MIND AND MARRIAGE.

men may be supremely happy, or may have been so, in the domestic sphere, but a dozen such examples do not count enough in the public's estimate of things to offset the one opposite example which happens at the moment to be uppermost. Happiness, for some reason, we take to be a common-place, a matter of course. The oriental theory in relation to woman, which it has taken centu

outgrown in western, and in the most enlightened western, nations. still leaves its traces here and there. It is her reliance, and not her independence, that most men still desire for her, and that makes her interesting to them.

It has often been said, as a sort of warning to expectant young ladies, that men of genius and men deeply engaged in literary pursuits make poor husbands. They do not, it is claimed, take to domesticity; and they are so absorbed in thoughts that abstract them from the every day concerns of prosaic life that they are apt to forget the butcher and the baker, and have no time or taste for indulg-ries to outgrow, and which has only been ing in those dainty reminders and repetitions of courtship which all young wives expect and all experienced wives would be glad to expect. If we should summarize the whole argument, they are, briefly, out of their spheres. To have important brains, or to have brains highly developed, destroys, it is urged, the aptitude for ordinary routine and humdrum ways. The possessors of such fine mental instruments will not easily fit into the common environment. They chafe and are restive. Was not Byron a poor enough husband? And if he is called an exception, Milton certainly was not. Yet, moral and pious as he was, his marital fitness was little better than, if different from, Byron's. Look, too, at Burns and Dickens and Poe. In recent times, this homily, which we so frequently encounter, suspends itself upon the fresh reminiscences of Carlyle, and the still fresher ones of Bulwer, more formidable still.

In the instance of Carlyle, we think the matter has been dinned into our minds from so many directions and by so many pens, eager to see the man who had put so many things in the pillory of indignation put there himself, that it has been lifted somewhat out of the true perspective. We have no doubt that Carlyle, personally, was not a remarkably agreeable companion for summer and winter and for a lifetime. He meant to be kind. He supposed he was as kind as the ogres of dyspepsia, and the dismalness of hard work and a barren social life would let him be. It was not malice aforethought that he can be accused of, and there is some internal evidence that goes to show that Mrs. Carlyle, if she had been happy with a more amicable man, might have been so only at the expense of the more amicable man's own felicity.

From the social point of view it is only ster and scandal which we are apt to consider. Tennyson and Browning and Longfellow and Lowell and dozens of

There are some, we imagine, who will think that Tennyson has, after all, in that memorable passage from "Locksley Hall" touched suggestively for all time the true relation of mind to marriage.

CASTING PLATE GLASS.

The

The operation of casting a plate is as as follows: The glass in the pots having attained the proper degree of liquidity, and having received a thorough melting and refining, the fire is slackened to render the mass some what viscous by cooling. The doors in front of the pots are lifted or taken away; the workmen, each with a long pair of iron pincers, take hold of the pot in the furnace, bring it upon an iron truck or carriage, and at a dog-trot, carry it under the crane. impurities, or glass-gall, upon the surface of the glass are now scraped off, and the pot carefully wiped upon the outside, to prevent dirt from falling on the casting table. The pot is now seized by a pair of strong iron tongs or nippers and raised over the table by means of the crane. The casting table is a large cast-iron slab, well polished, mounted upon a carriage running over a railway. Upon this table two iron rules of the thickness of the required plate are now laid on each side. The pot [suspended above is now tilted over, and the glass poured upon the table. A heavy iron roller is now passed over the glass, the ends of which rest upon the thickness rules. During the rolling, if any impurities are detected in the glass while yet plastic, they are removed with suitable instruments. The plate is then annealed, after which it is ground, smoothed and polished, each being an operation requiring time and care.

Road.

[From the American Railway Journal.]

JAPANESE RAILWAYS.

heaviest gradient rises one foot in forty. The ties are mostly of chestnut, laid at a distance of two feet nine inches apart, with the exception of the joints, where they are laid two feet apart. The iron rails, imported from England, weigh sixty pounds a yard, and the steel rails which at the present time are principally used, weigh sixty-one pounds a yard. The Tokio & Yokohama line is built on double-headed rails; almost all the rest are flat-bottomed and fish-fluted at the joints.

VERITABLE HOTELS ON WHEELS.

The total number of railways now in actual operation in the Japanese Empire is estimated at about two hundred and sixty, the most important of which are these: From Tokio to Yokohama, 18 miles; from Kobe to Otsu, 60 miles; from Nagahama to Sekigahara, 10 miles; from Nagahama to Tsuruga, 25 miles; from Tokio to Tagasaki, 75 miles. All these, save the last-mentioned, belong to the government, and are under the superintendence of the imperial railway department. There are also fifty-six miles in Hakkaido, in Yezo, and at the Kamaishi iron works. The line from Tokio to Tagasaki, which has lately been opened to the public, belongs to Nippon Teiodoguaisha (Imperial Japanese railway company), and the work of constructing the track and the general management of the traffic were and still are, entirely in the hands of government employes, the company being only the paymaster. So far as the general traffic management and the number of persons employed are concerned, the company has absolute authority to make restrictions, but in its present state of infancy, the assistance of the government is unquestionably a necessity. The mutual agreement between the share-holders and the government is, that in case of the railway not paying eight per cent. interest per annum, the latter should make up the deficiency, whatever it might be. In February, af-lives. In February, after the line had been open one hundred and fifty-seven days, the company entered into close calculations, and found that they had earned at the rate of 12.537 per cent. per annum, and thus needed no assistance from the government.

Both the government and company lines are built on the gauge of three feet six inches, which is the standard gauge of Japan, The road at Kamaishi Mines is built on two foot nine inch gauge. The longest tunnel in Japan pierces Mt. Yanagure (Nanagure Yama) between the provinces of Nagahama and Tsuruga, and is 1,390 yards in length. The tunnel was cut through the 16th of November last, after five years work, and the bricklaying is expected to be finished some time this summer. The sharpest curve is twenty chains or 1,320 feet, and the

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As

What might be called a decorative inventor of the sentimental school has just been developed in the West. He has patented an arrangement for use in palace cars whereby they can be beautifully embellished by cut natural flowers. A series of bouquet holders are fastened in different parts of the car, and so constructed that the flowers are held firmly without injury. These are filled with a chemical fluid, prepared for the purpose with the view of keeping the buds and blossoms fresh much longer than they naturally would remain. The mixture flows into the flower receivers from a reservoir placed at the end of the car. natural flowers, organs and pianos are now added to the luxuries of the modern palace car, it would seem as if ingenuity and inventive skill had progressed so far in this direction that it is a veritable firstclass hotel on wheels. It is reasonable to suppose that there will come a time when perpetual travelers will regularly board and lodge in these coaches all their lives. Even at the present time, their conveniences and luxuries are such that many tourists never stop at a regular hotel for consecutive weeks. They travel by night and attend to their duties or seek pleasure during the day. If the

inventor and constructor of the first railway car could enjoy a trip on the latest improved palace coach he would find it extremely difficult to express his astonishment at the many changes wrought in a comparatively brief period of time. No wonder the traffic of this kind is rapidly increasing, and all new roads see at once the importance of acquiring such facilities.

In 1836 the Ohio Railroad was commenced, and till quite recently some of the piles on which the rails were to be laid to obviate grading, were to be seen.

Correspondence.

ECONOMY IN FIRING.

Concluded.

fect in causing the combustion of the gases, as it is well-known that gases burn more perfectly when the oxygen and hydrogen are brought to a high temperature.

It is imperative to have a large number | The circular calls for the door to be left of holes, to admit the air, about five or open a little way, after firing, to admit six square inches for every square foot air to consume the gases, which is a of grate surface. The holes should be crude way to accomplish the object in covered with a regulator, both the hollow view, as the air rushes in in large volstay-bolts and those in the furnace door, umes on one side of the furnace only, so the admission of air can be regulated having a tendency to cool off that side of by the fireman. Some have three or the furnace, leaving the opposite side four large holes in the door, and a solid without any, allowing the carbureted plate attached to the door inside, which hydrogen gas to escape unconsumed. is a very inefficient plan; the door should There has been in successful operation be perforated with holes about three- for a number of years, in England, a very eighths inches in diameter, and the plate efficient plan to aid the combustion of on the inside to correspond, as the jet the gases, and it has been so successsystem is by far the best, distributing the ful that it is possible, and is done air equally among the gases in the fur- in a number of instances, to burn coal nace; whereas, in the case of admitting that is entirely worthless in ordinary furthe air in large volumes, it is not distrib-naces. uted equally, and consequently fails to perform its duty effectually. That the brick arch is the best appliance for the locomotive fire-box there is no question, if properly constructed. The most common complaint is that they have to be renewed so often, which evil can only be avoided by making the bricks thicker and using water-bars for supports. The water-arch, the extension of the fire-box into the shell of the boiler, and the separate combustion chamber, all have their advocates; but with the brick arch and an intelligent fireman you have the best non-smoke-producing device we have at present. There are several reasons why the brick arch is superior to the others. The intense heat of the fire-box causes the bricks to become incandescent, and thus perform a two-fold duty: that of maintaining an even temperature of firebox when the door is opened for the purpose of firing, thereby acting as a reservoir of heat; and the gases having to pass over the incandescent surface in their passage to the flues, it has a material ef

Mr. Buchanan of the N. Y. C. & H. R. R. R., has made a practical application of it on the locomotive, with gratifying results. It is a plan for supplying super-heated steam through a number of minute apertures placed at the back end over the fire. The steam from the boiler is made to flow through a system of pipes in the fire-box, where it becomes super-heated, and then passes through a pipe across the back of the boiler, from which nozzles run into funnel-shaped apertures in the fire-box, similar to the combining tubes of an injector. When steam is turned on it causes a powerful current of air to pass through the apertures, and before mixing with the gases in the furnace, is distributed with the steam-jets into minute atoms, and the mere forcing of the atoms of steam driving the oxygen through and between the live coal, produces complete combustion with great economy of fuel. The pernicious practice of repeatedly, shoveling the fire-box full of green coal is not conducive of economy or the best results for producing steam, and it is only the

from the boiler there has to be a certain amount of coal burned to produce it.

I do not encourage the plan of opening the furnace door to reduce the pressure, for it has a tendency to cause leaks, if not ruptures, in the fire-box by letting in large volumes of cold air, thereby suddenly chilling the hot plates; it is much better to let it blow. to waste than to run the risk of a leaky boiler. A great many engineers think there is no harm done by opening the door, because it does not make itself immediately apparent. I will state a case that came under my notice of two engineers. One would not allow the door to be opened if it were possible, while the other permitted his fireman to open it whenever the steamgauge indicated the blowing-off point. What was the result in both cases? The first ran his engine for years without an indication of a leak; while the other had the boiler-makers in the fire-box caulking the flues every time the engine was in the shops, in fact it was never free from leaks-the result of opening the door to reduce pressure. The only satisfactory way to do it is to close the ash

ignorant or indifferent fireman that will do so. By shoveling an excess of coal into a furnace, it is turned into a gas retort, producing more gas than the furnace is capable of consuming, and the excess passes away unconsumed. The hydrogen is very easily liberated by the application of heat, and air must be admitted so as to form a chemical combination. To fire so as to produce the best result, is to do it with small quantities of coal, and often; for all the refinements for the prevention of smoke will not produce the object in view with an indifferent fireman, for careful firing is the secret of success. That a large per cent. of fuel is wasted through the safety-valve in excessive blowing off, is undeniable, and can be avoided to a large extent. A careful fireman will fire so as to keep the steam just at the blowing-off point, without letting it do so. The coal should always be kept moderately wet, as it holds together much better, and prevents the smaller particles from being carried through the flues. It also cokes much more readily when damp than when dry. An observant fireman knows full well that by keeping the steam at the blow-pan damper and cut off the supply of air; ing-off point, he is making the work much lighter for himself than by having it thirty pounds less; he knows there is much more potential energy in steam at one hundred and thirty pounds than there is at one hundred pounds per square inch, and that to do a certain amount of work, we will say for an illustration it requires 102 cubic inches of steam at 130 pounds per square inch at each stroke of the piston, and that to do the same amount of work with steam at 100 pounds it will require 170 cubic inches of steam; or 272 cubic inches more at each revolution in one case than it does in the other. And the more steam that is used the more water has to be evaporated, and more coal burned to do it; for for every cubic inch of steam taken up

but I am sorry to say that in a great many instances it is only an apology for a damper. The ash-pan should be made air-tight, and as much care bestowed upon the fitting up of them as on any any other part of the engine. How can the officials expect the firemen to produce the best results unless they aid them by putting at their disposal the appliances for doing it? The comparison is often made of the economy of English lococomotives with American. There they give particular attention to firing and all the appliances necessary for the same, and then hold the engine crew to a strict accountability for its successful operation. Where is there an engine in the United States that can show such a record in coal consumption as the locomo

tive Gladstone, of the Brighton & South Coast R. R., of which Mr. W. Stroudly is Locomotive Superintendent. In a number of trials to prove the economy of locomotives as compared with other classes of engines, this engine evaporated 12.95 pounds of water per pound of coal, and the rate of consumption was 2.03 pounds of coal per horse-power per hour, which will compare very favorably indeed with our high class of automatic cut-off engines. There has been some doubt expressed as to the correctness of these figures, but anyone that knows Mr. Stroudly and the high standing he occupies in the mechanical world cannot but accept his figures as correct. And why is it that he has obtained such a high standard of economy? It is because he has given attention to the details of combustion, and how best to control it, while with us it is considered of only secondary importance.

clouds of smoke curl out of the stack and leave a long trail behind them." Little do they think they are wasting the best part of the coal and that will produce the most steam weight for weight. Again, some firemen have only one object in view, namely that of shoveling in as much coal as they can get into the firebox and then making a bee-line for the box, and there sit until the fire requires more coal, and so it goes through the whole trip. Their only gauge when to shovel more coal is the appearance of the smoke as it issues from the stack. As long as it pours out in dense volumes of black smoke, darkening the whole country around, they are satisfied, but as soon as it turns to a light brown or grayish color, it is a sure indication to them that the fire needs more coal-when at any time the smoke should not be darker than a light brown. It is an easy matter to tell the mental caliber of a fireThat the discharge of large quantities man by the color of the smoke issuing of smoke from the stack is an indication from the stack. If it is of a thin brownof ignorance or carelessness on the part ish color, it is a sure indication that the of the fireman is evident, and that a very fireman understands the laws governing large per cent. of them are very poor combustion, and is making them subserapologies as such is undeniable, and as vient to his will. But when you see firemen they are total failures; they dense volumes of smoke issuing from the waste more coal in a trip than their wa-stack, it also is a sure indication that inges come to. It is not absolutely neces- stead of a fireman there is a coal shoveler sary for a fireman to know the chemical on the train, who is either too lazy to exconstituents of coal, and all the techni- ert his mental faculties or who has not calities connected with combustion. But the intelligence, and the sooner he acit is necessary that he should possess in- cepts some occupation where discretion telligence and be capable of discerning and intelligence are not necessary the betthat certain causes produce certain ef- ter it will be for himself, the company, fects. And instead of being a mere au- and the community at large. The P. C. tomaton, shoveling coal for a livelihood, & St. Louis R. R. Co. has taken a step he should make the fire and the produc- in the right direction, and it would be tion of steam subservient to his will. well if other railroad companies would The fireman is not to blame in all cases, follow their example, for if it is rigidly as he has been taught to fire in a certain enforced it will have a decided tendency way by his engineer who is as ignorant to raise the standard of excellence of of the laws that govern combustion as firemen, and it must follow as a natural himself. I have often heard them say consequence that the standard of engi"How pleasant it is to see the black neers will also be raised. The sooner