To divert their attention, he entered into minute inquiries concerning the health of his former Indian comrades, and in this way gained sufficient time to gather up an armful of dry tobacco. When he had done this, he dropped it carefully in their faces, and followed up the playfulness by leaping bodily on them. The rascals began to sneeze and choke with the dust, and in their confusion Boone managed to escape to his cabin. After this incident he appears to have led a tranquil life, farming with great industry, and sporting with great enthusiasm at the proper times.

In 1792, Kentucky came into the Federal Union as a sovereign state. Its population was rapidly on the increase, and much eagerness was displayed to obtain lands by immigrants. Lawsuits were the inevitable consequence. Titles were scrutinized with the greatest severity, and the slightest defect led to speedy ejectment. Unfortunately, many of the titles granted by the Virginia commissioners were entirely worthless, and this, we are sorry to add, was found to be the case with regard to the land held by Boone. The home he had defended so bravely against the savages fell beneath the more subtle warfare of the lawyer. He was ejected. In his old age he found himself without an acre of ground that he could call his own, and this in a country he had explored and populated. A harder case can not be imagined. Deeply grieved, he made up his mind to leave the state, and seek peace and plenty elsewhere. With this intention, he removed to the Kenhawa, in Virginia, and settled on that river, not far from Point Pleasant. During his short residence here he met with some hunters who were just returned from Upper Louisiana, and were full of tales of the vast game products of the prairies. The old hunter fired at their narratives, and determined to emigrate thither without any farther delay. It is said that he made particular inquiries concerning the lawyers of the Far West before he came to this determination. In 1795 he took his departure, and proceeded to the district of St. Charles, about forty-five miles west of St. Louis, where he settled, having received assurances from the Spanish lieutenant governor that ample portions of land should be given to him and his family. In 1800, the lieutenant governor, as a mark of distinction and friendship, appointed Boone commandant of the Femme Osage District, in which capacity he acted until the transfer of the government to the United States, He appears to have been very much delighted with the simple habits

of the people of his new home. Prior to the transfer we have mentioned, a grant of land was made to Boone, in return for his official services, but, owing to some informality, the grant was once more repudiated, and Boone left landless.

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In 1812, by the advice of his friends, he petitioned Congress to obtain a confirmation of his claim, and, at the same time, sent a memorial to the General Assembly of Kentucky, begging them to use their influence in the matter. "This memorial,” says Mr. Peck, “contained a sketch of his labors in the wilderness, and ' of his claims to the remembrance of his country in general.' He spoke of 'his struggles in the fatal fields which were dyed with the blood of the early settlers, among whom were his two eldest sons, and others of his dearest connections. The history of the settlement of the Western country,' he said, 'was his history.' He alluded to the love of discovery and adventure which had induced him to expatriate himself, 'under the assurance of the governor of St. Louis that ample portions of land should be given to him and to his family.' He mentioned the allotment of land, his failure to consummate the title, and his unsuccessful application to the commissioners of the United States. Of the vast extent of country which he had discovered and explored, 'he was unable to call a single acre his own,' and 'he had laid his case before Congress. Your memorialist,' he added, can not but feel, so long as feeling remains, that he has a just claim upon his country for land to live on, and to transmit to his children after him. He can not help, on an occasion like this, to look toward Kentucky. From a small acorn she has become a mighty oak, furnishing shelter to upward of four hundred thousand souls. Very different is her appearance now from the time when your memorialist, with his little band, began to fell the forest, and construct the rude fortifications at Boonesborough."" The memorial of the worthy old pioneer was received favorably by the Legislature, who reported in both houses without a division. The application to Congress was equally successful, and one thousand arpents of land (more than eight hundred acres) were confirmed to him in the Femme Osage District, as originally granted to him by the Spanish government.

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In March, 1813, Mrs. Boone, the partner and sharer of all his joys and dangers, died at the advanced age of seventy-six. Daniel was still a hale, hearty old man when this occurred, but he

He

viewed with perfect tranquillity the approaching close of his own earthly career. A singular fact is related of him. Soon after his wife's demise, he gave directions to a cabinet-maker to make a coffin of black walnut for himself. This was done, and it remained in his possession for some time; but, fancying that it was not a good fit, he gave it away, and procured another of cherry wood, which he kept under his bed to the day of his death. was very anxious to be placed beside his wife, and entered into a written contract with a companion, who usually accompanied him on his hunting tours, that, should he die in the wilderness, he would convey the body to the cemetery in which she lay, and there inter him. His passion for hunting never deserted him, and to the day of his death he made excursions into the wilderness, seldom visiting the same place twice, or, when this was impossible, amused himself with repairing rifles, making powderhorns, etc. In his domestic relations he was perfectly happy, surrounded with a large family of grandchildren, all of whom doted on the hero, and vied with each other in tendering him every attention and kindness. On the 26th of September, 1820, he departed this life, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. His remains were disposed in the way he had desired, but, a quarter of a century later, they were removed, together with those of his wife, to the cemetery at Frankfort, where they were reinterred with appropriate ceremonies.

"The life of Daniel Boone," says Governor Morehead, "is a forcible example of the powerful influence which a single absorbing passion exerts over the destiny of an individual. Born with no endowments of intellect to distinguish him from the crowd of ordinary men, and possessing no other acquirements than a very common education bestowed, he was enabled, nevertheless, to maintain a long and useful career, a conspicuous rank among the most distinguished of his contemporaries; and the testimonials of the public gratitude and respect with which he was honored after his death were such as were never awarded by an intelligent people to the undeserving."

JOSEPH BRAMAH.

ONE of the most talented and ingenious artisans that England has ever produced was the late Mr. Joseph Bramah, a man whose useful inventions are to be found in every nook and corner of the United Kingdom, and who has given to the world an almost unlimited power in the apparatus known as the hydrostatic press.

Joseph Bramah was the son of a small farmer, and was born at Stainsborough, Yorkshire, on the 13th of April, 1749. He was the eldest of the family, and was intended to follow the avocation of an agriculturist; but at a very early age he exhibited remarkable mechanical aptness, and seemed to fancy tools rather than implements. At the age of sixteen he met with an accident which incapacitated him for the laborious duties of the farm, and gave a direction to his future life. Being badly lamed, it became necessary that he should choose a business in which walking was not essential. Most farmers' boys know something of carpentering, and Bramah, who delighted in it, could handle tools with decided skill. It was determined, therefore, that this should be his future business. He was apprenticed to a carpenter and joiner, and, at the expiration of his time, proceeded to London, where he worked journeyman for some years. By the exercise of industry and prudence, he was soon in a position to start in business on his own account. With more leisure and extended means, he was now able to indulge his mechanical inclinations, and soon was widely known as a skillful and ingenious workman, and a mechanic of fine inventive powers. A few years later he adopted the profession of engineer or machinist, having, in the mean time, invented some important improvements in waterclosets, which article he manufactured. But what gave him most reputation was an ingenious lock, still universally used in England, and known by his name. The construction of this lock is remarkably ingenious. Its security depends on the nice adjustment of a number of levers or sliders, which preserve, when at rest, a uniform situation. The key presses down these levers to a certain extent, and no more; and so exact is its operations, that the lock was considered impregnable until Mr. Hobbs, an American mechanic of great talent, succeeded in picking it, after many

hours' labor, at the Crystal Palace. On another occasion, this lock was opened before a committee of the House of Commons by means of a common quill. The object of the experiment was to show the extreme delicacy of the works, the quill having been cut into the required shape from the true key. This lock obtained a patent in 1784.

Among other inventions by Mr. Bramah were improvements in water-cocks, pumps, and fire-engines; but the most important of all, and the one for which he will be always remembered, is the hydraulic press. The principle of this machine is thus described : A given pressure, as that given by a plug forced inward upon a square inch of the surface of a fluid confined in a vessel, is suddenly communicated to every square inch of the vessel's surface, however large, and to every inch of the surface of any body immersed in it: thus, if we attempt to force a cork into a vessel full of water, the pressure will not merely be felt by the portion of the water directly in the range of the cork, but by all parts of the mass alike; and the liability of the bottle to break, supposing it to be of uniform strength throughout, will be as great in one place as another; and a bottle will break at the point wherever it is the weakest, however that point may be situated relatively to the place where the cork is applied; and the effect will be the same, whether the stopper be inserted at the top, bottom, or side of the vessel. It is this power which operates with such astonishing effect in the hydrostatic press. The application of the hand at the handle with a force of only ten pounds produces an actual power of two thousand five hundred pounds, and so in proportion to the size, strength, and capacity of the machine. A man can easily exert ten times the force supposed, and thus command a power of twenty-five thousand pounds. These stupendous effects seem almost magical when it is remembered that they are produced by two small pipes, each fitted with a piston and a little water, which for years needs no replenishing. This invaluable machine was patented in 1796. In the following year Bramah patented the beer-machine now so common in hotels, and in private houses where water is not easily obtained. By the aid of this elegant little contrivance, fluids may be drawn from remote places with the greatest ease. He was also the inventor of improvements in steam-engines, especially in boilers; in machinery for producing smooth and accurate surfaces on wood or metal; in paper-making