THE answer to the question, What is fortune has never been, and probably never will be, satisfactorily made. What may be a fortune for one bears but small proportion to the colossal possessions of another. The scores or hundreds of thousands admired and envied as a fortune in most of our communities look pitifully small beside the two hundred and fifty millions of Vanderbilt. What is a comparative fortune for a laboring man, accustomed to the society of his peers, and only spending what that grade of life requires, does not compel the use of as much money to fill his necessities, or even his desires, as for the merchant of liberal education, of extended acquaintance among the refined and cultivated, demanding expenditures commensurate with such a walk in life. The two persons are on entirely distinct bases of necessary wants, live in two distinct worlds, and are laboring in differently extended spheres. A similar remark is true of every grade or degree in life; nor is there an exception, from the scullion to the king. This is the machinery of society; and right or wrong we find it, and we must treat it.
The fortune is only to be measured by that condition where the possessor is satisfied with the supply of a given number and description of wants. Should the man be content with the things that the interest of five thousand dollars would command, then that sum is his independence, and his fortune as well. But if his independence of charity requires just this sum, and he is unhappy because he has not the means of gratifying other and more expensive desires, he might keep out of the poor-house or swing clear of public or private charity, but he would not possess a fortune. An independence may be measurably fixed in amount, but a fortune is the child of the rich man’s imagination. It may be rated much or little, comparatively, in proportion to the satisfaction of his desires.
Each grade of business has generally its relative share of income and relative proportion of expenses not altogether from the necessities attaching to the business itself, but from ‘the supposed necessities attaching to the position and wants of the persons conducting it. Generally, then, what is a fortune in one business is but a small fraction of one in another. The question, then, is with every person to decide to what rank in life he will aspire, in order that he may settle the amount of the fortune he will aim to win in his business. Few may be able to make a mark and abide closely by it; but individual imperfections do not affect a sound principle.
The closest definition that can be given to this indefinable term fortune is that it is the halo of a mysterious sum which ever recedes, increasing as we approach. Few have expressed themselves fully satisfied with the means they have acquired, however large their property or ample others may consider their fortune.
It is a quite universal ambition to acquire a fortune by those who have intelligence to understand or experience to know the pleasures supposed to be guaranteed by its possession. Peculiar qualities of the human mind are brought into action in the pursuit and possession of wealth; and it brings to men various satisfactions. The mere acquisition of money is to some a substantial, realized pleasure; while to others its simple possession gives in like manner heartfelt gratification. Again, there are those who take no especial pleasure in the acquisition, but find their chief joy in the hope and anticipation of the good things they will derive in the possession or the spending of it; while there are still others who gain to enjoy the gains, and do enjoy them by liberal expenditure in the higher and nobler deeds of the generous man of fortune and luxurious ease.
But the larger class of those who make, or desire to make, a fortune have only one idea concerning it ; and that is to be able to make all the external appearance and show of a man of means. Display is their great object, and they endeavor too often to put on the appearances of wealth, and expend freely what they may not really own. Shakspere’s question, changed to this,—
“Why do I dress myself in borrowed plumes?”
might be asked by hundreds of thousands of jackdaw imitators and would-be fashionables, if they were as honest in their confessions as they are bold in their pretenses. It is a pitiful sort of hypocrisy and pride, and generally results in utter financial and social disaster. “Pride must have a fall,” saith the old. proverb. The result is that all the earnings – or it may be inheritance – that would if saved in time make a handsome fortune, are squandered in the gratification of “the lust of the eye and the pride of life,” in an attempt to make displays and win the positions due only to him who has accomplished a worthy object and achieved a fortune. Nor do such pretenders, in general, gain anything but the merited contempt of their creditors and of all sensible people. With rare exceptions they fail in the end and sink finally into poverty and obscurity.
It accordingly becomes a serious question for one maturely to consider, while on the road to fortune, whether he will spend his own or the substance of others, whether he will live as his means warrant, or assume to be what he really is not. The world in general is not deceived by such appearances, though it may be in special cases. What real pleasure can there be in living at an altitude where there is no foundation to support one, and fear of a downfall is ever haunting the imagination. People in this situation vainly imagine that their real deficiencies and faults do not appear, like the ostrich, which hides his head in the sand or a bush, and conceives that his huge, ungainly form is similarly obscured. Respectability, bear in mind, does not depend of false tokens. Quite the contrary. Still, many seem to be satisfied to live that sort of life, as the counterfeiter is with his occupation so long as hie is not detected in his false coinages.
All persons owe it to themselves and those dependent upon them to save of their means for accident or misfortune. It is a high moral and political duty to make themselves and and their dependants independent of public or private charity; for if they do not, they spend that which does not actually belong to them. To make one’s self independent should be the first great aim of life, looking earthward at least. Then what is an INDEPENDENCE? The answer to this question
is plain: it is such an amount of money, safely invested, as will produce an income equal to the
necessaries of life, — in other words, to enable one to live without labor. If a man could always be assured of ability to save even something, or enough to keep him from becoming a charge upon either public or private charity, there would be no need of an independence. But, as all know, such freedom from uncertainty or anxiety in regard to one’s financial condition can hardly be guaranteed to any man or woman.
While a fortune, then, is an indefinite and indefinable amount, an independence is a fixed, relative sum, dependent upon the price of necessaries and upon the country in which it is required. In some latitudes, — as in the South Seas, for example, — the amount absolutely necessary to maintenance is very small, while in others it may represent a large sum. It may be assumed that, upon an average the world over, the interest of five thousand dollars invested at
six per cent will furnish a subsistence. If, then, a man’s desires and needs do not reach beyond this, be has an independence, and in some sense a fortune. But as a general rule, even when this income is accumulated, or a much greater, according to the owner’s view of what constitutes an independence, the ever-present greed of gain will spur on its possessor to further accumulation. Yet if he have others dependent upon him for maintenance, since they can not earn for themselves, he must earn as many independencies as there are dependants to support.
Few able-bodied persons, of sound mind and body, and reasonably free from sickness or from spendthrifts in their family, can not in this country achieve an independence of labor. For all that the worker bent on this has to do is to lay aside, from what he receives, all that is not imperatively required for the necessaries of life; and by inspecting the tables near the end of this book he will find that quite small earnings and savings every day will soon mount to this standard, and then go beyond it. Parsimony or meanness is by no means recommended; but either, on the contrary, will prevent one’s making the most money that his opportunities allow. A just and proper economy is on the true line; and anyone of common sense can determine this line for himself.
No person feels so happy as when he is pursuing a legitimate business, is out of debt, and has some money at interest. From that moment he lives in a new world, is more respected, has more substantial friends, and wields a greater influence among his fellows. Not only that, but his independence of circumstances makes his services in any department of life more valuable; he commands more money for them, and so can accumulate faster. But let him be behindhand, or in debt, or forever on the anxious seat with calculations how he shall make ends meet in the support
of himself and family, or in trouble of any kind that costs him his peace of mind and full ability to protect himself, and he is in the power of anyone who has transactions with him. He becomes a suppliant for everything, almost for the right to live; and he can not, from the nature of things, get as much for what he gives as though the reverse were the fact.
An independence, then, should be the first thing aimed at, by either man or woman employed in moneymaking; and every nerve and sinew should be strained, and every expenditure scrutinized, till this end shall have been attained. Self-denial must be exercised in all things. Remember always that such a course is not only reputable and truly respectable, but will make you more friends in the end, and give you more happiness during all your business and social life. In case of success you become your own master, you are never mortgaged to another, you can proclaim that “your soul is your own,” as the old phrase goes.
But an independence, though it may free you from further labor expressly to make money by labor, does not free you of it altogether. The small mercantile or purchasing business necessary to be done to procure supplies, and provide for the home comforts, is still to be transacted. If that be to disburse three hundred dollars per annum, so much, then, is the volume of your mercantile transactions; and so of any other amount that may be named. Every dollar expended requires two persons to make the expenditure, the seller and the purchaser. The man of fortune, who spends his three thousand dollars yearly, has in this way ten times as much labor to perform as he who lays out but his three hundred dollars; and the millionaire who spends thirty thousand dollars incurs the liability to one hundred times as much labor as his fellow-man who uses but three hundred ;—provided always that in such cases the rich man attends personally, and not by stewards or agents, to the making of his many purchases.
The meaning of the terms “competence” and “competency,” so often heard, especially the former,
is not greatly different from that of “independence.” They are defined by one of the great dictionary-makers (Dr. Webster) as “property or means of subsistence sufficient to furnish the necessaries and conveniences of life, without superfluity; sufficiency; such a quantity as is sufficient;” and by another of the authorities (Dr. Worcester) to be” such a quantity as is sufficient, without superfluity; sufficiency, especially of the means of living.” The same general principles, explanations, and illustrations applicable to an independence, are equally applicable to the consideration of a competence.
As a conclusion of the whole matter, none who want money need hesitate to work wherever they can procure employment in any reputable business; and if they can take with them into their work ample knowledge and superior acquirements, their services will be more valuable, though not a whit more respectable, in the great scale of political. economy. Bearing this steadily in mind, and seeking to profit by it, a good foundation will be laid for success in acquiring a competence, an independence, or a fortune.
by Thomas Alfred Davies and Henry A. Ford, from How to Make Money, and How to Keep It; or, Capital and Labor, Chapter II. 1887, The Chamberlain Publishing Company. (originally written by Davies, but revised and re-issued by Ford)
It is a quite universal ambition to acquire a fortune by those who have intelligence to understand or experience to know the pleasures supposed to be guaranteed by its possession.
The Tulip Folly, by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1882. A nobleman guards an exceptional bloom as soldiers trample flowerbeds in a vain attempt to stabilise the tulip market by limiting the supply.
Mark Zuckerberg has become the poster boy of modern Tulip mania. It is not clear as to whether or not he is [...] Read more →
4 November 2021; Alex Mashinsky, Celcius, on Centre Stage during day three of Web Summit 2021 at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Web Summit via Sportsfile
Ponzi schemes and MLM schemes are by design corrupt. They are designed to confuse and or hoodwink the investor or participant into believing he is buying into a surefire road to riches.
When a computer programmer designs and programs a computer program, or in the case of the crypto-world, a [...] Read more →
Are you dissatisfied with the Savings Account and CD Interest Rates your bank currently has on offer?
If so, go to https://www.treasurydirect.gov and open an account. The U.S. Government’s iBonds are currently earning 9.62% interest through October of this year.
Individuals may purchase $10,000 worth of iBonds per [...] Read more →
The rude awakening over the past year of increasingly high food and gas prices has been quite the shock for the American consumer. The U.S. Federal Government and Federal Reserve Bank’s sluggish reaction to growing consumer price inflation certainly have not helped. If history is to be our guide, there is more [...] Read more →
Listening to MicroStrategy CEO Saylor’s naive proclamations about Bitcoin on MSBC this morning remind me of why stupid people go broke faster.
MicroStrategy—a money losing business software developer that trades under Ticker MSTR—is currently trading for an inflated price of around $168 per share. This share price could soon collapse. [...] Read more →
Propaganda is generally what is being passed off for news these days.
It comes from all perspectives; progressive, conservative, and marginal extremes.
Understanding the language of propaganda is necessary to enable one to quickly filter out articles written with persuasive goals as their ultimate objective. Any article that [...] Read more →
“Energy prices are set by global commodity prices …” Federal Reserve Chairman Powell June 15th, 2022
What follows is President Joe Biden’s delusional letter to oil company executives. I have added commentary to address the delusion. My comments are highlighted in yellow and parenthesis.
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION16 CFR Part 23Guides for the Jewelry, PreciousMetals, and Pewter Industries
The US Government has laws guiding the business practices of the Jewelry and Precious Metals Industries. If you are unclear as a seller as to your obligations under the law as related to any [...] Read more →
EBay is rife with fake gemstone sellers. But they are not alone. Other gemstone auction sites such as Gem Rock Auctions, and others host shifty peddlers, often unbeknownst to a few oblivious site owners. Although some sites claim to police the legitimacy of their sales, buying gemstones online will always carry risk. [...] Read more →
Seems everybody owns one these days from the local banker, barber, car barker and even the occasional newspaper delivery boy. Heck, we would assert that the newspaper delivery boy is indeed much more rare than that Rolex Submariner on his wrist.
It might surprise the watch buying public to learn that Rolex watches are mass produced.
In fact, millions of Rolex watches have been manufactured since 1929 when Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis established the Wisdorf and Davis company in London, England in 1905. The name Rolex was registered in 1908 [...] Read more →
A Satire of Tulip Mania by Jan Brueghel the Younger (ca. 1640) depicts speculators as brainless monkeys in contemporary upper-class dress. In a commentary on the economic folly, one monkey urinates on the previously valuable plants, others appear in debtor’s court and one is carried to the grave.
Max Ernst – Photo from the Dutch National Archives
Art fraud on eBay is rampant. Whether intentional or unintentional on the seller’s part, fake art remains fake art.
Lately, a seller going by the moniker gallery83fineart has an amazing collection of Max Ernst prints or photographs that are apparently signed [...] Read more →
A rose-cut synthetic diamond created by Apollo Diamond using a patented chemical vapour deposition process.
The much overused word, sustainability, has been seared into the hearts and minds of Millennials and Generation Z. Using that word, the two groups have been duped into believing some amazing myths. Among those are that [...] Read more →
There once was a man who sold the Brooklyn Bridge(three times), Madison Square Garden, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grant’s Tomb, and the Statue of Liberty to unsuspecting immigrants landing in New York City seeking out the American Dream. The salesman’s name was George C. Parker. [...] Read more →
Prisons as places of detention are very ancient institutions. As soon as men had learned the way to build, in stone, as in Egypt, or with bricks, as in Mesopotamia, when kings had many-towered fortresses, and the great barons castles [...] Read more →
Country House Essays, the book is now in print. This is an eclectic collection of both original, and historical essays, poems, books, and articles created for our loyal reader hear at CountryHouseEssays.com. It is jam packed with reprints of articles from this website. The cost is $49.95 for this massive [...] Read more →
Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary [...] Read more →
Harvey Wiley, Chief Chemist of the Department of Agriculture’s Division of Chemistry (third from the right) with his staff, not long after he joined the division in 1883. Wiley’s scientific expertise and political skills were a key to passage of the 1906 Food and Drugs Act and the creation of the FDA.
“Saint John’s Gate, Clerkenwell, the main gateway to the Priory of Saint John of Jerusalem,” black and white photograph by the British photographer Henry Dixon, 1880. The church was founded in the 12th century by Jordan de Briset, a Norman knight. Prior Docwra completed the gatehouse shown in this photograph in 1504. The gateway [...] Read more →
The University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee has a long heralded tradition of assisting farmers and growers through it’s Agricultural Extension Service. The following bulletin entitled Grape Growing in Tennessee discusses the Muscadine variety of grapes among others. Muscadine grapes are often found growing wild in Tennessee. On my grandfather’s West Tennessee [...] Read more →
Resolution adapted at the New Orleans Convention of the American Institute of Banking, October 9, 1919:
“Ours is an educational association organized for the benefit of the banking fraternity of the country and within our membership may be found on an equal basis both employees and employers; and in full appreciation [...] Read more →
Reprinted from FineModelShips.com with the kind permission of Dr. Michael Czytko
The SAN FELIPE is one of the most favoured ships among the ship model builders. The model is elegant, very beautifully designed, and makes a decorative piece of art to be displayed at home or in [...] Read more →
By the death of Mr. Scarth on the 5th of April, at Tangier, where he had gone for his health’s sake, the familiar form of an old and much valued Member of the Institute has passed away. Harry Mengden Scarth was bron at Staindrop in Durham, [...] Read more →
A Lecture Delivered at the Guildhall, March 2, 1853 by Rev. H.M. Scarth, M.A., Rector of Bathwick.
To understand the ancient history of the country in which we live, to know something of the arts and manners of the people who have preceded us, to ascertain what we owe to [...] Read more →
Eadweard Muybridge was a fascinating character. Click here to learn how Eadweard committed “Justifiable Homicide” after shooting his wife’s lover in 1874.
The arsenicals (compounds which contain the heavy metal element arsenic, As) have a long history of use in man – with both benevolent and malevolent intent. The name ‘arsenic’ is derived from the Greek word ‘arsenikon’ which means ‘potent'”. As early as 2000 BC, arsenic trioxide, obtained from smelting copper, was used [...] Read more →
Photo Caption: The Marquis of Zetland, KC, PC – otherwise known as Lawrence Dundas Son of: John Charles Dundas and: Margaret Matilda Talbot born: Friday 16 August 1844 died: Monday 11 March 1929 at Aske Hall Occupation: M.P. for Richmond Viceroy of Ireland Vice Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire Lord – in – Waiting [...] Read more →
Aw, the good old days, meet in the coffee shop with a few friends, click open the Zippo, inhale a glorious nosegay of lighter fluid, fresh roasted coffee and a Chesterfield cigarette….
A Meta-analysis of Coffee Drinking, Cigarette Smoking, and the Risk of Parkinson’s Disease
Buying a book for a serious collector with refined tastes can be a daunting task.
However, there is one company that publishes some of the finest reproduction books in the world, books that most collectors wouldn’t mind having in their collection no matter their general preference or specialty.
Add 3 quarts clover blossoms* to 4 quarts of boiling water removed from heat at point of boil. Let stand for three days. At the end of the third day, drain the juice into another container leaving the blossoms. Add three quarts of fresh water and the peel of one lemon to the blossoms [...] Read more →
A Lecture Delivered at the Guildhall, March 2, 1853 by Rev. H.M. Scarth, M.A., Rector of Bathwick.
To understand the ancient history of the country in which we live, to know something of the arts and manners of the people who have preceded us, to ascertain what we owe to [...] Read more →
Kneller was born in Lubeck, studied with Rembrandt in Amsterdam and by 1676 was working in England as a fashionable portrait painter. He painted seven British monarchs (Charles II, James II, William III, Mary II, Anne, George I and George II), though his [...] Read more →
Sal soda…8 ounces av. (hydrated sodium carbonate)( Na2CO3∙10H2O) or soda ash. Borax…….4 ounces av. Both should be in powder.
In using, this amount of material is to be dissolved in a gallon of water, then mix this with a solution of a pound of soap (any good [...] Read more →
Take to every quart of water one pound of Malaga raisins, rub and cut the raisins small, and put them to the water, and let them stand ten days, stirring once or twice a day. You may boil the water an hour before you put it to the raisins, and let it [...] Read more →
The Jubbulpore School of Industry is so thriving that the pupils, 800 in number, are obliged to work till ten o’clock at night to complete their orders; this they do most cheerfully. They are all Thugs, or the children of Thugs, and the hands which now ply [...] Read more →
King George IV was known far and wide as the dandy king, incompetent, ugly, and vulgar. As Prince regent, prior to his assent to the throne, he kept fast company with Beau Brummel, King of Dandies, a man sixteen years his younger. And decadence followed. King George was a gambler, philanderer, and [...] Read more →
The following cure was found written on a front flyleaf in an 1811 3rd Ed. copy of The Sportsman’s Guide or Sportsman’s Companion: Containing Every Possible Instruction for the Juvenille Shooter, Together with Information Necessary for the Experienced Sportsman by B. Thomas.
Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. “Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns!” he said. Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. Home Top of Pg. Archives [...] Read more →
H.F. Leonard was an instructor in wrestling at the New York Athletic Club. Katsukum Higashi was an instructor in Jujitsu.
“I say with emphasis and without qualification that I have been unable to find anything in jujitsu which is not known to Western wrestling. So far as I can see, [...] Read more →
The element copper effectively kills viruses and bacteria.
Therefore it would reason and I will assert and not only assert but lay claim to the patents for copper mesh stints to be inserted in the arteries of patients presenting with severe cases of Covid-19 with a slow release dosage of [...] Read more →
Water, 1 gallon; sugar 2 pounds of water. 61/2 pints, and simple syrup. 2 1/2 pints; 2 pints of pineapple stock or 1 pint of pineapple stock and 1 pint of grated pineapple juice of 6 lemons. Mix, strain and freeze.
EIGHTEEN GALLONS is here give as a STANDARD for all the following Recipes, it being the most convenient size cask to Families. See A General Process for Making Wine
If, however, only half the quantity of Wine is to be made, it is but to divide the portions of [...] Read more →
Gold or silver watch chains can be cleaned with a very excellent result, no matter whether they may be matt or polished, by laying them for a few seconds in pure aqua ammonia; they are then rinsed in alcohol, and finally. shaken in clean sawdust, free from sand. [...] Read more →
When fresh, the eyes should be clear and not sunken, the feet limp and pliable, stiff dry feet being a sure indication that the bird has not been recently killed; the flesh should be firm and thick and if the bird is plucked there should be no [...] Read more →
Oh Glorious England, verdant fields and wandering canals…
In this wonderful series of videos, the CountryHouseGent takes the viewer along as he chugs up and down the many canals crisscrossing England in his classic Narrowboat. There is nothing like a free man charting his own destiny.
Listening to MicroStrategy CEO Saylor’s naive proclamations about Bitcoin on MSBC this morning remind me of why stupid people go broke faster.
MicroStrategy—a money losing business software developer that trades under Ticker MSTR—is currently trading for an inflated price of around $168 per share. This share price could soon collapse. [...] Read more →
Awakened to mild rumbles of thunder and pounding rain washed down by a steady drizzle and more downpour coating asphalt with mirrored reflections of oily alluvial runoff easing back into a soothing pattern of velvety rain drops drizzling down the foliage encased wrought iron balcony rails
Of the making of books about Napoleon there is no end, and the centenary of his death (May 5) is not likely to pass without adding to the number, but a volume on Napoleon”s pharmacists still awaits treatment by the student in this field of historical research. There [...] Read more →
The following highly collectible Franklin Library Signed Editions were published between 1977 and 1982. They are all fully leather bound with beautiful covers and contain gorgeous and rich silk moire endpapers. Signatures are protected by unattached tissue inserts.
The values listed are average prices that were sought by [...] Read more →
For the somewhat startling suggestion in the heading of this interview, the missionary interviewed is in no way responsible. The credit of it, or, if you like, the discredit, belongs entirely to the editor of the Review, who, without dogmatism, wishes to pose the question as [...] Read more →
THE sense of a consecutive tradition has so completely faded out of English art that it has become difficult to realise the meaning of tradition, or the possibility of its ever again reviving; and this state of things is not improved by the fact that it is due to uncertainty of purpose, [...] Read more →
Noel Desenfans and Sir Francis Bourgeois, circa 1805 by Paul Sandby, watercolour on paper
The Dulwich Picture Gallery was England’s first purpose-built art gallery and considered by some to be England’s first national gallery. Founded by the bequest of Sir Peter Francis Bourgois, dandy, the gallery was built to display his vast [...] Read more →
Cannone nel castello di Haut-Koenigsbourg, photo by Gita Colmar
Without any preliminary cleaning the bronze object to be treated is hung as cathode into the 2 per cent. caustic soda solution and a low amperage direct current is applied. The object is suspended with soft copper wires and is completely immersed into [...] Read more →
We opened the doors on the old Dodge van parked under the big oak tree the old farm house etched with memory ropes hanging down and an old plank swing She kicked her bare feet playfully in the dirt and then soared to the sky Looking out over Illinois corn fields full in growth, [...] Read more →
The meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I, known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold, took place between 7 to 24 June 1520 in a valley subsequently called the Val d’Or, near Guisnes to the south of Calais. The [...] Read more →
Group of Thuggee – From Harpers Magazine – Dec. 12, 1837
The existence of large bodies of men having no other means of subsistence than those afforded by plunder, is, in all countries, too common to excite surprise; and, unhappily, organized bands of assassins are not peculiar to India! The associations of [...] Read more →
From The Historian’s History of the World (In 25 Volumes) by Henry Smith William L.L.D. – Vol. XVI.(Scandinavia) Pg. 308-310
The northern part of the Scandinavian peninsula, as already noticed, had been peopled from the remotest times by nomadic tribes called Finns or Cwenas by the Norwegians and Lapps [...] Read more →
PAINTER-WORK, in the building trade. When work is painted one or both of two distinct ends is achieved, namely the preservation and the coloration of the material painted. The compounds used for painting—taking the word as meaning a thin protective or decorative coat—are very numerous, including oil-paint of many kinds, distemper, whitewash, [...] Read more →
The magician delighted in exposing spiritualists as con men and frauds.
By EDMUND WILSON June 24, 1925
Houdini is a short strong stocky man with small feet and a very large head. Seen from the stage, his figure, with its short legs and its pugilist’s proportions, is less impressive than at close [...] Read more →
The Effect of Magnetic Fields on Wound Healing Experimental Study and Review of the Literature
Steven L. Henry, MD, Matthew J. Concannon, MD, and Gloria J. Yee, MD Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Missouri Hospital & Clinics, Columbia, MO Published July 25, 2008
The greatest cause of failure in vinegar making is carelessness on the part of the operator. Intelligent separation should be made of the process into its various steps from the beginning to end.
PRESSING THE JUICE
The apples should be clean and ripe. If not clean, undesirable fermentations [...] Read more →