‘I
um..- .u...“ ..,. ._._ —..- «a- _. ,--~~ ,
I ' PNEUMATIC 11.111. Toess.
To be Employed Izriuecn .‘Iew York and
”L‘rooklyn l’nstufiices.
The announcemen: mat the authori-
:ties at Washington have accepted a
system of pneumatic tubes to connect
' the New York and Brooklyn post-0di-
ces is gratifying to the postmasters.
The plans for the tubes were com-
pleted ,a week 01' more ago, and the
work of constructing the apparatus has
begun: The plant will be in operation
Within ninety days. The tubes will
extend from the basement of the New
York post-office, running under Park
Row and upon the bridge, adjoining
the car tracks, and thence under Wash-
ington street to the Brooklyn post-of-
ficc.
The two tubes will be of cast iron,
in twelve-foot sections, bored to the
diameter of eight and three-sixteenth
inches. An important part of the plant
is the carrier, which is an accurately
constructed steel cylinder, twenty-four
inches long, weighing twelve pounds,
and made to fit the tubes so as to
move freely.
freighted with mail matter it is placed
in the despatching tube, air from the
air-compressor is let in at the back of
the carrier, and off it goes on its way
to the post—office across the river, mak-
ing the journey in three and one-half
minutes. The air pressure is only six
pounds to the square inch. The speed
may be accelerated by increasing the
pressure.
One of the tubes being used for de-
spatching and the other for receiving,
.1. regular stream of carriers may thus
be kept going in both directions. Each '
carrier will hold 600 ordinary letters.
It is, therefore. possible to despatch
246, 000 letters each hour in each direc-
tion.
The plant will cost about $100,000. It
'will be constructed by a Philadelphia,
company. The system has been in use
there for four years between the gen-
eral post-office and a sub-station.
Assistant Postmaster Charles Neil-
son, of New York, and Postmaster
Sullivan, of Brooklyn, agree that pneu-
matic tubes between athe post-offices
and the varous railway stations will
relieve the department of 70 per cent.
of the wagon transportation; and that
tubes can be put in and maintained at
the present rate paid for wagon ser-
vice in large cities. The tubes will ex-
pedite the delivery of the mail, and
make close connection at the same cost
as at present.
___1._.._.
GOOD YEAR IN FIRE INSURANCE.
Ilte Companies Doing Business in This
51-“ Country Made Money in 1896.
The oflficers and stockholders of the
fire insurance companies doing busi-
ness in the United States can look
back upon the year 1896 with satisfac-
tion, for it was one of unusual
good luck and prosperity for them. At
the beginning of December; men who
had kept tab upon the fire losses for
the year felt safe in predicting that un-
less some very big fires occurred be—
fore January 1. 1897, the insurance
companies would have had a great
year-"for profits. The losses from fire
in the United States during the year
will probably not amount to more than
$130,000,000, and large as this sum is,
it will be the smallest since 1890. The
losses in that year footed up $108,993,-
792. In 1891 the sum rose to $143,764,-
967, in 1892 it grew again to $151,516,-
098, and it reached it highest figures in
1893, when the total of our fire losses
was the enormous sum of $167,544,-
370. Since then the losses were $140,-
006,484 in 1894 and $142,110,233 in
1895,
Of these sums the insurance com—
panies have had to make good consid-
erably more than half. In 1892 the
losses to the companies amounted in
round figures to $93,500,000, in 1893 to
$109,000,000, in 1894 to $89,500,000,
and in 1895 to $84,500,000. Tire total
of the losses in these four years was
$601,000,000, and the total paid out by
the insurance companies was $372,000,-
000. This amounts to about 62 per
' cent. of the total losses, and applying
this same rule to the losses of 1896, the
insurance companies‘ share would be
about $80,000,000, and it may fall be-
low this. This would leave a margin
of $4,500,000 extra profits to be added
. by the companies either to dividends
01' surplus in hand.
What They Would Do.
'One Of the district school trustees
was a crank on the subject of fire, and
when he called around with the examl
ining board he always confined his re-
marks to a question addressed to the
pupils as to what they would do in
case the building should catch fire. '
The teacher was acquainted with his
hobby, so she prompted her scholars as
to the answer they should give when '
hu arose to propound his accustomed
inquiry.
When the board called, however, this
particular trustee, perhaps from a de-
sire to emulate his associates in their
addresses, rose and said:
“You boys and girls have paid such
nice attention to Mr. Jones’ remarks,
i wonder what you would do if I were
20 make you a little speech?”
Quick as thought a hundred voices
piped in unison:
“Form a line and march down
stairs.”—Detroit Free PreSs.
A Question of Heredity
Singleton—Where does your baby get
ats light hair?
Benedict—From She
my wife.
‘ . oleached hers soon after we were mar-
ried—New York Journal.
____ ;,
A Unique Headstone.
A glass headstone has been put up
over the grave of George F. Evans, a
Mason, at Eugene, Or. it was sent on
there by his father f1om Gibeon, Net).
~New York Sun.
,.._
“’hcn this carrier is“
THE KITE EN WARFARE.
l"l'.xpcr'r11c111ing \Vith Explosives Dropped
hum the ( louds.
("uhan sy inpatlnzers, 1n Boston have
iccn experimenting with a kite as a
means of aerial warfare. It isean elec-
trician of Lynn, Mass, who has con-
ceived the device, and recent experi-
ments have proved that it is dangerous
and promises to be efiective.‘ The
tests were made on‘the north shore
above the Merrimac River.
A New York chemist, who gave the
name of Robinso-n,‘and the Lynn elec—
tr'ician, accompanied by members of
the local Junta, met at a country sta-
tion and carried the kite near the
beach. There were no residences fer
miles around.
Their outfit included a big cotton kite
and several thousand feet of strong
cord, the whole capable of carrying
seventy pounds in a heavy wind. To
the kite 'was fastened twenty—five
pounds of the explosive, with a fulmi-
nate cap, for discharging it, and around
the cord of the kite were wound two
fine insulated wires connected with the
battery. There was a strong carry-
ing breeze, and after a few attempts
the big kite floated beautifully. The
wind carried it nearly a mile toward
the coast, and when it was about sixty
feet above :1 deserted barn the explo-
sive was dropped and discharged. At
this time 5.000 feet, nearly a mile, of
line was out.
0.
s‘s
/‘//]A A
is»
€117}
EFFECT OF EXPLOSIVE DROPPED FROM A
KITE.
The effect of the explosive was ter-
rific. The barn disappeared in a cloud
of dust and sand, while four big trees
in the vicinity were blown into tooth-
picks. The concussion was such that
the electrician was thrown to the
ground insensible.
An experiment was also made to test
the destructive power of the explosive.
A trench was dug in the sand, and
about 115 pounds of the explosive was
buried, with a fulminate cap, and the
wires of the battery were attached.
The trench was then filled in, and
the party retreated to a distance of
nearly a mile before the mine was
fired. The result was an explosion that
shook the ground for miles, and threw
every man in the party flat on his
face. Examination 0f the place where
the mine had been laid showed that an
enormous hole had been torn in the
ground, and (that for hundreds of feet
in every direction .the sand had been
torn up, causing immense ridges and
furrows.
HORSELESS CABS NOW.
Soon There “'1“ be No Horses Drawing
Carriagesin the Streets.
The New York Cab Company is
about to begin running five horseless
coupe cabs by compressed air. Should
the experiment prove successful, com-
pressed air will be the motive power
on all the company’s cabs.
"I believe that the time is not far dis—
tant when you will not see a horse in
front of a cab in New York" City,” said
the company's mechanical engineer
yesterday. For more than two years
we have been experimenting, but we
did not discover anything feasible until
recently. The. trouble has been with
the motor. Electricity was not power-
ful enough and the gas which escapes
grecable noise.
a Brooklyn man. The apparatus is so
simple that it can be attached to any
of the coupe cabs which we have in
use at present. The compressed air
is carried in a cylinder which is at‘
tached to the rear axle.
“The drivers seat can be folded up
if desired. and the motor can be
started by a wheel or lever operated
by the passenger in the cab.”
He Abused Himself.
General Ogle. a member of the Penn-
sylvania Assembly. had been deputed
to compose an address to the newly
elected President, Andrew Jackson.
When the bluff old warrior submitted
his document to the House a fellow-
member, a dapper little fellow [from
Philadelphia, observed:
“Pardon me, General. I hesitate
about making any suggestion to so dis-
tinguishcd an individual, but I cannot
refrain from saying that it‘is custom-
ary with cultured letter-writers to
write the first personal pronoun with
a capital ‘1’ instead of a small ‘i .’ ”
Genelal ()gle returned a look of
scorn. “Sir," said he, “when I write to
so great a man as General Andrew
Jackson, Democratic President of the
United States, I abase myself. I abase
myself. sir. I use as small an ‘i’ as I
can put upon paper. But, sir,.if ever I
should have to write to a little snipe
like you I would use an ‘I,’ sir that
would fill two pages of foolscap!”——Bal-
timore Sun.
0
' ‘ 1 Lazy Sultan.
The extmme of luxury has perhaps
been re. 10111311 by the Sultan of Viorocco.
He has a narrow ‘gauge railway 111n-
ning through all the rooms of his pal-
ate, and travels about on a sort of
sleigh piopcllcd by a little motor. The
‘line” ends at his bedroom. -—Chicagc
lni cr' (-Jc ca 11.
1e.
3‘.
from a gasoline motor made a disaa
“0111' present motor' is theinvention of
Is OVER.
3 TIM
W is
.‘3
Both" Pacers Sent to one Address
for $1.00eYear -,
A DINNER IN MEXICO.
Professor Rusby, ofNew York, E. vrcmmter 3
Some Oueer Dishes.
Prof. H. H. Busby of the College of
Pharmacy, after returning from the
Pan-American Medical Congress in the
City of Mexico, advised such 01? his
friends as may hereafter visit Mexico
not to place too much reliance upon
what they hear about the methods of
preparing fond in that country. He at-
tended a dinner party in the crater of
an extinct volcano, just outsidc’of the
City of Mexico, and came near getting
nothing to eat, because of his fear of
the native dishes, against which a kind
(and waggish) friend had warned him.
The chief articles of food offered
were cakes made of maize, and called
tortillas, baked goat meat, and a pecu-
liar dish which hc had been told was
dog meat. Having heard that the tor-
tillas were made of dough that had
been mixed by grimy hands and mani-
pulated by untidy Mexican women, he
carefully eschewed tortillas. The idea
of eating dog meat was naturally re-
pulsive to him, and he could not eat
the goat meal because he could get no
salt, and without salt goat meat is ex-
ceedingly unpalatable to any one not a
native. There was a side 'dish offered
him, which looked like stewed bugs,
and his friend assured him that such
they were.
’After spending a wretched half-hour
over a piece of goat meat, the profes-
sor expressed, to an intelligent Mexi-
can friend, his surprise that American
tastes had not been consulted in the
preparation of the dinner. The Mexi-
can gentleman was in his turn sur-
prised. “Why, you Americans like
, turkey, do you not?” he asked.
“Indeed we do,” responded the pro-
t‘cssor. “I wish that I had some now.”
“Well, there is the choicest and most
delicious roast turkey that can be ob-
tained in any lanc ,” said the Mexican,
pointing to the platter of alleged dog
meat. The professor tasted it, and
found that it was indeed fine roast
turkey. He asked about the tortillas,
and was assured that they were pre-
pared in the neatest and cleanest man-
ner possible, and he found them most
agreeable to the taste. The dish of
“stewed bugs” proved to be the seeds
of a plant of the same species as the
American bean.
.—
FASHION GOSSlP.
Black not with chenille dots is used
for evening dresses.
Velvet is the most fashionable ma-
terial for short street coats. They are
edged with fur or plain, but the front
shows a full vest of some soft lace or
light colored silk.
Don’t dress your neck with a ruff all
the way round unless you are very
tall. very slender, and have a long
neck. The frills that fall from the‘top
of the stock at the side and back are
becoming to more people.
One of the latest Parisian novelties
in seal is a cape full and short enough
to meet the waist line, and trimmed
around a little way from the edge with
lines of gold braid put in three groups
of four, three, and two.
Coat bodices of light fancy brocade
silks are worn for afternoon dress
with dark skirts of cloth or silk. They
have the full soft vests of lace or chif-
fon, a short, rippled basque lined with
a plain color, and a narrow belt of vel-
vet or jewelled galon across the back
and sides.
Gold braid and gold and silver
threads are a telling feature of dress
decoration this season, and boleros and
entire waists are made of a cloth of
gold. Military braid is employed for
belts, with a gold clasp in rococo (le-g
signs. Gold, etfects in any form are
much sought after.
JAPANESE TEA GOWN.
French tea gowns and their American
reproductions are not to be despised.
But the girl who'really cares for com-
fort and likes it with a. dash of pie-
turesqueness is apt. to award the palm
to the Japanese gown. There is noth-
ing so easy, nothing in which the lazy
individual may loll wilh quite the same
sense of...committing no crime against
ribbons and laces, and yet there are
very few things so pretty.
The gown is particularly fet ching if
made inthe crinkled Japan 59 crepe. It
may then be of dark blue and white, of
white figured in blue, gold, rose, or
green. It should be lined with plain
china. silk. The loose sleeves that fall
back from the arms should be of the
plain silk.
Sometimes figured silks are used.
China silks, splashed with big chrysan
themums in pale, zesthetic colors, lined
with plain silks. ma ‘e up charmingly.
' 1
’ NEWS OF THE 'WHEEL.
Goss’ip About, the 1897 Models—Very Few
Chainless “"heels.
In the new models for 1897 it is es-
pecially noticeable that great Strides
toward higher artistic perfection have
been made, and have, however, been
made in most cases with distinct gain
to mechanical simplicity and strength.
The energies of the 111a11ufacturers
have been concentrated on making this
year’s bicycle,‘thoroughly pleasing to
a fastidious taste, and easy to keep in .
good order. It has been their aim to re-
move from the appearance of. the
.whecl the last vestiges of the ma-
chine shop, and they have thoroughly
succeeded. _
Not only are the frames better
joined and more richly and smoothly
enameled; wheel rims, 'spokes and
spoke fastenings, handle bars, clips
and adjustments, name plates, sprocket
wheels, are all, as a rule. of more
pleasing lines than formerly. In re-
gard to accessories, such as saddles.
lamps, brakes, cyclometers, mud and
skirt guards, etc. there is an ample
selection of new patterns in regard to.
which the same holds true.
While this is so as applied to the
most expensive grades, there is even
more pr'ogress,-relatively speaking, 'no-
ticeable in the best medium grades.
There was much room in these for me-
chanical improvements derived from
the perfecting of methods in manufac-
turing, and the makers have taken care
to add to them also all the features of
refined appearance which do not con—
flict with economical production.
Considerable improvement in lamps
is promised for this year. There are
any number of patterns in the market,
all warranted serviceable, and all far
removed from thecclumsy lantern of
early days. One of them closes like a
watch. A chief feature seems to be
larger lenses and reflecting surfaces,
one being modelled after a locomotive
headlight. Another is arranged as a
bracket, to be attached to any part of
the wheel. Little progress has been
made with electric lighting, for which
sot-much was predicted.
Intense interest has been aroused
among bicyclists by reports that a
number of leading makers were pre-
paring to put chainless wheels on the
market. ' A considerable number of
such wheels were shown recently at
the Stanley Cycle Show in London.
Some of these wete clearly crank pro-
ductions which could never gain a foot-
hold in actual use, while most of
them were of ,the bevel gear variety.
It seems safe‘to say now that the
American wheel makers, with butonc
of two exceptions will devote them-
selves, for the coming Year, at lcast,’t0'
making as good wheels as they know
how to make on the old lines, and that
those who are about to put out chain-
less wheels will make the experiment
vcry cautiously.
Besides the Howard bevel gear wheel,
which was introduced about a. year
ago, there is not a single chainless
wheel now known in the trade, and not
one is announced ofiicially as forth-
coming by any established maker; It
' has been known, however, that for a
long time the Pope Manufacturing
Company, the makers of the Columbia
and Hartford wheels, have been get-
ting ready to make a chainless wheel,
and that the Spaldings also had taken
out a license to manufacture under
the same general patents. It is n0W.'
understOOd that the Spaldings will not '
be able to put a chainless wheel on the
market this year, and that the Pope
Manufacturing Company has notified
its agents that the production of chain»
less wheels will be very small this sea-
son.
He Desired His Money’s “’orth.
King Milan~of Servia once went to
the house of a distinguished lady who
was giving a bazaar for the benefit of
the poor children of Paris. As 'soon
as the king appeared upon the scene,
she, advanced toward him with a
splendid silver salver in her hand, on
which were beautifully emblazoned
the family arms. On it lay a pretty
little bunch of violets. “How much,
madame?” asked the king. “Twenty-
four louis. sire.” was her soft response.
Milan paid her the sum she had asked,
with a courteous bow, took the salver
from her hands, placed the bouquet in,
his button-hole. and walked OK with
the tray under his arm.
Advanced Organ Grinding.
A capital story is told of Mascagni
and an organ-grinder. Infuriated at
the rapid rate at which his “Intermeza
zo” was being performed on the instru-
ment in question, the composer rushed
into the street and, seizing the handle,
proceeded to grind the tune at the
proper pace, explaining ‘that. he had
written it and ought to know; where
upon next day the organ-grinder ap-
peared with the placard, “Pupil of the
celebrated Mascagni.”
No Room There.
“How did you come to move out of
that flat?”
“Well, you see, we wanted to give
the baby room to cut his teeth. ”
DlDN’T FORGET HIS M'ANNERS.
‘ “if mn’ll excuse me. ::'1'::'.. .’ . 'em
rhe time.”-—-€-l:1rpcr’s Week}; ' '
Norwalk Chronicler