Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Block-Sinking; Or Brick And Mortar Reminiscences In The East.
of course suggested itself as an antidote for this disorder , and had been used in considerable quantities , it appears , but was afterwards discontinued on the important discovery being made that blocks did always fulfil their destiny somehow , no matter how much cracked ; under which happy
circumstances it was quite immaterial whether they had hoop-iron in them or not , and that using it , therefore , would be a sheer waste of the sinews of war . Thus another proof had to be recorded that there are many more wondrous things in the world to be noted than were ever
¦ dreamt of in this poor traveller ' s philosophy . When the blocks have been sunk to their full depth of 20 ft ., the wells are filled in with sand ( there was certainly no necessity for using anything else that I could see , all things considered , but which there is no use enumerating here ); then
strongly arched over inside by means of the notches—cacophonously styled " skew-backs "left for this purpose with such exquisite forethought when building the last 8 ft . of the block .
The spaces between the blocks are also filled m with brickwork , and presto ! the whole foundation is then complete , and approximates to what is so neatly delineated on the plan . But why not exactly ? Simply because it is invariably found that the blocks when sinking have shifted more
or less from the positions originally assigned them , though , generally speaking with the four well blocks—to no very embarrassing extent . With the narrow nautical looking affair , though , whenever they did get a chance of going down properlthey turned about to every point of the
y , compass , utterly uncontrollable members , in fact , of the block fraternity . To an inclividual who , situate like myself , had never seen anything of the kind before , several long rows of these sinking blocks , with the crowds of people working on thempresent a very curious
, spectacle , even in daytime ; but at night , by torchlight , the scene is indescribably cold and . picturesque ; the effect being so much enhanced as it is by the whole of the tableau being reflected from the still surface of the' lake in which the blocks
have become gradually and totally isolated . A distant view of these nocturnal well-sinkers , with all their paraphernalia of office , working away " by the light of the moon , " when , there is one , and always with torches , whether there is or not , might be likened , for want of something better , to
swarms of belligerent black ants illuminated in their conflict by an army works corps of fire flies . Something better and more appropriate than the above may suggest itself , perhaps , to the more fervid imagination of the reader . Speaking of scenic effectthoughlet me pay a
, , passing tribute to the enchanting view from the place where all these interesting works were going on . About ten or twelve miles off Avere the low rugged outlined hills of the Siwalik range , so full of geological interest ; these were backed by the
Block-Sinking; Or Brick And Mortar Reminiscences In The East.
"hills" — -par excellence—on a fine day could be seen some forty miles off , dotted about on their summits between 6 , 000 ft . and 7 , 000 ft . above sealevel , the comfortable domiciles of that very celestial retreat already spoken of , and happy indeed the man who can flit thither from all the turmoil
and abominations of life in the plains . The finest features in the landscape , though , are the magnifioent peaks of the " Snowy Range , " standing out in such bold relief against their background of blue sky;—altogether , in fact , as pretty a picture as can well be seen , and highly refreshing to
the poor wretches with " liver" and blue devils who can't get there . The end of the working season , i . e ., a little before the middle of June , in the beds of rivers , is characterised by all the hurry scurry usual in mundane affairs when preparing for any great event , and when something or other will always be left to the last . All the " res impedimenta" of
brick and mortar life are now cleared away from the scene of action , and everything supposed to be in readiness for the burst of the rains , and one of those terrific looking floods or " raos , " as they are called in the vernacular , which so scared the . poor . writer once when he was caught in one of them ,
and with not a moment to lose in reaching terra fir-ma : a decided case of sauve qui pent it is on such occasions , let me tell you . On the river bed being deserted in favour of" its legitimate owner , nothing but the tops of the submerged blocks , and the huge mounds of sand excavated to make room
for them , remain to show how much has been made of irrecoverable opportunities . These mounds are fortunately but perishable relics of human industry , and their soft masses soon yield to the first rush of mighty waters , leaving the surface of the river bed afterwards as if nothing had happened to disturb the serenity of its repose . ( To be continued . )
Masonic Notes And Queries.
MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .
THE ASMOIB MASTTSCUIPTS AT OXFORD . Mr . "W . H . Black , well known in the archaeological world , is , as I believe , the individual most likely to possess the information desired by a brother who writes from Birmingham . The Ashmole MSS . at Oxford were examined whilst I held the office of Secretary to the Record Boardand to the best of
, my recollection about the year 1835 . In the FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE , Vol . 10 , p . 179 , it is stated that a German professor and brother , with whom I hecame acquainted at Leipsic about forty years ago , ascribed the rise of modern Freemasonry to a literary clubof which Elias Ashmole was a principal
mem-, ber . The club , in fanciful imitation of the medimal secret societies , used a system of signs and symbols , borrowed from the Knights Templar and the Rosicrucians . If I may venture to form a conjecture on the point , the above-mentioned examination of : thft
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Block-Sinking; Or Brick And Mortar Reminiscences In The East.
of course suggested itself as an antidote for this disorder , and had been used in considerable quantities , it appears , but was afterwards discontinued on the important discovery being made that blocks did always fulfil their destiny somehow , no matter how much cracked ; under which happy
circumstances it was quite immaterial whether they had hoop-iron in them or not , and that using it , therefore , would be a sheer waste of the sinews of war . Thus another proof had to be recorded that there are many more wondrous things in the world to be noted than were ever
¦ dreamt of in this poor traveller ' s philosophy . When the blocks have been sunk to their full depth of 20 ft ., the wells are filled in with sand ( there was certainly no necessity for using anything else that I could see , all things considered , but which there is no use enumerating here ); then
strongly arched over inside by means of the notches—cacophonously styled " skew-backs "left for this purpose with such exquisite forethought when building the last 8 ft . of the block .
The spaces between the blocks are also filled m with brickwork , and presto ! the whole foundation is then complete , and approximates to what is so neatly delineated on the plan . But why not exactly ? Simply because it is invariably found that the blocks when sinking have shifted more
or less from the positions originally assigned them , though , generally speaking with the four well blocks—to no very embarrassing extent . With the narrow nautical looking affair , though , whenever they did get a chance of going down properlthey turned about to every point of the
y , compass , utterly uncontrollable members , in fact , of the block fraternity . To an inclividual who , situate like myself , had never seen anything of the kind before , several long rows of these sinking blocks , with the crowds of people working on thempresent a very curious
, spectacle , even in daytime ; but at night , by torchlight , the scene is indescribably cold and . picturesque ; the effect being so much enhanced as it is by the whole of the tableau being reflected from the still surface of the' lake in which the blocks
have become gradually and totally isolated . A distant view of these nocturnal well-sinkers , with all their paraphernalia of office , working away " by the light of the moon , " when , there is one , and always with torches , whether there is or not , might be likened , for want of something better , to
swarms of belligerent black ants illuminated in their conflict by an army works corps of fire flies . Something better and more appropriate than the above may suggest itself , perhaps , to the more fervid imagination of the reader . Speaking of scenic effectthoughlet me pay a
, , passing tribute to the enchanting view from the place where all these interesting works were going on . About ten or twelve miles off Avere the low rugged outlined hills of the Siwalik range , so full of geological interest ; these were backed by the
Block-Sinking; Or Brick And Mortar Reminiscences In The East.
"hills" — -par excellence—on a fine day could be seen some forty miles off , dotted about on their summits between 6 , 000 ft . and 7 , 000 ft . above sealevel , the comfortable domiciles of that very celestial retreat already spoken of , and happy indeed the man who can flit thither from all the turmoil
and abominations of life in the plains . The finest features in the landscape , though , are the magnifioent peaks of the " Snowy Range , " standing out in such bold relief against their background of blue sky;—altogether , in fact , as pretty a picture as can well be seen , and highly refreshing to
the poor wretches with " liver" and blue devils who can't get there . The end of the working season , i . e ., a little before the middle of June , in the beds of rivers , is characterised by all the hurry scurry usual in mundane affairs when preparing for any great event , and when something or other will always be left to the last . All the " res impedimenta" of
brick and mortar life are now cleared away from the scene of action , and everything supposed to be in readiness for the burst of the rains , and one of those terrific looking floods or " raos , " as they are called in the vernacular , which so scared the . poor . writer once when he was caught in one of them ,
and with not a moment to lose in reaching terra fir-ma : a decided case of sauve qui pent it is on such occasions , let me tell you . On the river bed being deserted in favour of" its legitimate owner , nothing but the tops of the submerged blocks , and the huge mounds of sand excavated to make room
for them , remain to show how much has been made of irrecoverable opportunities . These mounds are fortunately but perishable relics of human industry , and their soft masses soon yield to the first rush of mighty waters , leaving the surface of the river bed afterwards as if nothing had happened to disturb the serenity of its repose . ( To be continued . )
Masonic Notes And Queries.
MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .
THE ASMOIB MASTTSCUIPTS AT OXFORD . Mr . "W . H . Black , well known in the archaeological world , is , as I believe , the individual most likely to possess the information desired by a brother who writes from Birmingham . The Ashmole MSS . at Oxford were examined whilst I held the office of Secretary to the Record Boardand to the best of
, my recollection about the year 1835 . In the FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE , Vol . 10 , p . 179 , it is stated that a German professor and brother , with whom I hecame acquainted at Leipsic about forty years ago , ascribed the rise of modern Freemasonry to a literary clubof which Elias Ashmole was a principal
mem-, ber . The club , in fanciful imitation of the medimal secret societies , used a system of signs and symbols , borrowed from the Knights Templar and the Rosicrucians . If I may venture to form a conjecture on the point , the above-mentioned examination of : thft