JU 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1. 



a larger percentage of hydrogen. Is it a new 

 discovery ? ' ' 



' ' No. Acetylene gas has been known for 

 3'ears. You probably saw it mentioned briefly 

 in your chemistry forty years ago ; but since 

 Niagara has been, harnessed, and we have elec- 

 trical energy in greater volume, and cheaper 

 than the world ever saw it before, some odd 

 things have come to light. About four years 

 ago," while attempting to produce something 

 that was wanted, a quantity of lime and car- 

 bon was exposed to this tremendous electric 

 heat ; but they did not succeed in producing 

 what they expected, and the product of their 

 experiments was thrown away. When some 

 water was accidentally thrown on to this sub- 

 stance a very curious phenomenon ensued. 

 Here. Examine this piece of stone, will you?" 



The mineral that I took in my hands looked 

 like limestone. After I had examined it suffi- 

 ciently, one of the boys handed Mr. Long a 

 bit of ice perhaps as large as a hickorynut. 

 Another gave him a match, and, after placing 

 the lump of ice on the limestone ( as it appear- 

 ed), a lighted match was held over it. The 

 ice took fire like a piece of resinous pitch, and 

 burned up with wonderful brilliancy. When 

 the ice was all consumed, the fire went out. 

 Next a piece of this new mineral, calcium car- 

 bide, was dumped into a tub of water, and 

 quite an ebullition commenced at once. When 

 a lighted match was applied to the surface of 

 the water we had a fountain of flame. This 

 calcium carbide liberates pure acetylene gas 

 just as soon as a drop of water touches it ; and 

 "the lamp that friend Long has been engaged 

 in perfecting is simply a tin can to hold the 

 new chemical. You just pour some water on 

 the limestone, screw on the top of the lamp 

 containing the burner, and it is ready to light. 

 When you turn off the gas, so that no more 

 can escape, it accumulates and pushes the wa- 

 ter up into the reservoir above until no more 

 touches the lime ; then the gas ceases to be 

 generated until somebody opens the burner 

 and lets some of it out ; so you see it is auto- 

 matic in its operation. The gas is generated 

 just as fast as it is burned, and no faster. 



Permit me to say right here, that, when I 

 was seventeen years old, I was astonishing the 

 people right and left by showing experiments 

 in electricity and chemistry. I used to go 

 around to the schoolhouses, charging ten 

 cents admittance — schoolchildren half price. 

 During the forty years that have passed since 

 that time I have kept track, more or less, of 

 the developments in electricity. No wonder 

 friend Long and I talked far into the night. I 

 am afraid I forgot all about our friends Weck- 

 esser and Craycraft and all the rest. They 

 dropped off one by one, and left us talking. 



This calcium carbide is now produced in a 

 large factory at Niagara Falls. It is offered 

 for sale in quantities at four cents a pound ; 

 and it takes so little of the gas to make a tre- 

 mendous light that four cents' worth of mate- 

 rial will do more lighting than a like amount 

 of money expended in kerosene oil, cheap as 

 it is in many places. Instead of filling your 

 lamp with oil you take out the slacked lime 

 and put in another chunk, something as you 



slip a cartridge into a gtm, and that is all 

 there is to it. There is nothing greasy or wet 

 or sticky about the apparatus, or will not be 

 when it is perfected. If you wish to know 

 more about acetylene, write to D. N. Long, 

 La Salle, N. Y. I believe a complete lamp at 

 present costs four or five dollars. I expect to 

 have one as soon as they are prepared to offer 

 them to the public. 



I told you in our last issue why we abandon- 

 ed our wheels the next morning. Although I 

 have several times visited Niagara I had not 

 until this time made the trip clear under and 

 through the falls. During my previous visit 

 I believe I did not get enough of its wetness 

 and grandeur. Friend Craycraft and I, how- 

 ever, decided to take it all in. We took off 

 ever}' thread of our ordinary clothing, and put 

 on something like bathing-suits ; and over 

 these, suits of yellow oilcloth, including a 

 hood that came clear over the head. As I am 

 susceptible to chills, I was a little fearful, 

 when I walked along the slippery walk, of the 

 cold spring water trickling down upon us ; 

 but when I got far enough into the water of 

 the great cataract I was surprised to find it 

 comfortably warm, even on a somewhat chill}' 

 morning. We first went clear around the fall 

 through the spray, witnessing the rainbow 

 that makes a complete circle. The}' claim 

 this is the only place in the world where one 

 can see a rainbow that goes clear around like 

 a wheel. Outside of this is a second rainbow, 

 and part of the way round you can see a third 

 one. I have many times wished it were possi- 

 ble to go right into and through the falling 

 water ; but I did not know before that this 

 had been done so completely. I experienced 

 at first the pleasurable sensation I have so oft- 

 en described, of breathing watery spray. But 

 pretty soon there was more water in propor- 

 tion to the air than was really agreeable. I 

 began to be afraid I should strangle, and ask- 

 ed the guide and friend Craycraft if they were 

 prepared to carry me out if I fainted from loss 

 of breath. After they had expressed their 

 readiness and ability to take me safely through, 

 I ventured onward. Just imagine yourself 

 outdoors in the most pelting rain you ever 

 saw ; then suppose the raindrops to be so 

 thick that there is more water than air. It 

 was a sort of spray ; but this spray came in 

 such volume that, when the guide told me to 

 look straight down, it seemed to me as if the 

 weight of the water would crush me to the 

 earth, or, rather, to the stout iron bridge on 

 which we were walking. Occasionally the 

 water would sway over to one side so I could 

 look up. No tongue can describe nor pen 

 picture the .sight. The water seemed like bil- 

 lows of snow. In fact, it made me think of 

 the roaring and tumbling snowdrifts that I 

 saw through a telescope over Pike's Peak. 

 Yes, I was "right in the swim" of Niagara 

 Falls ; and it seemed as if one might almost 

 swim in this watery spray. I wondered who 

 it was who was sufficienlly daring to under- 

 take to construct the iron bridge right through 

 this boiling mass of water. Did the workmen 

 get accustomed to it ? or did they choose some 

 time when the great cataract was asleep, and 



