Volume 08 (1864) (474 pages)

The Mining and Scientific Press, 389 Tue Coa DeseLpnunzino Experiments at STocKtox, of which we mado brief mention two weeks silce, appears thus far to promise success. The Stocktoa Jndependent copies our remarks upon the subject, und adds the following further particulars with regard to the experiments in progress :— The resnit is now known and is highly successful. Ita usefulness in forging iron was tested yesterday by Adams & lowe, aud ulso by Graves & Chism, blacksiniths, Main street, aud it wags found soimewhat slower in producing a weldiug heat than the bituminous coal imported. Froai the naturally light character of ligatte it cannot be expected to equal un article of greater density and weight on the forge hearth; but as un article for fuel in family dwellings we cup perceive no good reasons why the light quulify of lignite coul procured comparatively neur the surface of the ground} shoald not come tuto geaeral use ufter the sulphur is removed. Heretofore, the use of coal brought from tho mines at Corral Hollow has been objectionable ia two particulars only—the first being the fact that, as a general thing, it is amashed up into the consistency of fine gravel—altoyether tuo fiae for use Without greut labor uad wnste ; and the second objection bas heea its almost unenduruble sulphuric sinell. “The latter objection to the coal, is evident, can be completely removed at a trifing cost, and the former will he remedied a3 tho plans and process of excavating at the mines are improved. It is also more thau probable that the character of the coal will become more solid the deeper the yeins are penetrated, and thereby he better fitted for exciting iateuse heat, than the quality now found. The experimeat of Mr. Keating in depriving the article of its volatile matter—sulphur— does not by uny means alter the main substance, so that it can more effectively resist the force of the blast from the forge hellows; neither does it crumble the coal iato finer particles, or alter its appearance ia the least from what it was before being subjected . to the process of desulphurizing, Blacksmiths ohject to the coal experimented upon, only on the gronnd. of its lightness. A heavy blast will, they say, blow . it from the nozzle of the bellows and scatter it oa the hearth. But this does not make it objectioaable at all for parlor and fur kitchen nses. ‘The result aimed at—depriving it of its sulphur—has been reached on u small scale, but by what particulur process we have been unable to uscertain. Wo have the word of the gentleman who hus conducted the experiment as authority for stating that tbe process can as easily aad as well be condncted on a scale of magnitude as in the limited form of au experiment. Chemicals and heat are means used; but the particular temperature of the beat applied, or the kind aad proportioa of the ingredients used, it is not at present in our power to state. A Warer Excine—A Cairorsia INvENTION.— Mr. Thomas Hardsbrow, the inventor of the “ Chalenge Pnuip,” which took the gold medal at the World’s Fair in London, has just completed anotber very importantinvention, which is spoken of as follows by the Sacramento Bee: — Tbe invention is embodied in the form of a hydrostatic engine—run entirely by the pressure (not volume) of water—works cold water as an expansive agent,and does it most adinirably. Messrs. Hansbrow and Redding intend having one constructed for practical exhibition of its workings at the Fair of the San Francisco Mechanics’ Justitute, to be held in Septemher next. ‘They have now a small tin model runniag at the store of Mr. Hansbrow, on K street, between Second and Third streets, which, though rudely constracted, exhibits the power of the engine, it being a man’s work to stop the motion. It wil! supersede steam wherever a pressure of water can be obtained. Ia this respect it will be especially serviceuble and iavalaable throughout the niining regions of Culifornia aad the Pacific coast, as well asin our cities where there is a snpply of water from public works. The inventors intead building the engines immediately, and introdncing them into use. Intelligeat mechaaics who have examined the rough model unite in pronouncing it the greatest invention of the age, the sewing machiae not excepted; and like all great iuventions, it is simplicity itself. Incenious—We noticed, says the Gold Hill News,un ingenious littte machine at the Nortb American claim, the handiwork of the engiaeer. It isa simple concern which records the number of revolutions which the engine makes. It has the capacity of counting up to one million. It has beea attached to the engine less than two weeks, but up to the time we were there yesterday it hud recorded 303,115 revolutions which the engine had made during that period. Tue Mecuamies’ Pair.—Yfhe approuching Me-. Aces or Sroxs axo Bronze.— chanics’ Fair is beginuing to excite considerable interest among our mechanics genernlly throughout the State und adjoining Territories. Inventors, particularly, should bestir themselves in season. Culi-) fornia can mako a better exhibition in that line, considering the age of our community, than any: Stute in the Union. Wo hope to see every inven-. lion which has been brougbt out in the State, represented ou that occasion. Aside from the general interest which will attach to such aa exhibition, it will ho the best possible advertisement to the inventors. ‘he occusion will doubtless call out an unusual gathering from every part of the Pacific coast. There will he room aad opportunify for all. Tur Dany Disparcn is the title of an unpretending but pretty little sheet, which made its appearance on Monday lust. In its present form it is intended to be devoted mainly to local matters; but its proprietors, not doubting that their sheet will, ere long, rise to consequence and power, expect soon to enter the arena of general aewspaper business, The Dispatch is published every eveaing, at 417 Clay street, by H. Wheelock & Co. Borien Forrsts.—Exteasive forests, covering valleys and hill-sides, are overturned, and the uprooted trees form a gigantic barrier which prevents the flowing off of the waters. An extensive marsh is tormed, particularly well adapted for the various kinds of mosses. As they perish, they are succeeded by others; and so fur generations, in nneeasing life and labor, uatil in the course of time the bottom, under the influence of decay aad the pressure from above, heconies turf. Far below lies hard coal; the upper partis light and spongy. At varions depths, but sometimes as much as twenty feet below tlie surface, au abundance of hogwood is found, consisting mostly of oak, hard and black as ebony, or of the rich chocolate-colored wood of the yew. Such ancient forests every now and then rise in awe-inspiring majesty from their graves. The city of Hamburg, its harbor and the broad tracts of land around it, rest upon a sunken forest, which is now buried at an immense depth below the surface. It eoutaina mostly limes aud oaks, but must also have abounded with hazel woods, for thousands of hazel nuts are brought to light by every excavation, not exactly made for nuts. The city of New Orleans, it has been recently discovered, is hnilt upon the most magnificent foundation on which a city ever rose. It was the boast of Venice tbat her marble palaces rested in the waters of the Adriatic on piles ot costly wood, which now serve to pay the debts of her degenerate sons; but our Veaice has not less than three tiers of gigantic trees beneath it. They all stand upright, one npon another, with their roots spread out as they grew; and the eminent Sir Charles Lyell expresses his belief that it must have taken at least eighteen huadred years to fill up the chasm, since one lier had to rot away toa level with the bottom of the swamp before the upper could grow upon it. Tings or raz Watre Sea.—The question as to the existeace of a diuraal periodicity in the tides of the White Sea may aow be considered as decided in the affirmative; for we find in the last number of the Bulletin of tbe Imperial Academy of Scieaces of St. Petersburg a short notice of a report presented hy Messrs. Lenz and Kupffer, in which the fact is stated for the first time. An officer of the Corps of Pilots at Archangel, has mude a long series of observations, and drawn up tables of the results, which have beea laid before the Academy, and discussed by the reporters, who affirm his conclusion that a diurnal periodicity in the flux and reflux of the tides in the White Sea is therehy demonstrated. ‘The report and a selection of the tables are to be published; but, we fear, Russian only, and ina Russiaa periodical.— London Athenawn, January, 1864. Woon is often petrified hy carbonate of lime and occasionally whole trunks are changed to stoae. The specimens show’ well the grain of the wood, and some are quite handsome when nicely polished. The late greenback movement in Nevada Territory has been squelcbed by the action of the merchants and bankers. : Buangs ror Secretarizs.—Blanks, suitable for filling oat for advertising, furnished gratuitously to advertisers in the Pzess, “upon application to the office. G The attempts of the Swiss geologists and archeologists to estimate debnitely in yeurs the antiquity of the bronze und stono periods, although as yet confessedly impertect, deservo notice, and appear to me to be fullof promise. ‘The utost vlaborate calculation is that made by M. Morlot. respecting the delta of the Tiniere, torreat which flows iuto the Lake of Geaevu near Villenenve. This swall delta, to which the stream is anually making additions, is compossed of gravel and saad. Its shapeis that of a flattened cone, andits iuternal structure has of late heen fuid open to view in a railway cutting 1,000 feet long and 32 teet deep. The regularity ofits structure throughout implies that it bas been formed very gradually, and by the uaiform action of the same causes. ‘Lhree layers of vevetable soil, each ot which innst at one time havo forined the surface of the cone, were ent through at differeat depths. The first of these was traced over a sprface of 15,000 square feet,, having an average thickness of 5 inches, and being about 4 feet below the present surface of the cone. ‘The upper layer belonged to tho Roman period, and coatained Roman titles and a coin. ‘Yhe second layer, followed over a surface of 25,000 square feet, was six iacbes thick, and lay at a depth of 10 feet. In it were found fragments of unvarnislied pottery and a pair of tweezers in bronze, indicating the bronze epoch. ‘Lhe third layer, followed for 3,500 square feet, was 6 or 7 inches thick, and I9 feet deep. In it were fragments of rude pottery, pieces of charcoal, broken bones, and a human skeleton having a small, round, and very thick skull. M. Morlot, assuming the Roman period to represent an antiquity of from 16 to 18 ceaturies, assigns to the broaze age a date of between 3,000 and 4,000 years, and to the oldest layer, that of the stoae period, an age of from 5,0U0 to 7, 000 years.— The Geolgoical Doth of the Antiquity of Man, by Sir Charles Lyell. How ro Prevent Wer Feer.—A writer in the Mechanics’ Magazine says: “ I have had three pairs of boots for the last six years, and I thiuk I will not require any more for the next six years to come,— The reasonis that I treat them ia the following manner : I put a pouad each of tallow and resin in a pot on the Sire; when nielted and mixed, apply it hot with a painter’s brush until neither the sole nor upper will soak any more. If it is desired that the hoots should immediately take a polish, dissolve an ouace of wax in a teaspoonful of turpentine and lampblack. A day or two after the boots have been treated with the resia and tallow, rub over them this wax and turpentine, but not before the fire. Thns the exterior will have a coat of wax aloue and shine like a atirror. Tallow and grease become rancid, and rot the stitchiag or leather ; hut the resin gives it antiseptic quality, which preserves the whole.— Boots or shoes should be so largo as to admit of weariag cork soles. Cork is so bad » conductor of heat that with it in the boots the feet are always warm on the coldest stone floor.” Puuveriwzinc anp Mixixe Tron Ores, Fiuxes ann Fue Previous TO SMELTINO.—A patent has been granted to Mr. voha ‘Thomas, of Batterse, for improvemeats in treating ores, which consists in pulverizing the matters to be operated on if not alreudy pulverized, and then mixing them with tbe followiag ingredients in the proportions named: Sand, or ores reduced to a state of sand, two parts; clay, two parts ; chalk, oue part; coal, or other fuel, one quarter part. ‘These proportions may, however, be varied according to the quality of the ore, but they must be such that a brick may be formed of the niaterials used. After they have been wéll mixed aud amalgamated, they are to be formed into blocks or Imnps, and then dried and calcined hy burning, care being taken during the burning to prevent contact with the air. After calcination the mass is ready for reduciag ia the manner ordinarily lollowed ia smelting iron ores. Tue Mimino axp Scirnriric Press.—This work, published weekly in San Francisco, contains a record of all mining transactions ia Califoraia, and nunibers among the contributors to its columns many scieatific and practical writers. Brokers and persons interested in mining stocks will fiad it much to their advaatage to become subscribers.— Victoria Evening Express. Tse crop of maple sugar at the North will this year exceed 25,000,000 pounds, and will go far towards supplyicg the deficieacy caused by the non-production of sugar at the Soath. The Mendociao-Democrat says that the hay crop ia Ukiah valley is not as good as our farmers anticipated it would be some time ago. Those that have commenced to harvest their hay say it will not be a half crop. -

The Mining and Scientific Press, 389 Tue Coa DeseLpnunzino Experiments at STocKtox, of which we mado brief mention two weeks silce, appears thus far to promise success. The Stocktoa Jndependent copies our remarks upon the subject, und adds the following further particulars with regard to the experiments in progress :— The resnit is now known and is highly successful. Ita usefulness in forging iron was tested yesterday by Adams & lowe, aud ulso by Graves & Chism, blacksiniths, Main street, aud it wags found soimewhat slower in producing a weldiug heat than the bituminous coal imported. Froai the naturally light character of ligatte it cannot be expected to equal un article of greater density and weight on the forge hearth; but as un article for fuel in family dwellings we cup perceive no good reasons why the light quulify of lignite coul procured comparatively neur the surface of the ground} shoald not come tuto geaeral use ufter the sulphur is removed. Heretofore, the use of coal brought from tho mines at Corral Hollow has been objectionable ia two particulars only—the first being the fact that, as a general thing, it is amashed up into the consistency of fine gravel—altoyether tuo fiae for use Without greut labor uad wnste ; and the second objection bas heea its almost unenduruble sulphuric sinell. “The latter objection to the coal, is evident, can be completely removed at a trifing cost, and the former will he remedied a3 tho plans and process of excavating at the mines are improved. It is also more thau probable that the character of the coal will become more solid the deeper the yeins are penetrated, and thereby he better fitted for exciting iateuse heat, than the quality now found. The experimeat of Mr. Keating in depriving the article of its volatile matter—sulphur— does not by uny means alter the main substance, so that it can more effectively resist the force of the blast from the forge hellows; neither does it crumble the coal iato finer particles, or alter its appearance ia the least from what it was before being subjected . to the process of desulphurizing, Blacksmiths ohject to the coal experimented upon, only on the gronnd. of its lightness. A heavy blast will, they say, blow . it from the nozzle of the bellows and scatter it oa the hearth. But this does not make it objectioaable at all for parlor and fur kitchen nses. ‘The result aimed at—depriving it of its sulphur—has been reached on u small scale, but by what particulur process we have been unable to uscertain. Wo have the word of the gentleman who hus conducted the experiment as authority for stating that tbe process can as easily aad as well be condncted on a scale of magnitude as in the limited form of au experiment. Chemicals and heat are means used; but the particular temperature of the beat applied, or the kind aad proportioa of the ingredients used, it is not at present in our power to state. A Warer Excine—A Cairorsia INvENTION.— Mr. Thomas Hardsbrow, the inventor of the “ Chalenge Pnuip,” which took the gold medal at the World’s Fair in London, has just completed anotber very importantinvention, which is spoken of as follows by the Sacramento Bee: — Tbe invention is embodied in the form of a hydrostatic engine—run entirely by the pressure (not volume) of water—works cold water as an expansive agent,and does it most adinirably. Messrs. Hansbrow and Redding intend having one constructed for practical exhibition of its workings at the Fair of the San Francisco Mechanics’ Justitute, to be held in Septemher next. ‘They have now a small tin model runniag at the store of Mr. Hansbrow, on K street, between Second and Third streets, which, though rudely constracted, exhibits the power of the engine, it being a man’s work to stop the motion. It wil! supersede steam wherever a pressure of water can be obtained. Ia this respect it will be especially serviceuble and iavalaable throughout the niining regions of Culifornia aad the Pacific coast, as well asin our cities where there is a snpply of water from public works. The inventors intead building the engines immediately, and introdncing them into use. Intelligeat mechaaics who have examined the rough model unite in pronouncing it the greatest invention of the age, the sewing machiae not excepted; and like all great iuventions, it is simplicity itself. Incenious—We noticed, says the Gold Hill News,un ingenious littte machine at the Nortb American claim, the handiwork of the engiaeer. It isa simple concern which records the number of revolutions which the engine makes. It has the capacity of counting up to one million. It has beea attached to the engine less than two weeks, but up to the time we were there yesterday it hud recorded 303,115 revolutions which the engine had made during that period. Tue Mecuamies’ Pair.—Yfhe approuching Me-. Aces or Sroxs axo Bronze.— chanics’ Fair is beginuing to excite considerable interest among our mechanics genernlly throughout the State und adjoining Territories. Inventors, particularly, should bestir themselves in season. Culi-) fornia can mako a better exhibition in that line, considering the age of our community, than any: Stute in the Union. Wo hope to see every inven-. lion which has been brougbt out in the State, represented ou that occasion. Aside from the general interest which will attach to such aa exhibition, it will ho the best possible advertisement to the inventors. ‘he occusion will doubtless call out an unusual gathering from every part of the Pacific coast. There will he room aad opportunify for all. Tur Dany Disparcn is the title of an unpretending but pretty little sheet, which made its appearance on Monday lust. In its present form it is intended to be devoted mainly to local matters; but its proprietors, not doubting that their sheet will, ere long, rise to consequence and power, expect soon to enter the arena of general aewspaper business, The Dispatch is published every eveaing, at 417 Clay street, by H. Wheelock & Co. Borien Forrsts.—Exteasive forests, covering valleys and hill-sides, are overturned, and the uprooted trees form a gigantic barrier which prevents the flowing off of the waters. An extensive marsh is tormed, particularly well adapted for the various kinds of mosses. As they perish, they are succeeded by others; and so fur generations, in nneeasing life and labor, uatil in the course of time the bottom, under the influence of decay aad the pressure from above, heconies turf. Far below lies hard coal; the upper partis light and spongy. At varions depths, but sometimes as much as twenty feet below tlie surface, au abundance of hogwood is found, consisting mostly of oak, hard and black as ebony, or of the rich chocolate-colored wood of the yew. Such ancient forests every now and then rise in awe-inspiring majesty from their graves. The city of Hamburg, its harbor and the broad tracts of land around it, rest upon a sunken forest, which is now buried at an immense depth below the surface. It eoutaina mostly limes aud oaks, but must also have abounded with hazel woods, for thousands of hazel nuts are brought to

light by every excavation, not exactly made for nuts. The city of New Orleans, it has been recently discovered, is hnilt upon the most magnificent foundation on which a city ever rose. It was the boast of Venice tbat her marble palaces rested in the waters of the Adriatic on piles ot costly wood, which now serve to pay the debts of her degenerate sons; but our Veaice has not less than three tiers of gigantic trees beneath it. They all stand upright, one npon another, with their roots spread out as they grew; and the eminent Sir Charles Lyell expresses his belief that it must have taken at least eighteen huadred years to fill up the chasm, since one lier had to rot away toa level with the bottom of the swamp before the upper could grow upon it. Tings or raz Watre Sea.—The question as to the existeace of a diuraal periodicity in the tides of the White Sea may aow be considered as decided in the affirmative; for we find in the last number of the Bulletin of tbe Imperial Academy of Scieaces of St. Petersburg a short notice of a report presented hy Messrs. Lenz and Kupffer, in which the fact is stated for the first time. An officer of the Corps of Pilots at Archangel, has mude a long series of observations, and drawn up tables of the results, which have beea laid before the Academy, and discussed by the reporters, who affirm his conclusion that a diurnal periodicity in the flux and reflux of the tides in the White Sea is therehy demonstrated. ‘The report and a selection of the tables are to be published; but, we fear, Russian only, and ina Russiaa periodical.— London Athenawn, January, 1864.. Woon is often petrified hy carbonate of lime and occasionally whole trunks are changed to stoae. The specimens show’ well the grain of the wood, and some are quite handsome when nicely polished. The late greenback movement in Nevada Territory has been squelcbed by the action of the merchants and bankers. : Buangs ror Secretarizs.—Blanks, suitable for filling oat for advertising, furnished gratuitously to advertisers in the Pzess, “upon application to the office. G The attempts of the Swiss geologists and archeologists to estimate debnitely in yeurs the antiquity of the bronze und stono periods, although as yet confessedly impertect, deservo notice, and appear to me to be fullof promise. ‘The utost vlaborate calculation is that made by M. Morlot. respecting the delta of the Tiniere, torreat which flows iuto the Lake of Geaevu near Villenenve. This swall delta, to which the stream is anually making additions, is compossed of gravel and saad. Its shapeis that of a flattened cone, andits iuternal structure has of late heen fuid open to view in a railway cutting 1,000 feet long and 32 teet deep. The regularity ofits structure throughout implies that it bas been formed very gradually, and by the uaiform action of the same causes. ‘Lhree layers of vevetable soil, each ot which innst at one time havo forined the surface of the cone, were ent through at differeat depths. The first of these was traced over a sprface of 15,000 square feet,, having an average thickness of 5 inches, and being about 4 feet below the present surface of the cone. ‘The upper layer belonged to tho Roman period, and coatained Roman titles and a coin. ‘Yhe second layer, followed over a surface of 25,000 square feet, was six iacbes thick, and lay at a depth of 10 feet. In it were found fragments of unvarnislied pottery and a pair of tweezers in bronze, indicating the bronze epoch. ‘Lhe third layer, followed for 3,500 square feet, was 6 or 7 inches thick, and I9 feet deep. In it were fragments of rude pottery, pieces of charcoal, broken bones, and a human skeleton having a small, round, and very thick skull. M. Morlot, assuming the Roman period to represent an antiquity of from 16 to 18 ceaturies, assigns to the broaze age a date of between 3,000 and 4,000 years, and to the oldest layer, that of the stoae period, an age of from 5,0U0 to 7, 000 years.— The Geolgoical Doth of the Antiquity of Man, by Sir Charles Lyell. How ro Prevent Wer Feer.—A writer in the Mechanics’ Magazine says: “ I have had three pairs of boots for the last six years, and I thiuk I will not require any more for the next six years to come,— The reasonis that I treat them ia the following manner : I put a pouad each of tallow and resin in a pot on the Sire; when nielted and mixed, apply it hot with a painter’s brush until neither the sole nor upper will soak any more. If it is desired that the hoots should immediately take a polish, dissolve an ouace of wax in a teaspoonful of turpentine and lampblack. A day or two after the boots have been treated with the resia and tallow, rub over them this wax and turpentine, but not before the fire. Thns the exterior will have a coat of wax aloue and shine like a atirror. Tallow and grease become rancid, and rot the stitchiag or leather ; hut the resin gives it antiseptic quality, which preserves the whole.— Boots or shoes should be so largo as to admit of weariag cork soles. Cork is so bad » conductor of heat that with it in the boots the feet are always warm on the coldest stone floor.” Puuveriwzinc anp Mixixe Tron Ores, Fiuxes ann Fue Previous TO SMELTINO.—A patent has been granted to Mr. voha ‘Thomas, of Batterse, for improvemeats in treating ores, which consists in pulverizing the matters to be operated on if not alreudy pulverized, and then mixing them with tbe followiag ingredients in the proportions named: Sand, or ores reduced to a state of sand, two parts; clay, two parts ; chalk, oue part; coal, or other fuel, one quarter part. ‘These proportions may, however, be varied according to the quality of the ore, but they must be such that a brick may be formed of the niaterials used. After they have been wéll mixed aud amalgamated, they are to be formed into blocks or Imnps, and then dried and calcined hy burning, care being taken during the burning to prevent contact with the air. After calcination the mass is ready for reduciag ia the manner ordinarily lollowed ia smelting iron ores. Tue Mimino axp Scirnriric Press.—This work, published weekly in San Francisco, contains a record of all mining transactions ia Califoraia, and nunibers among the contributors to its columns many scieatific and practical writers. Brokers and persons interested in mining stocks will fiad it much to their advaatage to become subscribers.— Victoria Evening Express. Tse crop of maple sugar at the North will this year exceed 25,000,000 pounds, and will go far towards supplyicg the deficieacy caused by the non-production of sugar at the Soath. The Mendociao-Democrat says that the hay crop ia Ukiah valley is not as good as our farmers anticipated it would be some time ago. Those that have commenced to harvest their hay say it will not be a half crop. -