The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1881-02-16
OUIEN sABE.

VlnCed thar the coming sneep ID England Is
the Hampshire. It says there is no race Of
sheep in the world that can vie with them in
the production of large-sized lambs of from
six to eight months old.
TO make shoe-pegs enough for Ameri-
can use there are consumed annually 100, 600
cords Of timber and to make lucifer matches,
800, 600 cubic feet of the best timber are re-
quired every year. Lasts and boot-trees take
500, 600 cords Of birch, beach, and maple,
and the handles of tools 500, 600 more.
The sea Of Azof has q newsstand, about
one hundred feet in diameter and ten feet
above the surface of the water. The most
recent addition to the territory of Russia is
the result Of some subterranean disturbance.
The birth Of the island was attended with a
marine eruption and the appearance of q ifs
sure II the land on the shore near by.
MIR. Ellison has nearly finished a dy-
namo- electric machine having three field
magnets six and a half feet long, and an az
mature one and 8 half tons il weight. The
armature is connected directly to q Porter
Allen engine Of 100-horse power. Both the
engine and the dynamo-electric machine are
mounted upon q large iron bed. This new
electric generator is intended to do what is
usually done by sixteen smaller machines
with greater steadiness and economy. @
Berlin and Dubosq are not content with
making magic mirrors as good, or even bet
ter, than those made in Japan or China, the
.uaxoA e 49, r~,. Io1ar:L.A ex+l crc 1o
in this column; they intend to 60 further
than the OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES dreamed Of. "One
Of these days" they say, "while our mirror
is magical under the influence Of pressure,
we shall take q cast of its surface and then
reproduce this by means of gslVano-deposi-
ton. This surface will have all the irregu-
~larities of that of the magic mirror, and will
produce by its reflected rays the image Of q
design which no longer exists on its back"
1t will be remembered that the artificial
production Of the diamond made last year by
a Scotch chemist looked very much as though
small diamonds had been fractured. None
of the specimens were perfect. ALI OF them
were fragments. A step in advance has been
made, however. Dr.. Marsden has lately
been able to effect the capitalization Of car
bon in the cubical form. Possessors Of the
most valuable Of natural gems need not be
alarmed as yet. DR.. Marsden says his crys-
tails are SO small that they are Of no CONNER
cial value whatever. The fact that a perfect
diamond can be produced, no matter how
small, is a notable event, and when the pa
per describing the process by which the end
was attained is published, it will command
general attention.
The country suffers the loss Of millions
OF dollars annually by the ravages of rats,
when, by keeping one ferret, farmers could
rout the last one Of the pests from their
premises. Ferrets are similar to the weasel
in habits and size, but they have been do
mesticated and used for expelling rats in Eng
land for centuries. Mine are white, very
small il size, and SO tame that [ can call them
to me and handle them as | please. II nur-
sery-men are bothered with rabbits lurking
about, gnawing their trees, with q ferret they
can catch the last one. No matter where
they burrow, the little fellows will start them
in no time. If I can find where a rabbit has
taken to a hole il the ground, / place 9 sack
over the hole, let in the ferret, and, in less
time than it takes to tell it, the rabbit is il
the sack.
At Zurich, Switzerland, where the Sic
mems cremetory furnace has been introduced
there is a distinct stipulation that the ashes
of the dead must remain in separate urns at
the crematory for twenty years. At the end
of that time the nearest of kin to the deceased
may take the urn to his dwelling, and it this
is not done the ashes are inferred. Before a
body is burned every precaution is taken BY
the authorities to ascertain that no crime has
been committed. Other furnaces Of the same
type are in use at Breslau, Dresden and
Gotha. Indeed, throughout Germany the
prejudice against disposing Of the dead BY
burning is rapidly disappearing. The fur
mace named will consume . body in an hour
and a half without causing any odor or
sound. 1t costs about $4,000. The weight
of the ashes varies from three and one-quar-
ter to seven pounds.
In a paper recently read before the
French Academy Of Sciences, Prof. Fort
gave some startling instances OF the efficacy
of artificial respiration. a three-year Old
child had apparently died, and was considered
as having passed over to the majority for
three and q half hours. At the end OF that
time Prof. Fort set up artificial respiration