* * * * *

THE BERTHON COLLAPSIBLE CANOE.

An endeavor has often been made to construct a canoe that a person can easily carry overland and put into the water without aid, and convert into a sailboat.  The system that we now call attention to is very well contrived, very light, easily taken apart, and for some years past has met with much favor.

[Illustration:  FIG. 1.—­BERTHON COLLAPSIBLE CANOE AFLOAT.]

Mr. Berthon’s canoes are made of impervious oil-skin.  Form is given them by two stiff wooden gunwales which are held in position by struts that can be easily put in and taken out.  The model shown in the figure is covered with oiled canvas, and is provided with a double paddle and a small sail.  Fig. 2 represents it collapsed and being carried overland.

[Illustration:  FIG. 2.—­THE SAME BEING CARRIED OVERLAND.]

Mr. Berthon is manufacturing a still simpler style, which is provided with two oars, as in an ordinary canoe.  This model, which is much used in England by fishermen and hunters, has for several years past been employed in the French navy, in connection with movable defenses.  At present, every torpedo boat carries one or two of these canoes, each composed of two independent halves that may be put into the water separately or be joined together by an iron rod.

These boats ride the water very well, and are very valuable for exploring quarters whither torpedo boats could not adventure without danger.[1]—­La Nature.

[Footnote 1:  For detailed description see SUPPLEMENT, No. 84.]

* * * * *

THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OPENING OF THE FIRST GERMAN STEAM RAILROAD.

There was great excitement in Nuernberg on the 7th of December, 1835, on which day the first German railroad was opened.  The great square on which the buildings of the Nuernberg and Furth “Ludwig’s Road” stood, the neighboring streets, and, in fact, the whole road between the two cities, was filled with a crowd of people who flocked from far and near to see the wonderful spectacle.  For the first time, a railroad train filled with passengers was to be drawn from Nuernberg to Furth by the invisible power of the steam horse.  At eight o’clock in the morning, the civil and military authorities, etc., who took part in the celebration were assembled on the square, and the gayly decorated train started off to an accompaniment of music, cannonading, cheering, etc.  Everything passed off without an accident; the work was a success.  The engraving in the lower right-hand corner represents the engine and cars of this road.

It will be plainly seen that such a revolution could not be accomplished easily, and that much sacrifice and energy were required of the leaders in the enterprise, prominent among whom was the merchant Johannes Scharrer, who is known as the founder of the “Ludwig’s Road.”