The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-07-22
D0MEsTIOATING HER0NS.
An Experiment Which Promises to
BE a Profitable One.

The great success of ostrich farming In
South Africa and the in~disputable fact
tina the heron is being killed off in such
numbers that the extinction of this spec
les is but a matter of time unless the per-
nicious practice of Staying the birds for a
few feathers is discontinued, have result
ed in the proposal of raising herons first
as domesticated ostriches are. The first
experiment in that direction was emil
nently successful and proved a well-pay-
ing investment.
AT an expense of not quite $1,000 a large
plot of ground near Tunis was fenced in,
provided with a bird-house, a basin of
running water and trees and a start was
made with 40 so-called silver herons, which
in the course of the eighteen months the
establishment has been in existence, have
increased to about 400 birds.
The compan pays 4 francs $50 cents)
apiece for the young birds and has SO far
realized an income of So francs (SD from
each bird. The young birds, when caught
wild. lave but small value, as they are
featherless and can only be used as food.
The herons are quickly tanned n
seem to realize that under the protection
of man they are free from many dangers.
After a short period of captivity in the
bird house they are set free in the outer
Enclosure n although it would be an
easy matter for them to escape not a
single bird has been lost in this manner
The cost of keeping the herons in cap
tivity does not exceed s francs ($1) per
year. They are fed mainly with the meat
of old horses, mules or donkeys. They
thrive on his and increase regularly in
number, all the breeding being done in
the bird house. For three weeks the
young birds are fed by their mother,
after that they are able to take care of
themselves. They pair off when they are
a year old.
The beautiful head feathers which the
males wear in the spring are plucked
without causing them much pain; the
birds are easily caught and after being
liberated minus their handsome head
dress do not display any show of pain
or fear. The birds are very sociable and
keep together much, but the males are
quarrelsome and 1t is best to provide a
good deal of space for them.
The Turbfna. a Modern Sea Marvel
Speed on the water has not kept pace
with its rapid increase OF land. But last
north a little British steamer, the Tur-
binia, succeeded in making the worlds
record. In a trial run she made a speed
of 32.61 knots, or its equivalent, 37.6
miles, per hour. The popularity of this
rapid boat, which gives it its name and
makes possible the speed, IS Its equip
ment with what are known as turbine
engines. Instead of the ordinary steam
cylinder, with its piston moving hack and
forth, the steam is driven against a
wheel having sfanted perforations upon
the same plan as the turbine water
wheel. BY this method the construction
is of the simplest. AT one end of the
shaft is the steam turbine, and at the
other the screw, which propels the boat
in the water. This comparatively new
style of engine vastly sirnpliies the
mechanism and permits of enormou
speed of the screw. In the Turbinia the
number of revolutions IS $500 per min
ute. The result is accomplished with an
unusually small consumption of steam, or,
in other words, of fuel, showing the tur-
bine steam engine to be the most econom-
ical type of marine engine yet produced.
There is a marked gain also in the light
ness of the machinery needed to produce
the power. The Turbinia requires but
twenty-seyen pounds of machinery for
each of its nearly l,600 horsepower. To
obtain the same power with machinery
of the usual type would require more than
-four times as much weight per horse
power. If the new method proves on fur
Their tests as efficient as the first trials
indicated It must mark a new era in water
fitted with such engines and driven with
the same speed could make the passage
from New York to Liverpool in about
three and a half days.-George B.. Waldron
in THE Illustrated American"
WH.r Mo Nou~a6EN Nae 49,