studied the subject, believed in the
possibility f one hundred and fifty or
two hundred years of life, the subject
is not to be laughed at.
WHITTIERS COURAGE.
Be Haaarded Life and ' Popularity In tht
Cause of Abolition.
Before he' was thirty he had made up
his mind that it was his duty to do what
he could for the relief of the unfortun
ate negroes who were held in bondage
in the south. In 1SS3 he wrote a pnm
phlet called "Justice and Expediency,"
in which he considered the whole ques
tion of slavery, and declared that it
should cease forever. Three years
later, writes Prof." Brander Matthews
in St. Nicholas, he became secretary of
the Anti-Slavery society. In 1S3S he
went to Philadelphia to edit the IVns
sylvania Freeman; and so boldl did he
advocate the right of the negro to own
himself that the printing office was
sacked by a mob and burned. Then,
as more than once afterward for the
same cause, Whittier was iu danger of
his life.
Whittier showed physical courage in
facing the ruffians who wished to pre
vent free speech but he had revealed
the higher moral cournjre in casting his
lot with the little bind of abolitijaUU.
Up to this time he had luouCtl forward
to holding public oQlcc. as well he
might, when many another journalist
was stepping from the newspaper desk
nto public life. W hen he became o::c
of the small band who denounced
t-lavery, he gave up all chance of o!:ioe.
He also hud literary ambition, but so
strong as the power of the siarr
owners then, and so intolerant were
they, that most editors and publishers
were sorely intimidated, and doclined
to print pot only cay attack ua sluvery,
but even the other wrilh:gs of un au
hrvr vh was known as nn abolitionist.
Thus Whittier, in identifying himself
with the auti-!avory . movement,
thought that he was giving up his lit
cmry future also. He made Uis deci
sion promptly, and he never regretted
it. indeed, in later life he said to a
boy of fifteen to whom he was giving
counsel: "My lad. if thou wouldst win
success, join yoursejf to some unpopu
lar but noble cause."
VALOROUS MACDADE.
An Cog-Hat) View of the American Globe
Trotter' Taak.
Dispensing, according to the condi
tions of his wager, with railway trains,
ocean steamers, horses, mules and don
keys, sedans and palanquins, the valor
ous Macdade, says the London Tele
graph, is bound to wear out an enor
mous amount of shoe leather.-.unless,
indeed, he does as many more or less
distinguished pedestrians have done be
fore him travel barefoot. An English
tramp, unencumbered with shoes, will
do his twenty miles a lay blithely,
and if he continued to trudge six days
in every week resting, of course, in
some kindly union workhouse on the
Sabbath he" would have walked six
thousand two hundred and forty
miles in the course of twelve months.
It is, however, more than double
that distance from Alexandria to
the antipodes, and as he is bound
not to avail himself of any
of the ordinary facilities of travel, Mac
dade must go. perforce, a good deal out
of his way at various points of his jour
ney; thus he will have to walk much
more than twenty miles a day. Seek
ing continually for the dry land, he
may have to wander through Unssia
and Crim Tartary into China, and he
may even make the acquaintance of the
north pole. Does he take any money
with him, or will he adopt one of the
most ancient and, according to Charles
Lamb, one of the most honorable of
callings, and beg his way around the
world? In any case, he has plenty of
difficulties before him, even if the ab
sence of cash enables him, like the
traveler in the Latin adage, to sing in
the presence of thieves. There may be
lions in the path, to say nothing of
tigers, bears, wolves and rattlesnakes.
There may be fevers and agues; there
may be sunstroke, and there may be
frostbite. However, there are some
daring spirits in whose dictionary the
word "impossible" is not written, and
among these exceptional individuals
may be Mr. William Macdade.
Watts "Did you ever know of any
one dying for love?" Potts "Once
knew a fellow who starved to death
after being refused by an heiress.", In
dianapolis Journal.
Nothing More to Say. "Jane,"
said the mistress to the new girl, "what
burned that large hole in the rug?'
"Fire," answered Jane laconically, and
there the dialogue ended.
Canon Whitely, the veteran vicar of
Bedlington, preached a sermon in which
he showed the foolishness of staking
money when chances of winning were
small. . Two pitmen were discussing
the sermon afterward, when ' one of
thorn was heard to say ha felt sore "the
ter miat faa telta) a lot biattfMa
SPIDER RAISING.
The Unique Enterprise of a Penn
sylvania Farmer.
'Wine Merchant Boy the Inaeet and
Flace Them In Their Cellar to Weave
Web About the Bottle to
Give Them Age.
Although entomologists have often
raised spiders for purposes of scientific
observation and investigation, spider
raising as a money-making industry is
something rather novel. One has only
to go four miles from Philadelphia, on
the old Lancaster pike, and ask for the
farm of Pierre Grantaire to see what
can be found nowhere else in this coun
try, and abroad, only in a littlo French
village in the department of the Loire.
Pierre tirofitaire furnishes spiders at
So much per hundred for distribution
in the wine vaults of merchants and
the uouveaux riches. Uis trade is
chiefly with the wholesale merchant,
who is able to stock a cellar with new,
shining, freshly labeled bottles, and in
three months see them veiled with
filmy cobwebs, so that the effect of
twenty years of storage is secured at a
small cost. The effect upon a custom
er can be imagined, and is hardly to be
measured in dollars and cents. . It is a
trifling matter to cover the bins with
dust, but to cover them with cobwebs
spun from cork to cork, and that drape
the neck like delicate lace, the seal of
years of slow mellowing, that is a dif
ferent matter. The walls of Mr. Gran
taire's spider house are covered with
wire squares 'rom six icches to a foot
across, and behind these screens the
walls are covered with rough plank
ing. There are cracks between the
boards apparently left witb design,
and their weatherbeaten surfaces are
doited with knot holes and splintered
crevices. Long tables running the
length of the room are covered with
small wire frames, wooden boxes and
glass jars. All of these wires in the
room arc covered with patterns of lace
drapery, in the geometrical outlines
fashioned by the spider artists. The
sunlight streaming through the door
shows the room hung with curtains of
clfin-woven lacework.
It is not all kinds of spiders that
make webs suitable for the purposes
of tho merchaut, and those selected by
Mr. Grantaire are species that weave
fine, large ones of lines and circles.
They are the only webs that look
artistic in the wine cellar or on the
bottles. The s-piders that weave these
are principally the Epeira vulgaris and
Kepbila plumipcs.
When Mr. Grantaire has an order
from a wine merchaut, he places the
spiders in small paper boxes, a pair in
a box, and bhips them in a crate with
many holes for the ingress of air. The
price asked, ten dollars a hundred,
well repays the wine merchant who, at
an expenditure of forty or fifty dol
lars, may sell his stock of wine for a
thousand or more dollars above what '
he could have obtained for it before
the spiders dressed his bottles in the
robe of long ago. Mr. ttrantaire has
on hand, at a time, ten thousand
spiders, old and young, the eggs of
some ot which, the choicest, he obtains,
from France.
When the mother spider wishes to
lay her eggs she makes a small web in
a broad crack, then she lays, say, fifty
eggs, which she covers with a soft silk
cocoon. In two weeks (or longer in
winU-r) the eggs begin to hatch, an op
eration that takes one or two days.
The eggshells crack oil in flakes and
the young spiders have a struggle to
emerge. Then they begin to grow,
and in a week look like spiders. They
often moult and shed their skins like
snakes. The brood has to be sep
arated at a tender age, else- the mem
bers of the family would devour each
other until only one was left. Phila
delphia Times.
SOLDIERS ON BRIDGES.
They Are Orlrrel to I"r- a'i Stop to Pre
vent a Brek-Iuwn.
The majority of readers have drmM
less beard that it i- possible. to ''fiddle
i bridge down." or in ollu-r words,
tliat music will-fnaterially injure mic!i
structures, s-avs the St. Louis Kepubliu.
Persons who really believe that music
ivill cause such vibrations in a brid;ro
s to throw it from its foundation
piers, ifkeptupfor a sullicicnt length
if time, cite the fact that when armies
ire in:irchitig. orders are given to stop
the music In-fore the troops rc;;ch the
bridge, especially if the structure be
'!) built on the suspension plan. But
this is not clone because there is any
danger to the bridge on account of the
vibrations caused by the music, but be
:ause the measured tread of a vast
number of men keeping step would
subject the structure to a greater
strain than an irregular agitation. The
reason of this is obvious: The bridge
suffers least strain when at rest. When
in uniform motion throughout all its
parts it acquires a momentum equal to
the entire suspended weight multiplied
by the velocity of such motion. This
being the case it is clear that a uniform
downward vibration will soon reach
the breaking strain, while the same
disturbing forces, acting irregularly,
would counteract each other to a
certain degree, and thus be far less
trying.
H Y PHENATED NAM ES.
Vie of the Hyphen I Usually a I'leee oi
8eneteea Snobbery.
Hyphenated names in Europe may be
divided into two categories namely:
those wherein the hyphen is a mere
piece of snobbery and affectation, and
those wherein it is consequent upon a
legal obligation. Tno latter are in the
minority and are borne almost in
variably by legatees and their de
scendants, who have inherited proper
ty, usually real estate, contingent upon
their tacking the name of the. testator
on to their own. Or else they are men
who have married heiresses and been
accepted as husbands for the latter on
the condition that they should append
the family name of their trtvoi to thiir
own. patrcraymi.
rcqi ft iitm etktx mmr&f w
of more ancient lineage than is really
the case invariably prefix, instead of
appending, the additional name. And
it is this that enables one . to dis
tinguish the "bona-flde double-barrel,"
as Lord Randolph Churchill used to
call them, from those who are not. For
you have only to ask Mr. Ponsonby
Joncs for the name of his paternal
.grandfather in order to find out that
the old gentleman was a simple Jones,
devoid of the aristocratio Ponsonby;
whereas in tho case of surnames
adopted in deference to testamentary
dispositions one will invariably find on
inquiry that the paternal grandfather
and ancestors bore the first of the two
patronymics.
The persons who make nse of
hyphenated names without being com
pelled to do so are usually the owners
of patronymics excruciatingly plebeian,
who hope, vainly it is true, to redeem
the commonplace character of their
name by prefixing thereto one cal
culated, they trust, to create the im
pression that they are connected with
some of the great houses of the nobili
ty. Thus It is quite common to find
Montmorency - Smiths, Plantagenet
Robinsons, aud Vere de Vere-Browns.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN MEXICO.
They W1U Be Like (tars, and EnflUh Will '
Be Tauf ht In Them.
I have it from pretty good authority,
says a recent traveler in Mexico, that it
is the purpose of the Mexican govern
ment, within four or five years, to
establish a complete system of public
schools reaching into every corner of
the republic ' The teachers therefor
cannot be obtained here, nor for years
to come. This will make a demand for j
probably ten or fifteen thousand teach
ers. In view of this it will be seen how
important it is for those who have au
idea of teaching to study the Spanish
language, so as to be able to avail
themselves of the opportunities which
will thus be opened. Kansas City has
already moved in this direction by
making Spanish a part of her common
school course. The students of Mexico
are now ahead of us on this question.
They recognize that English is the
rival language of the continent, and
they go to colleges in the United States
for the sole purpose of adding English
to their literary stock in trade. Mexico
is developing scholars who can hold
their own with any on the continent.
They are delving into every research,
nnd arc well-read and liberal-minded.
The literature of Mexico is now quite
extensive, covering the field of history,
biography, political economy, science
and poetry.
ttallonrr'en.
Hallowe'en is a festival that should be
specially honored by young people.
There are so many amusing and good
na t tired tricks, and so many innocent
bits of "white magic" appropriate to
the time, that no self-respecting young
ster should allow its observance lo lie
omitted by careless "grown-ups."
I here, for instance, are the snap
tlrngoii," nnd the "bobbing for apples,"
and the blowing out of aeandle hungat
the end of a stick suspended on a twist
ed string and balanced by un apple so
contrived as to deal a smart blow upon
the cheek of the too lingering candle
blower. And there are the ninny
vharnis and eontrivauces that, once
consulted in honest faith by rilstic
lovers, are now the (Mistime of boys and
girls during an autumn evening.
Ixiuise Willis Snead, in November St.
Nicholas.
How a Bull' Signal Wa Obeyed.
One day recentlv while a New York,
Pennsylvania it Ohio freight train was
approaching Meadville at a rapid rate
of siHfd. a most remarkable thintr oc
curred. A trakeinan. who was riding
on the engine, happened to hik back
and saw what he supposed was the
conductor's arm waving frantically for
down brakes. He notified the en
gineer, anu an emergency stop was
made, after which nn investigation re
vealed the fact that what he took to be
the conductor's signal was onlv the
tail of a big Texas steer that had in
some manner protruded through a.hole
in the snie or me car. and was waving
with the wind. This is perhaps the first
true story of a bull signaling a train to
stop.
HOUSEKEEPERS
who are delicate,
e run-down, or
y 'J overworked, and
fcr from back
ache, headache,
draKRinjj-dowu
sensations in the
abdomen, and
many other
symptoms of dc
raniremcntof the
female functions can find renewed strength
and health by taking Dr. Tierce's Favorite
Prescription." For the pains and aches, the
periods of melancholy and sleeplessness
nothing can do you "so much permanent
pood as this vegetable compound. Yon
save the doctor's fee. as well as your mod
esty, by purchasing: this " Prescription " of
Doctor Pierce. For a irreat many years
Dr. R. V. Pierce (chief consulting physician
and specialist to the Invalids' Hotel and
Surgical Institute, of Buffalo. N. Y.) made
a specialty of the diseases of women, and
from hi large experience he was able to
compound a "Prescription" which acted
directly upon the special internal parts of
women, when in doubt as to your ailment
write him, it will cost yon nothing. A
Book, on "Woman and Her Diseases,"
published by the World's Dispensary Med
ical Association, Buffalo N. Y., is of inter
est to all women. It will be sent for tea
cents in stamps.
When women arc afflicted with nervous
ness, irritability, nervous prostration or ex
haustion and sleeplessness, in nine case
out of ten the source of the trouble is some
displacement, irregularity or derangement
of the special internal parts. Dr. Pierce's
Favorite Prescription eurts permanently
such cases as well as that distressing in
ternal discharge from the mucous mem
brane, inflammation and ulceration.
Sroeitm, Jackson C:. Mick.
Smttmm I am more than willing to may your
meat vlnKe medicine ha cured me of female
weaaaesa ana a caiarrnai macnarg irom int
Maine membranes of the special part. I an
fcreeTmr year with aaia hi my back, never a
4ht 1 Am At fun mM 1 i u.iimii. mA
(Mate with Dr. Mere Favorite Freaiitlu
tfea, 1 eoeld a oa a auttraaa ; H earned
a jMBfk wmI4 kill me. Mae takng the
naeien a'lrf aaipame; i
Pocket Knives
and Scissors
We will tend FBEE either a
large 2-blade Pocket Knife
with stag handle, OB, a pair
of 7-inoh full Nickel Soiason
Both Onaraataed to be beat
qoallty eieaL
For
Ten wnl find en don pen InaM aaoh a ranee baa.
aad two ooupoaa Inaide aaoh oaaoa bag of
BLACKWELL'S GENUINE
DURHAM TOBACCO.
Stmd Coapoat wkh Nma mm A4dns to
BLIOXWELL'S DUBHAM TOBACCO CO., DTJBEiM, M. C.
Buy a bae of this Celebrated Smoking Tobacco and read the
coupon which gives a list of other premiums and how to get them.
a CENT STAMP ACCEPTED.
WeHtSteeeHeae mumiuuuuuu
a..,...!!! i .nu. . . . a . i . .a.a ii 1
xvVVVSvv v-v
for Infants
IV jJMfRTY yiV otarratlom
II anflUona of praoma. permit
It la wnqneetjomably tho boat
tho world ha error tatwa. It fa hand a. Cajldrom lfho It. It
giro them health. It win aavo their Htm. In H Mother hare.
aoaaothlna; which la abaolately afe and practically perfect aa a
child's aaodledaa.
Ctorla deatroy Worm.
Cavaiorta allaya Ferrerlahaeaa.
Caatorla prevent wnmltiag Soar Card.
" Caatorla TMarrhcBQ and Wlad Colio.
Caatorla relieve Teething Trochlea.
Caatoria enroa Conatipatlon and Flatnlency.
Caateria nentraliaoa the effect of carbonic add gaa or polaonoca tfr.
Caatoria doe not contain morphine, opinm. or other nareotio property.
Caatoria awhnflatw tho food, regulate the atomach and howela,
giving healthy and natoral aleep. .
Caatoria la pot pp In ono-fao hottloa only. It 1 not aold In hnlh.
IVrnt allow any one to, I1 yon anything olao on tho plea or promlao
that It la "jnt a good" and 'vffl anwer every pnrpoae-
So that yon yet P A-S-T-O-R-I-A.
Tho fac-aimfle
aignatpro of
Children Cry for
qONTRAOTOR and gUILDER.
JOBBING OF ALL KIISTDS.
All work guaranU'fd first-class. Plans and estimates furnished or
all kind of work either brick or wood.
Uilln ot I.rMIU'.K ot all klmis filled oa short notice. Sash. Doors anil Mill work ot aJ
Kinds any lliiu iu the shape of wood "ork can be had oa short noiice.
Xedtord,
Union bivery Stables,
C. fllNGUS & SON, Proprietors,
Successor to ED. WORMAN. . . .
Having lately purchased this popular stable d stocked it with
new rigs, safe and fast teairs I am now prepared to meet the wants of.
the traveling public in a satisfactory manner.
CORNER SEVENTH AND I, MEDFORD, ORECiONv.
THE VERY BEST OF
BRICK AND MASON
S. CHILDERS,
OOHT RAOT OR iWL!
I manufacture a splendid article oi Brick see samples
everywhere about the city Yard one block north of
Brewery. Residence north C street, Medford, Oregon.
MEDFORD BRICK
a. W. iPjRIDDY, Prop'r.
MEDFORD, -
First-class quality of Brick always
promptly filled. . .
BRICK WORK OF ALL KINDS PROOTU EXECUTED.
- -
-
YEW
40 Coupons;
or, roe
3 Coupon and AO ccnta.
and Children.
of Caatorla. with tho yatremavga of
ai io ayaaa- of it witltoart
remedy for Imfajta mmm Calldram
Pitcher's Castoria.
ilJ$
Oregon
WORK.
IVTS
YARD,
3
- - OREGON.
on hand. Large and small
. . "."
J :, k ha' toMctf ta Miirti dtt tfc erf