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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1884)
THE WEST SHORE. 81 CHINESE, OR INDIA, INK. MANY articles are found in the extensive literature of China written by their learned men about the paper, ink and brushes that they use for writing, but un- J fl HWVUW V. VJ WVilUlt(KT I their inks. It is quite otherwise in the recent book written by Chen-ki-souen, for he describes every stage of its preparation with great accuracy and in detail. Ac cording to the Celestial author, a kind of pigment ink was discovered 2697 to 2597 B. C. It was employed for writing on silk with a bamboo rod. Afterward an ink was prepared from a certain stone (encre tie pierre), which is still known in China as che-hei. It wns not until 200 or 220 B. C. that they began to make an ink from soot or lampblack. The soot was obtained by burn ing gum lao and pine wood. This ink was made at first in round balls, and very soon supplanted the stone ink. For a while the Province of Kiang-si appears to have had a monopoly of ink making. Under the dynasty of Tang, in 618 to 905 A D., there was a special officer, called an inspector, who had charge of its manufacture. He had to furnish the Chinese court with a certain quantity of this ink annually. Some of the factories seem to have been " royal Chinese " factories." The Emperor Hinan TBong (713 to 756 A. D.) founded two universities, to which he sent 336 balls of ink four times a year. The most celebrated ink factory in China is that of Li-ting-kouei, who lived in the latter part of the reign of Tang, and is said to have made an excellent-article. Ho made his ink in the shape of a sword or staff, or in round cakes. ,The test of its authenticity consisted in breaking up the rod and putting the pieces in water; if it remained intact at the end of -a month, it was genuine Li-ting-kouoi. Since the death of this celebrated man there seems to have been no perceptible advance made in the manufac , ture of India ink. In the manufacture of lampblack nearly everything is used that will burn. Besides pine wood we may mention petroleum, oils obtained from different plants, perfumed rice flour, bark of the pomegranate tree, rhinoceros horn, pearls, musk, etc. Nor does fraud seem to have been entirely wanting. According to Chinese authorities, the principal thing is the proper preparation of the lamp black; the best smells like musk, and the addition of musk not only serves to give poor goods the resemblance of fine ones, but really makes it worse. The binding agent plays the chief part next to the lampblack; ordi nary glue and isinglass alone are now used. In old times glue made from the horns of the rhinoceros and of doer was employed. Good Chinese ink improves with ago, and should not be used for a few years after it is made. It is not easy to keep it, as it must be protected from moisture. Some persons, in rubbing it up, make circular movements that soon ruin it It is better to rub it in straight lines back and forth with the least possible pressure. " Neveb mistake perspiration for inspiration," said an old minister in his charge to a young pastor just ordained. - RAM'S HORN GAVE. IN a detached range of mountains about five miles east of White Sulphur Springs, Montana, there is a sub terranean cavern of immense size, called " Barn's Horn Cave" by the fanciful and "Bandit's Retreat" by the melo-draiuatio. Tho convulsions of Nature have so fillod the chambers with masses of rocks that they do not pre sent the beautiful array of Btalogmitos and stalactites, carved walls and level ilwrs, stairways and open pas sages, so usual to those earthy caverns; but the very roughness has a peculiur attraction, and gives one tho fancy that he is walking amid the buried ruins of a city. Passing from the outor world boneath n huge arch one finds himself first in a cliambor about CO by 50 foot, with a coiling 30 foot over his head. From this ho follows a descending passago, inclined at a vory stoop angle, for a quarter of a milo. The passage varios in width from CO to 100 feet, and in height from 20 to 50 foot, and is strewn with massos of brokon rock, evidently detached from the coiling and walls by internal convulsions of groat force. These at places nearly choke the passage way, and at one place tho visitor passes boneath an arch made by tho wodging of two immense blocks of stone that mutually support each other, and look as though they were but waiting for him to come boneath to fall umu and crush him. From where this passago forks the do scout to tho right is made a short distance with dillluulty to whore sovoral smaller passages load off in different directionsone to a chamber in which nro found beauti ful stalagmites and stalactites. The loft fork offors sov oral routes of travel, all of them difficult; one pusses through a small crevice in tho solid wall; another follows circuitously around jagged rocks and rugged masses of stone, and tho third is n small meandering tunnel, very small and dividing into forks. In following tho main passage from this point one must lot himself down a precipice a distance of fifteen foot with ropes, when he enters a chamber undisturbed by the throes that have so disrupted the upper portion of tho cavern, and full of many curious and interesting formations. This is tho practical ending of the cave, though one tunnel, too small for a man to enter, leads towards the bowels of tho earth, and many small passage-ways strike off in difforont directions, but all heading upwards and gradually. " pinching out." Tho mountains of that region are full of those interesting rocky caverns. If you would he happy, try to lo cheerful, even when misfortune assails you. You will very soon find that thore is a pleasant asjKct to nearly all circumstances to even the ordinary trials of lifo. When the hour of misfortune comes, whether it appears in the form of disease or pecuniary loss, Tace it manfully and make the bent of it Do not nurse your troubles to keep thorn warm, and avoid that useless and senseloss habit of con stantly referring to them in your conversation. The farmer should innko experiments himself ns well as note the result of those made by others.