Page 4 Advertisements Column 1

Manawatu Herald, 4 February 1897, Page 4

THE OLDEST KNOWN FIRE ENGINE. Facts Concerning; Fire Engines, Ancient and Modern. What ia perhaps tho Oldest known flre cngino for pumping w ator ia mentioned in the Spiritalia of Hero, nbout 150 B. C. l'his engine had two single acting pumps, tho plungers of which wero worked by a single beam pivoted betweeen the two. The streams united in a single discharge pipe, passing up a trunk In which was an air chamber, and out at a nozzle which could be turnod in any direotion. This description might stand for n great many forms of hand firo engines used oven to ' tho present day, writes Joseph Snchs in Cassier's Magazine. The early Uoruans appear to have paid somo attention to flre extinguishing apparatus and had an organized flro brigade^ Something like tho more modorn fire ongino" appears to have been brought out in tho early part of the sixteenth century and is desoribed as a "water syringe." ''This wns mounted on wheels and worked by levers. Firo ongines of this kind wero apparently much used in Germany. In England during the latter part of tho sixteenth century largo brass syringes were employed, holding several quarts of water and operated by thrco mon, two holding tho syringo at each side with ono hand and directing tho nozzle with tho other and the third operating tho plunger. After having discharged tho wator the syringo wns refilled from a cistern or well near tho flro or from buokcts. Later theso water squirts were fitted to portablo cistorns or tanks. In tho latter part of the seventeenth century a portablo engine, mounted on a cistern or tank from which the water was drawn, was introduced In England by Newsham. This engine was in ninny respects similar to the modorn hand flre enginoand continued in use in England up to 1882. The Newsham engine wns perhaps tho first eucttessf ul firo cngino and really was tho pioneer of tho modern manually operated engines. Thu pumps were of various Bizes and designs nnd were in most cases operated by levers. Various forms of ongines Rimi!ar to the Nowsham ongino continued in uso.ns lato as 1850. | llotv the Cat Falls. A select company of tho savants of Paris hns boe'n endeavoring to deterinino why it is that when a cat has to oxecute n falHt ia£arirt£ly falls upon its feet. To this enti the society has subjected n subject to a seiies of falls from a height of some eight ami forty inches. Tho drop 9 have been mado a3 awkward for tho animal os science knew how, but tho result has always been tho same. In tho course of Its brief descent Grimalkin has always contrived a means to land neatly on all fours, with its tail at right nngle. How does it do it? Tho cat's determination to kee.p its secret has bafflod the closest inquiry. No less than 60 instantaneous photographs have been taken of as many phases of tho chuto. At a convenient distanco from the finish the cat is seen revolving in itsolf, without any visible assisting force, and stopping iv its revolution whon « it has got right sido uppermost, and all that Parisian science can do is to abuse the cat for violating tho law 3 of nature. Tho editor of Tho Engineer, Now York, having read about theso researches resolved to make somo original investigations on tho same subject, but ho did not meet with complete success. Ho is credited with saying at tho oloso of his experience, "Some cata that wo experimented with, being doubtless of weak minds, came down en their backs with resounding thumps." Items About Oysters. Now York ia tho 3 argeat .oyster consnming community in tlio world. Between Sept. 1 nnd May 1, according to a dealer's estimato, aro coriaunied ii> tho city niono on an averago of 10,000,000 a day. Bosides what aro eaten from 10,u00 to 20,000 bushels a day are shipped west. Besides this nro shipped 6,000 barrels a week to Europe. To handle and get to the consumer the millions of oysters aro employed about 25,---000 men. Besidos being tlio biggest consumer* of oysters New Yorkers are the consnmorsof all tho'best oysters. Nearly all the oystnrs that are shipped west from New York aro opened in New York. In opening for the western trade several hundred men are employed. They get $1 a thousand. The record for oyster opening is 8,500 in ten hours. . Concerning Pins. An industrious correspondent of The Home Journal has been collecting items in relation to pins. He says: Thorns were originally, used iv fastening garments together. Pins did not immediately succeed thorns as fasteners, but different appliances were used, such as hooks, buckles and laces. It was the latter half of the fifteenth century before pins were used in Great Britain. When first manufactured in England, the iron wire of the proper length was -filed to a point and the other extremity twisted into a head. This was a slow process, and 400 or 500 pins was a good day's work for an expert hand. The United States has the credit of inventing the first machine for making pins. This was in 1884. The inventor was one Lemuel Wollman Wright. Four Leaved Clover. This plant derived its significance from the fact that its four leaves are arranged in the form of a cross. Moreover, its comparative rarity and its very abnormality mada it seem noteworthy or remarkable. If a person shall wear a bit of this plant, he can detect the presence of evil spirits. It also brings a good fortune. Theso are superstitions connected with this plant. It is also told that a two leaved clover enables a maid to see her future lover. The Great Hunting Ground. The Gran Chaco, or Great Hunting ground, merits its name, for it is, as described by Science, ono vast forest and marsh extending 850 milea in length by 850 In breadth, in the northern portion of the Argeutino Republic. Much of it is unexplored and almost inaccessible. Its sparse human inhabitants aro savngo and wandering tribes, utU) in the stone age, shy and treacherous. Queer Things That Are Told. In Greenland the "candlefish" is used as a lamp. It is nbout 6 inches long and barns for 15 minutes. Astronomers search all over the world for spider webs. They are used for crosslines in telescopes. In Armenia, 100 years ago, whon a man had enough tea he placed his spoon across the cup to indicate that he wanted no more. I