Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1898-02-24
MADE IN MINIATURE.
c,,RIolIs MICROSCOPIC MARVELS
ACHIEVED BY INGENIOUS MEN.

ACHIEVED BY INGENIOUS MEN.
Potter Rarnus Tells Some Very Fishy sto-
rios About John MulIer--The Ever Grow
ing Squad of Cherry Stone Workers.
Wonderful Knife.
Perhaps the most prevalent mania OF
men gifted with mechanical ingenuity
takes the shape of accomplishing or at
tempting to accomplish in miniature
the miehtiest feats of engineering that
human hands have ever set up. Inc en-
thusiast i'll miniature regards the Forth
bridge, for example, not as utilltarlan
masterpiece, but as o model to be fol
lowed and copied in all the materials
supplied by a threepenny bit, ana the
9s5 feet of Eiffel tower neither fills MS
breast with awe nor horror, but Is re-
parded as q choice subject to be con-
structed in miniature out OF bent pen
and the shell Of walnut.
Of the medieval mechaniclans Jonn
| Muller, better known in the trade as
| Regiomontanus, which one must admit
sounds we'll for one Of his craft, who
lived in the fifteenth century, was Win
ont doubt the Maskelyne and Cook OF
the period, or at all events he had as
biographer a writer of greater magma
ton than the other less fortunate GEM
of that era. Peter Ramus, the writer IN
question, not only credits John Muller
with fashioning wooden eagle, which
ON the occasion of the Emperor Max
imilian visiting Nuremberg flew out to
meet him, saluted him in due form
however that may have been-and then
turned round and accompanied the pro-
cession to the city gates, but further as
serts that the same Individual turned
out an iron fly
Which, having flown a perfect roundabout,
With weary wings returned unto her MASTER
We are inclined to think, all things
considered, that Peter Ramus had the
markings of a very fine creator OF exclt.
ing fiction in him and that it was a sac
pity he allowed his gift to be wasted II
compiling biography of 100 years
deceased automatic artificer in place Of
forestalling the friend of our youth, nj
e Jules Verne.
). The cherry stone has been favorit'
subject for the worker in miniature
S since Hadrianus Junius saw at Mechlll
a ga cherry stone cut into the form OF
!; basket, in which were IA pairs OF die
distinct, the spots and numbers OF which
were easily to be discerned with goo
T eye." A museum in Massachusetts ha
70 among it's other possessions a cherr
i stone containing dozen silver spoons
= AS the stone is of the ordinary size tn
10 spoons are SO small that their shape ca
il only be admired by the aid of micro
scope. Other remarkable cherry stone
IL are the ones carved all over with IL
y y heads, mostly of popes and potentate'
u and the one fashioned by topmaker
% Nurem berg, which contains plan
10 Sevastopol, railway station and I'll
messiah of Klopstock, is indeed mu
en- tum in parvo.
at A tiny vessel has been made OF la
ne wears by an Italian jeweler who can
e, into possession of pearl that natul
le had caused to take upon itself the shat
and contour of boat. A sail OF beate
~ gold studded with diamonds, binnac
- light of ruby and emerald, and ru
der of ivory complete the structur
: which weighs less than an ounce
) told. We recently saw it stated that tt
smallest steam engine in the world
one Of an upright pattern, made OF s.
yer and gold and resting on a % ce
goldpiece. The diameter Of the cylind
is one forty-eighth part OF an inc
stroke, one thirty second OF an inc
weight, one -eighth Of grain; bore
cylinder, 1926 Of a square inch. L
II engine can be worked either by stea
or oppressed air, and-oh, shade
Peter Ramus-the balance wheel
third of an inch diameter is said
e make 1,76O revolutions per minute.
In 1916 knife was made at Mess
mi Travis & Sons Manchester, contalnl
.ll three blades, buttonhook, saw, pune
screwdriver, box, corkscrew, hook a
ev gimlet, two phlemens, a species OF IL
.od Get, picker and two more lancets witt
ring at the head. The knife, we leal
All was only eleven-sixteenths of an il
Ore long and weighed 1 heavyweight
grains. At this end Of the cent?
Sheffield can boast of dozen pairs
~ shears, each go minute that they al
81 gether weigh less than hail J grain,
report speaks true.
Of examples Of microscolle writ
there is no end, but ons OF the most
NOUS is mentioned by Pliny, who
that Cicero had once seen Home
| Ill Tn tf, mr.
~ the truth of this French writer nan
III Huet experimental in the presence
- the dauphin, whose tutor he was
!. 1870. He first showed that piece
sheepskin 10 by s inches can be fol
up to fit the shell of walnut. and t.
- proceeded to prove that he could get
stanzas of 80 verses to stanza on
- side of the paper, or $500 verses
each side. Of the paintings in mil
ture Carel van Mander, the sixtee
century painter and historian, gu
the landscape painted by Lucas
Heere's wife, This work of art re-
sented a mill with sails bent, the l
Ter appearing as if mounting the st
loaded with a sack. A cart and b
were seen upon the terrace upon WI
the mill was fixed and on the road
eral peasants were discerned. The w
was perfectly distinct and accura
finished, and yet SO minute that 1t c.
be covered with enc grain OF G
Surely that most microscopic artist,
- Jan van Beers, must be descended I
the fair painter of that extraordll
work of art.-London Standard.
Her Explanation.
"This building" said the little
girl, who was taking her little cou
cousin around and showing her
e;nL4s ss;r nalInd the half nrnhan