Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-10-22
NEWS AND NOTES.

Coffee mills for grocery stores are now
run by electricity.
A New Hampshire man this year sold 5000
ducks. the result of artificial incubation.
Ripe Strawberries were gathered in
Southington, Conn, ard at Pennington,
n. H., last week.
Women are surely marching on, and not
very slowly, either Society women are
acting as wine agents in Philadelphia
A convict in the Ohio penitentiary is the
latest long sleeper. He has been sleeping
steadily for a month and can only be
aroused to take food by the application of
paddles to the soleS of his feet. The doc
tors say he will sleep himself to death.
A tremendous plethora of novels is re-
ported in Paris. For example, 5000 copies
OF the latest production Of popular writer
have been returned to the publishers. 1t is
said that another publisher has 5000 900
volumes on hand which are unstable.
An underground lake has been discovered
three miles from Genessee, Iowa. 1t was
found by well-digger At depth of six
teen feet clear, pure lake wat r ran out
over the surface for a time, then settled
back to the earth's level. The most curious
part of it, says the Boise Statesman, is that
ISL were brought 10 Tue Suriice OH tLe
overflow. 'They have a peculiar appear
ance and are sightless, indicating that they
are under ground fish. The spring has at
tracted much attention, and many farmers
in the vicinity fear that their farms will
drop into the lake,
West Africa has spider that throws the
tarantula into tine shade. II Is dweller in
the woods, but not infrequently makes its
way into human habitations When its
legs are spread it will cover dinner-plate.
1t Is black, and S covered with a soft fur
not unlike cats. Its beak is the shape of
q parrots and the size of a sparrow's: the
venom is fatal to women and children
often to strong men, as the natives say. Its
paws end in suckers, clinging SO tight that
they must be picked of when the legs have
been cut away. They say that the brute
springs great distance, and alights with
its suckers together in bunch; the fright
full beak is inserted quick as thought, and
no human strength can move that hide0us
eXcreSceuce until wound has been inflicted
il the spider alights on the naked skin.
A patent has been recently taken out for
process for manufacturing an artificial
ivory out OF the same materials which enter
into the structure of natural ivory. By this
process quicklime is first treated with suf-
1cient water to convert it into the hy6rate,
but before it has become completely n.y.
drafted or ''slaked" an aqueous solution of
prosphoric acid is poured on to it; and
while stirring the mixture the calcium car
Donate, magnesia and alumina are incorpo-
rated in small quantities at time; aud
lastly the gelatine and albumen, dissolved
in water, are added. The point to aim at is
to obtain compost sufficiently plastic and
as intimately mixed as possible. 1t is then
set aside to allow the phosphoric acid to
complete its action upon the chalk. The
following day the mixture, while still pIas-
tic. is pressed into the desired form in
molds and dried a IN current of air at 4
temperature OF about $50 degrees c. To
complete the preparation of the artificial
product by this process it is kept for three
or four week, during which time it becomes
perfectly hard.