Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-12-02
LUCKY MISHRPS.
valuable Discoveries Made. and Insenuons
Suggested by Accidents

Suggested by Accidents
An aiohemist, while seeking &c
discover a mixture of earth tina,
wonld make tbs most dxrable cruel
bles one day discovered tha, be had
made porcelain.
The power of lenses as applied 60
the telescope was discovered by a
watehmaker's apprentices. While
holding spectacle glss es between
denly surprised by the enlarged APP
pearano 90 of a neighboripg church
spire.
The art o; etching upon glass
was discovered by q Nurem berg
glass-cutter. BY accident few
drops of squs fortis fell upon his
spectscies. lie noticed that the
glass became corr0ded and soft
whore the acid touched it. Tha;
was hint enough. lie drew figure.
upon the glass with vsrnish and
applied the corroding fluid, and
then cut away tho glass around the
drawing. When the varnish was
removed the figures app sred as
raised on dark ground.
Mezzotiato owed its invention to
the simple accident of the gun.bar.
rel of sentry becoming rusty with
dew.
The swaying 10 and fro of a chan
delier in y cathedral suggested to
Calico TIE idea of a pendulum.
The art Of lithographing wac per-
fected through suggestions made by
accident. 4 poor musician was Gu.
rious to know why music could not
be etched upon stone as we'll as mp.
on copper. After he had prepared
his slab his mother asked him to
make a memorandum OF such arti-
Giles OF clothing rs she proposed to
send away to be washed. Not hav-
ing pen, lax and paper convenient
he wr1'e the list upon the stone
with tho etchiag preparation, in
tendlng 10 copy it at leisure. A
few days later when about TO clean
the stone, be wondered what effect
aqua fortis would have upon it. He
applied the acid, and in a few min.
utes saw the acid stand out in re-
lief. The next step necessary was
simply to ink the stone and take off
an impression.
The composition of which print
ing rollers are made was discover
cd by Salopian printer. Not being
able TO discover the pelt. ball he
inked the type with piece of soft
glue, whico had fallen out of the
glue pot. Il was such an excellent
substitute thai, after mixing mo-
laaaes with tho glue to give the
mass the proper consistence the old
pelt-ball was entirely discarded.
The shop of Dublin Tobacco onist
named Lunei.oot was destroyed by
fire. While gazing dolefully over
the smoldcring ruins he noticed
that his poorer neighbors were
gathering the snuff from the CAMS.
ters. He tested the snuff for himself
and discovered that the fire had
largely improved lis pugLency and
aroma. 1t was hint worth profit
ing by. He secured another shop,
built lot of ovens, subjected iha
snuff to heating process, gave the
brand particular name haj il y
few years became rich sbrougn MI
inciden. which be a. first thought
bad completely ruined him
The process of whitening sugar
was discovered in 8 curious va A
hen shat bad gone through cay
puddle went wi'h her muddy feet
into srgsr honse She iett h T
track on a pil9 Of sugar l. =
noticed that wherever her track &.
were the sugar was whitened Tx
periments were Instituted and he
result was that wet clay came &,
be used in refining sugar.
The origin OF blue tinted paper
cana about by mere slip OF the
hand The wife Of William East, an
English paper maker, accideully lei
blue bag fall into one of the watts Of
pulp. Tue workmen were astonished
when they saw tho peculiar color o;
the paper, while Mr.. East was highly
incensed at what he considered n
grave pecuniary loss. His wife wa
so much frightened that she would
not confess her agency in the matter
After storing the damaged paper for
four years, Mr. East sent IL 10 his
agent in London, with the instruction
to sell it for what it would bring.
The paper was accepted as ''pro
posed novelty" and was Disposed %
at quite an advance over mark,
price. Mr.. East was astonisbed ..
receiving an order for another large
invoice of the paper. He was siih
out the secret and found himself ia q
dilemma. Upon mentioning it to b :
wife, she told him about the accident
He kept the secret, and the demai d
for the novel tint far exceeded 81.
ability to supply it.
A Brighton ststioner took a fanc,
for dressing his show-window witt
piles of writing. paper, rising gradu
ally from the largest size in use; and
to finish bis pyramids off nicely, be
cut cards to bring them to a point
Taking these cards for diminutivt
note paper, lady customers were con
tinually wanting some of "that lovely
little paper" and the stationer found
it advantageous to cut paper to tbs
desired pattern. As there was nc
space for addressing the notelet'
when folded he, after much thought
invented the envelope, which he Gu
by the aid of metal plates made foi
the purpose. The sale increased 81
rapidly that he was unable to pro
duce the envelopes fast enough, Sc
he commissioned a dozen houses Il
make them for him, and thus set 60
ing an important branch OF the man
ufacturing stationery trade.