The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-05-23
CURIOUS AND SCIENTIFIC.

SO4e@OO6 624NO 0O11-t IL ~
| Consumption of Tin.-According t
the PoIytechntSches Central BLatt til
annual consumption Of tin In Americ
and Europe was in 1853 and 1869 abou
1000 tons. Should the consumptio
increase in the same ratio, possibly tn
production will not be equal to the dc
mand, as during last year only abou
q, 1888 tons were produced, as follows
OF English tin, 10,5O0 tons of Banc
tin, 0,000; of Straits tin, $500 tons
of Billion tin, 2,700 tons; total, 27,
593 tons.
The city of Newark, New Jersey
is just now busily and rather noisily en-
gagged in claiming Captain Jack, TIN
| Modoc murderer, as one of It's forme
citizens. The Newark papers CLAIM
that a few years since there dwelt in tin
| Thirteenth Ward a number of half
breeds who gained living by well-dig
ging, and that one of these had sol
named Jack, who was noted as ruffiaT
and desperate of the worst sort, anC
who went West some years ago. It il
! asserted by those who knew him thai
the personal description of the ModOC
| Jack tallies with him in every particrl.
lar. The Newark people will not be
likely to be disturbed in the claim they
lay to the identity of their former fel
low-citizen.
Testing Gold used in Gilding.-P.
Guyot proposes for this purpose the
use of II solution of chloride Of gold OIL
a solution of nitrate of silver. Neither
affects at all the genuine gliding, but
limitations, when touched with the
former solution, show Il brown spot,
and with the latter, a gray spot. The
gilt designs of wall papers are examin-
ed by Guyot with chloride of sulphur.
One drop of this salt, placed on imita-
ton gold paper, produces dark brown
rim, which does not appear when gold
has been used. Thin gold leaves, if
placed with chloride of sulphur in
closed bottles and well shaken, show no
change, but alloys of base metals gradu-
ally blackens. If the gold is placed in
hermetically closed bottles under a
slight @rostatic pressure, it viii disap-
pear in short time and combine with
the chlorine to form chloride of gold.
Apache Telegraph. THE Apaches
have q very simple and yet effective
system of telegIaphy, which has IN
immemorial Lookouts are stationed
on every prominent peak, within the
range of one another's vision, command
ing complete view of the entire country.
No human being can enter the region
under surveillance unnoticed. Any thing
happening necessary to communicate to
his fellow-watchmen the lookout at
once ignites a pitch-pine brand, which
he moves in a manner Ineligible to
his confederate on the adjacent emf
nence, each movement having a signif-
icance familiar to them. This is repeat
ed with lightning rapidity from noun
tain top to mountain top, until it reach
es the chief in his fastness. Instruc-
tions are conveyed to his scouts in a
like manner.
"A Wooden Railroad. The wooden
railroads in the vicinity of Quebec are
attracting considerable attention 1t
appears that there are now 100 miles in
operation. The gauge is 5 feet 81 inch
es. The running time is about sixteen
miles per hour, but trains have been
run at the rate of thirty-fve miles per
hour. The rails are made of maple,
4x7 inches, set up edgewise, and notch
ed into the crossties four inches Deep
and held by two wedges driven in the
notch outside of the rail. The ties are
eight inches thick and laid twenty
inches apart. The cars have four wheels.
and some of the engines weigh thirty
tons. In frosty weather the driving
wheels have less adhesion than on met
al rails, but no great difficulty is expe-
rienced from this cause. The rails Will
last from two to four years, according
to quality of the timber and the amount
of the traffic. The cost of such roads is
from S4, 900 to $1,000 per mile. They
seem to be very well adapted for light
traffic, and as soon as the business of
such lines may require it metal rails
may be substituted for wood without
any change in the equipments.
A Singular Fish.-The Rochester
Union describes a curious fish caught
three months ago it Chautauqua Lake,
the third of the same sort captured in
the Lake within the past forty years.
The fish is about six feet in length and
when caught weighed 134 pounds.
There are one back and three belly
fins. But the head is what is most
wonderful and peculiar about the fish.
The mouth opens far back, and wide
enough to receive q nail cask. There is
q large falling lip, or jaw, that sets
back and upward as the mouth opens.
The inside of the mouth is covered
with n species of coarse hair somewhat
resembling the small feathers or down
of an ostrich. Projecting for almost
fourteen inches from the upper jaw is
a sort of shovel blade, made OF a hard
substance. This instrument would seem
to be intended for throwing food into
its mouth rather than for attacking 9TH
er objects or defending itself against
assault. AS this fish has no teeth it is
supposed that it subsists upon animal
cula or other substances floating in the
water, which are drawn or forced into
its mouth by the blade attached to its
jaw.
Gold in Lapland. Traces of gold
had been discovered years ago in diff
ferent parts of Lapland, but not until
certain Ewast, formerly a CALIFORNIA
miner, with some companions, explored
the country, was much attention given
to it. They found ina short time gold
to the value of more than $3.50. A
large number of adventurers rushed to
the gold districts, many of whom were
without means and had had no expert
enoe in mining. By a ukase of the
Senate of Finland, dated April, 1870,
it was decreed that the privilege of OBJ
tanning gold should be granted only to
applicants who had sufficient capital for
the effective prosecution of the work.
Several companies were then formed,
and about nineteen of them were regis
tered toward the end Of June, 1870.
They began near Ivalo, on the river
Tanna, where large buildings for the
vorkmen were erected This river
forms the boundary line between Lap
land and Norway, and the working was
soon extended along its shores near
Vasko and Tanna-Juk, also along the
rivers Kenna and Kytnien. The great
est yiel was obtained from the river
Tanna. The gold found showed traces
Of platium. The gold-bearing sand of
the river showed great resemblance to
that of the river Sacramento, Califor-
nia. The method of obtaining the gold
was similar to that used in California,
by washing it out in wooden
trough. In July, 1870, Norwegian
Captain named Daal explored the west
ern shore of the river Tanna, and the
result was that the greatest yield was
at the confluence of the Iva
10 Ton0a The NoTwp0ian Govern