Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1889-04-26
TIImbIas NC IIaiIlbIa-ELasara.

s+--7~ e-4-4 uA-S.4A s11 81 1EAEAE4s
see, hear and touch is supposed 20 have
q history, 1t Is hUmiliating 60 have tc
confess that the thimble, q truly femi-
nine article, Is absolutely without any
account Of its origin or shape OF use in
early days.
The first mention we get of it is in
the twelfth century, but this IN no
sense helps Us to its origin. 1t occurs
in the collection of words of common
things, written out by HiIdegarde, and
therefore we gather that it must have
been in daily use in her time.
We have some little guide as to the
shape of the thimble in the twelfth
century by looking at the one dug out
Of the Burg Tannenberg in the Berg
strasse at Darmstadt.
The burg itself was destroyed In
1899, and never built up again; there
fore, this thimble, which is now to be
seen in the museum at Darmstadt,
must have been in use before the de
struction of the burg.
The shape is somewhat similar to
oars; it is a very well-made bronze
thimble.
As far as we can be certain Of any
thing, the thimble is to be traced to
the inventive and ingenious artisans of
NUrnberg, who were the acknowledged
manufacturers OF it in the fourteenth
century.
It was not, however, until 1884 that
the thimble-makers became what is
called a corporate body, although for a
whole century previously the Nurnberg
merchants had carried thimbles with
them for sale on their yearly expedi-
tons to the great fairs, of Leipsic, Ham
burg and Lubbock.
It seems that up to the end of the
seventeenth century the thimbIe was to
be found in few places outside of Mum
berg, Cologne and Holland.
There were at that time double
thimbles, of which the under one was
quite smooth and gilded, while the up
per one was of silver and entirely
pierced through.
In consequence of the Nurnberg Coun-
Gil issuing so many prohibitive laws,
the thimbIe-malzing craft were unable
to hold their own; they could neither
make use of their own inventions, nor
! could they employ machinery; and
! they were soon surpassed by those of
/ Aix-la-Chapelle and other places.
where restrictions had no power to
| prevent the employment of machinel
/ put in motion by water-pOwer.
'Thimbles seem to have been intro
/ Guced into England as articles of COM
mon use by a man named John Lofting,
! who came over from Holland at the
! end Of the seventeenth century, and
! established a thimble factory at ISL
! ington.
The word tbimble is said to be de-
rived from the Scotch thummeI or
! thumb-bell, a sort of a shield originally
worn on the thumb.-GOLde7I Days.
LAWYER Gets the Mushroom Seed.
Chicago against the world for new
| discoveries. One of its citizens has
! put the whole Agricultural Department
! to rOut, and proved the existence of
mushroom seed. Representative Law
/ Ter lately received d request from one
! of his constituents named Riley for
! some mushroom seed. Mr.. Lawler was
| seated at his desk in the House when
| the communication arrived, and think
! ing it a rather novel request, he passed
! it around among his colleagues. They
/ all read the letter and laughed heartily
over the contents. Mr.. Lawler was
ridiculed, and all asked whether the
! writer was q sample of the intelligence
| Of Chicago. The IinOisan knew what
he was about, however. Taking his
| letter, Mr. LAWYER went immediately
to the Agricultural Department, where
it was spread before Secretary COIman
! The Secretary read it, and laughed al
what he styled the gross ignorance OF
the Chicago man. MIR. LaWler was
surprised at this answer, and de.
manded that the seeds be sent. Mr.
| COlman replied that there was no such
thing in his department as mushroom
! seed. Congressman Frank isn't bash
full, but there We're several clerks In
the room who Joined Mr.. COIman in
laughing, and he didn't like it. Mr.,
! Lawler persisted, however, that the
department should have mushroom
seed, and left the building with the in
! junction that the seeds were to be
looked up and forwarded to MIR. Riley.
/ Nothing more was heard IN the matter
until yesterday, when Mr.. Lawler re
ceived a polite note from the Secretary
! Agriculture, stating that he had
Deen looking up the mushroom Seed.
| and had finally run across some in the
Office. A gOodIy lot had been sent tC
Mr.. Riley, and he begged to assure
/ Mr. LAWYER of his sincere apology fOI
testing with him. Il was the one, said
| Secretary Co1man, "who happened to
3e grossly ignorant of the matter. and
am deeply mortified with myself In en-
barrassing you IN the presence Of q
number of persons in my Office. Tt Is
your turn now to laugh at my green
ness and freshness, and you may have
the satisfaction of knowing that he
who laughs last laughs best Mr.
Lawler is now employed in showing
the Secretary's letter around WGS h.
j72gtC71 Cor. Chicago Tribune.
Dan Was Up to the Pie Game.
j. ". Hoag, formerly District AttOr
ney of Wayne County, was a student
Of Union College when Dan Lamont