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About Lincoln County leader. (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 1900)
Science SI veniion More steel Is used In the manufacture of pens than In all the sword and gun factories In the world. According to chemical analysis, fif teen parts of the flesh of flsh have about the same nutritive value us twelve parts of boneless beef. The principal Ingredients In the com position of smokeless powder are gun cotton and nltro-glycerine. Some other substances are added, however, In small qualities. An object, like an Iron anchor, that Is thrown Into the ocean and Is free to sink, will go to the very bottom, no matter how deep the sea may be. The notion that at a certain depth the den sity of the water Increases to a point exceeding that of Iron, and that the ob ject would there be suspended, is er roneous. Prof. Dewar has at length succeeded In solidifying hydrogen. In Us com pact form, solid hydrogen Is a trans parent Ice, but owing to rapid ebulli tion It usually appears as a foamy white mass. Its mean temperature Is 10 de grees centigrade above absolute zero. l'ror. uewar says, with reference to his latest achievement: "The lust doubt as to the possibility of solid hydrogen hav ing a metallic character .has been re moved, and for the future hydrogen must be classed among the non-metallic elements." . Before the Biological Society of Washington O. ,F; Cook described his studies of the African termites, or white ants. Certain individuals in ev ery nest have no other apparent func tion except that of fighters or soldiers. Some have a long beak from which they eject an acrid, corrosive fluid; others In spire terror by making a loud clicking noise with their mandibles, but they neither shoot nor bite. . One singular observation of Mr. Cook was that the soldier ants which rush out to defend an attacked nest "do not return to the nest, but wander about and soon per ish from exposure to the outside air." It Is said that there Is not a stream rising in the mountains of Luzon and the same Is true of other islands of the Philippine group which has not Its gold-bearing sands. The alluvial depos its of the precious metal have been' gar- ' nered for many years, but no thorough exploration for gold at its sources in the mountains has ever "been made, because the Spaniards were unable to conquer the tribes Inhabiting the Interior re gions. Some of these tribes are said to look upon the digging up of the earth as a sacrilege, and they will not seek gold In that -way, nor permit others to do It, lest the wrath of the gods should grow hot against them. During a violent thunder storm at Ithaca, N. Y., last summer a writer for the Companion was surprised to ob serve, several times in succession, a short luminous streak which appeared at a particular point In the clouds, and remained visible about two seconds at a time. It was probably an example of the rare phenomenon called bead light ning, deseribeu by rof. Elihu Thomson at the recent meeting of the American association. When seen to advantage It resembles a string of luminous beads hung In a cloud, "the beads being some what elliptical and the ends of their axes In the line of their discharge being colored red and purple respectively." As seen at Ithaca the line was viewed nearly end on, and there was only a suggestion of color visible. j Too Ethereal. Senator Sorgum had been doing his best to carry on a conversation with the extremely sentimental girl, and was beccni'ng disco raged. She was gizliig through the wiuJow and exclaimed, "See those distant stars. Did you ever pause to think that they may be worlds?" "Yes, I believe I have." , "And that they may be peopled with beings that hope and struggle as we do' Oh, did you ever think of those people "No," he answered, "I never thought of them." Turning abruptly, so as to face him, she exclaimed, "Why not?" The senator thought for a moment and then answered coldly, "For the simple reason, miss, that they don't vote In my district." Oriel it of Hour. Just when the day became divided Into hours Is not known; nor is the process explained. ' The Greeks and Itomans measured time by the water glass and the sun dials. The hour-glass filled with sand was the outgrowth of these vessels from which the water dripped through tiny openings. . A Fraction. "What Is a fraction?" "A part of anything, sor." "Give an example." "The slvinteenth. of June." Mel. bourne Times. . ' . ' One of the hard-things In this world to understand Is why parents seem to enjoy seeing their children undergo the agony of stage fright In an amateur entertainment. GEN. LORD METHUEN. Family History of One of England! - JL.eiKling' Sol (Her 8. , Geu. Lord Methuen, who was sent t relieve Kimberley and rescue Cecil Uhodes, and met with defeat, has been nearly all his life in the British army. Lord Methuen's family is better known in Scotland by the name of Methven, The two names seem to be Interchange able. The General's family Is an old Scotch one, coming from Perthshire. In the reigns of Wllllain and Mary and Queen Anne, John Methven was suc cessively chancellor for Ireland and am-1 bassador to Portugal. II negotiated what was probably the original reel procity treaty, making a commercial compact with Portugal. His son, Sli Paul, was the first of the family to spel his name with a "u" In public. Sir Paul prospered exceedingly end became a much esteemed minister of Queen Ann and her successor, the first George. H was ambassador to eeveral .foreign courts In the interval ia which he did not hold a home ofHce. and was dilet-1 taiite in art and letters. He collected a gallery of pictures which was famous ! in its time, and when he died he was burled in Westminster Abbey. This cultivated old bachelor was succeeded by his cousin, Paul, from whom Is de- j scended the present Lord Methuen. It ' was not until 1838 that a peerage was : created for the house of Methuen. Th General is the third baron. I The general was military attache nt GEX. LOUD METHURJT. the Court of Berlin from 1S77 to 1880. From 1SS8 to lS'jl he was adjutant, gen eral of the Cape of Good Hope. In 1S91 he succeeded his father as baron, and went home to England. Gen. Methuen was 51 years old last September. Through The Scarsdales, the General is related to the Tennysons. TO PROTECT THE RAILROADS. Gates Prevent Passengers Entering; b. Without Ticket Examiner's Consent. Several Western railroads have for somo time required passengers to show their tickets on entering the cars, and on the adoption of this practice it was found desirable to have a gate that would make It . practically Impossible GATES FOR PASSENGER COACHES. for passengers to enter a train at any point except that guarded by the ticket examiner. The feature of the design shown here, which has been adopted by some of the roads, Is that It folds In such a way as to be entirely out of tho way when not In use. Natural Icehouse on a Farm. Water constantly freezes in summer In a rocky crevice on the farm of John Pood, in Sweden Valley, Pa. Aside of this fact, and with the intention of forming a natural icehouse, the owner tried to have a shaft sunk in the rocks. When the men had gone down four teen feet the atmosphere became so densely cold that they had to cease work. Dripping water freezes there In a few minutes. Ch'oroform Won't Work. It has been found that an apparatus for killing animals with chloroform in England would not work In India, be cause the high temperature prevented the concentration of the chloroform yapor. That this was the cause was proved by the fact that by placing Ice In the box the animals were readily killed. Japan's Theater Boxes. Japanese theaters Lave their boxes bo irranged that the ladles can change their dresses, as it Is not considered stylish for a lady to appear an entire ivening In one dress and with the same rnaments. When some people die, the bells ought to ring, Instead of tolL - J TOM KETCHUM. the Darlnjr Leader of Black Jack's Ooiik of Bandits. The notorious leader of the Infamous "Black Jack's" gaug of traiu robbers und murderers, Tom Ketchum, is now lu the penitentiary at Santa Fe, X. M. Tom held up a train single-handed and iu the sequel to this was wounded uud captured. It was the Colorado Southern express that Tom held up. The place selected was near Folsom, on the northeast corner of New Mexico. One night us the express was putting laboriously up grade the engineer saw a light ahead giving the signal to stop. When the train slowed down Tom Ketchum jumped Into the cab and, carelessly swinging a 45 Colt near the engineer's nose, told him to obey all orders given during the next few minutes. This, Tom said, would save heartaches In the engineer's home and the Intrusion of an undertaker In the family circle. Then he jumped off and tried to uncouple the engine, which was made Impossible by the steep grade. Falling In this, Tom walked back to the Wells-Fargo ex press car and, thumping the door with the butt of his Colt, demanded admit tance. The messenger opened the door and poked the muzzle of a Winchester out Into the dark and pulled the trigger. That put an end to the hold-up that night. Just how badly Tom was shot Is not known, for he wa3 wounded lu a subsequent battle with United States Marshal Foraker's posse and he will not say how much damage the messen ger did. As he declared the hold-up off It Is probable he was severely Injured. The express pulled on and Tom Jumped his broncho and sought safety In the mountains. The attempted robbery was soon known to the officials, and three days later Marshal Foraker's men were hunting for Tom In the uplands. They finally hit the trail and followed it back into the very heart of the mountains. Here they lost It and while discussing the best move a report of a rifle split the air and one of the deputies fell out of his saddle. This was sufficient evi dence of Tom's presence In the vicinity, but not his exact whereabouts, as Tom used smokeless cartridges. Another shot was heard and another deputy went to the ground. At this rate every man In the posse would be cut down without a ghost of a chance of getting a shot. The deputies, therefore, sep arated and began to scour the brush. A glint of sunshine playing on the blue steel barrel of a Winchester disclosed Tom Ketchum's position behind a big bowlder surrounded by brushwood. " Then tbeday's proceedings began. The deputies shot at that glint of sunshine playing along blue steel; Tom shot at the deputies. The deputies dodged be. hind trees and rocks and shot wildly. Tom stayed where he was and made bull's-eyes. If Tom hadn't shoved his right arm a little too high In taking aim he would have brought down a full mess of deputies. As It was a slug of lead as big as your finger tore through Tom's shooting member, aud It took a few minutes to change his Winchester over to his left arm. In these short minutes the deputies closed In on Tom and captured him. He was in a bad shape. Ills right arm was terribly broken and torn and he was already suffering from loss of blood. But he was game. He offered to take his left arm and begin the performance all over again, which proposition was respect fully declined. The next day when lie, was able to be moved Tom was strapped to his broncho and taken to a train, ul tlmately landing in the penitentiary hospital at Santa Fe. Of "Black Jack's" gang of thieves and cutthroats Tom Ketchum was the lead er. He was 35 years old, and In Texas, his native State, he is known as the new Jesse James. He stands 5 feet 10 Inches In his stocking feet and Is built on the graceful lines of a tiger. IL Is as void of conscience as the Winchester he carried. He would rather shoot a man than eat; If 1he man be an officer of the law it was more fun to kill him khan to go to a dance. One of his boy ihood pastimes was to hide In some con venlent place on the ranch In Texas and fdhoot Mexican herdsmen. When a lad 'he was summoned as a witness In a (lawsuit, and not knowing what the Isummons meant, and not caring to take ' . i i i i n any chances, snot ana miiea me omcer, After this he found it convenient to change his residence, so he rode up Into New Mexico and Arliona. Here he soon became a terror to everybody In gen eral and railroad aid express com TOM KKTCnUM. panies In particular, ne admits in a roundabout way that since 1880 he andl his gang have stolen from postoffleesj trains, stages and wayfarers $200,0001 aud killed 200 men. LI HUNG CHANG'S WEALTH. Wuya In W hich He Accumulated His I.normoua Fortune. LI Hung Chnuff. the most nnQTiTiimi4 Chinese of the age, is often called the i iciiest man In the world. One way In which LI for many years made an enormous sum of money was to use inousamis of soldiers lu his own pri vate enterprises without navlnir them a cent for their labor. In the course of time he purchased extensive estates in the rlce-growlng regions and raised more bushels nt H im oropt van r tlin-rt " J JLUl tuuu , the bonanza farmers of North Dakota ' used to raise of wheat. He got his I labor for nothing, aud his great crop ' of rice was almost clear nroflrl Ha simply turned his soldiers loose in the rice fields, and they had to be content with the rations and the miserable pit tance paid to them by the government. The great man also became his own contractor for army supplies. He would sell his own rice to the govern ment for army rations nt an enormous profit, and pocketed a handsome rake off on all other supplies furnished to the tens of thousands of soldiers lu the Pechill province. Then he was chief supreme of the custom houses for a long distance around the Gulf of Pechill, and there was nothing mean about the stream of gold that poured into his strong-box through this chan nel. It has long been notorious that one of the methods he employed was to Import large quantities ef -goods through his agents without the pay ment of a cent of duty, and then sell the goods at a round figure to his coun trymen. This method of money-making finally Involved the old gentleman In troubles, charges were made against him, and he came near losing his official head; but his power was so great and his real services to the state were so valuable that be was almost Invulner able in spite of the many enemies who have always been ready to accuse him. One of his great sources of money getting employed by LI Hung Chang during the later years of his career as Viceroy was as a money lender. There Is little doubt that he was the king of pawnbrokers the world over. Ills loan offices were scattered far and wide over his province, and he loaned great sums of money on mortgages and on pledges of personal property. In a coun try where no legal rate of Interest Is fixed this business has brought enor mous returns to Li Hung Chang. Its Chief Industry Ignored. A student of the history of Ameri can iron and steel shipbuilding recent ly visited the public library at Phila delphia. Philadelphia and Chester, which, so far as ship-building is con cerned, are practically one, are the birthplace of iron and steel ship build ing on the Atlantic coast and it might be expected that first-hand historical material concerning the industry would be found in abundance In the public library of Philadelphia. When the card catalogue was examined it was discovered that the only books under the heading of ships or relating to ships or shipbuilding were Miss Harraden's "Shliw That Pass in the Night" and a little Volume on "Seaboard Life," writ ten for koys, by W. II. Bldelng. An appeal was made to the librarian in charge of the reference-room, which resulted in the ascertainment of a few initial and elementary facts from the standard history of Philadelphia. Of first-hand material there was absolute ly none. Beyond what was contained in the history of Philadelphia the II brary afforded, no Information concern ing one of the oldest and most Interest ing and now one of the largest Indus tries of the city. Boston Transcript Amrloan Brb Wire in Africa. Barbed-wire fences are used exten sively In south Africa and most of the material Is Imported from the United States. Appropriate. "Why do they call that trick bicycle rider Asbestos?" "Because he doesn't scorch." Bis marck Tribune. If we were a woman, we would In augurate a lot of reforms, but there Is one thing we wouldn't do; we would ') kiss other voiueu. X.I HUNG CHANG. HOMESPUN PHILOSOPHY, Observations on Commonplace Thine by the Atchison Globe Man. Women don't treat men very decent. As a man grows older, amateurs be come worse. Dldu't complain of any thing so long as you don't have a cancer. Most women dislike it when strange men slap them on the back. When some people become bilious, they quarrel with every friend they have. This is the senson when men discover that 'possum aud 'coon are not good to eat. Men without means are always won dering why capitalists do not Invest more readily. The poorest fiddle players carry their fiddle boxes iu the most flagrant man ner on the street Women quarrel, make up, and claim that everything is again "just the same," but it isn't We have noticed that the man who comes in to use the telephone, usually leaves the door cpen. After a woman reaches forty, some times her nose la as red as her lips were when she was sixteen. When a decent man hears a "Btory" on another decent man, instead of as sisting iu spreading it, he starts a back Pre. No wonder women never eat much when meals are ready: they eat so much arouud grocery stores, and while cooking. Every man who leads a prayer meet ing finally gives the impression that the Lord uses an ear trumpet and he has exclusive control of this end. There has always been a certain amount of wickedness in the world. It is perfectly natural, and protests against It are as Idle as protests against jld nge. If you want a man to rave over a present you must give him a good one. but a woman will make as much fuss aver a silver spoon ns she will over a house and lot The most adorable woman in tho world, Is the woman who Is most uaturul. A woman who Is "cultured," expects flattery In large doses, aud is disagreeable If she does uot get it Women's magazines contain many suggestions for women who want to keep their husbands nt home nights, but there is nothing that really helps them except corns on the husband's toes.. . . . ... WRESTLING WITH LANDSCAPE. The ' Original Iowans Got Tired of CllmbinK Hills. "Westward of tho Mississippi, the dramatic play of physical nacure against the migrating will of human being assumes many times the Interest and Impre8slveness that It had in tho move-j ments from the Alleghunies to Illinois,' Bays a writer In Alnslee's, in nn article explaining the settling of the Uuitocf States. "The struggle of the settled with the swamps nnd marshes andj malaria of Indiana a struggle whlclf lasted to withiu the niost recent genera tlon was but a proem to the hardships and conflicts that followed when t lie Iowa Immigrants crossed the river, and the MIssourinus that were to be forsooli the hills of Tennessee. "Iowa Itself, excluding the considera tion of the warfare with the doughty Sioux, was not such a basis of tragedy, nor was Missouri topographically so, but Iowa and Missouri furnished the basis of the exodus to the further west and in doing so gave both the genesis and the nemesis to many a habited place on the way to the Pacific. Iowa Itself Is an Illustration In a minor way of the law of least resistance, and Mis souri is an illustration of the law of greatest endurance. "The excess of population from Illi nois would doubtless have gone over the Missouri as well as the Mississippi and have stretched across the plains of Nebraska twenty years before the Union Pacific rails were laid, had not Iowa's surface been us it Is and tho nomads grown tired of rolling up and down the undulating hills and decided that the easier thing to do was to settle In the attractive wooden vales and stick their plows Into the deep, loamy, corn producing soli. The thousands who re mained have always been of the remain ing, sticking kind steady, Industrious, thrifty, but circumscribed by the hills from whose outlook only hills are to be seen." ' Wonders or the Locomotive. The story of the locomotive sound simple in the recital. The wonder of the thing comes Into view only when one reflects on tho speed and nicely with which cumbrous parts are made to do their duty. The piston and con necting bar of a modern locomotive weigh some 000 pounds. When ' the speed Is sixty miles an hour these parts travel back and forth five times a sec oud. Out or th Frying Pan. He gets his daughter off his hands . And he thinks it all complete, But soon he finds he bos to keep Her husband on his feet. A "ready-made" tailor In a provincial town has this advertisement outside hit shop: "Wear our twenty-one shilling1 suits, and you will bare a fit"