Part 4

On another occasion, Hayes was captured by the U.S. steamer _Narraganset_, which had been commissioned to look out for him. He was not many days on board the war-ship, when, by his affable manners and gentlemanly behaviour, he so won over the sympathies of the American officers, that they became convinced he was a most worthy individual, and set him free, actually supplying him with a new set of sails and other articles he was in need of!

On another occasion, Hayes called at Levuka, the capital of Fiji, to obtain supplies for a lengthened cruise. The goods were sent on board, and the bill rendered, payment being expected next morning before he sailed; but when the day dawned, the captain, as usual, was off. Unfortunately for him, however, in this instance the wind failed him, and the merchant was able to overtake the ship in a rowboat.

The captain was not at all put about when the merchant came on board; said ‘he presumed he would have letters for him to post, and would be delighted to be of use.’ The merchant was rather taken aback at such coolness in an absconding debtor, and mildly hinted at payment of his account.

‘Why,’ exclaimed Hayes, ‘you were paid yesterday!’

The merchant assured him that he was mistaken.

Hayes expressed astonishment, and ordered up one of his officers. ‘Didn’t I give you the cash to settle this gentleman’s bill?’ he asked indignantly; and then the ‘Bully’ opened the vials of his wrath upon the innocent seaman, who was cunning enough to see the captain’s object, and held his tongue. Seeing, however, that there was no sign of a breeze springing up, he was forced to pay for his supplies, no doubt very much chagrined at having to be honest for once in his lifetime.

After a long career of robbery and bloodshed—for he gets the name of having perpetrated several murders—Hayes at last met his deserts at the hands of one of his officers, whom he had defrauded and ill-used in a most disgraceful manner. No doubt, the secret of his eluding the hands of justice for so long a time was his particularly pleasing manners and appearance. He was by no means a common ruffian, but the reverse, having a handsome face and figure, and bestowing a deal of care and attention on his personal appearance. His urbanity of manner and conversational powers were of the most fascinating description, and he could entertain a friend or knock him on the head in an equally charming style. When he first appeared in the Pacific, he was accompanied by ‘Mrs Hayes,’ and was seldom without a female companion, several of whom are said to have been among his victims. He was possessed of great natural abilities. If he had only turned his talents into a proper channel, he might have made a good position for himself in the world.

THE MONTH: SCIENCE AND ARTS.

Mr C. Tankerville-Chamberlain, late acting consul at Panama, gives a hopeful account of the progress of M. de Lesseps’ giant undertaking, the construction of the Canal across the Isthmus, which is very different from the description of the state of things lately published in the American newspapers. He believes that the great work will be actually completed in about three years’ time. The line of the Canal, forty-six miles in length, has been divided into five sections, which have been handed over to five responsible and solvent contractors, who are bound under heavy penalties to complete their work by the end of 1888. The holders of railway stock and many others in America are interested in believing, and trying to make others believe, that the Canal is a failure and cannot succeed. That it will be a financial success, must remain an open question, for the expense already incurred, added to that which is to come, constitutes a larger sum than has ever yet been sunk in a single engineering undertaking.

A proposal is now on foot to connect by means of a submarine tunnel the defences of Portsmouth with the forts on the Solent and with the Isle of Wight, and it is probable that preliminary borings will be made to ascertain the practicability of the scheme. It has been before proposed that a fort should be built half-way between Stokes Bay and Ryde, on a bank which rises to within eight feet of high-water mark; but the scheme was abandoned because of the difficulty of finding fresh water for the garrison. The tying together of this proposed fort and the other defences would at once obviate this difficulty, and would at the same time relieve our expensive ironclads from the duty of protecting a spot which has always been looked upon as of great importance.

Among all the wonderful things which were exhibited in the late Colonial and Indian Exhibition, there was nothing more remarkable than the vast variety of different woods—strange to European eyes—which were shown in some of the Courts. These woods seemed to exhibit every shade of colour and every variety of grain. In one Court in particular could this be well remarked, for the different samples of wood were cut into the shape of books and highly polished, each pseudo volume bearing its own name. Messrs A. Ransome & Co. lately invited a number of colonial visitors—engineers, builders, and others—to their large works at Chelsea, in order that they might demonstrate the applicability of some of these woods to various purposes. About forty different varieties were subjected to the operations of tree-felling, cross-cutting, sawing, planing, moulding, mortising, tenoning, and boring; while various articles, from casks to doors, were actually made and completed before the visitors’ eyes. The exhibition not only formed an illustration of the suitability of many colonial woods for employment in this country, but it also showed to what a marvellous pitch of perfection wood-working machinery has been brought by Messrs Ransome. The demonstration is likely to lead to a great shipment of colonial woods to this country, many of which are plentiful, and therefore cheap.

The colossal statue of Liberty, which has been presented by the French Republic to the Republic of America, and which, with the pedestal, is over one hundred and fifty feet in height, is, at the time we write, nearly completed. When the statue is quite finished, it is proposed to illuminate it at night in a very novel manner. The female figure of Liberty holds aloft a torch, which will be furnished with eight electric arc lamps, each of six thousand candle-power, the rays from which will be thrown upwards towards the clouds. At the same time, several other lamps of similar power will shine on the statue itself, causing it to stand out in strong relief from its dark surroundings.

A correspondent of the _Times_, quoting a letter recently received from Sydney, New South Wales, gives an account of the extraordinary instinct shown by ants and other insects which live in and on the ground. Some months ago, the natives of a certain district predicted the approach of floods, and left their low-lying camping-grounds for the higher country. The floods came as predicted, several weeks later; and the natives said that their sole information regarding them was gathered from the insects, which had built their nests, &c. in the trees, instead of, as usual, in the ground. The correspondent asks whether this forecasting providence of the ant is recorded by any of our travellers, and whether any explanation of the fact can be given.

Here are two more natural-history notes recorded by correspondents. It is pointed out by one that, owing to our backward spring this year, the swallows on their arrival were kept so short of food that quite two-thirds of their number died of famine; hence the unusual plague of flies that we have experienced during the summer. He pleads that the little mud nests which are seen clinging under the eaves of so many houses in country and suburbs should be protected from injury, for if it were not for the swallows, flies would constitute a veritable pest.

In answer to this, another writer points out that sparrows will sometimes prevent the swallows building, and will often drive the rightful owners from their nests. This fact he has ascertained by direct observation. He also remarks that the swarms of flies this year may be due in great measure to the scarcity of wasps, which destroy an immense number. The scarcity of wasps in his particular neighbourhood is fully accounted for, one of his friends having destroyed no fewer than sixty-seven of their nests. His plan of procedure is, as far as we know, as novel as it is simple and effective. Tow soaked in spirits of turpentine is thrust into the wasp’s nest at night, and the hole is afterwards filled up—presumably with earth.

We are so accustomed to wonderful news from the land of Niagara, that we are not much surprised to learn that the largest photographic negative ever produced has been taken by an American worker. The glass plate upon which the colossal picture was taken measured sixty by thirty-six inches, and weighed more than eighty pounds. The coating with sensitive material of such a plate was in itself a very difficult undertaking, while for its development after exposure in the camera, over three pailfuls of fluid had to be cast over its surface while it was lying in a specially constructed tray. The photographer succeeded in obtaining a good picture, as well as a silver medal to reward him for his enterprise.

A French journal says that flowers may be preserved with all their natural brilliancy and freshness by dipping them into a mixture made as follows: In a well-corked bottle, dissolve six drachms of coarsely powdered clear gum-copal; add the same quantity of broken glass, and fifteen and a half ounces (by weight) of pure rectified sulphuric ether. The flowers should be dipped into this varnish-like fluid four or five times, allowing them to remain in a current of air for ten minutes between each immersion. This plan, if it does not interfere with the delicate texture of the petals, should be of use to flower-painters, who often have to hurry their work unduly because of the perishable nature of their models.

Mr Graber has lately made some curious observations upon the effect of light upon eyeless animals, a Report of which appears in the Proceedings of the Vienna Academy. He put a number of earthworms into a box, which was provided with an aperture at one side, through which light was allowed ingress. The result of many experiments showed that the worms sought the darkest part of their temporary prison, and that at least two-fifths of their number shunned the light. Experimenting with rays of different colours by means of stained glass, he found that the worms exhibited a marked preference for red light.

According to the _American Druggist_, an alloy which will solder glass, porcelain, and metals, or one to the other, can be made in the following manner: Copper dust, made by precipitating the metal from a solution of bluestone by means of zinc, is put into a mortar and treated with strong sulphuric acid. To this mass, formed by the copper and acid, is added a little more than twice as much mercury, the addition being made with constant stirring. The amalgam thus formed is washed with warm water to remove the acid, and is afterwards cooled. When required for use, it is heated, and worked in a mortar until it becomes as soft as wax, and in this state it will cling tenaciously to any surface to which it may be applied. It is applicable more especially to those substances which will not bear a high temperature.

A year ago, Mr J. W. Swan of Newcastle described before the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers an electric safety-lamp which he had invented for the use of miners. This lamp, although efficient, had no means of detecting the presence of firedamp. In an improved lamp which the same inventor has produced, this deficiency is supplied, for a firedamp indicator forms part of the lamp. This indicator is based upon one invented some time ago, and consists of a coil of platinum wire which can be switched on to the current which supplies the lamp and brought to a red-heat. If firedamp be present, the wire becomes far hotter, and therefore brighter than it will in pure air; and in one form of lamp a similar coil, shut up in a glass tube containing air, is provided, for the sake of comparison. In another form of indicator the hot wire is made to explode the charge of firedamp submitted to it, of course in a closed chamber, thus forming a partial vacuum, which acts upon a column of liquid in an attached gauge tube. By this means the exact percentage of fiery gas present can be accurately noted. It may be hoped that these improved appliances may come into common use; but of course electrical fittings are somewhat expensive, and this is the initial difficulty in introducing improvements which would lead to much saving of life.

In these enlightened times, when books without number are published to instruct even the youngest scholars about the nature of common things, it seems almost impossible to realise the ignorance which existed and the nonsense which was written even as lately as the last century concerning matters of the most elementary kind. So-called facts in natural history of the most ludicrous kind were handed down from writer to writer and accepted as the exact truth by all readers. Here is a specimen of chemical knowledge which dates from the year 1747, and is due to the pen of one George Adams. He naively remarks that ‘some people have imagined that the sharpness of vinegar is occasioned by the eels striking their pointed tails against the tongue and palate; but it is very certain that the sourest vinegar has none of those eels, and that its pungency is entirely owing to the pointed figure of its salts, which float therein.’ There is probably some confusion here between the sourness of vinegar and the acidity of sour paste, which latter is accompanied, as even young microscopists know well, by the development of innumerable so-called eels.

At a recent meeting of the Society of Medical Officers of Health, Dr Alfred Hill, the President, delivered an opening address, which dealt with the important subjects of the disposal of house-refuse and the best method of treating sewage. The employment of destructive furnaces for getting rid of dry house-refuse was strongly recommended. The efficient disposal of sewage is of course a far more difficult problem to solve, and one which has now for a number of years troubled the minds of many. Dr Hill is in favour of the sewage-farm principle, which has been so successfully tried at Birmingham. He showed that the system had not proved a nuisance to adjoining residents nor yet injurious to health. It was also a profitable system, for in the city referred to, twenty thousand pounds had been realised during the past year by the sale of stock and produce from the sewage-farm. He believed that if a similar system were adopted for the metropolitan area, the sewage which is now allowed to poison the Thames might realise in meat, milk, and vegetables two hundred thousand pounds.

Mr Thomson Hankey has lately pointed out a new use for sugar, which, however, is not new, but it is so little known that he has done good service in calling attention to it. In the preparation of mortar and cement, the addition of a certain quantity of unrefined sugar will give the mixture extraordinary hardness and tenacity. In India, sugar has been used for this purpose from time immemorial, and walls built with mortar of this description will defy all ordinary methods of destruction. Plaster of Paris will also set much harder if about ten per cent. of sugar be added to the water with which it is mixed. With plaster of Paris, it might be mentioned, the addition of alum has much the same effect.

At one of the recent meetings of the Iron and Steel Institute, M. Gautier of Paris read an interesting paper on ‘The Casting of Chains in Solid Steel.’ In the course of this paper, he pointed out that in order to compete successfully with wrought-iron in chain-making, the steel employed must be quite solid and absolutely free from blowholes, and it is most necessary to adopt a quick method of moulding the chains. In the process which has been adopted by Messrs Joubert and Leger of Lyons, these difficulties have been successfully overcome. The process combines chilled casting with instantaneous removal from the moulds, after which the chain is finished and annealed in oil. By this method he claims that better chains can be manufactured than those of wrought-iron, with the advantage of greatly diminished weight.

The deposition of dust and smoke by the passage of electricity has been more than once adverted to in these pages, more especially in connection with the collection of lead-fume. Messrs King, Mendham, & Co. of Bristol have recently constructed a convenient piece of apparatus for illustrating this phenomenon. It consists of a jar capped at the top with a cover, through which protrudes a rod furnished with a ball. This rod terminates inside the jar in a point; and a similar pointed wire, which finds a termination outside the lower part of the jar, is opposite to it. Below, there is a small combustion box, in which a smouldering piece of brown paper will soon fill the jar with smoke. Thus filled, the jar is connected by its brass terminals to a Wimshurst Electrical Machine. When the handle of the machine is turned, an electrical discharge takes place between the two pointed wires; and the smoke, after being violently agitated, disappears, leaving the air in the jar perfectly clear.

The Simplex Ironing Machine, which is invented by Mr S. Bash, and which has been examined and approved by the leading tailoring establishments in London and Paris, is designed to relieve workers from the heavy manual labour attending the use of pressing-irons. The simplex iron is suspended from a movable arm by a universal joint, and can be moved in any direction over the work and with any desired degree of pressure. This pressure is brought about by the aid of a pedal attachment. There is also provision made for pressing long seams, a movable table being made to travel to and fro beneath the gas-heated iron. The inventor claims for his method a saving in fuel and more rapid and efficient work.

A new explosive has been invented by a Russian engineer, M. Rucktchell, about which some very curious particulars have been published, while the nature of the compound remains the secret of its discoverer. The explosive gives a penetrative power to projectiles ten times greater than gunpowder. It emits neither smoke nor heat, and its discharge is unaccompanied by any report. If this be true, can the compound—whatever it be—be called an explosive? But this wonderful product is to be utilised in the arts of peace as well as those of war, for it forms the motive-power for an engine constructed by the inventor, an engine for which he claims superiority over steam and gas engines. It will be remembered that an engine of much the same character was invented a few years ago in America. Its motive-power was a secret from everybody. The necessary and inevitable Company was formed to buy up the inventor’s rights, and then—nothing more was heard of it.

Mr W. F. Dennis has been exhibiting at Millwall, London, a continuous wire-netting machine, which is a great improvement on former contrivances of this kind. The machine works from bobbins of wire only, not from bobbins and spools, as in the older machines, and these bobbins contain a sufficient length of wire to keep the machine at work for a whole day. In a day of ten hours, a single machine will produce three hundred and fifty yards of wire-netting twenty-three inches in width. The machine in question occupies a space of eleven by eight feet, by six feet in height. Nor is it confined to the production of netting from soft metal, for hard bright steel and iron wire can be used, producing a most rigid product. The consumption in Europe of wire-netting is estimated at forty million yards per annum, and the possibility of producing it of a rigid character, hitherto thought to be impossible, is sure to increase its fields of usefulness.

OCCASIONAL NOTES.

WOODITE.

Woodite, a newly invented preparation of caoutchouc—so called from the name of its inventor—is attracting considerable attention at the present time. In woodite are united the useful elastic properties of india-rubber together with the advantages of immunity from injury by fire or salt water. The specific gravity of woodite is only one-tenth that of iron or steel; whilst the cost of the new material, as compared with these metals, is estimated to be as three to seven, or rather less than one half. Such facts fully explain the importance attached to the proposition now being made to utilise woodite as a protection—either internal or external, as regards the vessel’s skin—to men-of-war and torpedo boats. Experiments recently made to ascertain the behaviour of woodite under fire were as satisfactory as conclusive, and established the interesting fact, that the caoutchouc closed up again so thoroughly and instantaneously, after the passage of the shot, that no leakage resulted, though the vessel was pierced below waterline.

The value of a material possessed of such qualities for naval purposes cannot be overestimated; whilst in a variety of other ways, woodite appears likely to play a not unimportant part in the near future. In the construction of lifeboats, a material so buoyant and indestructible cannot fail to be of service; whilst for lining quay walls, harbour entrances, piers, landing-stages, and the numberless cases where it is desirable to moderate the force of impact, woodite should be found of the greatest value. In the case of a collision at sea, a vessel fortified internally or externally with woodite would be more likely to remain afloat, than, _cæteris paribus_, one not similarly protected.

In an age when every effort is made to secure the requisite buoyancy in our huge floating citadels, heavily laden with ponderous armour and gigantic ordnance, a material combining buoyancy in so high a degree, with its other advantages, cannot but be destined, in the opinion of competent judges, to play a brilliant part; whilst its future in the more peaceful arts cannot fail to be equally commensurate with its merits.

TRAVELLING ARRANGEMENTS ON THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY.