The morning call., 1894-04-13
AROUND THE CORRIDORS.

Iurbances of the earth caused by the existence
OF large bodies of gas underneath" said w. A.
II yden, heavy operator in that district, at
the Occidental yesterday. "At Willston,
small village few miles east of Toledo, Ohio.
there Is a plot OF ground that has been torn up
for radius of 200 feet by some unusual inter-
nal commotion. From this place natural gas is
escaping, and the location Is no lower than the
rest of the surrounding field. A common coal
oil barrel was inverted over one Of the foun-
iains and a small hole bored through the top.
piece of iron tubing was inserted and large
can was placed around the tube TO break the
force OF the wind A match was applied and
flame four feet high burst from the end OF the
lube. 1t was natural gas that had worked It's
way Gp from the Trenton rock 1000 feet below
the surface. The fame was as blue as indigo.
and there was enough gas coming through the
tube TO supply three ordinary cook-stoyes.
Everywhere from the ground gas was escaping
through cracks and creyices. There Is no oil or
gas wells within two miles OF the scene and
the whole village Is In q fever OF excitement
those living near the field expecting 10 be blown
up or burned up every minute. The people
claim that the area of the field is spreading, as
il was only twenty or thirty feet In diameter at
first, while now 1t is several hundred feet and
the pressure seems to be aslheavy at one point
as al another. Judging from the amount OF gas
feet must be escaping daily"
"In Allentown, Mo-, new industry has
lately come into notice." said S. l.. gladden. OF
Kansas City yesterday, land 1t Is nothing more
than the cultivation of willows on large scale,
TO be used in the manufacture OF willow-ware.
The willow plant Is obtained by cutting up live
willow twigs about twelve inches in length.
These are sharpened at one end and planted In
rows, being inserted in the ground to a depth
of from six TO eight inches. As soon as the
plants commence 10 shoot the work OF wedding
and cultivation begins, and Is kept up until the
crop is laid by. the same as In the cultivation OF
corn. The canes ripen In the autumn, when
the frost strips the leaves from them and
causes the bark TO turn to glossy brown color.
When matured the willows are, under favor
able circumstances, from ten to twelve feet in
length. They are next cut and tied up into
bundles. like rye. carted 10 The h0thouses.
where they are subjec ed to sweating process
by which the bark is softened and bleached and
aEterward pulled of by beinz drawn through
machine specially constructed for the purpose.
This sweating process occupies about month.
The willow plants Will last about twelve years,
after which they are 'grubbed up and re-
placed by fresh ones. From 5000 TO 5000
pounds OF peeled willows per acre is con-
sidered an average output for the first three
per pound Wholesale"
A. W. Wilson, an official OF the Furness rail.
way in England, was at the Palace yesterday.
In speaking OF the peculiar condi ions which
obtain in railroadng IN England he mentioned
some of the marked differences between the
practices in vogue there and in this country.
The most radical difference. he said, was In the
average length OF haul, due to the geographic
average in the United States is about / 10 miles
that in Great Britain Is only about 30 miles,
but the cost OF handling the traffic is much
greater there than here, In fact the average
charge on American railway lines Is less than
half the average on English railways. An-
other difference is In the greater capacity OF
The cars Cor wagons, as they are termed In Eng
land,) used here and the consequent saving OF
dead weight. Up to 1876 the average capacity
OF the American ears Was about ten tons. but
since that tim the size has increased step by
step until now the leading railroads use cars
with a capacity OF twenty to thirty tons. Some
efforts have been mad Nh. Wilson says, TO In
troduce the American type of cars In England,
but the attempts thus far have been unsuccess-
full, as English managers claim that the cbarac
ter of traffic there renders the use OF the Amer
can type OF car on large scale inconvenient II
not impracIicable.
"The movement In several Eastern cities
looking toward the establishment OF pawnshops
In which the poor can OBJ ain temporary loans
at reasonable rate of Interest Is not original
with the Easterners," said c. j. Wicks of Ell
Paso yesterday. "Iu the city CT Mexico a ma
rional pawnshoD Is sustained, called the Monte
de Pisdad. 1t is magnificent institution, and
the salesroom for the finer goods like jewelry,
precious stones and Dric- -a-brac is as fne as any
in San Francisco In large glass cases the
goods are displayed with the prices plainly
marked. Diamonds. opals, rubes and other
precious stones can always be had at fair bar
gain. This institution has been running for
over a hundred years. and annually makes
loans on household articles, apparel. ieweiry
and other things to The extent OF nearly
Sc, 900 900. Its D dges average nearly thou.
sand day for every secular day, and one can
redeem pledge at any time within period OF
! Two or three years. The rate OF interest is 1
! per cent a month, while ou side pawnshops
| charge three and four times this amount. 1t Is
a rule of the establishment TO loan as nearly
the value of an article as IL is possible to do and
avoid loss in case OF failure to redeem"
| General j. l.. florence OF Chicago, who has
been a guest at the Palace for several days
past, has daughter who but few days ago
married Kinsey Magoun the sou Of a recently
deceased New York flnancier, and about which
marriage the Eastern newspapers are publish
| Ing some rather romantic particulars. The
marriage was celebrated In the Hotel Bruins.
wick In New York In a very quiet way, which
| was at the time attributed to the late death OF
| the groom's father. but which Is now explained
| upon different grounds. Miss Terrence, so the
story goes, was deeply in love with young
| Chicago newspaper man, who although he Is a
| gentleman by birth, education and In standing
| yet did not meet with favor in the eyes Of the
| general. 1t Is said that the iatter's opposition
was based upon the fact that tile newspaper
man was a Too frequent visitor at the race
track, but the wordminded gentlemen of the
| press are not backward in asserting that 1t was
the difference in the bank account OF the two
asplrants for the lady's hand which caused the
decision to be cast In favor of Magoun and the
expedition of the marriage In every possible
way.
| j. c. Carroll, an old sea captain, was speak
| ing yesterday of the decadence OF the sailing
vessel by the adoption of steam as motive
| power, when he Incidentally spoke OF some OF
the largest sailing snips aiioat and which he had
seen. "The largest on the seas at present Is a
Frenchbuilt ship called the La France. She
| is fve-master, was built In 1890 on the Clyde
and made her first voyage TO this country In
i old ha ia a 6ya-