ee SULPHUR? 
~ 
cle supplied by Smithsonian 
_ Institution, Washington.) 
THE mention of sulphur to the aver- 
” age man may very probably serve 
o bring to mind the historic so-called 
ht-day” matches redolent with 
id fumes. The era of the sulphur 
tch is well-nigh completely passed, 
this country consumes annually 
se hundred thousand tons of sul- 
r, and as a matter of fact it has 
become virtually an essential com- 
- modity in many different directions. 
Furthermore it is a commodity in 
_ which the United States has come to 
dominate the world. a) 
Prompted by such considerations, 
~ the United States National Museum 
has arranged an exhibit calculated to 
_ present at a glance just what sulphur 
is, where it comes from, and the uses 
~ te which it is put. 
_ The sulphur in the matches used 
in our childhood, in all probability 
came from Sicily. Although we had 
plenty of our own, the native occur- 
 rences were either remote from ship- 
. + ping facilities in the mountain regions 
ef the far west, or far beneath the 
surface of the earth in the Gulf re- 
gions of Louisiana and Texas, and it 
was cheaper to import our supply 
than to obtain it from the domestic 
sources. However, about twenty-five 
years ago, a scheme, known subse- 
quently as the ‘Frasch Process, was 
> et whereby, instead of going in- 
to the earth for the sulphur by the 
conventional process of mining, the 
material might be melted in place by 
-. means of superheated water, and 
pumped to the surface like so much 
water. By this procedure the diff- 
— culty of depth was overcome and the 
vast deposits of the gulf regions al- 
ready accessible as to geographical lo- 
cation, at once began to assume signi- 
ficance. 5 
Today a little sulphur finds its way 
to the Pacific coast from Japan, a 
little more to oyr Atlantic coast from 
_ Sicily, and relatively small operations 
are being conducted here and there in 
the mountain states of the west, but 
the output from the wells in the 
coastal regions of Louisiana and 
Texas has practically excluded all 
other sources from the domestic mar- 
ket, and bids fair to do the same in 
great markets the world over. 
a The-exhibit now to be seen in the 
Division of Mineral Technology in 
the older building of the United 
- States National Museum centers 
around a model which shows the oc- 
currence of sulphur in this region and 
2 the procedure for its extraction. 
- work. 
a * 
< 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
BEACH PLAYGROUND WORK 
_ Report or Commitee oF MANCHES- 
TER WoMAN’S CLuB For SEASON 
OF 1916. . 
The work for children at Singing 
Beach started on July 5, under the di- 
rection of Miss Jean Dallett, whom 
we were fortunate to secure for our 
second season. <A daily record was 
kept of weather, high tide, tempera- 
ture of water, average attendance in 
morning and afternoon, swimming, 
games, folk dancing, athletics, visi- 
tors, babies and parents and industrial 
Under the latter came stamp- 
Superheated water is forced down 
pipes to the level of the sulphur, 
which is brought to the surface by an 
air lift as fast as it melts, and flows 
practically pure into bins ready for 
shipment. The capacity of such a 
well for a period is probably from 
400 to 600 tons per day. 
Sulphur is- found in animal and 
vegetable life, but most conspicuously 
in inorganic associations in connection 
with volcanic activities either of the 
present day or of the geologic past. 
For this reason deposits of sulphur 
were long supposed to. be indicative 
of volcanic action, but it is now 
kiown that such occurrences as those 
of our Gulf region where it exists ‘in 
pockets in strictly sedimentary rock 
represent a derivation deposit identi- 
cal with those which yield our plaster 
of Paris or wall-plaster, itself a com- 
pound of calcium with sulphur and 
“oxygen. 
Mineralogically it is a rather wide- 
ly distributed substance in nature, and 
naturally it attracted attention among 
all the earth’s civilizations. Speak- 
ing generally, sulphur is one of the 
oldest known elements; the ancient 
Assyrian alchemists regarded it as the 
principle of combustion on account of 
its inflammability, and termed it 
“brimstone,” meaning literally burning 
stone, a nanie now applied popularly 
to roll sulphur. ia 
Through perhaps not so popular as 
of old, when it was served as a spring 
medicine with molasses, sulphur con- 
tinues to play a very important role 
medicinally, and of late it has de- 
veloped that human ailments are not 
alone in their response to its efficacy, 
as every up-to-date horticulturist will 
testify, by his spraying operations. 
The preparation of artificial fertil- 
izers, too, is dependent upon. sulphur 
in its combined form of sulphuric 
acid; so is also the manufacture of 
paper. Another important user is the 
rubber industry, and almost the en- 
tire range of chemical industries em- 
ploys sulphur in one guise or another. 
ed pictures 
(colored), embroidery, 
kites, shell pictures, sewing cards, 
knitting, crocheting, paper dolls, doll 
dressmaking, seaweed jewelry, paper 
shells (made of folded paper), spool 
horse reins, crayon pictures done on 
large shells, woven hammocks and 
bird houses. The attendance of chil- 
dren given personal instruction (taken 
twice a day) was 1,326. This is putting 
the figure lower than it really should 
be. Of this number:about one-third 
were boys and they were so insistent 
to learn industrial work that toward 
the end of the summer the construc- 
tion of bird houses was started. 
While the finished houses were crude 
and all much the same architecture, 
they.made a good showing for two 
weeks work, and planted a valuable 
seed for next year. All of the indus- 
trial- work was paid for by the chil- 
dren. Sixteen girls qualified in swim- 
ming distances (having learned this 
season). Those who learned last year 
were taught new strokes; as many 
more of the little girls learned the 
breast stroke and were able to hold 
themselves above water. 
The final demonstration took the 
form of a preparedness parade, the 
girls dressed.as red cross nurses in 
dresses of sea blue (the playground 
color), white aprons and caps. The 
boys were dressed as soldiers and 
army doctors. Decorated floats, doll 
carriages, baby carriages and bicycles 
formed interesting features of the 
parade, and at the town green exhibi- 
tion, athletics, games and dances were 
held. 
The industrial work was displayed 
and many were disappointed in not 
being able to buy. Much appreciation 
of Miss Dallett’s work was expressed 
by mothers of the children, especially 
for the fine showing of knit caps, 
sweaters and scarfs. 
It may be interesting to note that 
there was not one accident this sea- 
son and only three minor cuts last 
Season. 
Financial report: Balance on hand, 
July 1, 1916, $194.67. Paid out for 
instructor’s salary for summer, rental 
-of bathhouse, ribbon badges, pins, 
printing and other equipment for ex- 
hibition day, $156.06. Balance on, 
hand Sept. 1, 1916, $38.61. 
Respectfully submitted, 
Mary Dean, Chairman. 
Beach playground committee 
of Manchester Woman’s club. 
A Westerner had hanged himself to 
the bedpost by his suspenders. The 
verdict of the coroner’s jury ran: 
“Deceased came to his death by com- 
ing home full and mistaking himself 
for his pants.” 
