Barkham Burroughs' Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889. Barkham Burroughs

its publication would be suspended, says: "The whole country, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and from the seashore to the base of the Sierra Nevada, resound the sordid cry of gold! gold! gold! while the field is left half planted, the house half built and everything neglected but the manufacture of pick and shovels, and the means of transportation to the spot where one man obtained one hundred and twenty-eight dollars' worth of the real stuff in one day's washing; and the average for all concerned, is twenty dollars per diem. The first to commence quartz mining in California were Capt. Win. Jackson and Mr. Eliason, both Virginians, and the first machine used was a Chilian mill.

      The Reid Mine, in North Carolina, was the first gold mine discovered and worked in the United States, and the only one in North America from which, up to 1825, gold was sent to the Mint.

HOW TO MAKE ARTIFICIAL GOLD.

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      The following oroid or imitation gold is sometimes sold for the genuine article which it closely resembles. Pure copper, 100 parts by weight, is melted in a crucible, and then 6 parts of magnesia, 3.6 of sal-ammoniac, 1.8 of quicklime and 9. of tartar are added separately and gradually in the form of powder. The whole is then stirred for about half an hour, and 17 parts of zinc or tin in small grains are thrown in and thoroughly mixed. The crucible is now covered and the mixture kept melted for half an hour longer, when it is skimmed and poured out.

      Any imitation of gold may be detected by its weight, which is not one-half of what it should be, and by its dissolving in nitric acid while pure gold is untouched.

HOW TO TELL ANY PERSON'S AGE.

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      There is a good deal of amusement in the following magical table of figures. It will enable you to tell how old the young ladies are. Just hand this table to a young lady, and request her to tell you in which column or columns her age is contained, and add together the figures at the top of the columns in which her age is found, and you have the great secret. Thus, suppose her age to be 17, you will find that number in the first and fifth columns; add the first figures of these two columns.

      Here is the magic table:

      1 2 4 8 16 32

       3 3 5 9 17 33

       5 6 6 10 18 34

       7 7 7 11 19 35

       9 10 12 12 20 36

       11 11 13 13 21 37

       13 14 14 14 22 38

       15 15 15 15 23 39

       17 18 20 24 24 40

       19 19 21 25 25 41

       21 22 22 26 26 42

       23 23 23 27 27 43

       25 26 28 28 28 44

       27 27 29 29 29 45

       29 30 30 30 30 46

       31 31 31 31 31 47

       33 34 36 40 48 48

       35 35 37 41 49 49

       37 38 38 42 50 50

       39 39 39 43 51 51

       41 42 44 44 52 52

       43 43 45 45 53 53

       45 46 46 46 54 54

       47 47 47 47 55 55

       49 50 52 56 56 56

       51 51 53 57 57 57

       53 54 54 58 58 58

       55 55 55 59 59 59

       57 58 60 60 60 60

       59 59 61 61 61 61

       61 62 62 62 62 62

       63 63 63 63 63 63

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE COSTS.

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      Salary of President, $50,000; additional appropriations are about $75,000. A total of $125,000. The President has the following corps of assistants: Private Secretary, $3,250; Assistant Private Secretary, $2,250; Stenographer, $1,800; five Messengers, $1,200 each, $6,000; Steward—; two Doorkeepers, $1,200 each, $2,400; two Ushers, $1,200, $1,400, $2,600; Night Usher, $1,200; Watchman, $900, and a few other minor clerks and telegraph operators.

      SUNDRIES.—Incidental expenses, $8,000; White House repairs—carpets and refurnishing, $12,500; fuel, $2,500; green-house, $4,000; gas, matches and stable, $15,000.

      These amounts, with others of minor importance, consume the entire appropriations.

BUSINESS LAW.

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      Ignorance of the law excuses no one. It is a fraud to conceal a fraud. The law compels no one to do impossibilities. An agreement without consideration is void. Signatures made with a lead pencil are good in law. A receipt for money paid is not legally conclusive. The acts of one partner bind all the others. Contracts made on Sunday cannot be enforced. A contract made with a minor is void. A contract made with a lunatic is void. Principals are responsible for the acts of their agents.

      Agents are responsible to their principals for errors. Each individual in a partnership is responsible for the whole amount of the debts of the firm. A note given by a minor is void. Notes bear interest only when so stated. It is legally necessary to say on a note "for value received." A note drawn on Sunday is void. A note obtained by fraud, or from a person in a state of intoxication, cannot be collected. If a note be lost or stolen, it does not release the maker; he must pay it. An endorser of a note is exempt from liability if not served with notice of its dishonor within twenty-four hours of its non-payment.

ITEMS WORTH REMEMBERING.

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      A sun bath is of more worth than much warming by the fire.

      Books exposed to the atmosphere keep in better condition than if confined in a book-case. Pictures are both for use and ornament. They serve to recall pleasant memories and scenes; they harmonize with the furnishing of the rooms. If they serve neither of these purposes they are worse than useless; they only help fill space which would look better empty, or gather dust and make work to keep them clean.

      A room filled with quantities of trifling ornaments has the look of a bazaar and displays neither good taste nor good sense. Artistic excellence aims to have all the furnishings of a high order of workmanship combined with simplicity, while good sense understands the folly of dusting a lot of rubbish.

      A poor book had best be burned to give place to a better, or even to an empty shelf, for the fire destroys its poison, and puts it out of the way of doing harm.

      Better economize in the purchasing of furniture or carpets than scrimp in buying good books or papers.

      Our sitting-rooms need never be empty of guests or our libraries of society if the company of good books is admitted to them.

REMARKABLE CALCULATIONS REGARDING THE SUN.

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      The sun's average distance from the earth is about 91,500,000 miles. Since the orbit of the earth is elliptical, and the sun is situated at one of its foci, the earth is nearly 3,000,000