MISCELLANEOUS WONDERS.
Having dwelt so long on the WONDERS OF NATURE, and the WONDERS OF ART, both ancient and modern, we pass to some of the wonders and curiosities of the world of a miscellaneous nature. Some things are wonders only through their associations, as is the case with many of the localities of Palestine, for example, where the Saviour lived and walked, and wrought his miracles of power and mercy. Some are wonders as exhibiting the inventive powers of man, or the progress of our age as compared with another; some as exhibiting the singularities of nature; and some as combining the wonders both of science and art. The steamboat, the printing-press, the air-balloon, the residence of Washington, the hut of the Kamtschatkadale, the spot where the “Pilgrim Fathers” landed, the telegraph, the diving-bell or armor, the prairie on fire, the nest of the African tailor-bird, each of these, and of a multitude of other things that might be enumerated, is, in some way, or for some reason, associated to our minds with what is more or less wonderful, while still it may not be strictly a wonder either of nature or of art. Some of these we propose now to notice, interspersing them at intervals with some of the more miscellaneous wonders of nature, or art, or both, so as to give variety to the pages that follow. And the first of this class of wonders we will notice, is,
YOULE’S SHOT-TOWER.
This edifice, which is one of the best of its class, is situated at the foot of Fifty-fourth street, on the East river, in the city of New York. It is hexagonal in form, and rises to the hight of one hundred and seventy-five feet; being sixty feet in diameter at the base, and gradually growing smaller as it rises toward the top. It forms a most striking object of interest; and is remarked by the multitudes who pass by it going up and down the sound, to and from New York. When we consider the small size of the article to the manufacture of which this lofty structure is devoted, the means appear greatly out of proportion with the result. Formerly in casting shot, the apparatus was merely a plate of copper, in the hollow of which were punched a number of holes. This was placed a few feet above a kettle of water, into which the melted lead descended, after passing through the holes in the plate. But in falling so short a distance, and being so suddenly cooled and hardened, the shot did not acquire a perfectly globular form, a desideratum which is now attained by means of shot-towers. In the tower of Mr. McCullough, the largest shot falls from the summit of the tower to the bottom of a well twenty-five feet below the surface of the earth, making the descent one hundred and seventy-five feet. The size of the shot is determined by the size of the holes through which it passes. The furnaces for melting the lead are situated near the top of the tower; three or four tuns of shot are manufactured per day. This method of casting shot was invented by Mr. Watt, the celebrated engineer, in consequence, it is said, of a dream. He tried the experiment from the tower of the church of St. Mary, Radcliffe, and finding it very successful, obtained a patent, which he afterward sold for ten thousand pounds. There are now several shot-towers in the vicinity of London, and different parts of the world; but none more worthy of notice than the one of which we are now speaking. An iron staircase ascends from the base to the summit of the tower. Arsenic is mingled with the lead in proportion of forty pounds to one tun. In casting, the metal is poured through a tube, but descends through the open space of the tower in a continual stream of silvery drops. As the weight of the lead prevents it from scattering or being blown about like water-drops, the workmen pass to and fro, without danger, close by this fiery cascade. The shot is of different sizes, from number one, swan shot, to number twelve, dust shot. Mr. James McCullough has brought the art of the manufacture of the shot to perfection. Certain portions of his factory are kept entirely secret; and the shot manufactured in New York are not surpassed in the world. The cause of most of the imperfections in the manufacture of lead shot, is the too rapid cooling of the spherules by their being dropped too hot into the water, whereby their surfaces form a solid crust, while the interior remains fluid, and in its subsequent concretion shrinks so as to produce the irregularities of the shot. The patent shot-towers originally constructed in England, obviate this evil, by exposing the fused spherules, after they pass through the cullender, to a large body of air during their descent into the water-tub placed on the ground. The greatest erection of this kind is probably at Villach, in Carinthia, being two hundred and forty Vienna, or two hundred and forty-nine English feet high. The following is the process. Melt a tun of soft lead, and sprinkle round the sides of the iron pot about two shovelfuls of wood ashes, taking care to leave the center clear. Then put into the middle about forty pounds of arsenic, to form a rich alloy with the lead. Cover the pot with an iron lid, and lute the joints quickly with loam or mortar, to confine the arsenical vapors, keeping up a moderate fire to maintain the mixture fluid for three or four hours; after which, skim carefully, and run the alloy into ingots or pigs. The composition thus made is in proportion of one pig to one thousand pounds of melted lead. Two or three tons are usually melted at once in large establishments. A crust of oxyd of a white spongy nature, sometimes called cream by the workmen, covers the surface of the lead, which is of use to coat over the bottom of the cullender. The cullenders are hollow hemispheres of sheet-iron, about ten inches in diameter, perforated with holes perfectly round and free from burs. These must be of a uniform size in each cullender; but, of course, a series of different cullenders, with sorted holes for every different size of lead shot, must be prepared. The operation is always carried on with three cullenders at a time, which are supported upon projecting grates of a kind of chafing-dish made of sheet-iron, somewhat like a triangle. This chafing-dish should be placed immediately above the fall; while at the bottom there must be a tub half-filled with water, for receiving the granulated lead. The cullenders are not in contact, but must be parted by burning charcoal, in order to keep the lead constantly at the proper temperature, and to prevent its solidifying in the filter. The hight from which the particles should be let fall, varies likewise with the size of the shot; as the congelation is the more rapid, the smaller they are. The workman then puts the filter stuff into the cullender, pressing it well against the sides; he next gently pours lead into it with an iron ladle. The center of the cullender being less hot, affords larger shot than the sides. Occasionally, also, the three cullenders employed together, may have holes of different sizes; the shot will then be of different magnitudes. These are separated by square sieves of different fineness, and after passing through other minute processes, are ready for sale and use.
THE EMPEROR FOUNTAIN.
This splendid fountain, a view of which is given in the cut beyond, is one of the most remarkable in the world, and in commemoration of a visit paid to it in 1844, by the emperor of Russia, it was called the Emperor fountain, though since the outbreak of the war between Great Britain and Russia, the name is said to have been changed to that of the Victoria fountain. It is situated in Chatsworth, one of the most luxurious seats of the English nobility; famous for its exceeding beauty and its costly embellishments. Its walks, lawns, parterres, mimic Alpine scenery, conservatories, gardens, cascades, halls, pictures, and sculpture, and music, and fountains, have all been constructed and arranged with consummate taste and with lavish expense. A month would scarcely suffice to visit all that is worthy of observation in this wonderful place, and perhaps few sights could produce a deeper impression of the wealth possessed by the English aristocracy. We have from this munificent storehouse selected a single object to be delineated by the pencil. The Emperor fountain is fed by immense artificial reservoirs on the hills above Chatsworth, covering eight acres of ground, into which various springs and streams have been diverted. Our American ideas of a fountain are usually limited to a beautiful jet of water forced twenty or thirty feet in hight; hence it is with amazement, if not incredulity, that we hear of the fountain of Chatsworth, which throws its jet to the hight of two hundred and sixty-seven feet! Such is the velocity with which the water is ejected, that it is calculated to escape at the rate of one hundred miles a minute!
THE EMPEROR FOUNTAIN.