Shellac

“ A great amount of practice and patience is required to get a first class polish. Polishing can only be learned by experience. Correct your troubles in properly proportioning the mixture. Never use too much shellac as it will build up too fast and will not harden, thus causing rings; or it will pull and catch to the pad, thus forming bunches. The purpose of alcohol is mainly to dilute the shellac and to prevent against putting it on the work too fast, but care must be taken not to use too much alcohol to cut the shellac entirely. ”

“ To make Shellac Varnish.—To make varnish, put the shellac in a clean vessel and put over it a quantity of good alcohol, enough to about cover it, if it lie somewhat compact in the receptacle; if too thick when made it can be thinned with alcohol. While the gum is dissolving keep it covered from dust and let it stand in a warm place, as in the sun during the summer, or near a warm stove in the winter. Too much warmth will tend to evaporate the alcohol ”

“ He prepares his water-proof stiffening by mixing 18 pounds of shellac with 11⁄2 pounds of salt of tartar (carbonate of potash) , and 51⁄2 gallons of water. These materials are to be put into a kettle, and made to boil gradually until the lac is dissolved; when the liquor will become as clear as water, without any scum upon the top, and if left to cool, will have a thin crust upon its surface of a whitish cast, mixed with the light impurities of the gum. When this skin is taken off, the hat body is to be dipped into the mixture in a cold state, so as to absorb as much as possible of it ”

“ Next apply a coat of filler colored to match the stain. Directions for its application will be found upon the cans in which the filler comes. After the filler has hardened put on a very thin coat of shellac. [26]
What step is taken next will depend upon what kind of a surface is desired. Several coats of polishing wax may be put on. This is easily done—directions will be found on the cans—and makes the most satisfactory finish for mission and craftsman furniture. It is the easiest to apply. Several coats of shellac or of varnish might be put on instead of wax. ”

“ Dissolve 1 pound shellac in 1 gallon 95 per cent. alcohol; then add 1⁄2 pound best powdered ivory black, 5 ounces finest emery flour, 2 ounces ultramarine blue; mix well and keep air tight. When using stir frequently. If thick enough to show brush marks, add more alcohol; work quick with a fine brush.
TO MAKE A BLACKBOARD ON COMMON PLASTER.
Stop all cracks and holes with plaster paris mixed in glue size. When dry sandpaper until all is smooth; then paper the wall with white blank wall paper, butt the edges, put on with strong paste, and be careful to rub out all blisters. ”

“ The rails are mortised [38] into the stiles 1/2 in. and both are grooved to receive the panel. It is best to get the stock a little full for the door so that it may be made up a little larger than necessary and planed down to fit.
There only remains to fit in the shelves and fasten the top and back. The top and back are held with screws as shown in sketch.
Taper the keys only slightly, otherwise they will keep working loose.
Stain with two coats of weathered oak, give one coat of thin shellac to fix the stain and two coats of wax for a soft-gloss finish. ”

“ The steps of a horse were heard: Monina flew to the casement. "It is our faithful Irish friend, my lord; it is O'Water." The door was opened; and each one crowded round the visitant. He uttered a "By the mischief!" which sounded like a benediction, when he saw the duke of York, adding, "All is well, all in readiness; I left the Adalid, after the storm yester evening, in safe anchorage."
"Oh yes, safety," cried the enthusiastic Spaniard; "safety or death! Trust not false Clifford—seize the fleeting, precious opportunity,—O'Water's horse——"
"Is blown," said Richard; "he cannot carry me." ”

“ We shall probably not make too great a mistake if we estimate the number of the larger shellmounds around the Bay of San Francisco to be over 100. So many and such enormous shellmounds can not possibly have been constructed by human hands unintentionally in any small number of centuries. Furthermore, they form a link of a larger chain of similar mounds which stretch northerly along the coast and inland from Southern California to beyond Vancouver and possibly still farther ”

“ Those who modestly betook themselves to the smaller craft, for the most part achieved their watery journey in safety. Some, in the true spirit of reckless enterprise, went on board a ship of an hundred and twenty guns; the vast hull drifted with the tide out of the bay, and after many hours its crew of landsmen contrived to spread a great part of her enormous canvass—the wind took it, and while a thousand mistakes of the helmsman made her present her head now to one point, and now to another, the vast fields of canvass that formed her sails flapped with a sound like that of a huge cataract ”

“ Coming towards you a shell makes a cutting, swishing note, gradually getting higher and higher, louder and louder. There is a longer note one instant and then it ceases. Shrapnel bursting close to you has the worst sound.
It is almost funny in a village that is being shelled. Things simply disappear. You are standing in an archway a little back from the road—a shriek of shrapnel. The windows are broken and the tiles rush clattering into the street, while little bullets and bits of shell jump like red-hot devils from side to side of the street, ricochetting until their force is spent. ”

“ Soon in pursuit appeared a ship and two corvettes, which O'Water recognized as belonging to Waterford. The corvettes proceeded on their way; but the larger vessel spied out the Adalid, and, being now in advance of her, hove to, with the manifest resolve of attacking her on her watery way towards Cork. De Faro, with his keen eyes fixed on the enemy's movements, stood on the forecastle in silence; while Plantagenet and O'Water eagerly demanded arms, and exhorted the sailors to a most vain resistance. From the vessel of the foe the Moorish mariner cast his eyes upwards ”

“ A curious thing, in this connection, is that while a kingfisher will allow none of his kind to poach on his preserves, he lives at peace with the brood of sheldrakes that occupy the same stretch of river. And the sheldrake eats a dozen fish to his one. The same thing is noticeable among the sheldrakes also, namely, that each pair, or rather each mother and her brood, have their own piece of lake or river on which no others are allowed to fish. The male sheldrakes meanwhile are far away, fishing on their own waters. ”

“ For a moment the gale paused, and ocean sank to comparative silence—it was a breathless interval; the wind which, as a practised leaper, had gathered itself up before it sprung, now with terrific roar rushed over the sea, and the waves struck our stern. Adrian exclaimed that the rudder was gone;—"We are lost," cried Clara, "Save yourselves—O save yourselves!" The lightning shewed me the poor girl half buried in the water at the bottom of the boat; as she was sinking in it Adrian caught her up, and sustained her in his arms. ”

“ The shell I afterward gave to the cook and another to the second steward, who, by this time, was almost insane with excitement and pleasure. We had a very busy day receiving shell and packing it in the wooden cases that are still being made on the forward deck. The black sailors work extraordinarily well and with perfect willingness and good nature. They make play of everything, and in spite of their small stature and slender, elegant figures, handle great weights with the utmost ease and dexterity. The little native boys work as hard as any in helping pack the shell. ”

“ Every few minutes a shell burst close to us. Shrapnel-bullets and fragments of shell-casing forced us to huddle under the baggage for protection. A little to the left some Australians were severely punished. Shell after shell burst among them. A regiment of Sikh troops, mule-drivers, and transport-men were caught half-way up the beach. Above the din of falling shrapnel and the shriek of flying shells rose the piercing scream of wounded mules. The Newfoundlanders did not escape. ”

“ Every danger was past. There floated the caravel which insured escape, and the stars alone witnessed their flight. Monina gave her white veil to O'Water, who contrived to elevate it on the cross. In a few moments the splash of oars was heard, and a dark speck floated towards them on the waves, from the direction of the Adalid. "They come; you are safe," murmured his lovely friend; "this hour repays for all." The boat was already on the beach: a seaman leaped on shore. ”

“ Shelly found a Bay neere a quarter of a mile over, so full of Mullets, as none of them before had ever seene or heard of the like: the next day seeking to kill them with fis-gigs, they strucke so many the water in many places was red with bloud, yet caught not one, but with a net they caught so many as they could draw a shore, with infinite number of Pilchards and divers other sorts; great craw-fishes in a night by making a fire they have taken in great quantity. ”

“ Foot to foot the young hero and the veteran mariner fought; one by the quickness of his blows, the other by his tower-like strength, keeping back the enemy; while retreating slowly, their faces to the foe, they called on their men to make good their escape. They reached the quay—they saw the wide river, their refuge; their vessels near at hand, the boats hovering close, their safety was in sight, and yet hope of safety died in their hearts, so many and so fierce were those who pressed on them, Richard was wounded, weary, faint ”

“ We cannot have everything, and if we want fine shells, we must go to the edge of a smoother sea and by the wash of lighter waves than what we find in the full face of the great Atlantic. Yet, in justice, it must be added that very perfect specimens of one of the most fragile and uncommon of English shells, the purple Helix, have, twice or thrice, been picked up amongst the rocks or on the sands at Bude. ”

“ Shellfish and fish are alone obtainable all the year round--collecting the former is exclusively a female occupation, but fishing is chiefly practised by the men. Fish are either killed with a plain pointed spear, often merely a stick sharpened at the end, or are taken in deep water with the hook and line. Their hooks are made of a strip of tortoise-shell so much curved as to form three-fourths of a circle, but from their shape and the absence of a barb they cannot be so effective as those of European make: indeed these last were at Cape York preferred by the natives themselves. ”

“ On the top of the Cross Wall near I saw a grey crab fearlessly crawl; at the end where the street begins, I saw a single gas-light palely burn that broad day, and at its foot a black man lay on his face, clad only in a shirt and one boot; the harbour was almost packed with every sort of craft, and on a Calais-Dover boat, eight yards from my stern, which must have left Calais crowded to suffocation, I saw the rotted dead lie heaped, she being unmoored, and continually grinding against an anchored green brig. ”

“ The sheik of the cataract is our captain, and his men are our sailors to-day; Reïs Hassan and the crew having only to sit still and look on. The shellalees, meanwhile, row swiftly and steadily. Already the river seems to be running faster than usual; already the current feels stronger under our keel. And now, suddenly, there is sparkle and foam on the surface yonder—there are rocks ahead; rocks to right and left; eddies everywhere. The sheik lays down his pipe, kicks off his shoes, and goes himself to the prow. ”

“ The use of shell in the manufacture of fishing implements seems to have been almost unknown among the tribes of the Atlantic coast, and with the exception of a few pendant-like objects, resembling plummets [pg 208] or sinkers of stone, nothing has been obtained from the ancient burial mounds of the Mississippi Valley. Hooks of shell, however, are very plentiful in the ancient burial-places of the Pacific coast, and are frequently so well shaped as to excite our admiration. ”

“ Hardly less disturbed than the tempestuous world of waters was the assembly of human beings, that from the cliff fearfully watched its ravings. On the morning of the arrival of the emigrants under the conduct of Adrian, the sea had been serene and glassy, the slight ripples refracted the sunbeams, which shed their radiance through the clear blue frosty air. This placid appearance of nature was hailed as a good augury for the voyage, and the chief immediately repaired to the harbour to examine two steamboats which were moored there. ”

“ Analogous is the statement of Wyman, l. c., p. 564, about the shellmounds of New England.
[33] Cf. also Hellwald, Der vorgeschichtliche Mensch, p. 449, on the Kjökkenmöddinger of Denmark.
[34] Nadaillac, l. c., p. 50, states from uncertain authority that a shellmound near San Pablo was said to consist of calcined shells exclusively, which is certainly an exaggeration.
[35] It is alleged that there are shellmounds in the East which contain no implements at all, and have been used for the gathering of mussels only, and not as dwelling places (Abbott, p. 447, accord. to Charles A. Woodley) . ”

“ At the crossroads entering Hébuterne from Sailly, a particularly hot place, and one that I know very well, having been billeted in a cellar within a hundred yards from it during two winter months I have known as many as seventy casualties from one shell-bursting. Every day one either sees or hears of large or small parties being blotted out by enemy shelling. ”