318 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



October 



'B.ow Thimblrs Are Made. 



Dies of the different sizes are ased, 

 into which the nietaJ, whether gold, 

 silver or steel, is presided. The hole 

 piiuchiug, fjuishiup, polishing and teir- 

 pering are done afterward. Celluloid 

 and rubber are molded. The best tliim- 

 blcs are made in France, where the 

 process is more thorouf;h. The first step 

 in the making of a Paris thimble is the 

 cutting into a difk of the desired size a 

 thin pitceof sheet iron. This is brougiit 

 to a red heat, placed over a graduatf^d 

 bole iu an iron bench and hammered 

 down into it with a punch. This hols 

 is in the form of a thimble. The iron 

 takes its shape and is removed froiu 

 the hole. The little indentations to keep 

 the needle from slipping are made in it 

 and all the other finishing strokes of 

 the perfect thimble put ou it. The iron 

 is then made into steel by a process 

 peculiar to the French thimble maker 

 and is tempered, polished and brought 

 to a deep blue color. A thiu sheet of 

 gold is theji pressed into the interior 

 of the thimble and fastened there by a 

 mandrel. Gold leaf is attached to the 

 outside by great pressure, the edges of 

 the leaf being fitted in and held by 

 email grooves at the base of the thim- 

 ble. The aiticle is then ready for use. 

 The gold will last for years. The steel 

 never wears out, and the gold can be 

 readily replaced at any time. — Dry 

 Goods Chronicle. 



Her Aiv'kward Nurse. 



Heleu Hunt Jackson's descriptive 

 power was eloquent, even on a sickbed. 

 I find this picture of her awkward 

 nurse iu a letter written in March, 



1872: 



To Dr. Nichols: 



A communication, 6:45 a.m. 



Can I endiirp the presence of this surly, aim- 

 less cow another day? Nol Why? 



She ha.s less faculty than any human being I 

 ever undertook to direct in small matters. 



Wh«ju I ask her to bring me anything, she 

 rises slowly with a movement like nothing I 

 ever saw in lile, unh^iss it be a derrick. 



She sighs and drops her underjaw after ev- 

 ary exertion. 



She "sets" with a ponderous incMa which 

 produces on me the most remarkable effect. I 

 have a morbid impulse to fling my shoes at 

 her head and see wliat would come of it. 



She asks me in di.smal tones it 1 am well in 

 other ways besides my throat, conveying the 

 impression by her slow rolling eye that I look 

 to her like a iMindle of unfathomable diseases. 



She takes the trav out of a trunk to eet s(jme 



article at the bottom— where articles always 

 are— and, having given me the article, o-ks 

 helplessly if she shall put the tray back again. 

 Happy though 1 1 Kext tinjel'll ttll her : "No. 

 V>e keep the i-ays in piles on the floor." 



Is this Christu.n? No, for she is well mean 

 ing and. wishes to do aright, and I don't doubt 

 every glance of my eye sends a thrill of unex 

 plainuble discomfort through her. 



But as a professional nuiseshe is the biggest 

 joke I ever saw. I honestly believe a peist-n 

 seriously ill might be killed in a tew hours by 

 her presence. If you ever wish to practice eu- 

 Ihanasy wiih safety on one of your hojieless 



ca.ses, send Mrs. B to nurse it, unless th° 



patient has a .sense of humor keen enough to 

 rise above all el.se. Helen Hunt Jackson. 



— Time and The Hour. 



A Moslem Solomon. 



Readers of the "Arabian Nights" 

 are familiar with the manner in which 

 the cauis dispensed justice with more 

 regard to equity than to law, and it 

 seems that instances of the same kind 

 are of modern occurrence. An example 

 is given iu Golden Days: 



Not long ago a Turk, while repairing 

 a roof, fell into the street upon a 

 wealthy old man, who was killed, 

 without any serious damage to the 

 workman. The sou of the deceased 

 caused the workman to be arrested and 

 taken before the cadi, with whom he 

 used all his influence to have the poor 

 man condemned, and, though the inno- 

 cence of the laborer was clearly estab- 

 lished, nothing could pacify the sou 

 but the law of retaliation. 



The cadi stroked hie beard and then 

 gravely decreed that the workman 

 should be placed exactly upon the spot 

 where the old man had stood. 



"Now," said he to the son, "you 

 will go on the roof of the house, fall 

 down upon this man and kill him if 

 you can. " 



Of course the sou declined to do any- 

 thing of the sort, and the case was dis- 

 missed. 



Th«j Opposite. 



Grant Duff has iu his reminiscences 

 the following story of Lord Houghton: 

 The Cosmopolitan club was accustomed 

 to meet iu a room which had been 

 Watts' studio, and on the walls of which 

 hung an enormous picture by him of 

 "Theodora and Honoria. " Some one 

 asked Lord Houghton what this repre- 

 sented. "Oh," he replied, "you have 

 heard of Watts' hymns? These are 

 Watts' hers." 



