Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1885-07-01
CURIOUS AND USEFUL.
ALI, THAT WAS LEFT OF THEM


cartridge shells and some small pieces
Of blue army uniforms were also found
on the ground. The red bones of In
dams were also found near by, and
several Indian graves are only q short
distance from the battlefield. That a
battle with Indians was fought there
years ago, there can be no question,
and that the entire command Of sol
diers were massacred is equally GER
tain, for had the soldiers been victo-
rious those of their comrades who
were killed would have been buried. 1t
is probable that the soldiers were sur
prised. Silver City Enterprise.
PUTTING A HUSBAND TO GOOD USE.
A coIored woman driving her hus-
band harnessed to a plow was seen on
Walter Miller's farm recently. The
woman and her two-legged horse had
plowed about half an acre, and at the
time our informant saw them the
horse was parleying for a brief cessa-
ton of work. The sweat of honest
toll rolled down his face and his
shoulders were CALLED where the straps
that connected him with the pillow
rubbed him, but after a few minutes
persuasion he bent forward and COM
menced pulling the pillow again, his wife
following behind at the handles. She
had no need of a plow-line, but every
once in while she was observed to
shy clod of dirt at the head of her
docile steed.-Charlotte IN. CO. Obser-
yer.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE ARM CHAIR.
The transition from the arm chair
to the easy chair was not made all at
once. When men and women wanted
real repose, they formerly found it in
divans, touches, sofas, and, what IN
shakespeare time were somewhat re-
proachfully called "day-beds.' A
loose cushion was made for wooden
chairs, and it was sometimes placed
upon, at other times underneath, a
richly embroidered cloth or an ami
NAL s skin. 1t is doubtful whether, for
many hundred years, the easy chairs
of Western Europe were anything more
elaborate. The fixed seat and padded
back and arms did not come into use
in England until Queen Elizabeth's
time. An arm chair was, in fact, an
article of costly luxury, and some
times of reproach.
THE ACTION OF LIGHT.
Investigations into the action Of
light on the retina and optic nerve, as
reported in the Chemical News, show
some results slightly at variance with
the common theory. 1t has long been
an interesting point to ascertain the
electro-motive force of the retina and
the nerve. and also to learn whether
this was altered in amount by the &C
ton of light; and the experiments in
that the action of light is such as to
alter the amount of electro-motive
force to the extent of from three to
seven per cent. of the total amount,
so that a strong flash of light, lasting
the fraction of q second, produces q
marked effect. A lamp held at dis
lance of four or five feet, and, equally,
the light of a small gas flame, after
passing through depth of twelve
inches of a solution of salts of copper
and potash, also produce sensible ef-
fects.
THE GREAT AMERICAN WIRES.
The United States has more than
three times as many miles of telegraph
line, double the number of telegraph
offices and forwards twice as many
kilograms annually as any other
country on the globe. The figures for
the United States are: Length of line,
Los, $40 miles; number of offices, H.
4O2; messages sent last year, 57,942,-
PAT. Russia comes next in miles of
line, with 53,736, but is far behind in
number of offices and kilograms sent.
France, Germany, Austria and Aus
tralia rank ahead of Great Britain in
miles of line, having As, 1878, As, 1910,
81, 121 and 81, 831 miles respectively.
though Great Britain, with 81 345, 861
kilograms forwarded, sends a few more
than one-half the number sent last
year in the United States. In number
Of Offices in Europe, Germany, with
1866, has the most, and Bulgaria,
with 81, the least.
NEW USE FOR THE ECHO.
Science asserts that the experiments
of Frank Della Tore, of Baltimore,
indicate the possibility of obtain
ing an echo from an iceberg when
in dangerous proximity to a ship.
Mr.. Della Tore believes that even an
object offering so small a surface as a
floating wreck may in this way be de-
tected during fog in time to prevent
collision. The preliminary expert
ments recently made in the presence
of Prof. Rowland, of Johns Hopkins
University, and of Prof. A. Graham
Bell, who writes the article in Science.
have demonstrated the feasibility of
producing well-marked echoes from
sailing vessels and from steamboats,
considerable distances away. The
apparatus employed consisted of a
musket, to the muzzle of which a
spealying-trumpet had been attached.
This gun was aimed at passing vessels,
while blank cartridges were fired. At
ter a longer or shorter time, according
to the distance of the vessel, an echo
was returned.
A PEEP INTO NATURES LABORATORY.
There is in the town of Phoenixville
to-day an exemplication of the opera
tions Of nature as displayed in the
formation of coal, where it can be
found in actual process oftransforma-
ton from vegetable matter to q soft
SOaDV carbOnic substance. and the