Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1875-05-11
MIscELLAHE Gus.

UTILIZING LEATHER CH1Ps.-At the Vi
emma exposition Copenhagen firm exhibited
an invention which is probably destined to
CONG into general use. BY this invention
leather scraps are first conyeTted, by a suit
able machine, into sort of leather wool,
which is then mixed with caoutchouc and diff
fereut chemical reagents, kneaded by ma
chinery into thick, pasty mass, AID then
formed in metal moulds aud dried aud sub
jected to a gradually increasing pressure I'M
til it is finished, under 5000 to 10000
pounds to the square inch. The appearance
Of leather is impaired to it by light coating
Articles manufactured from this material are
said to be fifty per cent. cheaper than those
made from leather, and can be made in the
same manner, while they are at the same time
perfectly waterproof Chemical investigation
shows it to consist of about forty per cent
caoutchouc and sixty per cent leather.
THE PRoGREss OF MODERN PAINTING
An extraordinary illustration of the progress
OF modern printing was recently given at GIas-
gov, Scotland. The Eoenimg Star changed
proprietOrs, and was afterward issued from the
Office of the Glasgow Nelcs, whereupon the
fact was announced by means of no less than
1000, 900 little handbilis, which were printed
in the incredibly small space of half an hour
The process was interesting. The small hand
bill, measuring three inches by two, was re-
produced BY stereotyping to the extent of 1886
times, and by four thousand revolutions of
the Walter press the million bills were printed.
1t occupied ten hours to cut them up with
steam guiIlo:ine machine, and they were dis
tributed throughout the town from the win
dOws of two carriages.
AN.ExGL1sH V1Ew.-The London SIAN
dard of the 9th ult. has an editorial article
of more than column devoted to the late
civil war in this country, which begins with
the following tribute to Confederate valor:
''lt is exactly ten years this morning since
the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse ter
minated the splendid defense of Virginia
against the most fearful odds with which,
within the memory of man, soldierly courage
and military genius have ever had to contend,
and brought the existence of the Confederate
States to a close. Never was a more glorious
national history crowded into few. years
never was more brilliant record in the annals
OF war than that of the vanquished army"
THE New TWENTY CENT SILVER Corn.
The design of the twenty cent silver niece
authorized by act OF Congress of March 8,
1878, as selected and approved by Hon. II.
Il. Lindermau, director of the Mint The
diverse design contains q sitting figure of
Liberty" with the word Liberty" inscrib,
ed on the shield, the whole surrounded by
thirteen stars. Beneath the figure of an eagle
surrounded by the inscription, ''United
States of America" and beneath the eagle
the words Twenty Cents" At DIR. Under
mans suggestion, the edge or periphery of
the coin will be perfectly smooth, in order to
distinguish it from the twenty five cent coin,
which bears a reeded or fnted edge.
CosT OF SENDING MONEY OaDERs.-The
following table shows the rates of commission
charged by the Post Office Department for
money orders. which may be of interest to
our merchants and others: On orders not ex'
ceeding $40, cents; over $40 and not ex>
ceedins $50, 10 cents over $50 and not ex
ceeding $50. Is cents; over $50 and not ex-
ceeding $40. 20 cents; over $40 and not ex-
ceeding $50, 25 cents. No fractions of cents
are to be introduced in an order. United
States treasury notes or national bank notes
only received or paid
&C. The extent of locomotive building in this
country is indicated by the product of single
establishment. In the ten wears from 1864 to
1874, inclusive, 2.71s locomotives were made in
three establishments at Paterson. N. J.. the lar
Gest number furni shed in year being 39S in
1873 Last year only 1O7 were turned out in the
three shops.
Tons of postal cards. it is said. gre de-
stroyed every month throughout the United
States. because the people write their messages
first. and then forget to address the card. Al
ways write the address first: then the card will
be sure to go, whether the message is written or
NOT.