USA > New York > Rensselaer County > Gazetteer and business directory of Rensselaer County, N. Y., for 1870-71 > Part 9
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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.
40
2 feet equals
19
276
30
3
66
44
3%
66
60
4
78
4%
66
122
516
66
176
6
66
207
7
240 .
275
8
66
353
8% 9
66
$396
916
461
10
66
489
11
66
592
12
66
705
13
66
827
14
66
959
15
66 1101
20
1958
25
66
3059
66
Buckwheat“
48
66
Corn weighs .58
97
5
148
313
66 +11
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 & 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, bnt 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 form; 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 vouched 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; X 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 14 oz ; extract of belladonna X 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 X pt. of warm water add 1 oz. laudanum and 3 ozs. spirits of turpentine, and repeat the dose in about 3% of an hour, adding > 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 ; let it 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 116 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 will last 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 that a cube, each side of which shall measure eight feet, of solid Timothy hay, as taken from mow or bottom of stack will weigh a ton. 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
GF
E
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
D
C
BA
G
F
E
DC
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.
Frid'y.
Thurs.
5 12 19 26
..
Thurs.
Wed.
Tues.
Mon.
Sun.
Sat.
Frid'y.
6 13 20 27
. .
Friď'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 Years have two letters ; the first is used till the end of February, the second during the remainder of the year.
63
RENSSELAER COUNTY.
RENSSELAER COUNTY.
THIS COUNTY was formed from Albany, February 7, 1791, and named in honor of the Rensselaer family. It included the principal part of Rensselaerwyck, upon the east side of the river .. It is centrally distant twelve miles from Albany, and contains an area of 690 square miles. The surface is very broken and hilly. It is traversed by two distinct ranges of mountains, extending north and south, known as the Taghkanick and Petersburgh Mountains. The former occupies the extreme east border of the County, and is divided from the latter by the long deep valley through which flow Kinderhook Creek and Little Hoosick and Hoosick Rivers. These mountains are wild, rugged and rocky, rising to a hight of from 1000 to 2000 feet above tide, and affording a great variety of wild and picturesque scen- ery. Their declivities are usually precipitous and their summits are covered with forests or masses of naked rocks. These mour .- tains are composed of the slate, quartz, sandstone and limestone that constitute the Taconic rocks of Professor Emmons. The quartz exists in the form of veins of injection, and in some places the slate has been washed away, leaving the quartz in the form of sharp pointed rocks or of isolated masses. The soil upon the summits and sides of the mountains is generally thin and poor, but in the valleys it consists of gravelly loam, and is moderately fertile. The Petersburgh Mountains occupy the whole central part of the County. They are wild, irregular and broken masses, with precipitous sides on the east, but with more gradual declivities on the west. In some places the sum- mits spread out over a wide surface, constituting a wide sterile plateau, broken by hills and rocks. These mountains are com- posed of the graywacke slates and limestone belonging to the Hudson River group. An extensive tract is still covered with for- ests. The soil is generally hard and sterile, consisting of a stiff clay and disintegrated slate, underlaid to a considerable extent by hardpan. Hudson River forms the western boundary of the County. Along its bank is a flat, varying from a few rods to half a mile in width, and bounded by a series of bluffs from 100
64
RENSSELAER COUNTY.
to 200 feet in hight. From the summits of these bluffs the sur- face is a broken and hilly upland. This region is composed of the drift deposits, mixed with disintegrated slates, clay and sand predominating in different places. Little Hoosick and Hoosick Rivers and Kinderhook Creek flow through the valley in the eastern part of the County. The summit level in this valley, between the waters flowing north and those flowing south, at South Berlin, is 600 feet above tide. The streams flowing from the Petersburgh Mountains westward, to the Hudson, have worn deep ravines through the clay bluffs, forming lateral valleys which extend eastward from the valley of the Hudson. Numer- ous small lakes and ponds are interspersed in the wild rocky region of the Petersburgh Mountains, forming one of the most beautiful features of the landscape. Several mineral springs are found in the County.
The narrow flats along the streams, and a large portion of the uplands, are adapted to grain, and produce excellent crops, but the soil generally is better adapted to grazing and dairying, es- pecially in the eastern towns, where these occupations form the leading pursuits. Manufactures are extensively carried on at Troy and in the Hoosick Valley, and commerce has received considerable attention at Troy.
The principal works of internal improvement in the County are the Hudson River R. R., and Troy & Greenbush R. R., its continuation to Troy ; Boston & Albany R. R., extending south- east through East Greenbush and Schodack; Troy & Boston R. R.,extending north-east through Lansingburgh, Schaghticoke, Pittstown, Hoosick, and a corner of Petersburgh, to the Ver- mont line; Lebanon Springs R. R., connecting Chatham Four Corners and Bennington, Vt., extending through Stephentown, Berlin and Petersburgh ; the Rensselaer & Saratoga R. R., con- necting Troy and Saratoga Springs, and a branch of the New York Central, connecting Troy and Schenectady. The last named roads cross the river at Troy on a substantial bridge, 1600 feet in length, used for carriages as well as railroads. The can- als open into the Hudson opposite Troy, and steamboats ply be- tween this city and New York.
The first newspaper published within the present limits of the County was
The Northern Centinel and Lansingburgh Advertiser. It was started at Lansingburgh, May 15, 1787, by Claxton & Babcock, and was afterwards removed to Albany.
THE LANSINGBURGH GAZETTE was started in 1798, and was subsequently published for many years as
65
RENSSELAER COUNTY.
. The Rensselaer County Gazette. It afterwards resumed its for- mer title, and is now published by S. B. Kirkpatrick.
The Lansingburgh Democrat was started in December 1838, by William J. Lamb, by whom it was published for several years.
The Golden Rule was established at Lansingburgh in 1841, by Rev. R. W. Smith, and was published for several years.
The Juvenile Pearl was started at the same place, September 1, 1845, by Rev. J. A. Pitman.
The Farmers' Oracle was started at Troy in 1796, by Luther Pratt. It was continued only a short time.
The Farmers' Register was started at Lansingburgh in 1798, by Francis Adancourt. It was subsequently removed to Troy, where it was published until 1832.
THE NORTHERN BUDGET was commenced at Troy in 1797, by Robert Moffitt and Col. Wells. It was subsequently pub- lished by Moffitt & Lyon, and after the death of Mr. Moffitt, in 1807, it was published by Oliver Lyon, the surviving partner. It was issued weekly for several years, and subsequently, daily, for many years, by different parties. From May 1846 to August 1847 it was published by J. M. Francis & E. Brownell, at which time Mr. Brownell gave place to C. L. MacArthur. It was subsequently published in connection with several other papers, by W. W. Whitman, William Hagadorn, and for a time by W. H. Merriam. In 1862 its publication was suspended. In May 1867 it was re- vived as a Sunday paper, by C. L. MacArthur, its present pub- lisher.
The Troy Gazette was founded in 1802 by Thomas Collier, and was continued until 1818.
The Troy Post was started Sept. 1, 1812, by Parker & Bliss, and was changed July 15, 1823, to
The Troy Sentinel, a semi-weekly paper. It was continued until January 1, 1833. From May 1, 1830, to August 1831, a daily edition was issued.
The Evangelical Restorationist, a semi-monthly, was com- menced in 1825 by Adolphus Skinner.
The Troy Review, or Religious and Musical Repository, was commenced Jan. 4, 1826, and was published two years.
The Evangelical Repository was published in 1828.
The Troy Republican, an Anti-Masonic paper, was started in 1828 by Austin & Wellington, and was continued about a year.
The Northern Watchman (Anti-Masonic) was started in 1831 by E. Wellington. In 1832 its name was changed to
66
RENSSELAER COUNTY.
The Troy Watchman, and was continued one or two years.
The Gospel Anchor (Universalist) was started in 1831 by John M. Austin, and was afterwards published by H. J. Green. It was continued until 1834.
The Troy Press was started in 1832 by William Yates and Seth Richards, and was continued until July 1, 1834. A daily edition was issued during the last year.
THE TROY WHIG, daily and weekly, was started in July 1834, by James M. Stevenson, who continued its publication until his death, in 1850, when it passed into the hands of Mr. Brigham. In 1855 or '56 George Abbott became its publisher, and in 1863 he sold to an association of gentlemen, who published it under the firm name of Green & Co. It has since passed through various hands, and is now published by Alex. Kirk- patrick. A weekly edition is issued. It was for a time called the
Troy American.
The Troy Statesman was commenced in 1834 by T. J. Suther- land.
. The Botanic Advocate was published in 1834 by Russell Buckley.
The Trojan was started in 1835, and published daily for a few months.
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