The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1893-01-07
HOW COLUMBUS LOOKED.
The Wild Eyed Stranger Was Puz-
zled and P~erplexed,

The Wild Eyed Stranger Was Puz-
zled and P~erplexed.
"Look here" said a wild-eyed
stranger in a shiny threadbare suit,
addressing a knot OF gentlemen who
were discussing in the Lindell rotunda
the Genoa festivities-'look here, I'm
vexed, perplexed, puzzled, muddled,
off my reckoning, and in a painful
state OF bewilderment. I've been try
ing for ten years past to find out what
Christopher Columbus looked like.
When l was q kid going to school, the
history which / studied contained
a portrait OF him in the important
act of discovering Cat Island, and
half a dozen bow-legged Indians
squirting at him through their fingers.
That portrait gave him a full head,
square shoulders, a green nose and
the naughty eye of the Castilian don.
I accepted this as genuine. l supposed
that the man with kodak was abroad
and took a snap shot at Chris Just as
he was preparing to say to his new
copper-colored acquaintance. This
is the proudest moment OF my life.'
My nerves were considerably shattered
some years later, when l was brought
face to face with q copy OF the por-
trait donated to the city of Genoa by
Cevasco.
"That makes him look like a Cath
olic priest who was doing penance for
crooking his elbow too much. The
Greek nose gives place to a proboscis
thas resembles a hot roll, and the
proud patrician eye to an optic that
might be expected to discover nothing
more important than the shortest
route to the wine cellar.
Then came to st. Lotus to enjoy
the Fall festivities, and was introduce
ed to another authentic portrait of
the great Genoese. 1t occupies a prom
inent position on Olive street. The
hot-roll proboscis has given place to
a beak, the leery eye to an O. expression
that would not discredit Mr.. Booths
Shylock. Instead of the beard of q
don or the SNUG face of a priest, COL
umbus looms up with the pointed
mustache and goatee of q French
dancing-master. Since coming here I
have been looking up other authentic
portraits of the man who is respon-
sible for the Great Worlds Fair, with
Sunday-closing controversy attach
ment, and / find that he resembled
pretty much everything and every
body on the earth, from g. South Sea
buccaneer to a natural born ID
fool. / am now convinced that the
man who discovered Columbus made
a greater hit than Curtis did in sight
ing Cat Island."-St. Louis Globe
Democrat.
The French, who have carried the
art OF hardening plaster to where it is
utilized for flooring, either in place OF
wood or tile, use six parts of good
quality OF plaster intimately mixed
with n part of freshly Stacked
white lime finely sifted. This
mixture is then laid down as
quickly as possible, care being taken
that the trowei is not used on it for
too long a time. The floor, adds the
National Builder, should then be
allowed to become very dry and after
ward be thoroughly saturated with
sulphate of iron or zinc, the iron Civ
ing the strongest surface the res;s-
tance to breaking being twenty times
the strength of ordinary plaster.
With sulphate OF zinc the floor
remains white, but when iron is used
it becomes the color OF rusted iron;
but if linseed oil, boiled with lither-
age, be applied to the surface, it be-
becomes OF q beau. iful mahogany
color. Especially is this the case if a
coat of opal yarnish is added,