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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1896-2-27, Page 6• LIFTED BV LOVE; floes the Wharf Waif Became a Pincess.. @IIELXSXXEn nY SrECXAL. ARRANGEMENT. The closing of Baxter's wharf was a sad blow to him, but a worse came soon after, for being of a too active disposi- tion he took to smu •sling tobacco and rum from incoming ships, and being discovered by the excise was sent to prison, and the Joy lost its license. The brewers obtained a fresh license to sell beer and put Putty in to manage the house. When he came, the spring tides had flooded the cellar, and seeing it was of no use he bad the trap screwed down to save the expense of putting new hinges on it. 'Since then. as I have said. no one had ever gone down into the cellar, With these recollections crowding my mind and the. means they suggested of delivering Taros filling niy heart with a wild delight, I hurried down Ferryboat alley, and after looking about carefully to make sure that no one was observing pie I wedged myself through the ven- tilating holo and dropped into the wharf cellar, I knew exactly where the open- ing existed, having taken part myself in some or" the old marauding expedi- tions, and dropping down upon my hands and knees I brushed the dirt away from the stone that covered the hole. There was not enough light to ;see it, but I could trace the outline plainly enough with my fingers. But how was I to raise the heavy flag? There was no ring or anything to catch hold of, and I knew that if 1 worked away the rubbish sufficiently to get my hands underneath I should still be un- able to lift it. I must have something. to pry it up with. A bar of iron would do. It struck me that I might find what I needed among the old iron in Johnson's yard. If I had thought of that beforehand, I might have brought it in with me, but I was too impatient of delay, too eager to begin, to waste time in regrets. Clambering up to the ventilator, I looked out. Some boys were playing on the shore. I dared. not show myself while they were there. It seemed to me that they would never weary of throw- ing stones into the water, but at length they gave it un and went away. Then I slipped out, and pretending to be look- ing for odds and ends on the shore made my way up to Johnson's yard and got in through a gap in the paling. It didn't take long to find what I wanted —a broken stoking iron looked to me just the thing. Asking myself if there was anything else I should need, it oc- curred to me that a candle would be necessary, the cellar of the Joy being even darker than the wharf cellar. The gates of the yard opened into Sweet Ap- ple lane, and as they closed. imperfectly I was just able to squeeze through— thanks to being a kipper. When I had bought a halfpenny can- dle and a box of `matches out of the money given nee by Putty, the tremb- ling of my knees and a feeling of faint- ness reminded nee that I had eaten noth• ing all day, so I bought a small loaf and some cold fish and treated myself to a cup of coffee with my last halfpenny. The hot coffee set me up wonderfully, and with revived energy I returned to the yard and hiding the bar under my dress sneaked back to the stairs. Then after another cautious look around, finding the coast clear, I slipped the stoking iron through the ventilator and followed it almost as swiftly. It was a Harder job than I expected to move the flagstone and get it out of the way. But I stuck to it, with the per- epiration running down my face, until, the sensation of sickness seizing me again, I had to give over for a time till I had eaten my loaf and regained strength. mercy of Drigo and Putty On the 1 arrangements for the descent his eyes other liand, if 1 waited until the tide had ; becoming used to the darkness, which WONDERS OF X RAYS risen and fallen a"aiu it might be tae at first was impenetrable to them. I late to sa I backed out of the run, clambered to the place and its darkness, and his into the. cellon and 'raising myself into silhouette stood out distinctly against the casement of the ventilator looked wthe gray sky as I held tight on to the out. The water was certainly high, but znclz. I Wald see him quite plainly whether it was rising or falling T could when he said, 'Now, little friend, and not tell, eke I looked out a clock chimed swung ,lilinself° out from the loft door the half hour past 10. At 11 the Joy on the chain. would be closed. Then anythingeaight ! I was mole careful than if niy own happen to Teras. One thing was toles- life had depended on the descent, and I ably evident—the two men would go turned the haudle steadily and yet as down into the cellar, if only to see if quickly as I dared: I felt at ease until Teras as still alive, But they might his head and shoulders disappeared, but have, and probably had, made azrange- then a horrible dread that he might slip ingots with the other man to take him ' from the chain possessed me as I thought away from the goy, in which case, if I of him swinging out of sight a hundred waited till the tide had risen and fallen, feet and more above the stone quay I shoal fined the cellar empty when I below, and fervent gratitude filled. my reached it. ( heart when there cased to be any pres- 1'liis reflection and a belief that the sure on the handle and a low whistle title was yet some distance below high from below reached my ears. water mark decided sue to snake the at- And now, not waiting to wind up the tempt at once and run the risk of being chain or even to c,nse the loft; �''-r: • 7 imprisoned by the tide, "At auv rate apo 1 down to the cellar that I might I said to myself, "I shall be a prisoner rejoin him, At the foot of the cellar steps my foot with him," struck against something, which, by the Without another moment's hesitation sound it made, I knew to be the box I I dropped down into the run, put my had thrown down the shaft before we nz,2tches and caudle end in a part of my went up to the loft. dress where they were least likely to get wetted, and then crawled along the run through the slush, which, to my satis- faction, I found came; nowhere above my elbows. When I reached the far- ther end, I rose to my feet, and finding the irons i'n the wall mounted up by them until my head struck the flagstone above, and here, knowing that 'I should need all my strength, I paused for a minute to get breath. Then, bending my head, I rose another step, and setting my shoulders against the flag strained every muscle to straighten my body and. push upthe stone. For some time it resisted all my ef- forts, but at length the matted earth above giving way it yielded slowly, and I pushed it up sufficiently far to get my head and shoulders through the open- ing. But being now stretched to my full length, and finding no iron to set my foot on and get fresh purchase, I could go no farther and stopped there, unable to get either up or down, the heavy flagstone pressing cruelly upon my shoulders, scarcely able to breathe and feeling as if my poor chest bones would be crushed in. I dared not cry for help, lest my voice should be beard by the men above, and I could ouly hang there gasping for breath and despairing of release. Indeed I think I must soon have fainted under the dreadful pressure, but that Turas, having listened to these inexplicable ds sounin the ground in passive perplex- ity for some time, hearing the faint moan that escaped me when I felt that it was all over with me, groped forward, and 'finding the opening set his foot un- der the stone and thrust it right back with one strong effort. My sense of relief was indescribable. In a moment I had scrambled onto the floor of the cellar. I struck a match, and raising it my eager eyes fell upon the great figure and noble face of Taros. He did not recognize ice at first, and the look of astonishment in his countenance was curious to see. And no wonder, From head to foot I was drabbled and daubed with black ooze and dirt. I could have looked like no- thing human 'rising out of the earth and thus disfigured. But he knew me by the time I had lit the candle. He murmured scene unintelligible words of gratitude, and his eyes were suffused with tears that sprang from his sensitive heart. "No time for jawin about that," said I, interrupting him. "We've gat to get out of this afore Putty comes down and the tide comes up." He turned round and showed me that his hands were tied behind him. The hemp was black with the dried blood from his wrists. The sight of it filled me with rage against the villains who had used him so barbarously. "There's a knife in my waistcoat pocket," he said. I found it and cut the knotted rope, At length, having worked the stone but it was some time before he could aside, about a foot out of its place, I knelt down to feel if the opening was large enough for me to pass through (for I had not lit the candle to do this work), and then to my dismay I dis- covered that the too careful watchman had filled the hole with rubbish. Sink- ing down on the ground, I could have .cried with the mingled feelings of rage and disappointment, but thinking of Taros desperation overcame these senti- vearats� b i could see still more clearly. beim used use his numbed hands. At length life returned to them. And all the time we stood there I knew that the water might be rising in the run to prevent our escape, yet I was unconscious of alarm or fear or even of impatience. I was with him. "I am ready now. Are we to go down there?" he asked. I nodded assent and led the way by dropping to the bottom of the shaft. I cents, and springing up on niy knees I - stood aside, and he dropped down also. tore at the rubbish with my hands ve- Then I dived into the run, holding the hemently, like a dog in a warren, deter- light up to the top that he might see. mined to reach Taros, though I had to The ooze was no higher, and we got through just as the candle end gave out, but he had to squeeze to get his broad shoulders through the ends of the casks. I sprang up the hole by the irons and at the top struck matches while he mounted. We were safe, but to guard against pursuit I dropped the box down and Tarns replaced • the stone, moving it as if it were no more than a piece of board. Then I led him by the arm to the case- ment, and striking another match showed him the'hole by which we were • to get' out, telling him he must pull due the remaining bars, "Deer little friend," said he, passing his hand round the casement with a laugh. "I doubt if I could get my big bead through there." This was true, and the unforseen diffi• eulty dismayed me for a tiuie. All the doors opening on to Sweet Apple lane and -the river were padlocked on the out- side. We were prisbners. Suddenly the means of escapeaame into my mind, and again taking his arm I led him up through the empty storerooms into the one at the very top where I lodged. The door there was only bolted on the inside. I opened it, still holding his arm, for if in the dark he had taken a step forward it would have been his last. "What is in there?" he asked, looking into the obscurity as I pushed the door back. • "Nothing is out there 'cept the open air and the river down below." "Do you expect me to dive from. here?" he asked in a tone of amusement. "No: Do you think I want you to kill yourself? I ain't a fool. Wait a bit?" said I, striking my last match. I held it up when it flamed and showed him the crane fitted in the doorway, the windlass inside and the chain hooked against the nail, telling him how I had seen great bales raised from below by this apparatus:, "Ifou can hold onto the chain, 1'11 lower you down," said 1, "You caut ou feet on thein hook thin " p you. y g g.s , at how will you et otit?, he asked. , By the hole in the cellar. _•It ain't too narrer for me." agreeslaying' He d. to tills g he would eveit for mo below', and then, as noise- lessly as we weld, we pushed out the deg my way to him through the solid earth. Happily the rubbish was loose and yielded readily to my hands, and still more happily there was not above four or five feet of it, or I might never have got down to the tub run with all niy de- termination. An ' empty box thrown down had got jammed in the hole about a third of the way down, and below that the space was empty. Nevertbeless• it took me many hours to get the rubbish; out, having nothing to dig with but my hands and nothing but my apron to carry it up in when I got down a certain distance, and then the box, which at first sight seemed to have been set there by the hand of Providence, appeared after awhile to have been wedged in by worst enemy, for it defied all my efforts to loosen it, until my patience and strength were well nigh exhausted, and then I had to get to the top and drag it out, which was even more difficult. Ten o'clock struck before this task was ac- complished. I had been compelled to light the can - die to get the box out, and. there was now not more than an inch left. I blew out the light and put the end in my pocket. Icould feel my way ,along the tub run, and the light would be needful when I got into the cellar of the Joy.. There were iron staples in the aide of the shaft placed at intervals to serve as steps. The descent was easy enough, but at the, bottom a fresh ob- stacle presented. itself I was standing in water! If the tide was up, it would be impossible to get through the gin, that part of the shore being completely under water at the flood. Dropping on my knees, I crawled aorward, entering the first cask,,,;. The.. thick ooze was high over my wrists, but still if they were all fairly on the same level the passage ; was yet sufficiently open. The ooze might simply be the earth that had silted • through in the course o years left'in its present condi- tion by a receding tide. But what if it was wet with the rising tide? This question made nee pause despite my ins b atient desire to go on. , If the tide rose before I could get, Tams out of the. cel- lar, lar, all escape would be impossible, and hemmed in we should both be at the crane, got the chain down and made CHAPTER V. A RITTER navENo a At the sound I instinctively crouched down as one does in expectation of a blow,- and stretching out my hand I felt the rough splintered edge of the box. The significance of its being there was plain enough—the escape of Taros had been discovered, the men 'had followed us through the run and upheaving the box and stone had come up into -the wharf cellar. Nor was I left for a moment in doubt, for as I dropped on my knees Putty cried out: "Look out, mate! We've got him. The beggar's just tumbled over that bloomin box." Then the guttural voice of Drigo from the farther end replied in broken English: "Knife him Dead or alive, I'll give a hundred pounds for him." I strained my eyes in vain to penetrate the darkness. I could see nothing. Not a ray of light entered the cellar by the hole under the stairs. To cross the cellar and escape by the casement was out of the question. I dared not attempt it. I could not clamber into the opening without some noise which would betray my whereabouts to the villains, and before I cqu13 squeeze through the knife would be driven into me. I was not in in a condition to reason that I might escape death by declaring at once that I was not Taros. I expected to be mur- dered for helping him to escape. I dared not move, for I could not tell whether my enemies were before or behind me—to the left or to the right, but I held myself in readiness to spring away at the first touch, at a breath, which might warn me of their approach. Those moments of silence as the men waited for some fresh sounds to guide then were terrible. Could that foreigner see in the dark better than I? Was he stealthily drawing upon me to wreak his vengeance? Anything was possible to a foreigner, I fancied at that time. Not the death that followed, but the actual horror of having a knife thrust into niy body froze my blood. Suddenly a flickering, luminous streak appeared in the black distance as Putty tried to strike a match. It was wet. He tried another, producing another blue streak. "We must get a light somehow or we shall get a-stickin one another," he mut- tered. "Ain't you got 'ere a dry match, mate? Mine's all wet." To my increasing terror, Drigo made no reply, supporting my belief that he saw me and was preparing to cut me down. But after a few moments of terrible suspense another streak appear- ed in the darkness at soine distance from the others. Drigo had found a match and was trying it. He was more suc- cessful. A green spark fell, and the sulphur began to bubble up into violent flame. It already threw a livid light on his hideous face and a gleam on the knife in his hand. In another moment I should be seen. How could I escape? The casement was beyond them. The steps were behind rile, but I dared not turn my back on that knife. The box in front of nee suggested a better means, and as Drigo raised. the, .burning match, making the way clear, I shot across the intervening space and dropped down the shaft iutp the run. The light was so dim and my move- ment so rapid that I was not recognized by the men. They saw only a figure dash past and drop down the hole, and under the impression that it was Taros, as I knew by their cries. they gave chase in an instant, one—Drigo, I believe— dropping down before I had passed through the second tub, but I was out of arm's reach and made good use of my start. The water had risen considerably. It was up to my throat in one part. My sodden petticoat clung to my legs and weighed me down as,,I rose to niy feet. - Nevertheless I scrambled up into the cellar of the Joy while the men below were groping for the fobt irons, swear- ing furiously. .A. lamp stood on the ground where they had left it beside the flagstone which Taros had thrust aside with his foot. One edge of the stonelay square with the side of the hole. Seized by a savage impulse, I caught hold of the stone by the farther edge and raised it into a perpendicular position. Then; as Drigo's head appeared, with vindic- tive deviltry in his upraised face, I. pushed and let it fall. It struck his head, and'lze fell with a howl' on his comrade below. It was easy enough to escape now. A glimmering light in the bar showed me that the flat was open; against the wall' rested the steps by which they had de- scended. But the blow I had dealt Dri- go filled me with a fiendish joy and whetted my thirst' for vengeance. All the evil passions of my nature were ani- mated with a craving for retaliation as I thought of the evil those men would have done to Tares •and nee. ' The only wish of my heart was to inflict .some terrible punishment upon 'them. I dragged up the stone and poised it in the hope that Putty might come up and that I might serve him as I had served Drigo. Bat he was wise enough to pro- fit by the experience" of the other and preferred to stay below and vent hie fury in curses, • While I was,' waiting the stone slip- ped, and in moving to keep it in posi- tion my foot struck the., lamp and over- turned it: It was a'laige benzine lamp, and as the oil ran out it took fire, send- ing up' licking g tonouos of flame. The p read; and the blazingliquid - pool by q d gun rang over the edge, of the shatft ran c owri in.afier stream . nd dropped in 1. y `i, dropped gouts of flame. The men below shrieked aloud in terror. to BE 00I.$TINUED. EDISON SEEKING TO SOLVE MYS- TERIES OF THE NEW LIGHT, For Seventy Sours He and $is Men La- bored Without Sleep or Rest–Incalculable Value of the Discovery to Surgery and Other Sciences, - When Thomas A. Edison and his chief assistants, including his son, left the Wizard's laboratory, at West Orange, at 7 p.m. Saturday, they had been, working for seventy hours continuously—that is, from 9 a.m. Thursday. During that time experiments relative to the Roentgen X rays had been conducted without in- terruption night and day, not even the snatching of a lunch by the investigators at irregular intervals interfering with the almost feverish search for hidden truths. Mrs. Edison, seeking to break the charm, telephoned her husband sever- al times from their hone in Lewellyn Park, across the way and within shout- ing distance of the - laboratory, that she was coming In the carriage to take the inventor driving, but the answer was al- ways: "No, no! I can't go now," and on the strong -limbed, big -brained and un- pretentious investigator worked. "I'm going to give the boys a rest to- night and to -morrow," he said. "They have been hard pushed. Not a wink of sleep since we begun." Notwithstanding the long ordeal, the inventor and his helpers appeared perfect - be,rid of the cultures and there will be no development of bacilli. "I. haven't a great deal of faith in the idea ,of photographing the brain of a liv- ing person, but I am preparing n battery of bulbs with which to make the experi- ment Monday night. We may get some unthought of result. - There is no telling what is to come, The light and these bulbs have many vagaries," Some enthusiastic persons in , the Oranges near by the Edison shop are, in their reports to the outside world, making the inventor do and say some things that must give the scientific world thought if not shook. For instance, it was sent out Friday night that Mr. Edison had made an important discovery in the way of vaouums and would thereafter use a celluloid vacuum, that being his latest fete as a wizard. The scientists are now preparing to receive the information that Mr. Edison has evolved a sweet,potato vacuum, producing a high orer of cathode rays. This unthought-of data was made pub- lic by several unsuspecting non-technical daily papers, as was another yarn thought out by the Orangers yesterday. It said that Prof. Roentgen's discovery had been eclipsed by Mr. Edison, who had produced a light that penetrated steel as though it were thin air. As a matter of fact, steel offers an almost absolute resistance to the rays. It has proved more impene- trable than any of the other metals or substances. . A worn and weary district messenger boy reached the Edison laboratory shortly after dark yesterday, He had a note for Mr. Edison and had been searching for that gentleman since 9 a.m. The writer of the note had sent the boy to Menlo Park, but he found that Mr, Edison' had deserted his lanoratory there for the one at West Orange eight or nine years be- fore. Afterwards he wandered about the country The noto invited the invent- or to the delectable experiment of photo- graphing a tumor. Just what for Mr. Edison did not tell, but he grinned as he wrote the answer. .As he is vary obliging, it is thought to have read, "Bring on your tumor." Prof. Roentgen's discovery is all that Jae claims for it. By it yon can photo- graph the interior of living aniine's, of metal, of a book, of a leather case and of countless other substances. In a few months, at the utinost, it will have been developed so far that every electrician, every photographer and every student of physics will be able to make the experi- ments for himself. An that is necessary is the apparatus, and this is rapidly being shoplifted. In most of the books on physics that have been published within the past flve years you will find a description of the following beautiful and mysterious phenomenon: "Take a glass tuba in which an almost perfect vacuum has been created, Into one end insert the negative and into the other the positive pole of the battery. When the current is turned on there will emanate from the negative pole a strange light of greenish hue, delicate and subtle. These are cathode rays." A few weeks ago word Dame from Wnrzburg that Prof. Roentgen bad dis- THROUGr1 AN RLUMItiUM CP.SE ly fresh in the subdued light o1 the labor- atory, and all said they felt very well. No doubt, however, they would have shown quite haggard in the sunlight. "I have confined my work to -day to testing a dozen vacuum bulbs made last night. The history of each as to vacuum. was noted down as they were sealed off the pumps after exhaustion. Now I am making sbadowgraphs with them, using always the same objects from which to get the images. They aro these strips, one each of steel, zinc, aluminium, lead, hard rubber and celluloid. I know what they are, and they make good subjects. I give them a uniform exposure of forty minutes before each bulb, and the nega- tives when developed will tell which bulb has glean the best results. Knowing by my notes the vacuum of that particular bulb or tuba, I shall, of course, know how much of a vacuum is necessary for our purposes. This once established I will at once snake 100 bulbs for the work ahead. I found that the first ques- tion to solve was that of the bulb; that there was no utility in going ahead with- out knowing the exact vacuum within which the rays can be produced most effectively. "Of course, I have met with trouble- some obstacles. Some of the bulbs lost vacuum in being sealed after exhaustion. The escape of electricity from the bulb during exposure affected my sensitive plates, and I am now placing this thin sheet of celluloid between the bulb and the plate to act as a barrier to induction. We will run the thing down finally, and the only thing to do is to pound away at it. "Here is something queer that I do not understand now," said the inventor, as he and the World representative stood in the dungeon -like darkness of the pump- ing -room, where the experimentsare conducted—a darkness that was in nowise relieved by the steady, deep blue finores- cence of a bulb that was making a pio• Lure—the crackling flashes of the electric ourrent at the point where the necessary vibrations were produced, and the dull, bluish glow on the two wires running across the room carrying the electric fluid to and from the bulb. "Feel this." he continued, as he passed something into the hands of his visitor. It was an ordinary incandescent light bulb with two wires dangling from its sealed mouth. Then, taking the bulb the wizard placed It behind the slide, with- in whiob was the plate upon which the image was being produced. It was as though he sought to hide it behind the slide from the fluorescent bulb on the other side. The detached bulb in the in- ventor's hand took ou a light, _violet tinge, a ghost-like phosphorescence. The same effect was noticed when the detaehed bulb was hold in the full glow of the bulb in oiruuit, a foot or more distant from it, and also when the• inventor placed his round, fat band between it and the legitimately fluorescent bulb. "That effect is electrical, of course," said Mr. Edison, "but just how it is pro- duced I don't know. It is probably in- duction. I happened to he idly handling this bulb when it suddenly took on that tinge. It doesn't amount to anything in value; it's only curious "I've thought of one thing to which these rays may perhaps be applied in the field of medicine. Itis well known that all light is purifying—an enemy to bacil- li. It is highly probable that this new. form of radiance may prove highly steril- izing in its. action upon water and sub- stancesbefouled with bacteria. If so, it should be deadly to, poisonous animal- culae in the lungs, and it oan be made to reach and penetrate those organs, "I' shall test its quality in that respect in this way: Two test tubes will be led with, waterintowhich cultures of bacteria have.. been introduced. If left to them- selves the oultures would develop within a day or two and the water would cloud with the billions ofpoisonous atoms. But I shall place one of these test tubes under. a fluorescent .bulb,whilo the other will be set aside to allow the development of the bacteria If the X rays have, the sterilizing quality tho water in the exposed tube will GATHERING BUTTER. Oftentimes both the farmer's wife and professional dairymen dairymen experienee eon- siderable trouble in gathering tfie butter into a solid mass, even after it appears in. the churn in small granules and floats about in the buttermilk, The usual plan is to manipulate with the dash until the butter can be removed from the churn in a more or less compact form. Thus treated, it too often presents a. greasy appearance, and by the tams the usual washing and the proper quantity of salt is well worked in, the granules are mostly broken, and the result is that the output is marketed at a low price. Very much of this trouble can be avoided by a simple process, easily understood. and within the reach of all,- As soon as the butter appears and the process of gather- l . ing is about to take place, then, for an eight pound churning, pour gradually over the floating butter in the churn two gallons of cold water, in which a teacup of fine salt has just been dissolved. Let it stand for a moment, then manipulate with the dash as in the usual manner in completing the churning, and the chances are the butter will be well gathered but. in unbroken granules. The reason Is that the water containing the salt increases the density or specific gravity of the but- termilk, oausiug the granules to rise to the surface. It also hardens thorn, re- moving a certain substance or ooating from their surfaoe,allowing thein to read- ily unite under presssuro such as is ob taiued by the use of tho dash or revolving churn. Butter gathered by tnis process Is much firmer, better granulated, and consequently better flavored. The only objection to bo offered is the addition of salt to the buttermilk; but for feeding purposes, if added to the swill or house slops, no i11 effects to the swine are ever observed. When fed to hogs at clover pasture, the action of salt removes all danger from bloat by simply increasing their desire for drink. covered that these rays, while they would not penetrate glass, would pass through certain metals and other substances. He had found that they would penetrate aluminum. The words were hardly out of his mouth ere scientists the world over had seized their vacuum tubes and had begun experiments in this new direction. The success of experiments with cathode rays depends entirely upon the apparatus. The drawback to photograph- ing objeots like the human head is that it is difficult to obtain a light of sufficient power. With the facilities at his disposal Mr. Osterberg was unable to obtain more than 10.000 volts, Then, again, when you consider that the tube to which this electricity passes must be held within two or three inches of the object that is to be photographed, you will readily see the danger that attends these experi- ments. With the least carelessness a spark might fly from the aluminum, which, if the current were strong enough, would instantly kill a man. Before the experimental stage has passed hundreds of thousands of volts will have to be em- ployed in making these pictures, and the least carelessness would have frightful consequences. Aluminum case case enclosing a pair of scissors (silver handle, steel blade) a hair- pin (steel), a cigar cutter (metal com- pound), two nails (wrought iron), a knife (celluloid, with steel blades), fancy Crookes *be about eight Inches long and two and one-half inches in diameter w:.s used. The luminosity in the beginning show- ed a beautiful green color, which is the sign of a very high vacuum. • The spar inside of the tube becoming very hot tends to volatilize and thus gradually im- pair the quality of the tube, The expos- ure was kept up for seventeen minutes, and the bulb was about four to five inches away from the top of the aluminum case. Use case itself was directly above the photographic plate, the ser.sitized paper of course being covered by the plate -hotter, This experiment was intended to show - that the aluminum is transparent; furthermore to show approximately the degree of opacity to the rays through the different media, and finally the distance was so se°ectad as to be fairly'confident that no radiant light would enter the alu- minum case. It is interesting to observe that glass is about as opaque, to the Roentgen rays as steel, Mid this second experiment on eye- glasses in their case was made to show this to be the case. The fact that glass:is opaque to the rays is very important. With settle scientists the opinion pre- vails that glass is necessary for the pro- duction of these rays. If they ,,cannot pierce glass at all they would have to be prodnced on the outside of the Crookes tube; if they can pierce glass once there is no obvious reason why they should not gothrough two layers of glass, This may, of course, be explained, by the law 'of in- tensity with respect to distance; that is to say that in consegnenoe of the weak- ness of the rays at any appreciable dis- tance from the Crookes tube they cannot pass through glass a seCond time. Its utility in surgery is apparently of unfathomable value; its newly discovered physical properties may lead further and further into mechanics, physics, cheuee try, etc,,- but at, present we 'know too little about the real properties of the rays to call such reverie -Anything but pocula - en. P The General Purpose Cow. Beef production and milk production in the same animal are often useful to the farmer, but should not be the aim of him who desires to receive the greatest amount of profit from the dairy. A first- class beof and milk and butter cow, com- bined in the one animal, is rarely, if ever seen; either the hoof tendency will pre - Vail, or the dairy qualities. All animals require so muoh food for support. and the balance that they are agile to digest goes to keep up heat in the body and to the production of fat. "Phis fat will not be evenly distributed—half in the animal frame and half in the milk -pail. If she animal has been bred long in the line of beef production rather than milk and butter, the greatest amount of this fat will go to beef, and the reverse. The first-class dairy cow cannot be made very fat 'while in good Sow of milk. She can- not digest enough rich food above the amount required to maintain support to deposit a large amount of fat on her hones and maintain a heavy flow of milk at the same time. The general purpose cow, then, is not a strict reality, though there may be good milking strains of beef breeds, which aro useful where beef is the main object. Self -Locking Cattle Fastener. Where the old-fashioned cattle stanch- ions are still in use, it will be found con- venient to make use of some such ar- ranaoment as is presented in our illustra- tion, . Fig. 1, Such a device is both a convenience and a safeguard against the clanger of an animal getting loose and in- juring others, as very often happens where a pin is used as a fastening, If a cord is connected with every stanchion in a row in the manner shown in the sketch, every animal in the row may be set free in an instant should a Lire make such a thing desirable. Fig. 2 shows the same SECURE STANCHIONS. device for instantly-lreeing•a whole row of cattle fastened with the more humane chain fastening. The illustration is given as it is to show the principle on which the device works; but in practice the cord and iron pin should be covered, or "boxed in," so that the pin might not be pulled out by an animal getting its horns fastened about the oord. Dairy Pith. A permanent pasture should signify permanency of good feed. Lead a cow rather than drive her. Gentleness should be the watchword to the dairy stable. The whey following, a good cheese- maker'e work Is poor feed for pigs, as it. contains but little casein, or butter fat, The dairyman with a good well and a windmill can feel about as independent as the one who has running water on his farm. When you strip a Dow's teats to the last drop in milking, do it not so much for the immediate gain as to keep the udder of prolifio habit in the future. The merciful dairyman when he draws calves to market puts them in a comfort- able crate, instead of tying their legs ;and doubling them under the wagon seat. - To make the cow truly profitable, you must maintain-- her milk yield along natural lines of feeding. Indulgence in freaks of food stimulation does cows more harm than good: While' dairy animals need shade in summer as much as shelter in winter, it should not:be so extensive in the pasture as to interfere with tho natural develo cent of` nutritious grass, p The wise dairyman who does not turn his cows out to pasture in the spring ' prin„g till: it is of sufficient growth to support them, gets quality in the feed, which is of as c. mu h importance as quantity. The cow that must graze industriously half of the et nmcr t y o recover ptiysioally what she has lost by inditerent keeping through the winter, is not apt to earn a dollar in real profit for her owner,`