Lincoln County leader., June 08, 1900, Image 3

AN INVERTED BRAJN.
CHILD SEES, READS AND WRITES
UPSIDE DOWN.
Seven-Year-Old California Girl, Who
Lives in a 'World that Seems Bottom
side Up and Backward Her Case a
Puzzle.
There Is a 7-year-old girl iu Alviso,
Cal., who lives lu a world all her own.
Nobody would want to share her world
with her, because it is a topsy turvy
cue so very topsy turvy that it makes
the head dizzy just to think about it.
Little Mary Terry sees everything bot
toniside up and backward. The ex
periences that each day brings to this
thild in real life are more remarkable
than those which befell Alice iu Won
derland, for Alice was llctlou and Mary
is fact.
This sole inhabitant of topsy turvey
doiu is the daughter of a Portuguese
rancher near Al vara do. For two years
she has atttended the Alviso public
school. She Is a pretty child, shy and
graceful, with rosy coloring and black
hair. Iler case puzzles the wise nit u
of the West. So far as is known, a sim
ilar instance has not been brought to
the attention of science.
It was nearly a year before her
teacher, Miss Carrie Parrish, discov
ered the strange peculiarity of Mary.
The tirst- six months' work In the rc
,eiVinir Hums consists m:i!n!y of the
teaching of English. From the first
Mary appeared timid and seemed
slower of comprehension than the oth
er members of her class. Nobody
-ould understand why she did not
learn faster. For a whole year her
strange hieroglyphics appeared utterly
meaningless to her teacher, who could
only wonder at their Invariable 'incor
rectness. One day a certain method
in their madness became apparent to
Miss 1'arrish. Then she discovered that
her little pupil was not only writing
everything upside down, but was re-
Terslng everything that she wrote. If
yon will take a sheet of paper, write
your name on It, turn It upside down,
reverse the sheet and hold it up to the
light you will see what Mary Terry
ees when she has the pleasure of be
holding your honorable signature.
Since the date of her discovery it has
been n perpetual struggle for Miss Par
rlBh to keep pace with her pupil's pe
culiar point of view, and after patient
ffort, most praiseworthy on the part
of a teacher who Is In constant charge
of four and five different grades of pu
pils, Miss Parrlsh has succeeded In
making the little girl understand that
to be herself understood she must re
Terse and Invert what she sees.
It would seem as If Mary were not
less but more gifted than the average
child to have been capable of under
standing the complex and difficult com
mand laid upon her, though the testi
mony of experts Is all on the other
side. This Is. however, reasoning by
' analogy, as the writer has so far found
no Identical case In optical annals,
eplegelschrlft or mirror-writing, which
la found to be common' among liali-
wttted children, bing fjj nearest ap
proach to this perversity of vision. In
cases of mirror-writing, unconsciously
produced as a correct copy of ordinary
writing, paralysis of the right side is
often found.
A simple inversion of things, without
the accompanying reversion, Is a fairly
common conception, and the attempt
to conceive of the various physical and
psychical phenomena consequent on
living iu an upside-down world, has
til
been made the subject of practical ex
periment in San Francisco, when G.
M. Stratton, A. M., professor of psy
chology at Berkeley University, made
his famous looking-glass experiments.
But neither of these reached the unique
point of view which is Mary Terry's
peculiarity. The other day at the
school, In looking at the words on the
THE WAX THE SCHOOL ROOM APPEARS TO MARY TERRY.
blackboard, she seemed to be trying to
peer over them to the other sid,
which Is exactly the mental attitu.ie
necessary to the ordinary observer for
the conception of the origin of Mary's
kind of writing.
It Is apparently impossible for her,
until she has beeu over the letters, to
understand their meaning. Imagine the
mental gymnastics required of that lit
tle head. It was amusing to see Mary
hold her reader Indifferently upside
down or rightslde up, reading equally
well In either case.
Doctors express the belief that the
defect In Mary's make-up Is mental,
rather than physical. That as an
Image reflected on the retina Is Invert
ed, and that as It Is a mental effort
only which enables man to see things
right side up, it must be a mental lack
In Mary's case which hinders her from
seeing as the rest of mankind sees.
JUST LIKE TEMPERED COPPER.
New Combination of Metals Which la
Kx pec ted to Be Very Useful.
By a nev process of rolling a Massa
chusetts genius has succeeded In at
taining results that, so far as sheet
metal work Is concerned, ore almost
equal to what he would be able to ac
complish If be had rediscovered the
secret of tempering copper. The Mas
sachusetts genius has succeeded, ac
cording to the Cleveland Leader, In
getting Frank Rockefeller, brother of
the president of the Standard Oil Com
pany, nnd himself a very rich man, In
terested In the matter.
The Inventor has succeeded in mak
ing sheets of seemingly pure copper of
wonderful thinness and with the
springiness, strength, and capacity for
being tempered that steel has. The
process consists In rolling a hot steel
plate and two heated copper plates at
the same time in such a way that the
copper forms a skin over the surfaces
of the steel and gives It all the weather
resistance that pure copper has.
On his desk In the standard oil offices
In this city Fraud Rockefeller has a
small sheet of the new material, no
name for which has yet been selected.
The sheets were the 6lze of letter pa
per, and so thin as not to be much
heavier. The steel Itself was several
times as thick as the copper, and yet
on each surface of the steel there was
a perfect skin of copper, so thin that 1
a strong magnifying glass did no: ex-j
pose the edges. To all appearance s the
sheet was all copper, but Its spriugi
ness showed that It was not.
Although he has had considerable
correspondence with the iuventoi, Mr.
Rockefeller has not yet met him. Last
summer the inventor sent some sam
ples of his new sheet metal tt Mr.
Rockefeller, who had an Idea that) such
plates of greater thickness would be
valuable material for making stccf lake
steamers. He arranged with Captain
McDougall to tow a model made of the
new material behind one of his whale
backs for a trip up and down the Jakes,
to see how It would stand the experi
ence. When the model came back the
copper skin over the steel plates was as
shiny as when it had beeu put into the
water. Whether it Is along this line,
or In the making of stamped articles of
use and ornament such as gas chan
deliers, cornices and roofings, that the
new material will be used, will In a
measure depend on the cost of produc
tion under actual conditions.
"I think that the Invention is
me of
the most remarkable that has ci
me to
time
f that
my notice, and people are all th
trying to get me into something
sort." said Mr. Rockefeller. "Tl
per and steel are all rolled, at the
time, and in the finished plate, n
ter whether It Is thick or thin, tl
per Is united with the steel so
Is Impossible to break or strip
e cop-
same
mat-
e cop-
hat it
it off.
It Is practically a single thiekn
ss of
metal with a copper surface on
either
or both sides, whichever way It Is
made, and It can be made either way."
Herb Farms.
There are Beveral kinds of fnrma
profitable ones, too, of which little
mention Is made to the public. Many
herbs are grown on farms devoted to
them, and they are a product not over
done by growers. In New York hik
acres devoted to the growth of pepper
mint, in Illinois are farms where the
castor bean is raised for the castor oil
that It contains. Many farms which
have lost their productiveness could be
made to grow sage, catnip, thorough
wort, and the other vegetable necessi
ties of the pharmacopoeia. The business
Is one of the few that are not ruined by
competition. Rose farms are to "be
found In different sections of the coun
try, and there Is a sweetness In this
method of earning a livelihood, al
though that Is not all there Is In It by
a good deal. In California some rose
farms are carried on to raise roses for
rose Jelly.
Scrupulously Clean.
In the matter of personal cleanliness
the Filipino Is equaled only by the Jap
anese. Men, women and children seem
to take pride In being clean; yet their
houses are untidily kept, and they
make not even the simplest kinds of,
Banltary arrangements.
Rtnrllnft Follows the (sparrow.
The English starling has been
brought to New York and Is domesti-i
eating Itself rapidly. Although Intro-,
duced only a year or two ago, It has.
Increased considerably In numbers and
In many of the uptown streets Its musl-l
cal piping can be heard this spring.
A tender feeling for the wife of an
other man Isn't legal tender.
KINGS AS PRISONERS.
RULERS WHO HAVE FALLEN IN
TO ENGLAND'S HANDS.
How Britain Treats Her Hoyal Cap
tives, of Whom She Hue Hud Several
Within a Very Few Years General
Cronje at St. Helena.
An insight may be gained as to treat
meut lu store for leaders of the Boer
republics who may suffer defeat and
fail to escape Into either German or
Portuguese territory by comparison
with that of princes and kings held
captive heretofore by the British gov
ernment. Iu 184'J when the State of
Maharajah Dhuleep Singh was finally
annexed to the Indian empire, that
potentate was "requested" to take up
his residence in England the induce
ment of a ready compliance being
added by the promise of a yearly in
come or $240,U0i), with nothing at ail
as an alternative. Dhuleep Singh wise
ly ucquiesced, purchased the flue es
tate of Brandon iu Norfolk, upon which
he resided for many years as a wealthy
English country gentleman.
Though during tills period the ma
liarajah frequently expressed the de
sire to revisit his native country, pro
fessing the utftiost loyalty to the em
press queen, yet he was never permit
ted to travel east of the ltltniiis of
Suez. In this case the bond seems to
have descended upon the heads of his
children, for while his sons have en
tered the British army and one of
them, Prince Victor, recently married
the daughter of the Earl of Coventry,
yet they have never beeu allowed to
set eyes on the laud over which their
ancestors ruled.
Approaching Calcutta on the left
bank of the Ilujll River at Garden
Beach the visitor will have pointed out
the fine palace of the late Wajld All,
King of Oudh. There from 1850 until
a recent date tills prince was held lu
seml-captlvity upon an annual allow
ance of $000,000, the only proviso as to
his freedom of action being that he
should not leave the vicinity of Calcut
ta. The King of Oudh, true to those
prodigal hereditary Instincts which
brought about his downfall, not only
managed to expend this large sum, but
In the keeping of snake mounds,
menageries and other costly forms of
amusement dear to the oriental mind
was obliged to draw frequently upon
the Imperial treasury for further
amounts. The generosity nnd leniency
with which ho was thus treated was
probably due to the fact that he offered
no armed resistance to his own deposi
tion. Blazing with Jewels nnd seated
In a smart equipage, with servants iu
royal liveries, the King of Oudh was
often a conspicuous figure on the Cal
cutta nialdan the famous park where
the society of the Indian capital takes
an outing after the heat of the day has
passed.
Far different was the fate of the poor
old Bahadur Shah, last of the Great
Moguls. After the fall of Delhi In 1851
he was tried for high treason and sent
as a state prisoner to Rangoon. There,
In a small hut, the only lineal descend
ant of Shah Jelian and Aurnngzeb
passed the remainder of his days, un
noticed and upon a mere pittance. As,
however, both of his sous were slaugh
tered and a less culpable rebel leader,
Tantla Topi, was executed, he may
have thought himself fortunate to es
cape with his life.
Near Colombo, In Ceylon, England
Rtlll holds In light durance Arab!
Pasha and bis colleagues of the Egyp
tian rebellion of 18S2. While Arab! has
not ceased to bemoan his fate and use
lessly petition the British government
for permission to return to Egypt, yet,
considering the nature of his offense,
and that he was sentenced to death, his
lot cannot be considered burdensome.
Provided with an Income sufficient for
his wants, a pleasant residence, permis
sion accorded him to receive visitors
and a considerable measure of freedom
within the district, he would undoubt
edly have been worse off hnd his suc
cessful enemies been his own race and
religion.
Of minor potentates England has at
present one African, being confined to
the limits of that Island In the South
Atlantic made famous as the prison of
the great Napoleon, and another even
the far less desirable residence of Cape
L Coast Castle. For several years Cete-
wayo, King or the Zulus, was held an
unreslgiH'd prisoner at Ghowe, near the
scene of the present military operations
In Natal, where he died before the
promise of restoration to his throne
was carried Into effect. St. Louis
Globe-Democrat.
MONOPOLY IN CABLE BUILDING.
Kniclnnd Alone Can Lay Telegraph
Lines Across the Great Oceans.
There are no American makers of
ocean cable, so the Insertion of a clause
In the Pacific cable bill by the House
Committee on Commerce, providing
that "the cable shall be of American
make, and that the cable ships shall fly
the American flag," Is considered by
President Scrymser of the Pacific
Cable Company to be likely to affect
the rapidity and thorougkuww of the
work,
lie said to-day: "We In America!
never have doue that work, and th
plants, the capital and, above all, the
experience, which are required for
ocean cable-making cannot be impro
vised under the touch of a government
undertaking. A look at the history of
cable-making for ocean lines will show
why we haven't done the work and
why we cannot do It offhand, even if
we try.
"Practically all ocean cables, from
the tirst transatlantic Hue In 1857 up to
the present day, have beeu made lu
England, nnd English firms have a
practical monopoly of the experience.
The first Atlautic cable was made by
Glass, Eliot & Co. The failure of this
and the loss of the second resulted in
the formation of a great company the
Telegraph Construction and Mainten
ance Company backed by great capi
tal, aud this company made a success
of the third cable aud gave Impetus to
further ork of the sort. But the nec
essary experience had been expensive
aud England was the first to acquire It.
Then, in 1870, when England paid $00.
000,000 for the laud telegraph lines of
the islands, that capital went at once
into plants nnd ships for making and
laying ocean cable. Thus England hail
the lead. To make the cable in Amer
ica we would have to have a big plant
and a good many men of practical ex
perience lu such work.
"For this, a largo investment, far
into the millions, would be-required,
sutl if the cable, whou laid, should fall
lu any way, its makers would suffer a
dend loss of all their work and have to
replace the cable at their own cost.
Then there must be some ten ships of
at least 4,500 tons specially constructed
for the work. Each ship requires a full
outfit of apparatus for every branch of
the work and to be manned by men of
experience. All this equipment Is found
only lu England. Evidence of this ap
pears iu the course taken by Germany
in the matter of the new German cable
to New York, via the Azores. Ger
many wanted a cable she could be sure
of and wanted it quickly just the situ
ation at present of the United States.
She guarantees about 7 per cent of the
whole cost, and then the cable Is made
In England. That shows the German
appreciation of this need of experience
nnd great equipment." New York
Evening Post.
Would lii-a Him to Shoot.
This young fellow Is engaged to a
pretty Detroit girl, but they don't care
to publish the bans until after Lent,
says the Detroit Free Press. This dis
turbs an irascible old uncle of hers,
who has a daughter of his own, too
much after his own style to bo a fa
vorite. He took It upon himself to send
for the young man the other day.
"Are you going to marry that uleeeof
mine?" he asked sternly, when they
were alone In the Inner office.
"Pardon me, sir, but I must decline
to answer. She has a father aud a
mother, and. I'm oil good terms with
them.' I fall to see that It W your
affair." .... -f
"There's a whole lot that you fall to
see, young man. I'm really the head
of our family, and I'll not shirk my
duty. Her parents are a couple of
chumps. Are you or are you not en
gaged?" "You force me to say, sir, that It Is
none of your Infernal business, and
that you are Just what I thought you
were, a sour, cross-grained old cur
mudgeon." "See here, sonny, I'll not bandy
words with the likes of you, but If you
hnd been going with my daughter as
long as you have my niece I wouldn't
do a thing but put a revolver to your
head, Informing you that if you dldn'i
marry her I'd shoot."
"And I'd beg of you to shoot."
Very Complimentary Advice.
Through carelessness on the part of
the committee of a well-known London
club, and some dexterous wire-pulling
by the individual concerned, an ex
ceedingly unpopular man contrived to
secure his election; but he soon made
himself generally obnoxious to his fellow-members
by continually posing
and swaggering on the steps at the en
trance. One morning, not long after he had
taken up his customary position, a
prominent member of the club, whom
we will call Major Dash, came up the
steps, and In passing him said, with
quiet sarcasm:
"I say, K , I could get subscrip
tions to the tune of five hundred
pounds for you In the club If you
would only take your name off the
books."
K rushed off In a tremendous
rage to a friend of his with the story.
"What do you think?" he shouted.
"I hnve been outrageously Insulted by
that Major Dash. He has Just said that
if I would take my name off the club
books he would get up a subscription
of live hundred pounds for mo. What
would you doV"
"Well," replied his friend, "If I were
you, I wouldn't take it. You stand out
a bit, and you'll get a thousand."
Human Nature.
Mr. Tigg-I don't see how that Mon
treal girl could sleep sixty days.
Mrs. Tlgg (speaking from observa
tion) Probably some one kept cnlllng
her to breakfast right along. IlulU
more Amerlcau. '