St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1894-06-09
OF GENERAL INTEREST.

Australia has given mp altogethes
the maintenance of founding hospitals
and orphan asylums and has substtut-
ed for this'the system Of placing chill
dren in private homes until such time
rs they are able to care for themscfves
The Tyrians were the most expert
dyers of ancient times. The fabrics
dyed with the famous Tyrian purple
did not assume their proper color until
after two days exposure to light and
air. During this time they passed
through a graduation of shades of yell
low, green. blue. violet and red, which
the dyers understood how to arrest 1nd
fix at any moment
South Carolina has q large number
Of ''cold" or blowing" wells They
are situated in the celebrated sand
hills region" and the majority of them
are of enormous depth. The force of
the current of air which continually
comes from them varies in intensity
according to atmospheric conditions
being particularly strong for several
hours before and after heavy thunder
storms
The Nurses home Of Johns Hop
kins university. baltimore. has re-
Gently received 4 photograph and stat
uette of Florence Nightingale. The
statuette is of Parian marble and it
was modelled when Miss Nightingale's
carly fame was still fresh. The photo
graph was taken in 1892 at the wish of
Miss Nightingale's brother-in-law. Sir
Harry Verney, and by him presented to
the Nurses home.
Charles A. Platt, who has just won
the Wolf prize in the current exhibition
of the Society of American Artists. has
had success in many kindred lines Of
art His etchings have attracted at
tention, he has written and illustrated
magazine articles. and when student
in Paris he was always able to sell even
his slightest sketches He has been
twice married, and his second wife was
the widow of a brother artist
"A we'll in Dublin. Ind, has been
acting queerly recently. The well is
about twenty feet deep and contains
eight feet of water. The other day it
began to bubble and boil. A lighted
torch was applied. when loud explo-
sion took place. In a short time
another torch was applied with the
same result, and for half q dozen more
times when torch was held over the
we'll . loud report followed. blowing
off everything that was over the we'll
The boiling still continues with no less
force.
Owners of land among the Thou
sand islands have a way of making
their lands grow, not in numbers but
in size. An almost bare rock of small
dimensions is thus expanded into IN
island covered with vegetation and
having space enough for q house OF
comfortable size. The thing is &C
complished by riprapping. piledriving
and the importation OF earth. The
work is often done gradually, year by
wear, until the landowner has made
space enough for his house, and after
that the island il extended rs the need
arises
Every head of clover consists Of
about sixty flower tubes, each OF which
contains an infnitesimal quantity OF
sugar. Bees will often visit hundred
different heads of clover before retir-
ing to the hive, and in order to obtain
the sugar necessary for load must,
therefore, thrust. their tongues INTO
about six thousand different flowers
A bee will make twenty trips day
when the clover patch is convenient tc
the hive, and thus will draw suga'
from one hundred and twenty thou
sand different flowers in the course OF
. single days work. t.
The Navajo Indians produce the
brilliant red of their blankets from
baycta, bright scarlet cloth made in
eastern cities and raveled by the In
dams for the yarn. Their gray is the
natural color of some of their sheep, "a
are their white and their black. They
produce deep yellow from the alder
boiled in water, aud afterward mixed
with impure native alum. A dull red
is produced from the alder bark.
Black is also obtained from the arc
matte sumac, yellow ochre and the
gum of species of pine. The last dye
is essentially an ink. Most of these
dyes are produced by elaborate and
laborious processes, but the Navajos
also use dyed woods made in eastern
mills