Entries from July 2005 ↓

Larry Dexter’s Great Search or, The Hunt for the Missing Millionaire by Howard R. Garis (1909). A young journalist gets a scoop!

Howard Garis was a prolific author of children’s and juvenile literature. Uncle Wiggily, the Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, The Curlytops, Dick Hamilton and Larry Dexter were some of his productions.

Project Gutenberg has several other works by Garis under his own name, though this is the first Larry Dexter work represented.

Carlyle gave us the philosophy of clothes; now Dr. Seitz, of Munich, gives us their bacteriology. On examining a worsted stocking he found 956 thriving colonies, while on a cotton sock there were 712. Both these articles had been worn, but no information is vouchsafed as to the personal habits of the wearer. Thirty-three colonies were found on a glove, 20 on a piece of woollen stuff and nine on a piece of cloth; none of these articles had been worn. On a piece of cloth from a garment that had been worn a week there were 23 colonies. Of the micro-organisms found on articles of clothing relatively few were capable of causing disease. The pathogenic species were almost without exception staphylococci. In one case, however, Dr. Seitz found the typhoid bacillus in articles of clothing from 21 to 27 days, and the staphylococcus pyogenes albus 19 days after they had been worn. The anthrax bacillus found in clothes was still virulent after a year. The microbe of erysipelas, on the other hand, could not be found after 18 hours, nor the cholera vibrio after three days. Dr. Seitz studied with special care the question whether in tuberculous subjects who sweated profusely the bacillus was conveyed by the perspiration to a piece of linen worn for some time next to the skin of the chest. The inoculation of two guinea-pigs, however, gave negative results.

The real inventor of the locomotive never realized a cent from his invention, says the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. His name was Oliver Evans. He was born in Delaware in 1756 and spent all his life perfecting inventions which were destined to bring him nothing but more poverty. He was the original inventor of the high-pressure engine used in locomotives, the only kind that could be employed to advantage in this form of transportation, but realized nothing for his idea. His application of the notion to both land and water power was somewhat novel. In 1804 the municipality of Philadelphia called for bids for the dredging of the river and the cleaning of the docks. Evans put in a bid lower than any of his competitors, and, when it was accepted, determined to build a steamboat to do the work. He fitted out a scow with a steam engine, building both the engine and the scow in his own workshop. When the boat was ready to be launched Evans determined to give the people of Philadelphia an object lesson in mechanics, so he put the boat on wheels, fitted up a push wheel behind, set his engine to work, and propelled the boat through the streets to the river in the midst of an open-mouthed throng, not a few of whom had a dim idea that he ought to be arrested for witchcraft. When the boat reached the bank of the river the wheels and axles were taken off, the craft was launched, fitted out with other wheels, and made to do the work of dredging the harbor. So far as the invention of mechanical devices went Evans had a splendid genius, but when dollars and cents came up for consideration he was a mere child and even allowed himself to be cheated out of the money that was due him for cleaning the Philadelphia harbor with his newfangled steamboat.

One night in 1801 a little girl about one year old was deposited on the steps of the foundling hospital at Brest. She was dressed with much finery and a note attached to her skirts told that her name was Solange and that she would be reclaimed by her father, says an exchange. The claim was never made, however, and in due time the child was transferred to the orphan asylum to be educated. As she grew up she developed a most extraordinary beauty; but her intellect appeared to be very weak and she suffered from frequent nervous fits. When she was twelve years old she was sent out into the streets to sell flowers, and her beauty and her modesty attracted many people’s good will; but she grew weaker and weaker, and at last she died, or at least it was thought so. According to French custom, she was buried in an open basket, and, as it was winter and the soil was frozen, she was laid into the grave covered only with a thin layer of sand. During the night she awoke, and, pushing the sand away, crept out from the grave. Not exactly understanding what had taken place, she was not so very much frightened; but in crossing the glacis between the cemetery and the fortifications she was suddenly stopped by the cry: “Qui vive?” and, as she did not answer, the sentinel fired and she fell to the ground. Brought into the guardhouse, her wound was found to be very slight and she soon recovered. But her singular history an also her great beauty had made so deep an impression on a young lieutenant of the garrison–Kramer–that he determined to be her protector and sent her to one of the most fashionable educational establishments in Paris. During the next few years Kramer was much tossed about by the war; but when in 1818 he returned to Paris he found Solange a full-grown woman, not only beautiful but accomplished and spirited, with no more trace of intellectual weakness or nervous fits. He married her and for several years the couple lived happily in Paris.

A sure antidote for the snake poison has been found. The discovery will mark an epoch in the history of medicine. For thousands of years the secret has been sought in vain. It was Prince Lucien Bonaparte who, in 1843, first made a chemical analysis of the venom of the viper separating its active principle, which he called “viperine.” A similar principle has ben separated from the poison of the rattlesnake by Dr. Weir Mitchell, which he has termed “crotaline.” But until now no knowledge has been obtained of anything antagonistic to this toxic agent though alleged “cures” for snake bite have been plentiful enough. The remedy so long looked for has been found at last in strychnine. The deadly fluid secreted by certain species of snakes was made a subject of study from a very early date, but the old-time investigators knew not how to solve the intricate problems of organic chemistry. All that they accomplished was to create a prodigious number of antidotes, so-called, most of which in their turn were declared infallible. Not one of them was worth a penny. The most notable work in this line has been performed by Dr. Weir Mitchell of Philadelphia who, for the sake of obtaining sufficient quantities of the poison has sometimes kept as many as 100 serpents in his laboratory. His method of securing the venom for examination was to the seize the snake by the neck with tongs, forcing a saucer between the jaws. The enraged reptile would then bite into the saucer, on which the poison emitted was left. The substance thus obtained is a yellowish, transparent, sticky fluid, without smell or taste, easily dissolved in water. When dried it will retain its toxic properties for any length of time apparently, looking like a gum or varnish, and it has been preserved for twenty-two years without altering in the least. On this ground it is advisable to handle with caution even the dried fangs of snakes long dead. Boiling, unless continued for a long time, does not render the fluid harmless.

Alcohol has long held the first place in popular esteem as an antidote for snake poison. In truth, it is not such at all, though useful to sustain the vitality of the person bitten against the attack made upon it by the toxic agent. It stimulates the nerve centers and the action of the heart, if taken in small doses. But the mistake ordinarily made is to pour into the patient large quantities of whisky, the effect of which is exactly the opposite of that required. In such great doses alcohol depresses instead of stimulating the vital functions. Intoxication, far from helping the cure, aids the poison. And, by the way, people have often died from snake bite who were bitten when dead drunk.

With the newly discovered antidote the case is exactly the opposite. Danger is far more likely to result from hesitation in using it liberally than from an overdose. Strychnine–itself a poison scarcely less terrible than snake venom–acts directly upon the nerves, stimulating and turning on their batteries, which the snake poison seeks to depress and turn off. Acting with the unerring certainty of a chemical test, it neutralizes the effects of the serpent venom. But it must be administered in extraordinary quantities, even to the point of production spasmodic twitching of the muscles.

In fact, the ordinary doses must be greatly exceeded, and the administration of the strychnine must be continued, even if the total quantity injected within an hour or two amounts to what in the absence of snake poison would be a dangerous if not fatal dose. The few failures among the numerous success with the drug thus far recorded have nearly all be traceable to an insufficiency of the antidote. In urgent cases as much as twenty to twenty-five minutes should be given to any persons over fifteen years of age. If at the end of twenty minutes the symptoms show no abatement, a second injection of the same strength should be made promptly, and unless then a decided improvement is perceptible, a third one after a like interval. The action of the drug when applied as an antidote is not cumulative. The tendency to relapses is always great where much venom has been absorbed. Apparently yielding to the strychnine for the time, the insidious poison, after an interval during which it seems to have been conquered, all at once reasserts its presence and has to be met by fresh injections, regardless of the quantity previously administered. With children the amount of the remedy to be given must not be judged by the age of the child, but by the amount of venom to be counteracted, the degree of danger chiefly depending upon the size of the snake. The bigger the reptile, of course, the more poison it has. Furthermore, it is to be remembered that of all American serpents the rattlesnake is the most dangerous, the copperhead less so and the water moccasin least.

Dick Walker lives at No. 15 Vandam street, and is manager of an uptown glassware emporium, says New York World. Animals of all sorts he is fond of, especially dogs and monkeys. The mate of a Brazilian ship recently brought him a monkey which he named Adam. The simian was very tame, and was allowed the liberty of Mr. Walker’s residence and back yard. The fence there was a favorite roosting-place for Adam until Friday.

Mr. Walker was looking out of the window, and in the next yard saw a mother cat with three or four kittens. She carried them one by one in her mouth and deposited them on the grass plot. Adam was gravely watching the proceeding, and, suddenly descending into the neighbor’s yard, he seized a kitten as he had seen the cat do, and with it dangling from his jaws, he scrambled up the fence. He was not slow either, for right behind him was Mrs. Cat, with her back up and her tail as big as a muff. Along the fence to the window Adam ran, and jumped into the room. Mr. Walker took the kitten from him just in time, and shut the window. Mrs. Cat knew no stopping, however, and through the glass she dashed, and after Mr. Adam. Walker managed to separate them, but not until he was scratched and bitten, too. Adam was punished severely by the enraged cat, and whenever he sees one now he runs under a sofa and hides. He still owes Mr. Walker the price of a pane of glass.

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Selmar Hess, publisher,
New York.

“There’s one thing about the bicycle craze,” said a tailor. “I believe it is going to revolutionize men’s attire, which has been so somber for so many years. Dress reformers have done much for women, but men’s clothing is practically the same year in and year out. The leaders of fashion are not as a rule robust, and the chaps who lead cotillions have small legs. If the wheel develops their calves, as it will, I believe the age of short clothes will return, and knee-breeches for evening dress may be seen again in drawing-rooms. Bloomers are popular, for a shapely woman likes folks to know it. Thin-legged men have a chance to build up their calves in summer for the winter’s gaiety.”