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Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18
AN so-MILE PREclPlcE


Capt G. G.. RawIing. I member OF
the British expedition that recently
explored Dutch Guiana, describes
what may be the greatest unbroken
precipice in the world. 1t runs. he
says. for a distance of so miles from
Mount Carstenz westward to the
Charles Louis mountains. Its great
est sheer height is at Mount Leonard
Darwin. The explorers were never IN
position to measure with the theod
lite sheer height of this immense
pTecipice exceeding $500 feet. but
from many views obtained of 1t while
he was climbing Captain Rawling has
no hesitation in stating that the great
est perpendicular height is not less
than 10000 feet, or almost exactly
two miles.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18
CHINA HAS NO TYPEWRITERs

Typewriters are now made for use
in nearly hundred different Ian.
guages, and they are sold all over
the world; but there is still one great
nation which, for very simple rel.
son, has no typewriters that write its
tongue. That nation is China.
The English alphabet has 26 let
tiers, the Russian So The typewrt
er produced for the Russian market
is the largest made: but no typewrt
er could be made that would begin TO
be big enough for the Chinese Ian.
guage, which has no alphabet but Ia
represented by sign characters, of
which there are about $4,000. OF the
great number of words found in the
English language only small proper,
ton are used for the ordinary pur
poses of speech, and the same is true
of the characters used In the Chinese
language; but the number of Chinese
characters commonly employed is still
far greater than could be put on any
typewriter. So this nation of 400, 900,
900 people has no typewriter in Its
own tongue.
But that doesn't mean that no tyne
writer's are sold in China. More and
more Chinese are learning other Ian
guages besides their own. and Chin
ese merchants and resident foreign
merchants use typewriters, and they
are used in legations and in consular
offices and In banks and. shipping of
Gees and colleges. and by mission
aries, by various people. Altogether
there are sold in China a good many
typewriters.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18
TO KEEP WITCHES AWAY

Some curious .surerstitions are
gathered round even so eminently a
practical thing as beer. In Scotland
1T used to be the custom to throw a
handful Of salt and little dry malt
into the mash to keep the witches
from II. and the cautious housewife
In houses where they brewed their
own beer used to throw a live coal
into thS vat to rave the liquor from
The frolicsome interference of fairies.
The addition of salt. by the way, to
beer In the course of brewing was
supposed to be for Inc unhoIy purpose
of exciting thirst 1t may possibly
have been uged 10 this end by the I'M
scrupulous but tire real reason was
legitimate. Salt modera.es the fer
.mentation and makes the liquor fine.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18
JEWEL WEIGHS 24s POUNDS

Jewel experts throughout the world
have been thrown into a state OF ex-'
element BY the appearance OF a.
heryI that weighs 24s.1 pounds, and is
1S9 inches high, and from 1873
Inches to 1875 inches in width This
is the largest beryl ever found, and is
reported to have been sold by Its
finder for nearly $4,000. The beryl
swas picked up by a Turk IN the state
of Minas Geraes. Brazil. It's color Is
greenish blue. and II Is absolutely
free from impurities.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18
VIOLIN MADE OF MATCHES

A violin made OF matches is an
unique conception. This Is what w.
M. Finstad. of Bay City. Wis. has ac
complished He has actually made a
violin from matches, using $3.50 Of
the inflammable STICKS and a years
time in its construction. 1t has full,
sweet. mellow tone, and undoubtedly
there is not another one like it in ex
lstence. 1t was exhibited at the Min
nesota state fair and attracted great
deal of attention.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18
WHERE LADIES SHAVE

Some Of the East African ladies
shave their heads with small. sharp
faSorlike knives. first softening the
hair with goats milk Other Africans
keep It cut or to about two inches In
length and slick down with vegetable
oils Girls Of FIJI stiffen their locks
with tree gums, and soft, fluffy hair
is considered curse. Somehow some
of the races that have the stiffest hair
try to make It stifrer. and those that
have the softest try to make it like
down. and still other races do just
the opposite.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18
St. Johnsbury's New Fire
Truck.

The st. .Iohnsbury village trustees
have made a contract with the
American La France Fire Automo-
bile Co. for FIRE truck for the viii
lage to be delivered the FIRST day Of
August.
"A The truck is 70 horse ROVER
machine guaranteed to make any
Hill in the village at the rate Of as
miles an hour.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18
TELEGRAPH POLES TAKE ROOT

Telegraph poles that live and grow
are curiosity OF African engineering.
In Uganda n species Of Wild flg. local.
iy known as the barkcloth tree. Is
used for poles. and ten years or more
ago. 1t was noticed that they took root
and began to send out leaves and
branches soon after being planted.
Since then q line Of more than 500
miles OF these growing poles has
been developed. II Is troublesome TO
maintain. as the leaves cause frequent
leakage by contacts, and poles are
constantly dying and being eaten by
termites. The flrst cost. however. is
only 8 TO 16 cents per poe, while an
iron pole costs IS to 81 or IS.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18
NO TELEGRAPH POLES

The use of telegraph poles has been
dispensed with entirely by the Off
cials of one Welsh town, by making
an arrangement with the property
owners to allow the wires to be
strung from house to house. There
was some hesitation on the part Of
quite considerable number, but the
desired permission was quite general
~ secured conditionally in one nor.
lion of the town ana the improved
appearance was so great that there
was little trouble in securing the per
mission of all property holders Now
the new condition is a source OF great
pride on the part OF the residents.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18

MAYOR aAYNoR INSPECTING WASHINGTON
MARKET
of his old fashioned notions that nn-
tional politics has no place in purely
municipal affairs. So. by his direction.
the whole city government of New
York has been placed on the merit sys-
tenn, and favoritism. influence and
epull" of every description have been
done away with.
The change came about through the
mayors discovery, In the course OF his
searching investigation into all city
departments. that the civil service law
as it had always been enforced was
open to evasion. Under the letter OF
the law. when an appointment was to
be made, the civil service commission
certified the names of the first three
persons on the list. from which 1t was
&required that the selection be made.
When it was desired to evade; the law
and reach some favored person who
stood farther down on the eligible list
the method was for the head OF the de-
partment to pick out one of the three
first named who could be reached
and tell him that the appointment
would bertendered him. but that he
must decline it; that later on another
place would be found for him that
would be just as good or better. but
that for the present he must stand
aside If he wished to retain or win the
friendship of the politicians. The per
son knew that II he accepted the aP-
pointment he would quickly find In
fiuences at work against him, so he In
variably declined. II necessary the
same performance was repeated with
the next three who were certified by the
commission, ana so on down the line
until the man who was to have the
place was finally reached. :. In one in
stance position went to a man who
at the beginning stood fortieth on the
eligible list. All of those who were
ahead of him with proportionately
higher percentages of efficiency were
obliged to make way for him. The
letter Of the law had been observed.
but its spirit had been outraged.
Following this discovery MIR. Gaynor
issued an order to all of his heads Of
departments that nll appointments, Of
whatever nature or description, must
be made In numerical order from the
list furnished by the civil service COM
mission. He explained that this nat
urally would result In some injustices
and unsatisfactory appointments, but
they would be trifiing as compared with
the iniquities OF the old system. The
effect OF this sweeping mandate was to
take the whole city administration out
of politics at one stroke of the pen.
Under the old system all heads OF de-
partments were forced to devote one.
half OF every day to interviews with
politicians who wanted some one given
job or this or that policeman, lire
man. street sweeper or other employee
promoted, transferred or discharged
Now there Is nothing that can be done
for any politician, no matter how pow
erful he may be, so the department
heads are no longer bothered by themv
but are left free to give all Of their
time to the city's business. Conse-
quently they are able to watch things
more closely. and the city Is saving
money and getting better service from
its army of employees.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18
"YANKEE DOODLE HOUSE"

Old Fort Cralo. at Rensselaer,. NJ.
T., is better known as the Yankee
Doodle House." 1t is situated on the
east bank of the Hudson river. and
was erected in 1772. 1t was in this
building that the song. Yankee Doc
de-" was composed. In the hall Of
this building an arrowhead is imbed.
ded in the staircase. 1t is said to
have been fired by an Indian when
this building was used as fort.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18
FOSSIL SEA TORTOISE

The perfect fossil OF a huge sea
tortoise 30 inches in diameter has
been found in Mount Badly, 1000 feet
above the present sea level, near Los
Angeles, Cal II Is thought that this
is~a relic of geological age 100000
years ago. when all the western part
of the country was still under the
sea. and the Rocky mountains were
either submerged or only showed
their tips as Jagged islets.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18
SAME OLD STYLES

From the fresco paintings. OF women
In Cretan palaces OF the period about
1000 B. G., 1t Is learned that the
women OF that time pinched in Their
waists. had flounced Or, ACCORDION
plated skirts, wore an elaborate Golf
f,rre. shoes with high heels and hats
which might have come from Pa
risian hat shop while one woman
might be described as wearing jupe
ctilotte
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18
$4,000 IN WOODEN LEG

An old wooden leg may not be much
of q legacy, but when 1t contains &c.,
900 1t is certainly worth having.
thinks Jacob Randall. an inmate Of
the poor farm of Canadian county.
Oklahoma. The leg was given to him
by Alexander p. Hamilton. supposed
pauper at the farm, just before he
died few days ago. Randall dis
covered the $4,000 in the stock OF the
artificial limb.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18

The owners Of the Suchard, the
German airship which was to make
mn attempt to cross the Atlantic this
summer, have definitely abandoned
their purpose 10 attempt flight this
gear.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18

Cunard liners will dock six hours
later on account Of tnking rae south
eru Atlantic route, which il $50
miles longer The extra cost Of ship
supplies is $500.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18

Miss Mary e. Waller, Of Bethel,
Whose Nantucket romance, :" Sauna
of the Island Town" is now in its
third printing, is writing new novel
with American and Canadian scenes,
for autumn. Arrangements have
just been made for The English pub
lication Of 'Sanna of the Island
Town" by Andrew Melrose, the
London publisher.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18
SKIN FOR SANDFAPER

An ancient mariner and fisherman
says he wen remembers when the
dried skin OF the dogfish was used
for sandpaper. and good sharp cutting
stun 1t was. too The old salt furth-
sr says there are many sorts of imi-
alton dried cod on the marker and
hat the tail of a young dogflsh Is fine
fi'ied-
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18
"cATS' EYES, OF Annoy

vice-Consul Charles F. Brissel states
that cats eyes, are abundant in
Annoy, and cost about 81 bushel 1t
is reported that these are imported
into Annoy from Shanghai and Canton
and are made from mother-of-pear
and dyed.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18

A British scientist claims 10 hive
invented a new method Of gas heat.
ing without flame, which will work
revolution in fnel economy and
have very important Industrial ef-
lects.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18

With view to solving the problem
OF stability. an American airman. vii
tam P. Gary, has constructed new
tbree-deckeF aeroplane which. as our
photograph shows. is enclosed In o
circle. The motor is between the sec
cond and third planes, and the pilots
seat under the third plane. Both en-
gine and seat are attached to frame
work. The patent is IN the hands Of
the Brothers Wright. and the machine
Is said TO have gone through its trial
grips very we'll
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18

Since January l, l,645.11l bush
els Of potatoes, an unprecedented
amount, have been imported into
Boston. on which duties Of $4ll,
.266 have been collected.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18
.GAYNOR FAvORS
MERIT SYSTEM
Orders Spirit Of Civil Service
Law Into Effect.
TECHNICAL COMPLIANCE ENDED

Favoritisn,, Influence and "PuIl" OF
Every Description Have Been Done
Away With In the City Government
Money Is Saved TO the Public and
Better Service Given.
VT has been demonstrated. TO the
surprise OF some people. that Those
III who predicted that II William J..
Gaynor was elected mayor OF New
York he would prove TO be political
tool" were bad prophets. Instead of
catering to the politicians Mr.. Gaynor
has gone to the other extreme. and
New York. once the most boss ridden
community in the country. now has a
more rigid enforcement OF the civil
service system than any other Ameri-
can city. The mayor is a good party
man and believes in properly conduct
ed political organizations. but 1t is one
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18

Matthew u Caldbeck, of St.
Johnsbury, 81 years old, who was
injured Wednesday when his auto
mobile went down an embankment,
died early Thursday morning as a
result Of the shock. Mr.. Caldbeck
was the largest real estate owner in
St. Johnsbury.
National Rice Milling Co, $5,-
00n000 New Jersey corporation
commonly known as the rice trust,
has fled dissolution papers.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18


Of
tides
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18

Very little remains to mark the
golden age of Bagdad though one con
stantly comes across the yet more an
cient bricks bearing the stamp of
Northumberland that have been
brought from the ruins of Babylon
and are used In modern buildings. We
do not know even where the famous
palace of Haroun-al-Rashid stood.
From this epoch remain only the
tomb of zobeida, Haroun-al- Rashid's
favorite wife, here pictured, and Khan
Ortma, handsome and extensive
caravanserai
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18
sEA-DRAeoN OF AUSTRALIA

Here is one Of the wonders Of the
deep sea, the sea-dragon OF Australia.
It is so richly ornamented with loose
and Tapping ribbons of skin that 1t
reminds one much of the fearsome
creature that has been adopted as the
national emblem of China.
Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1912-05-18

Elm Tree Press. Fine priusin
The Washington herald., 1912-04-17
STANDING OF THE CLUBS.

bases filed in the fourth. he struck out
| wolverton. Two and three had been
called. and with the decisive pitch Bob
cut the plate with a deceptive shoot that
the Yankee leader merely heard go by.
Street was accidentally spiked by Nc
Bride in the opening game. and did not
start in to-day's play, bur he Iimped
back TO his position in the fourth inning
in an attempt TO still the tide.
The two double plays by the Nationals
were the classIest ever. They came Just
right to choke OF the Yankees spurts.
Jack Knight made q great running
catch OF DoIan's fly behind second in the
fourth. Jack speared the ball with 6ne
hand, running backward.
Both Mcbride and Henry stung the first
ball pitched in the second for line drives
to right field.
With a man on second and third in
the seventh. Groom famed Hsrtzell and
Daniels in succession.
: Germany Schaefer, the guardian OF
the right garden. was on deck with four
base hits tucked up his sleeve. And he
uncorked them at the proper time.
CLYDE Milan and Dan MoeIler managed
TO steal base apiece on Gabby. The
laxative one is still there with the old
| pep" however.
''stringbean Groom, the toothrick
hurIer Of the Nationals, had the Yanks
up a tree from the start, and although
he was touched up for seven safeties, he
was never in danger.
One Mr.. wolter, who holds down right
field in the score books for the New
York Yankees, only slammed out three
safeties out of Eve trips 10 the counting
block, including a nice slap for a pair
Of sacks.
Russell Ford, spitbaH hurler extraor-
binary, was greeted with an avalanch
soon sent to the cyclone cellar by Man
ager Harry. But warhop and McCon-
nell were no Improvement.
George Mcbride. famed shorthelder
of the Nationals, was right on deck
with his pair of safe cIouts, and also
there in the fielding line, taking care
OF FIVE chances without the fainest
semblance of an error.
Knight, Flynn. and MoelIer failed to
break into the hit column, but II was
not their fault. They all hit the pill
hard, but not in the right direction.
Moeller was the only National out
fielder to have chance, that being a
pop fly.
Bobby Groom famed seven Gotham
ties, while only four OF our Nationals
whitfield during the encounter.
Collegian John Henry put up a nifty
game behind the bat taking good care
Of eight chances without miscue. John
is some receiver. He also smacked out
a bingle at the right time.
Griff said after the game that he
would make It three straight to-mor-
row. Let's hope so, anyway.
The Washington herald., 1912-04-17
pAST PERFORMANCES
L From L Stahl to Clark Griffith

Heretofore our brave boys have been
in the habit Of volplaning to 800 from
dizzy and unexpected heights-gravity
was their long suit, but now that the
Meanings soar from 900 to 800 you all
have a new sensation.
Take. II from US, Clark Grifith is a
wise old owl. He shipped Walter John
son back home as soon as he won his
game. Wouldn't be surprised to learn
this a. m. that he had sent Foster and
Milan back last night. Why? Well. they
appear TO be very valuable citizens in
the baseball line. and if our brave boys
should be so reckless as to win three
in row from wolverton's wastrels the
dead game sportsmen of BraggartvilIe
will probably waylay and massacre the
the weanlings before they can get out
OF purgatory into Jersey City.
incidentally, there'n be no meeting of
the Post-Mortem Club this morning. II
would be melting to riot.
As for precedent. this appears to be a
good. day TO play b0ll, even against
Chase's Orphans. Half-and-hah in the
past-but look at 'em now and hug your
self over the Improvement.
The Washington herald., 1912-04-17
WOLYERTON FAILS
AS PINCH HITTER,
NATIONALS WIN
Yankee Leader Comes to the
Bat with Three On
and Fans.
GROOM HOLDS THEREINS

SPECIAL to The Washington Herald.
New York, April l6-"weIl. he suttinly
looked grand up there, anyway" said
the Breeze Kid after the humble Wash
ington statesmen got through kickin'
the Yanks aroun' to-day.
Clark GriHth's. Iowly laborers prong:
ing the second game of the series by the
incontrovertibie score OF 10 to ! simply
grand refer to Harry Wolverton. the
great pinch hitter OF the Highlanders.
You shoulda got him in that fourth. IN
mink. Three men on, understan'. two
down, and four runs needed to tie the
score-a regular Casey-at-the-bat layout
The fourth inning, as ! say, Hartzell
takes a walk to himself. He gets forced
by Bolt Daniels. Dolan hoists a soft one
10 Johnny knight. Gardner is safe when
George Mcbride yanks Flynn over on MS
ear with a wide throw. Street takes a
walk TO himself-bases full-Jack warhop
up-how'd'y' do.
The pltcher-his name was Groom; Mr..
r. Groom, Of California-was scarf by
the CLEAN in Wolverton's eye II brow
who runs a baseball club that has Just
lost four games in a row and is set in
10 lose the fifth, looked at you, I'll bet
you'd be scarf too
Mister Groom writhed, like the pitcher
luck-plowie.
And the empire. Strike one
And the empire said, "Stree-ike tub.
Everybody HOIIerinE.
well, you could see Harry was getting
more and more exasperated. Three men
on, two out, and four runs needed TO tie
the score. Crowd hoIlering; runners on
the bases hoIlering; everybody excited,
and all that, and home run hatchin,
maybe, and Harry famed.
This Yankee baseball club has COM
menced to interest me-" said the kid con-
fidentially. 1T don't stand to reason
they can get any further down, because
the St Louis Browns amt there any
more for 'em to stand on. And they'll
fall through the bottom Of the league"
When the Washington team can win
a game, pulled to a walk. like they did
this afternoon, everybody must be
dom II.
Aside from this, the feature OF the
game was the aH-around desperation of
the new chief OF the Hilltop clan in
trying to win that contest from Grit
lith's delegation. The fact that he
Tanned in the pinch detracts nothing
from Wolverton's gameness in making
that futile stab. II is no attempt to
excuse the nth straight defeat of the
Yanks TO say that leader that is con-
stantly trying 50 hard cannot fail to be
rewarded.
Wolverton led at the Nationals with
his crack, Russell Ford. and Russell
took another beating. wolverton then
tried Little Jack Warhop, and finally
the lean comeback, George Mcconnell.
but they could not hold the plunging
solons. Some slovenly baseball by the
Yanks contributed to the defeat, but IN
various deliveries offered them de-
cisively. $500