Lighthouse Lighting: Fresnel Lenses and Oil Powers Vast Vessels
The article explains why lighthouses use mineral oil and Fresnel lens systems to create a strong, broad beam. It notes the shift from kerosene lamps to the Fresnel apparatus, the superiority of lens-focused light, and why electric options lag behind due to cost and maintenance. It also touches on the history of book sizing terms as a separate note.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lighthouse Board
United States
Congress
France
Scientific American
Climate and Weather Lesson Jokes at School
A Chicago News quip notes Lola explaining climate versus weather. She says climate is what we have with us all the time while weather lasts only a few days, reflecting a child’s humorous take on science terms.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lola
Chicago News
Sizes of Books and the Shift in Folding Terms
The article explains folio quarto octavo and duodecimo origins as sheet folding counts and notes how paper systems later diversified sheet sizes. It observes publishers now choose page size first, with sheet size adapting to press capacity.
Whistling on Sabbath in Scotland
A Glasgow artist recalls a Highland tale about Sabbath whistling. A Dumfries drover, cheerful as midweek, supposedly offended locals leaving church who then attacked him with zeal, nearly killing him.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Scotland
Dean Ramsay
Glasgow
Donald
Skailin
English Complexion and Its Harsh Truths
The passage compares English complexions to the red of raw beef, noting a damp climate and outdoor life produce a coarse, high color. Viewed from afar it seems charming and refreshing, but up close the features appear dominant and less delicate. It contrasts this with American women whose features are described as chiseled.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Scribner’s
A Funny Family Joke Sparks Electric Motor Idea
A child notes electricity in his mother’s hair after she combs it. The mother explains electricity as the joke. The child observes their funny family and toys with the idea they could build an electric motor if parents put their heads together.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Times
Globe in the bookstore prompts life size request
A woman asked for a globe in a bookstore and chose life size after the clerk displayed several countries in pink and blue. The moment reflects a humorous exchange cited by the New York Times.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Times
Vase shatters. shopper warned by servant tale
Cleveland Plain Dealer notes a buyer found a so called porcelain vase fragile after a drop. The servant explains the vase is weak and broke on first impact, illustrating a poor purchase experience.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ft. Cleveland Plain Dealer
Remarkable Moroccan skull repair with pumpkin rind graft
Walter B. Harris recounts a tale from Tafilet of a Mo roccan Hamada devotee whose skull was repaired after a cannonball accident. The surgeon reportedly replaced a skull fragment with pumpkin rind and closed the wound, allowing the patient to recover and resume religious performance.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Walter B. Harris
Tafilet
Algeria
Algiers
Morocco
Hamada
Mekmez
Shereef
The Silver Fox Nature Tale of a Glorified Red Fox
The silver fox is a glorified freak of the red race born of common red foxes. Nature may bless a single offspring with a marvelous coat and gifts of speed wind and brains to guard its perilous wealth. The robe is mellow rich with bold black and delicate frosting making it highly desirable.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Woodlore
North
Nature
The Hunter’s Prize Fur Jewels of the Woods
Ernest Thompson Seton describes the precious fur as more valuable than gold, worthy robe of kings, and a hunter’s ultimate prize. He notes that the rare animals are guarded by cunning and wind, making successful takes depend on luck as much as skill.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Rome
Ernest Thompson Seton
Century Magazine
Influence of Food on Character Debate
Mr. Smithfield questions if diet shapes character, while Mr. Wood scoffs borrowing mischief over meals. They joke about cannibalistic lobster orders and beet fondness as tests of restraint and discipline in everyday eating.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mr. Smithfield
Mr. Wood
No Such Thing as Noise Says Professor Tait
On opening day of a winter session the late Professor Tait of Edinburgh University entered the natural philosophy class amid uproarious applause. He observed the noisy crowd and told the students there is really no such thing as noise, only a subjective impression.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Professor Tait
Edinburgh University
No Flies on Him Irishmen Spin a Mosquito Tale
Two Irishmen newly arrived at a private boarding house keep a light burning on a hot July night. Mosquitoes swarm the room until Mike wakes Pat and they extinguish the light. Pat later finds fireflies in the room and quips that they are “coming in with lanterns.”
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mike
Pat
Pleasure Trips and the North Pole Joke
A Washington Star quote contrasts a north pole expedition with a typical holiday, noting travelers’ eagerness to depart and return home. The Arctic explorer calls the trip less of a pleasure voyage, while a sympathetic friend underscores the imagined ease of ordinary travel.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
North Pole
Washington Star
Penalty of Genius Across Generations
A London Standard note observes that genius often loses its dynastic line, listing famed writers and statesmen whose male descendants have died out. The piece reflects on how enduring intellectual legacy rarely continues through male heirs across generations.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Chaucer
Shakespeare
Spenser
Milton
Cowley
Butler
Dryden
Pope
Cowper
Goldsmith
Byron
Moore
Sir Philip Sidney
Sir Walter Raleigh
Drake
Cromwell
Hampden
Monk
Marlborough
Petersborough
Nelson
Bolingbroke
Walpole
Chatham
Pitt
Fox
Burke
Graham
Channing
Bacon
Locke
Newton
Davy
Hume
Gibbon
Macaulay
Hogarth
Sir Joshua Reynolds
Sir Thomas Lawrence
David Garrick
John Kemble
Edmund Kean
London Standard
Raikes Ragged Regiment and Early Sunday Schools
In 1780 Robert Raikes began Sunday school efforts in Gloucester England teaching Bible to ragged boys. He paid Mrs Brandon a shilling each Sunday to teach, sparking rapid growth. By 1784 about 250000 children attended Sunday schools across the kingdom.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Raikes
Ragged Regiment
Bobby Wild Goose
Robert Raikes
Sootyalley
Gloucester
England
Brandon
Wearing Work
A pale woman asks about her husband with a thin woman replying that he has no steady work yet. He tried winding clocks as a business but only for a while before seeking an eight day clock as his next effort. The exchange appears in the Kansas City Independent.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Kansas City Independent
The Bishop's Rebuke in Old Time Parson Tale
A conceited young cleric asks if crowds flatter him and an American prelate replies that twice as many would come to see him hanged. The line appears in The Old Time Parson by P H Ditchfield M A.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
P H. Ditchfield
Critic’s remark on The Dead Sea sparks mixed signals
The Cleveland Leader quotes a critic praising a painting titled The Dead Sea as “full of life” while the speaker wonders if the praise is sincere. The exchange highlights ambiguity in literary critique.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Dobber
Cutter
Dead Sea
Cleveland
Public Auction Of Farm Goods Near Ames On March 3
Public sale at residence six and a half miles west of Ames selling 23 head of livestock, four horses, 19 cattle, brood cows, calves, poultry, plus farm machinery and household goods. Furniture, tools, and implements listed with wagons, cultivators, plows, and a grazing stack. Terms: cash up to 10, credit 12 months on notes with security. healthful lunch at noon. Auctioneers Wm Gregory et al. Clerk M A Manning.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Colorado
Ames
Boone
Ontario
Plymouth Rock
McCormick
Morris
A Little Fish's Clever Puffer Escape
A short animal tale from St. Nicholas describes a small puffer fish that inflates into a prickly ball to deter a larger pursuing predator. After the threat passes, the puffer deflates back to its normal size and swims away, illustrating a natural defense.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Puffer
St. Nicholas
A Scotch Ring and Its Melancholy History
The Royal Jewels ring, long tied to Mary Stuart and royal fate, travels through James I to Charles I and beyond. It was later entrusted to Bishop Juxon, hidden with James II, and finally passed to Cardinal York before returning to Scotland's crown jewels.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mary Stuart
Foitheringay Castle
James
Charles I
Scone
Whitehall
Charles
Bishop Juxon
James II
Sheerness
Cardinal York
Scotland
St. James
Revolts at Cold Steel Doctor Advice for Fisher Cure
Mrs M B Fisher of Detroit Michigan faced severe rectal trouble and was told only surgery could help. She reports taking Dr King’s New Life Pills and being wholly cured. Pills prevent appendicitis and cure constipation and headaches, 26c at all druggists.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
M. BE. Fisher
Detroit
Mich
Dr. King
Ten Doctors Endorse Miles Heart Remedy and Restorative Nervine
Mrs T S Edwards of Milner Georgia writes that after ten doctors declined hope for her husband heart trouble, Miles Heart Remedy and Restorative Nervine brought rapid improvement. He recovered and later resumed heavy camp meeting work. she urges others to try the medicines and promises a refund if no benefit.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Miles
Bucklen’s Arnica Salve Cures Blood Poison Sores
John Washington of Bosqueville Texas credits Bucklen’s Arnica Salve with curing blood poison from a spider bite after five weeks in bed. The salve is also advertised for eczema boils burns and piles and priced 26 cents at druggists.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John Washington
Bosqueville
Tex
Also Mentioned on This Page
New York Tribune
Daintiest
Cate
Pantorium
E. M. Kooker
Prop
Mutual Phone
Story County Bank
THE
Wm. Gregory
E. F. Posegate
F. Null
E. C. McGlynn
M. A. Manning
Krow the
the Times
Canier Bros
Herman
Judisch
Washington
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