WEEKLY - ,N’ORWALK - GAZETTE“ ‘ BUILDING SKYWARD. DANGERS THAT THREATEN HIGH BUILDINGS IN CITIES. An Architect Who Plans Them Calls Upon Legislative Bodies to Fix a Reasonable Limit. Offices One Thousand Feet Up Now Thoroughly Practicahle, In view of the constantly increasing height of modern office buildings, a re- porter’for the New York Times asked George H. Post, the architect of the new Havemeyer Building, which is going up on the site of the former Herald office in New York. what was the limit, in prac- tice or in theory, of the height of office buildings: what factors would tend to keep the height down. and what causes would be likely to bring about the de- struction of the tall buildings now in use after they had served their purpose for half a century or more. “The passenger elevators solved the problem of making the upper. stories of high buildings available for office pur- poses. Then we had a number of build- ings erected, such as the Tribune Build- ing and the Mills Building, where the floors still rested on the exterior walls for their main support. This was about twenty years ago. It was found, how- ever, that the immense size of the piers and the thickness of the walls in the lower stories took up so much space that some plan of lessening the weight of the floors which rested upon them had to be devised. This brought about the cage construction, at first used sim- ply to carry the floors, and afterward to sustain the whole weight of the build— ing. the outer walls being merely panels of stone held in place by the horizontal steel beams at the division between two stories. “The upright steel beams when built into the walls are removed from all possibility of examination without tear- ing the building down. In the second place, there is danger from the effects of large fires exterior to the building it- self. “Suppose a big fire was to start op- posite a building constructed with steel pillars near the surface of the walls, the heat might do incalculable damage by warping and twisting the pillars. “To avert these dangers. the most re- cent method of constructing cages is to place the steel uprights just inside of the outer walls and push the ends of the horizontal beams out far enough to sup- port the walls, cantilever‘fashion. This permits an examination of every essen- tial part of the cage, and. at the Same time, protects it from the possibility of danger from exterior fires.” “How high could a building be made, from a theoretical point "of view?” the reporter asked. “The Eiffel Tower, in Paris, is 950 feet high,” said Mr. Post, “and there is no engineering difficulty in making an ofiice building equally high. or even higher. The commercial limit, however. will not be much greater than 300 feet. The question of elevator accomodation and light will step in at this limit, even if the Legislature does not keep down the height to a proper proportion of the width'of the street, as it ought to do next session.” “What will be the final end of the tall buildings in New York City? Will it be earthquakes or the day of judg- ment?” suggested the reporter. “Neither. Earthquakes are not com- mon in this part of the world, and the heaviest buildings must yield to time,” was Mr. Post‘s reply. “The three dangers to those buildings which may bring about their individual demolition in the course of tw0 or three generations are corrosion of the metal work, heat from exterior fires and fu- ture inadequacy to resist wind strains. I have already spoken of the danger from exterior fires. The corrosion of the metal work is a serious matter, be- cause it may come on very gradually, and because owners are so careless about keeping such details constantly and carefully inspected. “I do not mean that looking at the steel framework every day is what should be done, because if the framework itself is to be properly preserved it should be covered in with damp-proof material to resist rust. and with some non-conduct- ing substance, such as hollow bricks, to resist interior fires. " v Queen Victoria’s Meals. Queen Victoria is rather simple in her tastes, as a rule. For instance, a kind of natural soup very often finds its way on the menu. The wine served with it is white sherry, which her Majesty gen- erally drinks from a beautiful gold cup formerly belonging to Queen Anne. Boiled beef and pickled cucumbers—a favorite dish with Prince Albert—in- variably follow the soup, while a baron of beef is likewise a constant feature. It is noteworthy that the Queen still adheres to the old practice of having the cook’s name called out as each dish is brought to the table. This custom dates back to the days of George II., and had its origin in a conspiracy against one Weston, formerly an assistant, whom the King had raised to the dignity of chief mouth cook. His late comrades, jealous of his preferment. endeavored to disgrace him by tampering with the dishes. Upon Weston proving the ex- istence of this plot to his royal master, the latter gave orders that in the future as each dish was brought on, the name of its cook should be called out, in order that praise or blame might be bestowed where due. Too Long a Good Time. Mr. De Witt—Ah! 'Youth is the thing. The time for a man to enjoy life is between 18 and 30. Kittie—Oh, my! don’t you think he cut to marry before 30?—Puck. Planning the Campaign. Farmer—I wouldn’t say “no mosQuit- rigs" in that advertisement. Daughter—Why, pa, everybody says i 22‘! ' l .rrner—I know; but it just makes foals .-...nk about ’em.—Puck. ' .g. ‘ DEAD INDIANS POUND. They Were Huddled Together In the Walter Earle’s Forecastla SEATTLE, Wash., Aug. 23.-—Captain Higgins of the steamship Excelsior, which arrived direct from St. Michael’s and Unalaska, brings news of the wreck of the sealing schooner Walter Earle of Vic- toria. Eleven dead Indians were found heaped together in the forecastle. The wreck was sighted and picked up by the steamship Francis Cutting, from Seattle to Kadiak, about the middle of July. The Earle was capsized on or about April 14 during a terrific gale ofi Kadiak island, and though a number of ships were reported to have gone in search of her she was not found until the Cutting ran across her drifting with the tide. She was bottom up, and there was nothing about her to indicate that she had ever been sighted by passing vessels or that any of the ill fated crew had made any at» tempt to get out. ’ Her rudder was gone, and this to the practiced eye of the mariner told the. story of the wreck as well as words could have done. Losing her rudder during a fearful gale that is known to have swapt across that part of the ocean at that time, the vessel drifted helplessly in the raging sea until she suddenly went over and car- ried all on board with her. Not until the wreck was towed in Kodi- ak and she was righted were the full facts of the disaster known. The bodies Were taken ashore and lnterreueon the island. No white man’s remains were found in the vessel, and the story of the struggle and drowning of Captain Louis Magneson, her skipper, and seven white men will never be told They occupied the cabin, and are be- lieved to have been swept from the deck of the schooner and drowned during the gale while the Indian sailors were hud- dled helplessly in the forecastle until she went over. None of the schooner’s boats was about and almost everything was swept away and gone when she was picked up. The Earle was formerly the Sylvia Hands of San Francisco. The scaling schooner Brenda of Vic- toria was wrecked on July 1 by striking a sunken rock on the coast of Shumshu is- land, Alaska. The crcw was picked up by the British schooner Genevieve, Captain Locke. The schooner’s master arrived in Seattle today. Three Alleged Lynchers Hold. ELLENSBURG, Wash, Aug. BEL—The ex- amination of the five men charged with lynching Charles and Fred Vinson a week ago was concluded today. Frank Vole- backer, Frank Fiegcl and William Ken- nedy were held for trial without bail. A motion was made to discharge Mike Lin-g der and Robert Linke'. Decision will be given later. A Conger-s Hotel Burned. NYACK, N. Y., Aug. 23.——Fire destroyed the Grand Rockland hotel at Congress to- day, with all its contents. William A. Webb of New York city, one of the guests, jumped from a third story window and broke his leg. His wife was injured. Some of the guests were removed wrapped in blankets. The loss will exceed 880, 000. The Cholera In Japan. YoxonAMA, Aug. 23.—Since the out- break of cholera in Japan there have been 25,000 cases of that disease and 16,000 deaths. Viscount Miura has been gazetted Japanese minister to Korea. General Takassima has been gazetted vice govern- or of the island of Formosa and command- er of the Japanese army there. The Sanford Disaster. LONDON, Aug. 23,—The manager of th( London, Brighton and South Coast rail- road has received no notice of claims made by the American passengers of the New Haven-Dleppe steamer Seaford, sunk in collision with the freight steamer Lyon on Tuesday afternoon, for compensation for losses sustained. Lancaster's First Coaching Parade. LANCASTER, N. 11., Aug. 23.-—Lancas— ter’s first coaching parade today was a grand success. There was perfect Weather. Public and private buildings were lavish- ly decorated and an arch was erected on Main street in front of the Lancaster House. The bridge was a bower of ever greens. lsborg Crazed by Religion. PINE BLUFF, Ark, Aug. 23.——Jesse Is- borg, colored, who became crazed by reli- gion at a revival meeting last evening and kept up his prayers all night, today shot his landlady, Mandy Walker, four times at the breakfast table, fatally wounding her, then blew his own brains out. Death of a Venerable Pastor. ST. LOUIS, Aug. 23.—Rev. Robert G. Brank, pastor of the Central Presbyterian church, died here, aged 73 years. Dr. Brank was a native of Kentucky, but the better part of his life was spent in this city. The interment will be at Lexington, Ky. Germany as a Coke Producer. WASHINGTON, Aug. 23.—Germany is preparing to compete with England in supplying coke to the ore'smelters of Aus- tralia, according to a recent report to the state department by Consul Stephan at Annabel-g, Germany. Died of Delirium Tremens. LIVERPOOL, Aug. 23.—George Wilkin- son, 40 years of age, a merchantuof King- ston, Ont., died of delirium tremens on board the White Star steamship Britannia, ghiih has just arrived here from New or . The Town of Coin Shaken. MADRID, Aug. 23.—A severe earth- quake has shaken the town of Coin, in Andalusia, 21 miles west of Malaga. Se- rious damage has been done. Coin has a population of about 10,000 people. Altgeld at Vineyard Haven. VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass, Aug. 23.— Governor Altgeld of Illinois and Mr. E. R. Brainard of Chicago, with their fam- ilies, are here on the tug Mabel, cruising and fishing in Vineyard sound. Down Went McGlnnity’s Planing Mill. DENVER, Aug. 23.—McP.hee & Mc- Ginnity’s planing mill on Wazee street was destroyed by the today. The loss amounts to 866, 500; the insurance covers about one-third of the loss. Composer Leech Is Dead. OAKLAND, Cal, Aug. 23.-—Stephen W. Leech, an actor. singer and composer, is dead. He was a native of England. Leech, 30 years ago, played with Edwin Booth. Minister McKenzie Home From Peru. NEW YORK, Aug. 23.—Among the pas- sengers who arrived today by'steamer City of Para from Colon was Hon. J. A. Mc- Kenzie, United States minister to Peru. ' \ ' 0 STRANGE AMERICAN CUSTOMS. A Matter of , Considerable Surprise to Foreign Tourists. “I have been in America but two days,” said the talkative foreigner,“but already I have become impressed with some of the strange customs of the country.” “Indeed! What particular customs do you refer to?" "‘VVell. for one thing. I had not been ashore for more than one hour when a spruce official looking man came up to me. He showed a silver badge of some sort and said he. was a collector of the internal revenue. He asked if I had paid my side whisker license yet. I told him that I didn’t know side whisk- ers were taxed in America. He said they were. and that the tax was $4 a year. He added that I might consider myself lucky that he did not add 25 per cent. for cost of collection. because it was my duty to report at City Hall and pay the tax, without- putting the nation to the expense of sending a collector after the money.” “You paid him, did you?" "Oh, yes, and I was quite glad that I did not wear a full beard. He said the assessments on full beards was $10 per chin. “’11): do you have such odd taxes in America? Is it so very expensive to run a republican government?" "It costs quite a good deal. that your only experience?" “No. it wasn't. About two hours later another man approached me, ask- ed me if I had yet procured the Govern- ment permit- entitling me to wear trou- sers of such a wide stripe as those I had on. It was the same pair I’m wearing now. I asked what the blamed Govern- ment would do if I refused to pay for such a permit. He replied that the fee for the. permit was so excessively small that no one iriei to evade payment. It was only .32 he said. The penalty was the confiscation of the trousers. and it would be his painful duty to take me to the nearest police station and take poses- sion of my garments in the name of the United Stat-es Government if I mani- fested any further hesitancy about pro- ducing the 52. As I did not want a scene, I paid him the money and he left.” “You would have done well to have But was "allowed him to take you to the police station.” “Why?" . . “You could have told your story, and he would have been locked up on a charge of swindling.‘-” “Do you mean to'say ‘l::2.t he was not an official of the G0ver--ment?" "That‘s what I mean”. “But he said he was.” “I'm very much afraid that he didn’t speak the truth.” . ' "But how about the other?" “He was a fraud, too.” - “But he showed me his badge.” “That cuts no ice.” ‘ “I beg .rdon! It doesn’t do what?” “I said 2. cut no ice. I meant that it was of no :iqnificance. Thieves can get badges w'...-.. they deem it necessary to use them in their business.” “But who are the real officers who is- sue permits to wear striped trousers, and who receive the tax on side whis~ kers?" -‘ “There are no such officers.” “And no such taxes?” “No.” “Then they both lied?" "Yes." “Well. I never would have thought it. Do you suppose that others will try to do me up in this way?" “It would not surprise me in the least.” “Allow me to thank you for putting me on my guard. sir. I pay no more taxes except at the City Hall. day, sir."—Harper's Bazar. Buumgariner's Dog. “Dot Baumgartner vas der piggest foolishness that I efer vas,” said Blen- ker, of Canajoharie, as he came down street laughing. “Why so?“ I asked. “Baumgartner keeps a lifery sthable undt a pull dog to take care fon dose horses 11nd carri'tches in der nighd; so he cuts a hole der barn in so dot dog can go in und out all der vhile. Vell, der negst day vhen der para door vas oben be seen dot it cofers dot dog hole. ain’d it! Oxectly. So he goes undt gits dot carbender undt cuts annudder hole pesides. See? “Vell. his son Shake comes aroundt undt ask apout dot extra hole vhich he make, undt der oldt man shows Shake how vhen der door is oben it cofers up dot hole. Py gracious. den Shake he get madt undt swear undt say: “ ‘Couldn’t dot plamed dog go in undt out der doOr vhen it vhas open alreaty?’ Py chiminetty! old Baumgartner feel so sheap dot he could go in undt out dot dog hole himselluf.”—Judge. Not a Combatant. During the war old Rastus was asked by a Federal soldier why he was not out fighting for his rights. After pondering for ' moment he replied: “ id yo’ ebber see two dogs a-fightin’ over a bone, ssh?” “Yes, oh yes!”' “Did yo’ ebber see de bone fight.”— Harper’s Magazine. Distrust. Sally—An’ after we are married, will you keep on lovin’ me? Rube—I’ll love you till—till the cows come home. as the feller says. “Yaas, an’ then go down to the gro- cery an’ let me do all the milkin’.”—In— dianapolis Journal. The Worse to China. The heroine had the center of the stage. “Amid such surroundings." looking raptly at the people. “who could not be happy?" ’ Upon her felicity broke the villian y rudely. “Ha, ha."he laughed through his nose. She shivered with a nameless dread. “Wait.” he cried. “till you see the scenery we get when we go on the rm " -—Detroit Tnbune. -. "‘ Good- : STRANGELY r‘EUNITEa, "a.“ Summons and His Finger Get To. gather After Nearly 32 Years. .l'chn Sammons is a responsible man, a good farmer, who stands high among his neighbors, and whose reliability has never been brought into question. He was a brave soldier of the Confederate army, and was one of those who par- ticipated in that bloody tragedy on the banks of Chickamauga Creek on the 18th of September, 1863. During the hottest of the engagement Sammons found himself in an exposed position. with shot and shell playing high revel around him, and he sought such shelter" as was afforded by a large oak tree which was in direct line of fire. While handling his piece a bullet struck his gunstock and cut off the two first joints of the forefinger of his right hand as clean as a knife would have done it. The dismembered finger dropped among the leaves, and as he was more particular about saving the balance of his body than about rescuing as little 3 thing as a missing finger, he made the best of his way out of the fight. stanch- ing his bleeding hand as best he could. The war was fought to a finish and Sammons came back home and went to work, charging up his maimed hand to the losses of the Confederacy. Some time ago he decided to revisit the bat- tlefield, which he had not seen in nearly thirty-two years, and so he betook him- self to Chickamauga and started to stroll over the battlefield. The tree where .he stood when wounded occupied such a conspicuous position that he found little difficulty in locating it, with all the scars and knots on its rugged trunk caused by the flying missiles of death. Having found the tree he put himself in the same position in which he was standing when wound— ed, and then it occurred to him to look for the bones of his missing finger. Scratching around among the leaves, much to his astonishment, he found the bones where the finger had fallen, and they corresponded exactly with the fin- gerhe had lost. They had lain there undisturbed ever since that dread day, and it was with a strange feeling that he took them, anl after establishing their identity to his perfect satisfaction, wrapped them up and took them away with him as a strange souvenir of his war-time experiences Mr. Sammons has them in his possession now, and will Mr. preserve them as an evidence of the fact that he found them on the battlefield after the lapse of so many years—At— lanta Constitution. Gen. Grant in Japanese Eyes. In the July Century is printedatrans- lation of portions of a quaint Japanese Life of Gen. Grant. The following is an extract from it: In the spring of his sixteenth year he expressed a great thought to his father, and addressed him, saying: “I have in my mind the thought that, when four years from to-day have. passed, I shall not be doing this kind of labor.” The father, thinking it a strange thing, said: “Do you hate your father's hereditary trade? Do you hate to become a leather- maker, and spend your life thus? What profession, then. do you expect to adopt in future? Do you expect to go into the fields carrying a sickle and a hoe? Do you expect to buy and sell things in the market? Or do you fix your eyeballs upon books of 10,000 volumes, and de- sire to speculate reasons and promote moralities, and become a man of wide knowledge?" Gurando Kuen, replying to these questions. said: “To cultivate the fields and become a farmer is well, but to spend the whole life as a hireling is not well. To take a Soroban (count- ing machine) and become amerchant and gain profit is well. but along with it to make bad practice is not my de- sire. . Contrary to all this, our ancestors in the war of independence of this coun- try. sowed great merit. I hear. I also, entering a military school. will have to show my arm in the time of great things. 0. Father Kuen, how is it?" The father, being e::...e.lingly glad. did as he wished. A Libel on Some Good People. Advertising schemes are as numerous and bold as the ways of the heathen Chinese are dark and his tricks are vain. Some of the advertisers are reedy to serve the devil in the guise of the saint. A W'ashingt-on street saloon keeper, lo- cated not far from Bolyston street, had the audacity recently to display the sign: “Christian Endeavor Punch.” 'A passing policeman was filled with righteous wrath such as only Boston po- licemen can feel. Entering the saloon he said: “You’ll have to take that sign in.” “I guess not,” said the saloon keeper; “there aint’t no law compelling me to.” “That’s all right,” answered the offi- cer, “but I guess you better take it in,” with a note of stern suggestiveness in his voice. “What for?” again demanded the sa- loon keeper. "Well, you may have some trouble next year in getting your license,” re- plied the officer, quietly. “If you haven’t any idea of decency. perhaps the Commioners may teach you.”—Bos- ton Record. The Suflraglst‘s Strength. “There is one thing about women,” said the Rev. Anna Shaw at the recent suffrage convention in California, “they never know when they are whipped. After we have one defeat we takea good night's sleep and then get up and go at it again. That’s one, reason why wom- an’s suffrage is not yet downed, and it will probably be the chief reason for its eventual success.” It was at the same convention that Miss Anthony annbunced that she ex- pected to die voteless. “The State of New York,” she said, “will be the very last to let women vote, and my roots are too deeply planted to becomes citizen of any other State. But it won’t be long .‘oefore the women of California and the, more progressive commonwealths will be voting for all they__are worth." T—fl TELEPHONING ALONG THE CONGO. Drums \Vlth Wine-i. the Natives Are' Able to Communicate Long Distances. Capt, Five, a Belgian explorer, says that the people of the Congo have a eu- rious and interesting method of tele- phoning. For a long time he refused to believe that the natives really had the power to communicate with others at a distance, though articles had been sent to him in answer to such communica- tions. At length, one day. journeying on the river by pirogue. and beingr about fifty miles from Basoko, be determined, in- stead of stopping, to press on to the vil- lage. Then one of his people offered to telephone to the village that the party would reach the place toward evening and would like to have supper prepared on arrival. - A native with a drum then began to beat it after a peculiar fashion, and pres- ently announced that he had heard a re- ply. He then rolled the drum for some time and tranquilly returned to his paddle. Capt. Five waited with much interest to see whether his approach was expected, and was astonished as he neared Basoko toward evening to recog- nize on the bank one of his fellow ex- plorers, Lieut. Verellen. . A fire was burning ashore and a sup- per was being made ready. Capt. Five, after greeting the lieutenant. inquired eagerly how he had learned of the ap- proach of the expedition. The lieuten- ant replied that the news had been brought some hours before by a negro, who said that a white man was approach- ing by way of the river and would need supper. 'The drum used by the natives for this purpose is a small but noisy affair of wood. It is constantly employed in com- , municating short distances, in order to save time and trouble. there had evidently been relays of drummers along the whole fifty miles from the point where the original signal was given to near Basoko. The natives are able, with their drums, to signal messages of considerable length. This particular instance is recorded in La Flandre, a Belgian publication. The Candy Makers of Formosa. When it secured Formosa Japan came into the possession of one of the most wonderful sugar lands on lthe face of the globe. The soil is as rich and fertile as that of Cuba. the climate is dry and sa- lubrious, and the supply of water from the distant mountains in the interior of the island is inexhaustible. Labor is so cheap that you can get a field hand for eight cents a day if a man, five cents a day if a woman, and two or three cents a day if a child. Besides supplying that great island and many of the surrounding districts of the mainland with sugar. it exports thousands of tons of Sugar every year. In 1893, while visiting in Formosa, I learned that their exportation was near- ly 50,000 tons, of which some went as far as San Francisco. A very large amount and an ever-in- creasing one has gone to Japan every year, which is probably one of the chief reasons why that shrewd little country required Formosa as apart of its indem— nity. The sugar centers of Formosa are the two curious cities of Ta-Kow and Tai-Wan-Foo, of which the seaport is An-Pin'g. Here profitable employment is given to a very large and thrifty population. One of the chief branches of industry is the making of sugar candy and other dainties. The work is done by men and women alike, the men working chiefly at the heavier tasks and ‘the women at the lighter and nicer ones. The commonest form of sugar candy is made by boiling the sap quite rapidly in a large kettle, partly clarifying it, skimming off the impurities. and as it reaches the crystalizing point pouring it out into fiat pans and there letting it harden. ~ ‘ Equally common is rock candy. This candy is sometimes quite pale and al- most colorless; usually. howerer. it is brown, similar to the cheapest form in our own market. It is employed in enormous quantities by the Chinese, who serve it as a dessert upon the table, use it to give to children. pet buffaloes. family ponies, and to the spirits on “All Saint’s Day.” It is extremely cheap, ranging from two cents down to one cent per pound. Pingree Favors Garden Sass Parks, Mayor Piugree has a new idea along the line of the potato work. which is nothing less than the establishment of permanent agricultural parks as part of the park systems of cities. “It seems to me,” he said in speaking of this plan. “that the time is coming when it will be just as beneficial to the people to have agricultural parks as the more beautiful kind. There ought to be places where the‘people can (have a piece of ground for cultivation. It could be charged for at a nominal rate so as to ' take away the idea of charity.”—Minne- apolis Journal. A Liberal Discount. Mrs. Boardman—And what does it come to? - Mr. Clevers—Eight pounds, ma’am, at eight cents a pound. Eight eights are eighty-eight; take it for eighty cents—4 Philadelphia Times. Big Guns. The Krupp steel 130 ton gun has a range of fifteen miles. and can fire two shots a minute. The shot weighs 2,600 pounds. 700 pounds of powder are re- quired for a charge. The cost of a sin- gle round from the gun is 81,500.——Lon- don Standard. Georgia papers are telling in good faith of a negro at Blakely, Ga, who was struck on the head by a bolt of lightning a few days ago. and who, though receiving a deep gash in the scalp, is now as spry as ever. A half dollar dated 1846 was taken from the stomach of a catfish caught in Lake l. urnsides, near Scooba, Miss, re- - __.._ _.,, In this instance READERS w F ng GAZETTE - When buying goods of any of the firms advertising with us, are requested to men- ilOIl 3mm: m x ADVERTISEMENT We are receiving the pa- t in this paper. tronage of our most prominent business houses, and both for their advantage and our own, we kindly urge our friends to mention THE. GAZETTE When making pur chases FINE JOB PRINTING .
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