The Canton mail. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 18??-1882, 1875-06-12
CURIOUS AND SCIENTIFIC.

she put on cloes sac that folk may ken
| fac she is Ponce a Week.
CURIOUS AND SCIENTIFIC.
AT the iron works belonging to Sir J,
Browne & Co., at Sheffield. England
iron nails are now cut by means of a
circular. toothless disc of iron. which is
driven at the rate of from 2, 200 to 8, 900
revolutions per minute. The same sys
tenn was tried in some of the London
| works many years ago, but for some
reason it was abandoned. It appears
now likely to become more generally
employed.
cipally on the net. If balloon will
stand imitation. it is safe in mid-air. In
winter the atmosphere is warmer one
mile above the clouds than it is at the
earth's surface. The weight of a bal
loon to carry one man including net and
basket, should not exceed eighty pounds.
A cotton balloon will last for about sixty
ascensious. A balloon thirty feet in
diameter undergoes n strain of /! lbs.
to the square foot of surface. Gas.
which at the earth fills the bag only
half full, will, at an elevation of 81
miles. expand so as to fill it completely.
One thousand feet of coal gas will raise
SO TBS. Gas which gives a poor light is
the best for aerostatics. Kites can be
used to steer balloons by sending them
/ up or lowering them into currents of air
travelling in different directions rem
that in which the balloon is sailing.
THE GREAT CLOCK 1T VEN1Cr.- On
the dial plate of the grea. = rtk tbs
twenty-four bouts are markell wifi, tn
signs of the zodiac and the ,,e.es of
the moon. Above this is nc NJ .,lnrna,
sitting in state upon platforr:, retween
two doors. On grand RELIGIOUS festi-
walls, such as Epiphany and Ascension,
the door on the right of the Virgin
opens, and out walks an angel with a
big trumpet. which be blows, and then
bowling to Madonna, passes on he is
followed by three gentlemen represent
ing three Moorish monarchs, or three
wise men, or the three sacred kings,
one OF whom is black as night. These
all pause and bow before the Virgin
and the whole party pass through the
door on her left, which immediately
closes after them. On the platform is
q huge bell, beside which stand two
giant figures, who strike the hour with
sledge hammers, while above all ia the
lion of s.. Mark, with outstretched
wings.
NATURAL CURIOsTTIES IN Ell DORADO
CANYoN.-The Virginia Enterprise has
the following interesting account of
some natural curiosities in the Ell Do
RADIO Canon. The rocks forming the
walls of the canon, and the whole region
of country through which the canon
holds its course, at once attract the
the attention of the visitor as being
sedimentary, while on all sides volcanic
rocks cover the face of the country.
The rock prevailing along and about
Ell Dorado Canyon is a course species OF
sandstone, and this, in many place
has been carved by time and til
elements into all manner of fanci,ul
shapes. In passing up the canon. Gle
first curious object seen is what strik
ingly resembles a wharf with several
rows of grain in sacks piled thereon
The rocks thus piled up in rows IRE of
the shape. size and color of rsc 8 of
grain. The resemblance is SO ctrih ing
that no one who sees it ever thnx of
calling it any thing else than a wharf
or levee. Some distance above this is
seen in the rocks large cavern. This,
in the early days. was called Winnie
mucca's cave. What name it may now
bear we do not know. It is simply q
huge oven-shaped cavity in the face of
a tall rock forming the east wall of the
canyon. A short distance above this
cave is beautiful natural bridge or
arch of rock. It stands some distance
up the bank from the channel of the
canon, end is thirty or forty feet in
height. It would pass very we'll for the
ruins OF triumphal arch, there being
what seems to be the remains of turrets
rio nt><,xx AI,n
supporting the arch. In several places
are seen cliffs of rock which bear
striking resemblance to ruined castles
and old abbeys. It is in this sandstone
region that the Virginia City Coal COM
pany have opened what appears to be
an almost inexhaustible mine of Ignite
or brown coal. In 1860, when few
white men had explored the canyon, we
found in the little flats along its course,
particularly up toward its head, numer-
GUS patches of wild fax-fax precisely
similar in every respect to that so long
extensively cultivated in all parts of the
civilized world. At the time we saw it,
the fax was in full bloom, and we
gathered some stocks of it and sent
them to an agricultural society in Iowa,
where they are still preserved. together
with dozen or more varieties of clover
indigenous to this state, and many new
grasses and flowers. The only respec
in which this wild fax differs from the
''tame" or cultivated is that it spring
up from the root year after year til
same as timothy and some other grasses,
whereas the cultivated variety must be
sown every year. We have always beer
taught to believe that fax was ori>
inally brought from Egypt, but it would
seem that it has blOomed in WashOe as
long as in the land of the Pharaohs.
The Piutes for ages have used its lint
in spinning Irvine for use in making
nets for taking fish and rahhits