USA > New York > Herkimer County > Gazetteer and business directory of Herkimer County, N.Y. for 1869-70 > Part 8
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Table of Weights of Grain, Seeds, &c.
ACCORDING TO THE LAWS OF NEW YORK.
Barley weighs
48 1b. per bushel.
Beans
62
66
66
Buckwheat“
.48
66
Clover Seed
60
66
Corn
weighs .58
66
66
Flax Seed* ".
.55
66
Oats
.32
6.6
Peas
66
.60
6.6
6,6
Potatoes
60
66
Rye
.56
Timothy Seed
.44
Wheat
60
66
66
*Flax Seed by cust'm weighs 56 Ib. per bush.
Facts on Advertising.
The advertisements in an ordinary num- ber of the London Times exceed 2,500. The annual advertising bills of one London firm are said to amount to $200,000; and three others are mentioned who each annually expend for the purpose $50;000. The ex- pense for advertising the eight editions of the "Encyclopedia Britannia " is said to have been $15,000.
In large cities nothing is more common than to see large business establishments, which seem to have an immense advantage over all competitors, by the wealth, expe- rience, and prestige they have acquired, drop gradually out of public view, and be succeeded by firms of a smaller capital, more energy, and more determined to have the fact that they sell such and such com- modities known from one end of the land to the other. In other words, the establish- ments advertise ; the old die of dignity .- The former are ravenous to pass out of ob- scurity into publicity ; the latter believe that their publicity is so obvious that it cannot be obscured. The first understand that they must thrust themselves upon public attention, or be disregarded; the second, having once obtained public atten- tion, suppose they have arrested it perma- nently; while, in fact, nothing is more char- acteristic of the world than the ease with which it forgets.
Stephen Girard, than whom no shrewder business man ever lived, used to say: I have always considered advertising liber- ally and long to be the great medium of success in business, and the prelude to wealth. And I have made it an invariable rule too, to advertise in the dullest times as well as the busiest ; long experience having taught me that money thus spent is well laid out; as by keeping my business continually before the public it has secured me many sales that I would otherwise have lost.
Capacity of Cisterns or Wells.
Tabular view of the number of gallons contained in the clear, between the brick work for each ten inches of depth :
Diameter
Gallons.
feet equals
19
2%
30
3
66
44
31%
66
60
4
78
4%
97
5
6.6
122
5%
148
6
176
207
240
275
8
66
313:
9
:396
9%
66
461
10
489
11
592
12
66
705
23
66
827
14
959
15
1101
20
1958
25
66
3059
353
50 " 6.6
6.6 100
+11 6.6
59
MISCELLANEOUS.
-
Brilliant Whitewash.
Many have heard of the brilliant stucco whitewash on the east end of the Presi- dent's house at Washington. The follow- ing is a recipe for it ; it is gleaned from the National Intelligencer, with some addi- tional improvements learned by experi- ments : Take half a bushel of nice un- slacked lime, slack it with boiling water, cover it during the process to keep in the steam. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve or strainer, and add to it a peck of salt, previously well dissolved in warm wa- ter ; three pounds of ground rice, boiled to a thin paste, and stirred in boiling hot ; half a pound of powdered Spanish whiting, and a pound of clean glue, which has been pre- viously dissolved by soaking it well, and then hanging it over a slow fire, in a small kettle within a large one filled with water. Add five gallons of hot water to the mixture, stir it well, and let it stand a few days cov- ered from the dirt.
It should be put on right hot; for this purpose it can be kept in a kettle on a portable furnace. It is said that about a pint of this mixture will cover a square yard upon the outside of a house if proper- ly applied. Brushes more or less small may be used according to the neatness of the job required. It answers as well as oil paint for wood, brick or stone, and is cheaper. It retains its brilliancy for many years. There is nothing of the kind that will compare with it, either for inside or outside walls.
Coloring matter may be put in and made of any shade you like. Spanish brown stirred in will make red pink, more or less deep according to the quantity. A delicate tinge of this is very pretty, for inside walls. Finely pulverized common clay, well mixed with Spanish brown, makes a reddish stone color. Yellow-ochre stirred in makes yel- low wash, but chrome goes further, and makes a color generally esteemed prettier. In all these cases the darkness of the shades of course is determined by the quantity of coloring used. It is difficult to make rules, because tastes are different. It would be best to try experiments on a shingle and let it dry. We have been told that green must not be mixed with lime. The lime de- stroys the color, and the color has an effect on the whitewash, which makes it crack and peel. When walls have been badly smoked, and you wish to have them a clean white, it is well to squeeze indigo plenti- fully through a bag into the water you use, before it is stirred in the whole mixture. If a larger quantity than five gallons be wanted, the same proportion should be ob- served.
-
How to get a Horse out of a Fire.
The great difficulty of getting horses from a stable where surrounding buildings are in a state of conflagation, is, well known,- The plan of covering their eyes with a blan- ket will not always succeed.
A gentleman whose horses have been in great peril from such a cause, having tried
in vain to save them, hit upon the expedi- ent of having them harnessed as though go- ing to their usual work; when, to his aston- ishment, they were led from the stable without difficulty.
The Chemical Barometer.
Take a long narrow bottle, such as an old- fashioned Eau-de-Cologne bottle, and put into it two and a half drachms of camphor, and eleven drachms of spirits of wine ; when the camphor is dissolved, which it will readily do by slight agitation, add the following mixture: Take water, nine drachms; nitrate of potash (saltpetre) thirty-eight grains; and muriate of am- monia (sal ammoniac) thirty-eight grains. Dissolve these salts in the water prior to mixing with the camphorated spirit ; then shake the whole well together. Cork the bottle well, and wax the top, but after- wards make a very small aperture in the cork with a red-hot needle. The bottle may then be hung up, or placed in any stationa- ry position. By observing the different appearances which the materials assume, as the weather changes, it becomes an ex- cellent prognosticator of a coming storm or of a sunny sky.
Leech Barometer.
Take an eight ounce phial, and put in it three gills of water, and place in it a healthy leech, changing the water in summer once a week, and in winter once in a fortnight, and it will most accurately prognosticate the weather. If the weather is to be fine, the leech lies motionless at the bottom of the glass and coiled together in a spiral forma ; if rain may be expected, it will creep up to the top of its lodgings and remain there till the weather is settled; if we are to have wind, it will move through its habi- tation with amazing swiftness, and seldom goes to rest till it begins to blow hard ; if a remarkable storm of thunder and rain is to succeed, it will lodge for some days before almost continually out of the water, and discover great uneasiness in violent throes and convulsive-like motions ; in frost as in clear summer-like weather it lies constantly at the bottom; and in snow as in rainy weather it pitches its dwelling in the very mouth of the phial. The top should be cov- ered over with a piece of muslin.
To MEASURE GRAIN IN A BIN .- Find the number of cubic feet, from which deduct one-fifth. The remainder is the number of bushels-allowing, however, one bushel extra to every 224. Thus in a remainder of 224 there would be 225 bushels. In a re- mainder of 448, there would be 450 bushels &c.
60
VALUABLE RECIPES.
VALUABLE RECIPES.
-
[The following recipes are vonched for by several who have tried them and proven their virtues. Many of them have been sold singly for more than the price of this book .- PUB.]
HORSES.
RING BONE AND SPAVIN .- 2 oz. each of Spanish flies and Venice turpentine; 1 oz. each of aqua ammonia and euphorbium ; } oz. red precipitate; 14 oz. corrosive subli- mate ; 1% lbs. lard. When thoroughly pul- verized and mixed, heat carefully so as not to burn, and pour off free from sediment.
For ring-bone, rub in thoroughly, after removing hair, once in 48 hours. For spav- in, once in 24 hours. Cleanse and press out the matter on each application.
POLL-EVIL .- Gum arabic 14 oz; common potash x4 oz; extract of belladonna > dr. Put the gum in just enough water to dis- solve it. Pulverize the potash and mix with the dissolved gum, and then put in the extract of belladonna, and it will be ready for use. Use with a syringe after having cleansed with soap suds, and repeat once in two days till a cure is affected.
SCOURS .- Powdered tormentil root, giv- en in milk, from 3 to 5 times daily till cured.
GREASE-HEEL AND SCRATCHES .- Sweet oil 6 ozs .; borax 2 ozs .; sugar of lead 2 ozs. Wash off with dish water, and, after it is dry, apply the mixture twice a day.
CHOLIC IN HORSES .- To %% pt. of warm water add 1 oz. laudanum and 3 ozs. spirits of turpentine, and repeat the dose in about 34 of an hour, adding X oz. powdered aloes, if not relieved.
Bors .- Three doses. 1st. 2 qts milk and 1 of molasses. 2d. 15 minutes after, 2 qts. warm sage tea. 3d. After the expiration of 30 minutes, sufficient lard to physic .- Never fails.
MISCELLANEOUS.
PILES-PERFECTLY CURED .- Take flour of sulphur 1 oz., rosin 3 ozs., pulverize and mix well together. (Color with carmine or cochineal, if you like.) Dose-What will lie on a five cent piece, night and morning, washing the parts freely in cold water once or twice a day. This is a remedy of great value.
The cure will be materially hastened by taking a table-spoon of sulphur in a half pint of milk, daily, until the cure is affected.
SURE CURE FOR CORNS, WARTS AND CHILBLAINS .- Take of nitric and muriatic acids, blue vitriol and salts of tartar, 1 oz. each. Add the blue vitriol, pulverized, to either of the acids; add the salts of tartar in the same way; when done foaming, add the other acid, and in a few days it will be ready for use. For chilblains and corns apply it very lightly with a swab, and re- peat in a day or two until cured. For warts, once a week, until they disappear.
HOOF-AIL IN SHEEP .- Mix 2 ozs. each of butter of antimony and muriatic acid with 1 oz. of pulverized white vitriol, and apply once or twice a week to the bottom of the foot.
COMMON RHEUMATISM .- Kerosene oil 2 ozs .; neats-foot oil 1 oz .; oil of organum } oz. Shake when used, and rub and heat in twice daily.
VERY FINE SOAP, QUICKLY AND CHEAP- LY MADE .- Fourteen pounds of bar soap in a half a boiler of hot water ; cut up fine ; add three pounds of sal-soda made fine; one ounce of pulverized rosin ; stir it often till all is dissolved ; just as you take it off the fire, put in two table-spoonfuls of spirits of turpentine and one of ammonia; pour it in a barrel, and fill up with cold soft water; letit stand three or four days before using. It is an excellent soap for washing clothes, extracting the dirt readily, and not fading colored articles.
61
VALUABLE RECIPES.
WATER PROOF FOR LEATHER .- Take lin- seed oil 1 pint, yellow wax and white tur- pentine each 2 ozs. Burgundy pitch 1 oz., melt and color with lampblack.
To KEEP CIDER SWEET .- Put into each barrel, immediately after making, }% 1b. ground mustard, 2 oz. salt and 2 oz. pulver- ized chalk. Stir them in a little cider, pour them into the barrel, and shake up well.
AGUE CURE .- Procure 11% table-spoons of fresh mandrake root juice, (by pounding) and mix with the same quantity of molas- ses, and take in three equal doses, 2 hours a part, the whole to be taken 1 hour before the chill comes on. Take a swallow of some good bitters before meals, for a couple of weeks after the chills are broken, and the cure will be permanent.
CURE FOR SALT RHEUM OR SCURVY .- Take of the pokeweed, any time in sum- mer ; pound it ; press out the juice ; strain it into a pewter dish; set it in the sun till it becomes a salve-then put it into an earth- en mug; add to it fresh water and bees' wax sufficient to make an ointment of com- mon consistency ; simmer the whole over a fire till thoroughly mixed. When cold, rub the part affected. The patient will al- most immediately experience its good ef- fects, and the most obstinate cases will be cured in three or four months. Tested .-- The juice of the ripe berries may be pre- pared in the same way.
SUPERIOR PAINT-FOR BRICK HOUSES .- To lime whitewash, add for a fastener, sul- phate of zinc, and shade with any color you choose, as yellow ochre, Venetian red, etc. It outlasts oil paint.
FELONS .- Stir 1 oz. of Venice turpentine with >% tea-spoonful of water, till it looks like candied honey, and apply by spreading upon cloth and wrapping around the finger. If not too long delayed will cure in 6 hours.
A poke root poultice is also said to be a sure remedy.
WATER-PROOF BLACKING AND HARNESS POLISH .- Take two and a half ounces gum shellac and half a pint of alcohol, and set in a warm place until dissolved; then add two and a half ounces Venice turpentine to neutralize the alcohol ; add a tablespoon- ful of lampblack. Apply with a fine sponge. It will give a good polish over oil or grease.
MOSQUITOS .-- To get rid of these tormen- tors, take a few hot coals on a shovel, or a chafing dish, and burn upon them some brown sugar in your bed-rooms and parlors, and you effectually banish or destroy every mosquito for the night.
CHEAP OUTSIDE PAINT .- Take two parts (in bulk) of water lime ground fine, one part (in bulk) of white lead ground in oil. Mix them thoroughly, by adding best boiled lin- seed oil, enough to prepare it to pass through a paint mill, after which temper with oil till it can be applied with a common paint brush. Make any color to suit. It willlast three times as long as lead paint, and cost not one-fourth as much. IT Is SUPERIOR.
CURE FOR A COUGH .- A strong decoction of the leaves of the pine, sweetened with loaf sugar. Take a wine-glass warm on go- ing to bed, and half an hour before eating three times a day. The above is sold as a cough syrup, and is doing wonderful cures, and it is sold at a great profit to the manu- facturers.
How to Judge a Horse.
A correspondent, contrary to old maxims, undertakes to judge the character of a horse by outward appearances, and offers the fol- lowing suggestions, the result of his close observation and long experience :
If the color be light sorrell, or chestnut, his feet, legs and face white, these are' marks of kindness. If he is broad and full between the eyes, he may be depended on as a horse of good sense, and capable of be- ing trained to anything.
As respects such horses, the more kindly you treat them the better you will be treat- ed in return. Nor will a horse of this de- scription stand a whip, if well fed.
If you want a safe horse, avoid one that is dish-faced. He may be so far gentle as not to scare; but he will have too much go- ahead in him to be safe with everybody.
If you want a fool, but a horse of great bottom, get a deep bay, with not a white hair about him. If his face is a little dish- ed, so much the worse. Let no man ride such a horse that is not an adept in riding -they are always tricky and unsafe.
If you want one that will never give out, never buy a large, overgrown one.
A black horse cannot stand heat, nor a white one cold.
If you want a gentle horse, get one with more or less white about the head; the more the better. Many persons suppose the parti-colored horses belonging to the circuses, shows, &c., are selected for their oddity. But the selections thus made are on account of their great docility and gen- tleness.
Measurement of Hay in the Mow or Stack .- It is often desirable, where conveniences for weighing are not at hand, to purchase and sell hay by measure- ment. It is evident that no fixed rule will answer in all cases, as it would require more cubic feet at the top of a mow than at the bottom. The general rule adopted by those who have tested it, is 7%% cubic feet of solid Timothy hay, as taken from mow or bottom of stack. The rule may be varied for upper part of mow or stack according to pressure.
62
TWENTY YEAR CALENDAR.
Almanac or Calendar for 20 Years.
CB
A
G
F
ED
C
B
A
E
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
GF 1872
1873
D
C
BA
G
F
E
D C
F
E
D
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1 8 15 22 29
Sun.
Sat.
Frid'y.
Thurs.
Wed.
Tues.
Mon.
2 9 16 23 30
Mon.
Sun.
Sat.
Frid'y.
Thurs.
Wed.
Tues.
3 10 17 24 31
Tues.
Mon.
Sun,
Sat.
Frid'y.
Thurs.
Wed.
4 11 18 25
. .
Wed.
Tues.
Mon.
Sun.
Sat.
Friď'y.
Thurs.
5 12 19 26
Thurs.
Wed.
Tues.
Mon.
Sun.
Sat.
Frid'y.
6 13 20 27
Frid'y.
Thurs.
Wed.
Tues.
Mon.
Sun.
Sat.
7 14 21 28 .
Sat.
Frid'y.
Thurs.
Wed.
Tues.
Mon.
Sun.
Jan. and Oct.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
May.
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
August.
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
Feb., Mar., Nov.
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
June.
E
F
G
.
A
B
C
D
Sept. & Dec.
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
April & July.
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
EXPLANATION .- Find the Year and observe the Letter above it; then look for the Month, and in a line with it find the Letter of the Year; above the Letter find the Day ; and the figures on the left, in the same line, are the days of the same name in the month.
Leap Ycars have two letters ; the first is used till the end of February, the second during the remainder of the year.
-
63
HERKIMER COUNTY.
HERKIMER COUNTY.
THIS COUNTY was formed from Montgomery, February 16, 1791. The name was originally Erghemar and was variously written for many years, but its orthography appears to be settled at last. Onondaga was taken off in 1794, Oneida and a part of Chenango in 1798; the present territory of Hamilton County was taken off and annexed to Montgomery in 1797; parts of Mont- gomery County were annexed April 7, 1817, and parts of Richfield and Plainfield, Otsego County, were annexed in forming Winfield in 1816. The County is centrally distant eighty miles from Al- bany and contains 1,745 square miles.
The surface is a hilly upland with a series of ridges extending in a general north and south direction. Mohawk River flows east through the County in a deep valley that cuts the ridges at right angles and separates the highlands into two distinct parts. A broad ridge extends from the south border to the Mohawk, thence north of that river, along the west bank of East Canada Creek, to the north line of the County. The Hasenclever Mountains, another broad ridge, lie along the west border of the County, north of the Mohawk. From the Mohawk the highlands rise towards the south in a series of hills, the declivities of which are steep and their sum- mits from 500 to 1,000 feet high. North of the river the surface gradually rises to a hight of 1,000 to 1,500 feet, where it spreads out into a rocky and broken plateau region, the highest summits of which are from 2,500 to 3,000 feet above tide. Mohawk River. breaks through the mountain ridge at Little Falls, the valley forming a natural channel of communication between Lake Ontario and Hudson River. At this place the mountains on each side of the river are masses of naked rock, rising nearly perpendicular to a hight of 500 to 600 feet. A valley, with an average width of two miles, extends along the river west of the pass, and from this
1
64
HERKIMER COUNTY.
intervale the land slopes gradually on each side. East of this point the Mohawk flows for some distance through a valley bor- dered by steep and nearly perpendicular hills. The river receives from the north, Sterling, West Canada, Cathatachua and East Can- ada Creeks; and from the south, Furnace, Brown's Hollow and Nowadaga Creeks. East Canada Creek forms a portion of the east boundary of the County and receives as tributaries, Trammel, Spruce and several other small streams. West Canada Creek flows south-west through Wilmurt, Ohio and Russia, thence south- east, along the west border of Russia, thence south, through New- port, Fairfield and Herkimer, to the Mohawk. It receives from the east, Black, White and North Creeks, and from the west, sever- al small streams. West Canada Creek was called by the Indians Teugh-tagh-ra-row, and the East Creek, Ci-o-ha-na. Several small streams rise in the south part of the County and form branches of the Unadilla. The north part of the County is yet an unbroken wilderness. It is a wild mountainous region with very little land susceptible of cultivation. The streams usually flow in deep rocky ravines and form the head waters of Black, Moose, Beaver and Os- wegatchie Rivers.
A large part of the County is covered by primary rocks, con- sisting of granite, gneiss, feldspar and hornblende. These rocks oc- cupy the north part and extend as far south as a line running west from Brockett's Bridge. This formation also outcrops at Little Falls, on the Mohawk. Above the primary rocks lie successively the Trenton limestone, which appears in Norway and Russia; the Utica slate, which appears upon the summits of all the hills imme- diately north of the Mohawk; the Frankfort slate appears imme- diately south of the river ; the Oneida conglomerate and Clinton group extend in a belt through the County, near the center of the south half. Next south appear the Onondaga salt group, water -. lime, Onondaga and corniferous limestones, and the Marcellus shales and limestones of the Helderbergh Range, covering the sum- mits of the southern hills. These rocks yield an abundance of lime, water-lime and building material in nearly every part of the County, and are extensively quarried for these purposes. Drift is found in deep deposits in many parts of the County. The useful minerals are found in small quantities in a few localities. Gypsum is found in small quantities, and this County is said to be the most easterly point in the State where that mineral is found. The dis- covery of small particles of anthracite, found associated with sand- stone, near Little Falls, has led to the erroneous supposition that coal might be obtained in the vicinity. Crystals of quartz suitable for optical instruments, iron sand, iron and copper pyrites, lead ore, heavy spar, graphite, alum and alum slate, are among the min- erals found in the County.
65
HERKIMER COUNTY.
Agriculture forms the leading pursuit of the inhabitants. The County is specially adapted to pasturage, and dairying has for a long time been the leading branch of industry, more cheese being produced here than in any other County in the State. Hops are extensively cultivated, and at Little Falls, Ilion and a few other places, considerable manufacturing is carried on.
The County Seat is located at the village of Herkimer. The first Court House of the County was located at Whitesboro, now Oneida County. In 1804 the Clerk's Office was destroyed by fire and all the records consumed. January 25th, 1834, the old Court House and Jail were destroyed by fire. Previous to this the Leg- islature of the State had authorized the Supervisors of the County to negotiate loans to the amount of $10,300, to erect a new Jail and purchase a site for it. In 1834 the Supervisors were authorized to borrow from the school fund $4,600, with which to build a new Court House and to levy a tax of $500 a year to pay the same. F. E. Spinner, Arphaxad Loomis and Prentice Yeomans, were ap- pointed Commissioners to superintend the erection of the building. The Court House is a substantial brick structure, fronting on Main Street, near the center of the village. The Jail is of stone and lo- cated nearly opposite, on the same street. The County Clerk's Office was erected in 1847, and is a fire-proof brick building upon the Court House lot, fronting on Court Street.
The first County officers were : Henry Staring, First Judge ; Michael Myers, Hugh White and Abraham Hardenburgh, Judges ; Jonas Platt, Clerk ; William Colbraith, Sheriff ; and Moses De- Witt, Surrogate.
The works of internal improvement in the County are the Erie Canal and the New York Central Railroad, extending along the val- ley of the Mohawk River.
The greater part of the lands embraced in this County were granted by the King, previous to the Revolution. The north part remained in the possession of the State Government until conveyed to McComb and others; and small tracts in other parts of the County were also conveyed by the State after the Revolution. The following list of patents embraced wholly or in part in Her- kimer County is taken from Benton's History :
66
HERKIMER COUNTY.
This mark (*) denotes that the patents are partly situated in Herkimer, and partly in adjoining counties.
Names of Patents or Tracts.
Date.
No. of acres.
Names of Original Patentees.
Adgate's Tract, Bayard's Patent,*
1798
43907 Mathew Adgate,
1771
50000 William Bayard, Alexander Ellis, and fifty-three others,
Brown's (John) Tract,
1792
A part of 1,920,000 acres granted to Alexander Macomb,
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