The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1883-10-20
DECOR ATING WITH FIRE
A. Weird Experience in a Phila-
delphia Chemists Labor
atOry.

porter, THAT singular doiigs take
place here, and some folks are even
superstitious about them.'
Mr. Maxwell. who was in his shirt
sleeves, replied: "There is nothing
supernatural in anything here. Step
with me into the back room tor a
moment"
The reporter did so and found him
self in a den in which he could not
see his hand before him.
"Would you like your photograph
taken? said Mr.. Maxwell. The re-
porter having no objections, Mr..
Maxwell IigAted a magnesium wire
and placed him between it and an
ordinary looklng-glass board that
seemed lis a stray transom window.
When the light expired and the
room was once more in total gloom
that ordinary-!ooking piece of glass
shone out with a pale blue glow, re-
sembling a weak electric light, and
in the center of it, in sharp black
silhouette lines, stood a profile of the
reporters face. The whole process
occupied about two mir ltes. Mr..
Maxwell went into the front room
and returned with what looked like
a stucco bust of Madonna. There
was nothing about it remarkable, ex-
cept that the white veil was y
shade whittier than the face.
Mr. Maxwell ignited another mag
nesium wire, and held the bust before
it for a few seconds. Then the room
was left once more In Cimmerian
darkness, but when the repor er
turned toward Mr.. Maxwell he be-
held a weary, wan face shining with
a brightness that seemed supernatu-
raj, while around the head lay folds
of a thick black veil. The pale, shin
ing face of that Madonna was some
thing to haunt one for a lifetime.
The next thing Mr.. Maxwell did Was
to light the gas and pick up the cru
the Jet a few moments he turned out
the light, aud there in the dark ness
shone with a soft %brilliancy a figure
of the suspended Christ. The dead
face, the muscles OF the outstretched
arms and limbs, indeed every outline
of the dropping figure shone forth
distinctly amid the blackness, while
in another corner the meek face of the
spectral Madonna shone calmly
down upon the crucifix. "You see,"
said Mr.. Maxwell, "all these things
appear strange, but the explanation
is very simple. These Madonnas and
crucitixes are simply made of a COM
pound capable of absorbing light like
q sponge and throwing it out again
ia a subdued form in the darkness.
'INhA nvAnfInn -, n ra~xy an ,~l
Philadelphia has the credit of it, but
experiments with phosphorescence
are by no means new. Three huti-
bred years ago a shoemaker in
Bologna racked his wits to solve the
soft mystery of phosphorescence, but
he failed, and that was one shoemak-
er who ought to have stuck to his
last.
subsequently other scientists took
up the study, until now we have
found that W.: can actually mix up a
brilliant phosphorescent compound
that will absorb light and throw it
oack IN q very much longer time
than 1t took to absorb it. This lumi-
u paint is a preparation produced
by tue calcihation of certain substan-
ces, and although phosphorescent In
its qualities it contains no phospho-
rus. | will show you here a sign
labeled danger in big letters. If
That were exposed to the sunlight it
would shine all night. How invalu-
would such an article be in rail-
way stations or at rail crossings of
any Kind. II such a sign had been
in the Ring theater in Vienna
When the gas went out the D ,ople
might have been able to see their
way to the various exits and the ter
rible loss of life could not ha, hap
Observation-Disclosures Times.