Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-02-20

AT one Of the recent Moody revival
meetings on the Pacific Coast the customary
request was made that those suffering from
any particularly heavy burden should stand up
and ask for the prayers Of the assembled null
tltude. After few moments silence a tall,
meeKIooklng man arose, and in voice choked
with emotion asked that the prayers of the
congregation might be offered for his mother
in-law. instead OF praying, the eongres alton
nrst began to litter, and finally roared with
laughter.
Colonel James A. Wood died recently
at his home in Bloomfe eId, KY, aged "A years.
Colonel Wood went to Texas in 1885 and took
part in the rebellion against Mexico He was
at the massacre of the Alamo, and with two
others escaped, they being the only survivors
of that bloody event. Colonel Wood, in his
account of his escape said that when Santa
Anna ordered the prisoners to be shot he
dropped to the ground, as if he had been killed,
at the trst discharge He.began to roll over,
ana continued rolling until the river was
reached, when he sDrang to his feet and got
away. He never stopped travelling from the
Alamo until he reached Kentucky.
"A California paper gives some interest
ing facts relative to the growing of grapes. It
says; The total expense of cultivating an acre
OF grapes is SIS; the curing and packing of an
acre of grapes, making 100 boxes of raisins $50.
The average price for raisins for the last four
years has been about 81 80 per box Putting
the price at 81 50 per box for the four grades,
we have total net profit of s95 per acre. Many
vineyards do better than the above. Vineyards
have frequeatly been known to produce grapes
enough the hrst year after planting to pay eX-
penses of cultivation. The second year brings
from $50 to $50 per acre gross: third year $50 TO
SIS.
"A crudely constructed wool-spinning
machine was exhibited in a model builders
shop in New York last week, which has attracted
considerable attention from persons interested
in the wood industry. The inventor claims that
he has solved the problem of continuous ring
spinning by positive draft or attenuation. Hum
dreds of thousands of dollars have been ex-
pended by capitalists in experiments and in
manufacturing machines in the Eastern States
which have proven failures. The principle OF
the new invention lies in the use of three roll
ers. two of which rotate first in one direction
and then In the oLher. and yet at all times draw
the half-spun wool from the feed roll. The
rollers pass forward and backward and the
twist in the thread is not interfered with. The
principle, the inventor claims. is a new one in
mechanics. Wool is spun on the machine
daily. The inventor claims that his machine
will revolutioniZe wool spinning. He is George
W. Shoemaker, of Scranton, Pa.
"A great deal of interest has been created
in France by the novel form and operation of
an electric clock, recently introduced, the Pc
culiarity in the construction of which consists
IN the presence of two kinds of batteries, one
wet znc-iron element and the other dry zinc
iron element. The former consists of an iron
bottle five and one-half inches high by three
and one half inches diameter, which forms one
electrode; the other electrode is a zinc rod
passing through an India rubber stopper into
the center of the bottle, this being filed with
caustic potash and oxide of mercury. There is
no diaphragm, and the zinc is gradually con-
sumed, while the oxide of mercury is reduced;
the e. m. I. is l3 volts, and the internal resist
ance only 2 OF an ohm. These clocks receive
an impulse 40 times a minute and exhibit
no weakening of the power either in the dry or
the wet cell. An easy calculation will show the
interesting fact that the total number of elec-
trical impulses exceeds p, ,000, 900 per annum-
certainly most severe duty for any battery.