Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-07-03

heels Of the compromise rumors OF .
combination among the great carrying
lines 10 advance prices.
And il these things were not enough
to harry and imbitter the souls Of all
people who own baseburners or who
wrestle with furnaces. while their jan
itors enjoy the sodden lethargy Of
mixed ale" slumber, the theoretical
vientist breaks loose ever and anon,
ind proves "by statistics" that vague
phrase with which every crank and en-
thusisst Of the day essays to conjure)
that in a certain period Of time, varying
from five decades to Ave thousands Of
years, the bowels Of the earth will have
yielded up their last bucket Of dusky
diamonds and the race Of man will
freeze to death, the ultimate argument
being that the line Of frigidity is stead
lily advancing toward the tropics.
While the nervous householder isn't
worrying over this speculative POSSIBLE
ity of q remote future, he Is tormented
by the vsgaries Of the reports about the
ice crop. As surely as he wants to be
warm in winter he desires to keep cool
in summer, and when his paper tells
him during January that there is q
shortage in the supply of frozen water,
owing to tho "openness Of the season."
he groans aloud. Yet he ought not to
borrow trouble, for there will be coal
for fuel and ice for comfort long ages
after he and You and are forgotten
and undiscoverable components Of that
tiny speck in the universe that we call
tho world.
But suppose frost does in some far OF
epoch run down to the equator, or, on
the other hand, suppose that heat uu-
clasps the fierce grip with which cold
now throttles and defends the poles;
what then? Well, man by that time
will be ready to cope with either smer-
gency. Already he has demonstrated his
ability to counterfeit the caprices Of
nature and has shown that the practical
(not theoretically scientist can store heat
or store cold at will and bring either
into use as needed.
Already, do I say1 Why, he settled
the principles Of the problems ages ago,
when the Arab distilled subtle spirit
and called it al kohol, and the Hindoo
defied torridity by evaporating water in
huge shallow vessels and therefrom
gathering ice at dawn when the ther-
nometer chad there been such an in
strument in those times) would have
shown q temperature Of 80 to 100 dogs.
Today alcohol can be made even from
wood; 1t will not freeze, it can be car
ried in glass bottle, and tiny cook
stove in which to burn it can be bought
for twenty-five cents.
remember once when with q cavalry
column in Dakota chasing Indians at
midwinter how these little contrivances
actually saved our lives. The tempera-
ture must have been 90 dogs. below zero.
Soldiers and officers and horses alike
were fighting to keep of that deadly
slumber that is natures last warning TO
the victim of cold. We reached a snow
bank in a coulee; halt was called, and
from led mule a demijohn Of alcohol
and q score of these little stoves were
unpacked.
With numbed fingers We poured the
spirit into the receptacles and appi1ed
matches to the wicks- Snow melted In
the tin pans placed over the grateful
flames; it boiled and we added the con-
tents Of several cans Of beef extract.
Each man drank his fill Of the cheering
draft. and after that the horses whin-
MED their thanks - they plunged their
noses in buckets of warm water. Three
hours later Dull Knife's band Of fugi-
tive Cheyennes had been rounded up"
and we set our faces toward Fort Robin
son and comfortable quarters.
As for ice, the Hindoo maker either OF
ancient or modern times, isn't in IT,
with the Yankee Of today. The ques-
ton Of itsuse has been debafable through
the ages. Aristotle said it was unhealthy.
but opposed to the dictum Of the won