Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1881-06-23
THE HISTORY OF ZERO.

THE HISTORY OF ZERO.
Zero" on the common thermometer, like
the fanciful names of the consultations, is a
curious instance of the way wise mems errors
are made immortal by becoming popular. 1t
may be worth while to say that the word it.
self (zero( comes to us through the Spanish
from the Arabic, and means empty, hence
nothing. In expressions like "90 degrees
the abbreviation "Fahr." stands for Fahren-
heit, Prussian merchant of Dantzic, on the
Baltic sea. His full name was Gabriel Dan
iel Fahrenheit.
From boy he was close observer of ma
ture, and when only nineteen years old, in
the remarkably cold winter of 1909, he exper-
imented by putting snow and salt together,
and noticed that it produced degree of cold
equal to the coolest day of the year and
that day WAS the coolest day that the oldest
inhabitant could remember. Gabriel was the
more struck with the coincidence of his little
scientific discovery, and hastily concluded
that be had found the lowest degree of tenn
perature in the world, either natural or arti-
fetal. He called the degree "zero," and con.
structed a thermometer, or rude weather
glass graduating up from zero to boiling
point, which he numbered 212, and the freez-
ing point 32-because, as he thought, mercu-
ry contracted the thirty. of its volume
on being cooled down from the temperature
of freezing water to zero, and expanded a
1SOth on being heated from the freezing to
the boiling point.
Time showed that the arrangement, instead
of being truly scientific. was as arbitrary as
the division of the Bible into verses ana
chapters, and that these two points no more
represented the real extremes of temperature
than from Dan to Beersheba" expressed the
exact extremes of Palestine.
But Fahrenheit's thermometer had been
widely adopted, with its inconvenient scale
and none thought of any better until bis name
became an authority, for Fahrenheit finally
abandoned trade and gave himself up to
science.
The three countries which use Fahrenheit
are England, Holland and America. Russia
and Germany use Reaumer's thermometer, in
which the boiling point is counted 80 degrees
above the freezing point. France uses the
centigrade thermometer, so.called because 1t
marks the boiling point 100 degrees from
freezing point. On many accounts the cent?
grade system is the best, and the triumph OF
convenience will be attained when zero is
made the freezing point, and when the boiling
point is put 100 or 1000 degrees from it, and
all the subdivisions are fixed decimally.
If Fahrenheit had done this at first, or
even if he had made this one Of his many
improvements after the public had adopted
his error, the luck of opportunity, which was
really his, would have secured to his attention
the patronage of the world.
INDIAN STRATEGY IN BUSINESS MAT
TER.-That the Indians of the West are be-
coming civilized and learning the ways of the
pale faces, none can doubt after reading the
following from the Carson (Nevada) Appeal :
"The Indians of the Walker Lake Reserva-
ton feel very happy since their victory over
Mr.. Yerington and the Carson and Colorado
Railroad. 1t appears that when the railroad
company treated for the right of way through
the reservation, the Indians agreed to receive,
in full pay, $500 and the right to ship free
over the road forever any fish or other pro-
duce which they Nigh wish to bring to market
between Hawthorne and the Mound House.
Walker Lake is swarming with fine trout.
When the new road reaches Walker Lake,
the Indians will be the bosses of the fish
market of the State. The Indians say that
if Mr.. Yerington had known how many fish
they could catch in day, he would never
have entered into such contract. The In.
dians laid their wires for this thing long ago,
and when Mr.. Yerngton visited Walker
Lake they put up job on him. They in
vited him to spend day fishing, which he
did, and they gave him bait which fish
absolutely avoid. Several Of the bucks also
fshed with him, some using no bait at all.
The result of the days toll was small white
fish and couple of halfpound trout. The
savages pretended that the days sport had
been very fine and got up big dance in hon
or of the catch, remarking that the fishing
had never been 80 good for years. In an
unguarded moment he signed the fish con-
tract
How TO INTEREST GIRLS IN THE BIBLE.
AS my scholars are girls, and [ found them
amazingly ignorant of Bible history, and in
different to the study of the Scriptures-in.
deed, they seemed to think the Bible the most
stupid of all books-I at once sought to ava.
ken their interest in the story of Esther,
Ruth, Deborah, Miriam, etc. In addition to
these, they have become familiar with the
personal history of Christ, Moses, Joseph,
Daniel and David. l had each one detail to
me in her own language these several his
tories, and she was in such manner led to
feel that Esther, for example, was once
young girl like herself, and that in later life
had her splendors and her trials, much as an
American girl might, and how bravely and