UNKOWN.

Manawatu Herald, 7 June 1904, Page 4

UNKOWN.

|fj THE CAGLC /3 A ! LMA-M. ! The SJird of .Jove m'm ;■ cilia Symbol of J'licvc' - f i .M.y A;--s. ll In ancient eagle was bo•I lievecl <o carry tho i '>ls o' - the dying to fe their alior!" on Meant (Hympiir : ml was I,' called tlio bird of Jove. Tho eaglo was ft-first taken ps a symbol of royal power by 1' r tho ancient, Elru .. an.:, who boro its image fX . upon their standards*. In the year 87 Ji. Siii,), (I. n tiilvor eagle, with expanded wings, poised on tho top of a (.pear, with a tliun--1 dorbolt held in its claws, was adopted as tho mil iiary standard to bo borno at tlie ‘ head of tiioir legions by tho Romans. At tho time of Hadrian a golden eagle was telflUbstitnted' for tho silver one. A two * headed c.aglo was adopt eel by tiio Byzan- ||| i C''tlnO emperors as a symbol of their control i of both the cast and the west. Tho double headed eagle of Russia was adopted on the marriage of Ivan I with a Grecian princess of tho eastern empire. ! : That of Austria was first used when the j emperor of Germany took the title of tho jf Homan emperor. Tho national standard | of Prussia bean a black eagle; that of Poi land a white one. Napoleon I took a gold's;' *en eaglo for his standard, modeled of pure * ' gold and bearing a thunderbolt, after tho \ pattern of the eaglo of tho Romans. This i, standard was disused under the Hourhous, ! but was restored by a decree of Louis Nai polcon in 1853. Thorne states that tho j, eaglo was first used on American coins in ' ■ 1788, on cents and half cents issued from tho Massachusetts mint, lb was adopted ' in tho plan of a national coinage as a design upon all gold coins and on tho silver * dollar', half dollar and quarter dollar. : The design of an eaglo was at one time , suggested for the national dag. |V Modern Whaling Weapon. Tho whaling steamers of a well known 1 i Norwegian whale fisher avo short, about GO feet in length, but comparatively broad. They arc propelled by screws, attain a , speed of from eight to nine? knots an hour ! and turn with great rapidity. . T u tho stern stands tiro gun for throwing I : i. -rpoon. This gun is in reality only a the ha- ’ tube, resting on a fixed platform, i long iron , tho harpoon is inserted after In this tube . nowder. T’Jie harpoon is ' loading with * ’ength. The end of it about 4 feet in ehnrgo ’ consists of a which touches tho ' exact ’y i’ l the i solid iron cylinder, flttu r, long, I tube. Then coines a portlu ’ ; , vith ? consisting of two flat ribs Ot , ■ Q S.'an om-ning in the middlo imo tho !, of a needle. In this eye runs a movable

' A HARPOON GUN. ; iron ring, to which the rope of tho harpoon Is attached. At tho top of tho cyo arc fixed s four projecting hooks, tied down with a ' string, When tho harpoon enters tho ribs . of tho whale, these hooks spring into po■sltion by tho tightening of tho ropjf, and tho harpoon thus becomes imbedded in tho ; animal. Tho further contrivances of this 5 'remarkable weapon arc that at tho point 1 Where tho hooks aro fixed tho two iron I ribs ran into a small, hollow iron rod, and ' " in this a glass tube with nitroglycerin is inserted, and as tho hooka spring into po- ; sition, this tnbo is smashed and the grenade in tho harpoon exploded. Tho i ron rod finishes in a triangular point, so that it may penetrate tho flesh more easily. When i tho wotmded whalo pulls, tho rope runs ' out to Its end, which is, of course, well sc- ’ cured,' and when killed tho rope and tho whalo are hauled in by a steam winch. ‘ The Tailor Made Woman In History. There exists a common delusion that the ' tailor made woman is a product of tho nineteenth century, whereas a more or less ’i serious consideration of tho subject would i at onco prove that in the olden days of tiro fifteenth and sixteenth centuries all tho women wore tailor xnado clothes. Have wo not authentic evidence in tho records of Henry VIII’s expenses of payments made to tho tailor, John Malt, for Anno , Boloyn, and has it not been chronicled that when specially pleased with her servant “Jano tho fool” tho Queen Mary would order her to bo shaved by tho barber ; and supplied with a now suit from the tailor? And can wo not oven cite as a further proof tho existence of that luckless ■ tailor of Ivathcriuo’s on whom Petruohio I exercises such unmanly pranks, deriding the fashions this most amiable woman was so anxious to contemplate? Not alone bad - this enterprising tradesman tho gowns of > • tho fair lady under ins care, but ho was also her milliner, as tho text of the iminor- ; tal “Taming of tho Shrew” will show. { Did hq not make that paltry cap which i Petruohio likens so unsympathetically to *‘a custard coffin, a bauble, a silken pie?” I I The Secrets of tho Freemasons. ?■ Curiosity has always found a peculiar f* attraction in tho Freemasons. What is 'i . this great secret of theirs that no woman knows, and which they guard with such f fascinating care? That excellent antiquary. 5 the Rev. Dr. Stukeley, F. R. S., thought I It might bo some vestiges of tho “mysto- . rios of tho ancients” and joined tho society at tho Salutation Tavern in a scieutiilo ■spirit. At that time (1720) Freemasonry ■' was at a low ebb, but the learned doctor ' . brought it into vogue again. ‘’With dilll* oulty a number sufficient for his initiation was to bo found in all London. After this it became a public fashion, and not only spread over Britain and Ireland, but all Europe.” But whatever it was they told £,,■ him ho kept to himself. This silence of j-i f fitukeloy, however, is a small thing beside i! - that of the lady Season, whoso story has • !,: v been often told, vrbp* being caught oaves- ;■ ‘ dropping, was incontinently captured, Umied In and initiated and kept the eocret novertiielcss to tho end. iilli!’ ‘ h , ■ Tho Weight of the Earth. \ ' Tho weight of tho earth has been six * times computed with slightly varying roil jsults. Tho average, according to Tho Edik- , Ucatlonal World, is a mean density of 5.44 J' as compared with water. Tho average & " density of all materials of 16 miles of tho I t-jsorth’s crust as well ns volcanic matter If; thrown out from an estimated depth of I/; : 166(1 miles Is less than one-half tho mean |U‘ jjensity. Tho average mass below volcanic action is estimated to bo 10 times heavier r. than water. • ii f -