Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1869-12-23
Prairie Sod as Fuel.

remarkable statements. Will not
some of our readers cut this out, and
make trial next Summer:
81 agree with Prof. Hinrichs, OF
the State University, that the great
fuel-makers of the earth are sunlight
and air. Fuel is all around us, par
ticularly beneath our feet. Prairie
sod, cut few inches thick with a
breaking plow, in midsummer, and
pu, away III IL ury sned, Inahc, ti.e
very best'of fuel. Do you suppose
that the people Of Omaha and Coun-
Gil Bluffs, who pay three or four
prices for cottonwood fuel, and dirty,
soft coal, more than half clinker and
birthstone, know this? When prai-
RE sod cannot be procured, that from
any pasture is equally good, provid-
ed it IL dried, and kept so. put a
lot Of it away last fall, and have been
using it extensively this winter. A
sod n foot square retains its shape for
a hours, If not broken up, and gives
out surprising amount Of heat.
Turf, as it is called, Is the only fuel
used by the Irish peasant, where
peat il not found. This reminds me
that every "sIOo" which does not
wash out with current, in the State
Of Iowa, and every other State, is
filed with this valuable carbonace-
Gus deposit, waiting only for man to
dig out in dry time, and keep
warm and comfortable by its CHEEKY
heat. 1t is the very best of fuel, far
superior to any coal that we have,
and exists in unlimited abundance
everywhere. While on a trip across
the State, during the excessively dry
season Of 1854, / saw a great many Of
these deposits, which had been set
on fire by camping immigrants,
which burned for months, and made
holes six or eight feet deep in the
ground. A benefcent Providence
has been much more kind and atten-
tive to the unworthy dwellers here
below than is generally supposed.
There is certainly no lack Of fuel
anywhere, II we look for it properly.
How l'0pcs are Chosen.
An English work on "The COnsti-
tuition of Papal COnclaves gives
some curious information as to the
mode in which the Cardinals elect a
Pope. Upon the death Of Pope
one Of the Cardinals, whose duty it
is to represent supreme authority du-
ring the interregnum, proceeds with
a gilt mallet to knock ut the POpe's
door, and then to tap the forehead OF
the deceased with n silver mallet.
The great bell of the Capitol is then
toiled, to summon the Conclave /;
but nine days must pass before the
actual meeting, TO give all time to
arrive. On the ninth day the Cartli-
nails meet in the Church of st. Syl-
vester, and walk i'm procession 10 the
Quirinal Palace, where they are,
three hours after sunset, closely shut
up until an election is made. r
Each Cardinal has his cell, and is
supposed to fix his choice in com
piete solitude, free from all external
Influences. But their Eminences
are not shut up alone. Each Cardi.
nal may have with him two Con.
clavists, or confidential private secre.
tarits; and these have sometimes
been able to play an important part
in the Papal elections, their practices
having been more than once a.
adroit and successful as those of oul
own ''log-rollers." Besides the Con
clavists, there is a population of cor,
fessors, physicians, &C., down to bar
bers, carpenters and swecpers. These
being locked and barred in, the Car
dinals vote each day until an election
is accomplished. A simple ballot II
taken in the forenoon, and, if M
election is made, second is taken il
the afternoon, but only for transfer
votes to either of the names voteC
for In the morning.
II there is still no election, the bal
lots are thrown upon the fire in tn,
chapel; and the smoke from tn,
chimney announces to the pcopl,
that the Church is still without .
Head. The strictest precautions ar,
used to prevent fraud, but not nj
ways with success. Even Cardinals
have been known to resort to tricks
Betting on a Papal election was pro
hibited by a Bull of Plus the Fourth
yet even the Cardinals would sent
out, by the turning wheel used to in
troduce their meals, instructions fol
putting numbers into the lottery
The present Pope being an old and
feeble man, the machinery we. have
Fdescribed must be resorted to- err
long to provide his successor. Chic
Is.i6.
IfA8s 0tA R0n for Hens.