Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-07-17
TIMELY TOPICS.

TIMELY TOPICS.
A telephone has been placed in the
, Congregational church, Mt Mansfield, o.,
the wires leading to the houses of several
aged and invalid persons. IL sur
mounts n floral decoration on the table
in front of the open platform, where 1t
is hardly seen. The speaker pays no mt,
tcntion whatever To IL, yet every word
uttered in the auditorium is easily heard
in the rooms of the dwellings which the
wires reach The first message from
the minister was from Scripture: "The
worG is nigh unto thee;" Ills word
runneth very swiftly"
According TO the Rdil,Cdy World, near
ly 100000 persons are employed on the
railroads in the United States, and five
times that many depend upon the roads
for support. 1t is also estimated that
between S3o0,0O0,0 900 and Si00,0O0,00O
are annually paid to employees, and To-
persons who furnish the companies with
supplies of various kinds. This vast
business has sprung up in the lifetime of
one generation, and its growth is still
rapid. What another quarter of a CEN
tury will develop in this field would
doubtless seem fabulous could il now be
foretold
When the Zulus rushed in on The
small British detachment of Col. Wood,
and while there was yet an open road in
one direction, Col. Weatherly, an Eng
lish cavalry officer, clappcd his son, n
boy of thirteen-who was with him, on
horseback-kisscd him. and told him to
fly for life. The lad jumped from the
saddle, striking the horse a lash which
sent it galloping off, and said Father,
I'll die with YOU" The father handed
his revolver to the child Just rs the
Zulus reached, over British bodies, the
spot where they stood Weatherly slew
five Zulus before he fell. but the son was
KILLED mt once.
There have been some singular cir
cumstances in which the eruptions of
Mount Etna have differed from others.
One occurred in 1852. when, after the
throwing of lava had ceased, in certain
area the trees, vines and even grass were
struck dead rs if by lightning, with no
visible cause. Another was the burial
of a glacier under the lava, which Lycll
states remained for thirty years unmclt-
ed, a gigantic ice-house for the Catan-
ians. Much of the ruin caused by the
eruption of this volcano in 1855 resulted
from the sudden melting of the SHOWS
above the Val del Bove and the pre-
cipitation Of n flood OF water two miles
in width.
The amount of water passing over
Niagara Falls has been estimated at
100000, 900 tons per hour. and its pcrpen-
dicular descent may be- taken at $50 feet.
xntt II orr In a. Ia Npht t.h
represent further fall of $50 feet The
force represented by the principal fall
alone amounts to l6. 500. 900 horsepower
an amount which if it had to be produced
by steam would ncccssitatc an eNpcndI-
ture ofnot less than 26f. .OOO, 600 tons ofcoal
per annum, taking the consumption of
coal ut four pounds per horsepower per
hour. In other words. all the coal
raised throughout the world would
barely suffice to produce the amount of
power that annually runs to waste at
this wonderful fall.
The Scientific american asserts "that
the common fault in lightning rods is
that they are not sufficiently connected
with the ground. They are generally
stuck down two or three feet into dry
earth; but such an Arrangement is worse
the bottoms of the rods in n glass bottle
In all cases the bottoms of the rods un-
derground should be connected with
iron or water pipes, If they exist; or in
lieu thereof, the rods should be extended
n long distance underground. or should
connect with mass Of old iron. or iron
ore, or charcoal, or coal dust of any kind
laid in trench. No lightning-rod can
be regarded rs n safe conductor unless
its lower extremity Is carried deep into
the ground. and there put in good CON
nection with large surface Of conduct
ing material.
AprOpOs to the inter-oceanic canal
across the isthmus of Darien, CORES
pondent in Buffalo writes to the New
York GrGphic, suggesting the construc-
tion Of an enormous railway across the
isthmus. constructed and equipped to
carry ships of any tonnage. He would
have the track at each end of the route
run down into water deep enough to
support properly built dock. so that a
vessel could sail into basin surround
ing this approach To the track, and then
be doCked and drawn across the isthmus
on wheels. The writer docs not profess
any engineering skill, and modestly ad-
mits that there may be difficulties in the
way of his scheme which he does not
see II so. others will probably see
them He thinks such road might he
built for one-tenth of 5000. .0O0, 900. the
estimated cost of the proposed canal.
The police statistics Of large cities are
often more impressive than long and
rhetorical sermon could be- Take those
of Chicago. for example. The annual
arrests number about 10000. one-hah
for drunkenness. and Of the total, 5000
are women. :, ithout going into elabo-
rate comparisons of figures, II may be af-
firmed that Chicago is not greatly worse
than other large cities; it may not be rs
bad rs some others. At tie best we OBJ
tain glimpse Of an incalculable
amount Of crime and misery and
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