The Curiosity Shop

Manawatu Herald, 23 February 1905, Page 4

The Curiosity Shop

the”eagle /S An EMBLEM. Ilia B’prt ardor- r-.:~ ■■ "• v ImvorllcSym- !>,: i • •:;■• .'.!,':■■■■• lii ■ 1 ‘ !••;■;.• the e-aglo was boIl(+vcct Bj • liji.i </t IBe their ti-'odo mi .■ >, ' J !3 111 ■ ■■> ' vas called (ho bird of ,iw.u. Tiio caglo was first taken as a symird ol royal power by the anch’jit ]:.lre. eaa.;., v. no boro its image Upon their standard.-:. bn tho year 87 B, C. a silver eagle, with expanded wings, poised on tho to; > ol! a, spear, ■with a thunderbolt held in its flaws, was adopted aa tho military standard to bo borne ub tho head of their legions by tho Homans. At tho tivno of Hadrian a golden caglo was substituted lor iho silver ono. A two headed eagle was adopted by tho Byzantine emperors us a. s\ mhol of tucir control of both the cast rwi the west. Tho double iw :ded eagle of Paissia was adoptpd on 1 ho murrhe-vo of Jvan I,with a Grecian princess ol! tho eastern empire. That of Austria was first used when the emperor of Germany took (lie title of tho Roman emperor. Tho national standard of Prussia bears a black ( agio; that of Poland a white one. Napoleon I took a golden caglo for his standard, modeled of pure gold and hewing a thunderbolt, after the pattern of tho eagle of the Homans. This standard was disusi >d undi r the Bourbons, but wan restored by ft decree of Louis Napoleon in 18iW. Thorne states that the caglo was first used on American coins in 1788, on cents and half cents issued from tho Massachusetts mint. It 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 caglo was at ono time suggested for the national flag. Modern Whaling Weapon. Tho whaling s( earners pf a well known Norwegian whale fisher are short, about GO foot 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. In tho stem stands the gnu for throwing tho harpoon. 'This gun is iii reality only a long iron tube, resting on a fixed platform. In this tube the harpoon is inserted aftor loading with powder. Tho harpoon is about i feet in length. Tho end of it Vrhichutouches tho chr.rgo consists of a solid iron cylinder, lilting exactly in tho tube. Then comes a portion, feet long, consisting of two flat ribs of iron, with on opening in the. middle like tho eye of a needle. In this oyo runs a movable

a harpoon o ux. Iron ring, to which the rope of the harpoon Is attached. At tliotop of tho eye aro.fixed four projecting hooks, tied down with a string. When tho harpoon enters tho ribs of tho whale, these hooks spring Into position by tho tightening of tho and tho harpoon thus becomes imbedded in tho animal. Tho further contrivances of this remarkable weapon arc that at tho point where tho hooks aro fixed tho two iron ribs run into a small, hollow Iron rod, and In this a glass tube with nitroglycerin is inserted, and as tho hooks spring into position, tills tube is smashed and tho grenade in the Imrj icon exploded., The iron rod finishes in a triangular point, so that it may penetrate the Hash more easily. When tho wounded whale palls, tho rope runs out to its end, which is, of course, well soou^cd,'and when killed tho rope and tho Whale are hauled in by a steam winch. The Tailor Matio Woman In History. There exists a common delusion that the tailor made woman is a product of the nineteenth century, whereas a more x>r less serious consideration of the subject would at once prove that in tho olden days of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries all tho Women wore tailor made, clothes. Have WO not authentic evidence in tho records of Henry Ylll’s expenses of payments made to the tailor, John Malt, for Anne Boloyn, and has it not been chronicled that when specially pleased with her servant “Jane the Tool’’ the Queen Mary Would order Bor to be shaved.by:the barber and supplied with a new suit from tho tailor? And can wo not even cite as a further proof tho existence of that luckless tailor of Katherine’s on whom Potruchio exercises such unmanly pranks, deriding tho fashions this most amiable woman was so anxious to contemplate? Not alone had this enterprising t radesman tho gowns of tho fair lady under his cure, but he was also her milliner, as tho text of tho immortal “Taming of tho Shrew’’ will show. J)id ho not make that paltry cap whichPetruohlo likens so unsympathetically to *‘a custard -coffin,-a baltblb,’ a'silken pi’eP T The Secrets of tho Freemasons. Curiosity has always found a peculiar attraction in the freemasons. IVhat is this great secret of theirs that no woman knows, and which they guard with such fascinating earn? That excellent antiquary, the Kov. Dr. tftukoley, F. R. S., thought It might bo some vestiges of tho “mysteries. of the ancient s” and joined tho society at; the Salutation Tavern in a scientific spirit. At that time (1720) Freemasonry was at a low ebb, but tho learned doctor brought It into vogue again. “With difficulty a number sufficient for his initiation Was to bo found infill Loudon. 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 he kept to.himself. This silence of Stukeloy, however, is a small thing hesido that Of the lady .Mason, whoso story has been often told, who, being caught eavesdropping, was incontinently captured, hamed in and initiated and kept tho secret nevertheless to tho end. Tho Weight of the Earth. The weight of tho earth has been six times computed with, slightly varying results. The average, according to Tho Educational World, is a--mean density of 5.44 as compared with water. Tho average density of all materials of 10 miles of the Iparth's crust as well as volcanic matter thrown out from an estimated depth of 800 miles is less than one-half tho mean density. The average mass below volcanic action is estimated to bo 10 times heavier than water.