When The Heat Is Greatest

1901

When the heat is greater out of doors than indoors, it is a mistake to think that open windows will cool a room. Instead, in the early morning, after the room is dusted and put in order, the windows should be shut and the shades drawn down and kept so until the sun has gone.

When the sun shines on the window most of the day, it should be protected by an awning of some sun resisting color that will keep out all stray sunbeams. An awning, even with the shades lifted, will keep a room comparatively dark and cool.

When it is necessary to keep a sickroom cool, an excellent plan is to open the door and almost shut it as fast as possible for about 20 or 30 times in succession; nothing changes the air in a room so quickly or so well. Then wet cloths should be hung before the open windows or anywhere where a draft of air may pass through them. Plenty of cracked ice is necessary in hot weather within reach of the patient, and in the room quite a good sized block of it in a deep pan will help keep the temperature down. — Helen Tripp in American Queen.

How Water Causes a Fire

1901

One would hardly believe that a bottle of water standing harmlessly on a table could be the cause of a fire. Nevertheless such is the case.

In my laboratory the other day I detected the odor of burning wood and, seeking the cause, noticed a tiny wreath of smoke rising from the counter. Setting aside a flask of water that stood close by I sponged over the burning spot with a damp cloth. Shortly after I again detected the odor of burning wood, when, to my surprise, I discovered another burning spot on the table close to the water flask. The flask was standing in the sunlight, thereby concentrating the rays to a focus on the top of the table, acting in this case as a burning glass. A handful of highly combustible material was thrown over the burning spot, catching fire almost immediately.

I cite this instance merely as a warning to chemists and apothecaries, who may not realize how easily a fire may be started in their storerooms by the sun shining through bottles, flasks and carboys of liquid, converting them for the time being into burning glasses of great power. I have in mind now the instance of a fire originating in a storeroom from this cause. — New York Times.

Cooling of the Earth

1914

The application of Stefan's law to the calculation of the mean temperature of the earth, at a given latitude, shows that at the latitude of 80 degrees, the temperature was in the neighborhood of 90 degrees Cent., when the sun's radius was about one and a half times its present dimensions, i.e., about two million years ago. Thus it would appear that life commenced on the earth in the vicinity of the poles. The same reasoning leads us to the conclusion that in less than two million years, when the sun's radius will be reduced by one-tenth of its present value, the temperature on the earth will have fallen below 0 degree, even at the equator. — Scientific American.

The Sun's Heat

The sun is hot enough to melt, on its surface, an envelope of ice.

—The Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck, ND, July 6, 1920, p. 2.

Balky Horse Starts a Blaze

1920

Kicks Off Hot Shoe, Sets Blacksmith Shop on Fire

SANDFORDS MILLS, N. Y., Feb. 26. — Upon his arrival in town, Abner Gesner, who lives near here, led his horse into W. A. Wirts' blacksmith shop to be shod. Mr. Wirts prepared the horse's feet without trouble. When he raised the left hind foot of the horse it resented having the red hot shoe applied to its hoof and began jumping and kicking. The horse kicked the hot shoe into a pile of shavings at the end of the shop, igniting them. Wirts had to call out the village fire companies to extinguish the flames.


Blind Coroner Enters Vaudeville

ATLANTA, Ga., Feb. 26. — Paul Donchoo, Atlanta's widely-known blind coroner, has gone into vaudeville. Besides being a coroner and a lawyer, Donchoo is an accomplished musician.


Take 585 Gallstones From Man

HAZLETON, Pa., Feb. 26 — Five hundred and eight-five gallstones were removed in an operation from John Koda, at this place. The man felt much relieved after the operation.


At 91 He is a Movie Fan

CALDwELL., N. J., Feb. 26. — Augustus Bogert at his home in Hanford place, Caldwell, passed the 91st anniversary of his birth. Mr. Bogert was born in New York. He is a movie fan.

Unwilling Brides

1896

If there is a person on earth entitled to sincere commiseration, it is an unwilling bride — a girl who has given her hand, without her heart, in marriage; and more especially is she to be pitied if her heart, unhappily, has been prepossessed by another. Can any prospect be more dreary than that which lies before such a bride? What has she to look forward to, what to expect, what to hope? Linked not for a day, but for life, to one with whom she has no sympathy — who is no more than a stranger, save that in law and in fact but not in soul, he is her husband!

Is it not dreadful to contemplate? How much more so to experience! It is natural and it is proper that parents should desire that their daughters should marry well, and it is reasonable that they should prefer for them husbands in comfortable circumstances.

But when it comes to the exercise of compulsion in the selection of a husband — to commanding a daughter to relinquish an engagement or an attachment on which her whole soul is fixed, and to marry a man towards whom she feels indifference or dislike — that is a very different matter.


Why Men Become Bald

Men become bald more frequently than women because of the closeness of the hats they wear, which keeps the head too hot, induces perspiration and weakens the hair. The boys of the famous Blue Coat school in London, who never wear hats, never become bald late in life.

Substitutes Mustard for Electricity

1900

A street faker in Kenton, Kansas, had a thriving business selling electric belts until someone examined one of them. Then it was found that beneath a strip of gauze was a layer of dry mustard. When the wearer perspired a little the mustard was moistened and set up a burning sensation and the deluded victim believed a current of electricity was passing through him. Before all this was discovered, however, the faker had smelled danger and was on his way to another gullible neighborhood.


Debts Make Life Bitter

Ex-King Milan finds it more difficult every day to borrow money. His debts and his difficulties make his life very bitter. He has arrived at that stage of his continental career when he is looked on with suspicion and is placed on the ominous black list of Carlsbad's business people, who warn all their friends against "a certain Milan, formerly king of Servia," and announce that no goods should be sold to him except on a cash basis. — James Gordon, in Chicago Record.

Grouch Germ is Discovered

1910

New Form of Bacillus Particularly Active In Hot Weather Found in Kansas City

Kansas City, Mo. — A new germ, as yet unnamed, has just been discovered in Kansas City. It is a hot weather bacillus and affects young and old alike, being particularly noxious in adults, it is said, and producing a chronic case of what ordinarily is called the "grouch."

The discoverers of this germ are Dr. E. L. Mathias, chief probation officer, and his assistants, who constantly are making a study of human nature and, by the way, this particular bug is one which attacks human nature only.

"It is a hot weather bug," said Doctor Mathias, "and can produce the worst case of grouch in a short time that you ever saw.

"Just now we juvenile officers have little to do so far as the juvenile court is concerned, but we are kept busy as bees looking after what we call hot weather business.

"Somehow or other, this hot weather seems to 'peeve' everybody. It takes the form of grouch in adults and the form of what the grown-ups are pleased to call 'devilment' in children.

"A man lies down to take a nap of a hot afternoon. He is just tuckered out by the heat, he says, and a nap will straighten him out. Just as he gets comfortably settled, boys or girls in the neighborhood begin to romp, and, of course, they call back and forth, and the would-be napper is annoyed.

"Then the irate adult goes outdoors. He is hard hit by the weather bug. He loses his temper and gives the children a calling down. The bug, in turn, attacks the juveniles, and they answer back and make life miserable for the complaining one.

"About that time we got a call concerning a big disturbance. Some of the men go out, learn it is the same old story, and it is up to them to explain to the adult that children must play and that they can't be expected to conduct their game after the fashion of a Friends' meeting. They also lecture the children and take steps to restore the equilibrium of the neighborhood which is ravaged by the summer bug."

The juvenile officers have not gone into the investigation of the bug in scientific fashion, and as yet have worked out no cure.

The Hot Springs, Arkansas

1878

At the foot of the mountain, rising 1,060 feet below the tide-water at the Gulf, on whose sides the springs gush forth, lies the town of Hot Springs, following the windings of the narrow rocky valley of The Hot Springs creek. It consists of one long, irregular street called Valley street, which crosses and recrosses the little stream.

The valley of the latter runs almost due north and south, the Hot Springs mountain rising to the east, and more thickly wooded hills to the north and west. At one part the picturesque little valley is so narrow that the street takes up most of the level, the houses on one side being built over the creek and almost into the mountain-side, which in many places has been cut into and blasted away to make room for the buildings and other improvements.

The town broadens out considerably on the more level country at the south, towards the Ouachita river, and at the other end the houses are scattered for some little distance up the valleys of the two streams, which, joining at the northern end of the town, together with the waters from the mountain-side, form the Hot Springs creek. This stream, after passing over its rocky bed in the valley, flows due south for some six miles to where it joins the historic Ouachita.

There are some fifty-six springs in all, said by some to be one spring with this number of outlets, ranging in temperature from 63 degrees to as high as 148 degrees, and situated at different elevations on the Hot Springs mountain, and in the valley of the creek below, the highest issuing 180 feet above the Hot Springs creek, and rising within a space of 1,200 feet long by 200 wide.

The majority of the springs are situated well up the mountain-side, a few are distributed along the base, while others rise on the banks of the creek, and one springs from the bottom. The hot waters rise to the surface through a formation of milk-white novaculite rock, on top of which they have deposited a layer of calcareous tufa, in some places of very considerable thickness. They are supposed to derive their high temperature directly from the interior heat of the earth, either by passing over and through heated rock formations, or by thorough permeation with heated gas and vapors, rising far below from the molten subterrene.

The springs rising on the mountain are those used for bathing purposes, and are mostly covered over to prevent any pollution at the fountain-head, as well as to preserve as much as possible all the properties of the water until it is brought into use. The waters are carried by a system of wooden pipes to the tanks above the different bath-houses. They are still so hot on reaching the bathing-tubs that cold water has to be added. Together these springs discharge some 344 gallons per minute, or nearly 500,000 gallons of hot water daily, having an average temperature of 136 degrees Fahrenheit — certainly plentiful and hot enough for any number of invalids.

Hot vapor rises continually from the limpid waters, while carbonic acid gas bubbles to the surface. In the colder months the vapor, becoming visible, rises in such clouds that it looks like a fog hanging over the mountain-side. Day by day the springs are depositing the tufa, which forms incrusted basins for the clear sparkling waters. This is also found as a coating on the pipes and troughs, in the receiving tanks, and, in fact, wherever the waters pass. At the base of the mountain the ridge formed by the tufa hangs over the hot waters of the creek.

The diseases notably benefited, and in many cases cured, by the use of the waters of the Arkansas Bethesda are those of the skin and blood, nervous affections, rheumatism and kindred diseases, and the various diseases of women. In tke case of acute and inflammatory diseases, especially those of the heart, lungs, and brain, the use of the waters is injurious, and in many cases very dangerous.

The treatment is by drinking and bathing in the waters and in their steam, producing in each case a profuse perspiration, which is an active agent in the elimination of the disease by natural channels. The advice of a physician who has well studied the effect of the waters on the system is necessary, during their use, as they, if rashly used, are as powerful in breaking down the constitution as they are in building up. In many cases the system has to be prepared for the treatment by a course of medicine.

The hot baths are usually taken once a day for three weeks, when a rest is necessary, the patient probably spending a week at the neighboring sulphur springs, near the Ouachita river. A second three weeks' course is then taken, followed again by an abstinence of some days, from bathing. The duration of the treatment depends, of course, upon the nature of the complaint and its degree of severity. The usual stay at the springs is from one to three months, but many invalids stay a year and longer, and, in fact, some settle there. — A. Van Cleef in Harper's Magazine.

Riches From The Skies — Giant Mass, Precious Metals Fell From Sky

1877

Riches From The Skies

THE GIGANTIC MASS THAT FELL IN DIAMOND VALLEY, NEV. — A QUEER STORY

[Eureka, (Nev.) Sentinel.]

About four o'clock on the morning of the 7th of January, an immense body, glowing with intense brilliancy, came rushing across the face of heaven illuminating the earth with the light of day. It traveled in an oblique direction, from the southwest to the northwest, and instantaneously a shock was felt that almost threw the few spectators at that early hour from their feet.

About ten days ago Mr. Wheeler, who cultivates a ranch in Diamond Valley, and who is also in the stock business, came into town and left a most remarkable substance with an assayer. Mr. Wheeler had a smattering of metallurgical knowledge and, it seems, had tested the compound with a blow-pipe and other means within his reach, and detected the presence of the precious metals, but was unable to determine the value.

The piece submitted to the assayer was about as large as a hen's egg, and immediately attracted his attention by its unusual weight and peculiar color, it being of a purplish-black shade, and where it had been broken off the main body presenting a luminated stratification that he failed to recognize. Mr. Wacke expended the whole night in a series of experiments, applying every known test to the article, and detecting the presence of iron, nickel, cadmium, lead, silver, gold, zinc, cobalt, silica and phosphorus. There was also a residuum to each assay, of which Prof. Wacke was unable to determine the properties, but he hopes by the use of the spectroscope to classify it.

A surprising feature of the ore is excessive malleability aud ductility, a small portion of it being reduced by hammering to a fllm not exceeding one-hundredth of an inch in thickness. He has sent a portion of it to the San Francisco Academy of Science, and also to Prof. Silliman of New Haven, and in the meantime is prosecuting his researches. Prof. Wacke has found that the substance will reach $887 in silver and $42 in sold per ton.

The strangest part of the story remains to be told; and, now that Mr. Wheeler has duly recorded his claim and perfected the title, we feel at liberty to disclose the facts. On the morning of the 7th of January, Mr. Wheeler was almost thrown from his bed by a violent shock. Getting up and looking out of the window, he observed at the foot of the mountain an immense mass glowing at a white heat and of intense brightness. Hastily dressing he approached as near as possible, and found that the object lay just at the foot of the Diamond mountain range, but the heat was so great that he could not go within 1,000 yards of the spot.

He kept his own council, and made repeated attempts to reach it, but did not succeed until the 14th instant, when it had cooled sufficiently to allow him to break off the portion brought to town. The main body will measure about sixty feet in height, eighty-seven feet in width, and is 313 feet in length. These are the proportions of the body visible, and it is probable that as much more is imbedded in the earth. Mr. Wheeler calculates that there are at least 2,000,000 tons in sight, and if it will work anywhere near the assay he will extract an immense sum from the mass.

A Sunlight Stove — Solar Energy For Warmth or Cooking

1878

A Sunlight Stove

It has been said that when we burn coal we really warm ourselves, or cook the dinner, by the rays of the sun which fell on the earth thousands of years ago — before the Pyramids of Egypt were erected, or Cleopatra's Needle cut out of the quarry. The heat and light of past ages are stored up in another form in the coal, which is fossil vegetation that when alive, as trees or gigantic ferns, owed its growth to the sun.

A successful attempt has now been made to store up the heat of the sun's rays for immediate and practical use. It was carried out in India, where the sun is, of course, much more powerful than here. The rays were first made to pass through glass fixed an inch away from the actual apparatus, which was consequently entirely surrounded by hot air. The enclosed apparatus, a copper receptacle, was blackened outside — a color which is well known to absorb heat, as any one may prove by wearing a black coat on a warm summer's day. The heat thus retained was further assisted by a conical reflector of silvered glass, and a quantity of mutton and vegetables placed within was perfectly cooked.

To further aid in retaining the absorbed heat when the apparatus was removed from the sunlight it was covered with a rug, as ladies place a "cosy" over the teapot to draw the tea. Since then the inventor has improved upon the process, and can now cook chops or steaks in the open air as quickly as by an ordinary fire, and entirely by the sun's rays. The most remarkable point is, perhaps, that the heat is kept in the apparatus for as long as three and a half hours.

In connection with this subject, just to test the power of the sun's rays in our own country, let any of our readers on a hot summer's day place their hand on the slate roofing of an accessible shed. Where they slope to the south, the slates will be found sometimes so extremely heated that the hand can hardly bear to touch them.

Lafayette's Ashes Buried With Dog

1911

ASHES BURIED WITH DOG

Lafayette's Funeral at Edinburgh Witnessed by Tremendous Crowd

Edinburgh, May 15.—Lafayette's unurned ashes were buried between the paws of the embalmed body of Beauty his favorite dog, in the Edinburgh cemetery. A royal funeral could not have been larger.

The chief mourner was Lafayette's second favorite dog, which rode alone in a curtained auto.



Farmer's Fatal Over-Exertion

Akron, O., May 15.—While plowing on his farm Newman Adair, a prominent farmer of Summit county, was overcome by the heat and expired within a few hours.

—Indiana Evening Gazette, Indiana, Pennsylvania, May 15, 1911, page 2.