Where the Gate of Tears and the Bridge of Sighs Are, and Why So Called.

The Straits of Babelmandeb, the passage from the Persian Gulf into the Red Sea, are called the Gate of Tears by the Arabs. The channel is only about twenty miles wide, is rocky and very dangerous for passage in rough weather. It received its melancholy name from the number of shipwrecks that occurred there. The Bridge of Sighs is the bridge in Venice which connects the palace of the doge with the State prison, and was so called because over it prisoners were conveyed from the judgment hall to the place of execution.

The Philosophy of Some Things.

WHY SOME BEVERAGES FROTH OR SPARKLE WHEN UNCORKED. When liquors are bottled they contain a certain amount of sugar, which ferments through the action of minute spores or cells; these break the sugar up into alcohol and carbonic acid gas; when the cork is withdrawn the gas instantly makes its escape, and rising in bubbles, produces effervescence and troth.

COMPARATIVE SIZE OF THE SUN AND EARTH.

If the sun were hollow like an air-ball it would take 1,331,000 globes the size of our earth to fill it.

HOW ROCKS ARE CUT BY WATER.

The Falls of Niagara eat back the cliff at the rate of about one foot a year. In this way a deep cleft has been cut right back from Queenstown, for a distance of seven miles, to the place where the falls now are. At this rate it has taken more than thirty-five thousand years for that channel of seven miles to be made.

WHY A TALLOW CANDLE FIRED FROM A GUN WILL PIERCE A BOARD. When a candle starts from the breech of a gun its motion is gradually increased until it leaves the muzzle at a high velocity, and when it reaches the board every particle of matter composing it is in a state of intense velocity. At the moment of contact the particles of matter composing the target are at rest, and as the density of the candle, multiplied by the velocity of its motion, is greater than the density of the target at rest, the greater force overcomes the weaker and the candle breaks through and pierces a hole in the board.

WHY A RIVER ALWAYS APPEARS MORE SHALLOW THAN IT

REALLY IS.

Because the light proceeding from the bottom of the river is refracted as it emerges out of the water. A river is about one-third deeper than it seems to be. If, therefore, a river seems only 4% feet deep, it is actualy 6 feet deep. Many persons get out of their depth in bathing in consequence of this deception.

WHY A SMALL NEEDLE CAREFULLY LAID UPON THE SURFACE OF WATER WILL FLOAT.

Its weight is not sufficient to overcome the cohesion of the particles of water constituting the surface, consequently it cannot pass through them and sink. For the same reason many light insects walk upon the surface of water without sinking or becoming wet.

WHY A RAILWAY TRAIN MAKES MORE NOISE WHEN IT PASSES OVER A BRIDGE THAN WHEN ON SOLID GROUND.

The bridge is elastic and vibrates much more from the weight of the train than the solid earth, in consequence of which it produces more definite sound-waves. The bridge acts as a sounding-board and the water or earth below it repeats or echoes the sound.

WHY A SOAP BUBBLE EXHIBITS SUCH A VARIETY OF COLORS. Because the thickness of the film through which the rays pass is constantly varying.

WHY WATER EXPANDS WHEN IT FREEZES.

Ice is, in reality, crystallized water, and during its formation the particles arrange themselves in ranks and lines, which cross each other at angles of 60 and 120 degrees, and consequently occupy more space than when liquid. Castiron bomb-shells, thirteen inches in diameter and two inches thick, were filled with water and their apertures or fuse-holes firmly plugged with iron bolts. Upon exposure to a temperature of 19 degrees below zero, at the moment the water froze, the shells burst asunder, demonstrating the enormous interior pressure to which they were subjected by the water assuming its solid shape.

WHY OIL AND WATER WILL NOT UNITE.

Because there is no affinity between the oil and the water. Affinity is the peculiar disposition which one body has to unite with a different body to the rejection of others which are dissimilar in their properties. In the case of the oil and water, the repulsion is overcome if we add a little potash, the three uniting to form soap.

WHY WAVES ARE CALMED BY POURING OIL UPON THE WATER.

Oil, from its inferior specific gravity, forms a floating film, which defends the surface of the water from contact with the currents of air, and the friction between the wind and the waves is greatly diminished, in the same manner that the friction between solids is by the application of oils.

WHY THE FUR OF A CAT CRACKLES WHEN RUBBED WITH THE HAND IN COLD WEATHER.

Because the friction between the hand and the fur produces an excitation of positive electricity in the hand and negative in the fur, and an interchange of the two causes a spark with a slight noise. It is miniature thunder and lightning.

WHY HOT IRON MAKES A HISSING NOISE WHEN PLUNGED

INTO WATER.

The hot iron converts into steam the particles of water which come in contact with it, and as the steam flies upward it passes by other particles of water not yet evaporated; the collision produces very rapid vibrations in the air and a hissing noise is the result.

HOW WE CAN DEMONSTRATE THAT ICE HAS HEAT.

By friction, two pieces of ice can be quickly melted, in a room cooled below the freezing point, by rubbing them against each other.

WHY IN TRAVELING WE EXPERIENCE LESS DUST IN THE NIGHT TIME THAN DURING THE DAY.

Because the dews of night moisten the dust and prevent its rising into the air, and as the surface of the earth is colder than the air after sunset, the currents of the wind will incline downward and tend rather to press the dust down than to buoy it up.

WHY WOOD AND COAL SNAP WHEN LAID UPON THE FIRE.

Because the air or liquid contained in the pores becomes expanded by heat and bursts the covering in which it is confined.

WHY TWO OR MORE ECHOES ARE SOMETIMES HEARD.

Because separate reverberating surfaces receive the sound and reflect in succession. At Glasgow is a remarkable echo. If a trumpeter plays a tune and stops, the echo will begin the same tune and repeat it all accurately; as soon as this echo has ceased, another will echo the same tune in lower tone: and after the second echo has ceased, a third will succeed with equal fidelity, though in a much feebler tone. At the Lake of Killarney there is an echo which plays an excellent "second" to any simple tune played on a bugle.

WHY PLASTER OF PARIS HARDENS WHEN MOISTENED
WITH WATER.

Plaster of Paris (calcined plaster), so called because immense beds of it are found in the vicinity of Paris, in which city it was first extensively used as a plaster or cement, is pulverized rock. After being pulverized, it is strongly heated, until it loses one-fifth of its weight by the expulsion of moisture from its composition. When mixed with water, the anhydrous burnt gypsum again chemically combines with it and passes into a solid state.

HOW KNOWLEDGE OF THE VELOCITY OF SOUND IS MADE
APPLICABLE TO THE MEASUREMENT OF DISTANCES.

Suppose a flash of lightning be perceived, and on counting the seconds that elapse before the report or thunder is heard, we find them to amount to 3%; then, as sound moves 1,142 feet in a second, it will follow that the thunder-cloud must be distant 1,142X3=3,997 feet.

WHY SHOES ARE HOTTER FOR BEING DUSTY.

Because dull, dusty shoes will absorb heat from the sun, earth, and air, but shoes brightly polished throw off the beat of the sun by reflection.

WHY THE FLASH OF A GUN FIRED AT A DISTANCE IS SEEN
LONG BEFORE THE REPORT IS HEARD.

Because light travels much faster than sound. Light would go four hundred and eighty times around the whole earth while sound is going thirteen miles.

HOW THE VELOCITY OF LIGHT COMPARES WITH THE SPEED
OF A LOCOMOTIVE.

Light passes from the sun to the earth in about eight minutes; distance 95,000.000 miles; a locomotive, traveling at the rate of a mile a minute, would require upward of 180 years to accomplish the same journey.

Trinity Church Property

In 1638 one Everadus Bogardus married Annetje (or Anneke) Jans, the widow of one Roelof Jans. The lady had inherited from her first husband a farm of sixty-two acres, situated in what is no the center of the business part of New York city. This piece of land was known for many years as "Dominie's Bowery." In 1647 Dominie Bogardus set sail for Holland. The ship was wrecked in Bristol Channel, and Bogardus was among the passengers that were lost. Whether it was because his heirs did not pay due attention to attesting their claim to the "Bowery" or whether they were in some way bought off is not now known, but shortly after the taking of the New Netherlands by the British, in 1664, we find this land in possession of the government and known as the "King's Farm." In 1705 this tract was granted by the crown to Trinity Church corporation and became the foundation of its great wealth. The descendants of Anneke Jans Bogardus have made many attempts to have their claim to this property recognized by the courts, but without success. As the church's title to the property from the crown is complete it is extremely improbable that the heirs will ever get any part of it.

Sending Vessels Over Niagara Falls-When It Was Done and Why.

There have been three such instances. The it in 1827. Some men got an old ship which had been pronounced unseaworthy. They put aboard a bear, a fox, à buffalo, a dog, and some geesc, and sent it over the cataract. The bear jumped from the vessel before it reached the rapids, swam toward the shore, and was rescued by some humane persons. The geese went over the falls and came to the shore below alive, and, therefore, became objects of great interest, and were sold at high prices to visitors at the falls. The dog, fox, and buffalo were not heard of or seen again. Another con

demned vessel, the Detroit, that had belonged to Commodore Perry's victorious fleet, was started over the cataract in the winter of 1841, but grounded about midway in the rapids, and lay there until knocked to pieces by the ice. A picturesque instance was sending a ship over the Canada side in 1837. It was set on fire, then cut loose from its moorings. All in flames, it went glaring and hissing down the rapids and over the precipice, and smothered its ruddy blaze in the boiling chasm below. This was described as a most magnificent sight.

How to Kill the Nerve of a Hollow Tooth.

Take half dram white oxide of arsenic; one dram sulphate of morphia; mix with a little creosote, and apply to the cavity of the tooth, previously cleansed.

How to Destroy the Taste of Castor Oil.

A good way is to beat the castor oil with the white of an egg until both are thoroughly mixed.

How to Take Bruises out of Furniture.

Wet the part with warm water; double a piece of brown paper five or six times, soak it in warm water, and lay it on the place; apply on that a warm, but not hot, flat-iron, till the moisture is evaporated. If the bruise be not gone, repeat the process. After two or three applications the dent or bruise will be raised to the surface. If the bruise be small, merely soak it with warm water, and hold a red-hot iron near the surface, keeping the surface continually wet; the bruise will soon disappear.

How to Prevent Ivory Knife Handles from Crack

ing.

When the blades of knives require washing or standing in water, it should be done in a pitcher, with water enough to cover the blades, but not to touch the handles; and the water no hotter than is absolutely necessary. Soaking the handles in water makes them crack.

How to Cleanse Feathers.

Feathers are prepared by exposing them to the sunshine or in a stove until perfectly dry, and then beating them to remove dust and loose dirt. When carelessly collected and dirty, they may be cleansed with lime-water, or, still better, with a weak solution of carbonate of soda, or with water containing a little solution of chloride of lime; after which they are rinsed in clean water, and dried as before. Old feathers are purified and cleansed in the same way.

Management of Brooms.

If brooms are wetted in boiling suds once a week, they will become very tough, will not cut a carpet, will last much longer, and always sweep like a new broom.