Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1878-08-22
Educational Column.
HOW THINfBLEs ARE MADE.
J. +. LANGENBAUGH.

J. +. LANGENBAUGH.
HOW THIMBLES ARE MADE.
The manufacture of thimbles is
very simple. but singularly interest
ing. Coin silver and brass is used.
Coin silver is obtained by purchasing
coin dollars. The first operation
strikes a novice as almost wicked,
for it is nothing else than putting a
lot of bright silver dollars, fresh from
the mint, into dirty crucibles, and
melting them into ingots. These are
rolled out into the required thick
ness, and cut by stamp into circu-
lar pieces OF any required size. A
solid metal bar of the size OF the in
side of the intended thimble, moved
by powerful machinery up and down
in bottomless mold of the outside
OF the same thimbles, bends the cir
cular disks into the thimble shape. as
fast as they can be placed under the
descending bar. Once in shape. the
work of Frightening, polishing and
decorating lie done upon a lathe.
First the blank form is fitted with a
rapidly-revolving rod. A slight
touch of a sharp chisel takes a thin
shaving from the end, another does
the same on the side, and the third
rounds off the rim. A round steel
rod dipped in oil, and pressed upon
the surface. gives it lustrous pol
ish. Then a little revolving steel
wheel, whose edge is a raised orna-
ment, held against the revolving
blank, prints that ornament just out
side the rim. A second wheel prints
different ornament around the GEN.
ter, while third wheel. with sharp
points, makes the indentations on the
lower half end of the thimble. The
inside is frightened and polished in
similar way, the tnimble being in a
revolving mold. All that remains to
be done is to boil the completed
thimbles in soap suds, to remove he
evil. brush them up and paste them
for the trade.
QUESTIONS ANSWERED.
The first notice OF the artificial
production of an infiamable gas from
coal is TO be found, as far as we
know, In letter from the Rev, DR..
John Clayton, OF Kildare. to the Hon.
Robert Boyle, who died in the year
1851. In this letter published in the
Philosophical transactions" for
1873, he stated that he distilled coal
in close vessel, obtained abundance
of gas which he collected in bladders,
and afterwards burnt for the amuse-
ment OF his friends. Other expert
mentors. among whom Bishop Wat
son is conspicuous chemical Els
says. confirmed DR.. Clayton's dis
covery; and the properties Of coal
gas, and the method of preparing it,
thus became well known to chemists.
SUN.
The spots on the sun can be ac-
counted for only by conjecture. Some
astronomers have supposed they are
planets, revolving near the sun. Gal
lileo thought they were islands OF
ashes floating In the suns liquid fire.
DIR. Wilson supposed them to be vast
excavations. The great Herschel,
on the contrary, once regarded them
as high mountains, and afterwards as
vast clouds floating in the suns Pc
culiar atmosphere. They seem to
have been noticed as early as S07 A.
d. The cause Of the spots remains
to be discovered. The largest spot
ever seen measured fifty thousand
miles in diameter. The light of the
Gun is equal to 1858 wax candles
held at distance OF one foot from
the eye. 1t would require 100000
full-moons to produce day as bril-
liant as one OF cloudless sunshine.
FoREREss MONROE.
Is SO called simply because it is a
fortress. and not fort. Its walls
inclose space OF nearly seventy
acres, and it could shelter for time
an army Of fifty thousand men. II
was one of the fruits of the fortify-
ing mania which prevailed after the
war of 1912. That war had found the
country completely unprotected, and
the country resolved never to be
caught so again. Hence their great
fortification, which was named after
President Monroe.
The word @Coin" is derived from
the Greek word koinon, which means
common so called from the fact
that before gold and silver were gen.
orally coined it was put in packages
or Jumps and labeled or stamped SC
as to indicate its value or the amount
These Jumps passed current among
the people, that is, were commonly
received, and hence were called koi-
NON. We are fully aware that both
Webster and Worcester derive the