Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1893-06-01
Saint Maru's Beacon


to the happiness and pleasure Of
man, in the present day, there is
nothing Of more value than light.
This can be truly called the age
of light. All that preceded it were
comparatively dark ages.
1t can hardly be credited that
from the creation of s'the sun to
rule by day" until the date on which
the tallow candle was invented,
more than fifty centuries rolled
down into the crypt Of time, and
that in these ages men used no
brighter artificial light than a pine
knot.
Improvements in lighting came
very slowly until the beginning Of
the present century. Our forefath-
ers, truly, dwelt in darkness in what
we are pleased to miscall "The Good
Old Days"
The first light known was that of
torches OF resin-charged wood.
When Adam got up in the middle
of the night to alleviate poor little
Gains collie, he didn't press but
ton and food the Garden of Eden
with electric light. No, indeed.
How disguised the old man must
have been, as he stood shivering in
the dark, hunting around the torn
lining of his waistcoat pocket for a
match, to suddenly realize that
matches had not yet been invented,
neither had oil lamps nor candles.
So the father of his race had to
hustle out to the pine wood pile for
a stick Of pine and, then, down on
his knees at the fire. expend lot
of wind on the embers before he got
his torch lighted sufficiently to show
him where Mrs. Castoria's Soothing
Syrup was, while all the time Eve
was calling to him to hurry if he
didn't want to see his first-born die
in his infantile tracks.
Lamps were invented at an early
date, but they differed widely from
the ornate affairs of to-day. They
were mere concayities Of clay, filed
with the fat of bird or beast. The
pith of reed or rush was stuck in
the grease and lighted. 1t flicker
cd and spluttered, and made up in
the matter of smell for what it lack
ed in illuminating power.
The Egyptians, the lsraelites, the
Assyrians and their contemporaries
used lamps. They were sometimes
called candlesticks, although moth
ing in the shape of candle was
known. Some Of these candle
sticks were gorgeous affairs. Moses
was commanded to make one Of
beaten gold for the tabernacle. 1t
was five feet high and had seven
branches, with a cup in each to hold
the oil. The gold in it was of the
value Of $4,000. Olive oil was
used in this candlestick with a
string OF cotton or fax for a wick.
Solomon had ten of these golden
candlesticks in the temple, and !
think we are safe in assuming that
they would not dispell more than a
few quarts of darkn ,ss piece, and
the whole ten would not give more
light than would a modern gas jet.
The ancients are supposed never
to have thought of refining oil. If
they did think of it, they didn't
know how to do it, or were too lazy
to invent way. They said: "Oh,
what's the use of bothering!" This
is good enough for us. We are too
busy fighting our neighbors who
refuse to worship our gods, to give
time to inventing things. Well
leave that business to those nine
teenth century fellows. We don't
want to suffer from insomnia nor
an adverse decision of the commits
sioners of patents.
Old Lucullus spent great sums of
money in fighting the awful smell
N the pennyworth sef oil in his
s5D00 lamps. He mixed the oil
with essence of roses and sandal
wood, but the scent Of the oil knock
ed that of the roses out and chung
'round it still.
The smoke was another dreadful
nuisance. 1t grimed the walls, and
coated the frescoes with SCOT in the
bedrooms and banqneting halls in
the old Roman days. There were
no chimneys on the lamps, and, of
course, the light fluttered and flick
cred continually aud often went
out.