The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1899-01-30
ASBESTOS.
A bunch of stories Several Hundred
Years Old.

Qrom the New York Timcs.)
An elderly man, with gray mustache,
says the New York Times, looked up
from plate of spaghetti which he was
eating in a restaurant, and spoke TO three
others:
Say he said, what do you people
know about asbestos?''
Two of his companions preserved a
modest silence. but the third, who was
little man, spoke up:
II know all about asbestos he said.
DO, eh?" queried the man with the
spaghetti on his plate. Then how longs
it been in use?''
We'll" said the little man, hesitating-
ly, ''p'raps thirty years.
You're away OFF. OF course, you didn
know that Charlemagne had an asbestos
tablecloth?"
Who's Charlemagne?"
Well" said the elderly man. Charlie
magne was King of the Franks and En-
peror of the Romans about LOO years
ago. He was a great fighter, and own d
an asbestos tabecloth.'
Don't believe it,, said the little man.
II never heard of asbestos until the cen
tennial''
Wen, Charlemange had the cloth all
right" said the elderly man. He used
TO astonish his friends from the interior
by throwing the tablecloth into the fire
after dinner. and, of course it didn't burn.
Asbestos became quite fashionable after
that for towels and napkins. II saved
! laundry bills. All mans wife had to
do was to throw the weeks wash into the
stove and it came out as clean as chalk. -
Say" said the little man, incredulous-
ly, do you think you can string me like
that"
| It's So declared the elderly man But
/ of course you never heard that Benjamin
/ Franklin had an asbestos purse?''
NO; had hep asked the little man,
with a sneer.
'Of course he had. He took 1t over to
| England with him. and sold it TO a man
| in bloomsbury, London. for big sum. "
| Il suppose said the little man, with a
wink, that the Englishman was friend
| of yours, and you know his name"
No" replied the first man, Il never
saw him, but he was called Sir Hans
| Sloane, and he had museum
Dime museum grinned the little man.
! Not bit of it, smiled the elderly
man good naturally; it was a sure
| enough museum. and as a matter of fact
it constituted the nucleus of the British
Museum. | dare say that Benjamin
| Franklin's asbestos purse is there yet"
| The little man looked a little crestfaIlen,
! but the elderly man consoled him.
| Don't worry, he said: there are lots
| of people besides yourself who are shy on
! knowledge regarding asbestos. Ii wasn't
much used during recent centuries In 1876
an asbestos handkerchief was shown tc
the Royal Society as a great curiosity By
| DIR. Plot, who had bought 1t from a travel
! er on his return from China. They called
| ii salamanders wool Dr. Plot saturate
the handkerchief with oil and threw it into
| fierce charcoal fire. The oil burned off
! but the handkerchief remained intact Tn,
| fellows OF the society were much interested
| and were not greatly surprised when the
| price Of asbestos in Chinese Tartary wa.
| quoted at $500 a Chinese ell which ISM
much more than an English yard II.
| likely that the price had risen since tn,
days of the ancients for those old fellow.
had big sheets of asbestos, which they
wound around corpses before crematinl
| them"
That's n long time ago" said the lit
j tie man, sententiously.
We'll continued the elderly man. .i
you want to come down to later years
there was book published in London
forty years ago, giving account. anon.
other things, of remarkable experiment.
previously made at Milan in Italy, by tn,
Chevalier Aldni. who had used asbesto
! liz the construction of suit of fira-proo
armOr. The coverings for arms. legs, an,
body were of heavy cloth which had beel
soaked in strong solution of alum. TIL
helmet, gauntlets and stockings were o
! asbestos. Then there was an overdres
covering the body, thighs, and feet. o
gauze. twenty meshes to the inch. Wit
this arinor on men stood on big gridiro
over a blazing fire for ten minutes. an
buried their heads in piles of burning ha
and shavings, but, nevertheless. they cam
out unframed They also handled bars O
white-hO iron, and did other thing
which seemed quite miraculous. That wa
/ over forty years ago.
Well" said the little man. its har
10 believe that for several hundreds q
thousands of years the wore was so fu
OF chumps that there wasn't room for
man smart enough to utilize asbestos. o
, the whole, | guess, I'll go on doubling"
I "Ail right" returned the elderly mar
I've got $1,000 that says I'm right Per
. haps your doubts are strong enough /
{ uphold a bet of so against it,
But the little man wouldn't bet