A NAIL IN THE PULPER. 
We well recollect being once well-nigh driven frantic. 
The coffee was all ripe on the trees, and still the 
carpenters were hammering away in the pulping -houses 
We told them picking was commenced, and, if the 
hammering was not finished in the cherry-loft, we 
would most certainly commence and hammer upon 
them, which threat seemed to have a more satis- 
factory result than any of stoppage of pay, or dis- 
missal from service. Indeed the latter was no threat at 
all, for they would at once get employment over the 
way, where a friend and neighbour was even in worse 
plight than ourselves. At noon the cherry coffee was 
brought into the cherry-loft, just as the carpenter had 
given his last stroke, and was now busy fumbling in 
his waist-cloth, from which he drew forth a tin box, 
which he opened, took out something, and put it into 
his mouth. Any new comer would suppose he had 
made some mistake, for, shortly after doing this, he 
would spit out a red sort of substance all over the 
door, somewhat of the colour of the cherry coffee, 
and which shewed forth in bright contrast on the clean 
newly-laid down planking. In case any of our readers 
may never have seen, or heard of, this proceeding, 
for their information we will merely remark, the 
carpenter had taken a chew of betel leaf, to compose 
his mind, after the unwonted and extraordinary ex- 
ertions he had undergone ? The cherry-loft, of course, 
was all covered with chips of wood, shavings, nails, 
and carpenters’ tools, so, a speedy clearance having been 
made of all these, by means of a broom, a clear space 
was at last obtained on wh"ch to measure in the cherry 
coffee. We are impatient to get the pulper set agoing 
merely to see bow it will work, for many parts of it 
had just arrived from Kandy, where it had undergone 
general repairs, especially the cylinder, which had a 
liew sheet of copper, well-set teeth, without a flaw. 
At last all was ready : the wheel slowly revolved, 
and the pulper was in motion. Everything seemed in 
very fair condition, and we are making close ex- 
aminations, as to any little faults or defects, for 
subsequent remedy, when a grating crushing sound 
strikes the ear, a sound especially abhorrent to the 
planter’s ears, crash-cr-cr-r-crac-ac-rash ! There ’s a 
stone in the cylinder ! The master rushes to the spill- 
water rope, in doing so knocking some over into the 
washing cistern, and another flat on his face on the 
platform. He frantically jerks the rope, and the ma- 
chinery comes to a stand. 
Then comes a searching investigation. In spite of 
every precaution, a nail had got into the cherry coffee, 
and with it had entered the pulper, and the fine 
newly-covered cylinder is all ripped up and destroyed. 
