Lincoln County leader., July 08, 1910, Image 6

Topics of
I imtv
Mark Twalu died a millionaire. U
pays to be cheerful.
A good garden and a well-kept yard
are sure Indications of thrift in the
home.
In running a school or in curing
disease the fresh air la immeasurably
tetter than hot air.
It is rumored that the Nlcaraguan
naval forces will be doubled by the
enlisting of another sailor.
Five suspected crooks have "been
ehot to death in Chicago this season.
Prudent crooks will avoid being suspected.
The Idea of putting in meters to
measure telephone talk is good, but
will it be possible to devise meters
that will stand the strain?
The man who takes an upper berth
hereafter will be under the terrible
suspicion of traveling "on the cheap."
This will make the top bed more un
popular than ever.
A poor woman in St Louis put all
her money In. the oven, and then, for
getting what she had done, made a
fire in the stove. But it was silver
money, and wasn't hurt a bit.
The nation paid out $16,000,000 for
tuberculosis last year. Fresh air
comes high, but we must have it. No
one has yet suggested a patrolman to
go about smashing In all closed bed
room windows.
Congress has had some stormy ses
sions this spring, but inkstands have
not yet taken the place of arguments.
The Hungarian parliament must be a
sight for laundrymen to rejoice over
after one of its political crises.
A New York man 85 years of age
has refused to enter a home for old
people because his mother-in-law, aged
115, Is an inmate of the institution.
We declare without fear of successful
contradiction that this Is carrying
prejudice against the mother-in-law too
far.
A surgical operation was performed
on the bead of a California boy re
cently for the purpose of curing him
of evil tendencies. It is reported to
have been a failure. There may still
be a chance, though. Perhaps an
operation with a serviceable slipper
would have the desired effect.
Professor Jespersen, who, although
a Dane, knows more about the En
glish language than most of those
who speak it by inheritance, insists
that "It is me" has become correct
through usage. This will send cold
shivers down the backs of strict gram
marians; and yet do not the precise
and logical Frenchmen say, "C'est
mol?"
The desirability of the United States
owning Its embassy buildings In for
eign capitals was again emphasized
when the American ambassador to
Germany was forced to vacate his Ber
lin house, at the height of the social
season, because it had been let to a
permanent tenant. It Is not in ac
cordance with the dignity of this coun
try that its ambassador should be at
the mercy of a foreign landlord.
Floating debts are familiar to treas
urers of churches and other societies;
all of us have floating ribs; a floating
' population is the joy of hotel proprie
tors; and now Alaska Is to learn what
a floating judiciary Is like. The Unit
ed States court for the district is to
take posession of a Bteamer this sum
mer and make a cruise along two thou
sand miles of ths coast, administering
justice as It goes. If it were not for
the fact that the justice administered
will be well grounded and .anchored
in the federal statutes, there might be
Eome dissatisfaction witlPthe prospects
of a judiciary all at sea.
jjieier w tane their cnaucea wicn tae
normal boy, however trying certain of
his stages may be. Even the slow one
may wrest from life what he may
have been unable to extract from
books. Even the careless selfish one
may reach, by slow process or by sud
den shock, some notion of the world
and of his place In It. It Is trying
when one's offspring seems to be
loitering through some his most vital
years with few thoughts beyond hab
erdashery, calf-love, sport and frater
nity pins; but it is more trying still
when he runs through thirty years in
seventeen and ends in disgrace a ca
reer that should just be beginning In
hope. The real age of an organism
la determined by Us experiences. The
precocity so often developed by the
stimulus of modern living merely cuts
from one end of a career what is has
saved at the other.
The familiar formula which tells
us that a woman is as old as she looks
goes on to advise us that a man
is as old as he feels. How old, then,
are some of our modern boys? What
Is the real age of a college student of
11 who deals in the fourth dimension
and in flights to Mars? What is the
real age reached by a boy who begins
on the stock market at 16 anri, com
ipresslng a lifetime into a single year,
gives up this restless, anxious being
at 17, a suicide? Many parents are
troubled by backward boys who can
not show results to reward parental
sacrifices, or by heedless boys who
Ignore the sacrifices altogether. But
dull boys and thoughtless boys may
cause less anxiety and distress than
precocious boys. Such a one was
George Dabo, who, forced to maturity
and fortune In the Wall street hot
house and chafing under restraint put
upon him by his physicians, sent a bul
let into his head and so left the
"floor." Most fathers and mothers will
A British scientist, insisting thai
the first born of the family is rarely
the best In quality and is likely to
have defects the younger children es
cape, argues that the Peers should be
selected from all the children and not
sit In the House of Lords by virtue
of being the first-born. This serves
to recall a peculiarity of English no
bility which doe3 not obtain upon the
Continent. Only the eldest born of
an English peer's family is noble.
Even the second son of a duke is by
law a commoner and bears only the
courtesy of Lord, his children hot be
ing accorded even that. Winston
Churchill, although the con of Lord
Randolph Churchill, a younger son of
a Duke of Marlborough, Is plain Mr.
Churchill. Even the blood royal in
England carries no nobility to the
third generation. . The Duke of Con
naught's second son, although a Prince
by courtesy and likely to be made a
Peer, would nevertheless be a com
moner in law and his children would
of themselves possess even no courtesy
titles. Elsewhere In Europe all the
children are nobles. In France un
der the anclen regime if a count had
ten sons, each was a noble in law. So
In Germany. Prince Bismarck had
two sons and a daughter. The elder
became Prince von Bismarck, the
younger was Count Wllhelm von Bis
marck, the daughter Countess von Bis
marck. This legal and social pecu
liarity has had much effect upon
English history. It prevented any
such Indurated caste as obtains upon
the Continent. The easy transition
downward from nobility to common
alty facilitated an equal ease In transi
tion upward from commonalty to
nobility, with the consequence that
the House of Lords has been continu
ously renewed with large quantities
of fresh blood ever since the Wars of
the Roses so nearly exterminated the
old Norman barons. Thus the English
law of primogeniture, which to-day we
regard as a relic of feudalism, an ab
surdity and a wrongful privilege, rep
resented in time past an amelioration
and in a sense an exemption from the
principle of caste that oppresses the
Continent even to-day. Compared with
the nobiliary principles of Germany
and Austria, the English primogeni
ture is democratic.
LONG TRAVEL FOR MAIL
Where Letters Are Carried 390
Miles in Order to Get Across
a 10-Foot Hall.
P0ST0FFICE ON THE BOEDER.
Beebe Plain, Vt., and Beebe Plain,
Que., Joint Owners of a Pe
culiar Institution,
WOOD IN USED AIRSHIPS.
Two Reasons Why It la Preferred
by Ballders of New Dirigible.
The new dirigible designed by Prof.
Schutte of Dantzlg is now in the
course of construction at Rhelnau,
near Mannheim. The wooden frame
work "Is already nearly complete.
Wood has been used In preference to
metal for two reasons, the Kolnlsche
Zeitung says, to save weight and to
minimize troublesome atmospheric
electrical phenomena.
The airship Is to be somewhat larger
than the last Zeppelin. The balloon
proper is 138 meters long and its
greatest diameter is 17 meters. It is
cigar-shaped, having Its maximum
thickness In the first third of Its
length and then gently tapering be
hind. This form is said to offer a
minimum resistance to the wind.
The wood Is prepared in small sec
tions free from knots a few milli
meters In thickness. The Bectlons are
glued over one another crosswise to
form thin, narrow but extremely
strong planks. The whole framework
will be concealed from view by the
outer covering of the balloon. There
will be eleven inner balloonets, just as
In the Zeppelin.
The steering gear will be placed im
mediately below the balloon and con
sist of a rudder governing lateral
movements and two elevating rudders.
The two propellers will be dlrec'.ly
connected with the motors in the car.
Each propeller shaft will be driven by
two motors. The motors will be able
to develop in all 600 horse power. The
car is to be so suspended tha'. in the
air It will be rigidly connected to the
framework of the balloon, but as soon
as It touches the ground the connec
tions will become slack, thus taking
off part of the weight and guarding
the body of the balloon from injury by
shocks.
Don't worry if you can't always have
your own way. Sooner or later every
man bumps up against a Btone wall,
Tn arvma f t m 1 1 i o vnit ra Blmnwa
placed in the position of . bavins; to
u&s siuea.
The queerest postolfice in North
America is probably located here,
where a simple wooden building shel
ters the offices of two countries, a
Beebe Plain (Vt.) correspondent says.
The structure is cut diagonally by the
Canada line, being almost equally di
vided by the imaginary boundary. Tho
northern half, contains the postolfice
of- Beebe-Plain. Que., and the south
ern half the office of Beebe Plain, Vt.
They are separated only by a ten-foot
corridor, using this passageway md
the same door In common: George H.
House, postmaster, looks after the mall
of the two offices. As a result of red
tape in the postal regulations regard
ing the transfer of mails, a letter
mailed at the Vermont office tor the
Canadian office across the hall travels
290 miles before delivery.
Previous to 1899 the United States
postofllce was located in a dwelling
house and the Canadian office in a
store. In neither case was the
service wholly satisfactory, but -it
seemed to be the best arrange
ment that could be made. How
ever, in 1899 the Idea was con
ceived of utilizing the old stone store,
located right on the line, for both of
fices, "and finally the present arrange
ment was perfected so that a most sat
isfactory service has been provided.
Patrons of the double postofflce can
do their postoffice business by making
one call. Two doors, one on each side
of the line, open into the lobby. The
distance between the postofflce boxes
of the two countries is ten feet, the in
ternational, boundary line running
through the space between the two sets
of boxes, "if a letter is by mistake
dropped Into the wrong letter box, it
is passed to the right office and sent
on its way.
A letter posted at Beebe Plain, Vt.,
for Beebe Plain, Canada, will go south
on the Boston & Maine railroad from
Beebe Junction, Vt., to White River
junction. Ill miles on the same route,
and then continues on its way to
Sherbrooke, P. Q., 34 miles farther.
There It Is again transferred and re
turns to Beebe Plain, P. Q.
That is, after having a ride of- 24
hours and going 290 miles, it arrives
at its destination, ten feet from where
it started.
Or, perhaps, it goes on another train
south on the Boston & Maine to Wells
River, Vt., 80 miles. There it is trans
ferred and goes back via. Beebe Junc
tion to Sherbrooke, P. Q., 114 miles, to
be transferred again and returns to the
building it started from 32 hours be
fore. It has traveled 228 miles.
. The village has a population of
about 100 on the Vermont side and
about 600 on the Canadian side. All of
the places of business are on the
Canada side, so most of the patrons of
the offlce are Canadians, but thej are
' ery willing to avail themselves of the
unique arrangement and use elthei of
fice that will give the besi, -esults
The "line" 'tself 1j quite narrow
here In . fact, it Is so narrow that it
cannot be seen excepi. where the Iron
post appear. : Somi persons have
stood in one country and written thei.
postcards or letters in the other.
WEAVERS OF NEW YORK.
indent Anbosson Loom Making?
Tapestrr In Manbnttan. Island.
' The looms we visited are nw in the
city of Gotham. They are tapestry
looms of a pattern unchanged after
centuriep'of use. And the art of the
weaver of these fabrics, we are told,
is far too ancient for record.
The art we beheld is almost abso
lutely unaltered. The looms are in
stalled in a studio place that was once
a palatial "table, says Philip Verrill
Mlghels In Harper's. They are copies
of what are known o the craft as
the Aubusson looms of France. The
men engaged in making tapestries
upon this old device are foreign crafts
men, trained to their guild and won
Uously (.killed in the art.
It provided a singular sensation to
leave the busy, noisy thoroughfare of
modernity and ascend to that conclave
of looms so allied to the past. There
were two great apartments devoted to
this enginery of beauty. Enginery
eems the only adequate word. The
looms we saw are combinations of
huge wooden frameworks, beam-like
levers, twining ropes and tightening
devices, the whole resembling those
monstrous stone-heaving catapults
inseparable from ancient war.
Unlike the tapestry looms at the
Gobelin workshops In Paris, these are
made, to stretch the warp horizontally.
about waist high to a man. At the
rear of each loom, on a slanted bench,
sit the weavers who work the design.
Beneath the warp, and readily visibn
through its many tight-stretchtd
strands, the pattern lies close unde.
hand. It is drawn on a monster sheet
of paper and colored with painstaking
skill. Above it bend the weavers of
the cloth, each softly supported with
pillows. One pillow to sit on and ontt
on which to lean, each workman ad
justs to his needs. His colors (the
woofs) are wound on spools, and re
semble a heap of large-sized, brightly
colored and differently hued caterpil
lars, ready t ?pln out their substance.
Thero are frequently as many as twen
ty or thirty of these shuttles beneath
one workman's hands.
It is wonderful and utterly bewil
dering to see these craftsmen weave.
Their hands out-macblne a machine as
they grasp at the warp, to lift two,
four, five or any number of strands,
shoot a bobbin in and out, and make
a singular tie, to drop that particular
caterpillar, clutch up another, tie in
its thread, and pounce upon a third
or fourth, and return, perhaps, to num
ber one. They keep those red, green,
gold and purple caterpillars In a con
stant state of agitation. They grasp
at the warp and play in a strand and
finger new strings, as if the cords
were the wiresof some silent harp on
which they play a ceaseless compost
tlon that expresses Itself in color. Yet
fast as their fingers seem to play upon
this p.oundless instrument, it is slow,
hard toil with eyes and hands to stltco
in those units of the scheme.
ifflEHRKHB
An electric elevator has been in
stalled in the stairway . which leada
to the cupola of St. Peter's cathedra!
in Rome. The elevator has a capacity
for carrying ten persons. It bears
an appropriate Latin inscription.
Peter the Great. Russia's famous
czar, when he was staying in England,
had a particular Iking for the com
panionship of Halley, after whom the
comet is named. After carousing with
him at Deptford one evening Peter
wheeled the astronomer in a barrow
through, a yew hedge and did such
damage that he had to pay handsome
compensation to John Evelyn, the
owner.
Ingenious Germans have experiment
ed successfully with the fiber of thu
kapok or "silk cotton" tree of tropica1
Africa and Asia, and believe they havt,
a useful substitute for cotton. If tha
la the rase, they will have furnished
additional proof that no substance,
however valuable, is absolutely indis
pensable to man. Cotton long seemed
to be almost so, and there are few
things without which we should gei
on ,so badly, if there were nothing
else to which to turn.
It Is proposed tt establish ?. wirelesr
telegraph station at the meteorological
observatory on Mount '..Mi rador In the
Philippines, to give warning of ty
phoons to vessels in the China sea.
and points along the China coast. A
similar station will probably be estab
lished later at Santo Domingo de Bas
co on the Island of Batan, for commu
nicating Information of the presence
of typhoons in that vicinity to the
headquarter? of the Philippine wea
ther bureau at Manila.
Dt. G. F. Becker, discubslng the pos
sibility that petroleum may be derived
from carbids of Irot. or other metals,
points out that Bauer's map of mag
netic declination In tin. United States
'prove';, thaL petroleum is intimately
associated with magnetic disturbance
similai to those arising from the
neighborhood of minerals possessing
sensible magnetic attraction," and ho
adds thai, henceforth no geological
theory of petroleum will be acceptablu
which does not explain this associd
tlon. A writer In Nature remarks that
If these conclusion!' are confirmed, a
new and lmportanr sphere of useful
ness for magnetic surveys will he
opened.
., Modern chemistry enables man to
make over Bome of the most useful
metals very much at his will, and
greatly to his profit. Dr. W. Rosen
hain. In England, recently made a re
port on the properties of new alloys
of copper, aluminum and manganese,
which show remarkable peculiarities.
An alloy .of 88 per cent copper, 9.99
per cent aluminum and 2.01 per cent
manganese showed enormous tensile
Btitngth, a cold-drawn bar having a
yield of 40.88 tons per square Inch,
and an ultimate stress of 52.08 tons
pet square inch. Another alloy is so
hard that it can take a cutting edge
sharp enough to sharpen a leadpencll.
The British Admiralty Is experiment
ing with these alloys to determine
their resistance to corrosion in sea
water. "Wears the Unmentionables.
Jack Who was the best man at
your wedding?
Tom My wife; but I didn't know It
Boston Evening Transcript.
THINGS WORTS XNOWXNO.
Only 6tf per cent of the total area
f the world is tillable.
The mines of Butte, Mont., have a
combined pay roll of $3,000,000 a year.
The Argentine Legislature is con
sidering the construction of under
ground railways for Buenos Ayres.
It is just being realized that the
Trans-Siberian Railroad was a poor
tob from an engineering standpoint.
The observed rate for the sound of
"a" In "great" is 420, and for the
sound of "a" in "ma," 770 waves a
second.
The telephone and telegraph wires
of the United States would encircle the
earth at the equator more than 600
times.
To prevent the alteration of check
or other valuable papers an inventive
genius has brought out an elect Ho ap
paratus which burns tiny holes in the
Taper as the inscription is written.
Electricity has at last been applied
co the Teddy bear, a Maryland man
having patented one that opens its
Jaws and flashes lights from its eyes,
nose and mouth, when a battery in
its interior is pressed.
The work on the Jungfrau Railway
is progressing so rapidly that it will
probably be opened next year to Jung
frau Joch, where a station and hotel
accommodating 200 persons have been
hewn out of the solid rock.
Thoueu Lt!rophcb!a has bees
stamped out of Britain, it is still ram
pant in Germany, where every year
over 2,500 dogs and cats afflicted with,
the disease are destroyed.
A patent on a horseshoe designed to
prevent the stumbling of horses was
granted in Panama four years ago.
FASHION HINTS
Even a truthful man is occasionally
guilty of exaggeration
One of the prettiest models for a dainty
littl : afternoon gown of batiste, is shown
above.
The wee yoke is of fine ecru lace, the
batiste being of that color, and there's
just a touch of light blue in the embroidery.
"A MUa Too Frying."
Bushby had many natural advan
tages and beauties, but Mrs. Abner
Crane, who was a brief sojourner in
the place, having been there only a
matter of ten years or so, never appre
ciated it. "She was aching to get
back to Naahuy the whole enduring
time," said one of Mrs. Crane's Bushby
neighbors, "and I was glad to see her
go, feeling as she did."
"What was it she didn't like about
Bushby?" asked one of the summer
residents, curiously.
"She said she 'didn't get the news o
the day quick enough to suit her," "
quoted the neighbor, with as near an
imitation of Mrs. Crane's air as she
could manage.
"As I said to my Asy, whafc on earth
she wanted more than we have in the
way o' news-spreaders here, I don't
know.
"When you consider that there are
Ave. telephones in town, a grocery wa
gon driven by Lucy Grant's boy twice
a week, Lucy Grant herself to sew for
everybody in town by the day, and all
taking milk from Jed Kimball, I don't
know how we could be any better
fixed. I call anybody that wants more
news 'o the day than Bushby folks gat
a mite too prying myself."