Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-09-08
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while strolling about in my garden the
other day | was very much Interested In
the clever and almost human manner In
which a large but ordinary house fly buried
q dead spider said naturalist 10 the
writer recently. THE fly bearing the life
less body OF the spider in its feet, new
down on a patch of bare sandy soil and
laid its load down within few feet OF
where | was standing. 1t then went about
eighteen inches in another direction from
where ] stood and from where 1t had
altghted. and commenced digging hole In
the ground My curiosity was excited ana
I stonDed TO watch the insect at work.
well after the fly had the hole dug half
the length Of himself he went to where he
had left the spider. and apparently TOOK
its dimensions. After going BACK 10 'he
hole he found 1t was not big enough anu
began digging again. After taxing OUT
quantity of earth he once more went to the
spider and again took its measurement.
He did this eight times and as OFTEN en-
larged the hole. When the BUSY niue lei
low had the hole too deep for him TO tnro"
the earth clear out he would go on the
bank and force it back with his rect; Az
last when he had the excavation large
enough for hi, purpose he Went Tor the
spider and brought it to the grave, Tor suSn
n proved 10 be. and dragged 1t to the
mouth of the hole. After he had the pou!
in he covered it with fine earth nrst anu
on the top When he had finished the WORK
he flew away having completed the buTiai
in exactly forty-fve minutes by my watch
*
..yerv few people outside the building
and wholesale hardware trade have any
convention either as regards to the enor-
NOUS number or great variety OF door nam
dies which are annually made in this coun-
try" said a manufacturer in New York to
the writer recently. They are sofa
By the millions and are made In thousands
of cheap and costly designs. An ordinary
china, plaster or metal door handle OF plain
pattern can be bought for a few cents, out
a fancy and newly designed article, even
though ii be only made out OF common
and inexpensive metal may cost all the.
way from 81 to SIS. With such high-priced
door handles it is not the material, but the
labor. that comes high.
I'm making new and fancy metal door
handle an architect first draws the design
and submits ii To the manufacturer for in
spection. If the drawing IS satisfactory ne
turns IL over to his molder, who makes an
exact pattern of the handle in clay or plas-
ter Every line that is nat In the design Is
raised in this pattern. and the more elab-
crate and intricate the. decoration the more
difficult is the work. The pattern Is then
given To the man who makes the mold. or
oftener several moldS joined together,
called gates These are usually of plaS-
Ter. and the molten metal Is poured into
them without in any way affecting the
plaster When the metal is cool the handle
is taken out and after having passed
through the hands of five different skilled
workmen. it is ready for the market, Only
the first castings of newly designed door
handle are usually costly. When the mold
Is once made the price of handle de-
Creases according to the number made so
that the five hundredth door handle costs
very little more than the metal put into it.
10. tod
quite largely to Central American states,
the West Indies and to Europe, where they
compete very favorablv. in beauty of de-
sign and neatness of workmanship, with
the homemade product.
X
No matter how eminent or learned they
may become, the distinguished gentlemen
concerned with the scientific departments of
the government are never quite above be-
ing fattered by any manifestations Of in
telligent interest on the part Of the public
in the branches which they affect. Prof.
l. o Howard chief of the division Of en-
tomology. confesses that he is no excep-
ton, and by a story which he has told to a
few members of the Cosmos Club, he points
a moral against any such weakness. 1t
happened in this wise: The professor re-
ceived one day a personal letter from a
gentleman in a western town asking him
to be good as TO send him a copy of
his report. Professor Howard replied
promptly. saying he should be pleased to
comply with his request, and asking to
which particular report he referred. The
reply follows.
Am not particular which one you send.
j only want ii for a scrap-book."
\ X X
The Department OF Agriculture Is con-
stantly receiving letters of inquiry from
people all over the country. and it is the
general practice to supply the information
in the form of one of the innumerable
printed pamphlets. sent free of postage in
one Of the official franked envelopes. In
the upper left-hand corner is legend to
the effect that the inclosed comes from the
department of publications and in the up
per right-hand corner is the customary
warning against using the envelope for pri-
vate purposes.
Last week one of the bureau chiefs sent