Sketcher.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 358, 19 March 1903, Page 7

Sketcher.

the meerschaum: industry. fdfSJHE British Foreign Office has issued xkX a re P° rt »pon the meerschaum oJatsfi "» nin g industry of Constantinople. .:•'£... , This product which is extensively utilised for the manufacture of pip? a is almost entirely confined to Turkey. The meerschaum can be mined by any person at Sanson, Sepetdje, Gheikli, and Menlou, on payment of fi Te pias to the tration of Minea-the cost of a permit Ihe mines of Sari-sou are situated at a distancei of about 17 miles to the east of SSS The Bt Sari ' BOU waa opened 20 years ago. but to-day there are 8,009 mines opened, of which, however, only 2,000 are worked, the remainder having been abandoned. Some 4 000 miners work these mines, and every Friday a market is held at which they dispose of the blocks of meerschaum they have extracted during tho week. For the accommodation of the workmen some 1,000 huts have been erected.

At Sepetdj*?, about eighteen miles to the north-east cf Eakichehir, there are some 20,000 pits in a space of six miles, of which only 150 are worked, all the others being exhausted. It is said that these mines were opened 1,000 years ago, whioh is not incredible, as it is well-known that magnesia was formerly used for many purposes, other than the fabrication of pipes; moreover, fuller's earth used to be worked on a vast scale by the ancients. The meerschaum mines are worked by some 500 miners who live in the surrounding villages. At Gheikli, in the neighbourhood of Sepetdje there are 3,000 pits, of whjoh only 100 are worked, giving employment to 400 miners.

The only place where the Administration of Mines authorised meerschaum to be extracted is Menlou, and here there are only twenty pita actually worked by 100 workmen. The working of these meer schaum deposits nailed the Eskichehir. mm Z B , whica formerly were actively worked were reduced to 1,770 pits, giving employment to some 6 000 miners, the greater proportion of whom are Kurds and Persians. These deposits are worked on the following primitive systems:—A forman or ganger, having from two to fifteen men under his supervision, having pegged out a piece of ground, generally a metre wide, a pit is sunk until a red clayey earth, which is fcbe first sign of the existence of magnesii, is reached. Sometimes this is reached at a few metres from the surface, but as a rule tho miners have to dig down some 20 metres, and often 40 and even up to 60 metres, before reaching the red earth, wherein the me«rschaum is disseminated in kidney and other irregular forms. The volume of these blocks seldom exceeds 80 to 40 cubic centimetres, the greater part of them being the size of a walnut, or an apple. On reaching the gangue containing the blocks of magnesia, the miners drive horizontal shafts through the red clay. This, however, is no easy matter, as they cannot detach or pick off more than 50 grammes of the clay at a Btroke. Some of these galleries are no less than a quarter of a mile in length, and it sometimes happens that owing to these being pierced at random different gangs meet underground. They work night and day, the galleries being lighted with petroleum. After a eertain quantity of blocks have been extracted, the meerscham still enveloped in its gangue is drawn out of the pit, and stacked in the mineri' barracks. These blocks are bought by the manufacturers ef Eskichehir, in job lots every Friday, and there are some 150 persons who regularly attend these markets. The meeachaum is then taken to Eskichehir,/where the blocks are cleaned, the operation consisting of scraping and cutting the blocks, with a sharp instrument or knife, the meerschaum being still soft and easily cut into shape or form. Over 1,100 persons are occupied in cleaning and shaping these blocks, which, after being thoroughly cleaned, are separated into four classes, according to size and'quality. These blocks being ready for sale, a bargain is struck between the pipe manufacturers and the commission agents and merchants at Eskichehir, of whom there are about a dozen. The latter then pack the blocks of these tour classes with very great care into boxes of equal size, each block being wrapped in cotton to avoid any friction or shock between the pieces. The actual annual output of ihese mines varies from 120 to 150 tons The Eskichehir meerschaum is very highly prized in Europe on account of its superior quality, and these deposits, notwithstanding that they have been worked for centuries, are still considered to be inexhaustible.

LIGHTNING. How unreasoning the fear of lightning felt by se many timid people is may be seen from a compilation of statistics made by the weather - bureau. These figures, which have been gathered daring the past decade relative to the deaths by lightning in. the United States, are certainly of considerable interest The old question used to be how to protect build*ings against lightning—lightning rods or nona, solid rods or hollow rods—and on the latter point men like Faraday and Sir William Snow Harris took opposite Bides and waxed wroth, eaeh telling the other that he knew nothing about the subject. To-day little or no attention is given to this matter and it is generally realised that as regards where lightning will strike we must take our chances, which, according to the statistics referred to, are about one in 100,000 of being struck. The old idea that lightning will never strike-twice in the same place has been pretty- well exploded by the actual facts, and there is no reason to assume that if lightning strikes a given point once it may be expected to strike there again, rather than at some other contiguous place. The theory of lightning is now fairly well established- It is supposed to be due to the rapid condensation of the minute drops of moisture in the air, each of which, under certain conditions, contains a small electric charge. As these minute drops coalesce, the electric potential is increased, due to the fact that the total superficial area of the coalesced drops is less than twice that when they, existed singly, and as tbe electric capacity is proportional to this area, the electric charge of the two drops is now confined within an. area of less capacity than before/ with the result that the electric pressure is increased. In this way, losg before the" drops have attained a size to be precipitated as rain, an electric-motive force amounting to millions of volts is developed. While there is no certain immunity from lightning when it prevails, attention is called to the great desirability of persevering in efforts to resuscitate those who have been rendered insensible by lightning'strokes, as recoveries have frequently been made of persons supposed to be dead, after more than an hour's efforts. The statistics also show that there is no imraumitty from lightning in a feather bed, in a house, or in a closet, and that knives and the like do not attraet lightning. Bemember if one lives long enough to see the flash he is safe for that time.

COL, CHINN'S JOKE ON HIS DOGS. Col. J. P. Chinn played a joke on his foxhounds the other d%y that scpred them so badly that they took to the cliffs aid some of th'in have not returned, Some weeks ago the colonel was at the WaldorfAstoria, in New Toik, with a crowd, when one of them, a gentleman from Virginia, told the others that if they wanted to see some fun, to catch a d g, put a false face on him and turn him loose among the other canines. Before leaving the metropolis the colonel bought the ugliest false face that ae could find. Two or three d%ys aftqjr reaching home he took 'Old Bill,' Ma favorite dog, into the hall and fitted the mask on hjm pg that he could see and breathe and told him to go. ' Bill,' Beaming to divine the part that he was to play, Walked around the corner of the house, whore the fifteen or twenty other doga were lying. In a twinkling every one of them was on his feet, howling, and as 1 Bill' continued to advance, they scattered and made for the brush, as if their lives depended on their speed. 'Bill,' evidently thinking they had struck a hail and wanting to ba in the chase, tried to keep up with them, but wan left far behind Late that evening the frightened do it began to sneak hack with a scared look, as if they were returning from a steepfilling expedition, and some have not yet shows du", and the colonel is thinking of offering a rewaid for their recovery. The colonel loves hie doga and will not trick them again, for since their scare they seem restless and uneasy and sleep with one eye open—Louisville Evening Post. A visitor to a Sunday school asked one little fellow to what state of life it had pleased Providence to call bim. He replied: ' Please, ma'am, I'm a beetle— I'm a beetle in the pantomime' • Papa, will you buy me a drum ?' ' Ah, but my boy, you would disturb me very much with it if I did.' 'No, I wouldn't, papa. I'd only dram when you wore asleep, 1