Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-08-20
Industrial.

In the vicinity OF Amherst, Va, from
single grain of wheat was grown this
year clump of 219 stalks, of which
SO bore large heads of wheat. This is
reproduction at the rate of 5000 to one.
"A loose yarn of gun-cotton, if gently
set on fire by spark, smolders slowly
away, but burns rapidly if lit by flame.
A charge of cotton in blasting a mine or
quarry, or in a rifle, eXplodes after the
manner of gunpowder; but if fired by a
few grains of illuminate of mercury it
"goes off " with terrific violence, and can
therefore be applied for blasting pur-
poses on tremendous scale.
A new invention has made its ap-
pearance in the Mountain cotton mills,
near Bolton, Ala, which is being tested
and promises to make a reputation and
success even greater than the Whitney
cotton gin. 1t does away with the proc
ess of ginning and converts the cotton
Just as it comes from the field into thread
of superior quality. The cost of it is
but $3.50, and it can be attached to the
ordinary card-stands. Specimens of the
thread spun by this machine have been
sent to Northern manufacturers and pro-
nounced specially strong and lustrous
1t is claimed that thread thus spun will
sustain fully one-third more weight than
those of equal size which have been spun
from the usual machinery of the other
cotton mills. If this invention meets
with success the process of spinning can
be performed in the field as well as in the
factory at some town in New England d
thousand miles away.
Some of the most beautiful articles
.,ti oil iu
are made by the French from the mere
dust and filings of tortoise-shell These
filings are sifted, softened, nodded and
formed into the boxes in question with
singular facility; they are nearly Opaque
tortoise shell inserted in the mold to
form the rabate of the box, and in this
way the appearance is greatly improved.
Sometimes, also, the shell shavings
are mixed with mineral coloring
matters, to initiate lapis lazuli, gran
tie, and other stones. This is kind of
manufacture almost unknown in En-
gland, where tortoise-shell boxes are
usually made by veneering upon body
of wood, the plates being reduced to uni
form thinness, and glued as in other
kinds of veneered work; but, that the
shell may not lose any of its effect, it is
rubbed at the back, either partially or
entirely, according to taste, with mix
ture of rich colors in fish glue--this serv-
ing TO hide the wood ON which the We
neer is to be placed, and also enhancing
the brilliancy of the tortoise-shell.
The Columbus (Ga.l Sun reports
that the iron-works of that city have per-
fected machines by which a superior
quality of ice, in quantities limited only
by the capacity of the apparatus, can be
manufactured at cost ranging from rs
cents to So per ton-the latter being the
maximum. "1he Columbus process"
claims to be an improvement upon every
other, in point of economy and durabil-
ity Of its apparatus, and in the inexpen-
siveness, rapidity and simplicity of the
operation. Distilled water is used, and
the ice is, therefore, purer than that cut
from standing ponds. The machines are
being built with a capacity of from ! 900
to 1000 pounds per day, and at prices
ranging from SO 900 to $50, 600 They
can be used in the winter at less expense
than the cost of cutting and storing ice
by the ordinary process, and are as adj
vantageous in Northern as Southern lati
tudes When artificial ice was first pro-
duced, in France, it cost $40 per ton, or
81 cents per pound. The process pat
ented in Europe i'm 1856 by Prof Twin
ing, of Ohio, manufactured 5000 pounds
of ice per day, at cost of so per ton,
or cent per pound