The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1852-06-03

, thinking Of the rare sights all you three
0 have had, one time and another"
Before the days work was ended, litl.
, Jem again had glimpse Of The prize which
had escaped him on the previous occasion
! He instantly darted hands and head fore
, most, into the mass OF cinders and rubbish
and brought up black mass Of half burn,
parchment, entwined with vegetable re-
fuse, from which he speedily disengaged al
oval frame Of gold, containing miniature
still protected by it's glass, but half covered
with mildew from the damp. He was 10
ecstacies at the prize. Even the white cat
skins paled before it. In all probability
some Of the men would have taken il from
him "to try and find the owner" but for
The presence and interference. Of his friend,
Peg Dotting and old Doubleyear, whose
great age, even among the present compa
ny, gave them certain position Of respect
land consideration. So all the rest now
went their way, leaving the three to ex.
anime and speculate on the prize.
The dust heaps are wonderful CON-
lpound Of things. A bankers check for a
considerable sum was found in one Of them.
1t was on Herries and Farquar, 10 ls47.-
But bankers checks, or gold and silver ar.
ticIes, are the least valuable Of their ingre
dents. Among other things, a variety ol
useful chemicals are extracted. Their
chief value, however, is for the making Of
bricks. The fine cinder-dust and ashes
are used in the clay of the bricks, both fol
the red and grey stacks. Ashes are also
used as fuel between the layers Of the
clump of bricks, which could not he burn
, ed in that position without them. The
ashes burn away, and keep the bricks open
i Enormous quantities are used. In the
brick fields at Uxbrdge, near the Drayton
Station, one Of the brickmakers alone will
frequently contract for fifteen or sixteen
thousand chaldrons Of this cinder. dust, in
one order. Fine coke or coke-dust, affects
the market at times as a rival; but fine
coal, or coal-dust, never, because it viii
spoil the bricks.
i As one Of our heroes, little Jem, had been
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES his promotion--a chin.
ney-sweeper, it may be only appropriate
to offer passing word on the general sub
ject Of SCOT. Without specua,ing on its
origin and parentage, whether derived
from the cooking of christmas dinner, OF
the production Of the beautiful colors ane
odors of exotic plants in a conservatory, j
can briefly be shown TO possess many quail
} tiles both usefu! and ornamental.
| When SCOT is first collected, il is called
"rough soot," which, being sifed, is ther
called Sine soot," and is sold to farmers
for manuring and preserving wheat ane
turnips. This is most especially used il
IIerefordshire, Bedfordshire, Essex, &c.
1t is rather costly article, being 6ve.pence
per bushoI. One contractor sells annual
ly as much as three thousand bushels; anc
he gives it as his opinion, that there mus1
be al least one hundred and fifty times this
quantity (four hundred and fifty thousand
bushels per annum) sold in London. Far
,ner Smulwise Of Bradford, distinctly as.
serts that the price Of the SCOT he uses on
bis lind is returned TO him in the straw,
with improvement also to the grain. And
!, we believe him. Lime is used TO dilute
SCOT when employed as manure. Using
liz pure will keep off snails, slsgs, and cat
|erpilIars, from peas and various other veg
e,ables, as also from dahlias jus. shooting
|up, and other flowers; but we regret to add
that we have sometimes known il kill, OF
burn up the things it was intended to pre-
serve from unlawful eating. In short, it is
by no means go safe 10 use for any purpose
of garden manure, rs fine cinders and
wood-ashes, which are good for almost my
kind of produce, whether turnips or roses
Indeed, we should like TO have one fourth
or fifth part Of our garden-beds composed Of
excellen, stuff' Of this kind. From all that
has been said, it will have become very in
,elligible why these dust-heaps are SO valu
able. Their worth, however, varies not
only with their magnitude Ohe quality ol
all of them is much the same but with the
demand. About the year 1920, the Marie
bone dust heap produced between four thou,
and and FIVE thousand pounds. In 1882.
St. Georges paid Mr.. Stapleton FIVE hun
dred pounds year, not to leave the heap
stsnding, but to carry il away. Of course
he was only too glad to- be paid highly for
his dust.
i But 10 return. The three friends having
settled 10 their satisfaction The amount Of
money they should probably obtain by the
sale Of the golden miniature.frame, and fin
ished the castles which they had built with
il in the air, the frame was again EMBODIED
lin the sound part Of the parchment the rags
and rottenness of the law were cast away
and up they rose 10 bend their steps home
ward to the little howell where Peggy lived,
she having invited the others to tea that
they might talk yet more fully over the
; wonderful good luck that had befallen them
why, If there isn't mans head in the
canal" !" suddenly cried little Jem, 'Looky
J there !--isn', that mans head!-Ye'; n's
drowned man?'
"a drowned man, as livem CALCULATED
old Doubleyear
"Le,'s get him out and see!" cried Peg.
gy. "Perhaps the poor souls not quite
gone."
Little Jem scu.,Ied of to the edge Of the
canal, followed by the two old people. Al
soon a. the body had foated nearer, Jem
got down into the water, and stood breas'.
! high, vainly measuring his distance with
one arm out, to see if he could reach some
} part Of the body as il was passing. As the
, attemp, was evidently without a chat nee old