The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-07-10
SCRAP BOOK FOR TO-DAY


 Although the 'sbeautiful quiet Eng
 fish of Sir Arthur Helps,' to which
 Ruskin admitted his obligation in the
 forma ton of his literary style, is not
 widely read by the present genera
 ton, there are still many people who find pleasure and inspiration in the
 works of the philosophic moralist. A
 revival of interest in Sir Arthur may
 be expected as result of the cele-
 bration in England today of the cen
 tenary of his birth.
 Arthur Helps was born in Surrey, July 10, 1913, and was educated at Eton and Oxford. For many years he serv-
 ed as private secretary of MT. Spring
 Rice, afterward Baron MonteagIe,. and Lord Morpeth, afterward Earl of Car lisle and as clerk of the prtvy coun-
 ell. During this period he cultivated literature with varying success. His two plays, King Henry the Second" an historical drama, and Catherine Douglas" a tragedy, both written when Helps was about thirty, were failures.
 Before essaying the role of dramat- ist, he published Essays Written in the Interval of Business, and Claims of Labor, an Essay on the Duties of the Employer to the Employed These works continue to interest, but more because of their literary style than for any originality of thought.
 Slavery was a subject that pro- foundly interested Helps, and one of the best essays in Friends sin Coun- cil,'' is devoted to it. This was later elaborated into 8 work in two volumes entitled t'The Conquerors Of the New World and their Bondsmen.'' Subse- quent researches into American sIav- cry were embodied in 'HThe Spanish Conquest in America, and it's Rela- ton to the History of Slavery and the Government of Co1onies.'' This work, fn roJT oS Spanish manuscripts, remains an au- thority on the subject of New World slavery.
 Many other books, dealing with so-' cial, sanitary and political reform, and marked by a philosophical tone and moral fervor issued from the pen of Helps. He was the editor of Queen victoria's selections from her diary, published in 1888 under the title of Leaves from a Journal of Our Life in the Highlands and he also wrote the preface to that volume. For this service he was knighted, in 1872. s-He died in 1875.
 Chicago, now the most important port on the Great Lakes, greeted it's first steamboat 81 years ago to- day, July 10, 1882. The tiny steam craft brought Gen. Scott and his troops on their way to the scene of the Black Hawk war. Chicago was then only two years old, and was not incorporat- ed as a town until the year following the visit of the first steamboat. Steam navigation on the Great Lakes began in 1916, when the Frontenac, a mag nff1cent vessel costing all of $75, 900, began to ply on Lake Ontario. The history of Great Lakes transportation, beginning with the birch-bark canoe, followed by the French bateau and the later great fleets of sailing craft,
 L7-.@ great steam passenger and freight vessels of today, is the history of the commercial progress and prosperity of large sections of two great nations. The struggle for transIantic shipping supremacy is no keener than that be- ing waged on the lakes Next year Canada will take the lead with a ship 625 feet long, the largest on the lakes, with a wheat carrying capacity of 450 900 bushels. The contract for this 1eviathan of the fresh water seas was recently awarded to a Port Arthur, Ont. shipbuilding company.
 The first announcement of his dis covery of g1ycerfne was made by Karl Wilhelm Schee1o, Swedish chemist, 1s7 years ago today. The inventor described the substance as 'sthe sweet principle of fats,'' and named it eel euss. Later Investigations by Chew reul, BertheIot, and many other chem ists, resulted in the perfecting of the glycerine which is now so largely used in manufactures, medicine and the arts. Scheele made many other inn portant discoveries, including tartar ic acid, chlorine and baryta. He dis covered arseniuretted hydrogen and the green color still known as ''Scheele's green Other researches were concerned with an animal con oretion from which he got for the | gIHTTTFTTTTHTTlNTHIITEH ITEHlTRNlFTTIHTiHTNWMRNFTIMMT