The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-08-03

NO opinion VIII be given In Tins column regard
Ing the reliability or character OF any person or
firms IN this city or elsewhere.
Questions, answers TO which are In the nature
OF an advertisement. will not be answered.
Every inquiry must have the true and full
name Oh the sender, as well the correct resi-
oence. Any inquiry that has not the cor
h hs .- name and address OF the sender VIII
writer need not expect
Er7sstLAzE AND ENAMEL-A. X, City.
EEEyS Glaze is a thin coating evenly
e%4S fused over the surface of clay YES
sci to make it harder and to render it imper-
vious to water Clay simply baked without
a vitre0us coating is called biscuit, and its
surface is dull and more or less porous
The simplest and Oldest form of glaze is a
pure siicate of soda, the addition of oxide
of lead making the glaze more fusible but
less hard and durable. For decorative work
glaZes may be colored by various metallic
oxides without losing their transparency.
Enamel is, on the contrary, glaze with the
addition of some substance to render it
Opaque. Binoxide of tin has the peculiar
property that when even small quantity is
added to transparent glaze it renders it
opaque and without otherwise altering its
character. The method of applying Wit
reous coatings is this: The materials are
ground fine and mixed with water to the
consistency of cream. The pot is dipped in
the mixture or the fluid applied with
brush. 1t is set TO dry and finally fired in
the kiln, which must be heated sufficiently
to fuse the component parts of the glaze or
enamel into one smooth CLASSY coating,
while on the other hand also it must not be
hot enough to soften or melt the clay body
of the vessel. The use of oxide of lead en-
ables glaze to be applied to clay body
which would not stand the high tempera-
ture necessary to combine and fuse pure
silicO-alkaline glaze. In order to prevent
the glaze or enamel from blistering or crack
ing oil there must be certain similarity OF
substance between the clay body and the
Vitreous coating. A fine slllclous glaze or
enamel will not adhere TO a soft fat clay un-
less the preparation Of silica in the latter is
increased either by the admiXture of a
harder, more siliciou5 clay. or by the add
ton of pure silica. either in the form OF
SAND or OF ground flint
CA8IELS IN AMERICA-A. A. c., Oakland.
The Q. &. is of the impression that the late
Jefferson Davis, while Secretary OF War.
recommended the use Of the camel for
transportation across desert tracts of the
western territory of the United States,
some time between 1850 and 1855. Ameri-
can Notes and Queries, answering this
same question, says, on the authority Of
correspondent in Philadelphia; There was
camel train carrying freight between Vir-
ginia City and Phoebe, New. in 1871, and
think the eamels were imported year or
two before that time. In 1857 a train Of
camels was employed by Lieutenant Beale
in the exploration to locate wagon-road
between Santa Fe and California. The ex-
pertinent was highly successful, and the
utility Of the animals far exceeded the
most sanguine expectations. subsequently
about $50 animals were imported for use in
Western Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.
ployed to pack freight between Yuma
and Tucson, AriZ. The animals
thrived and grew fat on the mezquite aud
gamma grass, and while each animal did
about four times the work of a horse twas
maintained at about one-haf the cost.
There was but one reason why the camel
should not entirely supplant all other
pack animals, namely, the "mule-whaeker'
or teamster From the first the teamster
was the relentless enemy to the camel His
rIie was ever ready and the deadly bullet
soon thinned the number of animals until
their use was abandoned. This hatred did
not arise from fear of competition but from
the mortal terror all other carrying animals
exhibited in the presence OF the camel. A
pack-train would instantly stampede at the
W
monty be left in a demorallzed condition.
As late as 1878 | saw COW with her calf in
the ella desert, but l could not get near
her. There may be a few animals still
alive in this region, but l doubt it. The
advent OF the railway has rendered their
services unnecessary" The @. c. adds for
what it is worth the following item, which
has been making the rounds of the news
papers: "A big herd of camels has been
seen on the plains near Harrisburg, Cal"
RARE VIoLINs-E. W., Fresh Water,
Cal. The genuine Stradivarius and Stainer
violins are very rare instruments. They
bear inside and just under the left f hole
the paper label of the maker and the date
of its manufacture. But there are no dis
tinctive or distinguishing marks by which a
genuine instrument can be told from the
thousands OF instruments made every year.
Only by long practice and frequent hand
ling of the original can any one learn how
to distinguish the genuine from the imita-
ton. Genuine instruments of either make
are worth thousands of dollars. The high
est price thus far known and duly authenti-
Gated that has been paid for Stradivarius
was about $4,000 The Stainer is not worth
nearly so much in the market. These in
Struments are very scarce, and so far as
known there is not genuine one on this
coast, If there is, it is in private hands,
and the secret kept guarded.
CONCERNING INGERsoLL-P. F., City.
Father Gleason of Brooklyn, Alameda
County, CAL, refuted the doctrines of In
gersoll in an address delivered by him in
the Metropolitan Temple in this city, and
during the course Of his remarks challenged
Ingersoll to meet him on the rostrum and
reply to his criticisms. Rev. Louis A.
Lambert, pastor of st. Mary's Church,
Waterloo, n. Y, also took issue with In
gersoll. LambertS "Notes on Ingersoll !"
were published in the Catholic Union and
Times of Buffalo, n. Y, and were in answer
to IngersolPs article on the Christian re-
ligiOn published in the North American
Review for August, 1881. Ingersoll made
no reply to either the challenge the refuta-
ton. or the Notes"
ENGLAND AND RUSSIAN. P. H., City,
The latest data from which can be made
any estimate approxim ating correctness of
the comparative population of the British
possessions and Russia gives the former
the precedence. its combined population
being set down at 200000,000 against 102,-
SS9,520 for the entire Russian Empire and
its dependencies. The superficial area, how
ever, OF the possessions held by Russia Is
in excess of the territory of Great Britain,
the former being S.644, 100 square miles, or
one-slxth of the land surface OF the globe,
and the latter 100000 square miles.
MRS. SARToRIs-T. r., City. Nellie
Grant, the daughter of General Grant, was
married to Algernon Sartoris on the 21st Of
May, 1874, in Washington, d. c. Imme-
diately after the marriage they went to
New York and stopped at the Fiith-avenue
Hotel until the first steamer sailed for
Liverpool, which was within few days
certainly the same week-of the day OF
their marriage. She returned to America,
however, to be at her fathers death-bed.
MIRAMAR-L. E. K, Alameda, Cal. The
word "Miramar" is compound of two
Spanish words, "mira," meaning, look
behold! take care! see! 10 and mar" the
sea, the water, and taken together, .look to
the sea, behold the sea, "see the sea,"
or "lol the sea-" Mrs. Senator Jones has
named her elegant Santa Monica home
Mramar.".
TAXING CHURCH PRoPERTY-P. f., City.
Church property is exempt from taxation in
New York, Illinois and probably some
other OF the Eastern States. 1t is taxed in