Ellsworth American., 1910-04-13

ana, tossing 1t, sevsrs it before it can de-
soeno' Some people have thought that
scott exaggerated just little here, but
sucn probably is not the case, for it has
oeen told by recent traveller that he
oncs saw man in Calcutta throw q hand
iui OF silk floss in the air and Hindoo
promptly severed it with his saber.
dunpowder was known to the Romans.
though they only used it for fireworks;
put IN one particular we are yet far behind,
Tor the secret Of the terrible and destruc-
tive Greek fire has been lost altogether.
Another "lost art" although put to use
on modern invention, is that displayed
IN the making Of a remarkable clock now
owned by Hindoo prince. For perfec-
tion and ingenuity this clock takes rank
as the "strangest piece Of machinery in
India. Near the dial Of an ordinary
looking clock is a gong hung on poles,
while underneath, scattered on the base
plate Of the clock, is Q pile Of small ar
tihcial human skulls, ribs, arms and legs,
the whole number OF bones in the pile
being equal to the number of bones in
twelve human skeletons. When the hands
OF the clock indicate the hour of 1. the
number of bones to form o complete hu-
man skeleton come together with q snap.
and BY some mechanical contrivance
the skeleton springs up to the gong, and
strikes one blow. This finished, it returns
to the pile and again falls to pieces.
When O'Clock comes two skeletons get
up and strike, while at the hours of noon
and midnight the entire heap springs up
in the shape Of twelve skeletons and strike.
each one after the other, q blow on the
gong, and then fall to pieces as before.
The ancients had a marvellous know
ledge OF colors. Excavations in Assyria
and Egypt have brought to light colorings
that it is impossible to duplicate to-day.
At Nineveh the monochrome pictures
which represented the Chaldeans on the
wall are said by Gesenius, the septusgint,
and the Vulgate to have been painted with
sinoper or rubrica, native early oxide
much like our Indian red, while both the
English versions of the bible now in use.
as well as the rabbis, translate the word
as "shashar" Jeremiah xii, 14), or YER
million. At Khorsabad it appears that
the red approached that bright color, but
at Nimrod the sculptures exhibit a bright
crimson or lake tint-and our painters
have not been able to duplicate either.
Whether in ancient times better roads
and pavements we're built than at present.
or whether only the best remains is un-
certain, but it is also most certain that
some of the remains OF such structures
found in Rome, for instance, evince en-
gineering skill and perfection of work
to high degree. These roads were laid
out carefully and excavated to solid
ground.
This was costly work, to be sure - the
Appian way, about 100 miles in length,
nearly exhausted the Roman treasury
but it was enduring as natures own work.
In Peru and Central America the Spaniards
found remains OF roads l 500 to 1900 miles
long which, examination shows, were
built Of heavy flags of fire. stone, and, in
some parts at least, covered with BIZ
luminous cement which time had made
harder than the stone itself. The roads
OF modern times lack most of the elements
OF durability which these ancient made
ones possessed, and, consequently, wear
out in a short time.