The weekly Butte record., 1862-01-25
0Netklp Suite Attor0

The Tools GREAT MES WORK wIrH.-lt is
not tools that make the workman bat the train
ed skill and perseverance of the man himself.
Indeed it is proverbial that the bad workman
never yet had good tool. Some one asked
Opie by what wonderful process he mixed his
colors l mix them with my brains" was
his reply. 1t is the same with every workman
who would excel. Ferguson made marvellous
things-such as his wooden clock, that actual
IL measured the hours-by means of a common
penknife, tool in eyerybodys hand, but then
everybody is not Ferguson. \ pan Of water
and thermometers were the tools by which DR..
Black discovered latent heat and prism,
lens, and sheet of pasteboard enabled New
ton to unfold the composition of light and the
origin of color. An eminent foreign sauant
once called upon Dr. Wollaston, and requested
to be shown over his laboratories, in which
science had been enriched by SO many impor-
tant discoveries, when the Doctor took him
into little study, and, pointing to an old tea
tray on the table, containing few watch>
glasses, test-papers, small balance and
blow-pipe, said: There is all the laboratory
l have p S,othard learned the art of combi-
ming colors by closely studying butterflies
wings. He would often say that no one knew
what he owed to these tiny insects. A burnt
stick and barn door served Wilkie in lieu of
pencil and canvass. Bewick first practiced
drawing on the cottage walls of his native vii
lage which he covered with sketches in chalk,
and Benjamin West made his first brushes out
of the cats tail. Ferguson laid himself down
in the fields at night in blanket, and made
map of the heavenly bodies by means of
thread with small beads on it, stretched be
tween his eyes aud the stars. Franklin first
robbed the thunder cloud of its lightning by
means of kite made between two cross sticks
and silk handkerchief. Watt made his first
model of the condensing steam engine ont OF
an old anatOmists syringe, used to inject the
arteries previous to dissection. Clifford worked
his first problem in mathematics when a cob
ler's apprentice, upon small scraps of leather
which he beat smooth for the purpose; while
Rittenhouse, the astronomer, first calculated
eclipses on his plow handle.
FRICTION MATcHEs.-The extent Of the
match manufacture appears almost fabulous.
The total number of matches made in the Uni
ted States, has been estimated at 1000 gross
of boxes daily. Mr.. Partridge, of New York,
is said to be the largest manufacturer. His
match works, in order to obtain wood conve-
niently, are situated in the timber region of
Lewis county, New York In Herkimer, n.
Y, there is also an extensive mandatory of
matches and friction patent fire kinders.-
There are also several other similar match es-
adjustments in various parts of the country.
In London there is one match establishment
which makes 33,000,000 matches weekly, but
vast quantities are also imported from the con-
tinent of Europe into England alone
furnishing to London 1900 tons Of them year
ly. In Paris 999OOOO0O boxes of matches
are Manufactured annually.
Austria, however, is the greatest country in
the world for manufacturing matches In IS49,
200 tons of them were exported from the port
of Trieste alone.
The use of phosphorus in the match manu-
facture used to produce terrible disease in
those engaged in dipping the splints. Their
teeth were first attacked then the jaw bone,
which rotted away gradually, and no antidote
was ever found for it. Many operations have
been performed in the New York Hospital for
this disease. In some cases the entire jaw
bone has been removed, in others part of the
bone, the patients generally recovering.
Thorough ventilation of match manulacto-
ries, personal cleanliness, and the use of amor
phus phosphorus, instead of common phospho-
rus, have been the means of decreasing the
number of victims TO this disease. The friction
match is an humble but most convenient rep
resentative of modern civilization, applied to
the useful rather than the ornamental arts 1t
is found in the palace and the wigwam, and is
an Indispensable servant of the prince and the
peasant.
BROADER GENERAL SCHoEFF.-Tbe New
York World tells in the following who this
man is
a few years ago, Gen. SchoeG came to
this country, entirely destitute of means, and,
being too proud to eat the bread which be had
not earned, he obtained a situation as porter
in one of our Broadway hotels. Subsequently
-
where by some means he attracted the notice