Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1895-05-02
HWarm.HanderS.o


The article in the Youths Compan-
ion Of Jan. 10, 1895, on the Introduction
of lucifer-matches and the f1re-making
and fire-keeping means which preced-
ed these useful little articles has call
ed out an interesting account from the
Rev. II. G. Hamilton, of Redwood.
Ohio, of a device which was employed
in his family, in his youth. In those
early and matchless days, every boy
learned we'll the art of so covering
fire in the ashes that it would not go
out over night. But nevertheless it
sometimes became necessary to "bor-
row fire." or carry it to a camp; and
in such cases the ordinary method
in which it was done is thus described
by Mr.. Hamilton:
When one of us boys wished to carry
fire to the sugar camp, or with us on
a hunt for rabbits, opossums, or coons,
we would get as much tow from a
| hogshead in the barn as we could
carry in one or both hands. We would
| fatten this out into somewhat the
same shape as that Of one of our
mothers shortcakeS, lay the tow on the
| hearth, and then drop into the center
! of it good solid coal, about the size
of hens egg. Then we gathered the
| tow up into a knot, with the coal in
| the center.
This made a tow-ball with a live
coal in the center Of it. We prevented
the tow from burning by the pressure
of the hand; and in this way could
carry a live coal for several hours.
When everything was ready to start
q fire, we opened the tow-ball and
thus gave the fire air; and the result
was that the tow took fire, blaZed up.
and set fire to the kindling provided.
But we had another use for our ball
of fire and tow. We called it a"warm-
handler" When the weather was cold,
and our mits were bad, or we had
none, we would make these tow-balls
and carry them with US as we went
from place to place.
We could put our hands, in which
we held the balls, in our pockets, and
thus have Il miniature stove in our
''wampuS," or our trousers pockets.
Our hands were thus protected from
the cold, and we were ready at the
same time to start a fire at q mo-
ments notice
| am sure that I could carry a ball
of fire and tow with me a distance of
sixteen miles, and then start fire in
two seconds from the time l arrived,
and in the meantime have a cheap
device that would put lady's muff
to shame as a means of protecting the
hands from cold.
Novel Dust-Te sting Apparatus.
A new and novel instrument is the
koniscope, or dust-testing apparatus
1t is not a complicated scientific ma
chine, being solely intended for esti-
| mating in an easy and simple manner
the amount Of pollution and number
of dust particles in the atmosphere
The action Of the instrument is based
on certain color phenomena associated
with what is called CLOUDY condensa-
ton of air. and which can BE pro-
duced by steam jets, high Or low tenn
perature of the air, the increased num-
Der of dust-nuclei, etc. In working the
konisccpe the air is draw into the ap-
paratus by means of common air.
pump, and quickly passed to the "test
tubes" which are fitted with glass at
both ends.
When the tube thus charged is held
toward the light various colors, from
pure white to nearly black blue-ac-
cording to the purity or impurity of
the sample under test-are indicated.
The dust particles also form an i'm
portant factor in these tests, the varia-
ton in their numbers causing the mir
ror to throw all the colors of the rain
how