Sharp County record., 1880-04-29
SOLID FACTS.

have bought tWenty-three tllouo"nN
acres of copper lands in northwestern
Texas, and families from those states are
rapidly taking possession.
IT is semi-offioially announced that
the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy
Company will build sixty miles OF new
road in Nebraska this year, and that IN
1881 the line will be extended via the
Republican Valley, to Denver.
IT is said that the " "electric middlings
purifier" invented by two Yale students
is an entire success, so far as the tests
thus far applied indicate. One OF the
inventors is now in Minnesota arrang-
ING to introduce the machine into one
of the largest Touring mills in that
State.
FROM paltry rs cents worth of iron
ore may be developed $3.50 worth OF
bar-iron, $40 worth of horse-shoes, $3.50
worth of table knives, &c., 800 worth OF
fine needles, S29, ,480 worth OF shirt but.
tons, 100000 worth of watch springs,
100000 worth of hair-springs, or S2,-
500, 900 worth of pallet arbors (used In
watches).
THIRTY years ago there was but one
pottery in this country making white
and yellow ware, and not mill to grind
material. All the flint and stone re-
quired was If lpOrted from Great Britain.
Now there s..e 800 potterieS in the United
States, representing a total capital OF
over S6,OGO,O00! The pottery craze of
the last two or three years resulted in
the erection of Sc new kilns in 1879.
By means of delicate processes M.
Wolfe has, according to the TechnOlOgist,
redetermined the fusing points of the
more refractory metals. The following
are given as the exact temperatures of
five of the metals in the order of their
fusibIity: Silver, 1,749 degrees Fab
renheit; gold, 1868 degrees; copper,
1890 degrees; platinum, 3,185 degrees.
and iridium, 3,510 degrees. 1t will be
seen that copper requires higher tenn
perature to fuse it than gold. Com
mercial copper, however, melts below
1,035 degrees. Iridium is the most
difficult of all the metals.
THE cabbage grew wild in Siberia
celery originated in Germany; the po-
tato is a native of Peru; tobacco came
from South America; millet was first
discovered in India; nettle, a native of
Europe; the citron of Asia; oats origi-
mated in North Africa; rye came from
Siberia; parsley was first discovered in
Sardinia; the parsnip in Arabia; the
sunfower was brought from Peru;
spinach was first cultivated in Arabia;
the horse-chestnut is native of Thibet;
the ounce came from the Island of
Crete; the pear is supposed to be of
Egyptian origin; the horseradish came
from the south of Europe.
THE total capacity of the steel mills
at the present time throughout the
world is estimated at about 100000
tons for the years production. In the
United Kingdom there are 12O Bessemer
converters built, of which over so are
at work, and the annual yield from
these is considered as from 10000 to
100000 tons. The American make is
estimated at 100000 tons, the next
largest producer being Germany, which
is considered by many to be capable
of the greatest expansion among all the
steel making countries. Less than two
years ago there were twenty-five con-
verters in Prussia working out of the
fifty built, and turning out 375, 900 tons,
which was increased by the works in
Saxony and the Palatinate to 100000;
and since the revival of trade fresh con-
verters have been put into operation.
The estimate of the French steel manu-
facture is about 275,000; that of Bel
gium, 10000; of Austria, with thirty
two converters, 250, 900, and of Sweden
and Russia, 10000.
WHAT is commonly known as rice
paper-one of the most admired of
Chinese manufactures not paper,
properly so called, nor does any rice
enter into its composition; it is, in fact,
made by siicing the pith of plant and
pressing it into thin sheets, and, if
called "paper at all, should be styled
pith paper rather than any other. The
tree, or plant, in thisscase, is said to re-
semble our own sarsaparilla, in its as
pect and characteristics. The vigorous
Stems contain a snowy-white pith, an
inch and half In diameter, for which
the tree is sought after and cultivated,
the NTH forming An impOrtant item in
the manufacturing interests of China;
it being used not only in making the
sheets which are subsequently to be
decorated with paintings and other ar
tistic attraction, but is also employed
largely in the production of toys and
artificial flowers. The operation of
making the pith paper is not unlike
that Of cutting corks that is, after
being divested OF its exterior coating of
woody matter, it is soaked in water,
and pressed into a uniform cylinder
b,, n ,,,oob;po. - 30 Of rdo ,,1aoad