8
THE MORNING ASTORIAN, ASTORIA, OREGON.
FRIDAY, MAY 8, 1908.
If you are not quite satisfied with the FLOUR
you are using, try our
CUPID Brand
IT is sure to give satisfaction. $1.40 sack; $5.25 bbl.
A. V. ALLEN
A FAMOUS
0L0
MART
Christie's of London, Most Noted
v of All Sales Rooms.
SOLE AGENT FOR BAKER'S BARRINGTON HALL STEEL
CUT COFFEE, 40c PER CAN. 83 ,:
PHONES-711 AND 3871 BRANCH PHONE 713
KNOWN ALL OVER THE WORLD
A Place Rich In Memories of Reynold
uarricK, Gainsborough and Lord
CtmUrfitld Fake Art Treasures
Romanes of tho Auotion Room.
THE GOLF BALL
.How Gravity It Foiltd In Its Flight
Through tho Air.
rrofessor Petrle Guthrie Talt had lit
, t skill at golf, but a vast deal at sci
ence. Among the many problems to
which he applied bis genius were some
concerning that apparently simple
tMng, the flight of a coif ball. And
fcere he found difficulties so baffling
that, though he worked over them for
years and called on other scientists for
assistance, many mysteries still re-
mined. One question that be solved,
kwever, is of curiouV Interest
Tbe force of gravity Is the one force
we know as most coustant aud inevita
ble. To defeat gravity Is almost to
tospend one of nature's laws. In bis
Investigations Professor Talt suddenly
became aware that gravity was de
feated by the golf ball. The fact ad
mitted no doubt On timing the flizht
f the ball he discovered that It re-j
wfned In the air almost twice as Ions
as it should have under the influence of
gravity. Thus, with gravity acting nsj
teaal on other things, a drive of 200 1
yards would be completed In three
and a half seconds. A thrown ball.
tor example, describing tbe same tra
Jertory, would remain in the air only
that length of time. The golf ball in
passing over that 200 yards floated se
. lenely through tbe air for six and a
ialf seconds.
It was clear, then, that in some man
r the gravity was thwarted. Pro
fessor Talt attacked the problem of
the means, and in tbe end be solved it.
After searching long be found tbe
cause of the prolonged flight In the ro
tation given to the ball by the club's
impact The secret lay in the manner
f tbe stroke from the tee.
The first principle of the explanation
h in the simple fact that an object
poised in the air has an equal atmos
j&erlc pressure on it at all points. The
awcond principle is that when a sphere
rotates in a current of air the side of
the sphere which is advancing to meet
the torrent Is subjected to greater
pressure tban Is that side which Is
juoving in the direction of the current.
To illustrate, when the golfer slices his
tII It Is made to spin in such fashion
tfait Its front side is constantly in
aiovement to tbe right Therefore the
pressure of tbe air is greater on tbe
fcft side than on the right, and the ball
mrxes to the right. When the ball is
pulled, the operation Is reversed, and
the flight bends away to the left. So If
tfee ball is topped the spinning direc
tion of the front is downward. Thus the
pair of gravity Is aided and the flight
Is swiftly checked. But every properly
driven ball receives an undercut By
the underspin thus Imparted the front
awe or the ball Is made to SDin un
wrd: the added pressure is from he
ttrw and is in consequence directly op
posed to gravity. The resu t Is a flight
astained. but little less than twice as
g as it would be without this under
pin.. Moreover. Professor Tait demon
strated that without this undercut
when driving the. ball would travel
afy about half its usual distance
The ordinary golfer is quite unaware
that be gives any underspin to his best
frfves. but he does. Without tbe un
dercut his driving would be a continu
es rallure.-Chieago Record-Herald.
THE RACCOON.-
In Its Habits This Animal Grtatly Ro.
stmblts tho Bear,
A coon seems to be a composite ani
mal, made up of parts of bear. Usher
and monkey, with considerable devil
thrown in for luck, says a writer in
Forest and Stream. He can use his
fore paws as handily as a monkey, and
what be cannot undo with his hands
be can gnaw off with his teeth. As
Miss Murfree-Charles Egbert Craddock
-eays In one of her stories, he has "a
great deal of head stuffing." Any one
who disbelieves in original sin had bet
ter keep a raccoon for a pet or try
trapping one.
In captivity raccoons are very clean
ly, often washing their hands and al
ways washing every kind of food ex-
cept eggs before eating. They know
all about esrgs without any teach
ing. One will take a hen's egg aud,
lying on bis back, will toss it up and
catch It as if it were a ball until, be
coming tired bf this amusement he
wiu hold it In the left hand and by
tapping It lightly with one nail will
drill a small hole In one end and then
suck the contents. Its holding ca
pacity Is considerable, as I have known
a tame one which got loose to kill a
sitting hen aud suck thireen eggs. In
this case thirteen was an unlucky
number for the owner of the hen.
Raccoons love the vicinity of water, '
where they catch frogs and Dick un
some dead fish. In their habits they
greatly resemble bears, and, like bears,
they eat any kind of flesh or fish and
most sorts of berries, nuts and grain;
but unlike bears, they do not remain
steadily in their dens, but often, at
any time in winter when there is a
warm spell or a thaw, they will come
out and travel for miles, sometimes go
ing Into open water to dig for frogs.
A number of times when there were
several feet of snow I have caught
them in traps set for otter both in
springs and In water too swift to
freeze. Although 1 never trapped coons
purposely, because they are not worth
it I have caught them in traps set
for nearly everything else. One of tbe
most comical sijrhts I ever saw was a
large coon caught by both fore feet in a
beaver trap. He was standinz on bis
hind feet turning tbe trap first one
way and then another, seemlns to be
studying what it was that had caueht
him
A Chaotic Child.
Surely the mystery of life was treat
tr than the mystery of death in the
ease or a flve-months-old child which
las been the subject of an Inquest at
Battereea. It had what the doctor
calls "drumstick'! fingers and toes. Its
art was on the right side instead of
toe left the position of the lungs was
Jeversed, the aorta curved down the
Bgnt side instead of the left, there was
o spleen, the liver was on the wrong
He. and there was no division be
tween the two chambers of the heart
while the artery which should have
applied the lungs with blood was ci
ed, the blood passing through a com-
zxmicauon Between the aorta and the
femalnlng portion of the Dalmonnrtr .r.
tery. With all this Jumbled anatomy
nr child lived, and the medical evl
ience proved that its death was not
urectlr due to tbe disarranged anmnn
but to an attack of bronchitis. Still!
stn came mercifully, for the nn,ifrui
few was that If the little' one had
lived until it could stand it would bae
Ja of heart disease. That it breathe i
at all proves tbe tenacity of life and
rms a comment on the vast sacrifice
t healthily constituted children which
anonally results from negllgence.-Pa l
Mall Gazette. .
The Young Idea.
The following are specimens of soma
absurd and amusing answers made by
schoolboys and schoolgirls In examina
tion papers:
Iron is grown in larze auautlties for
manufacturing purposes In southern
France.
Q. Define the first person. A. Adam.
A parallel straight line is one thnt
when produced to meet itself must not
meet
Blood consists of two sorts of cork-
screws, red corkscrews and white corkscrews.
Asked to explain what a buttress is.
one boy replied. "A woman who makes
butter."
Teacher's dictation: "Ills cbolor rose
to such a height that passion well niirh
choked him." Pupil's reproduction!
"His collar rose to such a height that
fashion well nigh choked him."
Gravity was discovered bv Isaac
Walton. It is chiefly noticeable In the
autumn. 'when the apples are falling
from the trees.
Tbe diet of Worms Is the erub that
blackbirds and thrushes feed on.
Harper's Weekly.
Transvaal Termination.
In perusiiiL' the names of South At.
rlcan towns in the dally newsnanprs
many must have noted the word "fon-
lem, which appears so often. This
word Is the English fountain, and
towns with this termination have been
named after Dutch farms, whloh oro
always built beside fountains of spring
water. Thus P.loemfontefn means "flow.
ery fountain:" Modderfonteln. "muddv
fountain; - wienronte n. "small fnnn.
rain, and LHandsfontefn. "deer fonn
tain." Another town termination which
hngllsh readers must have notlcpd in
that of "laagte." which is nroimunrorl
"laugbty." It means "shelter for ani
mals, and hence when we talk of tha
battle of Ellnmlslaagte we m av know
;hat it was fought on a snot frpmintn
!)y deer. London Globe.
Study at Home.
"Maud graduated from your cookinv
School last tpring. didn't she?"
'Yes. but she's going to take a Dost-
?raduate course next fall."
"Going back to the same school
again?"
"Oh. no: She's to be married to a
poor young mnn."Catholic Standard
and Times. '
Since James Christie and bis friends
Sir Joshua Reyuolds, David Gnrrlek
aud Thomas Ualusborouch received
Lord Chesterfield In Pall Mall as he de
scended from his coach and six tho
most precious things that money cau
buy have changed bands in the famous
rooms that bear Christie a name
in those days Christie took great
pains to attract only the "elect." aud
the cards of visitors were cnrefullv
scrutinized by liveried flunkies at th
floor, for here was an exclusive club
where men of rank and fashion often
gathered to exchange courtesies aud
the gossip of court and camn milt
apart from mere bidding for great es
tates and palaces of manv nation
Jewels of princes aud plate of great
families, pictures aud porcelain statu-
ary and curios. Who does not rmm.
ber the sale of Gainsborough's "Duch
ess of Devonshire" when Lord Dudley
wired a bid of I50.0UO from Paris hut
was beaten by Agnew. the dealer? And
theu came the dramatic theft and tb
equally dramatic recovery of the por
trait years nfterward In this country.
it is a place of beautiful thlnir of
discreet hush, of subdued mystery. Al
most every great work of art in the
world that conies Into the market finds
Its way there. Loug before 1760 Chris
tie's was a going concern, noue too
flourishing, be It said, for has not
James Christie himself left It on rec
ord that his good friend David GarrUk
tided him over a bankruptcy with a
loan of WiUiOO?
The priced catalogues of the house
have been and are the Rtandard record
of values In works of art for the lust
. 200 years. They show extraordinary
fluctuations. Thus In 1735 a copy of tbe
: Rembrandt etching "Christ Healing
i ne hick" sold for only ?3o. whereas
i in 1887, at t!it Duke of Buccleuch's
fcaie. an lurenor example brought no
j less than $0,500. Art collections worth
: $10,000,000 and upward have frequent-
ly been offered for sale In these classic
rooms. On such occasions emperors
, aud kings, with men of wealth from
every nation, commission the greatest
j of experts to go to criticise and bid for
treasures which may not come tinder
: the hammer again In generations.
; The value of property knocked down
under the old cracked Ivory hammer
I that Dr. Johnson and Goldsmith must
, have bandied ba tiles all calculation. A
; curious record was the $75,000 paid in
1S85 for tbe Dudley Raphael "The
Three Graces," which measures only j
. seven incurs square, or course this
i was extraordinary, yet enormous prices
; have been nald at Christie's for ni.
i tures, as everybody knows.
I Another record In Its day was the
$73,700 paid for Hoppucr's three-quarter
length portrait of Louisa, Lady
Manners, afterward Countess of Dy
j sart And then there was the famous
I Jeweled cup of rock crystal, which
I brought the enormous sum of $81,375
! at tbe Gabbltas sale. Amazing prices
I have also been recorded for porcelain.
In a recent season the art worlds of
L,onuon and Paris were startled by a
Sevres vase bringing $21,000-proof
positive that tbe pate tendre, the play
thing of Louis tbe Well Beloved, the
Pompadour and Du Barry, retains all
its fascination for the collector.
Rarely indeed have fakes been offer
ed at Christie's, yet a few classic cases
are on record. Some years ago art lov
ing capitals were startled by tbe an
nouncement that four superb gallery
pictures by Constable and two by Tur
ner were to be offered for sale in Chris
tie's rooms, "the property of a private
gentleman and never before exhibited."
It was certainly an event The vender's
name was withheld, but this is a com
mou occurrence, seeing that verv ex
alted personages, Indeed, not to say the
occupants of thrones, frequently send
works of art to these famous galleries
Pressed on the subject however, Chris
tie's gave out that the seller was
"well known connoisseur of high social
rank." On the day of the sale all th
art critics, collectors and dealers of
note from London to Moscow and from
Stockholm to Madrid assembled before
the pictures, chattering excitedly in
many tongues.
Truly they were Imposing, these sror
geous canvases, five feet wide and high
in proportion. The four Constables
formed a series of superb English land
scapes, while the two Turners were
classical subjects, said to be of the
"middle period" of the master. But
about them all there was a certain "I
know not what." as the French say.
that baffled tho keen crlllcs. Round
nil six appeared to hover n curious
kinship, certain peculiarities of tuicb
and coloring, "as If." In tin. wnu of
a Paris dealr. "Turner tin d worked on
Constable's pictures and Cmist.-ilil,. on
Turner's."
The faces of the e.nerN w ere n I'roli
study as their first r.il:!tl!-t!:l;n tnve
place to helpless bewilderment dim
or two they might have swallowed, bin
six! Before Ions
made himself beard above the liimWuii
y pointing ont that the nrHn
largely painted with very modern ulir-
ments - fashionable, newlv, Irrvpntort
colors unknown In tbe days of Turner
and Constable. The nc
fclVIl
greater. This was surely nn unlucky
nn ir tho collection were forirorloa.
There was yet another test, however.
A cuuulng Venetian dealer yean pre.
vlonsly hid given the art world a hint
in test l nit an authentic exntnn nf
I final-ill IT n-nnl.l tuln . i.
to stick it Into the fattest and most
unctuously pasted part of the picture
'-if It sticks In," tbe dealer said, "it
Is new Paint but trv It on a rem
tluardl, and yon might as well try to
torce a pin into a china plate." The
moment that hint was remembered it
was acted upon. One of the Consta
dies was tested and proved to be a
veritable pincushion.
The authorities of Christie's at once
closed their doors and posted a notice
abandonee the sale. .
The history of the forgeries' Jeaked
out afterward. They had helonired to
a rich and eccentric collector, Joseph
i. molt millionaire manufacturer of
steel pens of Birmingham, who after
ward left the London. National gallery
magwncont sorlca of rea treasures.
In his latter years, however, the old
man had fallen luto the clutches of an
unscrupulous dealer whose exploits
had long bcou notorious. Both tho
Turner and the Constables had been
manufactured under this man's direc
tion by a needy but exceedingly clever
artist and tbeu sold to tho aired ami
sredulous amateur for $500,000. When
later some doubts were cast unon their
genuineness Glllott was greatly trou
bled aud resolved to give them the pub
lic test of miction at Christie's. After
the dramatic fiasco their owner con
temptuously packed them off Into a
warehouse, which three months later
was burned to the ground, and then.
strangely euoush. It turned out that
Glllott had Insured his "masterpieces"
for the entire sum he had nald for
tiiein. so by a curious turn of the wheel
of fortune ho was not a penny the
loser.
But there have not been half a doxen
such enses at Christie's during a cen
tury of sales.
And. by the way. Just Inside the su
perb pillared portico on King street.
St. James', one will see a picture of
the courtly old dandy. Christie himself,
(a!! and distinguished. In silk knee
breeches, with low shoes and buckles,
blue silk coat and delicate lace ruffles,
with full wig and horn spectacle a
befitted his association with arlsto-1
cratlc cognoscenti.
Chesterfield was his patron then, as
he had been Dr. Johnson's. Tbe great
arbiter of elegance, althouch retired
from public life, was renowned all over
Europe as a connoisseur, and wheu old
Christie pleaded with him to lend his
aegis to a great sale the stately coach
and six emblazoned with the Chester
field arms would soon be at tbe door.
The rooms were then In Pall Mull
Liveried servants cleared a way for
Chesterfield and escorted him to a
throncllke sent on a dais, where a nud
of commendntion might be seen of
all and have Its due effect on the bids
The French revolution was the III
wind that blew fortune toward Chris
tie's. In 1702 many fugitives from
France. Italy and Holland made their
way to Loudon and on arrival found
their flight bad been so precipitate that
they were actually embarrassed for
ready money. And that meant a sale
of pictures and curios, furniture. Jew
els and plate. It was In this way that
the British aristocracy became pos
sessed of some of tho loveliest works
of art tbe world holds.
During the London season, from
April to the end of June, Christie's
palatial staircase and salons are
thronged with men and women of rank
and fashion from half a dozen nations.
In 1,803 the old place was practically
rebuilt both Inside and out. The prin
cipal sales room, a lofty and elegant oc-
iiiruiiui apartment is a copy of one
built In the Adelphl by Adam. And
tbe auctioneer's rostrum is ono he used
over a century and a half ago in tbe
old rooms. In itself a work of art of
great value. It Is a superb specimen of
Chippendale's own work.
The old Christie family has quite
died out of the house, which at present
Is run by men of high social rank and
vast experience. Sales are held three
or four times a week. Prom the earli
est days Saturday has been reserved
for great pictures. Viewing the gal
leries before a sale begins one will see
leading men In statecraft and society,
princes and princesses of royal blood,
merchants of great wealth and influ
ence and visiting Americans as well as
agents acting for cultured countrymen.
jsacn sale furnishes some little ro
mance of the art world. Every picture
seems to nave a history. Here, hung
in a grand light in the hie salon in
the "Family of Darius," which Paul
Veronese painted during his convales
cence from an illness In an Italian villa
and left behind as a graceful token of
favors and kindnesses received fmm
his host More tban $08,000 was paid
for this picture in Christie's rooms one
Saturday afternoon as it hung in the
midst of other paintings from ancient
country houses and faded palaces of
many lands.
One wonders whether the shades of
the artists hang about this abode of
romance. Did George Morland see
his little "Dancing Dogs," which ho
was glad to paint for $75 in hard
times, find a buyer at $27.0007 Did
grim Sir Henry Raeburn hear J. Pler-
pont Morgan bidding $45,075 for that
charming portrait of his wife in white
and Drown? Or did starving John
Hoppnor, born to grinding novertv In
sordid Whlfecbapel. see a nair of his
portraits go for $49,935?
These things are part of the romance
bf Christie's. - W. G. Fltz-Gerald in
New York Tribune.
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