The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-04-05
CURRENT NOTES.

A salmon in the North Esk, Scotland I aged q
skillful fisherman for nearly twenty hours, and
eventually escaped He would have weighed
about sixty pounds.
Electric lights have been introduced into a
gunpowder mandatory in England The build
ings are scattered over three miles of territory,
and the wires are carried above ground from q
dynamo near the center Of the enclosure.
Italic types were first introduced by Aldus
Plus ALanutius in an edition of Virgil, printed
in lj0l They We're first called Aldine Tho
letters were united as in writing, and the types
are said to have been cut by Francesca da Bo-
logna better knows as Francia, in imitation of
the handwriting of Petrarch.
A prominent violinist asserts that the popular
belief that the manufacture of superior violins
is ''lost art is a sheer delusion. He says no
better violins are made or ever were made than
the best instruments now manufactured IN this
country, and that no competent Judge ever
! thinks of importing an instrument from Europe.
CAST pipes are now made of heG2p paper The
pipes so made are smooth and absolutely tight;
and when the sides are scarcely three-fi fths Of
an men thick they resist pressure of more than
! fifteen atmosphere They are bad conductors
of heat do not readily freeze, are cheaper and
not so liable to be broken as those of the ordi-
nary material.
peculiar kind of building stone is found in
some localities in Oregon. having the property
of being unmiured by the action of cold, heat or
moisture. 1t is called granite sandstone, is very
rich in silica, of close, fine grain, highly crys-
talllzed, unlaminated and of q fine brown color
On being brought to a white heat, and suddenly
plunged IN cold water, it comes out as solid and
firm as at first
The Bank of England is lighted with 100 Swan
high-tension incandescent lamps. A horizontal
portable engine runs the dynamo-electric ma
chine, of an electro motive force of 100 volts and
a current of sixty amperes. which charges a
fifty five-cell Faure- Sellon-N olkmar battery to
la An A1,I
netlc safety ut-off is introduced to prevent au
tomatically excess of current.
Dr. Bjornstrom, superintendent of a lunatie
asylum at Stockholm, introduced printing
press and some type into the establishment for
the benefit of an insane compostor. The other
patients became interested in printing and the
Doctor soon gave them more extensive appa-
ratus. The result is the recent publication of
the Doctors book on Diseases of the Mind,
which was set up, printed and bound by the
patients, and is pronounced a very good piece of
work in every respect 1t contains 202 pages.
In boring for water near Snake river about
fortytive miles from Dayton, Ore, recently q
stratum of frozen earth was encountered at a
depth of fifty five feet. Passing through this for
five feet, numerous cavities were found from
which cold am came in gusts. The escaping air
at the bottom of the well can be heard roaring
at some distance 1t is not possible for anyone
to hold his hand over the well for any length of
time without freezing it, and bucket of water
minutes Work on the well has been abandoned
on account of the cold
1t is related that professor of botany in q
Boston school was recently taken into con-
servatory where the most of the flowers and
shrubs were artificial, and asked if he thought
there We're any bogus flowers there. Aftermak
ing a hasty examination without touching them
he pronounced them all genuine except one.
The facts We're that this one was natural and
those that he pronounced such perfect specimens
were all made of paper and wire. So perfect
were some of the paper specimens that when
they We're placed beside the natural one the
latter could not be distinguished from the other.
An extraordinary scene took place few days
since at the Leek cemetery, in England on the
occasion of the funeral of retired farmer. On
arriving at the grave the officiating clergyman,
the Rev. W. Berisford, vicar of St. Lukes Leek
pointed out that the corpses feet would not point
to the eastward, and although the sexton told
him that the grave was in similar position to
hundreds of others. and showed him the head
stones in confirmation, the clergyman insisted
upon his point referring to the difficulty which
would be experienced on the day Of resurrection
if the corpse was placed otherwise than with his
feet to the east. rule was procured when it
was found that the grave would just take the
coffin the reverse way, and the ceremony was
then proceeded with.
The nitro glycerine bomb is a recent addition
to destructive projectiles, its serviceabeness in
reducing entertainments being. it is claimed. I'M
eAceHed. InltS construction heaNy conceal shell
is first cast, so arranged that one end is much
heavier than the other, one end being also closed
with a tightly fitting cap, screwed after
charging. The interior of the shell is divided
into three compartments, each separated by a
heavy plate-glaSS cap: the division ftPthest from
the open end is filled with sulphuric acid, the
next with glyeerine, and the outer one with
nitric acid--these three elements being the com
ponent parts of nitro slycerine. A small open
ing through the center of the cap fitting the
open end of the projectile adm its steel rod, to
each end of which is firmly attached small
circular piece of metal, the inner end resting
against the first glass cap; the outer cap is then
screwed on, and the proJecti!e is ready for
ton the heavy end naturally strikes the ground
first. the steel rod is driven through the plate
glass partitions, the chemicals are mingled, and
a nitro glycerine discharge takes place.