459               THE WISCONSIN FARMER.

fare, however, were on the alert, and pulled S C I E N C E, A R T, S T A
T I S T I C S
the mill to pieces.-Bulletin.                       __

         Enterprising and Generous.                  Greek Fire-Shell and
Shot
  _e were glad to observe, on hThe statements which have been published
                             wgthe occaion Orespecting some incendiary shells
stated to
the late Northwestern Fair at Chicago, that have been thrown into Charleston
by General
many of our Wisconsin manufacturers were Gillmore, seem to have set the whole
country
                               . . ~~in a blaze of excitctnent According
to a
handsomely represented by import:] nt contri- in mod e of romen     c   
ing to a
                                            very common mode of romancing
adopted by
butions to the worthy object on behalf of letter writers, these shells have
been denomi-
which the Fair was held,                    nated " Greek  biro' but
there is no resem-
           which the Fair w                ~~~blance whateverbetween them
and the genuine
  J. I. Case, of Racine, gave a splendid eight- Greek Fire of ancient times.
It is related
horse power, with thresher and separator; E. that the former was discovered
in t660, by a
W. Skinner, of Madison, one of his "Climax" Greek engineer named
Callinacus, who in
                                            that year destroyed a large fleet
of Saracen
sugar cane mills; Mr. Easterly, of White- vessels with it; and it afterwards
became a
water, one of his reapers and mowers. Other terror to the whole Mahomuiedan
races. It is
contributions were made, but these were the described to have consisted of
resin, saltpetre,
           contibutons'acr mae, bt tese  ereth ulpbur, pitch and camphor,
mixed with tur-
most prominent and valuable.                pettine and made into balls with
flax  It
   When enterpriec and generosity go hand in was ignited, then fired front
arrows or thrown
            handwe ae awaysgladto ee te enerpis  y javelins on hoard of the
Saracen vessels
and we are always glad to see the enterprise lwhen they were engaged with
the Greeks in
richly rewarded; and it is on this account the hand to hand contests of those
days. The
that we have great pleasure in giving the compound was very imflammable,
but its chief
                                             danger consisted in being capable
of burning
 gentlemen above named the benefit of this in water.  Tradition conveys exaggerated
 notice.                                     ideas respecting its destructive
effects. It
                                     Mr. C i owould not produce much fear
or very formid-
   Mlr. Case is known throughout the V. est as able results on board of modern
war vessels.
 the prince of manufacturers in his line, and The incendiary shells now called
Greek Fire
 as having made himself wealthy by a straight- were first brought to public
notice during the
                                             Crimean war, by J. Macintosh,
who made ex-
 forward honest course; first in getting up perinments with them at Shoeburyness,
Eng-
 the best thresher and separator known, and land, and set inflammable material
on fire at
                secondly in trnigotnneut oatuna distance of 800 yards. A
patent was secur-
 secondly in turning out none butthe most un- ed for the invention in 1855,
and the compo-
 exceptionable work.                         sition is described in the specification
as fol-
   Mr. Easterley makes a good reaper and lows:-" I fill diaphragm shells
with naphtha,
                                      mowe, amixed with phosphorus and bisulphide
of car-
 mower, and a great many of them; while   bou, having a bursting charge sufficient
to
   Mr. Skinner has the    high  credit of open the shell. When fired, the
bursting of
 making the best sugar cane mill yet intro- these shells cantershower of
inflammable
 duced, and of carrying off pretty much all material falling among troops
ignites spon-
 the medals at the State and County Fairs. If taneously, causing their immediate
disor-
 any body can beat the "Climax" we should ganization  Fired  into
 shipping, these
                                             shells bursting on the deck
below, scatter the
 like to see him do it.                      inflammable material, and the
spontaneous
                     .________________     combustion which results causes
injury to the
   Taz ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH is again under crew, who are driven overboard,
and the ves-
 contract. Mr. Cyrus W. Field, who was the sel itself is speedily consumed.
Fired into
                                             hIrbors, dockyards and towns,
the result is
  prominent mover in the first attempt, has alike destructive and decisive."
  been spending sometime in England on behalf  A little volume forwarded
to us by Captain
  of the enterprise and has finally got it again J. Norton, from Rosherville,
England, 1860,
                                              contains the following description
of his in-
  under headway. The cable is to be made by cendiary shell for infantry:-"
A leaden rifle
  a wealthy English firm who take the risk of shell is first nearly filled
with bisulphide of
  failure. We have never doubted the practica- carbon, then small bits of
phosphorus are
  bility of this great work and are heartily glad dropped into it, and the
mouth of the shell is
  that capitalists and men of science are deter- then closed with a sork
projecting like that of
  determined to put it through.              a bottle. A leaden shell thus
charged and