Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1883-02-15

complicated character, is below the chest.
Two cylinders of ingenious construction fur
nish the power to a series of strong rods and
cranks, extending downward into the legs
and feet. Like the engines of a Stern-Wheel
steamboat, these cylinders work with alter
nate motions and form the foundation for
the forward and backward steps. The mo-
tions of the arms are regulated by cOgs and
cams connecting with the pitman cranks.
The fOrearms and hands are provided with
strong rubbercushiOnsandsprings. Twelve
ycarsagO, Captain Rowe c0nStructcda steam
man from crude and imperfect ideas, which
walked, so he says although ina feeble and
uncertain manner. After that he spent a
fortune, which was left him, in pertecting
lis machine; but for some years he had not
given the matter much attention. lie says
he expects to see his steam man running on
the streets, faster than the swittest horse,
before he dies. He thinks, also, that it can
be put to many valuable and practical uses.
A GLIMPSE OF THE PAsT.-Five hundred
years before the birth of Christ there was a
city in Italy called Sybaris. 1t was mag
niticent place, and the wealth and luxury of
it's inhabitants was so great that the name
Sybarite exists to this day as a pseudOnym
of dcvOtee of sensual pleasure. 1t was at
one time so populOus, that it could send
three hundred thousand men into the field,
yet its annals are lost and its great men un-
known. The information we learn about it
is the fact of it its greatness, and that its
ruins are to-day under the bed of a river in
southern Italy. 1t seems there was a quar-
rel amongst the rulers of this mighty city,
and the discontented joined with their enc
mics, the Crotoniates, who succeeded cap
turing Sybaris, drove out its inhabitants,
and to make its ruin complete, changed the
course of river so that it swept over the
remains of the once municipality. To-day
the ruins are covered by bed of slime and
earth from sixteen to twenty feet deep, and
soon the work of bringing the remains to
light will be undertaken. 1t is believed
that the memorials of a very distant past
will be brought to light equal to, if not eX-
ceedng in interest, those of Pompeii. We
live after all ina very old world. Almighty
nations hourished, and prosperous cities
gathered wealth to themselves long before
history began to keep its record. In these
days of the marvellous applications of sci
ence to our daily life, tits well to remember
the might Of the past, in order that we
should not become too conscious OF theSplen-
dor of the age we live in.
EMPTINESS OF HUMAN AMBITION.-The
first time | saw Van Buren, writes the Her
nit to the Troy Times, was in the Springs af-
ter his defeat in the Presidential canvass.
lie had felt the crushing nature of what
was his first great disappointment in his
whole history, and he had seen the trium-
plant Harrison inducted to an office from
which he himself had been excluded by
the voice of an indignant nation. He was
in fact the worst beaten of all the Presiden-
tial candidates up to that day. In the midst
of this disappointment came the news OF
the death of Harrison after only one month
of official service. The city of New York
hOnorcd the occasion by a funeral process
ion of imposing character, but its most i'm
pressive feature was the defeated candidate.
| was then merely a boy, but as / gazed on
the long ranks of the military marching in
solemn step to the wall ofdirges, and saw all
the deep expressions Of public bereavement,
felt that the most touching lesson was
found in Martin Van Buren,. He Occupieda
barouche, dressed with the American and
British cOlOrs bOrdercd with Grape, and by
his side was the British Consul. | thought
then, and have often thought since, Of the
emptiness of human ambition as illustrated
by the appearance Of Van Buren, at Har-
risOn's funeral. The latter had crushed the
former, and then 50 suddenly yielded to the
power of death.