MOORE^S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL. 
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LIST OF PATENTS 
ISSUKf FROM THE UNITED STATES PATI.VT OFFICE, 
For the week ending March 9, llIoO. 
To Alexander W. Barker, of SuflblkCo., Mass., 
for improvement in Invalid Bedsteads. 
To William B. Barnard, of Bristol, Conn, for 
Adjustable Cord-hook for Door-springs. 
To Alinzor Clark, of Southfield, N. Y., for Fast¬ 
ening for Hay and Manure Forks. 
To Thomas G. Clinton, George II. Knight and 
Edward H. Knight, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for im¬ 
provement in Carriage .lacks. 
To Joseph Di.von, of Jersey City, N. J., for im¬ 
provement in Firing Kilns for pottery ware, black 
lead, crucibles, Ac. 
Tc Samuel Ecclos, of Kensington, Pa., for im¬ 
provement in Looms for Figured Fabrics. 
To Nelson Edwards, of Chittenden Co., Vt., for 
improved apparatus for Registering the Depth of 
Water in Vcs.scls’ Holds. 
To William W. Grant, of Providence, R. I., for 
improvements in machinery for Dressing Hemp' 
and Flax. 
To George S. Hacker, of Charleston, S. C., for 
improvements in Railroad Cars. 
To Robert J. King, of Ijancaster, Pa., for ira- 
prevernent in Corn Plouw.s. 
Tc James M’Gregor, Jr., of New York, N. Y., 
for improvement in Cooking Ranges and Air-hoat- 
ing Furnaces connected therewith. 
To James .M’Gregor, Jr., of Wilton, N. Y., for 
improvement in Air-heating Furnaces. 
To Charles Murray Nelson, of Cincinnati, Ohio, 
for improvement in Cooking Stoves. 
To Charles Emile Paris, &. Charles Henri Paris, 
of France, for improvement in Composition for 
Enameling Hollow Ware. 
Tc William Payne, now resident in New York, 
N. Y., for improvement in Ajiparatus for Retain¬ 
ing Cars on the Rails. 
Tc Alonzo D. Perry, of New York, N. Y., for 
improved winged .Metalic Cartridges. 
Tc George lliley, of New York, N. Y., for im¬ 
proved process in the manufacture of Glucose. 
To Charles W. Russell, of ^Vashill|rtion, D. C., 
for improvement in the construction of I''ire-p!accs 
and Throats of Chimneys. 
To William H. Saundens, Hastings, upon Hud¬ 
son, N. Y., for improvements in Mail Axles. 
To Frederick II. Stinipson, of Boston, Mas.s., 
for improvement in Cooking Ranges. 
Tc Edward Whitney, of Boston, Mass., for iin- 
provemeiit in Chimney Caps. 
Tc Nathaniel J. Wyeth, of Cambridge, Mass., 
for improved Scraper for removing snow from ice. 
To James Long, of Chicago, 111., for iinprovo- 
ment in Gas .Metros. 
RE-I.SSUES. 
To Cullen Whipple, of Providence, R. 1., As¬ 
signor to Netv England Screw Company, for 
Machine for cutting the threads of Wood Screws. 
Patented March 18, 1842. Re-issued March fi, 
1853. 
CaOSSET’S STAVE MACHINE. 
The above cut represents the principle 
of CrosseVs Stave Machine, though, a.s 
now used, it is- simplified by having am en-' 
tire cast iron frame. 
The extreme simplicity and effectiveness 
of this machine, cannot fail of commending 
it to every one witnessing its operation, 
as the perfection of the art of cutting staves. 
The rapidity with which it performs the 
most perfect work, cutting easily find fitting 
for the trass hoops, 15,000 staves in ten 
houi-s—from elm, oak, beech, maple, hick¬ 
ory, <fec., all equally sound and perfect—is tru¬ 
ly wonderful. It greatly reduces the cost of 
that article, so important in a wheat grow¬ 
ing country. 
Millers have for some years anticipated, 
that riven stave barrels, from the great con¬ 
sumption of proper timber, would soon 
become too expensive for use, and have to 
be abandoned for sacks or some other means 
of packing. By this invention, any straight 
grained wood, and those kinds hitherto es¬ 
teemed of little value, are made to produce 
a better article than was ever before pro¬ 
duced, and at a greatly reduced expense.— 
We have the most abundant testimony from 
the Rochester and Oswego millers, of their 
entire success and goodness. The barrels 
are uniformly stronger, tighter, and more 
perfect and shapely in appearance than 
those made by the ordinary process. 
We had the satisfaction of examining this 
machine while in operation, a few days since, 
and can testify to its perfect success. It 
can be seen at work near the Lyell street 
bridge, in this city, where any information 
relative to its performance can be obtained. 
Mr. IsA.vc Doolittle, is owner of the 
right, to whom application for rights (post 
paid) can be made for this and the Western 
and Southern States. 
ALARM AND THIEF DETECTOR. 
IMPROVEMENT In GRINDING FLOUR. 
( Mr. D. P. Bonnell of Tccuinsch, Mich., 
\ hus recently invented and patented an im- 
^ proved process of grinding, which con.sists 
<. in sejiarating the starch from the glutenous 
substances contained in the grain, and sub- 
mi lUng the latter to a seconii active grind- 
• ing or scouring prooes.s. This is eflected 
\ by placing a set or run of auxiliary mill 
[ stones, (under a very rapid motion, I’rom 
S 300 to 500 revolutions per minute,) sa as 
I to intercept the whple body of the otfal on 
\ its passage from the first or superfine bolts, 
• to the return or duster bolts. The auxilia- 
s ry mill may be adapted iii size to the work 
< to be done; a stone 30 inches in diameter 
I being sufficient for a common 4 run mill.— 
It should be driven with a spur wheel, or 
( gearing of some kind, as a belt is liable to 
? slip and lose motion. The eye of the stone 
) should be made very conical, and the irons 
\ put in so as to leave as much room in the 
Mr. IfiCHOLS, of the U. 8. Pay Depart¬ 
ment, at New Orleans, has invented an 
alarm and thief detector, of which the Pic¬ 
ayune gives the following account: 
“ Tlie former is so constructed as upon 
being opened, to produce a tremendous 
noise, similar to the screeching of a gas 
scape of a locomotive. This is followed by 
the descent through a tube of a quantity of 
sonorous balls, (marble or brass, as may be 
chosen,) which are at length thrown suc¬ 
cessively from a hopper to the lloor, rattling 
with terrific force. In the midst of the con¬ 
fusion of sounds produced by the falling 
balls, a bell begins to toll, and so loud as 
positively to startle even a person who is 
prepared to encounter the alarm. The ma¬ 
chinery which puts in operation the alarm, 
occupies but a small space, and can be put 
inside money safes, armonies or other pie¬ 
ces of furniture in which valuables are pre¬ 
served. The noise created by it extends to 
a great distance, and would effectually scare 
a thief to a precipitate flight. The thief 
detector is a simpler and more portable 
piece of machinery, designed to be placed 
eye as possible, the whole of which should inside doors or windows of stores and dwel 
be covered with smooth sheet iron or tin. 
The .ctoiu's sliould be strongly banded, hung 
i a!id balanced very nicely, dressed true and 
( smooth, with a pretty large proportion of 
! deep furrows about the eye or centre.— 
^ The feeding is supplied and made very uni- 
< form and perfect by substituting a large 
fimnel for the common “ hopper, shoe, and 
) dam.sel.” Around the tube of the funnel 
S is cut a screw', Avhich passes through a nut 
] set immediately over the runner’s eye.— 
i* The tube reaches down in the eye of the 
') runner until it comes nearly upon the top 
, of the bale, Avhich should be formed so as 
: to fit or nearly so, the opening of the tube; 
; then, by turning the funnel, the screw wi- 
■ dens or contracts the opening at the top of 
i the bale, admitting more or less feed, as 
' desired. 
/ In using this improvement, the first 
) grinding should be done with reference to 
( the starch entirely, always being careful to 
^ reduce no part of it so fine as to destroy its 
[ granular qualities. This done, the bolting 
) is free, and the starch is bolted out in pas- 
) sing through the first or superfine bolts.— 
> The remainder of the stuff is sent to the 
' auxiliary mill, where it is ground to any de 
' gree of fineness as the miller may desire.-— 
? It is then passed through the lower mer- 
I chant or duster bolts, and such portion of it 
sent back to the same as may be necessary, 
' until all the flour is brought out clear from 
; “specula,” when it is contmually sent to the 
I cooler or first bolts, to be uniformly incor- 
i porated with the supeidine flour. 
! In this manner the miller may put the 
whole constituent of the wheat, except the 
’ bran, into the superfine barrel, or as muclr 
of it as, by any ^o.ssibility, is susceptible of 
being made into flour. He may make his 
flour a superior article m point of color and 
texture, or he may make the best “Graham” 
imaginable, by one straight, continuous op¬ 
eration .—Farmer and Mechanic. 
ling liouses, as a protection against depre¬ 
dators. It consists of a heavy grating which 
is suspended wfithin a double groove in the 
upper part of the door or wdndow' frame, 
and connected by a spring Avith the floor 
beneath. Immediately the foot of the rob¬ 
ber presses on the floor inside the thresh¬ 
old, the spring is put in action, when down | 
falls the grating, and the intruder is caught 
like a rat in a trap.” 
NEW WINDMILL ARRANGEMENT. 
Mr. Leander kloRTON of Hatfield, Mass., 
writing to the Boston Cultivator, remarks: 
—I sec an enquiry in your paper respecting 
the model of a AA’indmill; I aaiU here giv'e 
you a description of one of my OAvn inven¬ 
tion. Run a shaft up through the roof of 
your woodhouse, with a fly Avheel on the 
top, similar to a tub-Avheel, bottom upAvards, 
and build a round house around your fly 
wheel, with doors opening to every point of 
the compass. If the Avind is in the North 
and South, open your North and South doors 
and give it a passage through, upon the ex¬ 
tremity of the wings of the wheel. If in 
the East or West, open your East and West 
doors, with ropes attached thereto, to let on 
or shut off wind at your pleasure. Place 
a drum around the shaft in your wood- 
house, with a connecting bolt to the axle of 
your circular saw. The expense, I think, 
Avill not exceed one hundred dollars. 
So perfect were the Egyptians in the 
manufacture of perfume, that some of their 
ancient ointment preserved in an alabaster 
A^ase in the museum in AlnAvick, still retains 
a very powerful odor, though it must be 
between 2,000 and 3,000 years old. 
A piece of Lead Ore, weighuig 1,500 
ibs. was recently received at New Orleans 
from Arkansas. The ore' is said to yield 
120 ounces of silver to the ton. 
INDUSTRIAL HEROES. 
Richard Arkwright, it would seem, 
was not a beautiful man; no romance hero 
with haughty eyes, Appollo lip and gesture 
like the heald Mercury—a plain, almost 
gross, bag-cheeked, pot-bellied Lancashire 
man, with an air of painful reflection, yet 
also of copious free digestion; a man sta¬ 
tioned by the community to shave certain 
dusty beards, in the Northern parks of Eng¬ 
land, at a half penny each. To such end, 
Ave say, by forethought, oversight, accident, 
and arrangeiuont, had Richard Arkwright 
been, by the community of England, and 
his own consent, set apart Nevertheless, 
in strapping of razors, in lathering dusty 
beards, and the contradictions and confess¬ 
ions attendant thereon, the man had notions 
in that rough head of liis; spindles, shut¬ 
tles, wheels and contrivances, plying ideally 
within the same; rather hopeless looking; 
which, hoAvever, he did at last bring to bear. 
Not without difficulty. His tOAvnfolks rose 
in mobs round him, threatening to shorten 
labor, to shorten wages; so that he had to 
fly with broken AA'ashpots, scattered house¬ 
hold, and seek refuge clseAvhcre. Nay, his 
wife too, as I learn, rebelled; resolute that 
he should stick to his razors rather; for 
which, he decisively, as thou Avilt rejoice to 
imderstaud, packed her out of doors. Oh 
reader, Avhat a historical phenomenon is that 
bag bellied, much enduring, much invent¬ 
ing man and barber ? French Revolutions 
were a brewing; to resist the same in any 
measure, imperial Kaisers were impotent 
Avithout the cotton cloth of England; and 
it AA'as this man that had to give England 
the power of cotton. 
Neither had Watt, of the Steam Engine, 
a heroic origin, any kindred with the prin¬ 
ces of this world. The princess of this 
Avorld Avere shooting their partridges; nois¬ 
ily in Parliament, or elsewhere, solving 
the question — Head or Tail ? While 
this man Avith blackening fingers, with 
grim broAV, aa'os searching out, in liis work¬ 
shop, the Fire secret; or, having found it, 
was painfully Avending to and fro, in quest 
of a “ monied man,” as indispensable man- 
midwife of the same. — Carlyle. 
Blankets.— Machineiy has lately been 
invented, by Avbich blankets, that to all ap¬ 
pearance are entire avooI, are chiefly made 
of cotton. The cotton thread is wound with 
wooled thread, pretty much as the steel wire 
of a piano is Avound Avith silver wire. The 
process is performed so cheaply that the 
difference in the price of the material makes 
a large profit to the manufacturer, Avhile he 
can afford his article comparatively Ioav. — 
It is surprising to observe the new and un¬ 
expected uses to which our great staple is 
applied. 
A. Mr. Fessenden, of Boston, has invent¬ 
ed a pocket filter, by means of which the 
traveler may suck up pure water from the 
ponds and streams, or even the puddles, 
which he may encounter on his Avay. 
We can give advice, but the wisdom to 
profit by it Ave cannot giv& 
3(lntiwiil listou]. 
AUDOBON’S BIRDS AND HIS HISTORY. 
An ordinance passed the Board of Al¬ 
dermen on Monday evening, in concun-ence 
with the Board of Assistants, for the pur¬ 
chase of the last copy of this celebrated 
work, Avhich the distinguished author has 
at his disposal. It Avas purchased for the 
City Library at an expense of $1000.— , 
This Avill be a Avclcome relief to him in the 
evening of life, Avhen his labors are Avholly 
suspended by the extinction of his sight.— 
He at present resides on the banks of the 
Hudson. 
Aid. ShaAv, Avho has an agi’ccable person¬ 
al acquaintance Avith Mr. Audobon, briefly 
alluded to his great sacrifices in accomplish¬ 
ing his researches in natural history, and 
the obstacles he h;id to surmount in secu¬ 
ring its publication. • More than 40 years 
of his life have been devoted to the accom 
plishment of this unexampled enterprise, 
and for eight successive years he Avas shut 
out from ciA'ilization, Avhilc studying the 
habits, character and jilumage of the birds 
of America. 
When his toil was over, and the work Avas 
ready for publication, it could not be done 
in this country. Competent artists could 
not be found here. Audobon Avent to Eu¬ 
rope, and as soon as he had secured tAvo 
subscribers, he began the hazardous task of 
its publication, without friends or resources. 
He resolutely applied himself to the Avork 
of securing more subscribers, and among 
the croAvned heads, and the nobility of Eu¬ 
rope, he obtained 178! He reserv^ed but 
two copies for himself one of AAdiich has 
noAv been secured to the City Library of 
New' York. The plates cost Mr. Audobon 
$150,000, but no more copies can be mul¬ 
tiplied, as most unfortunately they Avere de¬ 
stroyed by the great fire.— Jour, of Com. 
THE BEAVER. 
Foil the purpose of forming dams, or the 
necessary timber for their lodges, or for the 
bark which they store for their Avinter’s sup¬ 
ply of food, the beaver often fells a tree 
eight or ten inches in diameter, throwing it 
AA'ith the skill of any expert Avoodsman, in 
any direction he pleases, ahvays selecting a 
tree above stream, in order that the logs 
may be carried down with it to their desti¬ 
nation. The log is then chopped into small 
lengths, and pushing them into the water, 
the beaver steers them to the lodge or dam. 
These trees are fis cleanly cut as they could 
be by a sharp axe, the gouging furroAvs made 
by the animal’s strong teeth cutting into the 
very centre of the trunk, the notch being | 
smooth as sawed Avood. With his brouci' 
tail, which is tAvelve or foiirteeiV indies long, 
and about four in breadth, and covered Avith 
a thick hairy skin, the beaver pi astern liis 
lodge, thus making it perform all the offices 
of a hand. They say that if a beaver’s tail 
becomes diy', the animal dies, but Avhctlier 
this is the case or not, I have myself seen 
the beaver when at Avork return to the Ava- 
ter and plunge his tail into the stream, and 
then resume his labor \Adth rencAved vigor; 
and I have also seen them with their bod¬ 
ies on the bank thumping the Avater Avith 
their tails wdth a most comical perseverance. 
—Adventures in Mexico, dec. 
Anecdote in Natural Historal —Mr. 
Gosse, in his histoiy' of the Birds of Jamai¬ 
ca, gives un amusing account of the mock¬ 
ing bird. The hogs arc, it seems, the crea¬ 
tures that give him the most annoyance.— 
They are ^ordinarily fed upon the inferior 
oranges, the fruit being shaken doAAm to 
them in the evening; hence they acquire 
the habit of resorting to the orange tree to 
wait for a lucky windfall. The mocking 
bird feeling nettled at the intrusion, flies 
down, and begins to peck the hog Avith all 
its might. Piggy* not undei'standing the 
matter, but pleased Avith the titillation, gent¬ 
ly lies down and turns up his broad side to 
enjoy it The poor bird gets into an agony 
of distress, pecks and pecks again, but in¬ 
creases the enjoyment of the luxurious in¬ 
truder, and is at last compelled to gTA’e up 
the effort in despair. 
The Prairie Fisil —It is peculiarly of 
the prairies, not known to the strangers in 
general, that they are proA'ided Avith a kind 
of natural well-sinker, unknown, Ave believe, 
in any other country. This is the prairie 
crab or craw fish, that lives in holes sunk 
perpendicularly in the prairies to a depth 
sufficient to reach water. This animal some¬ 
what resembles a very small lobster, and 
his dwelling place is rendered perceptible 
by a slight elevation throAvn up over it, re¬ 
sembling mole hills. 
Hatching Fish. — The Chinese hatch 
fish by collecting from the banks of rivers 
the gelatinous matter containing the spawn. 
They place this in an egg-shell, fresh emp¬ 
tied, through a small hole, and then put it 
under a setting fowl. In a fcAv days, they 
break the shell in Avarm Avater, Avarraed by 
the sun. The young fish are then kept in 
water until they are large enough to be 
placed in a pond. 
A consciousness of our powers increases 
them. 
CURIOUS FACTS IN NATURAL HISTORY. 
The rattle-snake finds a superior foe in 
the deer and black-snake. Wlienever a 
buck discovers a rattle-snake in a situation 
which invites attack, he loses no time in pre¬ 
paring for battle. He makes up to Avithin 
ten or tAvelvc feet of the snake—then leaps 
forAvard and aims to sever the body of the 
snake Avith his shm-p bifurcated hoofs. The 
first onset is most commonly successful, but 
ifotbcTAvise, the buck repeats the trial until 
he cuts the snake in tAvain. ’J.’hc rapidity 
and fatality of his skillful manoeuvres leave 
but a slight chance for the victim either to 
escape or to inject his poison into his more 
alert antagonist. The black-snake is also 
more than an equal competitor against the 
rattle-snake. Such is the celerity of motion 
not only in running, but cntAvining itself 
round its victim, that the rattle-snake has 
no w'ay of (Reaping from its fiital embrace. 
When the mack and rattle-snakes are about 
to meet for battle, the former darts fovAA'ard 
at the height of his speed, and strikes at 
the neck of the latter with unerring certain¬ 
ty, leaving a foot or tAvo of the upper part 
of his own body at liberty. In an instant 
he encircles him Avithin five or six folds; he 
then stops and looks the strangled and gas¬ 
ping foe in the face, to fiscertain the effect 
produced upon his corseted body. If he 
shoAVs signs of life, the coils aro- multiplied 
and the scrcAvs are tightened—the operator 
all the Avhilc narroAvly watching the coun¬ 
tenance of the helpless victim. Thus the 
two remain thirty or forty minutes—the ex¬ 
ecutioner then slackens one coil, noticing at 
the same time Avhether any signs of life ap¬ 
pear; if so, the coil is resumed, and retain¬ 
ed until the incarcerated Avretch Is com¬ 
pletely dead. The moccasin-snake is de¬ 
stroyed in tlic same Avay. 
IIoAV Si'iDERS Make Bridges. —Some of 
the most distinguished naturalists of the 
Avorld believe that spiders have the art of 
crossing streams of water on bridges of 
their own making. Mr. Spencer relates the 
folloAving curious fact: 
“ Having placed a large, full-groAvn spi¬ 
der on a cane, upright in the midst of a 
stream of Avater, he saAv it descend the cane 
several times, and remount Avhen it arrived 
at the surface of the Avater. Suddenly he 
lost sight of it Avholly; but iii a few minutes 
afterAvards, to his great astonishment, he 
perceiA-ed it quietly pursuing its own way 
on the other side of the stream. HaAing 
spun two threads along the cane, it had cut 
one of them, Avhich, carried by the Avind, 
had become attached to some object on the 
bank, and so served the spider as a bridge 
to cross the water.” 
The NuTMECf Tree. —The nutmeg tree 
flourishes in Singapore near the Equator. 
It is raised from the nut in nurseries, where 
it remjiins until the fifth year, Avhen it puts 
forth its blossoms, and shows its sex. It is 
then set out permanently. The trees are 
placed thirty feet apart, in diamond order— 
a male tree in the centre. They begin to 
bear in the eighth year, increasing for many 
years, and they pay a large profit There 
is no nutmeg season. Every day in the 
year shows buds, blossoms, and fruit, in ev¬ 
ery stage of groAvth to maturity. I’lie ripe 
fruit is singularly brilliant. The shell is 
glossy and black, and the mace it exposes 
Avhen it bursts, is of bright scarlet, making 
the tree one of the most beautiful objects 
of the vegetable Avorld. 
THE TURN OF LIFE, 
From forty to sixty, a man Avho has prop¬ 
erly regulated himself may be considered as 
in the prime of life. His matured strength 
of constitution renders him almost impervi¬ 
ous to the attacks of disease, and experience 
has given his judgment the soundness of al¬ 
most infallibility. His mind is resolute, firm 
and equal; all his functions are in the high¬ 
est order; he assumes the mastery over busi¬ 
ness ; builds up a competence to the found¬ 
ation he has laid in early manhood, and 
passes through a period of life attended by 
many gratifications. Having gone a year 
or two past sixty, he arrives at a critical 
period in the road of existence; the river of 
death flows before him, mid lie remains at a 
stand still. But atliAvart tliis river is a via¬ 
duct called “ The Turn of Life,” which, if 
crossed in safety, leads to the valley of “old 
age,” round Avhich the river winds, and then 
flows beyond Avithout boat or causeway to 
effect its passage. The bridge is, liowever, 
constructed of fragile materials, and it de¬ 
pends upon how it is trodden, whether it 
bend or break. Gout, apoplexy, and other 
bad characters also are in the vicinity to Avay- 
lay the traveler, and thrust him from the 
pass; but let him gird up his loins, and pro¬ 
vide himself Avith a fitting sfiiff, and he may 
trudge on in safety Avith perfect composure. 
To quit metaphor, “ The Turn of Life” is a 
turn either into a prolonged Avalk or into the 
grave. The system and poAvers liaving 
reached their utmost expansion, now begin 
eilber to close like floAvers at sunset, or break 
down at once. One injudicious stimulant 
— a single fatal excitement, may force it be¬ 
yond its strength—Avhilst a careful supply 
of props, and the AA'ithdraAval of all that 
tends to force a plant, will sustain it in beau¬ 
ty and in vigor until night has entirely set. 
