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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1884)
374 THE WEST SHORE. tion by rail with a vast Btretch of mineral and grazing txnuiUy which, has heretofore been largely dependent upon San FranciHco and tbo East New markets are thus opened to ub, and the imxrtancfl of Portland ns a railroad centre and diHtribuling point becomes more plainly evident There was no bucIi flourish of trumpots as accompnnied the driving of the last Hpike on the Northern Pacific, but it in questionable if this quiet event does not mean vastly more to our future prosperity. The effort of certain wealthy cattle men to secure a leaso of nearly all the best portion of the Crow Reserva tion for a stock range is calling out much opposition from the people of Eastern Montana, Several public meetings have been held, and Delegate Maginnis is alrondy in Washington in tlio interests of jjhis constituents working against tlio scheme. These lands should be thrown open to the occupation of the people, and not e permitted to fall into the grasp of a few cattle kings. TllE leading Bheep men of Montana are SieniB & Armington, a wealthy St Paul firm. They recently pur chased threo largo bands, aggregating thirteon thousand, and expect to add to these by othor liberal purchases. Tho firm's headquarters nre at Fort Ponton, and the ranges along Pelt Creek. Hhoep interests are rapidly coming to tho front in that prosperous Territory and taking rank with mining and cattlo. Northern Montana is the seat of this industry. A CAHF.FUL estimate placos tho number of beef cattlo iu Idaho at DOO.fKK). JUDGING OP DISTANCE. IT is very difficult to judge of distances at sea. Refrac tion always changes tho apparent place of an objoct, bo that wo seem to soe tho buu after it has gone below tho horizon. A more striking but less froquent phenom enon of refraction is that known as mirage. Refraction also affect tho color of an object The media through which light passes has more or less elTect upon the ray. In a fog objects nre dimly seen, tho effect resembling tnat duo to distance; heneo objects look larger, for the eyo judges of the aizo of nu object by multiplying the Hixo of tho imago or impression received by the square of the distance, while the latter is estimated from the indis tinctness of the object In tho fog tho apparent distance is increased, but the oyo int. rprets it as due to tho oppo site Muse, On looking at tlio photograph of a tree, a church, n iiii.mimcnt or a pyramid, it is not iKsiblo to form n correct Men of its size unless a man or animal is seen in the same viow with which to compare it In Nature, especially on land, tho intervening objects that M up U it give tho data on which to calculate the dis tanco. Where none intervene, as in looking from iwak to oak, the eyo mint depend on distinctness, and where the air is very clear ami transpnn,.t, as in Colorado dis tniKV. Boom less thai, Uwy nre. If the object is seen through transparent but colored media, the form remain,, true, but,the colore are chang.nL At sea, on a clear day distances may b.e calculated approximately by the propor nun ol uu uujock wuiou appears aoove tne horizon line The horizon is about ten miles distant when Eeen from uie tiecK 01 an ocean steamer, consequently another steamer which is "hull down" will be distant from the observer some twenty miles. With care distances can be thus quite accurately calculated. m m CANDLE SUPERSTITIONS. SO far as number is concerned, the most numerous class of superstitions is composed of those which cluster round the family'candles. The 'origin of these probably dates far back in antiquity, when the world m full of superstitious fancies about light in general imd candle light in particular. When we come down to the early days of the Christian Church, however, we find that not a few of the'ordinances of religion were accom. panied by ceremonies borrowed from paganism, in which lighted candles played an important part Candles were lighted at birth to keep off evil spirits, at marringe to prevent the evil eye from affecting the happy pair, and at death to drive away the demons who were thought to be always on the lookout for the soul of the dying mnn. Naturally then, as candles played so important a part in the ceremonies of religion, men became accustomed to regard them with something of a superstitious eye, and to hwk to them for signs and wonders which were not to be elsewhere found. So a peculiar appearance in the can dle, for which no reason could be given, was always ro gnrded ns something indjeative of some remarkable tiling about to hnppen. A collection of tallow round the wick is still known as a winding sheet, and is believed to fore tell the death of one of the family, while a bright Bpark is a sign of the future reception of a letter by the person opposite whom the spnrk is situated, and the waving of the flame without any apparent cause is supposed to demonstrate the presence of a spirit in the room. In addition to these fanciful notions, there are some others which are foundod on natural facts too well known to admit of dispute, such as the refusal of the candle to light roadily.'which indicates a state of atmosphere favor able to a coming storm. m m ANCIENT WOOD ENGRAVING. rPIIE art of wood working is the oldest means whereby J. man gratified his vanity or his eye, and the one which, even among savages, still maintains its excellence. The New Zonlandor's club and the ancient Aztec's god, the Hydah Indian's pipes and the paddles of the Poly nesian canoe mnn, are marvels of carving, executed with the rudest tools. In the Kaffir country of Central Afrit are entire villages composed of wmxlen houses, elabo rately carved on post and pillar. Until the fear of fire led to the use of iron and stone as building material, such towns were common in Europe. Beams, brackets, door heads and gable ends were effectively hewn with gro tesque images of domons, heraldic devices, and those fair, saintly faces which still look- down on us with glance so benign.