University of South Carolina Libraries
UNLBE SA M'SIGOLD, 'WHERE IT IS AND WHATI UDONE WITH IT.. The Geld Vaults .of the Treasury a \ Washington-Sacks of Yellow~ * Coins-Refiuing . the Xaw Metal. LOOKED into the gold vault in the sub-basement of the Treasury, - says a representative of the Chice.go Times. It was a pro ceeding involving much formality, the presence of the. cashier and a per sonal representative of the Treasure! of the United States being required. One of these functidnaries held the secret combination for opening the outer door, while the other had that of the inner portal. When both huge aad massiye gates of steel had been un locked the interior of an immense safe as big as a good-sized drawing-room was disclosed.' That is to say, though pitch dark, its internal arrangement could be seen when a gas jet war lighted. Running straight through the middl% from the entrance was a sort of hall. way, on either side of which was arom of iron lattice work compartments. There were in all fourteen of these lat. tice work rooms, somewhat resembling cells along a prison corridor, and all but one of them were filled as full as they couild hold with bags of coin. However, this coin was not gold, but silver. The compartment excepted was the first one to the left of the doorway. It alone contained the en tire stock of gold now held in the Treasury at Washington-a total of $10, 500,000. The small show made b7 .t was surprising. Instead of being chokefull like the .ompartment containing silver, this one seemed almost empty. Even the floor was not covered with the bags of yellaw coin, which were stacked is small heaps around the walls as if tc make some sort of show. Yet value in this form is so highly concentrated as to give occasion for all the precautions above described, while a few feet away from this vault is an enormous box of iron lattice worK exposed to the view of the public all day, though within it is stored $101,000,000 in standard silver dollars. Fortunately, this quantity of gold is only a fraction of Uncle Sam's stock of.that metal. There is more of it in the subtreasuries at eithei- New York or San Francisco thar 's kept here. The minta also hold a great amount of gold belonging to the Government. In a room adjoining the business office of the big coin factory on Chestnut street, Philadelphia, may be seen about S30,000,000 worth of the yellow metal in the shape of shining bricks, stacked upon shelves, just as delivered from the assay offices. That is wealth in a form better realized than the specie done up in bags at the Treasury. 11 does not seem to be so carefully guarded as it is here, but the only -theft ever accomplished from the Quaker City institution was that of a silver brick which a laborer slyly threw into a barrel of refuse, thus con veying it out of the building. Bat, though he was not detected, the massive ingot proved itself to him a v'eritable white elephant, and he was caught in trying to dispose of it ir 'sew York. Though the show of gold at the [reasury is not impressive at the first glance one has more respect for it when the contents of the bags are enumerated. Stacked in heaps around the compartinent referred to are ninety-eight sacks, each containing 1000 yellow double eagles. Poured out on the floor they would make a - ery decent pile of glittering metal,' representing altogether $1,960,000. B6uides these there are four hundred anteixty'-nine bags, each holding 2500 ahining eagles7 or $2,845,000 in all.. Then there are 198 sacks, each con taining 1000 $5 .pieces, or a total of B5,9'90,000. -Lastly, there are fifteen sacks, each filled to bursting with 1000 of those annoying $2.5,0 pieces, whidh are so easily mistaken for cents that no more of them are to be coined by the mints. * One of the most interesting sights Iin the world is the refinin~g of the raw gold bullion at the United States Assay Office on Wall street, New York. Ar .riving there from the mines it is first melted, to free it from all earthy mat ter and other foreign substances. Then a certain quantity of silver is added to it and the mixture is immersed in a bath of nitric acfi. The acid has no effect on the gold, but it dissolves the silver into a liquid which looks just like pure water. This limpid liquid is -drawn oT, .leaving the gold at the bot tom of the tub. The precious metal thus purified looks like so much fine red gravel. To get rid of all moisture it is subjected to pressure. On com ing out of the squeezing machine it appears in the shape of big cakes, re sembling angel food cakes in form. These cakes are worth abodt.$25,000 each, and one could afford to pay $2000 for a slice of very moderat' sze. This is the material out of which the gold cins are made. The gold is melted into a crucible, 'from which it K is dipped out with a ladle and poured into iron molds. When cooled the molds are unlocked and taken apart, the precious metal then appearing in the shape of what are ' termed "in rots." For the coinage one-tenth part of copper is mixed with gold, but the Giove-rnment also makes a business of iaanufact .ring "merchants' bars" for the use of jewelers, gold leaf makers and dentists, who require the virgin K metal in their trades. Such bars are as~ near to perfect purity as can be, being 999 fine out of a possible 1080. Theic Giovernment, while it makes a big profit by coining silver, gains nothing by minting cold nieces, the intrinsic vaslue of which is equal to their face. There is always some loss by wasting, too. The sweepings of the Philadel phiau mint alone sell for $23,000 an Mifght e! Worse. Practical Father (angrily)-I am told that that young man who comes to see you writes poetry. Daughter -Y-e-s, father, he does. "Huh! Publishes It, too, I suppose?" "No. No one will print it." '-Then there'9 en~e hope for him. - DRESS WITH SMOCK ORNA31EN AND DRCENs WITH BOW' OF 8--10 1 Satisfied with the Change. In the days when men sold tbhi wives for a small money considera- L tion, the woman in the case was not 0 always dissatisfied with the changer a rder of things- d Early in the month of March, 1766, vi n Englih carpenter, named Hig. t ginson, went into an alehouse for hi.' d norning draught; there he mnet a fel' b low carpenter, and their conversation 0 urned on wives. The carventer whose name history has not recorded, P amented that he nad no wife. iiggorinson, on the other hand, la. I nented that he had, and expressed e -ezret that there was no way, ex-t ept murder, b7 which he could rit diiself of her 1 The carpenter assured Higginson b p, ,hat there was a way-the old Eng- d oish cudtom that made it quite law- s1 al for a husband to sell his own rib. cl turNo one would be stich a fool as tr >uy mine," sighed Higginson. "I would do so," the other b >romptly replied, "and think I hae made a rood bargain, too." t The husband, just then in a moodt o chafe against domestic reutraintc :lenched the bargain on the spot c T. Higginson was duly claimed b r telfr ae husband oehi w ig. nog one would beith ahimo as hir uinfew" dasighee rigins nso ome ousptd do ha,"the ha oter pomptl reple,"andeto th Ither Thpentersbd hous hening ai mood t ac.Mrs. Higginson renuouslyme br hersedwtoordvenderenewwilli.glA a Rifei hoe or suse"tsad thshe ad not r oke." b Higginson went again and again, ut to no purpose, and after a week r two ceased calling. His wife had a ust begun to conclude that he had t last quietly resigned his claim, hen she was cited to appear before coroner'sjury andl identify her hus. and, who had settled the questior y hanging himself. The price paid for the woman is ol ot recorded. la A Political-Paradise.SI The little sub-Alpine principality oi et .Lichtenstein, which is separated from ol Switzerand by the Rhine, is subjeci fa o the overlordship of the Austrian h< Emperor; but it enjoys a degree ol si ndependence and self-government at which is more Swiss than Austrian. A [he inhabitants are free from the " ustrian military conscription, andR hey have no military burdens to pay. Iyt hey are also freed from all Imperial la axation. Their local parliament, the'c Lichtensteiner Landtag,, meets once a t< ear, and in the course of a week it a gets through all the necessary legisla. re ion, and sends its report to the n: rince. This year's report, which has be ust been passed by the unanimoue ote of the L~nndtag, exhibits Lichten tein as a veritable political paradise. D The favorable situation of the finan- w es of the Fatherland," says this par- w iamentary report, "renders it both a tt uty and a satisfaction to recommend di considerable lowering of the exist- er ig taxes on the soil." The prince as ave his sanction to the project, and a ur aw was passed which has made the b< ery small local self-taxation smaller ti hn ever.-New York Dispatch ELEANT RECEPTION T FOR GIRLS OF 5--7 YEARS, 'RIMMIlNGS FOR GIRLS EARS. The Plum and Its Uses. Our plum is the cultivated plum o1 ie garden, whose parent is a native f Asia and Southern Europe, but ich has taken so kindly to the con. itions of soil and climate in our newer orld that many of the choicest varie es seem almost spontaneously pro. uced here, varieties surpassing in eauty and flavor the most noted plumr f France or England. The most important form of the lum in commerce is that of prunes, they are exported from France, urkey, and our own California to very part of the world. The finer ass of prunes passes through a very ireful course of treatment before eing put into the market. The plume re gathered when just ripe enough to l from the trees on being slightly iaken. They are all picked by hand, ire being taken not to gather them til the sun has entirely dried off the ew. They are then spread in shallow skets, and kept in a cool dry place til they become very soft, when iey are shut in a spent oven for enty-four hours, then taken out, refully turned, and, the oven being heated, slightly warmer than before. ,turned to it. I'he operation is again repeateft, en they are taken out and left to at quite cold. The next step in the rcess is "rounding," an operation )sisting of tutrning the stone in the Lm without breaking the skin and rssing the two ends together be ~een thumb and finger. Twice more :e they then substituted to heat, er which they are packed in jars o: res for sale. n Southern France a spirit is ob ned by fermenting the bruised pulp id kernels of the plum with honey id flour, and distilling the mass. hper's B3azar. Story or a Jealous Office Sener. A story is related by London Truth a French official who was possessed. a very pretty wife and a particu y jealous temperament This of al had frequently applied without cess for a certain post. At length ~wife proposed to interview the et in person and see if she could ain for her husband what he had led to procure for himself. On this ng suggested the latter remained ent for a considerable time, fluctu ng between ambition and jealousy. last he devised a safe course. es, my dear, you have my sanction. t upon one condition only-that 1u paint your nose a deep red." The dy, it is needless to say did not pro d with the interview upon these ms. It was afterward commonly id, however, that the story having ched the chief's cars, he good. turedly appointed the~ g"rafd ad to the post. Sickni. Whenever an animal shows signs of ng sick do not allow it to remain htl the others, but remove it ere it can he quarantmned, and ere will be less risk of contagious eases in the flocks or herds. Farm do not observe this precaution strictly as they shoula, but wait itil two or more animals are affectedl fore separating the sick ones from Lose thbat are well. m-rmi OFCOH-EV ON A HUNT FORi AMBBRORIS an Adventurer Who Thinks There Ar Fortunes on the New Guiuea Coast. ,. McCaulay, a tall, bronzed man With busby, brown side whiskers, and wearing a broad-rimmed, drab colored hat, is at the American Ex change from New Guinea, says the San Francisco Examiner. Mr. Mc Caulay is attractiug attention, not only by his striking appearance, but by rhe singular news which he brings. as well as by a queer box, the con. tents of which he discloses -when at tention is called to it. He has pene trated regions of New Guinea, during several years in that country, never before reached by white men, and has also sailec along its shores in places unvisited by other English-speaking travelers. The box he has contains ambergris, and Mr. McCaulay states that there was a la.rge amoult of it in the places he visited aTong the New Guinea coast. lie says there were many sperm whales there from which the ambergris comes. Lumps and chunks of it are found in the water and washed ashore, varying in weight from a few onces to a hun. dred pounds and more. It is very high, and a few pounds of it makes a very comfortable stake to the finder when he gets where he can market it. Mr. McCaulay is preparing to go ambergris hunting. He will cruise along the coast in a whaleboat, with natives to pull the oars, and collect what he can and forward it to Sar Francisco and London. "1 know one man," he said, "who found a lotof ambergris not long ago, took it to England and got $50,OOC for it. Other men have made from $5, 000 up, and others have made less. Moso men don't know what it is, and they are as liable to push it away with the foot as do anything else with it. I am satisfied there is big money in going into the business of bunting for it, and that Is one of the things I am going to do when I ge' back." Ambergris is used in perfumeries, for certain kinds of cooking, and in pharmacy. Fabulous stories aie told of its being worth from $2.50 to $3 a grain. This seems to be an error, however, for at the San Francisco drug stores the price is said to be $3.25 an ounce for black ambergris and $5.75 for the gray. It is the latter which the New Guinea ex plorer has brought with him, and he says that is the kind generally found *here. "There is a curious thing aboui it," said he. "You can put a little of it on a bunch of flowers and it will preserve them perfectly for a hundred years. If there are several different kinds it will preserve thema all equally, and each will retain its odor, too, no matter how long it may be. Wben it is picked up out of the water the air causes it to crumble to a powder-that Is, if it Is exposed to it -and, on the other hand, if it is placed in the sun it will turn to oil, I shall be here several weeks, and when I go back it will be with a full equipment for gathering all the am. bergris I can find. As there are as yet no regular hunters, the new fields for ambergris being yet hardly known, 1 expect to make considera ble of a fortune.". A Sure Eule. M~iss Newrich-But there is se mnuch to learn. I shall never know good from bad. Society Teacher Nothing easier, my dear young lady. Just avoid everything that looks sensible and no one will suspect thai you're not well born on the avenue. Analoggle watts-Hlow do you spell 'whisky?'~ 'k-y,' or 'k-e-y?' Potts - 'Ks-y.1 ame as IKentucky. - IndianapoA. 'I IRDA CLOH, ALIN TILET.CLO P DRESSAND CLOH DRESS TRAVELLING SUIT The New York Style. A well-known Western man called .n a pompous New Yorker at his office some time ago. He had known pim only by correspondence and had to introd uce himself. "I am Mr. Blank of Blankville," ie said politely enough. "Yes?" and the New Yorker's eye orows went up questioningly. "I called to pay my resrects and see you on your native heath," the Western man went on, with a half smile. "Yes?" "You have a big town here." "Yes." ~ "It is my first visit and I never really appreciated New York befoi-e." "Yes?"I "I presume you take it quite as a matter of course?" "Yes." The Western man began to feel ;he New York influence. "People here are always on the rush, I notice," he said. "Yes." "You ought to take a week off and ;ome our way." "Yes?" "I'm sure it would do you ~good." "Yes?" "Like this better, I fancy?" 4,Yes."i By this time the Western man was getting hot, notwithstanding the other man was freezing him. "I don't think I'd like it quite so ivell," he proceeded. "Yes?" and again the New York er's eyebrows went up. "You are rather different from me, I think." "Yes?i "You are a cad." "Yes"-then the New Yorker seemed to be touched. "What de you mean, sir?' he said angrily. "Just what I say," responded the Westerner, moving toward the door ,lowly; "I believe you have my card, Sood day."-Free Press. Cheap Hydrogen. An engineer in Milan, Italy, has succeeded in discovering a process of making hydrogen on a large scale and so cheaply that in producing 1,300 cubic meters a day this gas will cost only 1 cent per cubic meter. Con sidering the fact that the substance, the lightest of all known and very innammaflIe, admits or complet comn. bustion, emits no smoke while burn. ing, leaves no ashes or other pro ducts, gives the most intense heat obtainable and surpasses in power the electric light, one may easily com prehend the importance~ of this dis. covery if true. Bright Bostou. Beacon-Boston is the seat of learn (ng and culture in America. Beecker .-Then, I presume, that is why bright people throughout the country are all the time tryIng to sit on it, Waverly Magazine. )RESSES. - JAKT /AKN M Bull and Stallon i6 Combatr, yohn Kreutzer owns a forty-acre farm on the Rockford fork of -Brush 3reek, just over the liVe from this :ounty, says an Oakland (Ill.) corres ?ondent of the St. Louis Republic. the most valuable stock he has on the farm is, or rather was, a fine Durham aull and staLion of good br 4. He ias lost them both after the ercest ight that two strong and fierce ani nals could wage. Kreutzer had always turned his bull tud stallion into the same lot, and ,here was apparently the best of feel ing between them. One day recently, aowever, the bull began frantically ca vorting around the barnyard. The stallion for a time looked with appar mt consternation at the queer antics af his erstwhile sober friend, and then e began trotting around after the in furiated animal as it ran from one side af the enclosure to the other. Finally the bull, after almost exhausting him self in an effort seemingly to throw something off, suddenly turned and made for the stallion. The new tac tics of the bull took the horse by sur. prise, and it was only after his flank had been severely gored that he real ized the situation, and then began a battle that would have thrilled the 4.eart of a Spanish bull fighter. The stallionmadeno attempt to kick, but struck viciously with his fore feel and tore great quivering chunks of aesh out of the bull with his teeth. The terrific roar of the battle brought Mr. Kreutzer from an adjoining field, but he knew it was death to venturein the yard. At last, after struggling all over the yard, the bull made one grand rush, catching a horn in the horse's groin and disembowelling him. The aoble animal sank to the ground with L groan and expired. The bull stag gered away a short distance and fell. Mr. Kreutzer, who had witnessed the mutual destruction of the best par of his fortune, now ventured in. The bull was still living, and, wrapped closely about one of his hind legs, ht discovered the cause of all the bloody battle. It was nothing more nor less than a little blacksnake about two feet long, which had coiled about the ani mal's leg and caused him such frantic terror that he completely lost his head. The snake showed no disposition to move on, and Mr. Kreutzer killed it where it was. The bull was so badly v ounded that he was shot. 'AE ~q. ~* sd, ea *th mothofte ere andas dscrbed y th Caiforian isaatmrvelsof enierizn k. Fo threserved ontehaterwaysestpassen trofghe al Rvrica orge sothe Superstition Mountains, cut out of the solid rock to a depth of 100 feet. After the miountains are passed it divides into four branches, the long est of which measures more than forty miles, while all four aggregate a length of 120 miles, independent of the smaller ditches by which water was distributed over the soil. Ex eept in rare instances these smaller ditches have been filled, and in that potion of the desert are obscured by the sandstornms that prevail; but the larger one is pet fectly distinct. and measures sixty-four feet in width with an average depth of twelve feet. Through this way the water for the support of the cities betwveen the Salt and Gila Rivers was conveyed and 1,600 square miles of country, Dow destitute of all vegetation except in Sahuara and an occasional palo verde, was irrigated by it. This canal reached within a short distance of the Gila Rliver, and the water was taen from the river Salt for the ap parent reason that at this point the north back of the Gila was so high that they were unable to reach the urrent with a canal, and they evi ently knew or no way to raise to the level of the surrounding country. Ths part of the dcsert is coveredl with ruins, and must have been at one time the residence of a teeming population. _______ Utilizing Him. / / - / Farmer Oatcake--ow. I reck'n that was a mighty slick idee oi mine to set Adolphus John to work markin' out cern-rows with that 'ere bicercle of his'n. i've found sunthin' he's good fer at last.--Judge. The Wherefore of It. "I thought you said you admired blondes more than brunettes, Jay cott?" "I do." "But Mrs. .layc'itt. Is a brunette." "Yes. That's tlhe Ai ce re. tI having lite In the win ti e 6 . -w moments wben e . scorched b the flames of thy T ng wood Oro he must have i ehive gwl cold, for the te M r$tt four f, away from the'M10 T. Ua& raS winter's day woW# s1WO take modern child scrBeal 4ssogp0 fort, or lie stupefied WM chilled. -' the Sunday following his birth th little martyr was carrledto the meet ing-house to be baptized. . - '"* * When we read that the buildint was often so cold' that 011 coi munion bread was "frozen p'tty harI and rattled sadly In the plate," W wonder that grown persons coul bear the exposure, and still greater i the marvel that tender babies could live through their christeninAgs fo the ice had often to be broken In th( zhristehing bowl. Dressed in fine linen, and wpappe in a hand-woven christening blankeX the young Piiritan received his ArA chilly welcome into the church. On0 record to be found in Judge ,Sewall'i diary of Jaftuary, 1694, pictures the state of the case with a graph/ touch: "A very extraordinary storm b6 reason of the falling and driving of the snow. Few women could get to neeting. A child named Alexandeo 'was baptized in the afternoon." It is evident that Alexander mus6 have been of a tough fibre, since hii teath is not straightway recorded. Nor was the christening day tht only Sabbath on which the babt graced the meeting-house. Purita wromen were devoted church.goernk and if the mother went, the baby had to go also. Indeed, we some times hear of a little wooden cage ot frame in the meeting-house to hold the babies who were too young. feeble )r sleepy to sit upright. Of the dress of these children we know little, but yet enough to prove that they must have been supremely miserable. Linen formed the chill. foundation of their attire, thin shortV sleeved, low-necdRed.Ehirts. Their gowns were generally shapil - e necked sacks of linen or dimity m ind embroidert&by hand. In summer and winter tue b y's head was always closely covered by a cap, often warmly wadded, which was more comforting in cold weather than comfortable in the warmes' weason. Yet some of these babies survived, ind New England was peopled witb ofen and women of sturdy fibre. Ecoiomyon ocomotive. It is now generally admitted that hatever be the blance between the advantages of compound and simple locomotives, the former require con siderably less water than the latter. Advantage has been taken 'of this fact on a trunk line where considera ble difficulty -has been experienced in keeping the boilers in a state of good repair. Flues are constantly leaking and the life of the boilers on one di vision oif the road in particular is very short, owing to excessive incrus ations. though they are washed out after every round trip. On .investi gation it was found that the trouble was due largely to the water taken at a single station. Since careful ests made with accurate meters and calculations based on indicator cards show that the compound engines work with nearly forty per cent. less water than simple locomotives, it has been decided to work the divi sion in question wholly with the former type. It is expected that in this way It will be unnecessary to use water from the place where tho supply is bad, and so avoid its effects on the boilers. Should this expect? tion be fulfilled the compound prin ciple will be the means of effectl:-g a saving not only in the amount of fuel and water used, but also in the total cost of boiler repairs, while owing to the time saved, which is now spent in frequent washing, a smaller number of engines will be needed. The Road to Foitune. Civility is a fortune in itself, for a ourteous man often succeedb 4n life, and that even when persons of abil ity faiL The 11istory of ')ur own country Is full of examples of success obtained by civility. The experience of every man furnishes, if .1e but re call the past, frequent instances where conciliatory manners have made the fortunes of physicians, law yers, divines, politicians, merch'ants, and indeed individutls of all pursuits. In being introduced to a stranger, his affability or the reverse creates in stantaneously a proposition in his favor, or awakens unconsciously a preudice against him. To men, civ ilty is, in fact, what a pleasing' ap pearance is to women; it is a general passport to favor-a letter of recom mendation written in a language that every person understands. The best of men have often injured thenr. selves by irritability and consequent rudeness; whereas men of inferior abilities have frequently succeeded by their agreeable and pleasing mani ners. Of two m'n equal in all other respects, the courteous one has twice the advantage, and oy far the better chance of making his way in the world. Glio Hor a .sbtkIng Exampin. A father said to his little girl of 5: "Suppose a little girl should strike ou, you wouldn't strike back, woukul you?" Atter a moment's thought she sad: "I should want to -show hos ho~w shc 'lid it. "-Texas Siitngs. A Ficeoan. Ittle Dot-Lucy L.ocket wanted 'e to go get'qjuainte~d with that new little girl but I wouldn't, 'cause th~t little girl isn't used to good s'ciet.v. Mfamma-Why do IOn think ? Little Diot-ehe can'1 screw her nose ap a bit.-Eschango. ne noe Wana Tramip-Will you g Certainly, sir. You nill two) miles down you? We'li, I'll giv Iutes to reach it. Co