Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1905-05-25
WHAT Is A FLAT?
Tired Woman Defines 1t and Also Tells
How 1t IL Distin8uished from
an Apartment -

won't some one please enlighten me
as to the difference between fiat and
an apartment" plaintiveiy inquired
woman who had just moved to the city
at an afternoon tea Everybody was
willing to enlighten her, says the Chi
cago Tribune.
why, of course" said one. with an
experienced air; the flat has a set OF
speaking tubes and whistles and bells
and things When you want to get in
you ring the bell and the door clacks,
and you go in before the clacking stops.
At an apartment house there is hall
boy to let you in. and usually an ele
vator and telephone besides"
mo, you're wrong" came from
tired-looking little woman in a corner.
Those are only mere surface differ
ences. A fiat and an apartment may
both have none or all of those things.
The only real, heartrending difference
is this In fiat, it is not considered
heinous crime to have children; in
an apartment 1t is That's all. I've
been hunting vines and fig trees late
ly myself. and l know. None of the
fig trees looked at would tolerate my
olive branches; guess they don't grow in
the same gardens any more outside Of
the Bible"
THE VEGETABLE. SALAMANDER.
Fire Cannot Injure the Rhopala, q Hardy
Tree of Colombia.
There is tree of Colombia, the
Rhopala odorata, of the order Protea-
ceae, which presents, says an article
quoted in Current Literature, most
remarkable power of resistance to fire.
In the district of Rolima it is customary
every year, during the dry season, to
set fire to the plains in order to de-
stroy all the dry weeds that, during
rains, might interfere with the growth
of the young and tender vegetation.
This periodical contlagration naturally
produces the most disastrous effects
upon the trees, which gradually disap-
pear without being replaced, since it
is difficult for an old tree to resist,
and still more so for a young shoot
of one or two years. A single tree
forms an exception, and that is the one
above mentioned-the Rhopala. Small,
distorted and soraggy, and having a
wild and desolate appearance, this tree
not only does not suffer from the fire,
but derives profit therefrom. 1t grad
ually establishes itself in localities
abandoned by other trees and installs
itself therein. We have here a very
typical case of survival of the fittest
1t, alone capable of resisting fire, wit
nesses the disappearance of it's rivals,
and is seen to gradually encroach upon
an always more extended domain. It's
resistance to fire is due to it's bark. The
external portion of the latter, more
than than half an inch thick and
formed of dead cells and fibers, acts
like protective jacket with respect |
to the more central and living parts,
and this assures its triumph in it's
struggle for existence against fire.
HOW HIGH CAN MAN GO?
Human Feet VIII Probably Never Press
the Peak Of Mount Everest.
Prof Ugolino Mosso, of Turin, has
made some interesting experiments on
the effects experienced in ascending to
high attitudes. All climbers of lofty
mountains are aware that at great
heights, such as the summit of Mont
Blanc, res, s,jiration becomes more or less
troublesome, the heart beats rapidly and
sometimes irregularly, and feeling of
exhaustion, often accompanied by
nausea, is experienced. These effects
arise largely from the rarity of the air,
and since the atmosphere becomes less
dense the higher one goes, ii is evident
that Limit must soon be reached above
which man cannot ascend. Prof. Mosso
made his first experiments on Monte
Rosa, next to Mont Blanc, the highest
peak of the Alps, where he assembled to
an elevation exceeding $4,000 feet with
out serious inconvenience. Returning
to Turin he made his next ascent, so to
speak, without ascending at all. In
other words, he produced an imitation
of the rare atmosphere of a very lofty
top by partially exhausting
the air from large pneumatic chamber
in which he had shut himself When the
air in the chamber corresponded in den
sity with that which would be found at
"A height of 24,272 feet above sea level,
he suffered such ill effects that he could
not carry the experiment further. The
height TO which Prof. Mosso thus simu-
ted an ascent is almost a mile less
than that of Mount Everest, so that it
seems improbable that man will ever be
able to set his foot on the loftiest peak
Of the earth
Proceeds Of q Pond.
There is a thrifty man in England
Who makes his living out of pond.
The water is about 13 acres in extent
ind close to a village street. For sew
.ral years he has worked it for profit
With good results, the crops being
hree in number-reeds. fish and wa