The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1876-09-28


the flame Of the vapor of petroleum.
Combustible gases, mixed with chloro.
form vapOr, are found to Immediately
lose their explosive properties, and even
their combustibility. The successful
result of these Investigations has sug-
gested various practical applications of
the method, and among other uses, it is
thought that it might be advantageously
employed, upon large scale, for extin-
gushing fires in petroleum stores and on
board ships.
EXPERIMENTS prove that Goals for
naval purposes should be those which
contain the least water. Coal containing
sulphur should be avoided, as that ingre-
dient is very injurious to iron, and de-
strOys the boilers. Coal containing the
most lead is found to be the richest in
its proportions Of carbon-the most valu-
able property of coal. The amount of
carbon present can easily be discovered
by powdering a little of the coal and
burning it in a cruciblc with litharge;
the button of lead found in the bottom
shows the proportion of carbon according
to its weight.
ONE of the wealthiest of English vel.
vet manufacturers, Mr.. Listar, worked
his way to success by years of patient
labor, in search of way to utilize silk
rags. He began by buying up all such
waste at less than one cent pound, and
up to the year 1864 he had expended
the immense sum of over 81 100000 in
fruitless efforts to find process. Moth.
ing daunted, however, he continued his
experiments, and within the past ten
years has discovered method of con-
verting such refuse into velvet of the |
finest quality. He carries on this in.
dustry in England, employing some four
thousand workmen, and hundreds of
travellers are also employed, whose sole
business is to buy up silk waste in all
parts of the globe. The factory is said
to have cost nearly $3,0O0,0O0
The establishment of Krupp, the great
gun-maker, extends over seven hundred |
acres and employs twelve thousand work.
men. 1t is traversed by railway We
miles in length and tramway of two
miles. Its various parts are connected I
10y lines of telegraph wires and not less
than thirty stations. The annual sum
paid in wages amounted, some years ago,
to $4O0, 900; it is now probably much
greater. Considerable skill is required
in the manipulation of the steel so
largely used at Essex. When good
workman is found, it is desirable to re.
tain him; and SO, as far as possible, it is
worth his while to remain when once he
has been employed. A pension fund has
been established, to which every one
employed on the works must subscribe a
small fraction of his wages. To the
money thus collected the proprietor adds
a sum equal to half of that subscribed
by the men.
FEW persons not familiar with geog-
graphy will believe that the Pacific o rean
boundary of the United States has a
greater extent of coast line than the
Atlantic shore. The aggregate of our
shore line on the Pacific is 1874 miles,
whilst on the Atlantic it is IL, $50 miles,
and on the Gulf of Mexico 6,343 miles
California contains 1,136 miles of co.'s
line on the Pacific, while she has also
272 miles of island shore line, and 240
miles of tide-water river shore, making
altogether 1908 miles of shore line.
Texas has an actual coast line on the
gulf of 1909 miles, whilst Florida has
l, ,144 miles on the gulf and 1868 miles on
the Atlantic, so that both exceed Cali
fornia in this particular. 1t is the an
nexation of Alaska that has promoted
the Pacific coast to higher figure than
the Atlantic, Alaska having $3.50 miles
of coast line. These figures are taken
from the coast survey reports.
The Island of Houat, which lies of
the coast of Brittany, contains only two
hundred and nineteen inhabitants, over
whom the parish priest wields supreme
power. In addition to his priestly au-
thority, he exercises every kind of ad-
ministrative function. He is Mayor and
Municipal Council all in one; he has the
charge of the military Notifications in
the island, and whenever the fishermen
of the island have dispute as to their
respective shares in the haul, he has to
act as juye de pair. When his parish
oners make too much noise at the public
house, he slips the Mayors tri.color scarf
over bis cassock, and acts, if circum.
stances render it necessary, as village
policeman. A few years ago there was
no such thing as a public house upon
the island, and the priest had the mo-
nopoly of the sale of wine and spirits,
which were distributed by Sister of
Charity from behind a grated window
OF the presbytery. He also held the KEY
of the one oven upon the island, to which
all the inhabitants were compelled to
bring their -four.
The Richmond Disfatch has opened
one dollar subscription to be applied to
the restoration of the tomb of Captain
John Smith, under the old church of
st. Sepulcher in London, England. The
subscription originated from letter to
that paper from Virginia lady now in
London, who wrote that " the trampling
feet of ten generations have in two hun
dred and fifty years utterly obliterated
whatever of inscription or epitaph re-
cording Johns deeds and virtuer." One
morsel OF carving, sheltered by its prox-
unity TO the pews, alone serves TO iden-
tify the stone. 1t consists of the upper
dexter stone Of shield containing three
Turks heads which Smith was permitted
to bear in his coat-of-arms after he had