Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-01-15
Flexible Stone


A CURIOUS SPECIMEN on THE DESK OF AcrrSo
CHIEF CLERK HoDGKINs.
There lay this morning on the desk OF Mr..
Samuel Hodgkins, acting chief clerk Of the
War department, stone wrapped in brown
paper. IL weighed about a pound. and was
perhaps Is inches in length. 21S in width. and
Il of an inch thick. On picking il up from the
desk, when his attention called 10 il,
STAR reported noticed that il bent slightly at
the ends, and had the feeling of an elastic sub
stance. On removing the wrapper, however,
it was seen to be a hard. compact piece of sand
stone, Of light yellow color, with the ends
cut to points The texture of the stone
was fine and presented no evidence of
qualification, and was smooth over the
entire surface. knife blade made no impress
sion on the PARTICLES. There was no doubt as
to its being a genuine stone. but il. neverthe-
less, possessed the fexibility OF a piece of
india rubber. When taken in the hand and
shaken in the direction of its fiat surfaces il
would bend back and forth with a dull mufHed
sound. The movement was more of laxity in
the adhesion, apparently, than an elasticity.
When held horizontally by one end the other
would drop and remain in that position. With
the two ends supported on rests, the free center
could be pressed half an inch below the middle
line. With one end held firmly on the desk
the other could be bent upward over an inch
The movement was not confined TO the one
direction-in the plane of the fiat surfaces--but
the principle of an universal joint, with .
movement perceptible in all directions under
pressure.
This stone was given to me by a friend"
explained Mr.. Hodgkins. ''who is a lover Of
curious things. He told me that il came from
a mountain in North Carolina, and bears the
name of flexible sand stone The entire
mountain is composed of this material. and
pieces cut at random exhibit the same flexible
properties. i have never heard Of any use 10
which it has been put. 1t is quite strong and
stands a considerable pressure in bending IL;
in fact, do not know how strong il really is,
for have hesitated about trying 70 break IL as
ii is the only piece i possess. have tried,
however, to break of the point by the pressure
of my fingers, but have never been able to do
il. / consider this one Of the wonders Of
geology. 1t is a natural production that man
has never been able, with all of his art, 10
initiate"
bill was introduced in the New York assem-
bly, last night TO provide for the repeal Of the
state civil-service laws.
In the Indiana senate yesterday a protest
from the republicans was submitted against the
election of Presiding Officer Cox while the Lieu
tenant-governor was at the door.
At Wilkesbarre, Pa, the strike organized BY
typographical union, No. ls7, collapsed last
evening. when the printers employed on the
Record returned 70 work at the same pay they
received last year. The strike was declared
unconstitutional at special meeting held by
the union.
At Helena, Montana, banquet was given 10
Russell B. Harrison last night on his return
home after his brief absence in the east
The republicans Of the first Indiana district
YESTERDAY nominated Col Frank B. Posey for
the unexpired term, occasioned by the resig-
nation of Congressman Hovey.
At Columbus, Ohio. yesterday, three heavy
judgments, aggregating ~. 600 900, were taken
In the common pleas court against the scioto
Valley railroad company in favor Of @. p. Hunt
ington, Thatcher NJ. Adams and Edward y.
winslow, all Of New York.
The Nebraska republican Legislative caucus
last evening renominated Charles +. Nandsrsoa
for the United States Senate.