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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1880)
May, 1880. THE WEST SHORE. 141 put into the proper condition (or regular cul ture. This can only be done if the influx of water can be regulated and the entire drainage of the pond made possible. An intrenobment will be required with inch ponds in order to make them dry. Trunks of trees ahonld be taken out of them: and where ihev are fnn .1... they ahonld be tilled up. If this ia not done too many fishes will remain embedded in the mud when the pond it being drained, and thia lessens the profits to a great extent. Should any brooks fall into such ponds, aa ia often the case with large ones, they must be kept under strict observation on account of possible overllowa which might occur. If it be practicable, the brook had beet be turned off and conducted alongside the pond, when the latter can be supplied with water if required. The fundamental rule in carp culture ia that the water be of tho aamo depth in summer and winter. If the supply of water ia too plentiful, groat quantitiea of mud are carried into tho pond, embedding the grass which grows in it and on its banka; thia, in consequenoe, will rot and poison the water. The carp immediately desert auoh water on aooount of its offenaive odor, and retire from their proper feeding plaaea to deptbi deficient in the production of food. The breeding-pondi have theaame construction aathe hatch inn-ponds; they have dams, reserve sluices, outlet-channels, collectors, and ditches in the bottom. The only difference ia in being deeper and larger than hatohing-ponda. They have an average depth of 1 font 9 inohea, and the width of their shallow borders ia from 70 to 80 feet. The "kettles" have a depth of 14 feet from the surface; their borders are from 6 to 8 inohea deep. The growth of graaa ahould alao be advanced in theae ponds. In small onea of about 4 or 6 acres, the "kettles" may have a length and width of 60 to 70 feet Fig. 1 ia a plan of a natural carp pond. Pond P ia a natural body of water. Ita extent ia about 1 SO to 200 acres. It ia formed by a dam, D, about 7 to 8 feet high, croaaing the valley and thua oollecting the water of a run flowing there. Before D ia a deepening, C, tho collector. In the dam D, there ia an outlet leading to another deepening the so-called outlet col lector DC. The purpose of this collector ia to keep back fishes that may have passed the out let when opened. It ia provided with a screen or netting. CD, upon the bottom of pond ', ia the oollector-ditoh, which conducts the fishes to C when the water ia let out, and thua prevents them being caught in the mud. .' ia the ran of water whioh, to prevent overflow, haa to be con ducted around the pond in a separate ditch, leaving an inlet at J, protected by a eluioe with screens. J ia the inlet Kig. 2 ia a plan of an artificial oarp pond. R, stream supplying artificial pond between un dulating hills; ., inlet, JD, inlet dam; CD, ool lecting ditohea; 6', collector, OD, outlet dam; (), outlet; OC, outlet collector; K, oavitiea, " ket tles," in which the carp collect for the winter; , canal to let off surplus water in oaae ol fmheta. Aa may be inferred from the above notes and diagrams, there is a great variety in the accom modations whioh may be provided for the carp. Aa we have described auch aa are laid down in the official reports, we shall now be glad to re ceive information of any eapocial adaptations which oar readers may have made, ao that those intending to try carp may havs the advantage of a general recital of experiences. A Laroc Block or Sandstone. At the Dark Hollow atone quarry, near Bedford, O., one of the largest stones ever blasted in this country was "lifted" a week or two ago. The atone ia 40 by 60 feet square, and about 30 feet thick, and it required 185 slip wedges to make a successful blast When eat up into pieoee it will make nearly 300 carloads of building stone. Immense blocka of stone are frequently taken oat of the quarries hare whioh would make the stones in Solomon's Temple mere pebbles in comparison. Its weight was estimated to be about 6,000,000 pounds. THE TENDENCY TO SELF-DESTRUCTION. Albert Williams contributes to the April number of the Calforinn a very interesting paper entitled "The Ethics of Suicide." From compilations of official statistics, the author shows that the l'aoitlo alope, and particularly San Francisco, have attained what he terms a "bad eminence." In the fiscal year, June, 1877, to duly, 1878, the maximum inoreaao oc curred, being 35 more than that for the pre vious year. The whole number of suicides was 103, or, reckoning our population at 300,000, one suicide to 2,012 inhabitants. For the fiscal year 1878-70, the number of suicides is reported at 86, or on the same basis of population, 1 to 3,488. In New York, the ratio, at tho aame time, marks 1 to about 8,000 inhabitants. Tablea are given ahowing some of the char acteristic features of the suicides for the years 1878 79. From thorn it appears that 80 were white and 6 Chinese ; males, 76 ; females, 10 ; married, 36; aingle, 39; the rest divided among widow (1), widowers (4), and 5 unknown. The average age at which persona seek to drown their sorrows in suicido is 40. Intemperance and deatitution appear to be the principal reasons why people seek to pene trate the mysteries of the dark vallay, the months of April, May, June and July appearing to be the season of moat frequent occurrence of the suicidal mania. Only 5 out of the whole number, 86, are credited with being insane, and the author draws the irresistible conclusion that suicide is committed in a state of personal responsibility. Even with those who are cred ited with being insane at the momont when they seek to sever their oonneetion with this world, may it not bo because of their own indiscretions ? Have f bey not produced by their actions and mode of living the cauaos whioh lead to the commission of suicide ? If suicide is indeed a crime, does it not involve the perpetrator in a direct violation of a most sacred law of nature and Uodr Among the inquiries arising concerning sui cide is tho question of personal accountability. No one imitations that there are cases in which the subject is irresponsible, but the great ma jority of suicides are most oertainly in full pos session of all their faculties and aware of what they are doing. The very fact of deliberate, premeditated suioide preclude the ground of insanity. Some of the most eminent writers on the subject have arrived at the conclusion that the majority of suicides are of perfectly aana persons. When a person trios to drown him self, does it not often happen that coutaut with the cold water destroys the illusion under whioh he is laboring, and makea him try to aavs that life whioh only Him who gave should take awayt To take op another brunch of the subject w And that suicide ia hereditary and often times epidemic. It is notorious aa it is remark able, that in the same family, for successive generations, it repeals itself at the same age, by the aame method and in the same place. Again, suicide is epidamio by imitation. It spreads like disease through all grades of society, and from land to land. Thetoroeof example has a wonderful effect upon the human mind of spreading all forms of vice and evil. As to the question whether suicids is a mark of oowardiee or oourage, the author quotas Vol taire, as thinking the action a proof of courage -courage in kind and degree sufficient to over come the dread of a violent death. And further, how far personal honor ia involved in the act. Instancing the case of the commander of a fort or a vessel, who, to escape the humili ation of a surrender, retorts to self-destruction. We think a person who commits such as act (or the purpose of preserving his personal honor, will find do justification cither in ths syss of man or of Ood. HOME SOAP MAKING. Clara Francis gives the PrairU Arwr the following points on soap making: Soft Soap from Concentrated Lye. Dissolve a rwsml of ,.nt'"f I I.." ... tl " q water. Boil it with four'poumls of clear soap (at and when ths grease is all oat, set it away to cool. Add a gallon of hot water to thia solu tion and stir it in well; In ths course of a fsw hoars pat in another gallon, and continue add ing water until the soap 1 of ths desired con sistency. To make hard soap of this, stir la common salt hut an easier way would be to substitute washing soda (or a portion of ths potash and use some lime with it Ths pro cess would be the same as ths following one for Soap. Slake three pounds of limn in a gallon of boiling water; add aix pounda of wash ing soda and three gallons more of boiling water, l et these stand until dear, and then draw off the lye and replace it with two gallons of water. Boil the lye in an iron kettle with six pounds o( clear grease, and stir it almost constantly. It moat cook until it la of ths consistency o( honey. Try a little in a oup whan yon think it ia dons, and uaa tho water whioh is standing on the lima and soda, as it may bo needed to make the soap ths right thickness. Pour it off dear, and pat ia only a portion at a time. Finally, stir in a teacup o( salt, and pour the soap Into a wet tub. You may, if you ohooss, substitute a couple of pounds of crude potash (or an equal weight o( soda. Whan solid, out the soap into bars and spread it out to dry. It should harden slowly; if dried too (ast it will oraok. Boap is better (or being kept some time, For econ omy's sake, it should never bs used fresh. Wooiiwohk Buhniiiit Steam. Ths jimeri can M nnnfaelunr aaysi "At ths Crescent Steel Works, in this oity, a steam pips 3 inches In diameter, carrying from DO to 100 pounds pres. stirs, was laid undsr ground aboat three years ago, encased in common pins boards aboat one inch thick . A few days since occasion was had to dig up the pipe, and the whole length of ths wiHHien Oram was inunu 10 no cnarreu anil ap parently burnt about three-fourths of the thick uses of the wood, the other portion l-ing par. tially rotted. Tho whols inside o( ths drain waa turned to eharonal, with hare and there spots of white ashee, showing that ignition had actually taken place. It seems probable that If the easing had not been excluded from the air by the earth covering it it would havs biased and been entirely consumed. t ia generally believed that a steam pip cannot set fire to wood, but this case seems to prove ths contrary, and it may explain the origin of so many mys terious fires." Black Knamil. If wood ia Immersed In sulphuric and it is dye-i a jet black, awl when dry can be polished by rubbing with a boos spatula; but what would bast soil, I think. Is the following: (Irindnpvery finely some drop black in water, put the paste in a cap and mil it with a little site or very thin glue, brush the wood over with this, 1st It dry, sandpaper it and give it another coat, allowing it to dry wall, awl attain apply aom worn emery or sani(paier. II wu oovereo you may now use French pol ish when you will hare a brilliant black surface. If it ia not a flat sarfaoe, brush over with a coat or two of polish varnish, mads tho sains aa Frsnch polish, only a little thicker, An Immuins Bum.': or Oh an it. What Is said to lis the largest block of granite evsrqsar. ried in the United States has recently been Uken from a quarry at Vlnalhaveo, in Mains. It is 59 fast long, S( feet square at bass, and 3 (set square at ths top, It weighs from 75 to 100 tons. It oust 11,700 to blast It and move it to the sbsd where it is to be finished. It hi to form the abaft of the monument to (Jen. Wool, to b sreoted at Troy, N. Y.