Morning journal and courier., 1892-07-28
NEW HAVEN CONN. THURSDAY MORNING, %,

Hitherto Q couple of men were required to
serve the gun, one to train the piece and
drop the shot, the other to work the firing
crank; but now one man Is sufficient. By
touching switch he can train and operate
the gun at will, so as to fire either single
shot, OF at the rate of 1900 minute.
Gospel wagons and gospel cavalry are on
the road, and gospel barge, the gift of a
wealthy New Yorker to Bishop Walker of
the Episcopal Church of North Dakota, is
to be launched at Bismarck soon. 1t is to
be called the Missouri Missioner and used
for Christian work in towns and camps
along the Missouri for distance of more
than five hundred miles. 1t is ninety
three feet in length and twenty five feet in
breadth. The bishop hopes with this
barge church to reach many people who
could not otherwise attend divine service,
and it is to be used for general Christian
work of every kind that the region calls
for. Bishop Walker refuses to give the
name of the giver, saying only that he is a
man with many interests in the West.
A new and convenient protector for
small sbrasions of the skin is suggested by
an English chemist. It is prepared by
mixing equal parts by weight of camphor
and absolute alcohol, and dissolviRg gun
cotton in this solution in the proportion of
one part to forty. When spplied to the
akin it rapidly dries and yields an elastic
film, which is an excellent substitute for
ordinary collodion. 1t readily dissolves
salicylic scid, carbolic acid, iodoform and
many other medicamens intended for eI-
ternal application. As convenient pro-
tective 1t is likely to supersede sticking
plaster, as the skin film formed is not un-
slightly, does not present awkward corners
liable to catch, and is not washed off even
when moderately warm water is used.
Healing of small abrasions rapidly follows
the application of this solution. either alone
or when mixed with a small quantity of
salicylic acid.
What caste means in India Ia illustrated
by recent event. In the neighborhood
of Fyzsbad, a man of the Ahir or cowherd
caste was carrying young calf home on
his shoulders, when by some accident it
slipped down and broke its neck. The
Brahmsns declared him to be outcast and
sentenced him to the seveIest form of
Hindu communication for six months.
They further told him that he could not
have committed greater sin than causing
the death of COW, but, taking into con-
sideration that he. was an uneducated
man, they would deal very leniently with
him. During the period of excommu-
nication he was ordered to lead life of
and, with a rope around his
neck and piece of the calf's tail on his
shoulders, he was to perform pilgrimages
to different Hindu shrines. The members
of his family were forbidden to supply
him with either shelter or food, under q
penalty of undergoing similar excom-
The Ahir recently returned
to his village, but until after the puri6-
cation ceremonies he must live in tenn
porsry grass-thatched house which has
been erected for him. A man of one of
the lowest and mos. degraded castles has
been selected to purify him. A barber,
after shaving the delinquent and pairing
the nails of his hands and toes, will make
over the hair and nails to the low-caste at
tendant, who will burn them and also set
fire to the hut. Then the Ahir is to be
covered with cow-dung, after which he
will take plunge into the river Sarju and
come out purified. Even then he will not
be readmitted into caste-fellowship until
he has feasted so Brahmans and 100 of his
brethren.