Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-07-18
ANCIENT SECRETS.
Priceless Recipes That Are Now
Lost TO the World.
OF THE OLD MASTERS.
They Are the Envy and the Despair Of
Modern Artists, 70 Whsm Their
Composition, is a Mystery--cresk
Fire aid Romar Mortar.

Modern Artists, 70 Whsm Their
Composition is a Mystsry--cresk
Fire and Neman Mortar.
Numerous are the trade secrets hand
cd down generation by generation
from father to son, and vast ~ the
capital made out Of some Of them In
the commercial world OF today.
Particularly. perhaps, is this the case
among the numerous manufacturers OF
piquant sauces and the countless vend.
ers Of patent medicines. sf''9s
But there Is a1so, It must he remem.
bered, another side to the case. Many.
alas, are the priceless trade secrets
buried far down below the nolderlng
dust OF the misty past and lost to the
world, perchance never again to be re
covered iEsssS1S &@tt. '&'H ~ &% '*
TO cite the first example that occurs
to the mind OF the writer, for instance,
what would d Royal acadenaictan OF the
present day give to be possessed q, the
;secreti@held .sby the old stdRstefsaRlfa:
phaAl, Rnbens, Correggio, Van fD)ycckk
and their cotnpeels--for mixing thelE
cts0loarss 80 as too render them Simperlsh.
ablcFand i~snpervious to the ravageSof
tme2s E@$% "
The red colors especially Of these
artists Sf 4 hygone epoch are every
whlt45aB bright now al they were
three long centuries ago. On The
contrary, the etxololrs D pictures paint.
ed only 400 years ago have 1oststheir
luster and are faded and decaya to
adeplorable extent. "" ~@2rs*
Again, In the world Of, music, the
manufacturers of vlolins-old masters.
as one may justi1ably term them, in
another branch Of art-treasured a
recipe for q varnish that sank into the
wood Of their incompatible instru.
ments and mellowed it as well as pre-
served it &'
With such extreme, relentless jeal-
susy, however. did they guard their
great secret that 1t, too, is lost, to all
Appearances, irretrievably. - %. =
Rather more than 100 years ago
there lived In a quaint, old world vii.
lage in Wales a working blacksmith
who had managed by some means or
other to bring the welding of steel to
such a pitch Of perfection that the
Joint was absolutely invisible and the
temper OF the! steel as fine as on the
day it left the testers hands. BY his
process he was able to join the very
finest Of sword blades, and after he
had finished with them they were alb
solutely as1goodssand as;sound as when
they had leftSthe factory
The blacksmtth's fame spread far
and wide, and, naturally enough, he at
tanned a great reputation, but he made
a point Of Invariably working in soli-
tude. He was offered large and tempt:
ing sums to dfvulge his secret, but
Kept it obstinately to himself, and
when his span Of life had run its
course he took 1t with him to another
world.
The ancient Greeks had a substance
which we call Greek IRE and which
they used in naval warfare.
Their method Of employing it was
simply this-to throw the substance
upon the surface OF the water, where
1t famed up and set fire to the ships
Of the enemy. What was it?
The only known substance of the
present day that would do this is the
metal potassium, but to set fire to a
ship in the manner described would
n%ecessitate the use of at least half a
ton Of the metal. Where did the
Greeks obtain the substance they used
with such effect? Or how did they
make it? II Greek fire was potassium
the secret Of the process is another
that must be numbered with the lost.
The man who could dfsinter the
buried recipe for Roman mortar would
be bowed down to and w~orshiped by
the builders OF the present day" How
they made it is a profound secret and
bids fair to remain so. s"S ,@"
The mortar is as firm now as it was
1000 years ago. 1t has calmly scotfed
at the ravages Of time and weather.
The above are but a few-a very
few-of the lost and buried secrets of
antiquity which modern scientists and
mechanicians would give much to
learn.-London Answers.