Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1880)
March, 1880. THE WEST SHORE. 83 A GEOLOGICAL CURIOSITY. The geological wonder known aa the Ringing rocki, uya the Reading (Pa.) Time ami Dit patth, are in Montgomery oonntv. Ringing hill, as the people there call the eminence on which the celebrated rocka are found, is on the farm of Abraham Mcnsoh, in l'ottsgrove town ship, three miles northeast of 1'ottstown. The Ringing rocks cover a apace of about throe quarters of an aore. In this tract, boulders are piled upon boulders of all shapes and forms, and so promiscuously arranged that considerable agility is required to walk over them without falling. As one steps from ruck to rock, a ring ing sound, produoed by tho nails in tho boot heols, is plainly heard. On tapping the stones with a hammer quite remarkable acoustic prop erties are revealed. Some of them give furth n rich, full tone which would probably vie with the beat bell metal if the stones were fashioned into bells. One of them in particular, from its depth of tone, is known as the Stato Mouse bell. This was at one time among tliu largest of the rocks. It has been broken uff, however, but till has preserved its strong, full tone. The general sound produoed by striking thu smaller stones resembles that of a blacksmith's anvil, some having a little clearer ring than others, and no two sounding just alike. In passing from one to another of the larger rocks, oue is reminded of the tapping of car wheels by the train inspectors. We have not heard any satisfactory explana tion of the oauso of the ringing or beil-liko sound of these rocks. Some say it is owing to there being a oaveruunder them. This, however, oan havo nothing to do with it, as when the rocks are removed they still have the same sound. One large and sonorous boulder was taken to the Centennial, and attracted a great deal of attention there. Another was sent to Kugland a year or two ago. There is probably a metallic substanue in this group of boulders to whieh the ringing sound may be attributed. We have not heard, however, of anv uuulngioal analysts being mado. Half a mile east of the Ringing rocki, and in the same range of hills, there is another group of boulders which is much visited. Here a lofty pile of rooks sur mounts a cavity of considerable depth, the whole being known as the Stone House. Near by the Stone House is a huge boulder, some IT) or 20 feet high, which, from its peculiar con tour, is called the Hay Stack. Resides their acoustic qualities, there is another singular oir oumstanoe about the Riugiug rocks which visi tor! rarely fail to notice. Many of them have very strango marks or indentations. At some points these resemble the track of a horse's hoof. Others aro like the track of a wagon. Some of the larger indentations are aaid to resemble an elephant's foot, and fur nimile of the human foot are claimed to be found amnug the smsller ones. An U N x pec Tu Com rr. Dr . (lould, formerly of the Dudley observatory, Albany, N. Y but now Director of the Cordoba oliservatory, South America, has telographed to New York that a great oomet is in the neighborhood of the sun, passing northward. No large comet has been expected thii year, ami no small one at this season, Winnecke'e comet not Iwing due untd near the end of this year. Reports by mail are awaited with great iuterest Should Dr. tiuulil s dispatch be oonHrmed, a new member must be admitted to our comeUry system ; and possibly the nations north of the equator may also be treated to a sight of it. Tli amount of silver ooin in Holland is esti mated at 144,000,000 florins, or about WO.IXK), 000, of which there were recently about "S,00Op 000 florina in the Netherlands Bank. The gold circulation, inclusive of the bank's reserve, is estimated at 50,000,000 florins, or about tVI,-000,000. BARK BRICK WALLS-THKIR INFLU ENCE ON HEALTH. The Now York Timet of January 14th has the following: 11 At the of the Hoard of Health yesterday, a report was received from Dr. E. H. Janes, Assistant Sanitary Suporiu tendeut, in relation to an inspection of the recent additions to the now court-house. Dr. Janes aays : 'I found that the interior walls uonsist of brick uncovered by plaster or paint, and thereby prosont an absorbing and uvaimrat ing surfauo, which, iu my opinion, ia detri mental to thu health of those who daily occupy these apartments. From its porous quality, brick readily absorbs not only air ami moisture from the ground and atmosphere, hut animal vapors ami impurities constantly escaping from the lungs and skin of thoso uoiilineii between brick walls are also absorbed ami exhaled in turn with thu regular changes and purifications of the in door atmosphere. "' I am aware that tho experiments of Pot tonkofur are cited as an argument in favor of bare briuk walls, on thu ground that air readily passes through them. Hut Hraona holding these views forget that auiuinl impurities do not ikisscbs tho diffusible power of gaseous bodies, but, on the other hand, adhere to nonius strict ures; and while it may lie claimed that foul air will, to soma extent, escape through the briuk all. from an iinvontilatcd apartment, the fact remains that air in finding its way through the wall leaves most of its foulness behind. Bricks so uxHiseil Income iu time exceedingly tllthy, anil cannot lie thoroughly cleaned by any amount of scrubbing. 1 would therefore recommend that the interior walls of those rooms he covered with some material that will prevent the absorp tion and subsequent exhalation of moisture ami atmospheric impurities.' The report of Dr. Junes waa transmitted to the Surrogate, whose clerks occupy tho rooms rofurred to in the docu ment. " To i'iimini! Wait Hllll'. ---Prof. Ijeweiitlisl. a (lermau, thinks that the coining war ship will be made of India rubber. His idea is to make the entire hull of rubber one font, in thickness, strengthened below the water lino by a light steel frame. The vessel will be driven by an ordinary steam engine, and will have no masts. At the U will he a projecting spar, to which torpedoes will be affixed, and tho eulire crew, including the helmsman, will lie on the luwsr deck out of the range of shot. When a cannon ball strikes the India-rubber shin, it will pass Inertly through it above the heads of tha orew, sud the hole made by it will instantly dose. Paying no attention to such futile attacks, the India-rubber vessel will steam toward lo r ad vorssry and explode her torwdo. The doomed vessel will inatautly sink, while her elastic destroyer will be driven hundreds of yards backward by the reuoil following the explosion. Such a vessel, says the inventor, could destroy all the navies of the world, and after her work waa done she could be made as strong aa ever with tho aid of two or three liottlea of cement. Tub Laruist or Lanii Animai. -In the American Jnurnal 0 Seiner ami Art; Prof. Marsh describes the largest land animal yet known to have existed on the globe. It name is AWintnmuniM mmnni: The thigh boo of this creatine Is over H feet long, with a thick liens at the larger end of 'i'i inches, though the bons has no true head. A comparison f this bone with the femur of a crocodile would indi cate that the fossil saurian, if of similar propor tions, had a total length of I IS feet. That the reptile was 100 feet long when alive la at least probable. Tha other bonea of this animal that have been found are proportionately gigantic; caudal vertebra has a transverse diameter i4 more than Id inohea. All the bona of thia reptile yat discovered are in the Yale College museum. They are from tha Upper Juraeio of I Colorado. GOOD MANNERS. A person's manner ia quits a different thing from a persou'a maimers. Tho former indioatea , !. j ... buu ui- dividual, while the latter are the result of train ing and association. It ban been well said, that, a lady may possess very excellent maimers, and yet have a vury uufortuiiate manner, and tho reverse. To illustrate: There is a girl who haa been carefully taught from her childhood how to enter and leave a room, how to addreas and In troduce people, how to behave at table and iu company, yut notwithstanding continual lea sons in dcHirtniout, she has a mannner whiuh ia not whining. She is proud, or vain, nr cold, or disdainful, and this is shown by her manner uven when her manners are agreeable. We often go into a little atom kept by a woman whom we desiro to help by our custom, Hut neai ly always bur air of iiporoillinua indif ference, and her icy remoteness from the least iuterust iu us or our piirchaaea, sends us away half fro.en. There ia an atmosphere of turbid dlOfDMt about the shoo, and we are glad to get out of it into the sunshine, tin tho other hand, wo known certain aaleswomnu ill some of the great storoa of New York, who are so sunny, an delightful in their way of serving us, that to buy from them ia a ierfect pleasure, and they often persuade us into taking what we do not really waut, solely by thu charm of their sweet, mi aib cted grace, To have a womanly, dignillm! and cor dial ajflnurr you must have love to (hid ami your fellow-beings in your heart, To have mooo) MMMN you mot use them every day at home, ami not keep them merely for ooniieuy. Fine gold and diamond never wear out, but are aa beautiful alter years of use as at first, ami far more precious. lAtiWMM Hurt. A NRW varnish for protecting metallic sur faces, especially that of irou, is believed to have been found ill the application of euphorbium gum. The history of this euggeation ia stated to be aa follows: In. workmen of Natal are aaid I . have noticed that when they cut certain plant of the eutilutrlieaetie, a thin, adherent layer of gum remained upon them whieh effectually pro tooted the blade from mating. To lUUrniln the extent to which tins protective influence could Ihi relied upon, the experiment waa tried of coating sheet iron with the gum and immers ing it in the aaa water of South Africa, which is highly detrimental III it action upon iron. The trial la allirmed to have proved so auuuuuful that a varnish waa mad of the gum dissolved in spirits, and thu waa spoiled to ahiis' bottoms and to other metallic eurfaooe. The adherence of tha gum aftr th eventration of the spirit is said to be perfect. A ten year, trial of this preparation at tha Chatham doukyard, in Kng land, ia reported to hav given equally aatiafau tory result the iron so varniahed having re named uninjured after exposure, during that issrlnd, to the oorroaiv action of the water of the doolie. In Africa, where the gum ia abun dant, it la aaid to have long Inhiii In uaa aa a preventive of th ravage of th whit aula. Its virtues ar asorilsxl to its perlaot insolubility lo water, and to its poisonous qualities and extreme bitterness, whiuh make it an exiwllsnt protective agent against the lower forma of marine and terrestrial lift. Wood ivakvismi la an Industry whiuh la oar 1 i.d to ooliaiderahle perfection among the Her mans, ami it is fostered by the stahllshinsnt of carving schools, particularly iu districts whore the wood used for the work -th Spanish vaj. nut, the llooat and bat walnut the fiarmans have is plentiful. Eighty of th.se carving schools . 11st at the present tint in (lermany, ami W in WurUmburg; but so much iiupur lauc is attached to In rnults, whieh hav Mowed or ar xpotd to flow, from ths In stitution., thai tha number of tha carving school iu (iermaoy la to be inr,-d to W0.