Around the World in 34 Seconds by Pacific Cable
The Pacific telegraph cable from San Francisco to Manila completes a near 360 degree global circuit in about 24 hours real time and shows a closing error under a fifth of a second when routed via Madras. The cable spans 7,846 nautical miles with four segments and stations at Honolulu Midway Island and Guam. A transmission across the loop averages just under three quarters of a second excluding processing time.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
San Francisco
Manila
Pacific
Globe
Hemisphere
Madras
Honolulu
Midway Island
Guam
Ohio woman designs practical fire escape ladder for homes
A novel fire escape ladder uses dual side cables and extending rounds that press to the wall for footing. Blocks on the window sill hook under the sill and adjust to different windows. In a fire, the ladder swings out instantly and people descend to safety using the anchored chains and supporting links.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ohio
Italy seeks vast water resources to power future industry
Italy faces a water shortfall for power as officials note 25 million dollars is spent yearly to import coal. The Tiber river alone could yield 500000 horsepower, with Italy's rivers totaling 767000 HP potential and 592000 HP idle. Numerous streams and waterfalls amount to 2642000 HP unused, with a 25 cent per horsepower government payment hindering progress but early gains already seen on the Adda and Tier river systems.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Italy
Tiber
Tierno
Adda
Temperature and Butterflies From Zurich Experiments
Zurich researchers report fourteen years of temperature studies on butterfly development. Warmth from 37 to 39 C yields the Sardinian small tortoiseshell form, while 4 to 6 C produces the Lapland variety. Heat also drives Sardinian swallowtail and Syrian Apollo forms.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Zurich
Sardinia
Lapland
Floating Mail Bag Keeps Island Links With Scotland
The island of St Kilda, fifty miles west of Scotland, has no regular mail service. A floating mail bag, a sheepskin buoy with a tin canister inside, carries letters and post cards to Lerwick. The last mail sailed June 21 and drifted to Shetland in two months. One mail was recovered. three sent that day reportedly left. one found, two missing.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
St.Kilda
Les
Scotland
St. Kindans
Jis
St. Kilda
Shetland
Lerwick
Popularity of Prunes in the United States
Department of Commerce and Labor data show Americans consume about 100 million pounds of prunes annually. Most prunes are grown domestically, notably in southern California, with Santa Clara County hosting 8.7 million trees on 37 thousand acres. US production tops 110 million pounds, exceeding domestic needs by about 10 million. Britain Germany and France import the surplus.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
United States
Department of Commerce and Labor
California
Santa Clara County
The Old Year Sails Away In Frostbound Sea
A poetic scene clears the year from the port of earth and departs aboard a ship named Heretofore. An aged crew, a matron in brocade, a green-clad maiden, and a nameless old wanderer share frostbound emotions as a radiant June girl tends a tomb and a window of memory glows like April. The snow winds rise as blue seas waver and the vessel drifts out to sea guided by a haunting farewell song.
Deadly Tide Warns Of Breton Coast Drownings
A Philadelphia girl drowned by an incoming tide on France’s west coast is described by a transplanted Breton who notes tides race across the flats at astonishing speeds. He warns travelers to heed the danger of the vast sandy plains as the sea surges in and recedes.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Philadelphia
France
Breton
Philadelphia Bulletin
Wax Farms in China Reward Farmers with White Wax
White Chinese wax enables hundreds of farmers in the Chien-Chang valley to earn a living. Insects coat their eggs and cocoons with pure white wax and feed on a plant grown only in that valley. To protect the harvest the wax farms spread plots apart and transport thousands of insects by porters. The industry is highly profitable and demands meticulous care akin to silkworm farming.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
China
Chien-Chang Valley
Tat Valley
Tales From a Turkish Bath Amulets and Hidden Treasures
An attendant recalls patrons who never remove lucky charms from under their clothing. Amulets include rabbit feet, jade, diamonds on a locket, a lead bullet worn by a gambler, fraternity pins worn by students, and a tin box worn by a mining man with a treasure map.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Arizona
New York
Decision in Fate for Chicago Girl on Two Letters Plan
A Chicago woman on North Clark devised a plan to settle a marriage proposal. She prepared two identical letters to a suitor named Tom, one accepting and one rejecting, mailed one as a train began, then opened the other in the depot to learn fate. The abrupt ending leaves whether she accepted unclear.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Chicago
Clark Street
Katé
Tom
Kate
Union Depot
Corler
Inter Ocean
A Prayer Of The Lovelorn Nightingale
Poem fragment from New York Sun recalling a lost child. Vivid imagery of autumn light and orchard scenes. Refrains of love, memory, and distant seas evoke a mournful, nostalgic tone.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mitettle
Garrison’s trousers tale amid dinner interruption
The anecdote recalls William Lloyd Garrison being urged to lend trousers during dinner. He plans to swap his worn pair for new ones, but Mrs. Garrison reveals the misdirection. He laughs, noting the borrower still has a good pair.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
William Lloyd Garrison
Prof Bowmen and the Valley of Shoes
A humorous anecdote from the Boston Herald recounts Prof Bowmen the organist summering at Squirrel Island Maine. While trying to buckle his shoes on a hot day he asks his wife for help then quips that only a valley could let him buckle his own shoes, joking about lacking a valley to match his mountain.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bowman
Bowmen
Squirrel Island
Boston Herald
Tommy and Thanksgiving in Missouri tale
Gov Folk discusses returning to charity in Thanksgiving week as a Kansas City boy quotes his day of acts. A mother asks her son to report kindness done and woe lightened, and the boy recounts giving a hat to a beggar woman, shoes to a girl, and a suit to a shoe string seller.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Tommy
Gov. Folk
Missouri
Kansas City
Tve
Typhoon the emperor of Japan on the phone tale
A tradesman seeks to install a telephone at home but his elderly mother objects strongly, claiming the device will ruin them and referencing the typhoon as Japan’s emperor. The joke hinges on a mix up between a typhoon and the telephone.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Robert
Japan
Year-Long Season Ticket for Misconduct
A high school principal scolds James for class misbehavior and unprofessional demonstrations. James responds that he does not know how long the lectures will continue, and quips that he has a season ticket for such lectures, as noted by the judge.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
James
Disease and Death Lurk in Mail Order Goods
The article argues that local country merchants benefit communities and farmers, while mail order houses from the East underpay suppliers, erode town life, and expose buyers to inferior, unsafe products. It accuses mail order firms of bias, high advertising costs passed to farmers, and deceptive practices that drain rural economies. It cites disease risk from shoddy goods and contrasts with the accountability of local merchants.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
St. Paul
New York
Chicago
Waerchouse befCcoversn
Mae
Catalogue
Ita Daminga
Wedding invitation hints at bold name spell out
A Philadelphia Press quip teases Alexander Hamilton Jones marrying Mary Jane Wiggs. The joke implies Jones marries to have his full name displayed. The item reads as a light society note reflecting contemporary social wit.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Alexander Hamilton Jones
Mary Jane Wiggs
Jones
Philadelphia Press
Not to Be Caught. Swipesey Apple Bite Exchange
A terse exchange from the Fort Worth Record features a rustic mock dispute over a bite of an apple. The humorous dialogue highlights local vernacular and playful roadside banter common to the era.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Fort Worth
Also Mentioned on This Page
Ablann
Gress
Prunes
Earth
Jt Abe
April
B. F. Taylor
Drewn
Heart
You
New York Sun
Ita
Casorting
Mexten
Yee
Balthy
L. H. Robbins
Newark
Hin Houro
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