Chapter II: Part 2

In spite of the threat conveyed in the last speech, the culprit’s face visibly brightened after Joe’s remark. Mr Smethby had remained silent all this time, being not only confused with the unexpected revelation, but a little ashamed, possibly, of his own management, which was so over-cunning as to make him a readier prey to the swindler.

‘Well, go on,’ was the rough command of Styles. ‘Who are you? Where do you come from?’

‘My name is John Smith,’ began the man. A furtive leer which he cast upon the company as he said this, might have been involuntary; but certain it is that none of those who saw it believed he was speaking the truth. ‘I had got into trouble,’ he continued, ‘and wanted some money for a fresh start. While I was at my wits’ end to get this, a pal—a friend—who knew I had been in a difficulty, said’ (he paused here, and glanced at Smethby)—‘he said there was a flat to be had at Valeborough, if he was properly worked.—No offence, I hope, sir. It was not me who said this; it was my friend.’

‘It was correct enough, whoever said it,’ replied Smethby, to whom the remark had been addressed.

‘He knew a lot about the family affairs here,’ continued Smith: ‘he had scraped about and picked the particulars up, till he thought he had got quite enough to enable a man to act as the cousin they had not seen for twenty years; but he owned he had not got the headpiece to keep the game up for any time; so I was to be the cousin; and he was to be a friend who knew me, and was to manage—as he did very well—to get hold of Mr Smethby, as if by accident, and tell him all about the good luck of his old friend Styles, and how he was going to try on a game with his cousin Mr Smethby.’

‘I never thought I was such an idiot; but go on,’ said the host.

‘We raked up some money between us,’ resumed Smith; ‘but it was a hard job to get enough, as of course I had to be pretty liberal; but luckily this gentleman would not let me spend much.—However, I got a letter this morning, saying that Ben—my friend—could not send another penny, and that unless I could make a haul at once, the thing must burst up. But the business was nearly ripe. I had prepared the way for persuading my cousin, as I called him, to invest a lot of money, by dropping a pretended letter from my stockbroker, which I knew they would find and read. In fact, there was no difficulty all through; and I had arranged for a visit to London to-morrow, so I was in hope that’——

‘That you could make the haul,’ said Smethby, as the other paused. ‘How did you mean to do it, when I should be with you? I was to go to the office, you know.’

‘I meant to take you to a place where you would wait in a room, while I went into what you would think was only an inner office, but which I knew had a way out,’ answered Smith. ‘In fact, if I had once touched the money, there would have been an end of it.’

‘And your friend with the villa and the bracelets?’ asked Smethby.

‘All put in to make it seem more natural,’ said the man. ‘But I have not robbed your place of a pennyworth ever since I have been here, I assure you. I hope you will take that into consideration.’

He went on a little further, until he was interrupted by Styles, who led him to the door—no force was now wanted—and telling him that he would give him in charge to the nearest policeman if he ever saw him again, pitched him out on the dark road, and then returned to the circle he had left.

At first, Smethby was terribly chopfallen, but recovered ere long, and joined in the laugh with which first ‘Cousin George’ and then the others reviewed the past. Harriet was not the noisiest of the party, but she was not the least happy, and ‘Cousin George’ appeared to have taken a great fancy for her.

Styles paid his debt to ‘Nick Smethby’ that night, to prove, as he said, that he was not another impostor, and said, besides, that while he should not bother about amethyst bracelets or diamonds and sapphires, yet, if that young doctor had the courage to get married within three months, and a few hundreds would help him to get into practice, why, he George Styles, had enough for such a purpose, and Harriet should take care of it, until it was wanted.

Altogether, although rougher and coarser than the first cousin, this second edition was a great improvement; and settling down as he did in Valeborough, he was a regular visitor, not only at Mr Smethby’s but at Dr Crewe’s, when the latter set up his own house, after an early marriage to Miss Harriet.

And improvident and wild as George had once been, he was steady enough in his friendships now, so he never left the little circle; and when he died, his property—a good deal less than the hundreds of thousands attributed to the first cousin—went to the children of Dr and Mrs Crewe, with which cluster of young people he had always been a great favourite.

AIR AS A MOTIVE FORCE.

In a recent number of the _Journal_ we touched on the various methods of transmission of power, and showed how steam had been laid on in mains in the streets of American towns, and a house-to-house distribution thus effected. Loss has been found, however, to result from leakage and condensation, and these defects have militated against the system. Water under pressure has obtained extended application in this country where power was required in docks and warehouses; but up to the present time, a motor has not been introduced satisfying the necessary requirements of economy sufficiently to render the system of commercial value for supplying small power either for domestic purposes or to the lesser industries. Bursting of pipes, through frost or other cause, might result in serious damage, moreover, in dwelling-houses.

The problem of transmission of power may possibly find a solution in electricity in the future; but as regards the present, suffice it to say that the cost of production of such agency entirely precludes it from entering into the field of competition. Attempts now being made, in Paris and Birmingham, to distribute power by rarefied air in the former, and by compressed air in the latter city, possess no slight interest. In each case, the method adopted differs in no way in principle from that of the systems already touched on. Central pumping stations, furnished with boiler and steam-power, supply the requisite energy; whilst the transmitting medium—steam, water, or air, as the case may be—is distributed through the principal mains, which feed in their turn the lesser arteries of the system supplying the individual consumer.

In the case of rarefied air, though, theoretically, a pressure of fifteen pounds per square inch could be obtained, in practice it is found advisable to work at a pressure of about ten pounds, without approaching nearer to an absolute vacuum. Three classes of motors are employed to convert the vacuum in the mains into useful work; suffice it to say, however, that whilst differing in the details of construction, the principle involved throughout is the same, and consists essentially of modifications of the steam-engine to the requirements of air-pressure. Payment is made according to the power absorbed by each consumer, an ingenious arrangement actuating as counter, indicating how much work is actually done, irrespective of the number of revolutions made by the motor. Even where gas is available, the cost of engines for using it has not unfrequently militated against its adoption by the smaller industries; hence the Parisian Company for the distribution of power by rarefied air has elected not only to supply power but to lease out the motors as well. Their customers embrace such users of small power as hat-block makers, jewellers, wood-turners, comb-cutters, stay and clothing manufacturers, dentists, butchers, &c. The cleanliness of this system, and its excellent ventilating capabilities, should form an argument in its favour. Not only is all smell from combustion, as in the case of the gas-engine, avoided, but, by drawing at every stroke a given quantity of air from the room, the motor directly produces ventilation.

Time alone can show whether the system will prove a commercial success; in any case, its promoters could hardly have chosen a better field for its introduction than Paris, a city containing upwards of a million persons engaged in the minor industries already indicated, and which require small motive power.

A NINETEENTH-CENTURY PIRATE.

It is not likely that many of our readers will have heard of a certain Captain Hayes, who a few years ago was one of the most notorious desperadoes among the numerous ‘beachcombers’ and other questionable characters who infested the South Pacific. A few instances of this worthy’s escapades in the paths of fraud and villainy, drawn from _Coral Lands_, by H. S. Cooper (London: R. Bentley & Son), may be of interest, and will also show how, up to a comparatively recent period, a determined character could pursue a career of actual crime and piracy in the Eastern seas with impunity.

Of the antecedents of Captain (or ‘Bully,’ as he was commonly dubbed) Hayes, little is known before 1858, when he appeared in the Hawaiian Islands, having landed from the ship _Orestes_. After a short stay at Honolulu, he left for San Francisco in the beginning of 1859; and a few months afterwards reappeared in command of a brig bound for New Caledonia. Having entered a closed port without having first passed the custom-house, the sheriff arrested him and took possession of the brig. Captain Hayes put all the blame on his first officer, and was virtuously indignant with him for misinforming him as to the necessity of first entering at the custom-house at Lahaina, at the same time treating the sheriff with unbounded courtesy and every mark of respect. He at once agreed to proceed to Lahaina, and seemed delighted to find it was the sheriff’s duty to accompany him thither. When, however, the ship was clear of the land, Hayes ‘changed his tune,’ and coolly informed the sheriff he had no intention of going near the custom-house, and that he (the sheriff) could either remain on board and pay for his passage to New Caledonia, or find his way back to port the best way he could. The sheriff found himself completely outwitted, and was perforce obliged to take to his small boat—luckily, still alongside—and managed to reach the land with considerable difficulty, having the melancholy satisfaction of seeing his late prisoner laughing at him over the taffrail as he resumed his course for the Southern Ocean. Next mail brought instructions to the United States consul at Honolulu for Hayes’ arrest; and it then became known that when last in the islands he had borrowed money from a confiding clergyman, with which he had gone to San Francisco and negotiated the purchase of the brig, fitted her out, engaged his crew and then set sail, paying nobody. His cruise at this time, however, did not last very long; shortly afterwards, his ship was wrecked at Wallace’s Island, the captain and his ‘chums’ escaping in the boat to the Navigators’ Islands, leaving the rest of the crew to their fate. They ultimately, however, succeeded in getting safe to shore by means of a raft.

Hayes was next heard of at Batavia in command of a barque; how obtained is not known. He succeeded in getting a cargo of coffee for Europe—which it would never have seen—when the Dutch East India Company got some information as to his antecedents, and were only too glad to get repossession of their coffee, losing the charter-money, which Hayes insisted on being paid before he allowed the cargo to be taken on shore again. Finding he had not much chance of doing any good—or evil, rather—at Batavia, Hayes resolved to depart in search of a fresh field for the exercise of his talents. Proceeding to Hong-kong, he succeeded in filling his vessel with Chinese coolies, and sailed for Melbourne. After a fair voyage, he was nearing the Australian coast, when he spoke a ship, and was informed that a tax had been imposed on all Chinese immigrants, and that he would have to pay fifty dollars per head on his passengers before he would be permitted to land them. This was rather a serious outlook for the captain, but, as usual, his inventive brain was equal to the occasion. He sailed calmly on, and soon arrived off his port of destination. Then he set to work to carry out the plan he had conceived. He coolly filled his ship half-full of water, hoisted signals of distress, and lay to, waiting the development of his ruse. He had not long to wait; his signals for assistance were perceived, and two tug steamers were soon alongside, proffering their services for the purpose of towing him into port. Hayes declared his ship would sink before she could be got into dock, as his pumps were choked and the water rising at a great rate. He implored them to take off his passengers, leaving his crew and himself to escape by means of their boats, should the barque not float till they returned. This the tug-owners agreed to do. The Chinamen were trans-shipped, and the steamers bore off, promising to return as speedily as possible to his assistance. They got their load of Chinamen safely landed, the owners paying the head-tax, and steamed back to bring in the ship; but she was nowhere to be seen, having, as they supposed, gone down with all hands. No such fate, however, had befallen the gallant captain. No sooner were the tugs out of sight, than he pumped his ship free of water, and lost no time in putting a good few miles between him and Melbourne, inwardly chuckling, no doubt, at the clever way he had duped the antipodeans and got his Chinamen landed at others’ expense. Some time after this, Hayes speculated in another cargo of Chinamen; but this time he landed them without trouble and without paying anything, having gone through the formality of getting them all made British subjects before he sailed!

For a few years after this, Captain Hayes was little heard of, except at some of the South Pacific islands, where he occasionally turned up, ostensibly pursuing the avocation of an honest trader. By-and-by, however, he resumed his old habits, and for a couple of years or so he made raids on several of the island groups, robbing and destroying the stations of the traders and native villages. Eventually, he was arrested by the British consul at Upolu. As luck would have it, at this same time a certain friend of Hayes, Captain Pease or Peace, arrived at Upolu in his brig the _Leonora_. On some pretence or other, Hayes obtained leave to go on board; and when next morning dawned, the brig was invisible, having sailed during the night with him on board as a passenger. In due time, the _Leonora_ arrived at Shanghai, and by some dodge or other, Hayes managed to get Captain Pease put in prison, passing himself off to the authorities as the owner of the brig. He next got on board the supplies he was in need of, and set sail, as usual paying for little or nothing. Hayes once more was in command of a good ship, with a crew who asked no questions, and in a position to resume his fraudulent career. His first port of call was Saigon, where he was chartered to take a load of rice to Hong-kong and other intermediate ports. At the first port of call, the owner of the rice went on shore to try and effect a sale. Hayes took this opportunity of leaving the owner behind, and set off for Bankok, where he disposed of his cargo at a good price, and departed once more for his favourite hunting-ground—the South Pacific.

Hayes some time after this was again without a ship, having imprudently intrusted his vessel to the care of his first officer, who treated the ‘Bully’ to a dose of his own game, and went off with her, leaving him in a quandary on one of the South Pacific islets. Hayes was now forced to change his play, and accordingly came out in a new character. Pretending to be converted from his evil ways, he completely got the better of the American missionaries, and obtained command of a small schooner belonging to the Mission. At the first favourable opportunity, as may be supposed, he disappeared with the schooner, and arrived at Manila. Here, however, his fame had preceded him, and on being recognised, he was promptly arrested, and put in prison. The captain’s game seemed now about up; but his good luck had not yet deserted him. Once more adopting the religious dodge, he turned a devout Catholic, and so talked over the priests, that, although there was evidence enough to hang him and a dozen others besides, he got off, and was next heard of at the scene of his first escapade, San Francisco, where he stole a smart schooner called the _Lotus_, and once more was off for the Sunny South.

On another occasion, Hayes was captured by the U.S. steamer _Narraganset_, which had been commissioned to look out for him. He was not many days on board the war-ship, when, by his affable manners and gentlemanly behaviour, he so won over the sympathies of the American officers, that they became convinced he was a most worthy individual, and set him free, actually supplying him with a new set of sails and other articles he was in need of!

On another occasion, Hayes called at Levuka, the capital of Fiji, to obtain supplies for a lengthened cruise. The goods were sent on board, and the bill rendered, payment being expected next morning before he sailed; but when the day dawned, the captain, as usual, was off. Unfortunately for him, however, in this instance the wind failed him, and the merchant was able to overtake the ship in a rowboat.

The captain was not at all put about when the merchant came on board; said ‘he presumed he would have letters for him to post, and would be delighted to be of use.’ The merchant was rather taken aback at such coolness in an absconding debtor, and mildly hinted at payment of his account.

‘Why,’ exclaimed Hayes, ‘you were paid yesterday!’

The merchant assured him that he was mistaken.

Hayes expressed astonishment, and ordered up one of his officers. ‘Didn’t I give you the cash to settle this gentleman’s bill?’ he asked indignantly; and then the ‘Bully’ opened the vials of his wrath upon the innocent seaman, who was cunning enough to see the captain’s object, and held his tongue. Seeing, however, that there was no sign of a breeze springing up, he was forced to pay for his supplies, no doubt very much chagrined at having to be honest for once in his lifetime.

After a long career of robbery and bloodshed—for he gets the name of having perpetrated several murders—Hayes at last met his deserts at the hands of one of his officers, whom he had defrauded and ill-used in a most disgraceful manner. No doubt, the secret of his eluding the hands of justice for so long a time was his particularly pleasing manners and appearance. He was by no means a common ruffian, but the reverse, having a handsome face and figure, and bestowing a deal of care and attention on his personal appearance. His urbanity of manner and conversational powers were of the most fascinating description, and he could entertain a friend or knock him on the head in an equally charming style. When he first appeared in the Pacific, he was accompanied by ‘Mrs Hayes,’ and was seldom without a female companion, several of whom are said to have been among his victims. He was possessed of great natural abilities. If he had only turned his talents into a proper channel, he might have made a good position for himself in the world.

THE MONTH: SCIENCE AND ARTS.

Mr C. Tankerville-Chamberlain, late acting consul at Panama, gives a hopeful account of the progress of M. de Lesseps’ giant undertaking, the construction of the Canal across the Isthmus, which is very different from the description of the state of things lately published in the American newspapers. He believes that the great work will be actually completed in about three years’ time. The line of the Canal, forty-six miles in length, has been divided into five sections, which have been handed over to five responsible and solvent contractors, who are bound under heavy penalties to complete their work by the end of 1888. The holders of railway stock and many others in America are interested in believing, and trying to make others believe, that the Canal is a failure and cannot succeed. That it will be a financial success, must remain an open question, for the expense already incurred, added to that which is to come, constitutes a larger sum than has ever yet been sunk in a single engineering undertaking.

A proposal is now on foot to connect by means of a submarine tunnel the defences of Portsmouth with the forts on the Solent and with the Isle of Wight, and it is probable that preliminary borings will be made to ascertain the practicability of the scheme. It has been before proposed that a fort should be built half-way between Stokes Bay and Ryde, on a bank which rises to within eight feet of high-water mark; but the scheme was abandoned because of the difficulty of finding fresh water for the garrison. The tying together of this proposed fort and the other defences would at once obviate this difficulty, and would at the same time relieve our expensive ironclads from the duty of protecting a spot which has always been looked upon as of great importance.

Among all the wonderful things which were exhibited in the late Colonial and Indian Exhibition, there was nothing more remarkable than the vast variety of different woods—strange to European eyes—which were shown in some of the Courts. These woods seemed to exhibit every shade of colour and every variety of grain. In one Court in particular could this be well remarked, for the different samples of wood were cut into the shape of books and highly polished, each pseudo volume bearing its own name. Messrs A. Ransome & Co. lately invited a number of colonial visitors—engineers, builders, and others—to their large works at Chelsea, in order that they might demonstrate the applicability of some of these woods to various purposes. About forty different varieties were subjected to the operations of tree-felling, cross-cutting, sawing, planing, moulding, mortising, tenoning, and boring; while various articles, from casks to doors, were actually made and completed before the visitors’ eyes. The exhibition not only formed an illustration of the suitability of many colonial woods for employment in this country, but it also showed to what a marvellous pitch of perfection wood-working machinery has been brought by Messrs Ransome. The demonstration is likely to lead to a great shipment of colonial woods to this country, many of which are plentiful, and therefore cheap.

The colossal statue of Liberty, which has been presented by the French Republic to the Republic of America, and which, with the pedestal, is over one hundred and fifty feet in height, is, at the time we write, nearly completed. When the statue is quite finished, it is proposed to illuminate it at night in a very novel manner. The female figure of Liberty holds aloft a torch, which will be furnished with eight electric arc lamps, each of six thousand candle-power, the rays from which will be thrown upwards towards the clouds. At the same time, several other lamps of similar power will shine on the statue itself, causing it to stand out in strong relief from its dark surroundings.

A correspondent of the _Times_, quoting a letter recently received from Sydney, New South Wales, gives an account of the extraordinary instinct shown by ants and other insects which live in and on the ground. Some months ago, the natives of a certain district predicted the approach of floods, and left their low-lying camping-grounds for the higher country. The floods came as predicted, several weeks later; and the natives said that their sole information regarding them was gathered from the insects, which had built their nests, &c. in the trees, instead of, as usual, in the ground. The correspondent asks whether this forecasting providence of the ant is recorded by any of our travellers, and whether any explanation of the fact can be given.

Here are two more natural-history notes recorded by correspondents. It is pointed out by one that, owing to our backward spring this year, the swallows on their arrival were kept so short of food that quite two-thirds of their number died of famine; hence the unusual plague of flies that we have experienced during the summer. He pleads that the little mud nests which are seen clinging under the eaves of so many houses in country and suburbs should be protected from injury, for if it were not for the swallows, flies would constitute a veritable pest.

In answer to this, another writer points out that sparrows will sometimes prevent the swallows building, and will often drive the rightful owners from their nests. This fact he has ascertained by direct observation. He also remarks that the swarms of flies this year may be due in great measure to the scarcity of wasps, which destroy an immense number. The scarcity of wasps in his particular neighbourhood is fully accounted for, one of his friends having destroyed no fewer than sixty-seven of their nests. His plan of procedure is, as far as we know, as novel as it is simple and effective. Tow soaked in spirits of turpentine is thrust into the wasp’s nest at night, and the hole is afterwards filled up—presumably with earth.

We are so accustomed to wonderful news from the land of Niagara, that we are not much surprised to learn that the largest photographic negative ever produced has been taken by an American worker. The glass plate upon which the colossal picture was taken measured sixty by thirty-six inches, and weighed more than eighty pounds. The coating with sensitive material of such a plate was in itself a very difficult undertaking, while for its development after exposure in the camera, over three pailfuls of fluid had to be cast over its surface while it was lying in a specially constructed tray. The photographer succeeded in obtaining a good picture, as well as a silver medal to reward him for his enterprise.

A French journal says that flowers may be preserved with all their natural brilliancy and freshness by dipping them into a mixture made as follows: In a well-corked bottle, dissolve six drachms of coarsely powdered clear gum-copal; add the same quantity of broken glass, and fifteen and a half ounces (by weight) of pure rectified sulphuric ether. The flowers should be dipped into this varnish-like fluid four or five times, allowing them to remain in a current of air for ten minutes between each immersion. This plan, if it does not interfere with the delicate texture of the petals, should be of use to flower-painters, who often have to hurry their work unduly because of the perishable nature of their models.

Mr Graber has lately made some curious observations upon the effect of light upon eyeless animals, a Report of which appears in the Proceedings of the Vienna Academy. He put a number of earthworms into a box, which was provided with an aperture at one side, through which light was allowed ingress. The result of many experiments showed that the worms sought the darkest part of their temporary prison, and that at least two-fifths of their number shunned the light. Experimenting with rays of different colours by means of stained glass, he found that the worms exhibited a marked preference for red light.

According to the _American Druggist_, an alloy which will solder glass, porcelain, and metals, or one to the other, can be made in the following manner: Copper dust, made by precipitating the metal from a solution of bluestone by means of zinc, is put into a mortar and treated with strong sulphuric acid. To this mass, formed by the copper and acid, is added a little more than twice as much mercury, the addition being made with constant stirring. The amalgam thus formed is washed with warm water to remove the acid, and is afterwards cooled. When required for use, it is heated, and worked in a mortar until it becomes as soft as wax, and in this state it will cling tenaciously to any surface to which it may be applied. It is applicable more especially to those substances which will not bear a high temperature.

A year ago, Mr J. W. Swan of Newcastle described before the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers an electric safety-lamp which he had invented for the use of miners. This lamp, although efficient, had no means of detecting the presence of firedamp. In an improved lamp which the same inventor has produced, this deficiency is supplied, for a firedamp indicator forms part of the lamp. This indicator is based upon one invented some time ago, and consists of a coil of platinum wire which can be switched on to the current which supplies the lamp and brought to a red-heat. If firedamp be present, the wire becomes far hotter, and therefore brighter than it will in pure air; and in one form of lamp a similar coil, shut up in a glass tube containing air, is provided, for the sake of comparison. In another form of indicator the hot wire is made to explode the charge of firedamp submitted to it, of course in a closed chamber, thus forming a partial vacuum, which acts upon a column of liquid in an attached gauge tube. By this means the exact percentage of fiery gas present can be accurately noted. It may be hoped that these improved appliances may come into common use; but of course electrical fittings are somewhat expensive, and this is the initial difficulty in introducing improvements which would lead to much saving of life.

In these enlightened times, when books without number are published to instruct even the youngest scholars about the nature of common things, it seems almost impossible to realise the ignorance which existed and the nonsense which was written even as lately as the last century concerning matters of the most elementary kind. So-called facts in natural history of the most ludicrous kind were handed down from writer to writer and accepted as the exact truth by all readers. Here is a specimen of chemical knowledge which dates from the year 1747, and is due to the pen of one George Adams. He naively remarks that ‘some people have imagined that the sharpness of vinegar is occasioned by the eels striking their pointed tails against the tongue and palate; but it is very certain that the sourest vinegar has none of those eels, and that its pungency is entirely owing to the pointed figure of its salts, which float therein.’ There is probably some confusion here between the sourness of vinegar and the acidity of sour paste, which latter is accompanied, as even young microscopists know well, by the development of innumerable so-called eels.

At a recent meeting of the Society of Medical Officers of Health, Dr Alfred Hill, the President, delivered an opening address, which dealt with the important subjects of the disposal of house-refuse and the best method of treating sewage. The employment of destructive furnaces for getting rid of dry house-refuse was strongly recommended. The efficient disposal of sewage is of course a far more difficult problem to solve, and one which has now for a number of years troubled the minds of many. Dr Hill is in favour of the sewage-farm principle, which has been so successfully tried at Birmingham. He showed that the system had not proved a nuisance to adjoining residents nor yet injurious to health. It was also a profitable system, for in the city referred to, twenty thousand pounds had been realised during the past year by the sale of stock and produce from the sewage-farm. He believed that if a similar system were adopted for the metropolitan area, the sewage which is now allowed to poison the Thames might realise in meat, milk, and vegetables two hundred thousand pounds.

Mr Thomson Hankey has lately pointed out a new use for sugar, which, however, is not new, but it is so little known that he has done good service in calling attention to it. In the preparation of mortar and cement, the addition of a certain quantity of unrefined sugar will give the mixture extraordinary hardness and tenacity. In India, sugar has been used for this purpose from time immemorial, and walls built with mortar of this description will defy all ordinary methods of destruction. Plaster of Paris will also set much harder if about ten per cent. of sugar be added to the water with which it is mixed. With plaster of Paris, it might be mentioned, the addition of alum has much the same effect.

At one of the recent meetings of the Iron and Steel Institute, M. Gautier of Paris read an interesting paper on ‘The Casting of Chains in Solid Steel.’ In the course of this paper, he pointed out that in order to compete successfully with wrought-iron in chain-making, the steel employed must be quite solid and absolutely free from blowholes, and it is most necessary to adopt a quick method of moulding the chains. In the process which has been adopted by Messrs Joubert and Leger of Lyons, these difficulties have been successfully overcome. The process combines chilled casting with instantaneous removal from the moulds, after which the chain is finished and annealed in oil. By this method he claims that better chains can be manufactured than those of wrought-iron, with the advantage of greatly diminished weight.

The deposition of dust and smoke by the passage of electricity has been more than once adverted to in these pages, more especially in connection with the collection of lead-fume. Messrs King, Mendham, & Co. of Bristol have recently constructed a convenient piece of apparatus for illustrating this phenomenon. It consists of a jar capped at the top with a cover, through which protrudes a rod furnished with a ball. This rod terminates inside the jar in a point; and a similar pointed wire, which finds a termination outside the lower part of the jar, is opposite to it. Below, there is a small combustion box, in which a smouldering piece of brown paper will soon fill the jar with smoke. Thus filled, the jar is connected by its brass terminals to a Wimshurst Electrical Machine. When the handle of the machine is turned, an electrical discharge takes place between the two pointed wires; and the smoke, after being violently agitated, disappears, leaving the air in the jar perfectly clear.

The Simplex Ironing Machine, which is invented by Mr S. Bash, and which has been examined and approved by the leading tailoring establishments in London and Paris, is designed to relieve workers from the heavy manual labour attending the use of pressing-irons. The simplex iron is suspended from a movable arm by a universal joint, and can be moved in any direction over the work and with any desired degree of pressure. This pressure is brought about by the aid of a pedal attachment. There is also provision made for pressing long seams, a movable table being made to travel to and fro beneath the gas-heated iron. The inventor claims for his method a saving in fuel and more rapid and efficient work.

A new explosive has been invented by a Russian engineer, M. Rucktchell, about which some very curious particulars have been published, while the nature of the compound remains the secret of its discoverer. The explosive gives a penetrative power to projectiles ten times greater than gunpowder. It emits neither smoke nor heat, and its discharge is unaccompanied by any report. If this be true, can the compound—whatever it be—be called an explosive? But this wonderful product is to be utilised in the arts of peace as well as those of war, for it forms the motive-power for an engine constructed by the inventor, an engine for which he claims superiority over steam and gas engines. It will be remembered that an engine of much the same character was invented a few years ago in America. Its motive-power was a secret from everybody. The necessary and inevitable Company was formed to buy up the inventor’s rights, and then—nothing more was heard of it.

Mr W. F. Dennis has been exhibiting at Millwall, London, a continuous wire-netting machine, which is a great improvement on former contrivances of this kind. The machine works from bobbins of wire only, not from bobbins and spools, as in the older machines, and these bobbins contain a sufficient length of wire to keep the machine at work for a whole day. In a day of ten hours, a single machine will produce three hundred and fifty yards of wire-netting twenty-three inches in width. The machine in question occupies a space of eleven by eight feet, by six feet in height. Nor is it confined to the production of netting from soft metal, for hard bright steel and iron wire can be used, producing a most rigid product. The consumption in Europe of wire-netting is estimated at forty million yards per annum, and the possibility of producing it of a rigid character, hitherto thought to be impossible, is sure to increase its fields of usefulness.

OCCASIONAL NOTES.

WOODITE.

Woodite, a newly invented preparation of caoutchouc—so called from the name of its inventor—is attracting considerable attention at the present time. In woodite are united the useful elastic properties of india-rubber together with the advantages of immunity from injury by fire or salt water. The specific gravity of woodite is only one-tenth that of iron or steel; whilst the cost of the new material, as compared with these metals, is estimated to be as three to seven, or rather less than one half. Such facts fully explain the importance attached to the proposition now being made to utilise woodite as a protection—either internal or external, as regards the vessel’s skin—to men-of-war and torpedo boats. Experiments recently made to ascertain the behaviour of woodite under fire were as satisfactory as conclusive, and established the interesting fact, that the caoutchouc closed up again so thoroughly and instantaneously, after the passage of the shot, that no leakage resulted, though the vessel was pierced below waterline.

The value of a material possessed of such qualities for naval purposes cannot be overestimated; whilst in a variety of other ways, woodite appears likely to play a not unimportant part in the near future. In the construction of lifeboats, a material so buoyant and indestructible cannot fail to be of service; whilst for lining quay walls, harbour entrances, piers, landing-stages, and the numberless cases where it is desirable to moderate the force of impact, woodite should be found of the greatest value. In the case of a collision at sea, a vessel fortified internally or externally with woodite would be more likely to remain afloat, than, _cæteris paribus_, one not similarly protected.

In an age when every effort is made to secure the requisite buoyancy in our huge floating citadels, heavily laden with ponderous armour and gigantic ordnance, a material combining buoyancy in so high a degree, with its other advantages, cannot but be destined, in the opinion of competent judges, to play a brilliant part; whilst its future in the more peaceful arts cannot fail to be equally commensurate with its merits.

TRAVELLING ARRANGEMENTS ON THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY.

A passenger by the Canadian Pacific Railway gives an interesting sketch of the travelling arrangements on this latest trans-continental line. We learn that the locomotives have a haul of about one hundred and twenty to one hundred and thirty miles in each division of the line, when they are changed, and fresh ones put on. The continent is crossed from Montreal to Vancouver, in British Columbia, in five days and fourteen hours; and this will soon be reduced to one hundred and twenty hours. Good time is kept. The first east-bound trans-continental train that was met in transit, passed Sudbury, going eastward, at 4.17 P.M., after being about five days on the journey. Before its arrival, there was some curiosity to learn whether it was in time, and bets were made on the time it would arrive. This train, after travelling a distance of two thousand five hundred miles, arrived only fifteen seconds behind time. The railway route from Montreal to Vancouver covers two thousand nine hundred and nine miles; and the through sleeping-coaches attached to the train run the entire distance without change, which is a great comfort to the traveller. Every week-day, a train starts from each end of the line, leaving the eastern terminus at Montreal at eight o’clock in the evening, and the western terminus at one o’clock in the afternoon. On Sundays, the trains do not start; thus making six trains each way every week. The west-bound train is called the Pacific Express; and the east-bound train the Atlantic Express.

The Pacific Express, in which this correspondent travelled, was made up of five coaches. At the head was the luggage, mail, and express coach, which carried the baggage. The next is the colonists’ coach, a third-class carriage with seats arranged so that they can be turned into a double tier of berths on each side for sleeping accommodation. The train carries passengers at three rates. The ordinary American first-class passenger coach follows the colonists’ coach, which usually takes local travellers along the line. Following this is the dining-coach, which usually accompanies the train only from seven o’clock in the morning till nine o’clock at night. Following the dining-car is the through sleeping-coach, which is constructed with six sections on each side. In the aggregate, twenty-six persons can be given sleeping accommodation in this car; while at one end, toilet-rooms and a bathroom are provided. At the rear of the sleeping-coach is a large open apartment with a good outlook, which can be used as a smoking-room, and where passengers may have a view of the line passed over.

OVERHEAD TELEGRAPH WIRES.

This arrangement of wires has always been considered as a disfiguring and dangerous eyesore, and at last our quick-sighted cousins ‘across the water’ have determined that the nuisance shall be forthwith abated. In New York, Washington, St Louis, Chicago, and other great cities of the United States, legislative decrees have been issued for the compulsory abolition of all overhead wires, which will in future be conducted underground in tunnels beneath the pavement, and by this means a great improvement will be effected in the matter of street architecture, and some dangers to passengers will be removed. Many instances have been known in America where, from violent storms of wind or snow, the telegraph posts have been blown down, occasioning injury and even death to passengers. All this will be avoided by the new arrangement.

ANGRY BEES.

As a supplementary note to the article on ‘Bees and Honey’ which appeared in No. 135 of the _Journal_, a correspondent sends us the following:

‘A painful instance of the terrible consequences of provoking bees
is connected with one of the loveliest sights in India, the famous
Marble Rocks of Jubbulpore. These rocks form a gorge through which
the great river Nerbudda flows, and the marble formation extends
for about a mile. The dazzling walls which shut in the river are
studded with pendent bees’ nests, and for any one proceeding in
a boat down the narrow channel to disturb the bees is a fatal
proceeding. If any warning were required, it is given by a tomb
which stands on the outskirts of the village just above the gorge,
to the memory of one who was stung to death in this beautiful spot.
Actuated by a foolish impulse, he fired his rifle at one of the
nests, whereupon the bees came down on him in such numbers that
he attempted to save himself by jumping overboard. The relentless
insects, however, still pursued him, with fatal results. I quote
the story from memory, but believe it is to be found in detail in
Forsyth’s charming work, _The Highlands of Central India_.

‘A friend once told me that as he was driving near a village some
miles from Jubbulpore, he and his servant and horse were attacked
by bees without any real provocation. The enemy crowded round in
such numbers that the situation became serious. After receiving
several stings, and finding the horse, too, becoming restive, my
friend resolved to save his own life and that of his servant,
both of which were really in jeopardy, at the risk of a little
discomfort to other people. Accordingly, he whipped up his horse
and made for the village, a cloud of bees keeping up with the
trap without the least effort. When the village was reached, the
bees, as my friend anticipated, found so many other objects of
interest, that they distributed their attentions with less marked
partiality than hitherto. In other words, the cloud left the trap
and scattered among the villagers, who were, however, so numerous,
that two or three stings apiece probably represented the total
damage. The expedient was not, perhaps, a charitable one, but, in
the circumstances, was, I venture to think, justifiable.’

* * * * *

_The PUBLISHERS have pleasure in intimating that next year will appear in this JOURNAL an Original Novel, entitled_

RICHARD CABLE,

_by the distinguished Author of the well-known works of fiction, ‘Mehalah,’ ‘John Herring,’ ‘Court Royal,’ &c._

* * * * *

A BRIGHT DAY IN NOVEMBER.

A Summer hush is on the golden woods;
The path lies deep in leaves—the air is balm;
No sound disturbs these silent solitudes,
Save some faint bird-notes, which, amid the calm,
Seem like the sad, sweet song of one who grieves
Over a happy past—yet with a strain
Of Hope, which sees amid these yellow leaves,
Bare boughs all clothed with Spring’s young buds again.

Even thus, most gracious Lord, in Sorrow’s hour,
When Life seems saddest, and our hopes decay,
Thou sendest comfort—as, in wood or bower,
Some humble flower remains to speak of May;
Some gleam of joy lights up the wintry scene;
Some tender grace returns to bless and cheer;
And though our trees no more are clothed in green,
Bright days may light the closing of our year.
J. H.

* * * * *

The Conductor of CHAMBERS’S JOURNAL begs to direct the attention of CONTRIBUTORS to the following notice:

_1st._ All communications should be addressed to the ‘Editor, 339
High Street, Edinburgh.’

_2d._ For its return in case of ineligibility, postage-stamps should
accompany every manuscript.

_3d._ To secure their safe return if ineligible, ALL MANUSCRIPTS,
whether accompanied by a letter of advice or otherwise, _should
have the writer’s Name and Address written upon them_ IN FULL.

_4th._ Offerings of Verse should invariably be accompanied by a
stamped and directed envelope.

_If the above rules are complied with, the Editor will do his best to insure the safe return of ineligible papers._

* * * * *

Printed and Published by W. & R. CHAMBERS, 47 Paternoster Row, LONDON, and 339 High Street, EDINBURGH.

* * * * *

_All Rights Reserved._

* * * * *

[Transcriber’s note—the following changes have been made to this text. Page 764: Naraganset to Narraganset.]