Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-05-30

dlestick, OF what looked like one, and
some other things, the uses Of which !
did not know.
Fastened against the wall was large
square, made of three colors of silk,
broad stripes of blue, red and green,
surrounded by a wide yellow border,
and [ wondered to myself if it were
a banner, and to what Nation it be-
lOnged.
After we were seated, theEe was 9
momentary silence Of expectation, and
1 family heard something that sounded
like the muf1ed beating of a steam
engine. I saw it afterward in the back
room, a pretty little engine, hard al
work-not boiling water, to generate
or make steam-but a petroleum en-.
CINE, burning petroleum oil, to gen.
crate or make an electric current
which was carried through a pipe to
the table between tbs two rooms. The
professor said that this cunning little
engine consumed only one drop of oil
a minute, and yet it was "a horse and
8 half power" 1 called it horse and
a colt power. You all know that the
power of all steam-engines is thus
gauged or measured; that is, each
one has the strength and can do the
work of so many horses. The engine
of an ocean stesmer is of many hun
dred horsepower giant in strength
and resistance against the mighty
winds and waves enabling the vessel,
with almost resistless power, to
"Cieave a path majestic through the food,
As If she were a pOddeEg of the deem ~
And now that have quoted this ele.
giant compliment to the steam engine,
1 viii tell you what the Professor said
about ightg
"In very old times" he began,
"peOple went to bed with the chickens
when the sun had set. When they
wanted to sit up little later, all the
light they knew low to make was from
the blaze of burning wood. After a
while, some observing old fellow no
tieed that when the grease fell into the
fire the blaze became much brighter;
so he dipped a reed or rush into oil and
set one end on fire, and thus rush
lights came into fashion. Old books
and songs tell about the farthing rush
lights. They were sold four for pen
nv, and very dismal illumination they
must have made. Then people began
to put oil in cups, preparing rind of
pork to set in the oil for a wick, and
burned that. The great feasts OF the
Romans, in the old classical heather
times, before the birth of our Savior,
must have been most dingy affairs, for
all they had for lighting up their tables
were these lamps" And here the pro-
fessor put out all the gas-hghts, and
applied match to the wick at one end
of the little bronze Roman boat.
1t was highly classical and very ele-
CANT in shape; but the light it gave was
so utterly dismal that all the company
uttered a funny little groan, and a
handsome old gentleman, who sat next
TO me, said;
"WeIl, after that specimen of old
Roman brilliancy, am quite recon
ciled to paying my big gas-bills. "
CATER this, /" continued the professor,
q @ candles were invented. To show you
what the first ones were like, 1 tried to
get as bad one as possible. 1t should
evolve or unfurl the traditional
shroud' in the light, and be otherwise
disagreeable; but this one, am afraid,
will be far more respectable and we'll
behaved than the tallow candles of our
ancestors
Here he lit the candle, and another
dismal gFoan saluted the forlorn yellow
light. It looked as if it had lost all its
friends. 1t sputtered and guttered;
tallow tears ran down its greasy sides,
and very soon it became-if not a
broken-hearted, certainly a broken
backed, tallow candle. RI
81 was not Sc. many years ago." said
the professor, g that candles were in
general use, though greatly improved
in quality; for the next in7ention-the
argand burner, or astral lamp-could
only be afforded by well-to-do people.
The flame was fed by the oil made from
the biubber Of the sperm whale, which
was rather expensive; but the lamp
made great improvement in artificial
light. Many OF US can remember the
astral lamp, which gave q soft, pleas
ant, steady light under its glass shade,
quite sufficient to render room of
ordinary size cheerful and cozY. Gas
had been discovered, and utilized in
places Of business a long time before it
was introduced into. our better houses;
and then it was that petroleum or kero-
sene took the place of candles in poorer
localities, and it is still in universal use.
&c You may think that there is moth
ing better to be desired than gas; but if
the ladies present would consider how
this light changes and INJURIES many
delicate colors, and how Unbeeoming #
is, they would rejoice in that restless
spirit of invention that is ever crying
'Excelsiorr and is now using all its re-
sources to bring the eXquisitely beauti-
ful pure white electric light into COM
mon use. Let me show you the effect
OF light still more yellow than gas-ight
on those colOrs hanging up. 1t is a
SODIUM light. and sodium is only COM
mon salt prepared for burning.
Here the professor applied match
20 one OF the things on the table of
which told you 1 did not know the
uses. a dull deep yellow flame sprang
up. All the blue, red and green in what
we will call the banner vanished utter
ly-nobody knows where-leaving
thIee ugly gray and leaden-coIored
- Ho1J "AAAO NAAO JtlAS lC41OW UOIueE
had an attack of yellow jaundice imme-
diately, and became Orange-color. The
professor held. his hand against the
flame, and it changed to a ghastly gray
hand, and as to us, we looked like
dressed-up ghosts.
"You see now, said the professor,
g how great an Improvement a white
light ought to be. I am told that When
ladies purchase silk for an evening
dress, they request to have it shown
by gas-light. Some of the larger stores
have little room lighted only by gas
for this pqrposei and it is surprising to
notice how silk, beautiful in daylight,
win alter and become dingy in color
the moment the gas-light flashes up
on it, ...@ -4 --ALL
. And now the professor, putting out
the hateful sodium light, touched a hid
den spring. In an instant-like the
winking Of an eye-a tiny, but most
frloTforT1 ufaT Tubof ,4.11