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Each sectional filing cabinet is
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If you are interested in procuring
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TECHNICAL
W O R L D
MAGAZINE
TAB LB OF C O N T E N T S
^
Cover Design. W. D. GOLDBECK.
Frontispiece. POEM: THE GREATER
POWER. MARGARET ASHMUN.
Design: FRED STEARNS,
Planting Trees for the Future.
GUY E. MITCHELI
To Use the Earth's Inner Fires.
RENE BACHE
SEPTEMBER, 1907
Paee
China's Rejection of Opium \V. G.
FITZ-GERALD
When Mulligan Lost His Nerve.
STORY. A. B. MOSLER
True Stories about Sharks. T.
JENKINS HAINS
30
43
Making Artificial Eyes. FREDERICK
Ploughing BLOUNT WARREN by Gasoline. . . . GEORGE . . 48
Electrifying the Farm. B. VAN
BRUSSEL . . . . 53
Engineering Progress . . . .113
Champion Blowing off of Steam the Snakes 118 H. D.
JONES
61
Consulting Department .... 120
Earth Wobbling at Its Poles.
Science JOHN ELFRETH and Invention WATKINS . . . . .124 us
Machines which Almost
WILLIAM R. STEWART .
Coming of the Sky Piercer.
ALLEN WILLEY . , . .
•Steam Autos for Heavy Work.
DAVID BEECROFT
Our Latest War College. WALDOS
FAWCETT
Beautiful Effects in Electric Discharges.
FRANK C. PERKINS
How the Earth Looks from a Kite.
HENRY HALE
Millions for River Bridge. CHARLES
ALMA BYERS . . . . . . .
New Engine Speed Recorder.
W. PERRY
im
106
108
T. HACKLEY . . . . . . . Ill
THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE, published the fifteenth of each month
preceding the date of issue, is a popular, illustrated record of progress in science, invention
and industry.
PRICE: The subscription price is $1.50 per year, payable in advance; single copies. 15
cents This includes postage to all parts of the United States and Mexico. Fifty cents a year
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regular foreign postage. Foreign postage is $1.00 a year additional.
H O W TO REMIT : Subscriptions should be sent by draft on Chicago, express or
postoffice money order.
THE EDITORS invite the submission of photographs and articles on subjects of
modern engineering, scientific, and popular interest. All contributions will be carefully considered
and prompt decision rendered. Payment will be made on acceptance. Unaccepted
material will be returned if accompanied with stamps for return postage. While the utmost
care will be exercised, the editors disclaim all responsibility for manuscripts submitted.
Address all communications to
TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE,
Fifty-Eighth Street and Drexel Avenue.
CO CO CG ^Ptit>li^hed by> Qi €h CD
THE TECHNICAL WORLD CO.,
CHICAGO, U. S.A.
Entered at the Postoffice, Chicago, 111., as second-class mail matter

This hook tells a thousan
points of law that every busi
ness man needs to know —
points which are commonly
unknown until after the
damage has been done a
a loss incurred. It is
complete ready referenc
desk manual containing
an exhaustive subject index.
The partial list of
the contents shows
at a glance the moni
value of this com
prehensive book
any business man
be he employer,
large or sma
be he employee,
no matter what
his position
Mention Technical ll'orld Magazine
This handsome, cloth-bound
152 page book on
Business Law is
FREE

••• A&Ay
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'a.
••\7_
— i ^ - - —
wmmmwM f^M^^^./gll§m
^i.~mkA*^:e:A,\^:^$*.
so
We prate much, boasting, of the might ol steam,
And what its throbbing energies have done ;
We tell of wealth and glory shrewdly won
From intricate devices, where the gleam
That lights the clouds becomes a golden stream
Of wire-sent power, stupendous : Is there none
Of forces else to praise beneath the sun ?
These, ofthernselves.were buta worthless dream.
Ay ! One thing more the world of work
demands,
Ere labor can arrive at any goal—
A human force more firm than turning bandst
And more enduring than all wheels that roll:
A man, with skill and patience in his hands—
A man, with strength and courage in his soul !
•y
JL
Sea
'y
mm
fplpp 0
iy

THE TECHNICAL
WORLD MAGAZINE
Volume VIII SEPTEMBER, 1907 No. 1
'iaimttiinisj Trees for tJhe F^uitare
l&y tu^ay XL
. Mitchell
FORESTATIOX, or
the L'nited States, Gifford Pinchot, are
the work of tree plant- sufficiently vigorous to attract the atten­
A l I ing in the U n i t e d tion of even the most indifferent citizen.
IL States, is one of the There are a good many people, however,
f/7 greatest works before who have come to realize that forestry
the nation today. It is is one of our really large and pressing in­
something w h i c h we ternal problems ; but not so many con­
m u s t undertake and sider the possibilities or the necessity of
prosecute speedily if we are not to be­ forest planting on such a gigantic scale.
come bereft of our timber resources in Except China, all civilized nations care
the very near future. It involves the for the forests, and until recently the
planting of tens and tens of millions of L'nited States ranked nearly with China
acres of trees in the eastern half of the in this respect and still remains far be­
country—the rainfall area—and the furhind the progressive modern countries in
ther planting of tens of millions of acres all that relates to the protection, preser­
in the western half, or the arid and semivation, planting and conservative use of
arid section. The magnitude of the forests. Yet we are the most lavish con­
undertaking is well nigh appalling, yet sumers of lumber in the world. Accord­
the results will be more than commening to Mr. Pinchot, every person in the
surate with the effort and the cost. Tree
planting is one of the great branches of
the forestry problem, than which there is
perhaps no more important public question."
These words of the chief forester of
L'nited States is using over six times as
much wood as he would if he were living
in Europe. The country as a whole consumes
everv year more than four times
more wood than all the forests of the
L'nited States grow in the meantime.
Copyright, ISO", hy Technical World Company. (•0

4 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
Since 1880 we have cut for lumber alone
the enormous total nf seven hundred
billion board feet of timber, while the
increase in population is but half the
increase in lumber cut in the same period.
With these conditions continuing, we
shall sunn face a timber famine. W'e
seem hardly tn be awake tn this fact and
to the necessity for prompt action, in it in
curtailing o u r
1 u m li e r ci ni-
sumption, that
must go on ; but
in providing an
increased timber
supply. In all
things but the
consumption of
wood we are, as
stated, far behind
other countries.
In Austria,
I t a 1 v, Norway
and S w e d e n,
government fi irestry
is a well
established part
of the national
life. Even Turkey,
Greece,
Spain and Portugal
give attention
to the forests.
Russia,
d e a 1 i n g, like
ourselves, with
vast areas of
forests in thinly populated regions, is
vet deriving enormous forest revenues.
In Germany, France and Switzerland
the highest develojiment of forest treatment
has been reached. In Australia, New
Zealand, Canada, South Africa and India
there is excellent forest service. In our
cnvn Philippines, but recently acquired
with 40,000,(7(70 acres of forest land, an
American f< irest service has been established
which conserves the forest and yet
yields double the amount expended.
Forestry in the L'nited States has scarcely
yet begun. At the present rate of forest
destruction in this country we shall be entirely
without forests in thirty-five to
forty years. It is time to establish a
general system of forest protection, conservative
lumbering and tree planting on
X() SHOOTING ALLOWED.
ALL BIRDS, SQUIRRELS. DEER anil
Other ANIMALS Arc Our FRIENDS. Do not
Frighten or Molest Them. Let Us Make
Them Our Welcome Guests.
TAKE CARE OE TIIE TREES.
The UNITED STATES BUREAU OE
FORESTRY has planted thousands of young
Pine, Sjiruce and Other Trees on this Mountain.
The Whole Mountain is Being LIsed by
the Government as an Experimental Nursery
for Forest Trees.
If tlie Trees Grow, the Government Will Plant
Forest Trees on all the Mountains
of California.
Planting of Trees in the Mountains Assures
Plenty of Water for the Cities and the
harms in the Valleys. Help
the Good Work Along.
DO NOT INJURE THE TREES!
PLACARD POSTED THROUGHOUT THE SAN BERNARDINO
MOUNTAINS, CALIFORNIA, SHOWING CO-OPERATION BE­
TWEEN LOCAL FORESTRY ASSOCIATIONS AND
THE FEDERA* GOVERNMENT WORK.
a comprehensive scale. Next to the earth
itself the forest is the most useful servant
of man. It sustains and regulates
the streams, moderates the wind and supplies
wood, the most widely used of ail
materials. The object of practical forestry
is to make the forest render its best
service to man. Forest management and
conservative lumbering are other names
for practical forestry.
U n d c r
whatever name
it ma y b e
known, practical
forestry means
the creation, the
use and the preservation
of the
forest.
In the American
forestry
problem the first
thing is the care
and preservation
of the 700,000,-
000 acres of forest
land, including,
of course,
m uci. cut-over
1 a n d, still remaining
as part
of our national
heritage; but
looking a little
into the future,
and not very far
ahead at that, a
no less important work is the creating of
new forests on a great scale—aforestation.
The forest planting problem, which,
worked out in connection with the preservation
of our present forest area, will
restore us to a condition where the production
will be at least as great as the
consumption, may be divided into two
general classes ; namely, private planting
and government planting. The former is
confined principally to the eastern half,
or the rainbelt area, of the United States.
The government planting will be confined
to the western half, where the conditions
are arid and the government still
owns the great bulk of the land. There
is an immense field for operation in both
instances. Let us look first at the eastern

PLANTING TREES TOR THE FUTURE
and more thickly settled section. The age
at which trees become marketable for
standard lumber ranges from fifty to
over one hundred years. Since tree
planting, like any other business proceeding,
must be with a view to reasonably
quick profits, to be undertaken to any extent,
this class of investment cannot
be expected on any very large scale.
A EUCALYPTUS GROVE
However, from plantations made for
fence posts, railroad ties, telephone and
telegraph poles, box lumber, etc., returns
can be reaped in fifteen to twenty
years and at tbe same time a good start
secured for a future lumber forest. For
instance, in tbe great bituminous coal
region of the Appalachians, extending
from the northern part of Pennsylvania

THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
southward eight hundred miles, much of
the land once devoted to agriculture has
deteriorated in fertility and productiveness
and is now lying practically idle.
At tbe same time the extension of coal
mining i.s creating a growing demand for
mine props and other timbers and the
supply is becoming scarcer and scarcer.
GOVERNMENT NURSERY BEDS AT DISMAL RIVER RESERVE,
Shade is provided to simulate forest conditions.
Adjacent timber will be totally exhausted
long before the supply of coal from even
the more important veins is gone. For
all timber planted now on these vacant
agricultural lands there will be an eager
market at maturity for mine timber,
railroad ties and lumber. That this situation
is recognized is seen by tbe fact
that several of the coal companies themselves
have begun forest planting. Over
the very mines from which they are
digging the coal they propose to grow
the timber to prop the shafts. The H. C.
Frick Coke Company, owning many
farms in the Connellsville basin, recently
set aside some 450 acres for forest planting
under the direction of the Forest
Service of the government. They are
planting oaks, chestnut, maple, larch,
tulip poplar and western catalpa. The
cost is approximately $10 per acre and
returns are expected from the quicker
growing species in fifteen years. Thinnings
will lie made from the slower growing
kinds in twenty and twenty-five years
and a final crop will be secured in from
forty to sixty years after planting, for
lumber and heavy mine timbers. The^
lands selected are those not capable of
yielding any other valuable returns.
Here is an example which should be
followed in hundreds of other cases.
The state and the nation, however, can
look farther ahead than
tbe individual or even
the corporation and it is
with the idea of creating
future lumber forests
tbat the Forest Service
and, in many cases, the
forestry bureaus of the
states are preparing for
the planting of great
areas. But aside from
this the national Forest
Service is actively cooperating
with and offering
practical assistance
to private tree
planters and is fostering
an educational campaign
to induce planting of
tracts all the way from
the farm wood-lot of a
few acres in extent, or
clumps of trees here and
there on tbe farm to
serve as wind-breaks, to commercial forest
plantations of large area. The method
of the service in this co-operative work
is to secure the establishment in various
locations of samples of forest plantations
of tbe highest possible usefulness and
value to tbe owners and thus afford object
lessons of careful methods of forest
planting. The service has already made
investigations of tree planting in the
principal regions of artificial forest extension
and has drawn plans and supervised
private plantings in some forty
states and territories, embracing 80,000
acres, in tracts varying in size from small
plots to—in one case—a plantation of
3,000 acres. The plans contain comprehensive
instructions for the necessary
planting, selection of proper species for
each particular tract, and the preparation
of the ground and setting and spacing of
the trees. L7nlike orchard planting, forest
trees are set very close to insure
straight stems and to prevent branching
—from four to eight feet apart each.

way. This advice for forest planting
can usually be secured free of cost,
since the necessary detailed study in the
principal regions of economic plantinghas
already been made by the government,
but the service does not furnish
labor, seeds or nursery stock. The
planter is expected in return to enter
upon the work vigorously and to furnish
such progress reports as the service may
request of him.
In many farming sections, notably the
wind-swept prairies of the western
states, wind-breaks are of great value—
practical necessities. Millions of trees
have been planted in Kansas and Nebraska
for this purpose and have now
attained large growths—twice the girth
of a man's body. Though planted in
small strips and plots the aggregate acreage
is considerable. Tbe trees afford
protection not only against cold winter
winds, and are especially valuable for
orchard protection, but also protect crops
from the hot, parching winds of summer.
Such winds, especially in the west, occasionally
do great damage to agriculture,
drying up the soil and blighting growing
I
PLANTING TREES FOR THE FUTURE.
M Ilil^L ?S
things. They sometimes sweep across
the unbroken jirairie in a steady blow
for several days. Tree wind-breaks afford
effective relief and the Forest Service
is glad to co-operate with any farmer
who desires to establish one. In such
planting, not only the question of wind
is to be considered, but the plan should
include a future supply of wood for the
farm,—fence posts, poles, etc. Extensive
planting is also practiced along irrigation
ditches and canals, where the service
of the trees may be three-fold. They
afford shade, thus preventing an excess
of evaporation, furnish wind-breaks, and
may also prevent the shifting of sand.
The Forest Service is lending its aid to
the Reclamation Service in connection
with such planting on the great irrigation
works which the government is constructing.
When Horace Greeley founded the
town and community of Greeley, Colorado,
the section was one of the waste
places of the country, with not a tree in
existence. Today a general view of the
valley shows as many trees as are to be
found in any average rural community—
me •; °»~mr.Ti „.,
WES* • T * • r - 5
- -
WIND-BREAK PLANTINGS ALONG THE COLUMBIA RIVER IN OREGON.
- •••,.-.

A SECOND GROWTH OF TIMBER.
The scene here shown is along the Liuville River, North Carolina.

mostly cottonwoods with trunks three or
four feet in diameter, planted along the
irrigation ditches. These are constantly
being cut, affording a valuable supply of
wood for a treeless country, but had some
more substantial species been planted the
present value would be doubled or
trebled. It is important to know that
some of the fast growing trees produce
the very best wood and timber. This is
wherein the investigations made and the
information acquired by the Forest Ser­
vice is of value to the farmer. A mixture
of tree species planted is often desirable.
On some lands nut trees can be
grown to advantage. In Texas experiments
are being made with camphor
trees. As a general rule forest plantations
need care and some cultivation for
the first three years; after that nature
will do the rest.
In the eastern states the tree planting
idea, presents, a quite different aspect
from that in the middle west. Here
there are large aggregations of land—
take for instance a million or more acres
in Xew England alone—which by reason
of their rocky or steep formations are
suitable for nothing else but tree growing.
They are now as waste and use­
PLANTING TREES FOR THE FUTURE 9
less to the community as any section of
the western desert land. Yet they will
grow trees well, conserving the moisture,
regulating the stream Hows upon which
New England depends for power to a
large extent, ameliorating climatic extremes,
purifying the atmosphere and
finally producing merchantable timber.
The fact that many tree plantations
made by farmers in all parts of the country
have been disappointing should not
act as a discouragement to those who
1
FIRE PRECLUDES ALL POSSIBILITY OF A WASTED FOREST'S REPRODUCING ITSELF.
have more land than they can use
profitably for agriculture or land which
is unfit for crop growing. In most of
these cases the planting has been done
without a due study of the local conditions
and of the best kinds of trees to
plant. The fact that some plantations
have been financial successes—an example
is that of L. \V. Yaggy, of Hutchinson,
Kansas—even where the land employed
could have been used for regular
agricultural crops, shows the possibilities
of tree planting, at least on otherwise
worthless soil. The Yaggy plantation,
of the hardy catalpa, makes an interesting
and encouraging showing for tree
growing. Planting was begun in 1890
and three principal plantations have been

10 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
grown. The trees were set mostly three
feet ten inches by seven feet apart,the total
area being 421 acres. The cost per acre of
the first and best plantation from planting
to marketing, covering a period of
twelve years, was $56.54, and the profit
was $258.67, showing an annual average
return of $21.55 per acre per year. This,
it should be stated, was on rich ground.
Other parts of the planting on poor soil
made hardly any return, although it is
known that other kinds of trees would
have grown fairly well. All of which
shows the necessity for knowing what
and how to plant in each locality. Plantations
made by specialists and designed
for special purposes do not usually require
very elaborate planting plans. It
is the small wood-lot plantation which is
to serve many purposes in the economy
of the farm that calls for the most careful
planning and the best information
obtainable. The wind-break belts in the
west, as an example, have been planted
simply to one kind of tree, whatever
i &&&*
VjlnJWL ." ~cv ^z. < • - *'*^
A GROVE OF YOUNG EUCALYPTUS TREES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
somebody else in the neighborhood had
been able to make grow ; but the Forest
Service recommends as most effective a
belt from forty to one hundred and
twenty-five feet thick with several kinds
of trees, with the shortest growing
species in the outside rows (toward the
prevailing wind), taller species next to
them and with the tallest trees in the
inside rows, next to the area to be protected.
This scientific arrangement
causes the wind to strike the trees as it
would strike the face of a steep hill, deflecting
its course upward. In New England
it would be folly to plant some of the
trees which make the best returns further
west. Here the white pine is the principal
tree for planting purposes. At
twenty years old a Massachusetts white
pine plantation may be thinned for firewood
and at thirty-five years old it will
produce rough lumber for box boards
and dry cooperage, the trees ranging
from ten to sixteen inches thick. In New
England lumbering, it may be noted,

there is no waste. First comes the board
and heavier timbers, then the slabs are
worked up for kindling, the shavings are
baled and used for stable bedding, the
sawdust and other waste is burned for
mill fuel and finally the
tops are made into
matches.
In the Mississippi
Yalley states trees of
combined value as windbreaks
and for timber
are black walnut, maple,
box-elder, ash, hardy
catalpa, spruce, pine,
locust, chestnut, elm,
mulberry; in California
the eucalyptus or blue
gum is of great value, as
it grows rapidly with a
minimum of moisture.
By proper tree planting
farmsteads and yards
can be almost fully prot
e c t e d against snow
drifts, an important detail
in the north. Though
the cottonwood is often
termed a "weed tree," it
has its usefulness in
some locations. Take
as an example the farm
of T. S. Eastgate, near
Larimore, North Dakota,
in the Red River
valley, where a belt of
planted cotton trees, supplemented
by a dense
undergrowth of wild
plum bushes, acts as a
wind-break and snow
catcher, causing a snow
drift to form in winter
over the open field
which is devoted to alfalfa. Year before
last the owner harvested alfalfa hay
from this field at the rate of more than
five tons per acre. Besides this service,
making possible the growth of alfalfa,
the belt has produced cordwood during
its twenty-one years of life at the rate of
4.74 cords per acre per annum. Tbe successful
growth of alfalfa on ten per cent
of the area of this region would vastly increase
the earning power of every acre
of land in the Red River valley, and
since the thermometer here sometimes
PLANTING TREES FOR THE FUTURE li
falls as low as fifty degrees below zero,
it is possible to grow this extremely valuable
forage only by utilizing some such
contrivance to break the wind and catch
the snow drifts, thus forming during the
EUROPEAN LARCH GROVE.
These trees are planted two leet from each other in rows four feet apart.
winter a protecting blanket over tbe
plants.
Many Kansas and Nebraska farmers
have in twenty years grown cottonwood
trees large enough for saw logs. W. D.
Rippey, of Severance, Kansas, cut 200,-
000 feet of cottonwood lumber a few
years ago from trees of his own planting.
The plantations were on upland,
where the soil is not particularly well
adapted to cottonwood growth and when
lumbered the trees were twenty-five years
old.

12 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
HARDY CATALPA PLANTATION IN KANSAS, ABOUT FIFTEEN YEARS OLD.
In the south the pine is the predominant
tree, but there is less need here
of forest planting than elsewhere, since
natural reproduction is easy. Flardwoods
grow in all the Appalachian
mountain region, but there it is a question
of forest preservation.
It has often been said that the Timber
Culture law was worse than useless, in
that the tree planting failures thereunder
were due to the selection of poor seeds
and ill adapted species, lack of care and
the dishonesty of entrymen who regarded
this law merely as a means of obtaining
title to public land without paying for it.
While it added but very little to the
wooded area of the west, it did accomplish
something. It gave to the professional
forester an idea of what species
of trees would and what would not grow
in thousands of localities and this information
is now being used to advantage
for the benefit of farmers who really desire
to plant trees.
The central idea of co-operative planting
by the government is to furnish object
lessons which will be studied by the
farmers and land owners of the locality.
The hope of the government lies in stimulating
interest and inquiry on the subject
of tree planting, not from an aesthetic
but commercial standpoint, and
educating the people as to the value of
utilizing otherwise poor land for forest
creation. With the great increase in the
price of timber of all kinds in the more
thickly settled portions of the country,
this work of the Forest Service is bound
to be successful if vigorously pushed, but
it cannot be pushed too fast, for the con-

sumption is fast outstripping the supply.
The second great division of the forest
planting problem is the building up of
wide forest areas over the vast plains and
deserts of the west. The government
has 147,000,000 acres in the Rocky
Mountain and Sierra Nevada section of
forest reserves, or as they are now called,
national forests. The first of these was
created by President Harrison, and President
Cleveland followed
his example. The latter,
toward the end of his
second term, requested
the national Academy of
Science to examine the
federal forest lands and
report a plan for their
control, and following
this the President set
aside thirteen additional
reserves on Washington's
Birthday, 1897.
This at once awakened
great opposition from
the west, but the country
as a whole approved.
President McKinley,
and, after him, President
Roosevelt, continued
to make forest reserves/
The latter has been particularly
active in thus
preventing timber land
grabbing, but has incurred
the enmity of certain
western legislators
whose constituents were
bent upon the practices
of "skinning," as the
President himself expresses
it, the public
timber domain. This opposition
finally culminated
last winter in an
amendment slipped into
the agricultural appropriation
bill forbidding
the President to create
any additional national forests. The
amendment was fathered by Senator
Fulton of Oregon and strongly supported
by Senator Heyburn of Idaho, who has
for several years vigorously attacked the
Forest Service and the President's forest
policy. The agricultural bill, with the
Fulton amendment inserted, was passed
PLANTING TREES FOR THE FUTURE 13
ami ready for engrossing and would
reach the executive for bis signature on
the afternoon of March third. I hit
Gifford Pinchot, the Forester, had not
been asleep. Plis fight hail been on with
Senator Heyburn for upwards of a
couple of years. He foresaw that there
was clanger of just such an amendment
slipping through Congress. I Ie and his
men had been working in Idaho, Wash-
WHITE PINE PLANTATION, EAST GREENWICH, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
These trees are twenty-two years old. At the age of fifteen years, alternate trees
were removed.
ington and Oregon during this period in
expectation of such a move. A few
hours before the agricultural bill reached
the White House, Mr. Pinchot took to
the President a list of western public
timber lands, which by a stroke of his
pen the latter created into 16,000,000
additional acres of national forests,

14 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
"•wise*? 5 "
*fef*# .,.
PERFECT WHITE PINE FOREST GROWN ON PASTURE LAND IN CHESHIRE COUNTY,
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
making the total 147,000,000. Senator
Fulton's amendment became a law on
March 2d, but a few hours prior thereto
16,000,000 acres of splendid timber lands
had been saved to the people of the
United States by executive order. In
his memorandum the President frankly
defended an action which might be considered
by some persons as an intent to
defeat the will of Congress. He mentioned
the very fact that Congress had
under consideration at the time a restriction
of his powers with regard to forest
reserves, but he declared that to leave
these lands open to entry under the Timber
and Stone act would be simply to
enable the "lumber syndicates" to appropriate
valuable public property.
It is believed that the joke is on Senators
Fulton and Heyburn. They discovered
that the new reservations in
Washington, Oregon and Idaho amounted
to 8,500,000 acres, containing the very
best remaining public timber.
But to return to the question of government
tree planting in the west. Even
to a greater degree than in the east,
forested areas in the western states are
absolutely vital to the prosperity and
even babitability of the country. Where
water for irrigation is the very life-blood
of the land, it is a prime necessity that
there should be forests at the headwaters
of the streams. Otherwise they become
wild torrents during the rainy and melting
snow period and dry beds shortly
afterward. The forests are the equalizers
of the stream flows. The forest cover
prevents erosion and the silting up and
filling of the irrigation systems. In like
manner they affect the water supplies for
towns and cities. Careless lumbering
has devastated many a mountain side and
will doubtless destroy many more, for in
the west particularly, there is little
thought for the future. In the meantime,
however, the government must go ahead
perfecting its plans for the reforestation
of denuded areas and the planting of
trees on areas which may never have been
forested.
It seems paradoxical to speak of great
tracts of forest reserves where there are
no forests. There are such—land, which
has been reserved because it absolutely
must be forested if the tributary country

A FINE FOREST IN THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS. NORTH CAROLINA.
The forests of the Appalachians will reproduce themselves if given a chance.
y
(IS)

16 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
is to be developed. In a single tract—
the Lolo Reserve in Montana—of 1,211,-
000 acres, there are some 300,000 acres
which have been carelessly lumbered and
burned over, with the result that there
is not a seed tree left for natural reproduction.
At the cost of a few cents an
acre this great area would have naturally
reforested itself. As it stands it is hopeless
and must at some future time be
planted to trees. That the destruction
of our mountain forests is a most serious
matter and an evil that must be remedied
is seen in a parallel case in the French
forests. The destruction of forests in
the Alps ruined one of the most fertile
areas of Southern France and this has
cost the French government over $35,-
000,000 for correction and replanting,
with much more yet to be done.
"We know," said Forester Pinchot, in
speaking of the relation of western forests
to water supply, "that forests do conserve
moisture and equalize and regulate
stream flow. We know from the records
of the past in other countries that where
watersheds have been denuded of their
trees, rivers bave dried up. We know
that reforestation of some of these areas
has restored the rivers. We have here
great treeless areas which can be successfully
aforested and we do not know but
that by this process we can create rivers."
The Forest Service is preparing to
clothe tbe barren sandhill countrv of Nebraska
with jack-pine and other trees,
and for this purpose a big nursery has
been established there. For a long time
these sand hills were thought to be useless
and it was assumed that trees would
grow only in the valleys. Recent experiments
have shown that pine will grow
on the sand hills proper. A million acres
would be a low estimate of the otherwise
nearly waste land in Nebraska tbat can
be profitably planted to trees. The service
has six nurseries with an annual
productive capacity of about 8,000,000
trees, and is preparing to establish additional
ones. The gathering of seed for
this planting is quite an item, but in this
work the squirrels are valuable assistants.
Cones from squirrel hoards are
usually of good quality, for they are
gathered by the rodents from the tree
tops and are usually full of plump seeds.
Plans are being laid for the planting of
vast treeless areas in Oklahoma, Indian
Territory, Kansas, Colorado, Texas and
New Mexico. In some of this section it
will be government planting, in other
parts co-operative planting. Until recently
it was generally believed, and is
yet by many settlers, tbat on the high
table lands of the southwest no kind of
forest tree could be grown without irrigation.
It is now known tbat good tillage
for the first three years can be substituted
for artificial watering and that
with such treatment forest plantations
will thrive.
All in all, the question of American
forestry is a mighty one and the branch
of forest planting is a big part of it. At
the present moment the preservation of
existing forests and the fostering of reproduction
by natural seeding methods
is the most important feature ; but as the
country settles up, tree planting will become
more and more necessary and with
the utmost activity from this time forward,
through both co-operative and government
forest planting it will be next to
impossible to keep pace with the actual
demand of the country for forest creation.

T© Use Hlhe Earth's Hmunier Fires
7E>y WL

18 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
A YELLOWSTONE PARK GEVSER.
that conduits reaching downward might
easily be constructed by human ingenuity.
Of course, it would not be practicable
to bore clown into a region of molten
rocks, but pipes could be sunk a sufficient
distance to reach strata of as high a
degree of heat as might be desired. Prof.
William llallock, of Columbia University,
says that the putting down of such
a pipe would not cost more than $10,000
per mile; and he offers the suggestion
A LAKE OF FIRE ON THE ISLAND OF HAWAII.
that, merely for experimental purposes,
it would be worth while to spend $50,000
in sinking two pipes to a depth of twelve
thousand feet. A connection having been
established, in a manner presently to be
described, between the lower ends of the
pipe, an inexhaustible supply of heat
could be fetched to the surface.
To make this clear, it should be explained
that, going down into the depths
of the earth, the temperature rises usually
about one degree for every sixty feet.
Thus, if two such pipes, fifty feet apart,
were sunk twelve thousand feet, the temperature
at their lower ends would be
considerably above the boiling point of
water. The next thing would be to
establish a connection between the conduits
by simultaneously exploding heavy
charges of dynamite at their bottoms. By
this means the rocks would be extensively
shattered, and it is likely—especially if
the process were repeated again and
again—that fissures affording the requisite
communication would be opened up.
Having accomplished so much, suppose
that a small stream of water, diverted
from a river, perhaps, were to be
turned into one of the pipes. Its flow,
filling the crevices of the shattered rocks
more than two miles below, would be
converted into steam, as is a gigantic
water-heater, which would be forced

TO USE THE EARTH'S INNER FIRES
PHOTO TAKEN NEAR THE CRATER OF VESUVIUS SHOWING THE EXTRAORDINARY FORMATION.
upward and out of the other conduit. trivance would operate itself automatic-
Inasmuch as the descending stream ally.
would exert a pressure of something like Now, a good deal more is known with
5,000 pounds to the square inch, the con- certainty and definiteness on this general
-- ^fk-Af^y'ic y&nM^-iiZ^
A7\ -Ay-' •%£:..«•,
A LAVA LAKE OF THE KILAUEA VOLCANO, HAWAIIAN ISLAND,
• •
in
1

s
THE GREAT ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS IN APRIL, 1873.

subject than might be
imagined. In the United
States there are a number
of holes in the
ground, dug by greedy
m a n—s o m e of them
mines, others wells for
oil and gas—which are
over half a mile deep. At
Wheeling, West Virginia,
there is a boring, for oil,
three-quarters of a mile
in depth ; and near Pittsburg
is another which
has been put down a
mile and a quarter—in
accurate figures, seven
thousand feet. The latter,
originally an oil
well, was sunk further
for gas, and made deeper
still later on for purposes
of scientific inquiry.
In all of these
holes careful measurements
of temperature at
various levels have been
made.
Much of this work
has been done by the
L". S. Geological Survey one of whose
officers, Mr. N. H. Darton, invented
for the purpose a peculiar kind of
thermometer, encased in heavy glass.
This instrument he has dropped into all
of the very deep holes, obtaining valuable
data in regard to subterranean temperatures.
From information secured in this
way by him and by other investigators,
in Europe as well as in America, accu-
A GEYSER CRATER IN YELLOWSTONE PARK.
TO USE THE EARTH'S INNER FIRES •JI
MT. PELEE IN ERUPTION. JUNE, 1902.
rate estimates have been made respecting
tbe thickness of the earth's crust,
which, though formerly supposed to be
the same all over, like the rind of an
orange, is now known to be much less in
some parts than in others.
As a result of such investigations, it is
known that the crust of the planet is
rather exceptionally thick in tbe southern
jiortion of the L T nited States, whereas in
South Dakota it is comparatively thin.
In the latter region the hot core of the
globe comes so near to the surface that
the artesian wells are tepid—one such
well at the town of Pierre supplying a
large swimming pool with water at a
temperature of ninety-two degrees Fahrenheit.
The city of Yankton is only
about twelve miles from subterranean
fire—almost appallingly close one might
think—while the molten rocks are
twenty-five miles beneath Philadelphia
and New York—a comparison that will
serve to illustrate in a sufficiently striking
way the variations in the thickness of
the rind of the globe.
In places, however, it is much thinner

22 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
than in South Dakota. The famous Hot
Springs of Arkansas owe their temperature
to volcanic heat not far below the
surface. In the neighborhood of St.
Augustine, Florida, similar conditions
must exist, inasmuch as one great hotel in
that town, tbe Ponce tie Leon, is able to
CAVERN NEAR LAVA, NEW MEXICO
warm its rooms with hot water from artesian
wells. But, to find high temperatures
close to the skin of the earth, one
should visit the Yellowstone Park, where,
in spots, the flames of a literal hell are obviously
raging not far below the ground
on which the visitor walks. Geysers and
boiling springs are among the more conspicuous
plutonic phenomena, while in
the Fire Hole district tbe whole country
seems to be on fire.
In the Lake Superior region there is a
great hole in tbe earth, dug for copper,
which is called the Calumet and Hecla
mine. It is nearly a mile in depth. In
this excavation, remarkable in more ways
than one, Prof. Alexander Agassiz, not
long ago, made a painstaking series of
temperature observations
at different levels—the
method he adopted being
the curious one of drilling
holes in tbe rocks
and inserting in them
thermometers. The instruments
were allowed
to remain from one to
three months—the object
in view being to ascertain
the temperature of
the rocks and not of the
air in the mine.
At a depth of 4,580
feet, near the bottom of
the mine, the temperature
was found to be
only seventy-nine degrees
Fahrenheit—a circumstance
which might
well have occasioned
surprise were the cause
not well understood.
Many thousandsof years
ago all of that region
was covered by an enormous
thickness of glaciers,
the cold of which
penetrated so deep into
the earth that the chill
resulting from the refrigeration,
so mighty in
its scale, remains even to
this day! After all,
when one comes to think
of it, the facts of science
are far more strange
and wonderful than any
fiction ever evolved by the brain of the
romancer.
For the sake of contrast, put along
side of the above statement the fact that
in the celebrated Comstock lode in Nevada,
the temperature at a depth of only
twenty-five hundred feet is one hundred
and forty-five degrees! Only four miles
down below this mine is evidently a focus
of volcanic heat—a mass of molten rocks
which, resembling a mighty furnace,

makes the air in the lower levels of the
workings so stifling as to be well-nigh
insupportable. Indeed the labor of excavating
is attended with extraordinary
difficulty, cold water being showered
from above upon the toilers with drill
and pickaxe, in order
to enable them to keep
at their tasks.
Prof. Hallock, who
made a careful investigation
of tbe sub-surface
temperatures in
parts of the Yellowstone
Park, some years
ago, has suggested
that, if subterranean
heat is wanted for industrial
purposes, it
might be obtained in
unlimited quantities in
that quarter without
much expense for digg
i n g. Energy nowadays
is transmitted
over indefinite distances
by wire, in the
form of electricity, so
that the plutonic resources
of the national
reservation might be
made available for use
in Chicago, in San
Francisco, or possibly
even in New York. But
it would probably be
cheaper and otherwise
more expedient in the
long run to sink pipes
to subterranean fire in
the vicinity ofthe great
industrial centers, even
though it be necessary
to go consider-
ably deeper.
Of all things that
exist in creation fire
seems to be the most plentiful. Every
star that bespangles the glittering path
of the Milky Way is a burning sun. The
giant planet Jupiter is afire—a small
sun not yet extinguished. As for the
earth, it is all on fire inside. But,
fortunately for ourselves, its rocky
crust is an exceedingly poor conductor
of heat, so tbat it seems difficult to
realize that there are celestial tempera­
TO USE THE EARTH'S INNER FIRES 23
tures down below our feet—temperatures,
that is to say, hardly inferior to
that of the sun itself.
Whence came all this fire? It is a
question wdiich nobody can answer satisfactorily,
but it affords a most interest-
GAZING THROUGH SULPHUROUS VAPORS INTO THE CRATER'S FRIGHTFUL DEPTHS,
AT ASO-SAN, JAPAN.
ing subject for speculation. Poisson, a
famous astronomer, has suggested that
in the inconceivable vastnesses of space
there may be regions of enormous heat,
as well as regions of cold. At the present
time the solar system is traveling
through a region of cold, in which the
normal temperature is what we call absolute
zero—four hundred and sixty-three
degrees below the zero of the Fahrenheit

24 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
SPOUTING A BOILING STREAM.
thermometer. But at a remote epoch it of heat comparable to living flame, thus
may have sped through billions of miles itself taking fire and becoming molten.
ON THE BRINK OF A GREAT GEYSER.

The judgment of science now inclines
to the belief that the mass of the earth's
interior is made up of fiery gases held
together under jiressure of "gravity to a
density comparable to that of steel.' This
pressure, of course, is greatest at the
center, where it amounts to forty-five
m i 11 i o n pountls per
square inch. If it were
possible to sink a hole at
Chicago to an indefinite
dejith, the bore, about
twelve miles below the
city, would reach rocks
of a pasty consistency,
due to great heat. At
twenty-five miles all substances,
including rocks
anti metals, would be
molten and fluid—which
means that they would
flow if conditions were
as upon the surface of
the earth. Two hundred
miles further down the
gaseous core of the
planet, a mass of fire
without flame, but inconceivably
hot, would be
entered.
It was said above that
such a condition of affairs
down below is not
understood by ourselves
in the sense of realizing
it. Yet there are times
when, especially in certain
parts of the world,
it makes itself obvious
enough—that is to say,
on occasions when volcanoes
burst forth. A volcano, it
should be understood, no matter how
big, is simply an ash pile surrounding
the upper end, or vent, of a
huge pipe which runs down into the
gaseous core of the earth. Such a pipe
is in reality just such a conduit as the
one already described, in imagination, as
sunk through the crust of the globe in
the neighborhood of Chicago.
There are a great many such pipes
scattered over the surface of the earth.
One of them has for its vent the crater
of a very picturesque mountain near
Naples, called Vesuvius. As for the
mountain, it is nothing but an ash-pile,
TO USE TIIE EARTH'S INNER FIRES
composed of debris thrown out at various
times by lhe pipe. Another such ashpile
is Mont Pelee, mi the island of Martinique,
where during a recent eruption
many thousands of jieople lost their lives.
Indeed, the whole of Martinique is merely
a cinder-mass marking'the spot where
OUR LATEST VOLCANO.
Cinder Cone of Lassen Peak, Calif,, in background with ava held in foreground
ages ago volcanic vents, opened in the
sea bottom two miles below the surface
of the ocean.
There is a whole battery of these volcanic
pipes in the Lesser Antilles, forming
a sort of chain, and when one of them
starts up others of tbe series are likely
to follow suit—as was the case during
the late eruption of Mont Pelee, when a
volcano on St. Vincent began to spout
fire. But, in order to grasp with a full
understanding the character of the problem,
one should realize that Mont Pelee,
Vesuvius, and all of the other pipes,
wherever situated, draw their fires from
a common source—that is to say, from

26 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
the gaseous interior of the globe. They
are safety-valves, through which the
core-stuff, ever seeking an outlet, makes
its way at intervals, pouring forth with
consequences usually most disastrous.
Yet it was exactly in this fashion that all
A MINIATURE ERUPTION ON THE LIPARI ISLANDS, OFF NAPLES.
of the crust of the earth was originally
formed.
In speaking of the Calumet and Hecla
mine it might have been well to mention
the fact, that, as shown by the experiments
of Prof. Agassiz, the temperature
in that great excavation increases, as one
goes downward, by only one degree for
every two hundred and twenty-four feet
—a fact due to the chill of the glaciers
aforementioned. It is interesting to compare
this with the state of affairs at
Yankton, where, as indicated bv recent
observations, the thermometer rises one
degree for every seventeen feet of descent
into the bowels of the earth!
It is suggested by Prof. Hallock that,
inasmuch as only about two years, or at
most three, would be required for sinking
such a pair of holes
as he describes, the experiment
ought not to be
regarded as a very formidable
one—especially
if some enlightened and
public - spirited multimillionaire
would supply
out of his overflowing
purse the fifty thousand
dollars required. Such
a plant, if once put successfully
into operation,
would furnish heat and
power for all time to
come at almost no expense.
The steam supplied
by it might be utilized
for h ea ting houses,
for running machinery,
or for raising crops of
winter vegetables under
glass. But if no other
end were attained than
the solving of the scientific
problem involved,
the money—about the
price J. P. Morgan pays
for an average Old Master—would
he profitably
expended.
That we shall, in the
not-distant future, find
some practical means of
utilizing the heat of the
earth's interior for industrial
purposes is the
already expressed opinion
of many men of science, among whom
may be mentioned Prof. T. C. Mendenhall,
formerly sujierintendent of the U. S.
Coast Survey, and Prof. W. J. McGee,
the eminent geologist. Said Prof. Mc­
Gee on a recent occasion, in conversation
with the writer: "We shall some day
have artificial volcanoes, which we will
control as we do the furnaces in our
houses, employing them to furnish both
heat and jDOwer. They will operate the machinery
of our factories, run our street
cars, and even illuminate our cities."

CS*iifc&*s Rejection ©f ©pi\unnni
By W.

28 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
HAULING AN OPIUM BOAT THROUGH THE RAPIDS OF THE YANG-TSE,
sleeping sickness, guided and directed by
Japan.
But surely the most significant of all
the many signs is the momentous edict
giving warning of the total suppression
of the opium traffic and smoking all over
the Emjiire, which is to be accomplished
within ten years. Each year the area of
home-grown poppy is to be reduced ten
per cent, otherwise land will be confiscated.
On the other hand a bonus will
be given for early cessation in culture.
All urban opium smokers must register
at the Mandarins' offices and rural people
with village head men. Smokers
above sixty will be dealt with leniently,
but. those under that age must decrease
their consumjition twenty j:>er cent per
annum. Otherwise magistrates and officials
generally will be put out of office,
and scholars stripped of academic honors.
Shops for the sale of the
drug may be closed
gradually; but smoking
dens must be closed
within six months. And
the trade in pipes and
lamps must cease within
a year; while officials
are charged to distribute
free or at cost all the
most scientific antiopium
remedies.
Most important of all,
however, the supply is
to be cut off at its fountain
head, which is India.
The Tsung-li-Yamen,
or foreign office at
Pekin, has approached
the British Minister with
a scheme to abolish Indian
poppy culture
within the ten years of
the edict. But the
trouble is, the serious
gap such a step would
leave in India's revenue ;
and India, as we all
know, is a precarious
country to govern, for
millions of her people
are forever hovering between
starvation and
bare living.
Her Government has
already received upwards
of $1,750,000,000 out of this trade,
which has been an immense standby
ever since the old "Company" days of
the Thirties. "I do not deny," said the
Marquis of Ripon when Governor General,
"that it (opium) is not a satisfactory
branch of our revenue; but I say
distinctly I will be no party to abandoning
that revenue, unless, I can clearly
see my way to replace it with some other
form of taxation which would be neither
oppressive to tbe people, nor strongly repugnant
to public opinion."
But since, as I will show, England has
literally forced this pernicious drug upon
China at tbe bayonet's point, it is thought
the Home Government might contribute
to India's finances for a few years, for
"The crime has been a National one; so
let the expiation be National, too."
It is also pointed out that since Russia

CHINA'S REJECTION OF OFIUM 2!)
has been crippled in a military sense for not carry it in their own vessels, but sold
years to come and could therefore make it to private agents in Calcutta, grant­
no southward movement through Himaing them licenses for its imjiortation into
layan Passes, even if she were so in­ China. This done, they gravely assured
clined, India's military establishment the Chinese Government they were in no
might be reduced and the money so saved way responsible for the actions of these
used to counterbalance tbe loss of reve­ men !
nue brought about by a cessation of the Naturally, conflicts soon arose between
opium traffic.
the smugglers and the Chinese Prevent­
I doubt whether in all history you will ive Service; and this at a time when
find so distressing a story as this forcing smuggling was a capital offense in Eng­
of a curse on a helpless nation for the land. Commissioner Lin was speedily
sake of money. Let me review the story sent by tbe Emperor to Canton to put an
briefly: It is nearly two centuries since end to the nefarious traffic. He seized
opium-smoking reached China from For­ and destroyed 20,283 chests of the drug
mosa ; but the habit spread slowly at first. —"smuggled into China in tbe teeth of
An Imperial edict was issued against it the Chinese laws," as John Morley de­
as early as 1729 ; and China has fought scribed it in the British Parliament.
bitterly against the poppy until this hour, But the British agent on tbe spot
when her tardy victory seems in sight. viewed Lin's action as an outrage, and
In the early years of the nineteenth actually began war against China for
century the old East India Comjiany, trying to protect herself against the de­
whose charter gave them a monopoly of testable industry. More surprising still,
China trade, maintained floating ware­ England resolved to see that war
houses full of opium at the mouth of the through. There was no pretense that
Canton River. But tbe Chinese attitude, China was in the wrong, for the British
then as now, was uncompromisingly hos­ Cabinet bad sent out orders that the
tile to its importation, so "John Com­ opium smugglers should not be shielded.
pany" must needs dissemble. They did The unhappy Chinese troops advanced
WHITE OFFICER EXAMINING SAMPLES OF OPIUM BROUGHT IN FROM THE COUNTRY.

30 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
upon their opponents with bows and to mankind—we in this land forbidding
arrows and thought to frighten the its use, and you in your dominions for­
enemy by terrible devices on their shields. bidding the manufacture." Finally after
Of course they were beaten; and the re­ the Lorcha Arrow War of 1856, insult
of the first opium war was that China directly connected with opium, China re­
had to open four ports, cede Hong Kong, luctantly agreed to legalize opium by
jiay $12,000,000 for the cost of the war, placing a heavy duty upon the drug.
A TYPICAL OPIUM BOAT ABOVE ICHANG ON TIIE YANG-TSE RIVER.
another $3,000,000 for miscellaneous
debts, and $6,000,000 for the destroyed
opium. After this the contraband traffic
went on as before.
The Emperor Taou-Kwang steadfastly
refused to legalize it. "Nothing will induce
me," he said, "to derive a revenue
from tbe vice and misery of my people."
And when ( ajitain Hope, of H. M. S.
Thalia, stojiped two or three opium ships
above Shanghai, he was recalled by Lord
Palmerston and ordered to India, "where
he could not interfere in such a manner
with the undertakings of British subjects."
Commissioner Lin wrote pathetic letters
to Queen Victoria on the subject.
"We would now concert with your Honorable
Sovereignty means to bring to a
perpetual end this opium traffic,so hurtful
Yet always under protest. The Chinese
Foreign Minister in 1869 suggested
China should grow her own opium rather
than import it from India. "We do not
want to do it," he said, "but we are
driven to it." About this- time the situation
was admirably summed up by Sir
Robert Hart, G. C. M. G., Inspector General
of the Imperial Maritime Customs
since 1859, and the most interesting and
influential foreigner in all the Chinese
Empire.
"The position the Chinese take up,"
Sir Robert says, "is this: 'We did not
invite you foreigners here. You crossed
the seas of your own accord and forced
yourselves upon us. To the trade we
sanctioned you added opium smuggling,
and when we tried to stop this, you made
war on us. Your legalized opium has

CHINA'S REJECTION OF OPIUM 31
been a curse in every province it pene­ is fixed by auction. Thus does the untrated
; and your refusal to limit or deholy traffic go on year after year.
crease the import has forced us to a dan­ Tbe entire opium industrv of India is
gerous remedy. We have legalized na­ worth in round figures $'50,000,000 a
tive opium, not because we ajiprove of it, year; and while the bulk of the drug
but rather to compete with and drive out goes to China enormous quantities are
the foreign drug. And it is expelling it. taken by the Straits Settlements, Borneo
When we have only the native jiroduct and Indo-China. But it is the sjiecial
to deal with and the business in our own taste of the Chinese that is most consid­
hands, be sure we will stop it in our own ered in the processes of manufacture.
way.' "
Quite apart from the opium grown and
To this forceful summary the Tsung- manufactured in British India, however,
li-Yamen added: "The Chinese merchant there is also a great output of the "Mal-
supplies your country with his goodly wa" variety, grown in the native and
tea and silk, thus conferring a benefit on protected states by means of money ad­
her ; but in return the British merchant vanced by Bombay speculators and
empoisons China with pestilent opium." wealthy merchants of Central India.
Sir Rutherford Alcock, then Minister in All Malwa opium from Baroda and
China, read this document to a committee
of the House of Commons
in 1871, and declared
that the Chinese
ministers "were ready to
enter into any arrangement
for the stoppage of
the traffic, irrespective of
the large revenue they
were deriving from it."
No answer was ever returned.
Rajutana must pass through British ter-
Today 700,000 acres
of land carries the opium
poppy in India ; and it is
the only crop on which
the Government
advances money when
the seed is sown. In
Bengal, opium is cultivated
under licenses
granted to individuals or
to the head - men of
groups, by officers of
the opium department.
When it is extracted,
the cultivators deliver it
to the district opium officers,
when it is sent
down to the two great
Government factories in
Bengal for manufacture.
In due time the drug is
sent to Calcutta to be sold
at the monthly auctions.
Each season the Government
is notified how
many chests will be sent
to market, and the price
AN OPIUM SHOP IN INDIA.

32 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
ritory on its wav to Bombay for export
to China; and a transit duty is levied on
every one hundred and forty pound chest
by the Government. This duty once
stood at 700 rupees per chest, but this
was reduced ten years ago to 500 rupees,
as the trade was falling off. Now, about
the actual manufacture. Crude ojiium is
brought in from the country in earthen
pans to a Government examining hall.
Here its consistency is tested either by
the touch or by thrusting a scoop into the
mass.
Next a sample from each pot, which is
numbered and labeled, is further examined
for purity in the chemical testingroom.
The next dejiartment is the mixing
rooms, where the contents of the
earthen pans are thrown into immense
vats and mixed by means of blind rakes
until the whole has become a homogeneous
paste. It is then taken to the balling
room, where it is made into those
balls so familiar to every traveler in
China.
The ball-makers are furnished with a
small table, a stool and a brass cup for
shaping, besides a certain quantity of
opium and water called "lewa," and an
allowance of poppy petals in which to roll
the ojiium balls. An expert hand will
turn out more than 100 balls a day, all
of precisely the same weight.
The drying room comes next; and here
the balls are placed to dry in small earthenware
cups before being stacked. White
examiners go round to examine them,
and puncture with a sharp steel those in
which gas from fermentation may be
forming. And lastly there is the stacking
room, where the balls are packed for
transit to Calcutta and Bombay, en route
to China.
Here one may see hundreds of Hindu
boys, turning, airing, and examining the
opium balls. They clear them of mildew,
moths or insects by rubbing tbem with
the petal dust of the poppy.
I have said that for many years China
has grown opium herself; and the culture
is especially extensive in Si-Chuen.
Here it is increasingly cultivated in tbe
first harvest, and ripens in April or May.
Thus it is cleared from the ground in
JARS OF OPIUM IN THE GREAT GOVERNMENT FACTORY AT PATNA.
This represents the produce of an entire district.

time for rice, maize or meal to followin
the greater summer heat. But the increasing
consumption of opium lias led
to rice and corn fields being planted with
the poppy ; and there is no doubt in my
mind that this accounts for the many
terrible famines that have afflicted China
of late vears.
In the Kiang-Peh Province 15,000,000
Chinese were reported starving recentlv,
and consuls and missionaries estimated
it would cost $1,250,000 merely to relieve
the pressing need. Mr. Rodgers, our
Consul-General at Shanghai, received
$25,000 as a first installment towards relief
work.
It is no wonder the Chinese Government
want to sweep away the poppy
altogether and grow good food in its
place. No one pretends that opium
smoking is anything else but a real blight.
Notwithstanding India's persistent efforts
to force it upon China, I notice that
Australia and New Zealand absolutely
prohibit importation of the drug, save for
medical purposes. And in the Transvaal,
CHINA'S REJECTION OF OPIUM 33
MANUFACTURING THE DRUG.
where 50.000 Chinese are employed in
the gold mines of the Rand, opium
smuggling incurs a jienalty of $2,500 and
six months' imprisonment.
The mines have no use for the ordinary
Chinese coolie who smokes or eats
two pounds of opium a month. And we
have been brought face to face with the
subject in the Philippines. It will be remembered
that we sent out a commission
two years ago to investigate legislation
on the subject in Japan, Java, China and
WOMEN HITTING THE PIPE. 1

34 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
elsewhere. The Japanese we learned
feared opium as we fear the rattlesnake,
and they are stamping it out in Formosa.
The net result of our ojiium commission
was that the use of the drug was
recognized as an evil for which no financial
gain could compensate. And a strict
law was passed that there should be prohibition
in the Philippines after next
year, so far as Chinamen are concerned.
For opium is a narcotic poison. First
comes exhilaration and excitement, and
after that deep depression, such as
marked the classic cases of De Quincey
and Coleridge.
Paralysis of the brain, coma and death
inevitably follow. These were the symptoms
attested by 5,000 doctors who
signed a declaration on the subject in
1892. Its effects are terribly visible on
COLLECTING MILK FROM THE POPPV HEADS IN KATA STATE, RAJPUTANA INDIA,
all hands in China where parents will
actually sell their children into slavery
to get the drug. British Consul-General
Hosie, speaking of the Si-Chuen Province,
with its population of 47,000,000,
writes as follows: "I am well within the
mark wdien I say that in the cities fifty
per cent of the males and twenty per cent
of the females smoke; while the ratio
in the country stands at twenty-five and
five respectively."
I myself have seen entire populations
given over to opium smoking in Yunan;
and I never met a missionary, white
trader, or Chinese gentleman of the educated
classes who defended the drug's
use for a moment. And there is yet another
side dealt with by Chester Holcombe,
sometime United States Minister
at Pekin. "One result of the opium
trade," he says, "is the
intense hatred of all
things and all men foreign.
The Chinese from
their point of view have
been attacked and overcome
by an unknown
and necessarily inferior
race for the sake of the
money which was to be
made by forcing a deadly
poison upon them.
Is there any other explanation
necessary of
the anti-foreign feeling
in the Chinese Empire?"
But there seem to be
signs of better things;
and already efforts are
being made to restore
tbe vast and magnificent
province of Si-Chuen to
her ancient grain-growing
prominence, so disastrously
upset of late
years by the invasion of
the poppy, which like a
noxious weed has run
over the whole land. On
all bands opium remedies
are being called for ;
and to my own knowledge
a young Chinese
druggist has made a fortune
out of the leaves of
a certain creeper which
be discovered acciden-

tally while collecting
medicinal plants in the
jungle.
Chancing to make an
infusion of these leaves,
he and a friend tried it.
This friend was a confirmed
opium smoker
and to his amazementfound
the stuff took
away his craving. The
remedy was persisted
with. More leaves were
chopped up fine and then
roasted or charred and
an infusion made that
looked and smelt like
senna tea. Thus from
the Emperor and his
powerful Viceroys down
to the humblest among the rural communities
a determination exists to sweep
away the opium traffic ; and this movement
comes at a momentous time when
STRENGTH 35
NOT A PARTICLE OF THE SOPORIFIC FRODUCT IS WASTED
this vast Empire is awakening from sleep
to fulfill a mighty destiny whose end we
cannot see but which—who can tloubt ?—
is for the world's best interests.
Strength
I ask a life well-rounded, full and free—
I ask a life of strength, by that I mean
That each recurrent day will bring to me
Desire of venturing truth where doubt has been
Life is as full and perfect as my aim,
Peace can be bought with silence or with lies —
But I would rather censure bear, and blame
Than play a coward's part in manly guise.
—RUSSELL D. CHASE, in Self-Mastery Maeazine,

era
iRAVE! Brave is it ye
are ? Oh, 'tis a foine,
B ^ i s W bold man ye be whin
zvfn yer full of liquor. Ye
ML) °-° big things, thin; ye
talk, thin, about climbin'
on bridges an' runnin'
up sky-scrapers
loike the monkey ye be, but whin it comes
to moral courage ye ain't worth the shake
of a dry rag." Katy Mulligan spitefully
snapped the dish cloth she was using.
"Oi tell ye, Moike," she went on, " 'tis
well ye hang yer head in shame. Whin
ye know me an' the childer is sore in
nade of yer week's wages iv'ry Monday
night, why do ye lit thot Donovan, an'
Jack Kelly an' the rist of thot worthless
gang drag ye over to Lonergan's dirty
hole of a sayloon ? Don't tell me ye can't
help it—more's the shame if ye can't—
Ach, ye stupid, good-natured coward,
Oi've a mind to punch thot mug of vers !"
Her face fairly flared as she thrust
her large freckled fist, dripping with
water, close to the nose of her troubled
spouse.
Mike, huddled on a stool in a corner
of the kitchen, ducked so hurriedly that
he cracked his little red head against the
wall, bringing the tears into his eyes.
"Now—now, Catherine," he whined.
"'Catherine!' Don't 'Catherine' me!"
There was a contempt in the words that
wilted him. "Last night ye didn't sjiake
so soft an' lovin'ly. Thin it was, 'Kate,
ye dam' jade, why in hill can't ye stay
up for a man instid of puttin' yer lazy
carcass in bed ?' An' two o'clock in the
mornin' an' me been washin' all day af
thot. Ye dirty, heartless brute! Ob, yer
only brave whin yer drunk!" And in
her wrathful disgust Katy plunged her
arms into the dishpan with a vehemence
that showered the floor with hot spray.
Mike, watching every move with the
crafty alertness of a cat, saw hi.s chance,
and slijijiing from his perch, surreptitiously
snatched up his dinner pail and
sneaked through the open door.
(36)
igj&s& Lost ffi.k
A. B. Mosler
erve
She facetl about as be crossed the
threshold.
"Ye coward ; ye crawlin', whimperin'
coward. Git out of me sight! An' don't
let me see you again this day, ayther,"
she hurled after him.
The scene was not an unusual one at
the home of tbe Mulligans. Mike had
one failing—a fondness for strong drink.
When under its influence his usually
peaceful nature became boastful and
quarrelsome. At such times Catherine
made no attempt to interfere with him.
At all other times she was his master,
and ruled with a rod of iron. Still with
all the ardor of a large, warm heart she
loved the little Irishman. His slight
figure and mild blue eyes appealed to all
the feminine instincts of her nature.
A half smile of tenderness illumined
her face while her eves were still alight
with the sparks of her wrath as they
followed the dejected figure, trudging
along with well-scoured dinner pail
hanging low. Already she regretted that
she had denied him his breakfast. The
punishment was too great for the crime.
Well, she would make it up in some other
way.
"Ah, Moike, Moike," she sighed, "you
little runt. Yer a regular baste whin
drunk; but, oh, what a jewel whin
sober!
It was nearly an hour past bis usual
time for starting work when Mike arrived
at the engineer's office overlooking
Big Cleft Gorge, where the bridge was
being built. Jim Haworth, superintendent
of construction, scowled darkly as
Mulligan entered the little shed-like
structure.
"This is a hell of a time for vou to get
here, ain't it. now?" was his sarcastic
greeting. "How do you fellows suppose
we can live up to contract and get the
bridge done on schedule time" when
you're ahvays coming in late?"
Then, as Mike stood downcast and
silent, he added, "Well, get to work.
What are you loafing here for?"

And Mike slunk away, closing the door
softly behind him.
He stood for a little, looking down at
the river. It slipped away—blue and
broad—as smoothly and as silently as the
floating clouds mirrored in its depths.
Over the water hung the skeleton of the
bridge—girders of steel naked against
the sky, mere bits of cobweb in the immensity
of sjiace ; and ant-like men clung
and toiled there.
Mike climbed up the abutment and
stejiped out upon this skeleton. It sang
and hummed and vibrated in a sort of
rhythm beneath the steady strokes of the
workers. A brisk breeze blowing
through the gorge whipped against his
face.
"There's Mulligan over there." suddenly
exclaimed one of
the men; "what's the
matter with him? He's
jumping about like a hen
on a roost."
Indeed, he was jumping
about like a hen on a
roost, his arms extended,
like a grotesque bird
that, just alighted, was
steadying itself.
O'Mallev. foreman' of
the gang, looked up, anti
at sight of the queer
figure in rusty coat and
faded baggy overalls
coming forward with
odd gesticulations, like
a jierformer on a darkred
cable, he piled up
the huge oaths.
"He's feeling happy,
that's what's the matter
with him. Get off there,
vou idiot," he roared, his
deep voice sounding
above the clangor;
"don't you know you'll
be shaken to paradise?"
Mike's response was a
particularly merry caper.
The men began throwing
down their tools to
watch the fun.
Big Donovan, object
of Katy's wrath, leaned
forward with outstretched
hand, whistling
WHEN MULLIGAN LOST HIS NERVE 37
as to a dog. "Come, Fido, come," he
sang out.
At this juncture, Mulligan's bat, pulled
down over his eyes, was snatched away
by an eddying current of air, and sent
spinning downward in rajiid, circling
flight into the great abyss.
The face thrown into view was white,
ghastly. It was as if they looked upon
death stalking toward them.
A murmur of horror succeeded the
boisterous merriment. The farce was a
farce no longer. The little figure, swaying
on with set jaws and rigid muscles
was suddenly battling for his life.
O'Mallev, a man of exjierience, hatl
seen the thing before; had known it to
creep ujion the stoutest-hearted, the most
iron-nerved of men. lie read the mean-
Now—NOW CATHERINE,' HE WHINED.'

38 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
ing in the struggling muscles, in tinlines
of the strained face. As he watched
the wretched man jilant each foot tremulously,
waveringly, a great terror chilled
his own heart. With Mulligan he could
see the world swirl, could perceive the
haze that obscured the vision; it was as
though his own soul, as well as Mulligan's,
burned with a fierce consuming fire
to reach the workmen's platform—a few
boards rudely tossed together, but offering
rest for the trembling limbs, relief
for tlie almost compelling desire to look
down. His own muscles strained in
sympathy, and he found himself on his
knees reaching forward to draw the
struggling man to safety.
But Donovan's raillery had wrought
its mischief. At the jeering words—
heard, but not understood—Mulligan
raised his eyes from the beam—eves
charged with a look of wild, hopeless
terror. He came- to a full stop. The
cold jierspiration burst out upon his face.
For an instant he swayed unsteadily.
Then his .^aze dropped to the appalling
dejiths. The susjien.se was brief. His
knees gave way, and with a despairing
cry he slid from tlie girder.
The horrified watchers were still
drawing in a swift intake of breath when
tlie fall was ended. In dropping he bad
caught the beam with his outstretched
hands, and now raising his body jiartly
upon it. he wrapped his arms about in a
desjierate. convulsive grasp, his legs
dangling in sjiace.
( )'Malley was a man of action. A sharp
wortl of authorit)- and he had stopjied the
senseless uproar.
"And. Donovan." he added, "come out
there with me and see if we can't save
the poor divil."
The\ found Mulligan breathing short,
hurried nas|>s, his eves fixed in an unwinking,
glassy stare downward.
"Sort of hypnotized," said the foreman.
"Mere,'' he shouted, and grasjiing
Mulligan roughly by the collar, smote him
a sharp blow on the side of the head with
his open hand. "Get up; what do you
mean by this sort of thing? Do ye think
ye can loaf here all tlav?"
There was little intimation that Mulligan
had heard or felt. At the blow he
had shaken his head as one might if
annoyed by a fly; but that was all.
O'Malley looked at the blushing imprint
of his palm on the pallid cheek and
sjiat resolutely.
"\\ e ve got t make him mad or scare
him worse than he's scared now. Though,
Lor, T don t see how we're going to do
thai. (iet hold of his fingers and smash
'em ; don't use any mistaken kindness.
Make the blood start; if we can only pry
him loose for a minute we'll get him in.''
"Ab, it's comin'," said Donovan in a
matter-of-fact tone as though it were a
jiiece of timber he was placing in position.
Assuredly the patient was writhing
under the exquisite torture. Then
all of a flash he shifted bis jiosition, sliding
his arms along, and took a still
tighter grip.
"Oh, dam' it," groaned O'Malley.
"stubborn as hell." But be was not at
the end of his resources. He had a won-

WHEN MULLIGAN LOST HIS NERVE 39
derful reserve of jiractical psychology the bundle of clothes hanging out there,
tucked away in his brain.
the limp legs of the pantaloons dangling
"Boys," he shouted, "start the ham­ in the breeze, the blood rushed back to
mers goin'; maybe if he hears the noise her heart.
goin' he'll sort of get over the feelin' of "
homesickness and come round all right."
The boom and thunder of the crash of
steel on steel made the girders quiver.
A jar ran through the huge beams that
made them quiver under Mike's desjierate,
straining grip, but he bent his neckstill
farther and clutched the tighter.
O'Malley bit off a chunk of tobacco
and spat impotently. Then he looked at
Donovan in a way very near akin to despair.
For once lie was baffled.
"If his wife was only here," remarked
Donovan.
O'Malley's jaw stopped, a sudden comprehension
lighting his eye.
"< If course," be cried, in the tone of
one who has solved a riddle. "Why
didn't we think of that before ?"
Plis eye ran over the throng anti fixed
upon Jack Kelly.
"Fetch Mrs." Mulligan." said O'Malley,
laconically, and Kelly was off.
They waited with what patience they
could muster. The foreman shifted
about uneasily, swearing softly to himself
and dividing bis attention between
the shore and the prostrate man before
him. He still chewed bis wad of tobacco,
but be no longer spat; his throat from
excitement was parched.
"Lord !" be muttered every now and
then, "suppose she don't come. An' what
can she do for the little tlivil, anyway?"
But she did come. A moment arrived
when O'Malley looked up to see her
standing on the lip of the gorge. A hush
fell on the rough gang. It was as if the
inspiration of her presence had brought
discipline out of chaos. Her bands were
planted on ber broad hips as, regardless
of the curious gaze of the throng, she
surveyed the situation.
To Katy tbe spectacle was far more
appalling than she had anticipated. She
had been half-inclined to scoff at Kelly's
story. She knew Mike to be one of the
most skillful and daring of bridge builders,
albeit otherwise almost a coward,
and to imagine him seized with the falling
fear was to her almost impossible. It
was incredible. But as her eye ranged
along the dull-red path of the girders to
( >h, oh," she moaned in a sudden outburst
of grief, wringing her hands.
< > Malley was running to meet her,
swinging along as easilv as if the narrow
jiath of steel offered a broad and secure
footing.
The sight in contrast to the shriveled
figure she knew as her Mike's sent the
blood up into her cheeks again.
"Oh, the coward," she whispered between
her teeth, "the miserable coward!
All his big words in hi.s drunken moods
just lies !"
Superintendent Haworth was standing
at her side, his brow clouded with
anxiety. "You had better call out to
him, madam," he said gently, for he felt
quick sympathy for this robust, redcheeked
woman.
She turned suddenly on him in withering
scorn.' "As if thot would be of any
use," she sniffed. "Mike gives no heed
to me voice: it's the weight of me fist
thot he respicts; an' he's goin' to feel it
now."
O'Malley's mouth gaped open.
"But you'll fall," said the sujierintendent,
while he stared incredulous.
"Ach, Oi'll not fall even if ( )i am big
an' fat. It's mesilf, ()i can plainly see.
thot be the one to drag thot loon of a
Mulligan from the trapazy he's glued to."
"Keep your eyes on the beam in front
of you," gasped ( )'Malley. "Don't ve look
down at the river." And Kelly steppetl
suddenly out ahead as if to stop her.
"Me people are from the west of ( )irland,
where 'tis all cliffs an' precipices,"
said Katy, gathering her skirts in her
great fists. "Oi guess Oi ain't goin' to
fall. Pat Kelly, get out of me. wav, or
go ahead an' show me how 'tis done."
Kelly obeyed, meek as water, anti Katy
smiled.
Put the sensation of leaving the solitl
abutment anti stepping out upon the narrow
path of steel came to her as a distinct
shock. For the first few steps she
was horribly conscious of the abyss that
yawned beneath. It tempted her eyes,
coaxed and pleaded with them to cease
noting the details of every iron bolt, of
every square inch of the singing beam,

Sdli?^ ^
(JO)
"SHE CLASPED HER HANDS IN AN AGONY OF DESPAI
— —

and gaze into its depths. The thought of
the forbidden look wrestled with her,
tortured her, filled her with a shrinking
fright. She felt the breeze twitching at
her skirts, binding them about her limbs,
drawing ami pulling as
if it . would willingly
drag her out into space.
()h, it was cruel creeping
there with safety
within easy clutch. It
one could but fall face
downward anti hold on !
Poor Mike! she no
longer wondered at his
pitiful terror.
Gradually her consciousness
of the situation
faded; a film obscured
her sight of the
monotonous rising and
falling of Kelp's heel.-.
It was no longer an effort
t o w a 1 k. S h e
seemed to float along.
Xow Kelly's heels were
no longer in sight. The
girder, a dull-red blur,
began to swing round
anti round. Her ears
were filled with a far-off
ringing, anti a strange
burning came into her
eyes. Then all at once
a hot flood of perspiration,
welling over her
brows, seemed suddenly
to clear her vision. In
a flash she hatl forgotten
the winds tugging at her
hair, Kelly, Mike—everything.
For she was
staring straight downward,
in a fixed, horrified
gaze, at a plane of
deep blue that glided
from under her sight
and varied only in the contour
foam that flecked its surface.
,f the
The clearness of vision was but momentary.
A blur of swirling blue succeeded
it. Dreamily she felt a hand laid
nn her shoulder from behind. A confused
sound as of voices rang in her
ears, but it was vague, distant. The
infinity of gliding azure was to her the
WHEN MULLIGAN LOST HIS NERVE -II
only reality and all the world .seemed
swallowed uji in it.
Something gripped ber shoulder and it
ached dully. Then real jiain followed
sharp and fierce. She came to IK If
KATY PIKST INTO HYSTERICAL SOBS."
as from a night mare. It was ( t'Malley
who was torturing her.
"Mike! Mike!" the words buzzed in
ber ears ; "what about Mike?"
Mike? Oh, yes, Mike. Her thoughts
cleared slowly. She was consciencesmitten.
Every tender association with
him flashed before her. Mike, poor Mike,
was to be saved ant] she alone could do

4:2 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
it. Her eyes were back on the beam;
her fear for herself forgotten.
( I'Malley was pointing to something
directly ahead, anti now she realizetl for
the first time that they were almost upon
the object of their quest. Yes, there was
Mike, his breast strained against the
beam, his chin locked on the side farthest
from his body as if he would make a hook
of it to aitl his straining hands. There
was something uncanny in the silence of
that motionless figure—deatl to everything
of the world save its terror.
"Moike, Moike," she half-whispered,
the tears springing into her eyes, "don't
ye know me?" Then as she received no
response she clasped her hands in an
agony of despair. "( >h, he'll die, he'll
die," she choked. "Moike, Moike, sjiake
to me. Oh, Moike. is it crazy ye be?'
Don't ye know me? Don't ye know yer
Katy 0 "
The obvious futility of her pleading
came home to her quickly : the stupidity
of the man's clinging there tempted her
ready anger.
Reaching down, she seized him by the
collar of his jacket and shook him with
the energy of desperation.
"Moike, ye spalpeen, wake up. If ye
ain't the death of me, ( Ji'll be the death
of you yet."
Mike started perceptibly, rolling his
head to one side. Katy noted the sign
and yanked again viciously.
"Moike. dear old Moike. ye baste, ye
' brute, wake up," she called between her
set teeth.
And a change came upon the little
monkey-like figure of Mulligan. Dawn­
ing consciousness was creeping over
him. The short rasjiing breaths died
awa)-. Then a shudder swept over him,
and gulping hi.s lungs full of air he
sobbed a prolonged sigh like one who
has come out of a dream. His rapidly
blinking eyes lost their glassy stare and
he turned them up pitifully at his wife.
His fingers relaxed the rigor of their
grip.
And then almost before the spectators
could realize what bail happened, Katy
had jerked him uji to the toji of the
beam, set him on bis feet with a resounding
cuff to straighten him, anti, holding
him by tbe collar, was marching him
straight before her, back over the narrow,
dull-red jiath to the shore.
Superintendent Haworth stared at her
in simjile admiration as she stejijied at
last upon the abutment at bis side, anti
as the men about them sent uji a wild
involuntary cheer of genuine joy over the
successful issue of tbe exploit, he stejijied
forward to offer ber bis hand.
But Kat)- burst into harsh, nervous,
hvsterical sobs. "Oh, Moike, Moike, is
it alive ye are? Oh, Moikey, what a
fright ye've been givin' me." She had
no eyes but for him.
Mike looked up at her, his eyes winking
like those of a startled. puppy. A
lump stuck persistently in his throat as
he swallowed lugubriously. Puppy-like,
too, he stood dumb and trembling.
"Aeh. ye little runt," said the woman.
half-realizing the farcical side of it all,
anti then suddenly, tenderly, "but wha-t'd
< )i 'a' done, darlint," she whisjiered, "if
ye'd fallen off the bridge?"

COMMON SHARK. LENGTH, SEVEN FEET; WEIGHT, 220 POUNDS.
*•?•**
• •••.. >.,
Time Stories about. SlharSls
: i.rf-. ',,[•-, -;-.
Captain Hains has been besides a sailor and navigator, a professional fisherman, and at one time was interested
in developing the shagreen industry to a commercial basis, fishing lor sharks of all kinds for their pelts. He has
no toleration for "nature-fakers" who have invaded this field.
I IE sharks of the oceans
are the most abused,
T " V l and most hated of all
11 creatures. There are
yj more absurd stories
concerning their ferocity,
more ridiculous
nonsense about the conbellies,
than would fill a
And strangest of all, the
tents of their
large volume.
worst stories about them are told by seamen,
toltl as truth, and the credulous
landsman has nothing but to believe.
The late Mr. Herman Oelrichs, millionaire
sportsman, once offered a thousand
dollars for an authentic case of anyone
being killed and eaten by a "man-eater"
—and no one has yet been able to get the
money. I have myself offered several
times to duplicate the reward, but met
upon each occasion with such showers of
"authentic" cases—none of which were
ever proved—that I gave the matter no
further consideration, One of the few
seamen who ever told the truth about
pelagic sharks, happens to be Mr. Frank
Bullen. author of main- stories of whaling,
etc., and his description of the
hordes which infest the whaling grounds
are as near as possible to what I have
seen myself.
That a shark will not attack a man in
the water is manifestly too much to say,
for at certain seasons vast hordes or
schools of these pests, or rather scavengers,
will "strike" at almost anything
that is dropped into the sea. These littorals
are fierce from hunger and a small
fish which a man could easily pick up
anti whirl about bis head—a common way
of killing a shark along the southern
coast—will strike savagely, probably at
a man or any other living body which
offers something in the way of food. So
also will the bonito, or one of the mackerel
tribe.
Tbe pelagic shark, the triangular
toothed—miscalled man-eater—is a slug-
»
(4.1)

44 TIIE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
gish fish in spite of its large fin-development.
It is absolutely incapable of following
a ship, if the ship is under any
reasonable headway, but it will often
swim along with a sailing vessel in calm
weather when she is making not over
1}
HAMMER HEAD SHARK.
three knots an hour. This deep-water
fish is not as gregarious as the littoral
cousin, but generally goes alone or in
pairs, male and female. While it i.s a
cold blooded creature, not at all like the
porpoise, or any of the whale family, it
brings forth its young alive.
The shark performs the same functions
afloat that the well-known turkey
buzzard performs ashore. He is jirobably
the most ubiquitous creature in existence,
being found in every sea from
Greenland to Cape Horn and from
Alaska to Australia. In February, 1892,
I killed two of the pelagic variety in
three degrees north, one hundred and
twenty west, from the deck of a sailing
ship becalmed. This is as far from land
as it is possible to get, right in the middle
of tbe Pacific Ocean, our course taking
us there from Cape Horn to 'Frisco
to get the tratles which do not blow with
any regularity near the West coast of
South America. These two specimens
were in no way different from hundreds
I had killed nearer the shore. They were
male and female and they had followed
the ship for about six or seven miles during
the entire dav. She had barely steer­
ing way upon her anti we had no difficulty
in hooking both before dark, drawing
their heads above the surface and
shooting them with soft lead bullets,
afterwards cutting off their tails for a
"mascot" to break the calm weather.
Their skins underwent
-, some chemical experiment
I was developing
anti were used up in this
manner.
It is for the skin of the
shark that he is mostly
hunted. If some excellent
chemist could work
out some formula to
make his enormously
tough hide pliable he
would be a valuable asset
to the leather trade, for
sharks can be had by the
million. There is practically
no limit to their
numbers. The hide is
nearl)- as thick as that of
the hijipojiotamus and it
bears millions of small,
sand like follicles which make it as rough
as a file. It is this rough quality which
makes it valuable for sword hilts, and
the hilts of nearly all well-made weapons
are wrapjied with it to insure a firm
hand-hold. All Japanese weapons are
hilted in this manner. Sometimes the
corrugations of the under part are
moused or served with gilt wire to comjilete
the effect.
In the Jajian Stream, or Black Stream,
which corresponds somewhat to our own
Gulf Stream, the shark is plentiful, just
as plentiful as he is on our own coast
and for centuries the ()rientals have
fished for him, using him both for food
and other jiurposes. Shark fins are a
well-known Chinese dish. In the tropical
waters of the Atlantic the shark seldom
grows over the length of ten feet, probably
not one in a million grows over
twelve feet. Of nine thousand and some
odtl sharks killed, only thirty were more
than ten feet long and onlv five or six
were more than twelve feet from nose to
tail tip. Therefore it is believable that
the "monsters" told of in yarns were
never put tinder the tape.
A steel tape has a most disheartening-

TRUE STORIES ABOUT SHARKS -15
effect upon the fish-liar. The specimens one season. In the worst of the shark
along our own seaboard take in every season he plunged overboard in two
variety. There are shovel-nose, hammer­ fathoms right over the hotly of an enorheads,
sand-sharks, and there are many mous shark which was visible just be­
of the triangular tootbetl variety which neath the vessel's bilge. 1 le did this for
have earned the name of man-eaters, a wager of five dollars. The shark never
probably because they have at no time in noticed him in the least and he climbed
their lives ever tastetl a man. As well back iack aboard without mishap. The
call a buzzard a "man-eater," for it is creature below was fully ten feet long, a
probable that tbe buzzard gets at about as veritable monster of the "man-eating"
many men as the shark.
breed. Within ten minutes the fish
In the earl\- spring along tbe Florida (grouper) began biting and we lost two
reef the sharks come in in vast hordes. out of three hooked, the heads and fore­
The_\- are the jiest of the tarpon fisherman parts of their bodies coming up with the
and to him their name is anathema for curve of shark jaws clean anti regular
they will strike quickly at a booked fish. through their thickest part. This appar­
Fishing for groujier, I have seen as many ently shows that the shark fishes for the
"as two out of three fish weighing from food he understands and does not go off
ten to thirty pounds cut in two by these at variants to glut some imaginary
voracious scavengers. At this time, and ferocity against bis mortal enemy, man.
in this locality where the fishing is in Six hundred miles east of the mouth of
savage competition, there is every reason the River Plate, in about 35 south lati­
to be careful not to give a shark a chance tude, I once killed a "solitary," a singular
to "strike." I once had a huge black roving shark. 1 Ie was long and thin and
diver, the hero of several fiction tales, very dark colored. He had the asjiect of
tell me of how his mate was killed upon a hungry fish and with his teeth of the
the Great Bahama Bank diving in an old triangular type he would have undoubt­
wreck. This giant always told his story edlv made an ugly customer to meet in
about the time the sharks were getting the deeji waters of the open sea.
9 t - 'SF. *&•*>•
bad and he never failed to ask for a raise
;n pay—Soon afterwards. He showed
not tbe slightest fear if instead of five
dollars per day, I raised his pay to seven.
Also I had at one time a man named
Cameron, a Scot, who was pilot for me
SAW-FISH. SAID TO LE OF THE SHARK FAMILV.
In Charleston harbor, many years ago,
while in the schooner Pharos, now the
light-house tender of that district, my
brother—now Cajitain Jack Hains of the
Field Artillery who had the distinction
of being the last man shot in the late

16 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
war with Spain,—and myseli were fishing
shark for jiastime. We had killed
twenty or more during a few days lying
at anchor, when one day while we were
overboard swimming about the ship, the
shark-line ran out quickly. Climbing
aboard we ran to it and hooked a strange
monster of what is known among fishermen
as "tiger shark." This fellowwas
of the triangular toothed variety
but was striped in a most jieeuliar manner.
He was not over seven feet under
the tape, but he ajipeared like twenty
when in the sea. for he fought so furiously
that we several times had to give
him line. He tore the water to foam all
about the ship's side, plunged and
jumped into the air and showed signs of
vigor never seen before in any shark. A
boat-book handle rammed into bis mouth
he ground uji in fine style, clashing bis
jaws and spitting out teeth by the dozen.
lie hatl six rows of large triangular cutters—the
usual nuniber for a full-grown
shark—but they were exceedingly large,
clear-cut and sharp. It took several minutes
to kill the fellow and such was bis
The photo
rarely reaching eight feet. The)- ave
often of the triangular-toothed breed, but
usually are of the long, pointed fangtoothed
variety known as "sand-shark"
among fishermen. There is no danger
whatever from their presence. They
prowl about, unnautically speaking, like
pariah dogs seeking offal, anil thev are
not so much to be dreaded.
There are some jilaces such as the California
Gulf, where the jielagic and littoral
species of shark abound so plentifully
that it is easy to conceive that they
will strike at anything living. Tbeir vast
numbers keeji them in a hungry condition
and the water is warm enough to
keep them in vigor. Hut these conditions
do not occur on the Atlantic coast, excejit'
perhaps along the Florida reef in spring
and earl)- summer.
Tbe teeth of all sharks are set loose in
the head and can be broken out easily.
They are sujiposed to work in and out,
drawing tbe prey towards them after
once getting hold. Thev rejilace themselves
(hiring life and are as jierfect a
cutting machine as can be imagined.
TIGER SHARK. SO CALLED BECAUSE OF ITS STRIPES
ows a monster nf the triangulai -toothed species, eight fee
lencth and 2SI0 pounds in weight.
effect upon us that we did not go swimming
again for days although the men
of tlie revenue cutter lying close alongside
went regularly.
Sharks in northern harbors are very
scarce. ( Inly in the summer time do
they come in in any numbers, and these
are usually of the small littoral variety,
lhe profound ignorance concerning
sharks is amazing. Among seamen this is
even greater than among landsmen. Sailors,
who seldom or never fish, never have
a chance to see a shark excejit in the water.
Their naturallv exaggerated yarns concerning
them take even greater breadth
after a glimpse or two, "for a ten foot

shark looks very large
indeed in the sea. Hecause
a shark's eyes are
so set in his head that he
must turn upon his side
to see above him, the
prevailing o p i n i o n—
among seamen—is that
a shark must turn on his
back in. order to bite
anything. Nothing is
more absurd. A shark's
nose projects some distance
beyond his jaws,
and no jiosition whatever
will change this
skull formation. It is
just as difficult for him
to bite anything he cannot
get his teeth close to %
in one jiosition as in another.
He will invariably
turn upon bis sitle to bite anything floating
above him, but he does this for the
simple reason he wishes to see wdiat 'litis
doing, see what he is taking hold of.
If the object is beneath the surface and
he can reach it by not looking ujiwards,
he will never turn at all.
Altogether the shark, most dreadetl
and abused of fish, is a worthy brother
of the buzzard. He cleanses the seven
seas of all carrion, he is usually a quietly
disposed fellow, and he never attacks
man, unless under the dire stress of
starvation.
Of the many amazing stories concerning
the contents of the shark's maw,
there is always the one about the bottle,
always the one about the seaman's shoe.
Iust why any healthy animal should eat
glass bottles is not stated by the ingenuous
seamen who create these stories,
nor is the enormous output of shoes
necessary for fulfilling this function ever
discussed. Of thousands of sharks cut
open, not a single one hatl anything unusual
in their stomachs. There is no
more reason to suppose a shark will eat
glass bottles than that a goat will, both
apparently getting the credit of eating tincans.
The stories of sharks taking their
young into their maws for protection,
is doubtless fostered by the fact that
many sharks are viviparous, bringing
forth their young alive. The digestive
TRUE STORIES ABOUT SHARKS n
A MAN-EATE
X-* ; *-A
juice of the fish's stomach would soon
dissolve their young, just as it would
any other fleshy matter. A shark twelve
feet long will weigh about three hundred
and fifty to five hundred pounds, an
enormous monster, but his stomach is
no larger than tbat of an animal's of the
same size.
Tbe cruelties jiracticed ujion this scavenger
by ignorant seamen are too horrible
to describe. He is hated and feared
to a most absurd extent and it is doubtless
the excuse for such practices.
For ferocity anil general aggressiveness,
the orca, a small whale, is much
more to be feared, so also is the grampus,
but even these fighters of the deep never
attempt to disturb man.
Tbe hide of the shark is nearly a quarter
of an inch thick. It is tough and
easy to remove, there being nn fat or
fleshy matter to scrape off to any unusual
extent. It is so tough that it will turn
the point of an ordinary sheath knife, or
several times as tough as that of an alligator
which for years was supposed
to turn a bullet. I have tried the same
knife upon a shark ten feet long and
upon an alligator twelve feet, the blade
going into the alligator much easier than
into the shark. Although it struck fairly
upon one of the alligator's scales, glancing
and going in clear up to the hilt, it
failed to penetrate the hide of the shark.

Mailing' Artificial ILyes
NE jierson out of every
three hundred in the
0 \ V United States is the
s7 wearer of an artificial
/*. eye. While many of
this unfortunate class
wear what are known
as "stock" eyes—manufactured
in Germany, where the makers.
of course, never see prospective wearers
—the majority of eyes made in this
country are for individuals, who come in
personal contact with the manufacturer
and his artists.
While the distance between the individual
eases of this class appears widely
remote, there are eases on record where
three members of one family wear artificial
eves ; also many eases where husbands
and wives or some other members
of a family are unfortunate in the same
manner, the losses being clue to disease.
Tt is also a class of which the I nited
States Government keeps no census sta-
(48)
FIRST PROCESS: DRAWING OUT THE GLASS TUBE.
tistics, the figures given being arrived at
by the large firms supplying these delicate
examples of their skill.
Blue and gray are the predominating
colors in American eyes, the proportion
being three to one of brown or hazel.
Already the tide of immigration is working
a change, however, and the tlarker
shades are becoming more general, this
being due to the increasing number of
Jews and Italians anti the dangerous
blasting with dynamite and drilling in
which many of the latter are engaged.
By far the greatest number of eyes
lost i.s clue to small jiieces of steel or
metal that find lodgment in the eye, causing
serious inflammation, necessitating.
in most cases, the removal of the eyeball.
Eye-making in this day is a distinct
and recognized art. It has little in common
with glass blowing, with its crude
and uneven distribution of coloring matter.
Men whose discretion anti ability to
gain the proper effects in color-tones, in
harmony and to do this instantly while
sticks of glass pigment near the molten
stage in their poised hands, are required
in the manufacture of these artificial
members. It is a work that quickly exjioses
the deficient and showers its credits
upon the comjietent ojierator.
Illustrating the degree of perfection
that may be attained, a Xew York manufacturer
has a patron who has been married
for over twenty years ami bis wife
has never learned that her husband wears
an artificial eye. This man is now sixtyfive
years of age and has been wearing
eyes for over fifty years. Tbe astonishing
results he has obtained bave been
largel) due. however, to his regularity
in renewing the eyes and keeping bis evelid
in normal condition. From the first
he has insisted upon having the closest
possible duplication of bis natural eve,
and the firm with whom he has dealt has
taken pride in the artistic excellence of
their product for this customer.

Artificial e y e s are
m a tl e of glass tubes
about 25 millimetres in
diameter, which, under
excessive heat, are
drawn to a point on
both sitles. One extended
tube is hollow,
and through this tube
air is blown. The jierson
for whom the eye is
being made is seated beside
the artist, who has
bis colors before him on
his work-table. This
table is arranged with a
blow-pipe , having air
jiressure which causes 1
intense beat varying
from twehe to fifteen
hundred degrees. The
artist selects one of the
tubes and draws it out
into the flame, picking
up the color for the
background from the
many sticks of glass liefore
him. Several of
these are arranged with
reference to the frequency
with which thev
have to be used. The
first, or clouded, tube is
used for making the
white of the eye, or
sclera. In children it is
generally of a bluish
white color, but this gradually changes
and in older persons of mature age it
becomes darker and very often of a yellowish
shade. The white of the eye also
varies according to the health of the person
; sometimes it is quite dark and at
times the blood vessels show more prominently
than at others.
When the background has been made
small jiieces of glass are fused on to represent
tbe iritles in the natural eye, or
better, the colored pigment. After these
colors are obtained the pupils, jiieces of
black enamel, are fused. The crystal is
next jilaced upon these colors and fused
and the iris is blown to the proper size.
This varies from the smallest, which is
about ten millimetres, to about fifteen
millimetres, the average, however, being
from eleven and a half to twelve. The
MAKING ARTIFICIAL EVES 4-1
IK -
1
# , ,
— HuTl ^^|
**Ǥjjlli \fW9twr
COLORING THE IRIS.
- !
pupils also vary according to the light:
in younger persons they are generally
much larger. The change in the size of
the pupil is more readily noticed in light
gray and blue eyes. In darker eyes, especially
brown, the change is hardly perceptible.
Tbe next stage in the completion
of the eye is the veining, which consists
of a reddish tinge drawn out in very
small strings. These are fused on the
eye when it is red hot. The veins vary
and in some eyes it is hardly necessary
to bave them at all.
Great care is taken in the making of
the pupil. Tbe size is of course the chief
point to be established. The darker the
colors of the iris the better the result, as
the changes in the size of the pupil are
not noticed. Some wearers of artificial
eyes are verv particular in this resjiect

50 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
READY FOR VEINING.
and always have a duplicate eye made
with a large pupil for night wear.
The most difficult eye to match is one
tending between a blue and a gray, as
these colors seem to change with the
differing shades of light. A manufacturer,
whose father introduced artificial
eves in America, said, in discussing this
difficulty of color: "This is the kind of
eve which is too beautiful to be gray and
too expressive to be blue."
At least one hour is required to make
an eye, and even then the artist is not
always successful. ( )ften several have
to be made, especially when tbe manufacturer
has an exacting patron.
Shapes and sizes of eyes vary more
than do the colors. Often an eye can be
had from stock which will approximately
match the natural one, but it is impossible
to get an eve to fit unless it is made
to order according to the
shape of the orbit. The
sizes of eyes vary from
the smallest, fourteen
millimetres, to thirtytwo
millimetres, but this
does not allow for the
variations in the position
of the iris and also the
fullness of the eyes. Tbe
size of an ewe a person
can wear is determined
by the length of the lids.
The longer and more
elastic the upper lid, the
larger the eye can be
worn without making it
stare.
In many cases there is
a sunken appearance bell
e a t h artificial eyes.
This is due to a loss of
fatty tissue in tbe upper
eye-lid which it is impossible
to fill out entirely
with an artificial
eye, no matter how skillfull)-
made it may be.
Hoping to eliminate this
hollowness beneath the
eye, jiersons very often
wear eyes that are too
large, so large in fact
that they are made to
stare. Besides impeding
the motion of the eye
large artificial eyes cause discomfort and
irritation to the socket.
As early as 500 B. C. artificial eyes
were made by the priests of Rome, who
jiractised as physicians ' and surgeons.
Tbeir methods of eye-making consisted
of taking a flesh-tinted striji of linen two
anti a quarter by one and a quarter
inches, to which the flat side of a piece
of earthenware, modeled lifesize and
painted to represent the human eye and
eye-lids, was cemented. This linen,
coated on the other side with some adhesive
substance, was placed over the
socket anti jiressed down. In brief, the
eyes were worn outside the socket, and
though it must have jiroved a clumsy
substitute, it was evidently apjireciated
by the Romans anti Egyjitians. In the
ruins of Pompeii, destroyed 7 C > P. C. an
eye of this description was discovered.

Not until the sixteenth
century were eves
in any resjiect like those
worn in the present dav.
A French surgeon, Ambrose
P e r e. invented
three artificial eyes. ( hie
consisted of an oval
jilate c ti v e r e d w i t ii
leather, on which an eye
was jiainted. It was attached
to the head by a
strong steel band. Certainly
it was neither
sightly nor comfortable.
The second device and
the first known in history
to be worn inside
the socket consisted of a
hollow globe of gold
deftly enameled. The
third type was a shell
pattern eye like those
used today, except that it
was of gold anti enamel.
Pere's inventions were
followed by eyes of
jiainted porcelains, colored
pearl white, which
soon became popular.
They were succeeded by
eyes of glass, which soon
took the place of all
others and command
popular favor to this
day.
Glass eyes were invented about the
year 1579 and were crude jiroductions of
inferior workmanship, the iris and pupil
being handpainted in a far from life-like
manner. In King Lear, Shakespere mentions
glass eyes, the King advising the
blind traitor, Gloucester, to "Get thee
glass eyes and seem to see."
Much credit is due to the French for
the development of the artificial eye. In
recent years (1840) Professor Boissomeau,
of Paris, made many improvements
in the jirocess of manufacture and
bis method, so far as coloring is concerned,
is used at the present time. Just
prior to 1850 several German eye makers
went to Paris and in this way the industry
was introduced into Germany.
Eyes were first made in the United
States by the late Peter Cougelmann in
.New York in 1851. But three firms are
MAKING ARTIFICIAL EVES 51
APPLYING THE VEINS.
engaged in this business in the country,
the manufacture of eyes here being confined
principally to supplying them for
private patrons. The greater part of the
stock eyes come from < iermany, where
an industry is built upon this article, large
numbers being exportetl to all jiarts of
the world. Eyes are also made in Paris
and in several jiarts of Englantl. but it
is not an industr)- in either country, being
conducted, like the American houses in
this specialty, to supply individual orders.
The price of an eye made to order varies
from $10 to $25. according to the work.
time and skill employed in manufacturing
it.
The latest imjirovement in artificial
eyes is one tbat was made by Dr. Snellen
in 1898, which consisted of a shell made
with a "backing" or double shell. This
can be used in cases where an eye-ball

52 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
INSERTING THE EYE.
has been removetl, the back resting on
the muscles and acquiring better motion
than it would otherwise have. On
account of its thickness it gives more
comfort to the wearer. The most natural
Everybody Wants It
Some people are yearning for love and some long
To win the bright laurels of fame ;
case and best adapted to fitting an eye
is one where the eye-ball has not been removed
and where a thin shell can be inserted.
In these cases there is never any
depression at the top of the eye, owing
to the presence of the eye-ball. Many
cases of this type defy detection by critical
examiners.
The last twenty years have witnessed
man\- innovations in the manufacture of
this article, anil it can no longer be written,
as it appeared in a standard encyclopaedia
as late as 1890 that: "An artificial
eye is an object made in imitation of the
natural eye. Those used for anatomical
purposes are constructed of wax or
papier mache. For use a.s substitutes for
lost human eyes they are made of glass
or porcelain. The chief use of artificial
eyes, however, is for filling the sockets
of stuffed animals. The simjilest are
small black glass beads or buttons mounted
on a bit of fine wire. Larger eyes are
elaborately made of various shapes, with
a close imitation in color to tbe iris or
sbajie of the pupil." Artificial eye making
is today almost a fine art.
There are people who covet the gift of sweet song,
And some knightly prowess would claim ;
But that which appeals to most people today —
And you probably yearn for it, too—
Is a job that is steady, with mighty good pay,
And where there is little to do.
Some people pretend to hold art as the best
Of all the good things on this earth,
And others would think they were splendidly blest,
With smaller expansions of girth ;
Some people are eager, they candidly say,
To make the world better, but few
Ever cease to go yearning for jobs with good pay
And where they'll have little to do.

lOeeforiifyiinii I tlie Farm
By Jo B0 Vs na IBartissel
iOR years endeavor has
been made to substitute
F ( { $ 1 mechanical means for
(jjo the use of animal
(vp>) power in agriculture.
With this jiractice, the
operation of farming
implements and machinery
was very materially complicated
on account of the unavoidable introduction
of long shafts, belts, and other machinery
of transmission. In addition to
this another great disadvantage lay in
the fact that much power could be profitably
utilized only over a very restricted
territory, usually at the same jioint where
the power was generated. It was therefore
jiractically impossible to utilize mechanical
energy in the field for ploughing,
ELECTRIC MOTOR FOR FIELD WORK.
sowing, etc., as these require too flexible
a system of distribution. Another serious
disadvantage was due to the very
heavy weight of the machinery, making
it very difficult to transjiort it over hilly
country and soft land. On the other
band the many advantages accruing from
the use of electric power are ajijiarent
at once, as on account of the flexibility
of the system, current may be easily distributed
over large tracts of land. The
energy at any point may readily be converted
into light, heat, or power, it being
easy to transport a light electric motor
over any ground.
Judiciously emjiloyed, electricity seems
called to create at a more or less distant
date a veritable revolution, which will
greatly improve methods of agriculture,
(.53)

54 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
with other industries
more or less indirectly
related to agriculture,
oil motors, spirit motors,
etc.. the exact type depending
of course upon
the local conditions in
regard to the cost of
fuel, etc. Where the
size of the farm does not
justify the installation of
a jirivate jilant or even
tbe jiurehase of an electric
motor, a common
CARROT AND BEET ROOT CUTILK
central station could be
erected, having a dejiart-
and give rise to a jirosjierity hitherto ment un­ ft the renting of semi-jiortknown.
Electricity, it may perhaps be able motors, to be used for farming jiur­
objected, is exjiensive and not easy to
generate, but as there are many methods
which can be successfully emjiloyed, the
large and small consumer can be conjioses.
If this is not done, one farmer
sidered as adequately catered for. The
cost of electing a jiower plant is much
less in the country than in the town, and
the subsequent working expenses are
very small in comjiarison. There is no
lack of the requisite sources of energy
for the generation of electricity, many
being even quite gratuitous. Amongst
these others we may mention the wind
which, by means of suitable motors, may
be made to drive dynamos charging reserve
accumulators for use when the
ELECTRICALLV OPERATED CHURN.
weather is calm ; and then, there arewaterfalls
which are already being turned might Iiu\- a motor and when not using
to account far and wide. Failing these, it himself rent it to his neighbors.
there are steam-engines already in use in Electricitv can easilv be used for many
agricultural districts and in connection different jiurjioses in agriculture, but preeminently
for cultivation.
In the opinion of
different investigators,
who had made a special
study of this subject, the
new science of electroculture
affords a vast
field for progressive
movement. Some of
these investigators state
tbat the effect of light on
jilants is due to simple
electric jihenomena and
that consequently light
can be rejilaced by electricity
; though some effective
method of suit-
No MORE SAWING or FIREWOOD,

ELECTRIFYING THE FARM 55
:: ^> A^JL^tf
m/im
\W\
ELECTRIC SHEEP SHEARING.
ablv applying electricity has still to be distinually growing on the continent of
covered. Experiments have nevertheless Europe, especially in < iermany, where
proved that by electrifying jilants at night, the jirojirietors of large farms have been
the current jiroduced the same effect on brought to see the advantages of this
these plants a.s the light of the sun. • Further,
it has been found that by electrifying
seeds, their germination was notably
accelerated. For instance, some jieas
treated by electricity germinated in two
and a half days instead of in four, hari­
system.
In the field, the electric ploughs give
excellent results. These ploughs are
generally of two tyjies, one having a single
and the other a double motor. Sevcots
in three days instead-of in five, etc.
Electricity electrolyses and decomposes
the salts contained in the soil and forms
others which can be more easily assimilated
by the jilants. It increases vitality
and thus favors the exchange of gases
between the leaves and tbe atmosjihere,
jiromotes respiration, the fixing of tbc
carbon, and the nutrition and multiplication
of the cells, further it influences the
circulation of the sap, by imparting more
energy to the osmose and thus forces the
nutritive juices into the capillary vessels
in the tissues of the leaf.
•M
For several years the application of
electricity to agriculture has been con­
INCUBATOR HKATED RY Ki.KCTRirnv.

,it; THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
A THRESH1NO PLANT.
eral other models have also been con­ one side of the field to the other, or, to
structed, but have successively been put it more exactly, from the windlass to
abandoned. We have first the single- the point of sujijiort by means of a wiremotor
jilough, which consists of four cable.
jiarts. These jiarts are the jilough, which The motive truck carries one or two
has usually two series of three, four, five. drums driven by an electromotor. The
or six shares. One series serves for the jioint of support is formed by means of a
outward journey, and the other for the truck fitted with the cramp-irons. The
return. Either the one or the other set motive truck and the truck with the
is put into action by drawing tbe jilough cramp-irons move automaticall)- at each
backwards and forwards between two furrow, the extent of their movement
jioints. The jilough then travels from varying according to the width of the
furrow- desired. The
double motor system differs
from the single one,
merely in that the
cramp-iron truck is replaced
by a second motor
truck. The first system
is more suitable for
work of slight depth in
light soil, the second
being used for depths of
from one foot to onefoot
four inches and
more, in c o m pact
ground. These machineploughs
are constructed
for a tractive effort of
up to 4,400 lbs., and for
working speeds of up to
3-6 feet per second.
CHAFF CTTTER.

ELECTRIFYING THE FARM
They are fitted with electromotors of
from 40 to 60 h. p. according to the
sjieeds for which the)- are required. The
dimensions of the motors are such that
they will produce the maximum tractive
effort of 4,400 lbs. with the sjieed statetl,
one of these electric installations, threeacres
50 roods are easilv treated in a
working day of ten hours, tbe depth of
the furrows being from 9y inches to
1 foot l'j inches. Although electric
ploughing enables considerable saving
to be effected in comjiarison with jiloughing
by the aid of horses, it requires
the investment of a considerable amount
of capital, and the total cost of an equijiment
similar to those described is from
37.5(70 to $10,000. so that at first sight
it has not much of a future before it as
regards small farms. This drawback,
however, may be overcome by using
eleetric ploughs on several farms and
paying so much for tbeir hire.
When used on large estates, such as
those mentioned above, directly tbe crops
have ripened, threshing machines, winnowing
machines, etc., have come into
use. All these require motive jiower,
and this can be obtained more cheaply,
more conveniently, more easily and with
less danger from electric motors than
THE THRESHER IN OPERATION.
COOKING PAN TO HE HEATED BY ELECTRICITY,
from any other type of machine. However,
to make tbem doubly valuable, it
should be jiossible to transjiort them with
ease into the vicinity of the machines
the)- are to ojierate. To this end thev
are jiermanentlv fixed upon a wooden
base if they are of small size, or upon a
small wagon if they are too large to be
carried by men. When made in this way,
one or two motors will suffice to deal
with work upon a large scale, jirovided,
of eourse, that they be attended to in an
efficient manner to enable tbem to keep

5s THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
INTERIOR VIEW OF ELECTRIC MOTOR COl'PLED TO THRESHING MACHINE.
continually at work driving one machine
when another is not in use. The variety
of uses to which electricity may be put
on the farm is almost unlimited. All
the ordinary ojierations that bave to do
with mechanics in any form may be jier-
CREAM SEPARATORS.
formed by electrical apparatus. All agricultural
and dairy machines are adapted
to be driven by electricity. Amongst
others, may be mentioned, besides threshing
machines, chaff cutters, carrot and
beetroot cutters, winnowers, centrifugal
cream separators, pumps
of all kinds, oil cake
crushers, mills of all
types, elevators, sheepshearing
m a c h i n e s,
churns, fans, grin dstones,
brooding machines.
Certain machines, such
as threshers, etc., require
the full output of a 5 to
20 h. p. motor, others of
smaller size only take
from 1, 2 to 3 h. p., and,
in this case, three or
four can be driven bv the
same motor, by the use
of a countershaft.
Electric motors can be
very well utilized for

ELECTRIFYING THE FARM 59
WHEEL-WRIGHT AND lOINER'S MACHINERY.
A PLOUGHING PLANT.

60 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
all operations requiring jiower on a large
estate. They can even be turned to account
in the kitchen, where amongst
others they are to be found driving coffee
mills, kitchen utensils, sewing machines,
etc., heating flat irons, etc.
In conclusion, it must not be forgotten
that a great advantage is to be derived
Pioneer
No graven image was there to his eyes,
Nor set he up fantastic thing of stone ;
He looked unto the hills beneath the skies,
And learned thereby to serve one God alone ;
No Levite there to chant unto his ear,
Nor any priest to tell him what to do;
Yet lo, he some way learned the God to fear;
And lo, he some way learned His law to do.
Ah, ye who lean on men to teach you how,
Oh, ye who never knew the life apart,
by using electric light on farms, because
it not only obviates all risk from fire,
provided the wiring has been properly
laid, but it also enables work to be undertaken
in the open air, a matter of vital
imjiortance when climatic conditions dictate
a continuance of operations without
delay of any kind.
Would you bear an equal burden for the prize that
he bears now —
To beat the perfect rhythm with a human beating
heart ?

'liampion ©f Hike SunalfvLes
HE much maligned snakeis
to be vindicated. The
curse tbat'has threatened
his jioor little flat head for
ages is to be removetl.
Professor FI. A. Surface,
State Zoologist of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, is the champion of
My Mo IDo Josaes
PLACING SPECIMENS OF SNAKES IN ALCOHOI
the rejitiles tbat we have been accustomed
to view with horror anti kill
whenever opportunity offered. The
hatred anti prejudice against the poor
creature jirophesied in the Book of Genesis
and so literally carried out by mankind,
according to Professor Surface, is
unjust, not only to tbe serpent, but to
7 l
(61)

62 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
ourselves as well. Determining to become
an exjiert in "snakeology," and
educate the people to the jiroper knowledge
of matters reptilian, Professor
Surface has made an exhaustive study of
the subject and has collected hundreds of
snakes, which, under his direction and by
a corjis of enthusiastic young assistants,
have been dissected, sketched, and their
habits recorded, with a view to the compilation
of statistics and data for lhe information
of the citizens of the country
in general and of the
scholastic institutions of
Pennsylvania in jiartieular.
Here are some of the
popular fallacies regarding
snakes that Professor
Surface declares to
be entirely without foundation
in fact:
Snakes do not milk
cows. It is well known
among the newspaper
fraternity that the country
correspondent, wdien
other news i.s not forthcoming
and something
must lie sent over the
wires, causes the snake
milking the cow story to
be trotted into the limelight.
Professor Surface
has thought it worth
\ \ v bile to investigate
^Wm, stories of the snake that
steals the milk while the"
farmer is sleeping, and
be declares them all to
be myths. "This feat,"
be savs, "is not jiossible for the snake to
perform, and in my opinion it never was
jierformed."
Summed up, these are the conclusions
of Professor Surface regarding various
popular beliefs about the snake family:
It is believed bv some jiersons that serpents
coil m a regular manner, like a
coil of rope, and strike from such a coil.
This is not true, and mounted specimens
and drawings showing a snake in such
an attitude are misleading. If a serjient
J J ,I.ArK SNAKI ADDER,

CHAMPION OF THE SNAKES 63
HE KAG'S SNAKE. COI PERHEAD.
should attemjit to strike from a uniform
coil, like a pile of rope, it would be
obliged to turn over as many times as it
was coiled, in order tn make a straight
line to the intended victim. While reptiles
do coil partially,
they keep the front of
the body free for striking
from a zigzag or
horizontal letter S position.
Xo serpent can
strike while stretched
out in an extended jiosition.
Xo snake springs
clear from the ground as
it strikes, and none
jumps through the ailto
its victim, although
occasionally the blow
mav be delivered with
such force as to turn the
rejitile over. These facts
the professor parti y
gathered from keeping
snakes in glass cases in
his office at the department's
headquarters at
Harrisburg and closely
watching
ments.
their move­
He was able to prove
that no snake is able lo
eject, throw or spit
poison, as some country
people believe. The old
storv of the hoop snake,
which is sujiposed to
take its tail in its mouth
anil roll down hill like
a hoop, is relegated to
the limbo of lies. In commenting upon
this story, Professor Surface caustically
remarks:
"Wi sjiecimeii of hooji snake could be
secured bv me, although a reward of
PROFESSOR SURFACE'S P AT WORK,

64 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
$500 was offered for one. Persons who
believe the story of the hoop snake rolling
have not considered that this habit
would result in bringing all such reptiles
down into the valleys, wdiere they must
be found, as they would be unable to roll
up hill again. Who will say that he has
seen a hoop snake rolling?"
HOW SNAKES ARE USEFUL ON FARMS.
A common error is the term "slimy"
applied to snakes. Snakes are not slimy,
nor are their bodies naturally moist, being
covered with dry scales.
Even exjierts in"snakeology"have been
bold enough to assert that the reason it
is easy to blow tbe bead of a snake off
with a revolver is that the snake aligns
EXAMINING STOMACH TO FIND OUT WHAT HE EATS,

LTJEI
IJ3H
CHAMPION OF THE SNAKES 65
**£
s|
GREEI; SNAKE. ADDER PLAYING Posser
himself with the barrel in order to be
ready to strike tbe threatening object.
Professor Surface says the falsity of this
has been demonstrated in his presence.
(Hher nonsensical itleas regarding the
snake the professor disposes of in this
manner:
"There is a general belief in the metlicinal
qualities of certain jiarts of
snakes. It is enough to "say that these
SKETCHING SERPENTS.
are founded in superstition and that no
jiart of a snake has any medicinal value.
Nevertheless, 1 frequently bear of a jierson
recommending such remedies as the
gall of a snake for snake bile; its oil for
rheumatism, baldness anti deafness; and
its skin to be worn like the skin of an eel
for similar troubles. It is generally believed,
not mil)- in America, but in other
countries, tbat if a snake can be made

(it; THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
RATTLESNAKE RESENTING HAVING HIS PICTCKE TAKKN. RIDRON SNARE.
to bite a second time in the same place it
will, by so doing, cure the ills inflicted
by the first bite. This i.s of eourse nonsense,
as are the other superstitious beliefs
and quack remedies above outlined.
Xo snake and no part of any snake has -
any curative or medicinal quality whatever
and jiersons who trust in them are
doing so at the peril of their own welfare."
On the other hand. Professor Surface
has proved in the course of bis investigations
that many astonishing" assertions regarding
snakes are perfectly true. For
instance, it is a fact that some serjients
swallow their young. It is only fair to
the ajijiarentlv unnatural snake mother to
say, however, that she does this for the
jirotection of her babies and not because
she is hungry. A case came under the
notice of Professor Surface of a garter
snake which was in the habit of swallowing
her Young every time the boys of a
school near where she made ber home
came up ami frightened ber. As the
young snakes were always in evidence,
however, when the boys appeared again,
tbe assumjition was tbat she permitted
tbe baliies to escape as soon as tbe danger
was jiast.
SORTING SERPENTS SENT TO THE DEPARTMENT.

Snakes will play "possum," or pretend
to be tlead when hard jiressed. They
have been seen to turn on their backs and
lay still for half an hour, at the end ol
which time the)- will cautiously turn over,
apparently satisfied that the danger has
passed.
The fangs of serjients when drawn to
render them harmless will develop and
become dangerous again within a fewweeks
after pulling. If these be drawn.
others w ill grow again, and this will be
rejieated several times.
The fact that snakes are able to live
a year or even more without food has
been demonstrated by Professor Surface.
A specimen of copperhead was kept by
him for a year ami three months without
his succeeding in getting it to eat anv
of the food offered to it.
A curious jioint made bv Professor
Surface is that the venom of the rattlesnake
and copperhead is not jioisonous
when taken internally, unless an internal
scratch should let it into the blood. lbe
dreaded effects occur only when the
poison is injected into the blood system.
A snake literally walks on the end of
its ribs. That is to say, according to
Professor Surface, the ribs are jointed
to the backbone and as they extend down
o\er each side of the bod)- their ends are
in connection with the ventral jilates
which have projecting edges at their rear
margins. As these jilates hold to the
objects beneath the animal its body is
brought forward upon the supporting
and movable ribs. In this method of
locomotion is to be found the explanation
of why snakes cannot run on smooth'
CHAMPION OF THE SNAKES 67
glass nor upon such objects as brussels
carjiet. (dass is so smooth that the ventral
jilates are unable to hold to it and
after they have been thrown forward the
snake cannot carry itself along. In attempting
to crawl on brussels carpet the
surface of which is composed of small
ujiright stiff threads the piling springs
backward by the jiressure of the ventral
jilates when the rejitile attemjits to move
itself forward, and it thus fails to find, a
leverage just as ujion the smooth glass.
As to the best steps to take when bitten
by a venomous snake Professor Surface
advises that a ligature be tied as tightly
as possible between tbe wound and the
heart to keeji the poison from being
carried to tbe vital organ in tbe circulator)-
system. The next steji is to suck
or squeeze out all the jioison jiossible.
and the third to rub permanganate of
potash into the wound. bur a heart
stimulant the professor recommends an
injection of one-twentieth of a grain of
strychnia. Whiskey, the sovereign
reined)- for snake bite. Professor Surface
considers a help, but by no means a
reliable method of treatment.
Nearly all the members of the snake
family Professor Surface finds to be
valuable to man insteatl of an enemy with
no good qualities about him. The smaller
and more innocent snakes feed on insects
and keep the farm land clear of
pests that are harmful to growing vegetation.
Even the much abused rattlesnake
the jirofessor considers an imjiortant adjunct
to farm life, as it aids in holding in
check the mice anti rats that are so destructive
to crojis of various kinds.

EartSi Wobbling all Its Poller
£_*^£>,
By John ElfretH Watkins
HAT this great spinning
top on which we dwell is
wobbling- upon its axis and
that the north pole is con­
stantly shifting its jiosition,
are facts proved by
an elaborate series of investigations nowbeing
made in various jiarts of the world.
The longest series of systematic observations
contributing data to such a con-
(SS)
MEASURING THE NORTH POLE'S SHIFTINGS.
elusion have been made ceaselessly since
July, 1893, at the Naval Observatory,
Washington. For research along the
same lines there has more lately been
established about the earth a chain of
stations located at Gaithersburg, Maryland
; Cincinnati, Ohio; Ukiah, California
; Mizusawa, Japan; Tschardjui, Turkestan
; and Charloforte, Italy. In each
of this series of observatories is mounted
a "zenit h telescope"
used for timing the
passage of stars across
the great arch of the
heavens. At the Naval
Observatory tbe
research is conducted by
aid of a "prime vertical
transit," the only one in
use in the W estern
Hemisphere.
The interesting problem
for whose solution
these scattered stations
are co-operating is this:
Are the poles progressing
toward warmer
zones ? You are surprised,
no doubt, that
there should be any uncertainty
as to this. You
bave always regarded
the north and south
poles as the fixed bubs
of our vast grindstone,
and have always believed
that the latter has
continued its grind, millennium
in and millennium
out, without loosening
or wobbling upon
its bearings.
The research has proceeded
far enough to
prove beyond the shadow
of a doubt that old earth
is like a barrel with loose
hoops. These hoops are

EARTH WOBBLING AT ITS POLES 69
W^fe
TtfrERNATIONAL
i LATITUDE STA
'^r.s.s. s- /. AifA*,*,* *• A *. *, * *
s J S A +A, ' S f S * /
OBSERVATORY AT CINCINNATI, OHIO.
One of chain of stations established for purpose of recording the north pole's variations.
our parallels of latitude, which we see in
series on our geograjihy globes, anti
which span Mother Earth above and below
her equatorial waistline.
Take the city of Philadelphia, for example.
It is crossed by the great barrel
hoop known as "40 Xorth." Now, suppose
that parallel to be a real strap of
iron, and that you have punched a hole
into it, inserting a stake. Say that this
stake marks the corner of some one's lot
—as those degrees of latitude accepted
by surveyors really do. Could this hedone,
the owner of the city lot would
note that the stake traveled about continually.
He would have to mount - his
house and fences on casters, hitching
them to the stake, that they might keep
within limits. This would be the case if
surveyors changed their maps every time
the parallels of latitude moved, which
would mean daily alterations. All houses
and fences on earth would then have to
be on wheels and their owners would
have little time for other work than shifting
them into their proper places.
Xow, all of this means simply this:
The poles are moving and taking the
parallels with them.
Two centuries before Christ there was
an ingenious geographer, Eratosthenes,
U-J^ , .««& *» .•

70 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
Arctic regions, finding at Spitzbergen,
also in Greenland and that neighborhood,
fossils of animals and jilants which live
only in temperate and sub-tropical climates.
For instance, they unearthed
swamp cypress now found in Texas;
secjuoias, those giant trees now found
only in California; limes, oaks and even
magnolias. Remains of a lizard were also
found. These were creatures demanding
much more heat and light than the
polar regions afford. Then, in connection
with these finds, was taken into consideration
the fact that a jiart of our zone
was once under glacial ice.
That the climate of Greenland and
Spitzbergen must have been, at some past
geologic age, like that of present Egypt
and the Canary Islands, was the opinion
announced by Prof. Oswald Heer, the
great Swiss naturalist, director of the
botanical gardens at Zurich. Lord Kelvin
has also been led into the discussion,
and has stated that while there probably
have been no sudden and violent convulsions,
causing the earth to shift its torrid
regions toward the poles—it is highly
probable that the earth's axis of rotation
may have gradually shifted forty or more
degrees since ancient times. Prof. G. H.
Darwin has also figured that the jioles
might have shifted three degrees as a
OHSERYATORY AT GAITHERSBURG, MARYLAND.
result of the continents and oceans
changing places, or from ten to fifteen
degrees as a consequence of earthquake
changes.
That electricity conducted to earth
through interplanetary space might become
"sufficiently strong to make Earth
strive to revolve upon its magnetic rather
than its geographic poles, and thus jiroduce
a pull from its prescribed axles, has
been suggested by Prof. Arthur Shuster,
before tbe British Association.
That small shaftings and wobblings
may result from a slipping of the outer
shell of the earth's crust is thought probable
by Dr. Charles L. Doolittle, professor
of astronomy, L T niversity of Pennsylvania.
That such movements of the
poles have taken place in connection with
mountain upheavals is undoubtedly true,
and jirobably are still going on, in bis
opinion. He and four other astronomers
have estimated changes in the latitude of
Washington, Paris and other cities during
the present century.
In the midst of this theorizing the
systematic observations at Washington
were commenced and the chain of observations
about the earth was later established.
The co-operating observatories
were placed as near as possible to tbe
parallel of 39 degrees 8 minutes north.

taken as a base line. Just
as the pole star hovers
always above the north
pole — or where that
point should be were it
to stand still—there are
other fixed stars hovering
over our heads at
night.
L T pon certain of these
fixed stars the instruments
are focused nightly
in Japan, Turkestan
and the United States.
There are certain paths
straight through tbe
heavens, which these
fixed stars should appeal
to take were earth
steady at the poles. But
just as much as they
stagger along the path,
just that much the poles
are wobbling. It seems
a curious thing that the
poles which have become
proverbial in their stability
should after all be
as mutable as anything
else of this fleeting
world. The poet has
eulogized the north star
for its constancy: and
the poles have received a
goodly share of reflected
honor. A'et the axles of
the earth may be said to be loose, just as
the axles of a teamster's wagon are. No
apter term than wobbling could possibly
be found for this curious phenomenon.
But what has been learned at the stations
in the northern hemisphere ? There
measurements are tabulated with infinite
care and submitted annually to a sort of
clearing house in Berlin, wdiere they are
averaged up and reduced to a technical
chart by the learned astronomer. Professor
Albrecht. The figures thus far indicate
that although the north pole is undergoing
periodic wobblings, no steady, progressive
changes of jiosition are taking
jilace in one general direction. Were a
pencil attached to the pole so that it
could write its record upon a fixed sheet
of white sky above it, an irregular,
spiral-like tangle would be traced. This
EARTH WOBBLING AT ITS ROLES II
TRANSIT INSTRUMENT AT THE UNITED STATES NAVAL OBSERVATORY.
jiroves that, thus far, the pole after traveling
in one direction, sweeps around and
returns by an opposite route.
Its movement is very slow. It has
never been observed to travel more than
four feet in a week. Sometimes it has
required more than a month to cover a
yard. In six months it has described an
irregular, semi-circle more than sixty
feet in diameter. While it is known that
a point which is the north pole today
will not be the north jiole tomorrow, no
one can predict where this nomadic spot
—the great magnet of the explorer—will
be the next day, the next hour, the next
year. The .Arctic surveyor might insert
his chain pin at the point which today
marks the exact jiole. But, like some
living thing, this hypothetical dot on
earth's crust will be crawling away from

:i THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
him the while he is doing this thing.
After describing its irregular sixtyfoot
circle it lately jiassed within about a
foot of the charted jiole. Afterward it
wandered about aimlessly, in a somewhat
spiral path, sweeping further anti further
outward. It now seems to be completing
its ragged circle, about the pole of
the maps every four buntlretl and thirty
days. The same antics are, of course,
daily being performed by our every jioint
of latitude. Examination of data collected
before the chain of observatories was es­
Tahiti
Over the rim ofthe world,
Sunk in the dawn of day,
There lie for you and me
The Isles of Far Away.
Haste we back to find them ?
It needs but you to say !
Make sail and lay our course
For the Isles of Far Away I
tablished indicated that this wobbling
jieriod was three hundred and forty-eight
days in 1774 and tbat it had slowed down
to four hundred and forty-three days in
1890. If this be correct its speed of
wobbling has become accelerated.
These jieriodical changes are now
thought by some to be due either to the
jirecijiitation of rain or snow, or perhaps
the action of ocean currents or aerial
currents, flowing unequally, on different
hemispheres, or to concussions in the interior
of the globe.
Lagoon and shore and bending palm —
Why must it be nay ?
Youth and Love are calling
From the Isles of Far Away !
— LLOYD OSBOURNE, in A/slcton's Magazine

aclhiiinies wMcIhi AEinni®gt TMunHl
IX the effort to save
labor, the most wonderful
mechanical devices
constantly are being invented;
so wonderful
that many of them
seem actuallv to perform
the human ojieration
of thinking. It probably is a safe
statement that nine-tenths of the world's
work today is done by machinery.
When, recently, one of the great railroads
which has terminals fronting Xew
York harbor, introduced a new boatloading
machine by which a carload of
coal is turned bottom-upward and
dumped into a barge, there was much
discussion as to what would become of
the 4,500 workmen who were displaced
by the new contrivance. What, for that
matter, it might be asked, has become of
the hundreds of billion of workmen whom
all the machinerv of the world has "displaced."
Of course they have never existed,
for no number of
human laborers could do
what machinery does.
When a new device is
invented which performs
the work of a hundred.
or more human hands
the human hands are released
for other effort.
So the world jogs along,
merrily or sadly, and the
more "brains" its progressively
improving
machinery displays the
more it waxes in cumulative
wealth.
Manual labor is not
displaced by the machine
which almost thinks ; it
merely is directed into
other channels, and more
new things are made.
As to whether the work­
>y WalEaaim R.. Sttewatrft
man should not have a greater share in
the fruits of his machine-helped labor
is—but that is getting into economics,
and this a technical magazine.
Quite ajiart from all the popularly well
known mechanical marvels which in their
operation seem endowed with human intelligence,
there are in existence to-day
hundreds of contrivances of wdiich the
average person scarcely has any idea,
which do almost everything that a man
can do. That they are the jiroduct of the
human brain and require a human operator
to set them in motion are the only
resjiects in which the human superiority
asserts itself.
To give a technical description of all
these machines would be quite imjiossible
within the limits of a magazine article.
All that can be done will be to describe
the operations which the)- perform and,
in a general way, to indicate how they
do it. Almost every possible ojieration
is included in the list. There are ma-
THE TELEGRAPHONE.
Records by magnetic action a telephone message, on spools of tine wir
sheets of steel.
(73)

74 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
chines which chop and pile wood, machines
wdiich light fires automatically;
machines which decorate and mark
crockery, measure the speed of bicycles,
automobiles and locomotives; machines
which print, punch and sell railroad tickets
; machines which sort, count and
wraji up coins ; which take the jilace of
human brains in counting houses, insurance
offices and observatories.
Of all these wonderful contrivances
perhaps the typewriter and its variations
jilay the largest part. It is now jiossible
for any person who can operate a typewriter
to send a telegraphic message as
well as the skilled telegrajih ojierator
who works the key. By simply striking
THE MULTIGRAPH.
Reproduces fac similes of letters in quantity.
ciently to throw the type-bar against the
inking ribbon, and leave its imjiression on
the jiajier. this action releasing a universal
bar, which allows the carriage to
move forward one space as each letter is
printed. This can now be done by the
aid of the electric current. Each rod is
connected with a small electro-magnet,
and as soon as tbe current enters tbe coil
its corresponding rod is thrown forward,
just far enough to hook the lower end of
it beneath the edge of the central disk.
fust as this connection is made the passage
of the electric current through allot
h e r electrcmagnetdepresses
the disk.
pulling the rod
down and striking
the t y pe
space on the
paper as though
it were done by
the depression
TIME REGISTER.
Keeps tab on comings and goings of employees.
of the key with
a fi n g e r. To
form the connection
between
t h e individual
each typewriter letter the machine makes
magnets and the
the necessary telegraphic dots and
operating mech-
dishes. It is imjiossible to make a misa
n i s m, t h e
take except by striking the wrong letter.
writer wears a
Idle receiving instrument records the
message automatically. The typewriter
set of metallic
telegrajih will greatly simplify the busi­
thimbles on the
ness of the telegraph companies, and will fingers, w h i c h
almost mean a revolution in telegraphy. are wired to the
The typewriter also is, by a new inven­ source of the
tion, capable of being operated by elec­ electric current.
tricity. It has heretofore been necessary The instant con­
to depress the keys of the machine suffi- nection is marie EMPLOYEES ARE ON TIME
liceuuil IS lliaue WHERE THIS IS USED.

ANOTHER DEVICE FOR REPRODUCING LETTERS.
with one of the metallic plates on the keyboard
the current passes through the
plate into the corresponding magnet anil
thence to the disk in the center of the
machine.
A typewriter which will print music
has recently been successfully tested, anti
now can be "bought by anybody who may
desire thus to contribute to the output of
melody. At any rate,'the machine will
prove a great convenience to persons who
have to copy the written scores of composers.
The musical typewriter registers
the notes, bars, and rests, and, in addition,
makes lines as it goes along the
staff line. The machine resembles the ordinary
typewriter, excejit that in addition
to registering characters it forms the
scales as the writer proceeds wdth bis
work.
The mechanical cashier, or cash register,
also has undergone recently such
wonderful development that it quite outdistances
its human prototype. In its
various forms, and combined in a singlemachine,
it is a banker, cash register,
money changer, book-keeper, and auditor,
and it does all these duties with
an absolute accuracy of which no human
being would be capable.
The combination machine which does
all these things is fed, say, in the morning
with sufficient cash to provide it with
MACHINES WHICH ALMOST THINK 75
change for the day's business. This is in
its cajiacity as bank. Let us suppose that
it receives a twenty-dollar bill from a
customer who has bought goods worth
seventy-five cents. It pockets the monev
and registers the jiurehase. thus performing
its duties as a cash register. Simultaneously
it picks out the change,
amounting to $19.25, thus performing its
duties as a money changer. While getting
this change, which it does before
the customer can count two, it acts as
bookkeeper by making at the same time
a jirinted record of the transaction, and
gives the customer a receipt.
While it was jirovieling the change it
was also simultaneously adding the 75
cents to its bank, and showing the total
amount on hand—in other words, auditing
its accounts and striking its balance.
If only change is required all that the
operator has to do is to touch one key,
KEEPS RECORD OI DISTANCE YOUR AUTOMOBILE HA
TRAVELED.

76 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
THE CHECK-RAISER'S FOE.
This machine stamps the paper in such a way as to render
tampering practically impossible.
and in return for the twenty dollars the
machine in one moment provides a variety
of small change.
The mechanical cashier can never go
wrong, and it would baffle the ingenuity
of any operator to cheat it. It will be
seen that this invention just carries the
operations of other cash registers one
step further. It closes the one door
which they leave open. It prevents the
person in charge from touching any cash
at all. and he will jiromptly be faced with
a mistake if he touches the wrong key,
or convicted of theft if he inserts false
monev—and this in the presence of a
witness.
In appearance tbe machine tloes not
differ greatly from other cash registers,
except that the keyboard is like that of a
tyjiewriter. It has a drum or wheel containing
receptacles for holding money.
Tbe receptacles for notes and coins are
all arranged in rows. The drum is locked
when it receives its cash in the morning.
When the attendant receives $5, for
instance, for a purchase, he presses down
a lever to receive the money. Tbe wheel
immediatel)- goes up one notch, and tbe
money is secured in the bank in tbe $5
recejitacle. This movement unlocks the
keyboard, and the attendant presses down
the figures, say, 75 cents, the amount of
the jiurehase, gives one turn to the crank,
and immediately the correct change is
delivered by the machine, anti tbe amount
of purchase added to the total, as already
described. The machine will do the work
of six ordinary clerks.
The counting and assorting of coin
have brought into existence some very
remarkable machines. At the United
States mint some of the new coins are
slightly over weight and others are under
; so that it becomes necessary to sort
them into three classes—light, heavy, and
good. This delicate operation is performed
with unerring accuracy by a longrow
of remarkable machines. Into these
machines single piles of the new coins
are put, and, automatically, each coin is
taken by the machines and put into a
scale and weighed, at a rate of twentyfive
a minute. According as the coin is
light, heavy, or of the proper weight it is
then shot into its proper receptacle.
Another form of coin-counting and
wrapping machine is now in use in New
York, Chicago and a few other large
cities, which handles the great numbers
of small coins which form part of the
daily receipts of the transportation companies,
tbe department stores, the restaurants
and the banks. Upwards of
$200,000 a day is received and packed
away in small rolls about the size of a
cartridge in the basement of a single
bank in Xew York which makes a spe-
CLOCK ON WHICH NIGHT WATCHMAN MAKES RECORD
HIS ROUNDS.

ci-alty of procuring and
selling small change.
There is about six
million dollars' worth of
coin in circulation in the
United States, and the
coin nuisance, if it so
may be characterized, is
quite a jiroblem for those
concerns which handle
the bulk of it. In a
bank in Xew York which has been
referred to there are twenty machines,
each about the size of a sewing machine,
which sort and count and wrap
up this money. The coin, in bags and
boxes, is shot into the vaults of the bank
exactly as coal might be dumjied into a
cellar. At each monev machine is a sin-
ADDING MACHINE.
Saves time of several clerks.
gie girl who with both hands feeds the
coin into a glass slot, down which the
monev rolls through a glass groove to
the mouth of a small automatic device
which works like a cartridge machine,
running a strip of paper around the coins
wdien the required number is assembled.
Two small hooks crimp the edges of the
paper, turning it over in double thicknesses
like a hem to a garment, anti instantly
the roll drops into a receptacle,
the coins securely fastened anil labeled,
with the name and amount printed on
each package. These little cartridge-like
rolls of money drop out of the machine
as though by magic, the girl operator
being kept busy the while feeding dimes,
MACHINES WHICH ALMOST THINK :-
A RECKONING MACHINE OPERATED BY ELECTRICITY.
half-dollars, pennies or nickels into the
glass slot.
The $200,000 a day, which is the capacity
of the machines in this one bank,
equal in weight about six tons avoirdupois.
Trucks go to the transportation
companies, to the banks, dejiartment
stores and telephone offices anti collect
the day's accumulation of coin, which is
delivered generally in canvas bags about
a foot long.
A sorting machine which will sort a
thousand dollars' worth of coin in three
minutes is a kindred invention. This
machine consists of a small cabinet of
aluminum or zinc containing five drawers.
Each drawer is perforated like a
sieve, with round holes of the projier
size to allow a coin to pass through. The
half-dollar drawer is on top, the quarterdollar
drawer next below, and, in succession,
the dime, the nickel and the
penny drawers.
A scuttleful of miscellaneous coins are
jioured into the hopjier which opens into
the top drawer, and as the machine is
CHECK WRITING MACHINE.
is also a check protector, because every impression is
stamped into the paper with indelible ink.

78 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
FOR COUNTING AND PACKING MONEY.
Automatically keeps tally of silver and puts it up in
packages, throwing out light coins and counterfeits.
shaken the coins sift through the jierforations,
each finding its projier receptacle.
Through the top drawer, of course,
everything passes excejit the half-dollar
pieces; the next drawer captures the
quarters, the next the nickels, then the
dimes and last the pennies. Twenty-five
cents for five hundred dollars' worth of
assorted halves, quarters or dimes is the
charge made for the sorting,counting and
wrapping; thirty cents is charged for
one hundred anil fifty dollars' worth of
nickels, and twenty-five cents for fiftydollars'
worth of jiennies.
A machine recentlv invented for loading
and unloading all sorts and shapes
of articles, on tbe endless chain principle
but vastly improved over all jirevious
adaptations, is another example of seeming
mechanical intelligence. The machine
is, indeed, an endless chain, made
up of broad, flat links, working somewhat
like a bicycle chain. The links are interchangeable,
and the chain can be lengthened
and shortened at will.
This machine, with its double chain
running on rollers wdth little noise anti
friction, jolves a problem which heretofore
has prevented the endless chain system
from being a complete success as a
carrier. The desire has long been felt
for a simple device for handling mixed
cargoes of freight, especially on vessels
rising and falling with the title. With the
systems previously in use the endless
chains have had to jiass around permanently
stationed end wheels. These fixed
end wdieels have made the machines ineffective
between a permanent object and
a floating one, on account of the rise and
fall of the vessel.
In the new invention there i.s a continuous
slot, through which hooks to sustain
the load travel. These hooks, with
their cargoes, travel in the slot the entire
distance covered bv the moving chain;
from a wagon on shore, for example, to
the hold of a vessel, or to freight cars
on a track, or from tbe interior of a building
to a vehicle outside, or from the
vehicle outside to the interior of a building,
through a door or window. Both
ends of the broad, flat chain hang loose
from tbe frame on which they run. All
kinds of jiackages, bales, barrels or boxes
may be hooked to this chain and swung
along, traveling in procession between
any two jioints, and elevated or lowered
at any desired height. The machine
simply lifts the package, carries it over
any intervening object at right angles,
and places it at any higher, equal or
lower level, to and from two movable
jilatforms. or movable to immovable, or
vice versa, by simply reversing the power.
A machine wdiich is designed to take
the place of a railroad ticket agent has
recently been patented by an Italian en-
THE COMPTOMETER.
Performs every mathematical calculation essential i
business.

AUDITOR.
Issues sales check, discharges copy of same, and foots
up day's transactions.
gineer, and is now in use on the line between
Naples and Rome. The machine
automatically makes on demand every
kind of ticket used on the road ; indicates
the price of the ticket; registers this jirice
in a total figure, in the manner of a cash
register; totals separately the different
items corresponding to the different tickets
; numbers progressivel) - these different
tickets; keeps account
of the number of
tickets issued for each
class, and of the total
number; duplicates the
ticket on a continuous
ribbon, and stamps advertisements
on the
backs of the tickets. To
obtain a ticket tbe traveler
simply applies to
the employee of the company,
and with the turn
of a handle the ticket is
printed, duplicated and
delivered to tbe purchaser.
Automatic ticket
agents of the Italian sort
are not in use in the
United States, but there
is a machine for printing
railroad tickets which
also is quite wonderful.
Railroad tickets are not
printed in large sheets,
as might be supposed.
The cardboard from
which the tickets are
made is cut into ticket
size in considerable
quantities, but these are
printed one by one after­
MACHINES WHICH ALMOST THINK 79
wards. The blank cards are put in a
pile in a sort of perpendicular spout,
and the machine then slijis a bit of
metal underneath the bottom of the
spout, ami pushes out the lowest ticket
in the jiilc to be printed and consecutively
numbered. A bad ticket cannot be
jirinted. Tbe machine detects an imperfect
blank instantly anti refuses to have
anything to do with it.
An automatic fire-kindler, regulated by
an ordinary alarm clock, is a good deal
of a "thinker," if you consider onh- the
results of its operation. All that is necessary
to be done to have the fire kindle
itself whenever wanted is to put the fuel
in the stove or fireplace, connect an attachment
to the clock, and set tbe latter
at any desired hour. When the alarm
sounds, a fulminate i.s ignited, which,
communicating with the fuel in the stove
or grate, immediatel)- starts a fire. By
the time the jierson in bed is up and
THE MONEY COUNTER IN USE.

80 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
A SIMPLE FORM OF THE ADDING MACHINE.
dressed the fire is burning briskly and
the kettle—if there is one on it—humming
merrily.
The mechanism of the contrivance is
simple enough. From the back of the
alarm clock extends a shaft on which is
mounted a rotary friction disk or pulley,
the jieriphery of which is so designed as
to create friction when rotated in contact
with a stationary member. By tbe operation
of a pivotal arm, a lug, spring and
other attachments in connection with the
disk, tbe mechanism is set in motion
when the alarm is released. At the same
instant a fuse,
which has at
its _ n d an
easily ignited
fulminate, and
which is held
in jilace in a
slot o p e ning
against the
friction, is ignite
d. T h e
flame, which is
confined within
tbe metallic
slot, travels
over the fulminate
strand,
which is saturated
with a
free - burning
i n g- r e d i e n t.
The clock may
be set an ywhere
— on a
shelf, at the
back of the ANOTHER TYPE OF THE COMPUTING MACHINE.
stove, or on a table beside the bed. It
is a boon to the early winter riser.
A machine which splits wood and carries
it oft" is another contrivance which
simplifies the making of fires. A machine
of this sort is in operation near Spokane.
It is capable of splitting wood two feet
long and eighteen inches thick. It is run
by a three-horse power gasoline engine,
and consists of a huge knife working
through the knottiest wood at a rate of
sixty strokes a minute.
Many other machines of minor importance
but almost human in their capacity
for intricate performance might
also be mentioned. The topodict is one
of these. It is a combination of a pantograph
and telescojie, and by means of it
any person can make a drawing, in correct
perspective, of any scene before him,
even if he knows nothing whatever about
drawing. By means of the telemeter the
exact distance of far-away objects can
be measured and recorded. By means of
the "telephone-ears" a ship is automatically
warned of submarine dangers.
A machine which far surjiasses human
fingers for deftness has recently been invented
for decorating crockery. This machine
applies to the china by a singleoperation
the
border patterns
and monogram
centers which
formerly required
a whole
process of
handwork. The
machine is operated
by compressed
air,
and has a maximum
cajiacity
of decorating,
in this manner,
12 0 dozen
jiieces of Crocker)-
in a single
hour, with the
assistance of
two boys. A
new speed indicator
has
been added
to loco m otive
practice

A DIFFERENT STYLE OF ADDING MACHINE.
which not only indicates the varying
sjieed of the engine, but automatically
applies the brakes when the speetl exceeds
the established safety limit, thus
successfully replacing the ."speed feel"
of engineers.
The logic machine which Professor
Charles H. Rieber, of tbe University of
California, is perfecting does not seem
ver)- convincing" to the ordinary jierson,
yet it is said to be cajiable of wonderful
performances. This machine wdll follow
what logicians know as "circle notation,"
in which all premises having sejiarate
symbols and conclusions are produced by
a combination of these symbols. The
machine is something like an adding machine,
which by the manipulation of circles
and electric lights will, wdien the
proper keys are pressed down, throw into >
relief all formulae that are possible answers
to logical questions, without the
chance of an error.
How impossible it would be to do the
work now done by machinery, by any
quantity of manual labor which could be
crowded upon this planet! A modern
ocean steamer is propelled by a force of
MACHINES WHICH ALMOST THINK 81
30,000 horse-power. Counting six men
to the horse-power, and with three shifts
every twenty-four hours, 540,000 men
would be required for the mere driving
of the ship! And as the ship could not
carry enough men to projiel it. neither
could a jiassenger train accommodate a
sufficient number of human laborers to
move itself at jiresent speeds, not to
mention tbe item of freight.
A wireless torpedo boat, which lifts
its own anchor, blows its own whistle,
signals, fires a gun and steers itself, is a
thing which does a good deal of imitation
thinking. Such a boat has been invented
by a Xew York sculptor, Charles
E. Alden, and has been successfullv ojierated
in experiments off the island of
Martha's \ nieyard. The boat carries no
crew, being handled from the shore by a
mysterious ajiparatus which is the invention
of Mr. Alden. and is obedient to
the Hertzian waves used in the various
systems of wireless telegraphy.
The device is comparatively simjile, the
operator standing on the shore with his
transmitting apparatus, launching the
boat; anil, with a touch here anti there on
the instrument, a.s one might operate a
typewriter, transmitting electric imjiulses
through the ether to tbe craft. Obedient
to the imjiulses the torjiedo be t then
weighs its anchor, whistles, starts its projieller,
turns to starboartl or to jiort or
keeps straight course ahead, turns on its
searchlight, fires a cannon in its bow,
drops and hoists its anchor, backs and
goes ahead again, lights signals, and discharges
a torpedo from its tubes. The
possible value of torjiedo craft of this
kind in coast defence operations is considerable.

THE NEW SINGER BUILDING IN ITS RELATION TO THE SKY LINE OF NEW YORK.
ISS*
Commiimg' ofthe SRy Piercer
By W)&\y Allen Willey
iNE of the most impres-
, sive views which has
g^\ /2 ever been made with
I I \J the camera lens has
'-' VV " been called "the Sky
Fine of Xew York."
A better title would be
the "T o p of X e w
York," for the roof of the row of great
buildings which jiroject heavenward are
in reality tbe toji of tbe city, since they
contain so much of the humanity that
has created the community. Some of the
single ones, accommodating as they do
thousands of people, ranging from the
millionaire to tbe elevator boy. can be
termed cities in themselves, for their population
exceeds that of manv urban settlements
outside of Xew York. The visitor
who sees Manhattan Island for the
first time as he crosses from Jersey City,
is always impressed with the series of
gigantic steel boxes which so vary the
line of the horizon that they have been
likened to different objects. It was
Maxim Corky who saitl they reminded
him of a huge jaw filled with cruel teeth ;
but whatever mav be the resemblance
(82)
called to mind, the height of some of the
narrower structures is so lofty that from
the deck of the ferry they seem perilously
insecure. Especially does the Park Row
building stand out conspicuously. It is
like a mammoth chimney or funnel in
proportion as it looms up beside its huge
neighbor, the St. Paul building, whose
twin towers reach farther into the zenith
than any other about it. One instinctively
watches this shaft which is all
up and down, wondering wdiat would
happen if the wind should blow ? it over.
But soon these hundred and more "sky
scrapers" will appear dwarfed by the'
enormous structures that are now rapidly
growing upward as each day adds more
and more ribs and columns to- their steel
skeletons. They mark a new era in
American architecture—the era of the
Sky Piercer. Well can they be called
sky piercers, since the) 1 will actuallv be
twdce the height of any of the present
buildings and higher than that monolith
to the memory of Washington that rises
above the Potomac river 555 feet.
That man would attempt such an
undertaking seems incredible when we

emember that the Washington monument
is the tallest masonry erected by
human ingenuity. Yet the sky piercers
of Xew York will each extend over 600
feet from the street, being actually twothirds
of the height of France's famous
Eiffel tower. True, there are elevators—
in the latter ami in the Washington
obelisk. Daily peojile ascend to tbe toji
of each, but they cannot be called inhabited.
They are not intended for persons
to occupy while at their usual vocations.
The cajiitalists who are putting
their millions into these buildings on
Manhattan Island are doing so to -get a
revenue from their rental. Yes, they are
intended for office buildings where one
can transact business so far above the
world that he is jiractically beyond the
noise even of hustling, bustling Broadway.
They are not beingbuilt
for amusement resorts
or to determinehow
far we can pile our
steel and stone and wood
above the earth, but arecold,
hard,business propositions.
Land is so
costly that it is better to
go up in the air than
over the ground. Se~say
the m e n w hose
money is jilaced in these
daring ventures. Their
architects assure them
that the work can lie
done and done safely—
and they rely on their
assurance. What an illustration
of confidence
in human ability!
One of these spectacular
structures is the
Singer building, as it is
called. Perhaps a fewfigures
about it will give
the reader a clearer conception
of its hugeness.
It wdll contain when
completed no less than
forty-one stories, the top
of its cupola being 612
feet from the base. It
will be in the shape of
a tower sixty-five feet
square. It will form an
addition to the present
COMING OF THE SKY PIERCER s:i
office building which can be well classed
among the "sky scrapers," as its metal
skeleton contains fourteen stories, but
the present pile wdll seem like a
pigmy tti a giant when contrasted
with the enormous tower, which will not
only have its fourteen stories, but twentyseven
in addition. In fact its total height
is so great that its floor space added to
tbat of the main building will be greater,
wdth a single exception, than that of any
other building in Xew York City, the
total area amounting to nine and one-half
acres. Tbe elevator well will be oblong
in jilan and placetl in the center of the
building. For the service of the lower
portion of the building there wdll be sixteen
elevators, and as the ujiper floors
are reached they will decrease in number,
until there will remain four eleva-
HUGE MODERN HOTEL OF STONE AND STEEL AT WASHINGTON, D C

SI THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
A FOUNDATION OF CONCRETE AND IRON.
PUTTING ON THE ROOF OF A SKY PIERCER FAR ABOVE THE SURROUNDING WORLD.

tors for the service of the topmost floors.
It is estimated that when the building is
fully occupied it will accommodate about
6,000 people.
From an engineering jioint of view, the
most interesting feature of this extraordinary
structure is the means adojited in
framing the skeleton,
so that it will resist the
enormous wind jiressure,
when the thunder
squalls of the summer
and the heavy gales of
the winter sweeji over
Manhattan. Decidedly
interesting also is the
method of treatment
which has given this
tower an architectural
character usually absent
from our modern
skyscraper. The plan
adeipted, both in designing
the steel skeleton
and in the treatment
of the exterior,
has harmonized both
the engineering anti
architectural requirements
of the case. It
was realized that, in
order to obtain sufficient
strength to resist
the enormous bending
stresses due to wind
pressure, it would be
necessary to have wind
bracing.
The engineers have
decided to construct
the building something like a bridge,
the steel work between the massive
supporting columns being in the form of
lattice work, but the designers have
taken no chances ami have jirovided
framework, as already stated, heavy
enough it is believed to not only sustain
the immense weight of the building, but
the air pressure as well. It was determined,
therefore, to consider the structure
as being built uji of four square
corner towers and a central tower consisting
of the elevator well, wdth "wind
braces" running through each wall of
each tower continuously, from base to
summit, tbe five towers literally tied together
with steel beams at the various
COMING OF THE SKY PIERCER 85
floors. The corner towers are twelve
feet square. This provides an open sjiace
of thirty-six feet in width, down the center
of each face of the building, which
is entirely free from bracing. These
sjiaces are to be occupied by large bays
filled in with glass. The lighting uf the
THE PLACING OF THESE ORNAMENTS CAUSED MANY A MAN TO RISK HIS LIFE,
corner towers is by single windows,
which are so disposed as to permit the
diagonal wind bracing to be carried continuously
throughout the wdiole height of
the tower, without interfering wdth the
light. The wind pressure is calculated
at thirty pounds to each square foot,
uniformly distributed over the whole face
of the building, and the total overturning
force of the wind reaches the enormous
amount of 128,000 foot-tons. The total
weight of the tower alone is about 2.1,000
tons ; and yet so great is tbe wind jiressure
that on the windward side of the
building, should a storm ever blow upon
it with sufficient velocity to jiroduce an
average pressure of thirty pounds to each

86 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
three miles away a second
structure is rapidly
rising which wdll make
another hole in the sky
as large as that caused
by the Singer tower.
Like the former, while it
will be an addition to an
office building already
completed, it will serve
two purposes—not only
for business, but for a
mighty monument to its
erectors. It has a history
worth telling. Years
ago the Metropolitan
Life Insurance Company
bought an entire city
1 lock fronting on Madison
Square, with the exception
of a little corner
which was occupied by
the band of Presbyterians
to whom the famous
Dr. Parkhurst preaches.
They were so satisfied
with their location that
the insurance company
could not buy them out,
anti thus have all the
THE OBSERVATION TOWER ON THE NEW VORK TIMES BUILDING
LOFTIEST STRUCTURES ON MANHATTAN ISLAND.
block for the great structure
it had determined
to erect. Finally weary
square foot, the buildin; ;' would tend to of waiting, the company put up a pile of
lift, the total weight on a single column steel anti marb
e tbat covered every foot
amounting to 470 tons. In ortler to pro- of ground except the church site. Then
vide against this the columns are its directors went to Dr. Parkhurst and
anchored to caissons.
his trustees and offered to buy a lot on
The figures for tbe weight on a single the opjiosite corner and build a church
one of the columns will be of interest: if the Presbyterians would abandon their
The total dead load on the column will present house of worship. The offer was
be 289.2 tons, this amount representing accepted and a beautiful temple was
the weight of the steel work and erected on tbe other corner—one of the
masonry. To this must be added sixty most ornate churches in the country. Be­
per cent of the live load, under which is fore the last of the furniture had been
included furniture, fittings, and the occu- moved from the old church, wreckers
jiants. This reaches a total of 131/) tons, were tearing down its tower. In a few
making a total dead and live loatl of months a big hole in the ground marked
420.8 tons. The downward pressure on tbe place where it hatl stootl. but this
the leeward side of tbe building, due to hole was tilled with men anil machinery
the wind pressure, is estimatetl at 758.8 literally making a foundation for the
tons, which, atlded to 420.8 tons, gives mammoth pile which was to rest upon it
a total loatl on the column of 1,179.6 tons. —a pile which is to rise so far above the
The greatest combined load on a single ground that tbe stream of humanity on
column is 1,585 tons.
the streets about it will look like a swarm
Really tbe figures are such that their of tiny black dots when viewed from its
magnitude cannot be appreciated. Yet top windows. The lofty tower on Madi

son Square garden, which is now such a
conspicuous monument in this jiart of
Xew York, will be dwarfed to insignificance
by this new creation of steel and
stone which will also excel in height the
monument by the Potomac.
It is not how much ground you have,
but how you build, that determines the
safe construction of sky scrapers or skv
piercers. If the frame work is sufficiently
strong and sufficiently
tenacious to hold
up tbe weight, also to
resist tbe wind which
may blow against it, the
problem of the building
itself is solved. This is
why these massive towers
rising over 600 feet
heavenward are as safe
as if they were only a
hundred feet high—so
say tbe architects and
engineers. But they
must have an absolutely
firm foundation. Xow,
much of Manhatta n
Island is composed of
rock so firm tbat explosives
only will rend it
apart. Yet strange as it
may seem, the building
creators often have to go
down many feet through
what' seems to be solid
rock, and is solid rock,
before tbe foundation is
firm enough to support
the mass of steel and
stone and brick without
"giving." It is cheaper
sometimes to make a
foundation than to dig
one. Then it is literally
cast just as melted iron
is formed in pigs for the
metal worker. Caissons
—big steel cylinders—
are sunk into the ground
and form moulds into
which is poured a mixture
of what is in reality
liquid stone. As this
solidifies it is squeezed
together by enormous
pressure exerted usually
COMING OF TFIE SKY FIERCER 87
by compressed air. Thus is formed abaseon
which to set the great steel columns
which hold the framework. Sometimes
the foundation men go down nearly a
huntlred feet below the surface before
jiutting in the caissons or finding a
natural base to suit them. The Times
building, which is illustrated in these
photographs, rises from a bole seventyfive
feet deep, but in this hole are jilaced
SINGER TOWER BUILDING, NEW YORK.

THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
THESE GARGOYLES LOOK LIKE INSECTS TO PASSERS BY TWO HUNDRED AND
FIFTY FEET BELOW.
the big newspaper jiresses. and it is alive
with humanity, hundreds of jieojile working
night and day in the basement and
sub-basement.
The sky scraper or sky piercer may be
said to be born when its foundation is
finished ready for its skeleton. Although
the use of concrete has expanded so rapidly
that they are beginning to "cast"
builtlings out of cement and sand ami
stone, steel is so suited in framing tall
structures that it is used almost entirely.
If you want to realize how much pressure
it will stand in contrast with wood
for example, take a piece of steel wire
and hang weight upon it until it breaks.
You will have to use a very small wire
or you cannot tie enough loatl on it to
break it. As compared wdth a piece of
oak or hickory the steel will hold as much
as a stick of one of these woods more
than a dozen times its diameter. So at
the rolling mills they turn out whole
skeletons for the sky scrapers—columns
to stand ujiright, girders anil beams to
be stretched from column to column not
only to help strengthen
the structure, but to support
the floors. Then
there are braces of many
sizes and sorts. Perhaps
the weight on a column
is so great that it is
safer to use two or four
together. These are
fastened by horizontal or
diagonal braces so that
they will sustain almost
as much weight as if
thev formed one solid
mass of steel three times
tbeir combined weight.
In fact the strength of
one of these composite
columns is amazing to
the novice.
If all of the skeleton is
made at one plant each
jiiece is finished for the
place where it is to beset,
being numbered and
lettered so that it can be
readily found. It is
piercetl with holes for
the rivets or bolts and is
of the right length to the
fraction of an inch. So
as fast as the columns are set in place the
girders to be laid ujion them are reatly to
be put in position and riveted or bolted.
Connecting the girders are the smallet
floor beams on which is to be laid the concrete
or tile which is supposed to make the
floor fireproof. But tbe framework goes
up so rajiidly that the iron workers and
riggers may finish their jobs and stick
the Stars and Stripes from the toji of
the highest column before any of the
other labor is performed. It is surprising
how many portions of the framework
are independent of support. Thus one
corner may be put together so rapidly
that it is four or five stories higher than
the others. This is because the corner is
jiractically a separate structure supported
on its own columns. The framework
which connects it with tbe other parts
is merely for the connection anti does not
strengthen it excejit to aid in resisting
side pressure such as the wind.
It is a fascinating sight to see the
riggers at work even on a twelve-story
building. Perhajis a score of them will

do all the erecting wdth the aid of the
big boom derricks that, actuated by the
rattling- little donkey engines, lift the
mass of steel as if it were so much womb
If the rigger chances to be on the ground
and wants to go aloft, he straddles the
girder ami is hoisted with it. When a
beam is to be set, the workers think nothing
of climbing far tint on the ends of tbe
girders to which it is to be riveted. Standing
on the very edge, they lean over ami
guide tbe beam to its place as it swings
on the end of the boom cable. They will
rivet a beam or girder, standing on a
foot wide plank where the slightest misstep
means a plunge to the ground a
hundred feet below. From the little
heatar back in the center of the building,
a helper grips a red hot rivet with his
pincers. Tossing it up to the man on the
plank, the latter catches it in his empty
keg he had for the jiurpose. then with
his own pincers he jiushes it through the
girder holes and while his companion
hammers the other end,
presses it firmly against
the steel with his own
hammer—not an easy
task to keep your balance
at this work on the
ground, but up here to ,
lose it means sure death.
Yes, the huge skeleton
is fastened with remarkable
swiftness b) the little
band of frame setters,
so deftly and speedily do
they work, but the shell
or skin is put on almost
as rapidly. Sometimes
the brick-layers begin at
the bottom, sometimes at
tbe middle story, occasionally
at the top if it
is most convenient. In
Xew York the curious
sight has been witnessed
of one gang laying up
bricks from the bottom
and another upward
from the tenth story. It
is simply a matter of
putting up staging and
going to work, dangerous
as it may appear, so
when the contractor is in
a hurry he can rush this
COMING OF THE SKY PIERCER 89
jiart of the job faster than any other, for
delay means loss to the builder.
Really the interior of one of the miniature
cities usually requires more time to
complete than the walls or framework.
Before the flooring is put down and the
w-alls ami ceilings decorated, a tangle of
wire anti tubing must be set for the telephones,
the stock tickers, the fire alarm,
the janitor and other service calls. Safes
are set into the rooms—a very tedious
jirocess. The elevators must be finished
and tested to make sure they are in jierfect
running order. Compressed air conduits
for cleaning the building are required
these days. Then there is the
mail chute that must be installed, since
it is as much of a necessity as the elevators.
But the men who are doing big
things of this sort can tell almost to a
day when they can put the last touch
to the structure and turn it over to the
owner, ready for its thousands of tenants.
They are so sure that thev agree
THE FINISHING TOUCHES

90 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
to pay the owner perhaps a thousand
dollars' forfeit for everv day it may remain
in their hands after the date they
have agreed to finish it.
We have paused in awe and admiration
before the Sphinx of the Nile \ alley,
tbe tower of Pisa, the magnificent
St. Marks of Venice, rightly honoring
those who designed anti built what were
triumphs of man's handiwork in their
time, but wdien we think of the colossal
monuments of architectural engineering
which are now being executed by American
skill and enterjiri.se, these .ancient
achievements seem but ordinary. The
structures of today can truly be called
cities in miniature, for the thousands of
Father Messasebe
("Father Messasebe" is a traditional name bestowed upon
the Mississippi, and one by which it is mentioned even now in
some parts of the vast territory through which it flows.)
Father Messasebe, long is thy going
From the land of the pine to the home of the palm,
Wide are thy waters and deep is thy flowing
On to the multiple oceans of calm ;
Out of the North with a rush and a roaring,
Down from the regions of tempest and snow ;
Over thee ever the eagle is soaring
E'en to the land where the oranges grow.
Father Messasebe, rich in tradition,
Thou'rt linked evermore to the fair and the brave ;
Tell me the tale of thy ultimate mission
Over the long-buried corselet and glave,
Breathe of the loves in the land of fair daughters,
Carry me back to the splendors of old,
Tell me of him who first looked on thy waters
And found underneath them a sepulcher cold.
Father Messasebe! Down through the red lands
Thou sweepest, a monarch unfettered and free,
Past the great cities and under the headlands,
On, on in thy triumph unvexed to the sea;
Legend-invested and mantled in glory,
The wreath of the ages untarnished is thine,
And millions unborn will yet list to thy story
offices each contains represent a huntlred
sorts of vocations. Go from the bottom
to the top and you find a dozen kinds of
tradespeople, from the fruit vender to the
cigar merchant. Few are without a restaurant,
some have social clubs, others
roof gardens and gymnasiums. The
metal composing each would make a
mass weighing over 25,000 tons. Their
elevator cables may be measured by the
mile. Underneath each may be a great
industry where you see the power of 500
horses furnishing heat, light, and the
electrical energy wdiich shoots the elevators
up and down or furnishes the nerve
system of this wonderful community.
Truly, the sky piercer marks a great
epoch.
In the land of the palm and the home of the pine.
THOMAS C HARBAUGH, in Travel Magazine.

feairmi Aetos f©s° Meaivy WoirEl
By D^vld Beecroft
this style TEAM of pleasure motor car trucks in America that
anti steam automobiles
are not so popular in
America as are gasoline
machines, due partly to
one maker's holding the
basic patents for the
accepted style of steam
cars, in which type the steam boiler,
as understood in locomotive and stationary
boiler practice, is not used, but a
flash generator resorted to insteatl. ddiis
generator, roughly, is a series of smalldiameter
spiral tubing into which water
enters at one end and before reaching
the opposite end is not only converted
into steam, but superheated to a great extent.
The fire for these generators comes
from a gasoline flame fed by some form
of automatic regulator freeing the driver
from all care; and the use of an automatic
regulator for controlling the flow
of water to the generator further relieves
the driver of this function, hi.s duties being
solely those of controlling the machine.
So great has been the demand for
the efforts of its maker have been confined
entirely to the production of pleasure
ears and the large steam commercial
wagon or truck has been neglected. The
story in America is largelv a rejietition
of that in Eurojie, a.s control of the steam
generator patents has for years reposed
with one manufacturer and the useful
outjiut has been confined to his factory
facilities.
It might be asked why a motor catusing
a locomotive or tubular style of
boiler could not be used on pleasure anti
commercial automobiles and, in anticijiating
this, reference is made to one or
two eastern American buiklers who are
engaged in making such machines.
Yehicles of this character offer a variety
of troubles, one being the maintenance
of a proper water level in the boiler as
well as the carrying of a supply of steam
on hand which is not looked upon favorably
by many motorists. In the generator
car a volume of steam is never carried,
steam is jiroduced as it is needed
AN ENGLISH STEAM AUTOMOBILE EMPLOYED FOR INDUSTRIAL PURPOSES.
(91)

92 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
and so the danger of exjilosions is elimi­ en-ton steam wagon will serve to differennated.tiate
it entirely from the traction engine
One country has, however, developed to which it bears a slight resemblance.
the locomotive type of steam boiler and ddie traction engine, besides being a slow-
adapted it to the commercial end of momoving- machine, is not built to carry its
toring. Naturally this country i.s Eng­ load, being intended to pull only, and
lantl, the home of steam and the father­ owing to this restriction is made with
land of the imjierishable Watt, ddie large rear wheels with very broad tires
steam vehicle in England, generally des­ which are needed to attain sufficient fricignated
"lorry," is capable of carrying tion on the road. The broad tire reduces
loads of two, three, four, five anti seven its jiossible sjieed and being a pulling
tons, few machines of greater capacity agent excessive weight is imjierative to
being allowed, owing to their excessive give enough road adhesion.
weight, as they are dangerous in crossing ddiese steam cars, wdiile not closely re-
ANOTHER-TYPE OF THE ENGLISH STEAM AUTOMOBILE.
bridges anti destructive of road surfaces.
The government jilaced a limit several
years ago on the capacity of these machines
by stipulating that the machine
when empty must not weigh more than
three tons, which limit has recently been
increased to five tons, ddiis increase has
permitted of the manufacture of machines
of this weight cajiable of carrying
a seven-ton load.
At first sight the English steam wagon
looks very English, with its ponderous
lines due to large metal wheels,
cumbrous load-carrying body, heavy
framework and large upright or locomotive
boiler with engine carried in front.
A brief trip on one of them proves that
it is exceedingly mobile, being cajiable of
maneuvering through crowded places at
a good rate of speed and when on open
roads or streets of traveling at ten miles
an hour. A cursory examination of a sev-
lated to traction engines, are vastly different
from miniature locomotives. The
road wheels are connected with the drive
shaft of the engine generally through a
system of spur gearing or chains "and
generally interposed is a change speed
gearing which jiermits the engine to run
at a certain speed, but the roatl wheels
to turn at a medium rate on level
roads or very slowly when mounting
grades, or pulling over-loads. When
traveling backwards the custom is to reverse
the engine, but a few makers use
a reverse gearing, thereby allowing the
engine to work in the forward direction.
Coal or coke are the fuels generally used,
tlue primarily to the cheap price of these
and the high price of gasoline or denatured
alcohol. A five-ton wagon consumes
$200 worth of coke per year,
which, with its annual mileage of 4,000,'
gives a fuel expense of 5 cents per mile.

\\ here coal is used the expense is lower,
but its use is limited, owing to the road
ordinances prohibiting the emission of
smoke from vehicles when on the roads.
A variety of unique body styles has
originated with steam machines and altogether
different from those adopted on
gasoline trucks. These bodies are invariably
balanced over the back axle, while
the motor is located over or in rear of
the front axle. Owing to this jieeuliar
location of the body the tijiping style is
a favorite, as it can be unloaded by tilting
tbe forward end and unlocking the
tail board. In general this operation is
accomplished by tbe steam power of the
engine through ratchet anil gear connections.
The municipal authorities in England
have been leading users of steam
vehicles employing them as they do in
large corporation works where strength
and slow speed are twin brothers. Frequently
what is termed a trailer is
bitched behind the wagon and the loatl
capacity very much increased without endangering
the road surface. Besides these
requisites suitable to municipal work, the
steam machine fills this sphere, as the
corporations using several machines engage
a competent engineer to care for
them. One afternoon a week each machine
is overhauled, the boilers are
STEAM AUTOS FOR HEAVY I VORK 93
washed out and all jiarts of the vehicle
examined. With such care machines of
this character have already worked constantly
for seven or eight years and the
comjiuted life of them is from ten to
twelve years.
Besides serving as machines of burden
tbe steam vehicle has been utilized in a
variety of ways, one being for street
sprinkling in large cities. In this cajiacity
it has proved a great economizer. When
not so emjiloyed the water tank can
be removed and a conventional load-carrying
platform substituted. Besides serving
in these capacities, tbe milling and
brewing industries bave offered particularly
favorable spheres of operation because
with them delivery to a multitude
of near-by towns which are beyond the
realm of horse usefulness can lie made.
Delivering direct from maker to retailer
eliminates loading and unloading at railroad
depots.
Speculation is rife in automobile circles
as to the possibilities of these machines
in American cities, but as yet not
a single maker has seriously taken uji
their manufacture. Owing to sparsity of
population the interurban feature would
not ajipeal to the manufacturer, anti
should it the poor condition of country
roads and suburban streets would forbid
it.

MODEL BARRACKS AT THE NEW WAR COLLEGE, WASHINGTON. D. C
O^uir ILattestl War College
I IE jiresent year witnessed
the opening by the military
branch of the United
States Government of a
War College or school of
advanced instruction that
is sujierior to any similar seat of jirofessional
learning possessetl by any other
nation. For some time jiast the United
States Navy has enjoyed the benefit of an
ideal war college, located at Xewport,
R. I., and now the other arm of the
service has been provided with an equally
admirable institution where officers of the
regular army and the national guard
will be given a post graduate course in
military science.
The new Army War College is located
at Washington, D. C, on a historic spot
on the bank of the Potomac river. Connected
with and supplementary to tbe
college proper there have been provitletl
buildinp-s of a model military post,
comprising officers' quarters, officers'
mess, barracks, a supply depot, store
houses for tbe quarter-master and commissary,
etc. The entire project represents
an expenditure of more than $2,-
000,000 for construction.
(04)
By WmldloETi F^wce&ft
All the buildings were designed and
the grouping arranged by the eminent
architects McKim, Meade and White anti
the whole scheme is truly notable from
an architectural standpoint. The War
College which alone cost more than
$700,000 is accounted one of the most
artistic edifices in this country. It is considered
the rival in technical perfection
of the Library of Congress, perhaps the
most beautiful building of its kind in the
world. The latest approved form of reinforced
concrete construction has been
emjiloyed and every effort made to provide
a thoroughly fire-jiroof repository
for the invaluable library, collection of
models and other rare possessions which
will have place in the reference archives
of the War College.
The beginning of activities at the
War College will mark the culmination
of the ambitious project for professional
military etlucation which was mapped out
in the year 1901 by the Honorable Elihu
Root, then serving as Secretary of War.
With the fulfillment of this ideal there is
provitletl a complete system of military
education for American army officers, beginning
with the post schools,—locatetl

OUR LATEST WAR COLLEGE
at the various forts throughout the country—and
terminating with the new War
College where the educational course is
rounded out with the most advanced instruction.
The object of this whole educational
system, and especially, the final goal,—
the War College, is to elevate the standard
of professional attainment in our military
establishment, to make study profitable
ami popular among the officers, and to
encourage men of genius to develop their
talent along any lines in which they may
show especial proficiency. Of late years it
has become increasingly apparent that the
vocation of arm)- officer must be considered
one of the learned professions, and
there has been a growing realization of
the need for the higher technical efficiency
which the new War College will
supply.
Any discussion of the new War College
and the preparatory schools which
will serve as stepping stones for its officer-students
should perhaps be prefaced
by the explanation that very excellent
work, if rather limited in scope, has been
done by the special military schools which
have been maintained by Uncle Sam for
some years past. Reference is made to
the school for cavalry and infantry established
by General Sherman at Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas ; the school for infantry
and field artillery established by
General Sheridan at Fort Riley. Kansas ;
and the artillery school at Fortress Mon­
OFFICERS' oUARTERS.
roe, founded by General Schofield. The
only fault that could lie found with these
schools was that they were detached institutions,
characterized by no uniformity
of policy. The new educational system
for the army, on the other hand, may be
compared to a perfectlv organized public
school system working in nicely fitted
grooves. Corresponding in a sense to
the primary' grades of the public school
system are the post schools, all characterized
by a uniformity of definite required
courses of study. As a prototype
of the high school in this comparison we
have the new War College where the system
of jirofessional book learning wdll be
rounded out by the study of the most
complicated jiroblems of military science
and national defense.
One of the most imjiortant objects of
the new War College is to arouse our
army officers, through ambition or sense
of fluty, to more serious anti more diligent
study. For years past military administrative
officials have viewed with
dissatisfaction the tendency in the army
against study. With the opening of the
new War College, however, officers will
discover the personal advantages offered
to those who take advantage of the opportunities
afforded for self-improve­
ment. Only the younger officers will be
"ordered" to attend the War College and
other schools but since special records
are henceforth to be kept of every individual
wdio shows special cajiacity in

THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
,gtT
. .
MftMf J^flL; Uj8 bm '' "***m
i
r
'-gjjgij^' v- -^
•-Sat -> •wBfjtfcz
:3
' 1 ' W 3«f'
j Jfe. ! ^SP' 11 %UfciJ'
sf4-^j&(AI JT*t -^^^^cjta iiiifimll
*^L-' i't
'^y^'K^i' 4 ' ; the grade of general it
may receive the rewartl
anil recognition and
honor and opportunity
SK'i'7 to wdiich it is entitled."
Jj|% S The provision in conjunction
with the War
College of a model military
post, garrisoned by
two battalions of engi­
^c '^ neers, will enable the in­
**»"«( ,Ji; -"'
structors at the college
to emphasize their teachings
a.s to tactics, cam­
5**7*
-• . . - paigning, etc., by means
of practical object lessons
furnished by sea­
TLNT-RAISING DRILL.
soned troops. Of all the
branches of the army,
school work it is expectetl that many of moreover, tbe engineer corjis is prob­
the "star pupils" will be officers with ably best qualified for working out in
whom attentlance is not compulsory. In actual service tbe various problems
planning the War College and speaking which will be presented to the student-
of the rewards of merit to be bestowed officers wrestling with the science of
Secretary Root said: "Although under handling bodies of men in war oper­
the law meritorious service cannot be reations. America's position as a world
warded by increase of jiay or rank below power renders this necessary.
He Who Blesses
Give men their gold, and knaves their power;
Let fortune's bubbles rise and fall;
Who plows a field, or trains a flower,
Or plants a tree is more than all.
For he who blesses most is blessed,
And God and man will own his worth
Who seeks to leave as his bequest
An added beauty to the earth.

Beauntlifcl Effect!© in Electric
Disc]h surges
My IFVsMr&Ift C» Pesrl&fiinAS
O M E most interesting photographic
investigations of
electrical sparks and discharges
have been carried
out at Nantes, France, by
Dr. Stephane Leduc in tbe
jiast. ami the accompanying illustrations
show some recent photograjihs made by
this investigator in this unitjue field.
A FLOWER-LIKE EFFECT.
The effects produced are not unlike
those of the most beautiful crystals of
snow or ice, or those given by tbe kaleidoscope,
the most exquisite ornamental
figures in wondrous variety being obtained
by this electrical process.
Tbe photograjihs are used as designs
for decorative jiurjioses, various jiatterns
being first jirovided for the general out-
¥
v. in
(-'171

R8 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
A MULTITUDE or DELICATE TENDRILS
line, for wall paper, carpet or rug jiatterns.
The outlines of star, letters,
figures or other patterns are cut out and
placed on the photographic sensitive
jilate, then metallic oxide, starch or other
fine powder is sifted over the sensitive
surface of tbe plate, after wdiich the pattern
is taken from the plate, leaving the
tracings of the openings on the same,
tlie exposure to tbe electric discharge being
made in a dark room, anti the sensitive
plate develojied as in the case of
ordinary negatives exposed to sunlight
or other light in a camera.
With these electric photographs no
camera is required, as tbe plate with the
outline in fine powder is placed on a
metal foil—tin foil or lead foil being
employed—joined to tbe outer coating
of one of the Leyden jars of a frictional
machine. The other jar of the static
machine has its outer coating connected
to a point placed in the middle of the
tracing perpendicularly to tbe sensitive
NEGATIVE DISCHARGE AT LEFT, POSITIVE AT RIGHT.
A BEAUTIFUL FIGURE OF REMARKABLE SYMMETRY.
surface. The electric static machine then
has its two poles connected to the inner
coatings of each jar respectively, a screen
being provided for protecting the surface
of the photographic plate from the discharge
of sjiarks at the machine.
As will be noted from the accompanying
illustrations, unique and most interesting
jihotographic prints are obtained
from the negatives after development, the
designs being varied according to the
patterns used, the arrangement of the
powder, the strength of the current and
the form of metallic conductors employed.
It is maintained that the tension
of the current makes a great difference
in the results obtained a.s well as the
temperature and dryness or moisture in
the atmosphere.
Some most important investigations
have been made of electric fields by this
jihotographic process of Dr. Stephane
Leduc. Images of electric spectra have
been obtained by photographing silent
DISCHARGE BETWEEN TWO POLES OF OPPOSITE SIGNS.

BEAUTIFUL EFFECTS IN ELECTRIC DISCHARGES !!!,
GLOBULAR ELECTRIC DISCHARGE.
discharges of electricity, by placing the
metallic jioint anti sensitive jilate in the
same position as when using the ornamental
patterns, the jilate and point being
again connected to the outside metal
coatings of the Leyden jars.
By using a single point a photograph
of a monopolar field is obtained, two
points being employed giving a bipolar
field, the photographs produced, giving
somewhat similar designs to iron filings
with magnetic fields. The photographs
with unlike poles show lines drawing together
and connecting the poles while
with poles of the same sign, the photograph
of the electric discharge resembles
the filings outline of two magnetic poles
which are alike, either both positive or
both negative.
By employing a number of points multipolar
electrical fields are photographed
and by placing the points perpendicular
to the plate or parallel with the plate
mo'st interesting changes are noted in the
results. It is necessary to employ plates
of the anti-halo type in order to avoid the
veil due to the sjiark in many of these
experiments so that the best results may
be obtained.
It is also stated that red oxitle of mercury
is emjiloyed to advantage, the plate
being immersed in the compressed oxide
while the discharge is taking place.
There is also a great difference in the
figures produced on the plates if the
point is positive and the plate negative,
POLE POSITIVE PLATE NEGATIVE.
the former connections having been reversed.
Some of the most interesting anti
unique designs of lettering have been
produced by this process of photograph-
A CURIOUS FIGURE

100 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
charges, the details of
which he has presented
to the French Society
for the Advancement of
Science. Dr. Leduc is
profeseur a l'Ecole de
Medecine de Nantes,
and has done some important
work in studying
the electric resistance
of the human body.
The phenomena are
something more than
mere matters of beautiful
figures that excite
SPARK DISCHARGE TRACING THE WORD "ARTS
but a passing interest.
The production of these
curious forms is also of
scientific imjiortance,
ing electric discharges, with patterns of showing s as they do the action of electric­
letters and words as noted in the illusity in followdng certain paths.
trations. Some valuable investigations ddiere is a resemblance in these forms
have been made by Dr. Leduc, in the to snow crystals, which, as is generally
photographing of globular electric dis­ known, are frequently photographed.
Sgll
Tell Him So
If you have a word of cheer
That may light the pathway drear
Of a brother pilgrim here,
Let him know.
Show him you appreciate
What he does and do not wait
Till the heavy hand of Fate
Lays him low.
If your heart contains a thought
That will brighter make his lot,
Then, in mercy, hide it not;
Tell him so.

©w tlhe Earttlh, ILooHls froinm a Eite
[ME of the experiments
made with kites singly anil
in strings to show that photographs
can be taken by
their use in mid air, signals
interchanged from points
several miles ajiart, ami that various devices
can be floatetl at an elevation of
several hundred or even a thousand or
more feet at the will of the kite operator,
are very interesting.
ddie kites which have accomplished
these results are known as tbe box and
Eddy. The box-kite is so named from
its shape. It consists merely of an oblong
framework of light sticks. L T pon
tbe framework is stretched very thin
cloth, sometimes silk, coated with a composition
wdiich prevents the damp air or
rain from affecting it. ddie covering is
in two sections, leaving the center and
ends of the framework open. To the
sides of the kite is attached what is called
a "bridle"—simply a loose cord with an
iron ring fastenetl to its center to which
is tietl the guiding cord. The air current
jiasses through the openings in such
a manner that it exerts a lifting force,
while the shape of the kite is such that it
rises without the necessity of a tail to
keep it from circling in the air or diving,
as the ordinary kite is so apt to do. The
box kite can be elevated in a stiff breeze
to as great a height as the strength and
AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH. TAKEN AT ALLENHt'RST, NEW JERSEY.
(IM)

102 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
- J6Sk«-
PUTTING UP A BOX KITE.
length of the cord will allow. The box
kite is best in a strong wind.
The Eddy kite, named after its inventor,
Mr. W. B. Eddy, of Bayonne,
X. J., can also ascend to high levels
The Eddy kite, a favorite in this sort
of work, is very similar to the old-
SENDING UP THE CAMERA.
Note the way in which the instrument is balanced level on suspended
man to the left is holding the shutter cord
fashioned triangle kite, but is so adjusted
that it requires no tail as does the other.
It is made of the same material as the
box kite with cloth or silk fastened to a
framework of spruce or other wood. It
can be put up in a lighter breeze than the
box variety and is made in a number of
sizes, some being nine
feet in length. Several
of those seen bv the author
were from eight to
nine feet long.
Experiments have
been made by Mr. E. I.
Horsman, of Xew York,
with the view of ascertaining
what could be
accomplished by wdiat he
terms scientific kite-Hying.
Mr. Horsman tried
various sizes of each
kind, sending them up to
altitudes of several thousand
feet in a number of
instances. He made calculations
of the lifting

HOW THE EAR I II LOOKS FROM A KITE lo:;
force of the kites singly and in sets or
"tandems." As a result he found that
articles of considerable weight could heraised
over a thousand feet, if desired,
and that the wind current at a height of
1.500 feet usually blows steadily in one
or another direction, so that by reaching
a certain altitude the kite would shift its
position only a few feet.
To determine the pulling power of
kites of various sizes, Mr. Horsman has
invented a gauge which is used in connection
with a fastener, which he also
invented, for the kite line. This fastener
is combined with a reel which will Jiold
several miles of cord or wire anti can be
carried from one point to another wdienever
desiretl. If the kite is raised, the
gauge is connected with the cord anti
registers the weight which can be sustained.
After making calculations about the
positions of the kites in the air and their
lifting force, Mr. Horsman decidetl to
see what could be clone in using them to
take photographs, also to put up flags,
streamers and aerial advertisements. He
•
found that by attaching several kites to
one line, he could easily send up banners
twenty and thirty feet in length and from
eight to ten feet in width, while quite a
large number of cameras of the smaller
varieties have been used successfully.
In flving a single kite, the old-fashioned
method is employed, excejit that it
is unnecessary to go to the summit of a
hill or the roof of a building as is generally
done. An ojien sjiace is selectetl
where the breeze is blowing steadily in
one direction, and is not affected by cross
currents of air caused by buildings or
other obstructions, ddie operator sets the
kite on the ground on end. Holding it
ujiright by the cord, he gives a vigorous
jerk and at the same time walks rapidly
awa)-. This motion is generally enough
to start the kite upward. As it ascends,
the operator allows the cord to slip
through his hands until the end is
reached or the kite is high enough to
keep from sinking. Usually two huntlred
feet are enough to keeji it in the air.
If articles arc to be sent up, then
_',C00 or 3.000 feet of cord or wire are
TESTING, WITH PATENT GAUGE, THE PULLING POWER OF A KITE.

lot THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
used. The wire i.s what is known as
piano wire and is much stronger in proportion
to its weight than the best twine
or small rope, while it can be wound anti
unwound upon the reel. After the kite
has gone up two bundretl or two hundred
and fifty feet, the flag, or whatever
is to be sent up, is tied to the cord and
IRAPH TAKI-N THREI HI-NDREI> FEET ABOVE GROUN
the kite allowed to ascend until tbe flag
flies steadily without danger of sinking.
ddie flying of tandems requires considerable
skill. First a large Eddy kite
is sent uji as an aerial rudder to steer
the others and keep them in the right
positions. A.s soon as it i.s high enough
to allow the breeze to sustain it. another
is started and allowed to ascend the same
distance, ddie cords connected with both
are tied to a small iron ring and to this
is also knotted the main or trunk cord.
which is usually the piano wire. The two
kites are raised from two huntlred to
three hundred feet higher, the reel is
fastened and another independent kite
started up until it will sustain itself ami
the cord to which it is attached is fastened
to the main line. The reel is unfastened
anti two or three bundretl feet
more "put uji" and another fastenetl 'on
as before. Thus seven or eight kites may
be connected with the ground by the
same cortl. The streamer or camera is
fastened at the point where the last kite
branches off, as it might be called. The
ujiper kites are of the Eddy variety and
the- lower ones of the box variety, as it
is found that this combination
is steadier than
if all were Eddy or all
were box kites. When a
tandem of six kites is
living with a breeze of
eight or ten miles an
hour blowing, it requires
a strong man to pull in
the line even a fewinches,
such is the force
exerted, ami several instances
have occurred
where the reel and foundation
have been lifted
off the ground, although
it is weighted heavily for
the jiurpose of ballast.
Care has to be taken in
operating several kites
tbat the leaders are
started up in the face of
the breeze and that the
others are adtled at the
proper distances, otherwise
they may get tangled
anti the whole combination
be driven
around in the air like a
ship at sea without a rudder. If properly
put up, tlie kites apjiear as if they were
merely floating on the atmosphere, as
they are at such a distance that the connection
with the ground cannot be seen.
In aerial photography, as it is termed,
the shutter of the camera is connected
with a silken cord, which is jiaid out as
the camera ascends. The instrument is
fastenetl to a wooden framework wdiich
holds it rigidly in such a manner that
tbe lens faces downward and forward
at a slight angle. The direction in which
the lens is to jioint is regulated bv a
simple contrivance attached to the framework.
The shutter is fastened for an instantaneous
exposure or for one of a second's
or several seconds' length, according
to tbe desire of the operator. When
the camera is at the projier height, the reel

"PHILOSOPHY"
is fastened and the photographer waits
until the kites become steady. When the
kites are in motion the cord or wire has
a tremor or pulsation which can easily be
felt by a pressure of the finger on the
cord. Tbe photographer waits until this
is no longer perceptible, when he jerks
the thread and the jiicture is taken.
ddie advantage of scientific kite flying
for making signals in warfare, also for
taking jiictures of fortifications can be
apjireeiatetl. Already the United States
government has decided to utilize kites
in connection with its signal service in
the West, and the probabilities are that
they will also be used at sea, as they
can be readily sent up from the decks
of vessels, with signals attached which
can be seen a long distance, as will be
noted by the accompanying photographs.
Just before the elections a string of
kites with a banner bearing tbe names
of candidates may be seen at a height
of 1.000 or more feet over Xew
York City. One of these was photo­
"Philosophy"
Don't fret if things go wrong today,
They'll all come right tomorrow ;
A time of joy, the wise men say,
Will follow every sorrow.
If you have failed, don't sit and mourn,
Just get to work and hustle,
Success is sure to come in time,
To active brain and muscle.
The man who mopes and frets and pines,
Will never be a winner,
He's in great luck if every day
He gets a decent dinner.
The sought-for secret of success
I'll tell you, on the level,
Just hustle, hustle—that's the way
To circumvent the devil.
lor,
graphed from the top of one of the tall
builtlings. A number of advertising
streamers from fifteen to twenty-five feet
in length are being sent up almost daily
and such is the power of the kites carrying
them that they remain elevated until
hauled down at dusk. Several times
during jiatriotic celebrations in New
York, .Mr. Horsman has sent up sets of
kites carrying American flags, which appeared
to be about two or three feet
long when floating in the air, although
in reality they were over twenty feet.
ddie aerial photographs which accompany
this article were taken at Allenhurst,
X. f. ( hie shows the beach with
the ocean breaking upon it, also a vessel
in the distance, as well as one of the
pleasure jiavilions and walks anti drives.
Another is an enlargement of a photograph
taken at the same resort, showing
summer cottages, flower beds, as well as
seweral cyclists anti vehicles. This viewwas
taken at an elevation of about three
hundred feet.

iillMomis for River Brndlge
0 the average jierson the
expending of $2,800,000
for a bridge would seem
a risk)- investment. d"o
him it would scarcely
1 seem that such an enormous
sum could possibly be realized in
anything like a reasonable period of time
from a mere bridge. Xevertheless such
was the cost of the new railroad bridge
across the Mississippi river at Thebes,
Illinois, one hundred anti tliirt)- miles
south of St. Louis ; and it may be unhesitatingly
said that not a shadow of
tloubt is entertained by its builders tbat
the bridge will jirove a paying investment.
In fact, they had arrived at the
certainty of its paying before the plans
for its construction were complete: and
it is jirobable that by their figures one
(106)
My Glhmirltes Alma My
could learn just how many years will be
required for the direct and indirect receipts
of this bridge to balance its total
cost ami the compound interest thereon.
The Thebes bridge, as it is commonly
called, forms an important link between
several leading railway systems, and
offers valuable aid to rapid transportation
between large areas on each side of
the Mississippi river. It forms a connection
between tbe Illinois Central, the
Chicago & Eastern Illinois and the St.
Louis Southwestern railroads on the Illinois
side, with the Frisco svsteni, the
Iron Mountain ami the St. Louis Southern
railroads on the Missouri side.
Before the comjiletion of this bridge it
was necessary for heavily loaded trains
to jiass either up tbe river to St. Louis
or down it to Memphis or resort to the
BRIDGE ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT THEBES ILLINOIS
The superstructure built from each end meeting midway.

tt.
MILLIONS FOR RIVER BRIDGE 107
Sssai
FALSE WORK AND BEGINNING OF SUPERSTRUCTURE.
old ferry system to cross. This last
was always of limited cajiacity and subject
to the embarrassments of the seasons
of flood and ice. Hence traffic from certain
points midway between these two
old outlets and corresponding jioints on
the other side of the river was often delayed
for several hours, which, especially
in regard to perishable freight, was a
matter of serious consideration.
In addition to its value to commerce
the Thebes bridge is of interest as affording
a conspicuous model of perfection in
bridge construction. It is one of the
largest bridges in the United States, and
with respect to the length of its center
span but one bridge in this country and
two abroad stand a.s its rivals, ddie entire
length of the bridge, including its
approaches, is four anti seven-tenths
miles. The steel superstructure is 2,750
feet long, the concrete viatlucts combined
are 815 feet long, and the remaintier
of the bridge's length is made up of
graded earth approaches. The superstructure,
which is tlivitled into five
spans, has a channel span 671 feet in
length, an intermediate span on each side
of 521 feet 2 inches, anti shore sjians of
518 feet 6 inches.
The total weight of the steel in the
superstructure is 26,880,000 pountls. ddie
free sjians weigh 11,560 pountls per
lineal foot, the suspended sjians 7,720
pounds per lineal foot, anti the cantilever
arms 11,650 pountls jier lineal foot. Supporting
this huge mass of steel there are
six jiiers of ashlar masonry with foundations
on solid rock, anti five of wdiich
have pneumatic caisson footings. The
distance from the bottom of the lowest
foundation to the top of the highest point
of the superstructure is 251 feet.
Leading from the river's banks to the
steel superstructure on each side there
are concrete viaducts, built with arches.
( In the Illinois side there are five 65-foot
arches and on the Missouri side six
65-foot ami one 100-foot arches. These
viaducts are built of the best Portland
cement, anti it is estimated that they contain
55,000 cubic yards, ddie bridge has
a double track and the ajijiroaches are
ballasted and laid with 85-pound rails.
( If the $2,800,000 expended on the
bridge. $1,400,000 went for the steel
superstructure, $600,000 for its jiiers ami
foundations, $300,000 for the concrete
arch viaducts, and the remaining $500,-
000 for the earth approaches.

New ELinigpEiie §>peedl Recorder
](* matter how light the
jiarts of the steam engine
indicator are
made, they necessarily
ave some weight anti
it was long ago found
that the inertia of the
reciprocating levers recording
pencil and card drum caused the
jiarts to overrun at the end of each
stroke and to lag slightly at the beginning
of the next stroke when the device was
1108)
My H. W. Pes-a-y
n FORM OI THE MANOORAPH, KNOWN AS THE HOSPITALIE
CARPENTIER,
used on high sjieed internal combustion
or gas engines. This resulted in diagrams
that were distorted and of little
value.
d"o overcome this fault, instruments
called the manograph were brought out
in Europe, where they are now used in
the testing plants of automobile factories
and by high-speed gas engine builders.
Several of the instruments have been
brought to America during the past year
and are attracting the attention of technical
men interested in
the subject of internal
combustion motors. One
of these instruments,
seen on the tripod in the
photograph, Fig. 1, is
built in Paris, and is
known as the Hospitalier-Carpentier;
the
other, suspended from
the wall bracket, in Fig.
2. is made in Alsace-
Lorraine and is called
the Schulze. Both are
named after the designers
and builders. The
Carpentier is a portable
instrument set on a stout
tripod, while the Schulze
is intended to be more
permanently secured directly
to the engine or to
a rigid bracket near by.
In both the principle of
operation is much the
same.
Creat ingenuity was
displayed by the designers
in avoiding the features
of the steam engine
indicator that rendered
it unsuitable for engines
running at speeds above
1.000 revolutions per
minute. Instead of a
system of levers moving

a long reciprocating arm
carrying a pencil or
needle, and a reciprocating
drum supporting the
card, the diagram is
traced by a beam of light
having no weight, which
is caused to move by the
oscillation of a tiny mirror
about the size and
weight of a dime. A
plain wood box is fitted
at one side with a brass
tube supporting a diaphragm
through which
is admitted to the box a
ray of light from a small
electric arc lamp or an
acetylene gas b u r n e r
sujiported at the end of
the tube. Immediately
inside the box is a prism
that refracts the beam of
light upon tbe little mirror
mounted in an ajierture
at the right hand
end of the box. Flere
the rays are concentrated
on the slightlyconvex
mirror and reflected
as a minute point
of brilliant light upon a
ground glass mounted
in a removable slide in
the left end of the box.
The most ingenious
features of the instrument are the means
adopted for moving this jioint of light on
the ground glass to trace a diagram by
oscillating the mirror and also the metbotl
of timing the movements of the jioint of
li.ght to coincide with the stroke of the
engine piston. The mirror is supported at
fhe back against three jioints. forming a
right-angled triangle. The point at the
apex of the angle is stationary, but the
two others are the ends of movable pins.
Sjirings press the mirror against the pins
and keep the pins retracted. The longer
jiin is in contact at its other end with
the center of a flexible diajihragm. The
chamber in which the diaphragm is
mounted is connected by a pipe with the
cylinder of the engine. Pressure in the
cylinder causes the diaphragm to bulge
slightly and force the pin forward, This
NEW ENGINE SPEED RECORDER 109
2. GERMAN FORM OF THE MANOG
in turn [lushes the lower edge of the
mirror inward, causing the jioint of li.ght
on the ground glass to move upward a
tlistanee exactly proportionate to the
amount of jiressure against the diajihragm.
As the jiressure varies the light
point rises ami falls.
Side movement of the ray of light is
effected wdien actuated by the smaller
pin. Movements of this pin corresjiond
with movements of the engine piston and
the light on the ground glass moves from
side to side always the same tlistanee.
When the instrument is full)- connected
with the engine ami the engine is run,
the light spot has both a lateral and a
vertical motion, the one indicating the
movement of the jiiston and the other the
varying pressures in the cylinder. It the
instrument is so connected with the en-

uo THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
gine that the light is at the end of its
sweep precisely when the piston is at the
end of its stroke, the result will be that
tbe light will describe a diagram that is
an exact resultant of the two movements.
as with tbe reciprocating steam engine
indicator. But as connection has to be
made with the rotating crankshaft instead
DIAGRAM MADE BV THE MANOGRAPH.
A, 11, C and D show distortion due to improper synchronism,
or wrong ignition, and E shows a
correct diagram: F, a diagram with greatly
advanced ignition.
of the piston, and it is jiractically impossible
to connect the instrument "in
time" with the concealed piston, special
mechanism is jirovided for synchronizing
the instrument with the engine.
Mechanical connection with the shaft
is effected by inserting a tapered plug in
a concentric hole bored in the end of tbe
crankshaft and threaded, and then forcing
upon the plug a correspondingly
tajiered socket in the end of a flexible
shaft connected at its other end to the
instrument. The flexible shaft rotates
one of a jiair of planetary gears mounted
on a brass disc, one concentric with it
anti actuating the pin tbat moves the
mirror through a link and lever. By
means of a thumb nut the brass disc can
be rotated and carries the little eccentric
driving gear around the driven gear, thus
changing the "time" of the pin with relation
to that of the engine piston. Connection
with tbe engine shaft is, therefore,
made at random and the instrument
synchronized with it by this planetary
mechanism. Motion of the point of light
on the ground glass has to be watched
in order to adjust the instrument properly.
Its movements are very erratic
until synchronism is secured, when the
lines traced on the glass during compression
and expansion will coincide if the
engine is turned over by outside effort
or is allowed to run by momentum during
several revolutions. Wdien they are
made to coincide the instrument is ready
to take "cards."
So rajiid is the movement of the sjiot
of light that when the engine is running
at 1,000 revolutions or more, the eye no
longer sees a single spot of light, but the
retina retains the image so long that tbe
continuous line of a complete diagram
is seen. By observing this the gas engine
expert can note every change in
jiressure throughout the cycle of operations
due to changes in time of ignition,
in gas mixture, in radiation, and so on.
It reveals to him instantly nearly everything
that goes on inside the cylinder.
Permanent records can be taken at any
time by substituting a photograjihic dry
jilate for the ground glass and securing
a negative. Perfect records can be secured
at speeds of more than 2,000 revolutions
per minute.
Xot only is the manograph adaptetl to
use with gas engines, but is equally useful
in connection with steam engines, air
compressors and vacuum pumps. By
means of diaphragms of different thicknesses,
each calibrated and accompanied
by a ruled paper scale upon wdiich the
negative can be laid, the pounds of pressure
at every point of the piston stroke
can be determined, and the power developed
can be calculated.
Although the principle of the Schulze
manograjih is the same a.s that of the
Carpentier, the construction differs somewhat.
A Nernst incandescent lamp projects
tbe light upon the mirror through a
long tube at the base of the instrument.
ddie instrument is connected directly to
the two-to-one shaft of the engine
through the medium of small bevel gears
and rotls. ddie Schulze manograph is
made also in quadruple form for taking
diagrams simultaneously from the four
cylinders of the usual automobile engine.

My (George T. HaeMey
,y)T has been drums a difficult which matter are ojierated by a four cyl­
to adajit the automobile tn inder gasoline engine. Idle car stands
use on the farm owing to over the cable, and the cable passes wdth
the fact that it has been a few turns over the drum so tbat as the
hard to secure the neces­ drum revolves it winds along the cable
sary traction of the wheels ami draws the car at a proportionate
on the ground. Ribbed wheels tlo not speed. At each end of the car is a tension
have the necessary gripping effect unless device comprising a jiair of positively
they are held down by enormous weight, driven rolls between which the cable
and even then the resistance of the load jiasses, the rolls pressing against the cable
is often sufficient to cause the tractor keeping the cable taut between the
wbeels to simply gouge out the ground tension tlevices and the drums so that the
as they revolve, without moving ahead. cable cannot loosen its coil on the drums.
These difficulties have been overcome As the cable has several coils on both
in a new machine known as the Farmo- drums, and the coils cannot possibly slip,
bile. The system of propulsion consists and as the drums are positively driven, it
in employing an inert wire cable which will be readily seen tbat in ojieration tbe
lies upon the ground and extends across car is bound to travel ami pull its loatl,
the field, the ends of the cable being se­ and the load may be as great as the encured.gine
has power to jiull.
Tbe car is equipped with a pair of
In use, the cable takes care of itself and
THE FARMOP.II.I-: READY FOR WORK
(11(1

112 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
THE MACHINE LEAVES A DEEP TRFXC IN ITS WAKE.
shifts itself to accommodate the path in chine always swings to the right or left
which the machine is steered. Each end when necessary to suit the steering of the
of the cable is fastened to a pulley, and machine.
the pulley rides along a cable arranged Idle machine is equipped with gearing
transversely to the jirojielling cable. The for reversing the tlrums to propel the
machine is provitletl with a steering wheel machine backward along the cable, but
which controls the angular position of the the steering is difficult in such method of
front wheels similarly to an automobile. backward travel and in use the machine
When a machine is steered so that it is turned around at each end of the field
rides along the jirojielling cable in a line so tbat it travels forward each time it
at right angles to the end cable, the traverses the field. To accommodate this.
jiulley lies still on the end cable; but ami to obviate the necessity of disengag­
when the machine is steeretl to the right ing the cable from the drums, or of
or left, for example, to avoid obstruction, swinging the whole cable end for end,
the machine will tlraw the propelling ca­ the main cable near each end has a secble
into an angle with the end cable tion which is separable from tbe cable
whereupon the pulley naturally rolls anti forms a detachable link.
along, carrying its end of the main cable The machine when at either end of the
to a point directly opposite the machine. main cable stands over the sejiarable sec­
In traveling back and forth across the tion or link, tbe latter then being wound
field, the cable is shifted in this manner. around the drums ami extending at each
ddiis shifting action does not actually end somewhat beyond tbe machine. Then
occur until the machine has approached by unhooking both ends of the short sec­
somewhat close to the pulley, for when tion from tbe main cable, the machine is
there is a long amount of the main cable turned around taking the section with it,
on the tension sitle, the weight of the and the section thus reversed by the ma­
cable and friction of moving it sideways chine is hooked into jiosition again in the
on the ground prevents such movement. main cable, whereupon the machine can
At all times, however, a short amount proceed forward, ddie machine mav be
of cable immediately in front of the ma­ driven by its own wheels.

ENGINEERING
Powerful Petrol^Motor
Pi IF accompanying illustration shows
one of the largest petrol-motors yet
constructed for industrial use. ddiis
motor, which is developing 140 brake
horse-power at 420 revolutions, is to be
ajiplied to drive electric generators for
providing current to motor operating
jiassenger coaches. The cylinders, six in
number, are placed horizontally and are
arranged opposite to each other, with a
six-throw crank-shaft in the center. They
have a diameter of nine inches each, by
a stroke of ten inches. The liners and
jackets are of iron, and were cast sejiarately.
The joints are metal to metal;
and the liners are held in jiosition by
studs. The combustion-chambers are
also of cast iron ami are water-jacketed.
The jacket for the walls of the cylinders
is independent of that for the combustion
heads, so that a water joint with the combustion
space is avoided.
The engine is started with the assistance
ot cartridges, anti sjiecial arrangement
of breech-mechanism is supplied.
The cartridge, of ordinary sporting size,
contains a charge of 280 to 300 grains of
black powder—sufficient to give the jiiston
a pressure of about
one-half the ordinary
working pressure. These
cartridges are fired by
special- m e c h a n i s m,
which i.s worked in conjunction
with the timing
gear for the usual electric
ignition. The total
jietrol consumption of
the motor during a nonstop
run of three hours
is thirty-three gallons.
Such machines merely
indicate the strides that
bave been made in mechanics
during the past
few years, and give but
a hint of future development.
ArtiUcial Stloirae
A RTIFICIAL stone for building pur-
**• poses has become a most imjiortant
industrial item, and several very successful
methotls of producing it have been
perfected. A most notable forward step,
however, was recently made in Englantl,
where blast-furnace slag i.s now being
utilized in the manufacture of stone-like
substances. By slight modifications in
the jirocess, all kinds of marble are produced,
and a signal success has been
achieved in the manufacture of artificial
lithographic stone, which exjierts have
declared to be sujierior to some of the
best samples of the natural material.
In using blast-furnace slag for the
manufacture of artificial stone, it is
broken up in an ordinary stone crusher
and the ground to a jiowder. This
powder is then mixed with quicklime,
seven jiarts of slag-powder to one jiart
of lime, the two ingredients being
thoroughly amalgamated in a revolving
mixer. Water is then introduced to
such an extent that the whole mass is reduced
to a pasty mass. This material is
then jilaced in metal molds, in wdiich it is
squeezed until almost all the water has
GENERAL VIEW OF 140 II P. WOLSELEY PETROI.-MOTOR FOR RAILWAY PRACTICE.
(113)

THE LEVAVASSEI-R HYDROPLANE.
THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
been forced out, and the resulting blocks
are of the consistency of chalk ddiese
blocks are next thoroughly dried, anti
jilaced in heavy iron cylinders from which
the air is exhausteil. When a complete
vacuum is attained, carbonic acid gas is
allowed to enter the cylinders, jiermeating
the blocks for a jieriod of three days.
At the end of the three days the hvdrate
of lime has become recarbonatetl and
binds tbe mass into what is to all practical
purposes best building stone.
By substituting limestone or dolomite
for slag, it is jiossible to prepare a mixture,
the method of mixing being as when
slag is used, in which y^ to Jx consists of
calcium hydrate, or a mixture of calcium
and magnesium hydrates, obtained by
calcining the stone. When this mixture
COUNT HE LAMRERT'S HYDROPLANE.
is impregnated with carbonic acid gas, the
lime and magnesium are converted into
carbonates, the blocks being consolidated
and converted into stone.. When manufacturing
artificial marble and lithograjihie
stone, coloring matter is added to the
jiaste before it is introduced into the
molds. The finished stone to all appearances
is the same as natural marble, and
will take the same degree of polish.
Whether its weather resisting qualities
are the same can, of course, only be determined
by time, but it is asserted that
these properties are the same as those of
the natural stone.
ddiere is also in ojieration in England
ANOTHER VIEW OF LEVAVASSEUR'S BOAT. SHOWING THE
Two WINGS.
a jilant which is extracting iron from the
accretion of slag by a magnetic process,
the slag being first pulverized and then
submitted to the influence of very powerful
magnets. This concern is said to be a
commercial success.
**»
Move! Motor Crafts
FI 117 several craft here shown illustrate
the latest development in swift-going
motor boats, ddie de Lambert hydroplane,
constructed by Count de Lambert,
is built after the manner of the catamarans
of Australasia and the West Indies.
The basis consists of five planes, each
of which measures some four feet by ten.
ddie total area of support is, therefore,
about two hundred square feet. Wdth
the exception of the front plane, the
planes are set at an angle of five per
cent, ddie incline of the front plane is
slightly greater. This craft is propelled
by a fifty horse power eight-cylinder
motor. The other photographs here
reproduced represent the Levavasseur
freak boat, the Antoinette, wdiich is built
in two jiarts.

ENGINEERING I'Ri )GRESS 115
A NEW SNOW PLOW,
To BvuiiSd Big AirsMp
MR. JULIAN P. THOMAS, the New
York aeronaut, has given a contract
for the building of the largest airship
in the world. The ship is to be three
hundred feet long, pointed in the shape
of a perfecto cigar, anti is to be driven
by a thirty-horse-power engine. The
contract calls for a speed of twenty-five
miles an hour. This great ship is to be
built by Charles K. Hamilton, the man
whom President Diaz of Mexico has engaged
for two years wdth the hojie of
outstripping all the rest of the worltl in
solving the problem of human travel.
Aim Hinni-ps'ovedi Siaow
Plow
'"THE accompanying illustration shows
an imjiroved form of wedge-shaped
plow, which was recently tested, ami
provetl to work very satisfactorily.
It was found that the ordinary wedgeshaped
plow, when driven into a tlrift
which sloped, say, from right to left,
tended to a greater lateral pressure on
the right of the locomotive than on the
left, owing to the greatei volume of snow
on the right, and thus
the engine was in some
cases derailed. With the
new form of divider, the
snow is scooped up
ind thrown clear of
the locomotive on both
sides, instead of beingbanked
up.
The. construction is inexpensive.
The trams
and beams are of tim­
bers 6 inches by 4y>
inches, and the boarding
on top is of jilanks 8
inches by l 1 / inches, all
bound together by
wrought-iron knees. The
divider is of 3-16 inch
steel jilates, stiffened by
tee-bars 3 inches by 2
inches by 5-10 inch, and
angles 2 inches by 2
inches by 5-10 inch. The
plow stands ten feet six
inches from tbe top of
the rail to its highest point. Its dimension
are the utmost available for the
standard gauge ; its breadth being seven
feet six inches at rail for twelve inches
upwards, tapering then to nine feet for a
length of four feet. It is fixed to the
engine by hook-bolts attached to the outside
edge angle-iron, buffer-beam anti
life-guard, and its nose is kept one anti
one-half inches above the top of the rail
by sujiporting cast-iron runners.
Hydlr^uiMc T^airlbiinkes is*
Scmtla
HTIIF hydraulic turbines of the Southern
Power Company's station at
Creat Falls, S. C, were placed in operation
for the first time a few weeks ago,
when water was turned through the
gates. Six of the turbines are now
in service. The equipment includes six
horizontal Allis-Chalmers hydraulic turbines
direct connected to 3,000 K. W.,
3 phase, 2,200 volt generators. The turbines
operate at 225 revolutions per
minute under a seventy-two-foot head,
and the normal tlevelopment is 32,000
electrical horsejiower.
Actual building ojierations at this jilant
HYDRAULIC TURBINE RECENTLY INSTALLED AT GREAT FALLS, SOUTH CAROLINA,

llii THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
STERN VIEW OF ROTTERDAM'S NEW FLOATING DOCK,
were begun in August, 1005 ; the building
of the dam at Mountain Island occupied
eight months and the cone ete wall
at the power house was completed in one
year. The dam is ten feet wdde at the
top and eighty feet wide at the base. It
is one hundred and five feet high and
six hundred and fifty feet long from bill
to hill. There are 100.000 cubic yards
of masonry in both of the walls. Tbe
putting of concrete on this dam is said
to have broken the record.
M^ige Flo^tiirag Dtoxclfe
'"THERE has recently been constructed
* for Rotterdam, Holland, a most interesting
modern floating dock having a
lifting capacity of nearly
16,000 tons. The accompanying
illustrations
show the details of construction.
The dock was
towed by several tugs at
the head and at the
stern, to its permanent
berth in the Maashaven.
The New Amsterdam, a
twin-screw steamer of
17,000 tons belonging to
the Holland-American
Line, is shown in the
d< ick.
All of the machinery,
including the tackle and
gear, as well as the leakage
pumps and capstans,
are operated by electricity.
The electric current
required for driving
the motors on the dock is
supplied by a storage
battery anti electrical insulation, about
half an hour's walk from the dock. It is
also of interest to note that all of the
pumps and valves are worked from a
single point, this being particularly imjiortant
from an economical standpoint.
The water level in every compartment is
clearly visible by pneumatic indicators,
anti every form of labor saving elevice
and modern convenience has been installed
that is possible.
Hew IEsagpH^e Whwe^Moss.
r\URING the past ten years constructors
of locomotives have made vain
endeavors to find some better construe-

FIG. 1. THE BROTAN WATER-TUBE FIRE BOX.
tion to replace copper fire boxes, which
are not only costly to maintain, but the
walls of which have to be sustained by
hundreds of bolts and stays.
Mr. Brotan, inspector and superintendent
of the workshops of the Royal ami
Imperial Austrian State railway, at
Gmund, has now invented a water-tube
fire-box, which has been in use for sometime,
with the very best results.
L'pright seamless steel tubes, arranged
in rows, with their ends rolled into a
cast-steel pipe, form the boundary at the
sides and rear of the rectangular combustion
chamber, from which the gases
of combustion pass forward through the
iron tube plate into the fire tubes of the
boiler. In order that the foremost water
tube may adapt itself to the curvature
of the tube plate, the lateral wall tubes
are bent so as to correspond to the circumference
of the fire-tube boiler. To
the rearmost lateral wall tubes there are.
connected the rear wall pipes, which are
arranged close together in concentric
curves and encircle the fire door. The
space under the fire door and tube plate
is lined with fire clay. The upper tube
ends are rolled from below radially into
the rear portion of the steam collector
of a second boiler lying above the firetube
boiler, and projecting towards the
rear; this second boiler carries tbe steam
dome, and is connected to the fire-tube
boiler by means of three stays.
The water-tube fire-box has one and a
half times the heating surface of a normal
fire-box; but, as is well known, water
tubes possess greater heating power, and
work with greater efficiency than the fire
tube heating surface; the fuel is consequently
better utilized so that steam is
ENGINEERING PROGRESS 117
generated more quickly and economically.
To this must be added the more uniform
draught supplied to the fire, due to the
larger combustion chamber and the
quicker circulation produced by the water
from the bottom of the boiler having to
pass from the sole pipe into the fire-box
tubes from below, so that, by avoiding
all eddying of the water, tbe steam is
enabled to rise upwards much more easily
in the steam collector. But little water is
also carried along with the steam, so that
dry steam is obtained.
During the trial runs officially made
in Trieste the locomotives used distinguished
themselves for their great steaming
power economy in fuel consumption,
dry steam, and rajiid heating, while the
official tests made during four years of
working them bave shown that there has
been hardly any deposit or accumulation
of furring ; this is due to the rapid circulation.
It is also expected that, with such a
fire-box, repairs in connection with locomotives
will be considerably reduced; of
FIG. 2. THE BROTAN WATER-TUBE FIRE-BOX.
course the extent of repairing needed by
copper fire-boxes is one of their drawbacks.
Apart from the necessary regular
renewal of the- stay bolts, the wdiole of a
cojiper fire-box has to be renewed about
every six years, and if sulphurous coal
is used, every three years; this causes a
great loss of time and money. Added to
this, their use is becoming more dangerous,
due to the steadily-increasing steam
pressure employed. W r ater-tube fire
boiler systems, on the contrary, can bear
any steam pressure, so that all fear of
explosion is out of the question.

mwtw OFF STWM
m
Good Idea
Two uhl friends on the street, locking arms,
strolled slowly along, discussing various topics.
Personal ones were touched upon at last, and,
after exchanging family solicitutles for several
moments, the ludge asked the Major:
"And dear old Mrs. , your aunt? She
must be rather feehle now. Tell me. how is
she 5 "
"Buried her yesterday," said the Major.
"Buried her? Dear me, dear me! Is the
good old lady dead?"
"Yes; that's why we buried her," said the
Major.—Argonaut.
Encouraging
"Now, be careful how you drive, cabby, and
go slowly over the stones, for I hate to be
shaken. And mind you pull up at the right
house, and look out for those dreadful railway
vans."
"Never fear, sir; I'll do my best. And which
'orspital would you wish to be taken to, sir, in
case of an accident?"—Londan Fit-Bits.
A Deadhead
FRAXCIS WILSON was talking at the Players'
Club about the ignorance of dramatic literature
that is too prevalent in America, according to
a writer in The Springfield (Mo.) Republican.
"Why," said Air. Wilson, "a company who
was playing 'She Stoops to Conquer' in a
small Western town last winter when a man
without any money, wishing to sec the show,
stepped up to the
box office and said :
" 'Pass me in,
please.'
"The box office
man gave a loud,
harsh laugh.
" 'Pass you in?
What for?'he asked.
"The applicant
drew himself up and
answered haughtily :
" 'What for?
Why, because I am
Oliver Goldsmith,
author of the play.'
" 'Oh, I beg your
pardon, sir,' replied
the other in a shocked
voice, as he hurriedly
wrote out an order
for a box."
(118)
Mixed as to Definitions
HUNGRY HIGGINS—Wot! Vou don't know
wot a miser is ? A miser is a man that denies
hisself the necessaries of life when he has
the money to buy 'em.
WEARY WATKINS—Oh, T have met some of
them fellers. But I t'ought they called themselves
Prohibitionists.—Indianapolis Journal.
r^
Authority
"WHO is the chap over there who asserts
that the rich are getting poorer and the poor
richer?"
"That's old Spuds; two of his daughters
have just married foreign noblemen."—Puck.
Aunt Mary's Glorious Finish
A HEAR old New England spinster, the embodiment
of the timid and shrinking, passed
away at Carlsbad, where she had gone for her
health. Her nearest kinsman, a nephew, ordered
her body sent back to be buried—as was
her last wish—in the quiet little country
churchyard. His surprise can be imagined,
when on opening the casket, he beheld, instead
of the placid features of his aunt Mary, the
majestic port of an English General in full
regimentals, whom he remembered had
chanced to tlie at the same time and place as
his aunt.
At once he cabled to the General's heirs explaining
the situation and requesting instructions.
They came back as follows : "Give the General
quiet funeral. Aunt Mary interred today
with full military honors, six brass bands,
saluting guns."—H. P. Hunter in Lippincott's.
His Money's Worth
LAUNDRYMAN—"I regret to tell vou, sir, that
one of your shirts is lost."
CUSTOMER—"But here I have iust paid you
twelve cents for doing it up."
"Quite right, sir; we laundered it before we
lost it."—Harper's Weekly.'

For Justice's Sake
A CHICAGO lawyer tells of a justice of the
peace in a town in southern Indiana whose
ideas touching the administration of justice
were somewhat bizarre. On one occasion,
after all the evidence was in and the plaintiff's
attorney had made an elaborate argument, the
defendant's attorney rose to begin his plea.
"Wait a minute!" exclaimed the Court. "1
don't see no use in your proceeding, Mi-
Brown. I have got a very clear idea now ot"
the guilt of the prisoner at the bar, and anything
more from you would have a tendency to
confuse the Court. I know he's guilty and I
don't want to take no chances."—Harper's
Weekly.
***
As It Often Is
"WHAT a murderous looking individual the
prisoner is !" whispered an old lady in a crowded
court room. "I'd be afraid to get near
"Sh !" warned her husband, "ddiat ain't the
him."
prisoner. He ain't been brought in yet."
"It ain't! Who is it, then?"
"It's the judge."—Lippincott's.
A Romance Spoiled
I^HE beautiful girl waded into the yeasty
surf.
Presently she uttered a shriek of terror.
"Save me !" she cried.
There were seven men on the hotel piazza.
They conferred hastily.
Then the one with the clearest voice called
to the struggling maiden.
"Awfully sorry." he shouted, "but there isn't
an unmarried man among us."
Then the lovely girl ceased her struggles and
presently waded ashore.—Cleveland Plain-
Dealer.
A Lesson in Ornithology
A GENTLEMAN who rather overvalued himself,
looking at a case of birds, said to an ornithologist
who was with him, "What is that
bird ?"
"That." said the other, "is a magpie."
"It's not my idea of a magpie," was the rejoinder.
"Perhaps not," replied his friend; "but it's
God's idea of a magpie."—The House Beautiful.
On an Ocean Liner
THE WIFE—"Shall I have your dinner
brought to your room, dear?"
HUSBAND (feebly)—"No. Just order it
thrown overboard."—Ladies' Home Journal.
BLOWING OFF STEAM L19
A Trifle too Imaginative
"SAY, Bill, I think you are trying to boom
our new ice plant a little too much!" called
the head of the concern. "What's the matter?"
asked Bill. "Why. there was a lady in here
just now making a complaint," continued the
head of the concern. "She said you had guaranteed
that this ice wouldn't melt."—Detroit
Free Press.
You Can't Beat 'Em
"THF.V said that we would never be happy,"
moaned the young bride.
"But you are happy."
"But now they say it won't last."—Louisville
Courier-Journal.
Well Intended
"GOOII-BV. Jessie !"
"Good-by, Auntie May. I hope I'll be a
great, big girl before you come to make us another
visit."—Woman's Home Companion.
**•
Misinterpreted
THE story is told of a young Oregon girl, a
favorite in society, but who was poor and had
to take care not to get her evening gowns
soiled, as her number was limited. At a dance
not long ago a great, big, red-faced, perspiring
man came in and asked her to dance. He
wore no gloves. She looked at the well-meaning
but moist hands despairingly, and thought
of the immaculate back of her waist. She
hesitated a bit, and then she said, with a winning
smile :
"Of course I will dance with you, but if
you don't mind, won't you please use your
handkerchief?"
The man looked at her blankly a moment
or two. Then a light broke over his face.
"Why, certainly," he said.
And he pulled out his handkerchief and blew
his nose.—Home Magazine.

FACTS HteM I&MDS
Switzerland has three official languages
: German, French and Italian.
A circus has installed a phone in its
ticket office wdience tickets may be ordered.
An East African tree furnishes a
fibrous bark that weaves into excellent
cloth.
Norway jiroduces annually some 600.-
000 tons tif ice. London buys one-third
of this.
*>•
Of our gold coin. $150,000,000 has
been melted for use in the arts and industries.
Timber killed by .forest fires is now
being used extensively for making cracker
boxes.
Colombia is grid-ironing its territory
with railroads that will open up the entire
countrv.
The ancient Egyptians made hoes by
inserting one piece of wood in another
and binding.
**•
A French physician. Dr. Thierry, is
saitl to have discovered an acid that will
heal all burns.
Dermatologists now tattoo a permanent
blush on the cheeks without injury
to the flesh or skin.
The pineapple is said to be the most
profitable fruit in Florida. Grape fruit
comes next.
(120)
The deepest hole in the worltl is one
that, is locatetl near Leipsig, Germany.
It is 5,790 feet deep.
The average cost of each piece of
U. S. currency in circulation is about one
anti three-fifths cents.
Germanv ami England are making
great progress in utilizing surplus gases
from coke ovens, etc.
A dock cut from solid rock has been
built on Lake Victoria Nvanza, at an
altitude of 3,800 feet.
Recent earthquake shocks in Hawaii
killed fish in great numbers, throwing
them upon the shores.
In France, the coal companies own
nearly everything used by employees,
from bouse to church.
It has been found by experiment in
Germany that deep sea fish can be acclimated
in fresh water.
A single mahogany tree was recently
cut in Honduras which sold in the European
markets for $10,000.
At Kansas City, Mo., 350 acres have
been reclaimed from the Missouri River.
This land is worth $30,000 an acre.
TThe Pennsylvania railroad uses, at
Philadeljihia, baggage and mail trucks
which are in themselves miniature autos.

TECHNICAL
W O R L D
MAGAZINE
I 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS '{
wfpr
OCTOBER, 1907
Pane
Engineers of Eminence . . . . 123 Irrigation Canal of Steel.
From Mountain Snows Come Valley
VAN BRUSSEL . . . .
Riches. GUY E. MITCHELL . . 131 To Stop Cab-Drivers' Cheating.
To Cross Atlantic in Thirty Hours.
HARRY W. PERRY 192
WM. G. FITZ-GEKALD . . . . 139 Boring Out Columns in Solid Rock.
The Mind of the Mechanic. POEM:
JASPER THOMPSON 194
EMILY BEATRICE GNAGEY. Il­ Overburdened Brooklyn Bridge.
lumination Design: FRED STEARNS 143 EUGENE SHADE BISBEE
197
Huge Debt to an Ancient Past. Oyster Farmers in Japan. GEORGE
AUBREY FULLERTON . . . . 144 EDWARD MARTIN
199
The Conjurer at Windy Gulch. Talking by Wireless. DR. ALFRED
STORY. HOWARD DWIGHT SMILEY 151
GRADENWITZ . . . . 203
How a Big Balloon is Sent Up. C.
Noisiest Whistle in the World.
206
JAMES COOKE MILLS
H. CLAUDY . . . . . . . 157
Science and Invention
208
Steel Direct from Iron Ore. HARRY
Black Balling by Electricity. HOW­
H. DUNN 163
ARD GREENE 214
Fossil Wonder of Texas. LILLIAN
Consulting Department . . . . 216
E. ZEH 167
World's Greatest Bridge in Ruins.
How Wastes and By-Products are
H. G. HUNTING 220
Made Valuable. WILLIAM R.
Measuring the Human Voice. AL­
STEWART 171
BERT GRANDE 223
You Cannot Kill the Tallow Dip.
How Broadway Looks from Above. 224
WILLIAM HARD 180
Blowing off Steam 226
Birds to Fight the Boll Weevil.
Vast Power Goes to Waste. W. A'
FRANK N. BAUSKETT . . . . 187
FRANK MCCLURE 228
THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE, published the fifteenth of each month
preceding the date of issue, is a popular, illustrated record of progress in science, invention
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JOHN HAYS HAMMOND.

THE TECHNICAL
WORLD MAGAZINE
Volume VIII O C T 0 B E R, 19-07
EmfpimeeFs ©f IrLinmiiinieinice
John Hays Hammond
HOUGH personally one
of the quietest of men,
r • 1 yx Mr. Hammond occu-
| II pies a position as a
X fl mining engineer probably
second to no other
man in this country, if
he is to be judged by
his responsibilities and the salary he
draws. As consulting engineer of the
vast interests of the Guggenheim Exploration
Company, Mr. Hammond is said
to receive $500,000 a year. At any rate
he has attained wealth at his profession
and lives in a princely style at Lakewood,
N. J. Mr. Hammond is a native
of California, and was at one time consulting
engineer of the Central Pacific
and Southern Pacific railways. He is a
graduate of the Yale Scientific School
and of the Royal School of Mines in Saxony.
He was sent by the geological- survey
to examine the gold fields of California,
and his interest became so intense
that he made the study of mines anti
mining properties his life work. The tremendously
rich Barnato brothers of London
sent Mr. Hammond to report on
their mines in South Africa. It was
while there that he became associated
with Dr. Jameson and mixed up in the
movements that led to the Jameson Raid.
He was one of the five men sentenced to
be hung for his activities in Transvaal
reforms, and only escaped by paying
$125,000 for his freedom. He returned
to London and was sent to Mexico by
one of the largest English syndicates to
investigate the ore fields. The Guggenheim
Exploration Companv snapped him
up and made him general manager of
probably the largest mining concern in
the world. Mr. Hammond is married to
the daughter of Judge J. W. M. Harris,
of Mississippi, and has four sons. He is
special lecturer attached to the faculties
of several of the leading American universities,
and is a member of many of the
Copyright, 1907, by Technical World Company. (12'D

1124)
EDWARD l,. ACHESON.

large engineering clubs and societies in
this country. He is the president of the
Institute of Mechanical Engineers, of
Xew York, to which society Mr. Carnegie
recently gave one and one-half
million dollars for their new building
just completed in that city. Mr. Hammond
createtl a stir when he announced
his discovery of the fabulous mines of
O D W A R D GOODRICH
ACHESON, inventor
of carborundum anti
siloxicon, and in a
broad sense also of artificial
graphite, is a
man who possesses advanced
ideas at variance
with accepted faiths. His was a
long struggle for recognition, extending
over a period of some twenty years. But
imaginative and optimistic, as well as
self-reliant and determined, he succeeded.
Born of Scotch stock in Bellefonte,
Pa., in 1856, Mr. Acheson attended the
Bellefonte Academy until his seventeenth
year, when he left school to give his time
to the perfecting of a drilling machine,
for which he took out a patent in 1872.
During his odd moments he devoted his
time to the study of chemistry and electricity.
At nineteen years of age he built
a dynamo of original design ; and in 1880
he began experimenting with a crude
electric furnace.
His career may be said to have begun
in 1882, when he found employment as
a draughtsman at Menlo Park with
Thomas A. Edison. His ability so impressed
Edison that he was taken from
the draughting room and sent to the lamp
factory to learn the details of that branch
of the business. So successful was he
that he was dispatched to Europe by
Edison, where he spent several year.s installing
electric light plants.
Returning to America, he severed his
connection with Edison, and in 1891 entered
on the experiments which resulted
in the invention of carborundum. Having
at his command an electric generating
plant of considerable capacity, he
ENGINEERS OF EMINENCE 11'.',
Edward Goodrich Acheson
King Solomon, locating them in one of
his exploration trips in central South
Africa. Rider Haggard has weaved one
of his novels around them. Archaeological
investigation in a measure corroborated
Mr. Hammond's opinion. Mr.
Hammond has offices in New York, London
and Denver, and is a familiar figure
in many mining camps of the West.
rigged up a crude furnace anti began
work. He had noted in an early experiment
in passing hydrocarbon gas over
highly heated clay that the clay became
impregnated with carbon. So following
along that line, he thought to try the effect
of impregnating clay with carbon
under the influence of the high temperatures
of the electric furnace. He mixed a
quantity of clay and carbon in an iron
bowl, such as is used by plumbers for
holding their melted solder. Into this
mixture he inserted one end of an electric
light carbon, tlie other end being
attached to the bowl. A strong current
was sent through the mixture until the
central portion was thoroughly melted.
Adhering to the end of the carbon rod
he noticed a small bright speck, which,
when it was placed on the end of a lead
pencil, not only scratched but cut the
glass. That was the first carborundum
ever made. He produced more of lhe
crystals, and by making some changes in
his methods, using sand in place of clay,
he found that he could make them in
considerable quantities.
A study of the properties of the new
substance showed that it was intensely
hard, intensely sharp, and infusible at any
known heat. These properties suggested
that it was peculiarly fitted for abrasive
purposes. But the price at which it could
be marketed was almost prohibitive, running
up into dollars per pound. He very
carefully gratled a quantity of the crystals,
put them in a vial, and went to New
York to interview the gem cutters, who
smiled wisely, but were finally persuaded
into trying the new substance. It did the
work, and the Carborundum company
was organized and financed. In 1805 the

(126)
KI.MER LAWRENCE CORTHELL

companv established itself at Niagara
Falls.
The uses of carborundum increased as
knowledge of its properties became
known. Dentists found it sujierior to any
other substance they could get for shaping
teeth, and as the price decreased the
granite polisher found use for it to the
exclusion of all other polishing materials.
In a short time it made its way into the
machine shops and the shoe factories.
The pottery trade employs it for smoothing
"biscuit ware." Wherever an abrasive
is needed carborundum is used.
In his many experiments with carborundum
Mr. Acheson discovered that
when it is heated to a very high temperature
decomposition occurs, the contained
silica being dissipated. as vapor,
leaving behind, as Mr, Acheson calls it,
R. CORTHELL might
be called an All-Ameri-
T» IW can, so long has he
l\ /I \ been an important fac-
X V X tor in the engineering
7 projects of various
regions of the Western
hemisphere. Probably
there is no man in America who
knows more about jetties, levees, ship
canals and ship railroads than does Mr.
Corthell. Mr. Corthell has designed and
constructed more great bridges across
the Mississippi, Ohio and other North
and South American rivers than probably
any other engineer. He built the longest
steel bridge in the world,—that at Cairo,
over the Ohio river, for the Illinois Central
railroad. He designed and constructed
a number of other bridges across
the Missouri, and numerous important
railway projects from Oregon to Florida.
Mr. Corthell's operations in railway and
harbor construction are so varied that
even to cite a list of them would fill
a large number of pages. He has
been employed by a half dozen different
governments to survey and make plans
and specifications for the construction of
all sorts of harbor works, and has been
honored by a number of colleges for his
important contributions and reports not
ENGINEERS OF EM IN ENCE 121
Elmer Lawrence Corthell
"the skeleton of the original carborundum
crystals," in the form of graphite.
From that discovery has sprung an industry
which promises as large a measure
of commercial success as carborundum
enjoys. It is found to be immeasurably
superior to amorphous graphite,
which it has supplanted in the electrochemical
and electro-metallurgical industries.
In pulverized form it is used for
filtration, stove polish, lubricant anti
paint pigment.
Lately Mr. Acheson has been experimenting
with a substance which he calls
siloxicon (Si2 C20), which is also the
jiroduct of the electric furnace, and which
is produced by the reduction of silica.
This substance is found to be most admirably
adapted for crucibles, muffles,
bricks and for similar jiurposes.
only upon aqueous construction, but upon
rapid transit, and the regulation of street
and railway traffic. His reports upon
the efficiency of engineering feats in Europe
and South America have been especially
valuable.
Mr. Corthell is a permanent representative
of the United States at the Congress
of Navigation in Brussels. Some time
ago the Argentine government sent him
to the International Navigation Congress
at Dusseldorf. In 1904 he was appointed
by the Governor of New York as a member
of the Advisory Board of Consulting
Engineers to enlarge the Erie Canal, but
resigned to take charge of vast engineering
jirojects in Brazil, upon which work
he is now engaged. Mr. Corthell has
handled over a hundred million dollars of
constructive work, anti his present plans
involve an expenditure of over forty millions.
He is a member of all of the leading
scientific and engineering societies
in the world, and many military and
patriotic associations.
He was born in Whitman, Massachusetts,
in 1840, and attended Brown University
until the outbreak of the Civil
war, leaving to enlist as a private. He
came out at the end of four years anti
three months' service as captain of a battery.
Immediately after the war he re-

(138)
JAMES GILHERT WHITE.

constructed a number of southern railways
and took up professional engineering
under James B. Eads, engaged at that
time in constructing the jetties at the
mouth of the Mississippi river, following
up this important work by a survey
ENGINEERS OF EMINENCE 12!)
James Gilbert White
AMES G. WHITE,
the man who is building
the Philippine
steam railways, w h o
built the Manila electric
r a i1w a y s , who
erectetl the first great
steel building in London,
the Hotel Ritz in Paris, the Cotton
Exchange in Liveqiool, the Waldorf-Astoria
in Xew York, and who has installed
steam ami electric railways, water ami
power jilants, gas anti electric lighting
plants, electric power transmission stations,
irrigating dams, harbor works in a
dozen states and as many foreign countries,
is a constructor in the broadest
sense of the word. Mr. White began to
engage in engineering jirojects when a
lad of seventeen and while still a student
at the Pennsylvania State College. After
graduation he went to work in the
Cambria Iron Works, studied and practiced
mining engineering, became a professor
at Cornell and later at the Uni­
The World's Judgment.
lr the projected shiji railway across the
Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
Mr. Corthell makes his headquarters in
New York. He is one of the men whose
ceaseless anti skillful industry have conferred
great benefits upon his fellowmen.
versity of Nebraska, anti at twenty-six
years of age organized the Western Engineering
Comjiany and built numerous
electrical railroads and jilants throughout
the West. The Edison United Manufacturing
Comjiany made overtures to
him and he soltl mit to them anil returned
East, to take charge of the installation
department. At the formation
of the General Electric Company he resigned
and organized the firm of J. (!.
White & Comjiany, and rapidly extended
the business to Great Britain, Australia
anti South America. It is peculiar of
Mr. White that he has devoted his largest
attention to foreign tratle, anil his
contracts in South America alone are
said to exceed $25,000,000. He built
the United States naval station at Subig
Bay, P. I., anil other important government
works in our insular possessions.
Mr. White is a believer in young men.
But forty-six vears of age, he is in his
prime. He is of English-Dutch stock.
Pennsylvania is his birth-place.
A wise man poor
Is like a sacred book that's never read,
To himself he lives, and to all else seems dead.
This age thinks better of a gilded fool
Than of a threadbare saint in wisdom's school.
—THOMAS DEKKER.

j*
THE LOWER WENATCHEE VALLEY, WASHINGTON,
This spot is a veritable tropical paradise.

GLIMPSE OF A WENATCHEE ORCHARD.
., * -^r'-zzz- - -;>^2v?^*/ - - - -. - -
Promm Mo^intaEin\ Siniows Comnie
Valley Rnclhes
^y Gwy E. MitefeeSl
The Wenatchee valley is an isolated tract of land lying up in the mountains of central Washington. A few
years ago it was a desolate, uninhabited stretch of sage brush. Water from '.he melting snow on the surrounding
mountain tops was gathered into great conduits and brought down through miles of tunnels and over great bridges to
the valley. Today the Wenatchee valley is one of the most prosperous agricultural communities in the world and
raises apples and other fruits which are famous in every great city.
HIS territory is the fit
abode for only wild
beasts and wilder men ;
I will never vote a cent
to retain or defend it!"
These were the
words of the usually
far-sighted Webster, in
speaking of the Oregon country, over
which, at the time of their utterance, we
were in controversy with England—a
section comprising the now great anil
wealthy states of Washington and Ore­
gon. Before he died, Webster changed
his views on this question, but, could he
traverse the region today, how mightily
would he wonder at the littleness of
human knowledge. The Stony Mountains—Rocky
Mountains—he said, were
a natural barrier, and he deemed the
movement lacking in statesmanship
which sought to attempt to cross them
and hold them as a part of the L'nited
States.
The average coast traveler visits the
fair cities of Tacoma, Seattle, San Fran-
(i:st)

132 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
cisco, Portland and Los Angeles, and as
he also views from the car windows the
thriving towns and farms along the Pacific
he is greatly impressed with the variety
anti richness of this coast territory, but
unless he has spent weeks, even months,
'JaKUBZa.
THE PIPE LINK THAT MAKES A GARDEN OF WENATCHEE VALLEY.
in visiting the interior of the coast states,
he can have but little idea of the greatness
of the jiresent jiroduction and the
almost unlimited possibilities of this region
the other side of the "Stony Mountains"
of Daniel Webster. The country
of vineyards and orange orchards of the
Great Southwest has been portrayed as
the place in the United States where agricultural
land reaches its highest cultural
development and most astounding values
—land in Southern California is held at
$1,000 and $1,500 an acre. It seems ab­
surd to the Illinois farmer, whose land
has increasetl from a few dollars an acre,
until it is now worth in some places $250,
that there can be any higher notch. He
mav reconcile the difference, however,
with the fact that whereas he raises
corn and wheat, the Californian
grows oranges,
lemons, figs, almonds,
_ Malaga and Tokay
grapes, pomegranates
anti other tropical fruits,
the growing area of
which is extremely limited
in the United
States.
Y e t there are farm
anil orchard lands in the
far Xorthwest which
are fully as highly developed
and produce as
abundant a flow of gold
from peaches, apples,
berries and other common
fruits as has ever
resulted from raisingrape
or orange growing.
But this article is
not the story of Oregon
or Washington, the latter
as large as Illinois,
Massachusetts and Connecticut
combined ; it is
the faille of Wenatchee,
—the story of a tiny irrigated
community in
the exact ce nter of
Washington, where the
soil is fertile, the climate
perfect, the scenery superb
and the people so­
cialists—naturalsocialists, for there are no
socialist clubs. And
out of Wenatchee comes a stream of
the jierishablc products of the earth that
finds its way to the greatest and farthest
marts of the United States.
Those who named Washington the
Evergreen State had in mind the magnificent
country lying between the Pacific
Ocean and the Cascade Mountains
and the noble forests that clothe their
slopes. They little realized that the day
was coming when hundreds of thousand's
and even millions of acres of the vast
expanse of sagebrush plains in eastern

FROM MOUNTAIN SNOWS COME VALLEY RICHES 133
Washington would be covered with a
mantle of green alfalfa fields, orchards
and vineyards even more varied and
beautiful than the forest region of the
western slopes of the state. Such today
is the little valley of the Wenatchee, ail
earnest of the greater things to come—
a mere plot of emerald green, so far
below you, so far away, as it first comes
into view from the train skirting the
basaltic cliffs of the Columbia river, that
you imagine it a miniature school garden,
with tiny plats and squares to be measured
in feet and inches. It is in fact,
1,500 feet beneath, a fair setting for the
background of gleaming, snow-capped
mountains of the Cascade Range, while
beyond are 150 miles of level plain, 2,000
feet above the sea. Through this
winds the deep-cut Columbia, which has
worn its way through a volcanic crust
for ten thousand or ten hundred thousand
years. Zigzagging its way back
and forth among the gorges and gulches,
the railroad gradually drops flown into
the canvon of the Columbia, shoots
across a bridge, and there is Wenatchee.
Surely, this must be California—southern
California land, such as Redlands or
Riverside, with orchards and groves
skirting clear up to the base of the mountains,
with thickly set village houses.
But no, this is forty-seven degrees north
latitude, on a jiarallel with Duluth and
Newfoundland. Look at the map and
you will see that the isothermal lines
curve sharply to the north as they pass
the head of Lake Sujierior, but near the
coast the trend is nearly due north. Anil
so this valley, although in a high altitude,
by reason of being only 250 miles
from the coast, and sheltered as well, has
a climate so mild that you see everywhere
orchards of peaches, apricots and even
the tender almond trees, while the Carolina
sweet potato and the A'irginia peanut
thrive alongside. Surpassing all, however,
are the ajijile orchard?, towards the
last of April in full, glorious blossom.
The air is filled with their perfume, but
what, besides is that rare pungent scent ?
Ah, it is the smell of the desert land,
the sagebrush growing in countless acres
uji on the cool, windswept plateau, above
LETTING THE WATER IN AMONG THE GRATE VINES.

134 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
the quaking aspens, not yet in leaf, where frost and snow hold sway nearly
along the little streams. Twenty miles the year round.
beyond Wenatchee, at this time of the This Xew World "Yale of Cashmere,
year, you will encounter jiatches of snow,
while forty miles distant are the shining
glaciers of the Cascades. But here, in
the valley all is radiant, glorious, sunny
spring. The apple blossoms are beginning
to flutter to the ground and "set"
into the red apples that are famous in
Chicago, Boston anil New York. But
why, one asks again and again, this freak
of nature, this miracle? Seen here, it is
common among hundreds of other little
LIMB i- ALBERTA PEACHES
valleys of the northwest. It is a question
of altitude, principally, though the proximity
to the coast has something to do
with it. Here the land lies within 600
feet of sea level, while to the east and
west it is piled up thousands of feet high
- '
as it has been called, extends ten miles
up the Wenatchee river; ten years ago
it was a strip of sagebrush desert. What
has wrought the change? Why. it is due
to irrigation,—irrigation accomplished by
a series of engineering feats greater, perhaps,
than any other irrigation project in
the country, when the diminutive area of
the valley is taken into consideration. At
first there was only one old German
farmer. Philip Miller, whose orchard
and vineyard were watered
by a little stream
that trickled down from
the desert hills. Then
came the experimental
ditch which showed that
nature here hail made a
tiny rival to California;
and then followed the
present system. Away
up in the Wenatchee
mountains, twenty - five
miles from the valley
lands, the melted snows
are diverted from the
Wenatchee river into a
canal and brought down
by a bewildering system
of ditch, flume, pipe and
tunnel out upon the
thirsty soil. They flow
through four and onehalf
miles of flumes, actually
hung on hill anil
mountain side, across
some twenty-three canyons
from forty to five
hundred feet wide and
from fifteen to one hundred
and forty feet deep,
besides crossing the Wenatchee
river itself and
through earth cuts from
twenty to sixty feet deep.
At one point there is an
eight hundred foot tunnel
through solid granite
and standstone and at another
a three hundred foot tunnel through
a sjmr of the mountain which juts
out into the pathway of the canal.
Part of the way is through 9,000 feet of
forty-eight inch water-tight piping. As

FROM MOUNTAIN SNOWS COME VALLJLY RICHES 135
a whole, this canal, with a new extension,
which crosses the Columbia river by a
bridge over one huntlred feet high, combines
the most costly work and 1 includes
some of the greatest obstacles ever overcome
in any irrigation system thus
far constructed. Of
course it is not comparable
in its magnitude
with any of the
great irrigation works
of the government, for
the entire amount of
land irrigated is not
one quarter of the area
of some of the single
big farms of the West.
The Wenatchee river
is a strong running
stream, heading in a
government forest reserve.
Its source can
never be divested of
the protecting timber
cover by wasteful lumbering.
The river now
has a low water flow
of about 1,000 second
feet, which means nearly half a million
gallons an hour, and it will have this
for time and eternity, or so long as the
watershed is protected.
The Wenatchee valley of today comprises
only about 6,000 acres, but the
canal company is building an extension
across the Columbia river to water some
5,000 additional acres. The bridge to
carry this water is something of an undertaking
itself considering that it is
being built to reclaim only 5,000 acres.
It is a $160,000 cantilever wagon bridge
and aqueduct combined, one hundred and
fifteen feet above low water, 1,000 feet
long, with another 1,000 feet of approaches—the
first bridge to cross the
Columbia. It has three piers, seventy
feet high, topped by steel towers fortyfive
feet high. The piers rest on the bedrock
of the Columbia and are anchored
by means of holes shot into the solid
sandstone four feet deep. For there is
strength in the floods of the Columbia
with its annual forty-five foot rise when
the snows melt. In 1804, the rise was
fiftv-five feet. The irrigating water is
to be carried across the bridge in two
forty inch pipes, one on either side of the
wagon road, which are merged at either
entl^ into a single fifty-six inch pipe.
The old river plays strange pranks
sometimes in these drear regions, where
irrigation has not yet invaded. The
river escarpment at Wenatchee is basalt,
STRAWBERRIES COMPARED WITH A TWENTY-FIVE CENT PIECE.
but in some of its reaches it cuts through
soft soil, and a couple of years ago the
people of Wenatchee were astonished to
see the great river actually drying up
under their very eyes. From hour to
hour its flow decreased, until after eight
hours it had become an almost tlry bed.
The eclipse of the sun to an untutored
race could scarcely have appeared more
weird. What hatl happened? Had the
ground opened up a great seam somewhere
in the upper reaches of the river
and was the stream pouring its volume
into the bosom of Mother Earth, or had
it found an entrance into the crater of
some extinct or possibly living volcano ?
If so, what would become of Portland
and the Dalles and others of the manv
lower towns and cities situated along its
course? But while this speculation was
rife, there came a vast, rushing, roaring
noise, and like the sweep of the Red Sea
which engulfed Pharaoh and his host,
down the channel bed and far up on the
banks came a turgid wall of water and
red mud. A great earth slip had occurred
some hundred and fifty miles up
stream, a veritable avalanche, completely
flamming the river, until it finally broke

136 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
through. Thereafter, for a week, the
usually crystal Columbia was muddier
than was ever the old Missouri.
An interesting feature of this northwestern
irrigation construction is the pipe
line work. Matle of Puget Sound fir
staves, closely bound with heavy wire,
drawn tight by thread and nut, this pijie
is practically as strong as steel and is
said to last longer—its life is from thirty
to forty years. It is made in broken
joints, painted and liuried, at a cost of
A GROUF OF PERFECT APPI.ES GROWN ON TwENTV-Twr
about four dollars a foot for forty-eight
inch pipe.
And now what of the social development
which exists in a community where
land has been redeemed at such a tremendous
cost ? Is it the abode of only
the rich and the careless, for a season of
the year, who can afford to gratify a
whim and support an establishment regardless
of productive values and returns
on investments? On the contrary,
although orchard land is worth $1,500
and $2,000 an acre, every
orchard is a good paying
investment and there are
no neglected tracts. You
wish to see some of these
orchards or farms and
so you leave the business
district of the town and
soon come to comfortable
houses, placed a little
back from the street,
in the midst of what look
like large city blocks—
six hundred and sixty
by three huntlred and
thirty feet, each a perfectly
cultivated orchard
and garden. These are
in fact, five acre tracts.
Some of the houses have
only an acre, while a
little farther on are some
ten acre blocks ; but this
is about the limit. Everv
man can stand upon his
front porch, raise his
voice, and attract the attention
of two or three
neighbors. Irrigation has
wiped out the lonesome
country and it is all one
big village community.
The town lots are fruit
farms and the farms are
town lots. These little
plots, too, have made
their owners comparatively
wealthy in from
six to eight years. Nearly
every house has its
electric lights and its
telephone service and its
running water and bath
tub, and it has, more-
INCHES OF LIMB. over, its flourishing: ?ar-

FROM MOUNTAIN SNOWS COME VALLEY RICHES
den and lawn and hedge. The valley
has rural free delivery, which is
more than can be said of some sections
thirty miles out of Chicago or Boston,
Philadeljihia or even the incomparable
New York. There are no labor unions
in the valley because wages are normally
high. There is no room for the walking
delegate. Unconsciously the people have
solved many social problems which are
racking the best brains of the people of
older cities to the verge of distraction.
The telephone monopoly is all in their
own hands, for they own all the stock
of the Farmers' Telephone Company and
everybody gets unlimited service for $12
a year, and the company pays a regular
dividend. They have a fruit-growers'
union which secures the best price for
fruit for all the members. The union
owns the fruit growers' warehouse and
eastern buyers are on hand promptly to
buy at from one dollar to one dollar and
fifty cents per short bushel boxes of
apples at the warehouse. The western
irrigated apples are never shipped in barrels
; they are wrapped and packed like
oranges in boxes. And the trees bear
every year with the regularity of clockwork.
Prof. Yon Holdenfeke, for five years
State horticulturist of Washington, has
A FIVE-ACRE APPLE ORCHARD.
an experiment station at Wenatchee.
"The jierfect apple," he says, "can be
grown only by irrigation. We have here
the maximum sunlight, heat, air, circulation
and water just when needed. The
soil is rich in jihosjihates anti potash
which give flavor and a splendid color."
The two men to whom Wenatchee
owes the most—perhajis its very existence—are
Arthur Gunn and W. T.
Clark, while behind them has been the
strong hand of James J. Hill of the
Great Northern. Mr. Gunn, originally
a Chicago newspaper man, went to
Wenatchee to start a bank. Things were
small in Wenatchee then and hard times
came. The ditch was at that time a little
affair, seven miles long. He saw that the
salvation of the valley depended on extending
that ditch and getting water on
the land. The idea occurred to him that
the one man who could help him out of
the difficulty was President James J. Hill,
of the Great Xorthern. Gunn, as he tells
it himself, hadn't a dollar left. He managed
to get a pass to St. Paul and he
describes his feelings as he waited in the
ante-room to see the famous "Jim" Hill.
"I knew that the success of that little
valley and its almost starving population
depended upon the success of the ditch
project. I felt like Queen Esther before
m

138 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
going into the presence of King Ahasuerus
to jilead for the lives of her people,
who asked them to fast three days, as
she had done, ami so had I. As I sat
there with my heart in my mouth waiting
to be called in to see the big man, the
words of that old Sunday school lesson
kept running through my mind: 'And
so I will go in unto the king, which is
not according to law, and if I perish, I
perish.' But Mr. Hill, like King Ahasuerus,
held out the golden sceptre to me
and I and my people were saved."
The man who has put the big ditch
through—and it can be judged from the
description of the country it has traversed,
that it was no very easy job—is
W. T. Clark. There have been many private
irrigation schemes in the west which
have resulted disastrously, both to the
investors and to the settlers. There have
been some which have made a bare go of
SPRING SCENE WITH THE VALLEY IN BLOOM.
it, and some which have done well. A
few have been unqualified successes and
it is hardly worth saying that Wenatchee
is among the last named. At least, the
United States Reclamation Service has
taken it as a model. It i.s as if the once
thirst-parched land gave back abundant
harvest in very gratitude for water.
Chief Engineer Arthur P. Davis, of
the Service, has this to say: "A most
valuable object lesson of an instance
where jirivate interests have stepjaed in
and mafic profitable land which went to
waste formerly may be found in the
Wenatchee valley. The government officials
of the Reclamation Service have
considered the settlement of this valley
so ideal that it has been taken as an example
after which to pattern the Okanogan
(Washington) irrigation project,
which the government now has under
construction."

T© Cross Attlsumt&c iin\ TJhlrty Molars
My Wina„ G„ Fits-Gerald
Peter Cooper Hewitt of New York is a scientist and inventor of high reputation and proved achievement. He
is not given to idle and boastful talk. Consequently, when he announces that by the invention of a boat supported
above the water by gliding planes he has made possible the building of ocean liners which may easily reach a speed
of one hundred miles an hour, even conservative men are ready to believe the statement. To cross the Atlantic in
thirty hours is the goal at which Mr. Hewitt is aiming.
P is clear our ocean flyers
have pretty well
reached the maximum
sjieed at which the}- can
be run with economy.
es\
Every knot after twenty
entails a cost in power
out of all proportion
to the increased sjieed, so tremendous is
the resistance met. If only the giant hull
could be lifted clear, yet resting on waterjilanes
so as to glide or skim exactly like
an airship, only in a medium 800 times
heavier—then, indeed, marine architecture
would be utterly revolutionized.
For in such case it would no longer be
necessary to increase jiower eight times
merely to double the ship's speed, as is
necessary at present. Epoch-making,
therefore, are the latest experiments,
which have proved to demonstration that
sjieeds up to a hundred miles an hour
are jiossible at sea, giving a clear prospect
of a thirty-hour run from Xew York
to Liverpool, with the added marvel
that seasickness also will be relegated to
p, C HEWITT BOAT SUSPENDED ABOVE WATER, SHOWING PLANES.
(130)

140 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
the limbo of forgotten horrors, because
no longer possible!
And yet the idea is not new. The tendency
of the plane to rise in the direction
in which it is propelled has been noticed
for centuries by kite-flyers. Anil forty
year.s ago the British Government was
experimenting with a device that showed
how a craft would lift if it had inclined
jilanes made fast to its hull. So wonderful
were the possibilities that private inventors
speedily took a hand, among
them Raoul Pictet, whose water "flyingmachine"
amazed the Swiss about the
classic shores of Lac Leman.
But there was one fatal defect in those
flays—the tremendous weight of marine
engines which nullified the lifting power
of the j)lanes. But an age of gasolene
motors that develop the strength of a
horse for every three or four pounds of
weight revived the old marvel: anti three
years ago the Count de Lambert—the
French are wonders at motors, as Santos
Dumont knows—began a new series of
trials.
Over thirty-four miles an hour was attained
in a craft carrying 3306 pounds,
and propelled by a miniature engine of
only fifty horse-jiower. The count used
five planes, each ten feet long and four
1 % *y*£&
—1
^PS 5 *,.
SM£ 7J>;/#WV
i** • * * * # * * .
broad, slightly inclined, and ujiturned
from back to front. Unfortunately some
of his planes, while lifting the hull, themselves
emerged also, and set up much
resistance.
This tlefect, however, was wholly overcome
in the first glider built in this
country. Here the planes were not placed
directly on the keel, but hung from a
framework attached to the hull. So deep
were they in the water that when they
rose they lifted the boat clear, yet remained
quite submerged themselves. In
a word the hull hung upon stilts, each
terminating in an inclined plane so arranged
that the higher the speed the
greater the lifting power of the jilanes—
whose angle, by the way, could be automatically
alteretl by an ingenious elevice.
But the man who has attained the most
astounding results of all is Peter Cooper
Hewitt of Xew York, well known for the
famous li.ght to which he has given his
name, and also for his remarkable automobile
inventions. Here is a rare case
of an inventor being both cautious and
modest; for it is only the ablest of practical
engineers that have sung the praises
of an invention destined to bring about
an utter revolution in water transport.
Oddly enough Hewitt started out to build
•i i.i
APPROXIMATE LEVEL OF BOAT WHEN GOING AT THIRTY MILES AN HOUR

a flying machine,but like
a flash it occurred to him
that gigantic success
would be his if he made
his medium water instead
of air.
His first model was a
little 27-foot craft, carrying
an eight-cylinder
gasolene motor. When
at rest the boat gave no
indication at all of high
speed capability: yet
when set in motion it
fairly flew along the surface
of the water, the
hull quite clear, the
planes skimming like
feathering oars at well
above forty miles an
hour. Anti it is as clear as that two and
two make four that a 200-foot vessel can
be built which will go sixty or eighty
miles an hour; while a still larger craft,
with nothing like the power put into one
of our great ocean liners, would surely
bridge the Atlantic in little more than a
day!
It was a lucky moment for Mr. Hewitt
when he chose water for his medium
rather than unstable air, which requires
wings or planes 800 times the size and
power required for the same effective lift
as in water. Moreover, experiments are
proportionately less costly.
"My first model," Air. Hewitt told
THE TECHNICAL WORLD, "was entirely
supported by the planes at sixteen miles
an hour; the flotation hull being entirely
out of water at that speed. I found, too.
that the area of the planes shoulfl tiecrease
with the sjieed for economy and
safety. So far, speed has only been limited
by the propeller, but the craft will
gradually improve with increased size,
and the liner of the future will be practically
independent of weather, and have
no motion from the waves."
As the surface of the water is uneven,
it becomes necessary to straddle the surface,
so to speak—that is, to have the
main supporting planes well below the
surface, and maintain the hull well at rest
above the wave-crests, allowing the rollers
to play in between. This is perfectly
practicable, so that a large ship will, even
TO OUTRUN OCEAN FLYERS III
THE PLANKS ANI> PROPELLER.
in the roughest weather, glide as smoothly
as in a placid lake.
You see, the system is precisely the
same as with the flying machine, save that
the latter is forced to jirovide mechanical
substitutes for the surface of the water,
which is an invariable means of support
for the new craft.
And asitle from its peace asjiect, the
possibilities of the invention in war must
lie considered. Naval architects claim
that the larger guns cannot be used with
any accuracy on a vessel going faster
than thirty miles an hour. For this reason
a torpedo boat skimming or gliding
at a mile a minute could do jiretty well as
it pleased anti loose its Whiteheads at
giant victims that remained entirely helpless.
And remember, every experiment
has shown that the gliding principle is
better adajitetl to big shijis than small
boats.
The only problem that remains at present
is that of the jiropeller. Beyond question,
however, the engineers will meet
this difficulty in view of the marvelous
new era of ocean travel now clearly
shown to be in the realm of things practical.
Wise and far-seeing men have
scoffed at the idea of any inventor, much
less the general public, flying through the
air from the Old World' to the Xew—at
any.rate in this generation-.
For the past two or three years there
have been standing offers to inventors
aggregating $250,000, at least, for a

142 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
flight from London to Paris—a matter of
less than four hundred miles. Or even
a course from London to Liverpool, entirely
over land. But so far no enthusiast
has been able to claim this fortune. Xot
that engineers doubt the great future of
the flying machine ; but at jiresent stability
anil absolute certainty are hopelessly
lacking because of the jirecarious medium
of support.
But the idea of offering all the advantages
of a flying machine with the addition
of an absolutely stable medium is
one to arouse enthusiasm even in the layman.
And besides enormous speed, there
will be entire immunity from seasickness,
because the giant hull will be lifted clear
above the waves, just like the body of a
flying albatross that skims over the wavecrests
and laughs at the storm.
Of course fogs, icebergs and derelicts
will always remain a menace. Still, for all
jiractical jiurposes water travel will be
as rapid as that on land, for the fundamental
difficult)- has been solved and all
resistance overcome by lifting the hull
clear out of the water, using the latter
mereh' for the support of the gliding
planes. ( )ne cannot help shuddering,
Eyes of the Night.
The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one ;
however, at the thought of two of these
fast planes colliding while running at
full sjieed.
It is little wonder that Peter Cooper
Hewitt should be the man of the hour ;
and very tempting offers are being made
to him by capitalists and enthusiastic engineers
who have seen the inventor fairly
flying over the water in his boat and
turning sharp corners around the yachts
in Long Island Sound in a manner altogether
amazing to the mariner. A
larger craft is already projected, for
which seventy miles an hour is expected ;
and it cannot be long before the great
ocean transjiortation comjianies take official
notice of this revolutionary invention,
as they did in the case of the turbine
now fitted to giants like the Cunarders,
Carmania and Caronia.
It is, therefore, no fantastic theory, but
a matter of sober fact that within a few
years at most the crossing of the Atlantic,
with its 3000 miles of stormy sea, will
be a matter no more serious than the
journey from Xew York to Chicago at
this hour. Yet it seems but yesterday the
bridging of the ocean in a fortnight was
a thing to marvel at!
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.
The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one ;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.
—BOURDILLON.

iJ?e^l\^cfianic
6ry tSmify^Beatrice &nayey
Ah! who shall say, in God's all-gracious plan,
How high the magic mission of that man,
Who framed an arch or bridge without a flaw,
And toyed with gravitation's unseen law ?
Or who shall guess, beyond earth's narrow space,
Where finite means to infinite give place,
With shafts of light for beams, for bolts the stars,
His arch the rainbow, the sun's rays his bars,—
Unhindered, in God's wilderness of joy,
What sacred task shall give that brain employ ?
(143)

POWER HOUSE AT FOOT OF NIAGARA FALLS.
A simple but difficult way to take advantage of the natural drop in
Jtoge Delbtt to aim Afuciemitt Past
My A^albirey F\sllef ton
Rarely has the modern importance of prehistoric glacial action been more clearly expressed than in this article.
It makes plain the (act that the present commercial and agricultural standing of Canada is largely determined by what
happened something like 60,000 years ago.
'HAT was going on in the
Great Lake region some
sixty thousand years ago
has had very much to do
with what is going on
there today. The fact
that there was at some such distance of
time, and in that jiartieular locality, a
great upsetting of nature, by which the
map of middle America was quite remodelled,
explains why there are powerhouses
and town sites in certain situations
at the present time. (hit of chaos have
come factories, ami from a mighty tumbling
about of things prehistoric have
come rich fruit lands and money-making
farms.
(144)
Tn other words, the industrial works
that are going on today in certain districts
of the lake country owe their existence
directly to some very jieeuliar worldmovements
many milleniums ago. That
is undoubtedly true of many other districts
the world over; just what was
doing before the curtain lifted no one
knows, and nature may have been universally
and chronically upset; but in one
especial place she has left marks so plain
and so fascinatingly readable that the
story of her ancient doings can be put
together like a second book of Genesis.
That place is the shore country of Lake
Ontario, and its story proves what modern
industrialism owes to the hoary past.

At Niagara Falls
power-works on both
the American and Canadian
sides have now in
course of development a
total of 615,000 horse
power, of which 160,000
is already in operation.
Five companies are concerned
in this development,
each with a somewhat
different method of
engineering. One, for
instance, will divert the
water from the Niagara
river above the falls,
carry it a mile through
an eighteen-foot underground
conduit, and then
pour it down upon the
turbines at the foot of the Canadian falls,
where the power-house is built. Two
other comjianies have, in order to give a
fall to the water, dug wheel-pits, which
empty, one by means of a tunnel directly
under the Horseshoe Falls, and the other
by a tailrace. The engineering'basis of
all, however, is the difference in level
between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, a
matter of three hundred and twentyseven
feet, which gives at the falls, where
the water suddenly drojis over a steeji
precipice of rock, a head of about one
hundred and fifty feet. Because there is
this difference of level, and because
HUGE DEBT TO AN ANCIENT PAST 145
POWER HOI-SE AT DECEW FALLS, HAMILTON, ONTARIO,
The water is brought from Lake Erie by way of the Wetland Canal
NIAGARA RIVER AS SEEN FROM QUEENSTON HEIGHTS,
In past aees Niagara Falls was on extreme right.
nature has made this jirecijiice, the
power-works of today are jiossible.
Two other power schemes on the
Canadian sitle of Lake Ontario are dejiendent
upon very much the same conditions.
Power for commercial purposes
is now being delivered in the city of
Hamilton from. Decew Falls, wdiere, with
a head of two huntlred and sixty-five feet,
50,000 horse power has been secured by
drawing Lake Erie water from the Welland
canal anti storing it in a thousandacre
reservoir. At St. Catharines, a
near-by town, a fall of two hundred and
ten feet offers itself as a possible powersite,
and a project is now
on foot to tap the Welland
river by an eightmile
canal large enough
to develop 100,000 horse
jiower.
There is a reason why
these enterprises are so
close to Lake Ontario;
but to find it, one must
take evidence some sixty
thousand years old.
Electric railways, civic
lighting systems, and
manufacturing plants
owe their existence in
their present form to
the thoroughgoing way
in which some prehis­
toric glaciers changed
the face of the country

CITY OF HAMILTON, ONTARIO, BUILT UPON OLD IROQUOIS BKACH.

"around about that time." This is the
short of it ; beginning at the Niagara
river, a plainly marked escarpment
stretches for many miles on either side
and at varying distances from the lake
shore. At Lewiston anti Queenston,
where the Niagara gorge begins, it
is seven miles from the lake, but farther
west it approaches to within one and two
miles of the shore. From its top a level
farming country stretches back, and between
its foot and the lake shore is a
gently slojiing terrace upon which are
farms and town sites, public highways,
and railroads. This escarpment is the
old shore cliff of a post-glacial lake which
was flrained off about 17,000 years ago,
and to which the modern Lake Ontario
is successor.
But even that does not look far enough
back. A glacial lake preceded it. Not
one alone but a series of glaciers came
down from the north and left immense
deposits of ice and clay over what is now
central Ontario anil northern New York,
reaching also as far as Wisconsin and
Iowa. That was fifty or sixty thousand
HUGE DEBT TO AN ANCIENT PAST
years ago. Then followed a glacial lake,
fed by the melting ice, in tiie basin of
Lake Ontario. It reached to fully three
hundred feet above the jiresent level and
at some jioint down tbe St. Lawrencewas
impounded by a gigantic ice dam.
After the retreat of the last ice sheet
a new and smaller lake was formed,
partly by the overflow from the three
Upper Lakes, which were then jirobably
united in one. To this post-glacial water
has been given the name of Lake Iro-
HOW THE BEACH OF ANCIENT LAKE IRIUJUOIS LOOKS TODAY.
I
quois. It was at first lower than the
lake of today, and the melting of the
ice dam, by providing a new outlet into
the St. Lawrence, rajiidly brought its
level still further down. But at the head
of the lake it rose again during later
ages till it reached a point one hundred
and fifty feet higher than the present lake
and some seven miles wider. Lake Iroquois
lasted for perhaps 17,000 years, and
then its water drained off to the level of
the modern Lake Ontario. From then
until now has been jirobably an equal
length of time,—ages to us, but in geological
chronology a mere moment.

148 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
VINEYARD AT THE FOOT OF THE NIAGARA ESCARPMENT," OR SHORE CLIFF
OF OLD LAKE IROQUOIS.
The shore cliffs and beaches of this
ancient Lake Iroquois have today an
unique economic value. They are clearly
marked and furnish their own proofs.
()n the New York side of the lake numerous
morainic hills rise to heights of
from sixty to two hundred and fifty feet,
showing gravel bars and strata of beach
sand and clay. There are indications
that the original outlet of the glacial lake
was as far inland as the present town of
Rome, thence to the Hudson. The clearest
evidences of the Iroquois beach, however,
are on the Canadian side, along the
two V-shaped arms at the western end of
the lake—from Niagara westward to
Hamilton, forty miles, anil from Hamilton
northeast to Toronto, an equal distance.
Thence for a hundred miles,
along the north coast of the lake, to
Trenton, the beach may be traced with
comparatively few interruptions.
What is sometimes spoken of as the
"Garden of Canada" now stretches along
the lake front for forty or fifty miles between
the Niagara river and Hamilton.
It is a narrow strip of evenly laid and
gently terraced fruit land, from two to
seven miles wide, running between the
shore and the foot of the Niagara escarpment.
In other words, it is the beach of.
the old Lake Iroquois turned to farms.
There is perhaps no richer bit of farming
country in all America. The shore
cliff of the ancient lake, now a ridge of
hills which at its greatest height reaches
to three hundred feet, shelters it on one
side, and on the other it is tempered by
the lake; thus protected, 40,000 acres of
orchard and 6,000 acres of vineyard produce
every kind of domestic fruit which
it is possible to grow outside of the
tropics. The clayey and sandy loams of
the old beach afford the best of soils for
the peach, pear, plum, and grape, anti
are ready leveled, with a gentle slope to
the lake. This fifty-mile garden is of
nature's own making and for many years
has been supporting a lucrative industry.
The cities of Hamilton and St. Catharines,
in this district, are both built upon
the gravel bars of the old beach and to
this fact owe their excellent drainage.
Farther on. on the north shore of the
lake, Toronto stands upon an Iroquois
terrace at the foot of a steep shore cliff

of boulder clay. A few miles east of Toronto
is the one and only point where the
ancient shore line touches the present
shore of Lake Ontario, and where a part
of the old Iroquois beach still exists as
the present lake beach. At this point the
Scarboro heights show a cliff of from
two hundred to three hundred and fifty
feet, worn sharply perpendicular by wave
action. The section of the old cliff thus
exposed proves the glacial theory. It is
a formation of boulder clay, with strata
of silty and fossiliferous sand, indicating
successive glacial and interglacial periods.
The story of the ages can be read with
greater clearness here than at any other
jioint along the lake; first a great glacial
deposit, then an interval during which
interglacial strata were laid by wave
action, then another glacier, and so on.
Remains of prehistoric animal and plant
life have been discovered, and excavations
in Toronto streets have laid bare
numerous fossils of mammoths and flora
that indicate a one-time period of tropical
HUGE DEBT TO AN ANCIENT PAST 149
climate, intervening between cold climate
jieriods.
Eor a hundred miles further along the
north shore are numerous beaches and
bars of gravel, with spits built across
what were once the mouths of bays.
These were without doubt laid by the
action of water in the Iroquois age. They
are of economic value today, since they
furnish good tlrainage for farm premises,
the best foundations for public highways,
and abundant material for road building
anti concrete. Several immense gravel
pits are being used as a railway ballast
supply, and two railroads run for several
miles at a stretch along the firm and
even gravel bed laid ready at bantl for
them. At Toronto anti Hamilton, Iroquois
beach sand is used for building purposes,
and the cia}- beds of the old lake
slojies furnish unlimited material for
numerous brickyards.
The power works at Niagara Falls
trace back to a kindred cause. Whether
or not the Niagara river was pre-glacial.
SCARBORO CLIFFS, NEAR TORONTO, CANADA.
This is a glacial deposit exposed and cut to a perpendicular wall by wave action, where the prehistoric glacier
apparently stopped.

L50 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
SCARBORO CLIFFS- SHOWING GLACIAL AND INTERGLACIAL STRATA.
the basin of Fake ( hitario remained after
the great glacial movements so much
lower than the level of the L'jiper Lakes
that the latter have ever since overflowed
into it. A sudden droji from the level of
the river to that of the lake brought the
falls into being; but the cataract was at
first at or near the shore of Lake Iroquois
—that is, at the point where the escarpment
is now broken between Lewiston
and Queenston. Then the volume of
water began to eat away the rock over
which it fell, and as it gradually cut out
the Niagara Gorge the falls receded.
They are now seven miles up the river,
and the wearing-back jirocess is still
going on. Just bow long it has taken
the Niagara to cut this seven-mile gorge
no one knows, though it is the key to
many mysteries; but it is thought by
geologists that the cataract began to recede
at about the time tbat Lake Iroquois
came into existence, estimated at, say,
35,000 years ago.
Still another ancient cause affects the
industrial geography of today. The fact
that there was a differentiation in the
prehistoric lake levels has already been
referred to. The reason was a gradual
rising of the land toward the northeast.
Evidences of this exist in the old beach
lines, which can be traced today at different
elevations on either side of a point,
which, like a fulcrum, remained .constant.
The tilting of the beach in the
northeast brought flown the water level'
at that end of the lake and raised it at
the other or southwest end.
Now this mysterious rising of the land
is still going on, and the fact that it
surely has an effect upon the levels of
the Great Lakes is of some present economic
importance. It does not now concern
Lake Ontario alone. At Chicago,
for instance, the water level is rising
about nine feet in a hundred years ; and
if this continues, as it probably will, Lake
Michigan may some day overflow into
the Illinois river, while the entire Upper
Lake system may find an outlet down
the Mississippi valley. That will mean
that Niagara will some day run dry, or
will at least receive only the water from
its neighboring streams. But that is
some thousands of years in the future.
If it does ever come to pass, engineering
genius yet to be will find a new power
supply and a way of utilizing it.

T N the clays before the
placer d i g g i n g s
played out, Windy
Gulch showed all the
ear-marks anti peculiarities
of prosperity.
Josh Curtis's general
store flourished, Billy
1) i x o n's booze emporium
flourished, the
tin horns flourished and everything
moved along as smoothly and hilariously
as a Dutch song.
None of us figured that those diggings
would play out, but they did. We came
to the end of the pay flirt so sudden that
it made our heads swim.
We'd been working a stretch of shore,
along the east side of the creek, which
ran back from it about fifty feet, to the
rock wall, that rose straight up a hundred
feet, on that side of the gulch. The
pay dirt ran for a mile up and down the
creek.
It was rich dirt, too ; so rich that none
of us took the bother to try and find out
where it came from, but were satisfied to
just wash, wash, wash, and take out the
dust in quantities that would have put
us in the class that endow libraries anti
colleges, and get run tlown in the newspapers
for having enough money to tlo it
with—if it hadn't been for the tin horns.
Tin horns are a necessary commodity
in a mining camp ; leastwise thev are always
there, as long as the money lasts,
and there were no lack of them in Windy
Gulch. Just as regular as we'd wash
out our little sackful of dust, we'd drop
into Billy's and pass it over the tables to
them tin horns, in exchange for the innocent
pastime of seeing ourselves lose
it. Not that any of us cared. We went
calmly on, throwing our hard dug wealth
to the winds, in the firm conviction that
there was plenty more where that came
from, and all we had to do was dig.
Then, one day, we awoke to the realization
that there was nothing left to dig.
We had uncovered the whole stretch of
'p~-^ J --r——|—- - ' — -- •• • i ae——pa
that shore, clear down
to the bed rock, and
cleaned it up, to the
last panful. The diggings
were played out.
A day or two later
the tin horns foldetl
their tables and silently
flrifted away into tbe
landscape, taking with
them the bulk of our hard dug gold.
Then Mr. Hawkins bobbed serenely in
and bobbed right out again.
Hawkins was a little, rosey posey, jolly,
red nosey sort of a chap, who drove
through town on a buckboard, loudly announcing
that he would give a sleight-ofhand
jierformance in the leading saloon
that evening. As Billy's was the only
one, we all congregated there to see the
show.
Mr. Hawkins had a gift of gab that
was instructive to listen to, and' he kept
up a steady fire of it all through the entertainment.
Some of the tricks he did
were right clever; taking rabbits and
things out of our pockets and making
them disappear into the air again. He
kept us interested for a good hour, and
then he got down to the main stunt of the
evening. Out of the trunk he had his
things in, he took a large, wicker covered
demijohn.
"Gentlemen," says he, "I will now- show
you the most miraculous feat of legerdemain
ever enacted in this or any other
country. I performed this sleight-of-hand
trick, gentlemen, before all the crowned
heads of Europe—ever thought of performing
a sleight-of-hand trick."
Rattling along thuswise, he placed the
demijohn on the table and went down
into his trunk again. This time be
brought out six drinking glasses, which
he placed in a row on the table.
"Now, gentlemen," says he. picking up
the demijohn, "I have here, in my bantl,
an object with which you are all familiar.
I have no doubt but that, at one
time or another, you have used this use-
(151)

(152)
'NOW. TO BEGIN, WILL ONE OF YOU GENTLEMEN PLEASE NAME A COLOR?

THE CONJURER AT WINDY (A! LCI I 15S
ful household commodity for the jiur­ "Now, then," says he, "bold up the
pose of carrying home your molasses,
vinegar or liquid refreshments.
glasses in your right hands."
We did so, and lie went through the
"I am not, as you probably anticipate, crowd again.
going to produce rabbits or guinea pigs "Pure corn whiskey," says he. "Right
from the interior of this jug, nor do I in­ from the moonshine stills of old Arkantend
to grow roses or palm trees from its sas! This is none of your cheaji, adul­
mouth. Those tricks, gentlemen, are too terated stuff, gentlemen, but the pure,
trivial and childish to perform before bona fide article, guaranteed in every par­
such intelligent judges as yourselves, but, ticular. Feel it, smell it, and, if not con­
on the contrary, this trick is one that will vinced, taste it : only just wait a minute
hold you all spellbound for hours after­ and I'll join you."
wards, and furnish a theme of conversa­ lie turned to the table to fill the one
tion for years to come. Now, to begin, remaining glass. He tippetl up the demi­
will one of you gentlemen please name a john, but nothing came out of it.
color? Any color?"
"Hello," says he, in a surprised tone.
"Red," savs Si Mingle.
"Blessed if the old jug hasn't run dry at
"Red she is," says Hawkins, and tip­ last. She never went back on me like this
ping up the demijohn he filled the first before, but I don't get beat out of my
glass. The color was bright red.
drink by an empty jug. Will some one
"Now, somebody else name a color," jilease lend me a handkerchief?"
says he.
Josh handed over his.
"Blue." savs Bill Etts.
"Now we'll have a little trick that
Mr. Hawkins filled the next glass ; the wasn't flown on the bills. I'll show you
color was as blue as a June sky
gentlemen how to produce liquid refresh­
"Next," says he, and filled the third ments without the aitl of moisture. First
glass. This one was green. And so he I take this empty glass in my left hand,
kept it u\> until the whole six glasses then I jilace the handkerchief over it, so,
were filled, each with a different color: then I take my little wand anil make the
red, blue, green, white, black and yellow. magic pass—observe me closely, gentle­
"And now," says he, "before passing men, and, presto! my glass is filled!" says
around the hat, I will produce one more he, snatching away the handkerchief ; and
great phenomenon from the jug—the blessed if it wasn't full to the brim.
spellbinder of the whole performance." "And now," says he, picking up his
He got a lot of whiskey glasses out of glass of water, "we'll drink a toast to the
the trunk and passed them around, two prosperous and growing little city of
to each of us, and placed two on the Windy Gulch, after which I will pass
table.
around the hat, and you will droj) into it
"Now, gentlemen," says he, "if you whatever small pittance you consider jus­
will please hold up the glasses you have tifiable for the entertainment derived
in your left hands we will proceed with from my humble efforts. Drink hearty,
the first half of the trick."
gentlemen."
He picked up the demijohn and went We all drank hearty. Afterwards we
to the end of the row of chairs on which wished we hadn't.
we were sitting. Josh Curtis, who was "I 'low how that theah is right good
on the end, held,up his glass and Mr. whiskey, but she ain't moonshine," re­
Hawkins filled it from the demijohn ; this marked Zeke Stowe, who hailed from
time it was water. He moved along to
the next man, warbling merrily:
Georgia.
"You bet she is," answered Mr. Haw­
"Pure spring water, gentlemen, drawn kins. "I ought to know ; 1 made it my­
right from the cool recesses of old self."
mother Earth. Taste it, feel of it, anil Fie gathered up the glasses and then
convince yourselves."
started at John's end to pass the hat. I
When he reached the end of the line, remember reaching for my jiocket, but if
he filled one of the glasses on the table my hand ever got there I didn't know it.
and then returned to Josh Curtis's end. Inside of four minutes after the thirty-

154 THE TECHNICAL- WORLD MAGAZINE
five male inhabitants of Windy Gulch had
"drank hearty," we were all asleep.
We were still slumbering peacefully
when Chuck Richards anti a passenger
arrived, next morning, on the Dogtown
stage. Chuck says he had to boot us for
a solid quarter hour before he could get
so much as a grunt out. and it was a good
half hour more before it began to dawn
on us that we had been dojied.
Our pockets were all turned wrong
side out, and subsequent investigation
showed that the conjurer had gone
through the camp systematically anti
cleaned her out conijiletely. There
wasn't so much as a two-bit jiiece left in
the wdiole diggings.
"He said that last stunt would hold us
spellbound for hours." remarked Si
Mingle.
We all agreetl with him that it hatl.
Well, there was one large chunk of
angry passion loose in Windy Gulch that
morning. Billy Knox declaretl that the
air assumed a pale blue tint, owing to
the vigor and abundance of the profanity
that was floating around in it. Inside of
an hour everybody who could get a horse
had started on a diligent and earnest
search for the conjurer, and some of 'em
even went afoot, so anxious were they to
come in personal contact with Mr. Hawkins
again.
There were just six of us left in camp,
including Chuck and the passenger,
whose name was Grant. He was a
mining engineer, bound for Chinipas, to
take charge of some mines there. The
two of 'em decided to stay over a fewhours,
so as to be in at the doings in case
the boys caught up with Hawkins.
"Oh, well," says Grant, as we were
standing up against Billy's bar, trying to
draw some comfort out of a bottle, "you
fellows ain't so hard hit as you might be.
These diggings look jiretty prosjierous.
and you can no doubt take as much out
of them as you have lost, and more, too,"
We explained to him how the diggings
had jilay ed out.
"Is that so?" says he, surprised. "It's
kind o' curious that such rich diggings as
these should play out like that. Suppose
we go over and take a look at them."
We all went down in a bunch and
showed hint our little narrow stretch of
shore.
"Didn't any of you fellows try to find
out where the source of all this gold
was?" he asked. "You must have known
that it didn't grow here ; that it must have
washed down from somewhere."
He took a squint up and down the
creek and then looked hard at the east
wall of the gulch.
"That rock looks as though it might
hold something," says he, going over
and examining it closely. He took a
small hammer from his pocket and
chipped off a few pieces of the rock,
which he examined under a microscope.
"I can't just say what it is," he said,
"but it looks like it might amount to
something. Let's go back and I'll make
a little assay of this rock."
We went back to Billy's and Grant got
out a little assay outfit he had with him,
and went to work. At the end of an hour
he handed us the result.
"That rock wall looks to me to be one
solid chunk of low grade, free milling
ore," says he, "running about eight to ten
dollars to the ton. gold. You've got a
gootl thing, boys, and on the long run it'll
pay you better than the placer diggings
did."
"What gootl is it going to tlo us ?" I
asked. "We ain't got any way of getting
the gold out."
"What you fellows need is a stamp
mill." says Grant. "You get hold of a
good ten-stamp mill anti stick it down
there on that creek and you'll make
money."
"Yes, but how are we going to get it?"
I asked. "It takes money to buy stamp
mills, and there ain't a dollar in this
whole outfit."
"You ought to get credit on the
strength of that rock. Most any of the
big companies would stand you off for a
mill if you could prove to them that you
can make good."
"Yes, but how about getting the mill
here anil setting it up? That's going to
take a lot of money ; will the companies
stand for that, too? J "
"I am afraid not, but—Say, I know
where you can get just the 'thing you
need. The Lone Cactus mines are about
played out; I was in there the other day
and they told me that there wasn't enough
rock in sight to keep the mill going for
another month, and they are getting

eady to shut down. I was talking with
the man who owns the stamp mill, and he
told me that he'd be glad to sell out cheap
for cash. Said he'd take eight thousand,
and the plant's worth double that amount
just as she stands. If vou fellows could
get hold of it you'd have just what you
need."
"How are we going to do iU" I asked
again. "Didn't I tell
you we were all busted""
"You might stand him
off. You could take out
enough gold to pay for
the thing in one month
after you get it set up
and running. I can give
you a letter, telling him
what you have here, and
as he knows me I shouldn't
be surprised if he'd
do business with you."
Along toward night
the boys began to come
in, and by nine o'clock
they were all back. None
of them had found any
trace of Hawkins.
We held a meeting at
Billy's, to talk over tlie
stamp mill proposition,
and it finally ended with
Si Mingle and I being
delegated to go over to
Lone Cactus and nego­
tiate with the owner.
We started early
next morning, on horseback.
It's a good seventy-five mile
ride to Lone Cactus, anti it was close to
ten o'clock that night when we pulled
into the town. We hitched our horses
under a shed and started off in search
of the hotel. There was just one light
in sight in the whole town, and we headed
for that.
"Looks like folks turned in early here,"
remarked Si.
"It does that," I answered. "Every
shanty's as dark and silent as a tomb.
That light ahead must be a saloon."
We were within fifty feet of it when Si
suddenly grabbed mv arm. "Hush," says
he.
Out through the open door was wafted
the sound of a man's voice. It
seemed to us that we'd heard it before.
THE CONJURER AT WINDY GULCH 155
"And now," says the voice, "we will
drink a toast to the prosperous and
growing little city of Lone Cactus, after
which 1 will jiass around the hat. Drink
hearty, gentlemen."
"That's Hawkins," whispered Si.
"It sure is," I answered.
We stole uj) to the window anti looketl
in. The innucent and unsuspecting cit-
HE TOOK A SMALL HAMMER IROM HIS POCKET AND CHIIPFD
OF THE ROCK."
IFF A FEW PIECES
izens of Lone Cactus were sitting in a
half circle around the room, and Hawkins
was bustling about, gathering up the
glasses, and warbling his little song and
dance for all he was worth. Before he
was ready to pass the hat his audience
bail begun to nod, and a minute later
they commenced to roll out of their
chairs on;o the floor, in tleep slumber.
"Now's our chance," I whispered, pulling
old General Jackson out of the holster.
We steppetl softly to the door. Hawkins
was so busy going through the
bunch that he didn't notice us until I
spoke.
"Why, hello, Sport," says I, covering
him with my gun. "Busy?"
He jumped 'most out of his shoes ; the

156 THE TECHNICAL
suddenness of it must have shook his
nerve some. His ruddy complexion
turned to pale green and his hand Hew
to his hip jiocket.
"No you don't," says I. "Put them
hands right up over your head and keep
'em there, or I'll show you a little trick
of how to let lamplight through the body
of a man without the aid of an X ray."
lie showed he wasn't anxious to try
the trick, by complying with my command.
Then Si went in and got his gun
and roiied him down to a chair.
The first thing I did was to smash that
demijohn with the butt of my gun. The
inside of it was made up of a dozen
compartments, and on the bottom of the
jug were a lot of little buttons. By jiressing
one of these you released a valve to
the compartment with which that jiartieular
button was connected, and whatever
color was in that compartment would
flow out. It was a clever contraption,
and I don't wonder that it fooled us all.
Then we turned our attention to the
trunk. Down in one corner we found a
sack of gold dust and nuggets that
weighed all of twenty jiounds, and in
WORLD MAGAZINE
another corner we uncovered a roll of
bills as big as a piano leg, ami another
bag full of silver coins.
"There seems to be money in this business,"
says I, turning to Hawkins.
"Are you through with me?" he demanded.
"Why, yes ; I guess we are."
"Then why don't you let me go?
You've got the money, what more do you
want?"
"Not a tiling; but perhaps these sleeping
beauties will want to interview you
when thev wake up. Guess we'll let you
stay right wdiere you are till they come
out of it.
"And what do you think?" I asked,
turning to Si, who'll been sorting over
the boodle. "Have we got enough there
to buy that stamp mill ?"
"I reckon we have, and enough to
move her to Windy Gulch and set her up,
in the bargain."
"In which case," says I, "you just take
that swag and store it in our saddle bags,
while I wake up these dreamers and ojien
negotiations for the jiurehase of it."
]

©w a
JUST RELEASED.
ig Bsillli©©ini ns
A.LLOONING is not vet as
My C Ho Clsi^Jidly
abroad and particularly in
France, but it looks as if
it soon would be. Mr. J. C.
McCoy of New York, an
ardent balloonist, and with the means to
gratify his taste, said to the writer: "In
Paris you go out for a balloon spin about
as you do for a motor spin here."
The process of making ready, filling
with gas, and finally starting a monster
balloon is one of considerable interest,
and with more iletails and adjustment
than seem likely to the casual eye.
First, of course, there must be some way
of filling the bag with gas. Either hydrogen,
generated with iron or zinc and sulphuric
acid, or coal gas, from a gas tank,
is used. Hydrogen of course, is the
lightest gas which can be produced in
?nt Up
quantity, and even it is rather expensive.
But its lifting jiower is greatly superior
to coal gas, anti is used, therefore, on
small balloons more than coal gas. Coal
gas, however, is a very satisfactory medium,
and not at all expensive where it
can readily be obtained. In the pictures
illustrating this story—taken of a balloon
ascent made in Washington—the gas was
secured from the local gas company, and
pumped direct from a sjiecially laid
main into the balloon.
The balloon unrolled and laid out on
the ground, the first thing to do is to
jirovide it with a means of taking in the
gas. This is done by fastening to the
hole in the bottom a double ring of wood,
by means of which a cloth tube two feet
in diameter is attached, forming the neck
of the balloon. To this the cloth feeder
is secured, which runs to the main. A
(157)

158 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
WOODEN RINC TO HOLE IN BALLOON, THROUGH WHICH THE
GAS IS FEU.
ring of wood within the tube allows the
neck of the balloon to be tied tightly
about it.
Next comes the adjusting of the valve,
and this is a very imjiortant operation.
The balloon, pure anil simple, can not be
controlled as to its direction, except by
getting into a current of air which will
bear it in the risjlit direction. It can
j»
STRETCHING THE NET,
seek these currents
of air only by going up
or down. Moreover, it
may be very necessary
to come down suddenly
—if a heavy wind
storm should come up
anti threaten the car
with being swept over
the ocean, or for other
reasons. So the valve
is a very important
part of the outfit and
must be carefully adjusted.
It can be imagined
that the aeronaut
floes this himself
and does not leave it
for hands other than
his own. The valve is
a ring of wood, with
double doors opening into the balloon,
held shut with elastic cords which pass to
the top of a frame work, part of the
valve. The cord operating the balloon
valve passes from these doors, double,
through the balloon and down the neck.
Before the valve can be adjusted, some
means of walking on the balloon fabric
must be provided. The balloon is made

of cotton material, heavily varnished with
boiled linseed oil, and its tightness must
not be risked by boot nails or rough treatment.
So before walking out to the
center of the balloon to adjust the valve
and its rope a striji of heavy canvas is
laid down over the fabric, the walker
laying it as he goes along. The upper
and lower openings must be over one
another as the valve is adjusted, so that
the rope controlling it may be pulled
through and tied. It would never do to
HOW A BIG BALLOON IS SENT UP 159
monster of its class—one of the largest
balloons ever sent up in this country—
weighs twelve hundred pounds. Most of
this is cortlage anil envelojie, with but a
couple of bundretl pounds for car. Of
course a balloon inflated anil ready to
ascend weighs slightly less than nothing
with relation to the earth, but without
the bulk given by the gas, it is very solid
anti substantial. This particular balloon
has a lifting power of about thirty-two
hundred j>ounds—varying with the kind
BAG BEGINNING TO FILL.
Little sacks of sand are placed all around lo hold balloon down till inflation is completed.
get the balloon inflated and then try to of gas, its richness, temperature of the
find the end of the valve cord in its in­ air, and other conditions.
terior.
Spread out flat, the cordage netting,
Besides the valve cord, there is the which covers the balloon, is next put in
ripping cord. The balloon is split for place, this being also stretched out
part of its length from the valve down, smoothly, with the hole in the center of
and resewed with an insert piece. This the net neatly fitting about the project­
is arranged so that a pull from its top ing air valve. Then everything being in
will cause it to peel off inside, ripjiing readiness otherwise, numbers of small
the balloon and emptying it speedily of bags of sand are brought forward, and
gas. This is, of course, an emergency by means of the hooks with which their
way of opening the balloon, and not to rope handles are provided, hooked to the
be resorted to except in extreme need. netting about the balloon. Then the
The valves and cords adjusted—the word is passed, anti the gas turned on.
valves greased for tightness and smooth The gas pumping engine—simply a tur­
working, the balloon is stretched out flat, bine wheel revolved at speed by a small
to its full area. A large force of men stationary engine—sets to work and fans
is required for the task. The bal­ in the gas at the rate of fifty thousand
loon in question, a racing balloon, and a cubic feet jier hour. As the balloon has

160 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
BEGINNING TO TAKE SHAPE.
a cajiacity of eighty thousand cubic feet
the envelope will not fill much under
two hours. But the effect is seen immediately,
as some gas enters the envelojie,
and a big bubble of cotton rises from
the mass, carrying the cortlage with it.
Slowly the gas comes in, and as it enters,
men walk continuallv around and around
the balloon, adjusting the bags of sand,
letting out a mess of cordage here anil
there as the net stretches and always
allowing the filling envelope room in
which to "grow," without giving it
enough leeway to permit it to give too
hard a tug should a sudden puff of wind
stir it too sharply. The more the bag
grows, the slower it fills, up to the half
way point, as a broader and broader portion
of the pear-shaped structure comes
into use. Then it fills faster and faster,
until towards the end,
men have to walk rapidly
and adjust the bags
quickly—and even then
SIGHT.
leave one side only to
come back and find half
a dozen fifty-pound bags
dangling in the air.
At last the balloon is
nearly full, and an impatient
crowd is pressing
in quite close. Was the
enclosure forgotten ? To
try to send up a balloon
without a fence and a
detail of police, in anything
except the wilds of
Africa,would be suicidal,

nothing attracting- a crowd more quickly
than the sight of the monster gas bag—
not "swaying gently to and fro," as the
newspaper men have it, but stantling- still
and tall, an unaccustomed sight, in the
air. The impatient crowd about the enclosure
sees the end of the long wait. But
much still remains to be done. The car,
prepared—of wicker work and lined with
canvas, both for warmth and to proviele
pockets for instruments, observation
books, camera, etc.,—must be hooked
on. The leaders—the heavy cords which
collect the ends of the cordage netting—
are drawn into the car by main strength,
several men to a leader, and hooked to
the handles on the collector ring, to
which the car is fastened. Then the sand
bags are all lifted from the cordage netting—one
at a time—and hung in
bunches to the leaders. When thev are
all in place they are simultaneously
pushed towards the center, the balloon
going up in the air five or six feet as
this is done, and at last it begins to appear
in the shape in wdiich it will go up.
Then there conies the "balancing," a
dainty ojieration, which is to leave the
HOIV A BIG BALLOON IS SENT UP 101
•fyy;z~^A' '%smm.
NEARLY INFLATED.
balloon with enough ascending power to
make it go up, and still let it carry all
the weight jiossible, in the form of the
bags full of sand, ready to throw out
when a greater height "is wanted. The
balancing is accomjilished by putting too
many sand bags in the car, and then
having all hands let go. If the balloon
stirs sluggishly, men lay hold and another
bag is taken out. If the balloon
seems inclined to go up with a rush,
willing hands pull it down and another
bag is added, until, when at last they
let it go, the balloon sails slowdy and
majestically up and a little to one side, as
the breeze catches it—and neither refuses
to move nor bounds with a jump into
the higher and rarer air.
It has been said that the only control
exercised over a balloon is as to its up
or down motion. When it is desired to
go higher, sand is thrown out in handfuls
—each lightening of the balloon, of
course, sending it upwards to a jioint
where its bulk is equal in weight to the
bulk of air it displaces. It would seem
then that it could continue to go up as
long as there was sand to throw out, and.

102 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
SAND BAGS ATTACHED TO THE LEADERS—HEAVY CORDS WHICH COLLECT THE ENDS
OF THE NETTING,
These bat's prevent the balloon from leaving the earth with a rush.
such is usually the ease, but not always.
For instance, an upward movement
may send the balloon into a mist
or a cloud, when the change in temperature
immediately makes the balloon fall.
Or it mav drop or ascend from a cloud
into bright sunshine, when the gas, very
sensitive to temperature changes, expands
and the balloon goes up.
This expansion must be taken care of,
so the neck of the balloon is left open.
It is at the bottom, so that gas will not
escape except by diffusion, which is a
very slow jirocess, yet if the gas expands
from heat, it can be allowed to escape
without rending the balloon or even
straining it. This loss of gas must be cared
for by sending sand ballast overboard.
When all the ballast is gone, then the balloon
can go no higher except by the caprice
of wind and temperature. When it is
desired to go lower the valve is opened
and gas allowed to escape. Naturally the
balloon drops. If it is to go up again,
more sand is thrown out, anti so on, seesawing,
until the sand gives out or so
much gas is lost that it is necessary to
come down. Then the valve is again cautiously
opened, the balloon gradually
drifts nearer the earth, until the drag
rope and anchor touch the ground. When
the anchor catches, either the crowd
which collects, even in rural districts,
pulls the balloon down, or enough gas is
let out to allow the whole to settle quietly
down—and the flight is over.
The racing balloon pictured herewith
was made in Paris by Mallet, at a cost of
about $2,000 and flown twice there. Its
trial here, while in a measure designed
sinjply as an experiment, and with the
hope of further interesting war department
officials, was really in the nature of
a try-out—the balloon being designed for
entry in the balloon races at St. Louis
this year. The observations taken from
the balloon were simply those usually
kept—a recording barometer determining
the air pressure and altitude, and a thermometer
and a hygrometer the temperature
and the humidity. This balloon has
a net lifting capacity of one ton.

Kteel DiirecTl frosm IFOUH Ore
>y M.&iriry SH. D-aamiia
|N a dingy laboratorv in
the yard of a steelworking
company at
Los Angeles, California,
lies a 380-pound
ingot of jiure steel. It
is the most remarkable
piece of steel in the
world, for it never saw coke or coal ;
never went through a Bessemer converter
or open hearth process ; in fact its
production quite upset all the established
methods of making the most-used metal
of the present century.
Behind the ingot is the mysterious furnace
in which it was matle, and the story
of the making of the ingot reads like a
romance—a romance of iron and oil and
lime and firebrick, with the persistent
student of steel as its hero, the elusivespirit
of discovery its heroine.
All his life long John Potter has been
connected with steel in some one of its
many forms. Finally, when he came to
Los Angeles fresh from an eastern blast
furnace, he had so clear an idea of the
new method that he succeeded in impressing
its worth on three or four men
of means on the coast, and was told by
them to go ahead: if he made good there
would be plenty of money to finance his
discovery. He went ahead, he made
good, and now he has backing running
inte the millions ; the company is a close
corporation, and the building of a large
furnace at either San Pedro or San Francisco
is promised at an early date.
Potter's idea was that of an oil blast
furnace; his finished apparatus is an oilblast
furnace, and this is the way he has
worked it up to success:
He began with a little two-by-four
bake oven, down in the laboratory, and
immediately succeeded in making small
pieces of steel of the size of a fifty-cent
piece. He has some of them now, lying
beside his 380-pound ingot, just to show
that his idea has been right all the time.
But the little furnace could do nothing
practical. Then he erected a big, upright
affair, out of brick and steel rails, lined
with firebrick. Into it he turned his jet
of oil anti produced a chunk of steel so
refractor)- that he had to take down every
brick in the new furnace to get it out.
This would not do, so the inventor picked
over the slag and the waste, studied the
piece of steel he had made, and built
another furnace.
This one was not so satisfactory as the
other two, so he tore it flown, studied a
bit more—and built still another furnace.
This was bigger anil hotter than any
of the others. So simple it was that one
could look through a chink in the bricks
and see the liquid metal, white hot,
sweating out of tlie iron ore and trickling
JOHN POTTER.
LOS Angeles inventor who makes steel by a sim.de
process
(163)

104 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
down to the lake at the bottom of the
furnace, incidentally knocking the old
blast furnace idea all to flinders in a
minute.
In the center of Potter's furnace, when
he is read)' to make a "run" of steel, he
piles the crude iron ore, and a mixture
of lime and asphaltum. The propor-
THE STEEL INGOT POTTER PRODUCEU.
tions of this mixture are the whole secret,
and it is guarded well, for no man
but John Potter, lie who discovered it,
knows the formula, and he is not telling
it, not even to the men who are backing
him in the great game for millions.
When this comjiosite mass is all piled
up, a jet of crude oil is turned on anil
lighted. With a terrific heat—up to 3,200
flegrees and further if possible—the
whole is fluxed, and the resultant steel
flows flown into a lake in the bottom of
the furnace, thence to be drawn off into
puddles, outside the brick wall.
With this last furnace, when the ore
was all smelted and the furnace had
cooled off, there was an 1,100 pound
chunk of pure steel in
the bottom. The inventor
did not have to
study this; he had
found that for which
he had been seeking
for half his life, and he
had but one more step
to take in the perfection
of the new
steel. He had demonstrated
that he could
produce the steel; next
he jiutklled a bit and
put it through the rolls
of the miniature steel
works where he is employed,
and found it
came out i n good
shape.
But his main idea,
anil the thin g for
which he was working
most assiduously, was
to get the steel so hot
in its liquid form that
it would run out of the
furnace into molds.
The main trouble he
found was with his oil
burners. Their heat
was variable; sometimes
it varied so much
that the whole mass of
flux and ore wo*uld
solidify on him when
almost at the melting
point. He ran up and
down the gamut of oil
burners, east and west
—and at last did the only thing left to
him—made his own.
With a burner capable of generating
the terrific heat to which this mixture of
ores had to be exposed to get the desired
results, the fire brick melted, and he had
to go to work to find brick which would
resist the heat the burner threw upon
them. After much searching, after try-

ing practically every known lire brick, he
found one that suited his needs, and he
started in on his last furnace. This was
built, not by him, but to his order, for
those who stood behind holding the purse
strings were convinced that he had won
the great fight, had uncovered a secret
such as had not been found in a decade.
Into this new furnace, built almost
entirely of firebrick, so great was the volume
of heat to which resistance must be
offered, was put the mixture of iron
ore, asphaltum and lime, the proportions
of which Potter alone knows. The
oil was turned into the blast and lighted,
and then, as evening fell, the inventor
went home, leaving the plant in charge
of a workman who had been employed
around the steel plants of the East. To
him he gave the final admonition that
if he got a lump of steel by morning he
would also get a new suit of clothes.
Some time during the small hours,
along toward the dawn of a new day, the
heat became intense enough to do its own
work. The steel began to trickle down
the bed of tlie furnace, together with the
slag. When the bath became large
CCURTISr LIS A.JSELES EX1UNEH.
STEEL DIRECT FROM IRON ORE 165
RUINS OF POTTER'S FIRST FURNACE.
enough the man knocked out a plug and
let the white-hot liquid run into a mold
which had been arranged for it. It
seemed so much like slag, and had been
so easily obtained, that he did not bother
to look at it closely; in fact, he already
thought he had lost the suit of clothes.
Then, in the morning, back came the
inventor, John Potter. Bv the time he
arrived the mold was cool enough to be
ojiened, and when he was told that it
was full of slag, he struck it with a hammer
to see. Instead of the soft, crunching
sound the waste matter would have
matle, he got the clear ring of steel.
Without ojiening the mold the inventor
flrew from his jiocket a check book,
signed a thin blue sli|i of paper and
handed it to the workman. It was for a
suit of clothes.
After a while another ingot was run
out, then another and another, until there
were four all told. After this first run
the furnace was shut down. The experiment,
outgrowth of vears of trial, was a
success. Steel had been made without
the double jirocess, a thing unheard of in
one of the greatest industries of the New

166 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
World. A tremendous saving in time
anti cost had been accomjilished at a
stroke.
Three of the big ingots were rolled into
bars and cut up. Some pieces were
hammered into points ; others stood most
successfully all physical and chemical
tests. They were as good steel as ever
came through Bessemer process from
Eastern mills. They are not pig-, such as
has to be run into a converter and turned
into steel, but the real article, made at
one jirocess from iron ore which is
among the lower grades, and not comparable
to that from which the steel workers
of Pennsyhania and < )hio tlraw their
sujijilies.
Potter's idea is not new. It has been
tried time anti time again before by men
who know steel, but they one and all
have foundered on one great obstacle.
They jiroduced the steel, but the loss
was so great during the process—as high
a.s forty per cent in some cases—that they
gave it up. The loss in the present
methods of making steel is from eight
to ten per cent. The loss in the Potter
process is, on the average, about six
per cent. With better ore than has been
used in the working of his furnaces
Mr. Potter expects to be able to reduce
even this low average ; in any event the
knocking off of four per cent in the cost
of production of steel in the furnace
alone is a matter of millions in the course
of a single year.
The inventor is now at work on plans
for a plant of furnaces which may be
worked singly or as a battery, from each
of which when in operation there will
flow a continuous stream of molten steel,
ready to lie sent to the rolling mills. A
new industry thus will be born for the
Pacific coast, where, though there are
large tracts of low-grade iron ore, there
has never been a concerted attemjit at
the establishment of a jilant for its utility.
Like the mixture of asphaltum anil
lime and iron ore with which he fluxes
this new furnace. Potter's burner also is
a secret. It is a blast, of course, blown
in by steam at a high pressure, but blown
through a larger hole than the ordinary
burners used under boilers for the generation
of steam. John Potter is the only
man who knows how this burner is made
—for he made it himself—and he is not
talking about it to his dearest friends.
But there, mute witness to the efficacy
of those burners and of the flux,
that 380 pound ingot of steel lies in the
yard of the little steel works, just beside
the ruins of the furnace which gave
birth to its predecessors, and which rings
like an anvil head when struck with a
hammer. It is large and heavy, oblong
and rough ; it looks like any chunk of pig
metal, and those who pass it by each day
seldom jiause to think that it represents
one of the greatest discoveries of this
generation, or that it really amounts to
anything at all more than the run of
scraji iron and brass and steel which
cumbers the waste places of every ironworking
plant.
The walls of the furnace which Potter
built were not thicker than those of the
average blast furnace, for at first it seems
he did not know how great a heat he was
going to be able to generate with his
new burners. Afterwards he was comjielled
to build them considerably thicker,
and introduce the jets of burning oil
closer to the bottom of the great melting
pot than is customary with ordinarv oil
heaters.
For out and out picturesqueness, Mr.
Potter's career, which is largely identified
with smelting other than by blast furnaces,
rivals that of any of the men who
have ridden to prosperity on the crest of
the steel wave. He began as a greaser
boy in a steel plant at Johnstown. From
there he went up and up until he became
general manager and superintendent of
the Carnegie plant at Homestead, Pennsylvania.
For fourteen months he worked
in the shipyards near London, England.
He helped build, as mechanical engineer,
some of the plants of the present steel
trust. lie assisted in perfecting the first
rail table in the I nited States at Chicago.
Then Mr. Potter went to work for
John D. Rockefeller, at , Cleveland.
While in the employ of the oil king, he
had more time to devote to his studies,
and there first saw the distant glimmerings
w-hich have resulted in his present
success. Later he went to California,
and there, with a little more leisure time
on his hands, has found the golden fleece
he sought.

CLAY RESTORATION OF THE NAOSARUS, OR FIN-BACK LIZARD, AS HE APPEARED IN LIFE
FROM TWELVE TO TWENTV MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO.
This figure is constructed upon measurements of the skeleton and studies of other related forms. It is not
a mere creation of the imagination.
Fossil Wosuder ©f Texas
My Lillian C Xetk
NE of the most remarkable
fossil wonders ever
unearthed is, at the
present time, arousing
widespread scientific
and popular interest at
the Museum of Natural
History, in New York
City. This is due to the efforts of
Professor Henry F. Osborn, who has
placed on exhibition a complete reconstruction
of one of the oldest and most
extraordinarily formed four-footed creatures
that ever trod earth. This ancient
animal, hitherto practically unknown to
the outside world, called naosarus, or the
carniverous fin-back lizard, inhabited the
region of Texas in the Permian age, estimated
to have been, according to geological
reckoning, anywhere from twelve
to twenty millions of years ago.
The reproduction of the marvelously
constructed body of this prehistoric
reptile, the first example to be seen in
the world, is considered a noteworthy
contribution to science. The difficult
points embodied in its mounting, such as
setting, restoring the hundreds of delicate,
fragmentary parts in the laboratory,
was an up to date anti skillful bit
of fossil engineering work, accomplished
by Chief Preparator Adam Herman, under
the direction of Professor Osborn.
The skull, and other parts, were found
in northwestern Texas a nuniber of years
ago by Mr. Chas. H. Sternberg, a collector,
and the late Professor E. D. Cope,
of Philadelphia, the pioneer fossil explorer
and scientist, wdio, with Professor
Marsh, of Yale College, made numerous
explorations in the West in 1870 and
later, recovering thereby a large number
of extinct forms. Professor Cope's great
collection, however, from lack of facilities
for their proper mounting and exhibition,
was stored in the basement of
(107)

168 THE EEC IIS ICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
THE SKULL OF THE ERYOPS, AS SEEN FPOM ABOVE.
This creature was the chief prey of the Naosarus.
Memorial Hall, Philadelphia, away from
all knowdetlge and sight of public eves.
Through the generosity of President
Morris K. Jessup, this famous collection
containing the fin-back lizard, and hundreds
of other specimens, large anil
small, was purchased anti brought to
New York, where it is gradually being •
preparetl for exhibition. One of these
creatures, unquestionably the most astonishing
in ajijiearance and structure
of all these extinct beasts, was the carnivorous
rejitile naosarus, or fin-back
lizard.
The most extraordinary and remarkable
feature of this animal was the
high bony fin on the back, spread out
like a huge sail from head to tail. This
fan-like construction of flesh membrane
was attached to a series of nearly thirty
elongated, or arrow-like, spines, the
actual continuation of the vertebral col­
umns, ranging from
three inches to over two
and one-half feet in
height. Protruding out
one-half inch or more,
on each side of these,
are rows of sharp bony
spurs, or points. The
whole forms a curious
armored frill, perfectly
rigid, used probably in
some manner as a means
of protection against the
attacks of fierce adversaries
who usually
pounced upon the backs
of their victims. In
trying to account for
some practical use of this
puzzling and mysterious
apjiendage, Professor
Cope, the discoverer, advanced
the following
two theories,—that perhajis
the elevated armature
or fin resembled the
branches of shrubs then
growing, and served to
conceal the animal in a
bushy region, affording
a sort of protective covering
and hiding place to
screen him from sight
when pursued by attacking
enemies. Then
again, he conjectures, the high fin may
have been employed as a sail, at times
when the creature took to water, furnishing
a first class and ever ready
motive power. It is believed that the
carnivorous lizard, was the dominant
and most formidable monster of his time.
The specimen here pictured was nine
feet long and nearly five feet high, possibly
others were of greater proportions.
lie was a stiff, slow moving creature,
with a small brain. The feet were supplied
with sharp claws, five and one-half
inches long. The head was comparatively
small, being one foot and a half
long, though the lower jaw had an opening
of nearly twelve inches, sufficient to
take in and crush the heads of the average
sized existing animals. The legs
were short, and the body did not extend
very high above the ground. The hind
feet were smaller than the fore, which is

FOSSIL WONDER C>1 : TEXAS 169
j£

170 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
COMPLETE SKELETON OF THE NAOSARV:
just the reverse in modern lizards. In
foraging for food the fin-back lizard was
not a vegetarian, but whetted his appetite
and waged constant w-arfare upon the
other animals of his day, which varied
in size from that of a salamander to a
large Florida alligator. Many were long
and eel-like, with minute limbs, or none
at all.
I lis wide jaws had an extensive battery
of teeth, with a total of more than one
hundred; the front tusks, nearly three
inches long, were well adapted for his
flesh eating purposes. Some of the animals,
however, like the eryops, were
large, with broad flat heads, twenty
inches long, and over a foot wide. One
of these creatures, which, it is thought,
were the chief prey of the lizard, is here
shown. Much of Texas, at this early
stage of the earth's development, was
overspread by a great inland sea,
around the shores of
which roamed hordes of
fin-back lizards, while
the large and small
amphibians inhabited
the vast water
covered areas. These
land and water animals
declined and passed away
in the latter part of the
Permian period. Their
extinction is due partly
to their being attacked
and overshadowed by
other more powerful
reptiles who had entered
their arena; partlv to
their being unable to
adapt themselves to the
new environment caused
by the physical changes
the earth was undergoing.
The Red Beds of
Texas, in wdiich the ancient
remains of this vertebrate
and many fossil
amphibians are found,
range from 1,000 to
7,000 feet in thickness.
Mr. Charles R. Knight has executed
a model in clay under the direction of
Professor Osborn, which is considered
a perfect representation of the fantastic
lizard, a fac-simile of which is here
shown. Mr. Knight is universally recognized
as the leading authority in this
country in the restoration of extinct animals,
which he has made more or lers a
life study. The external form was completed
only after the most exhaustive research
and the examination of the skeleton
and its structure,and is,consequently,
based upon scientific deduction, and not
at all upon imagination. The lofty saillike
fin on the back, and the out-cropping
armored spurs are all strikingly
shown and convey a realistic appearance
of this remarkable animal, one of the
first that ever walked the American continent.
The restored naosarus shows
what science and patience can accomplish.

©w Wastles sur^dl By-Fir®dl^a eis
are Mside Vs\toable
ACK to nature is an admonition
which obtains in
the industrial as well as in
the breakfast-food world.
Nature wastes nothing;
man is extravagant. So
long as production was not the highly
organized, highly competitive industry
which the advance in transportation facilities
has made it, manufacturers had
less incentive to economize. Things were
thrown away twenty-five years ago which
now 7 are utilized with a care not exceeded
in the manufacture of the first jiroducts
themselves. The scientific utilization of
refuse often marks the difference be­
My Wiflliasnn R. Stewart
tween successful and unsuccessful enterprise.
In the L"nited States the prodigality of
our resources long has made us wasteful
of left-over products which in Europe
have been utilized in various forms. In
Germany especially has the art of making
waste useful received the attention of
manufacturers—and the industrial advance
of Germany is one of the marvels
of the century.
At the present time, so scientific has
manufacturing become, that almost nothing
is wasted which can by any means be
matle to have a value. Old tin cans, once
useful chieflv to the street urchin as aji-
SPREADING SEAWEED TO DRY IN THE SUN AT SCITUATE, MASS,
It is used for gelatine and for clarifying beer.
(171)

172 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
SHAKINI
TABLES FOR SEPARATING VARIOUS VALUABLE MINERALS OUT OF BLACK SANDS.
Hitherto, these m.nera'.s were regarded as refuse
pendages to dogs' tails, now are used for
buttons, for window weights, for sheathing
trunks.and for"pewter"soldiers. Old
rubbers and scrajis of leather are utilized
in a dozen different ways. The dregs of
jiort wine, rejected by the drinker in decanting
the beverage, are matle into Seidlitz
powders for him to take the next
morning. Broken glass is used to make
artificial stone; and ashes, by a combination
with potash and other alkaline ingredients,
are similarly employed. The
pith of cornstalks is used to protect vessels,
forts, and other structures from the
injurious effects of collisions or jirojectiles.
The bones of dead animals yield
the chief constituents of lucifer matches,
and the offal of the streets and the washings
of coal-gas reapjiear in the form of
flavorings for blanc manges or as smelling
salts. The clippings of the tinker,
mixed with the parings of horse's hoofs,
or cast-off woolen garments, make dyes
of the brightest hue. Sawdust, once a
problem to the millwright, who scarcely
knew how to get rid of it, now forms the
basis of a considerable independent industry,
and commands a good price even
i'i the back-woods. Even smoke, apparently
the most valueless of all
"wastes," is worth money. At a charcoal-pit
blast furnace in a Western state,
enough has been saved from the smoke,
by means of stills, to pay a large part of
the running expenses. A cord of wood
makes about 28,000 feet of smoke ; and in
the smoke of a hundred cords there are
12,000 pounds of acetate of lime, twentyfive
pountls of tar, and two hundred gallons
of alcohol.
The refuse of to-day is made a source
of profit for to-morrow. Nothing in industry
is more indicative of economic efficiency
than the utilization of products
which are residues of previous processes.
Whenever a substance performs no function
towards a useful end, it is simply because
human ingenuity has not yet
reached its highest development.
The creative force of science is nowhere
more strikingly shown than in the
endeavor to keep within the "circle of reproduction."
The increase of the world's
wealth is largely dependent upon new
uses found for materials, and upon the
turning of comparatively inexpensive

HOW JVASTES AND BY-PRODUCTS ARE MALE VALUABLE 173
articles into articles of considerable value. is obtained from the drainings of cow­
It can be said that there is nothing which houses. The refuse of cities formerly
has not an economic value for some jiur­ burned or thrown into streams, now is
pose, and it remains only for the manu­ collected in such a way as to make it not
facturer—or the chemist—to tliscover only a self-supporting operation but even
where and how each material can be a jirofitable industry. The old bones,
turned to the most profitable account. broken glass, rags, scraps of iron, paper
Matter which is the most unattractive, of all sorts, and other articles are gather­
often has possibilities of the greatest ed together sejiaratelv and sold for a
beauty. While the choicest perfumes un­ variety of purposes. The waste heat
doubtedly are obtained from flowers, from the furnaces into wdiich the in­
there are many others which are highly flammable part of the refuse is thrown is
prized that are matle out of very ill-smell­ utilized for steam purposes to operate
ing elements. The oil of apples, the oil electric lighting and power engines. The
of pears, the oil of grapes, and the oil of footl wastes are "digested" and separated
cognac are obtained, after proper treat­ into greases and fertilizer fillers.
ment with acids and oxidizing agents, The utilization of so-called wastes may
from fusel oil, a particularly disagreeable be considered under various heads, ac­
substance as regards its otlor. Oil of cording to the processes from which they
pineajiple is made by the action of putrid are derived. The iron and steel industry
cheese on sugar, or by distilling rancid furnishes a large number of them. With­
butter with alcohol and sulphuric acid. in the last few years the economic use of
The oil of bitter almonds, largely used in slag, or refuse, from mines and furnaces
the manufacture of perfumed soap and has been greatly developed. Very good
confectionery, is obtained from the glass is now matle from this slag, as well
products of gas tar. and one of the es­ as paving blocks and bricks, artificial
sential ingredients of a popular jierfume porphyry, and a cement which is equal to
ON A CODFISHING VESSEL.
Every part of lhe cod is used for some purpose—the liver for oil, the swimming bladder for isinglass, etc.

174 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
the best Portland cement. Ground with
six jier cent of slaked lime, building mortar
is also made from slag; and ornamental
copings and moldings, windowsills,
and chimney jiieces are fashioned of
it.
Slag brick is stated to be quite as
strong as ordinary brick, and much less
permeable to moisture. To make 1,000
brick, 6,000 or 7,000 pounds of granulated
slag, and from 5C0 to 700 pounds of
burned lime, are consumed. Good
bricks also can be made from granulated
slag mixed with dust from slag, though
the hardening process is rather slow.
Slag is also used for steam-pipe and
boiler wrappings, in which form it is
called "silicate of cotton."
Coal slag is a good structural material;
mixed with slaked lime, it stiffens into a
latter from fifty to one hundred pounds
jier square inch. Basic slag is used in
large quantities by manufacturers of fertilizers,
instead of phosphate rock.
The utilization of the waste gases of
blast furnaces for working gas engines,
has been carried to a considerable length
in Germany, and is also being developed
in this country. Gas machines for utilizing
these gases were introduced into
Germany about seven years ago, and
have had a very important effect on the
metallurgical industry of that country. It
has been found that the waste gases can
be made serviceable in their entire heating
capacity, and their use is estimated to
yield a profit of more than $1.25 per ton
of pig-iron production. Efforts to fire
furnaces with slack or coal dust, by
means of highly heated fire-chambers,
uss&sm&i.* .: At y^iOSEk
SEPARATING COPPERAS FROM SULPHURIC ACID WASTAGE AT A STEEL TUBE MIL
hard concretion which is in a high degree
fire-proof Several slag-cement factories
are in ojieration in the United
States, and all arc said to be in a prosperous
condition. It has been found that
an admixture of prepared slag with cement
adds to the tensile strength of the
have likewise been successful in Germany.
Motive power is also obtained by the
utilization of a variety of other products
heretofore wasted. To supply coal to
the portable or fixed engines which are
used on farms, is a matter of considerable

HOW WASTES AND BY-PRODUCTS ARE MADE: I'ALU ABLE 17:,
r' ••:,,-.' y.,t- ••:
'•'A : A
STACK OF STRAW AT A STRAWBOARD FACTORY,
One-third of all this material is refuse, and is utilized for fertilizing and for
other purposes.
hour was produced by
burning 2.?r jiounds of
the straw, at a cost of
$0.0114—practically the
same as for the hay.
Reed s or moss, of
course, must be well
flried. Sawdust shavings
and wood splinters similarly
were employed.
Lumber and timber
products contribute a
large number of utiliz-
Sawdust, which formerly
expense, as the coal generally has to be able wastes.
transjiorted from a distance. A farm en­ was burned or allowed to float down the
gine will use from six to eight pounds of streams anti choke up the channels, fur­
coal per horse-power, costing from four nishes a good examjile. Indeed, by com­
to six cents. To use gasoline or oil bining the use of the hydraulic press and
motors would be even more expensive. the application of intense heat, it has
The use of various vegetable waste been found possible to give to sawdust
products thus suggested itself, and ex­ a value in the manufacture of a certain
periments have proved that this can be kind of furniture far above that of the
successfully done.
solid wood. This artificial woodwork is
Some recent experiments in this line known as bois ditrci—hardened wood,—
at Noisel, France, have been reported in and i.s capable of being molded into any
European technical publications. Wheat shape and of receiving a most brilliant
straw, oats, waste hay, leaves, reeds, etc., polish. In Norway, acetic acid, wood
were used, these being burned in a gas naphtha, and tar are made from sawdust
generator, which in turn ran a duplex by distillation. Charcoal briquettes are
motor. The waste material after being made in large quantities in the same
collected was first dried, and then formed country.
into bales weighing about 800 pounds per Alcohol can be obtained in paying
cubic yard. The straw was chopped be­ quantities from either coarse or fine sawfore
baling. Only a small quantity of dust. From seven to eight quarts of
coke was required to keep up the operation
in the gas producer.
In the case of waste
hay it was found that
alcohol was the production from 220
2.25 pounds were required
t o produce a
horse-power hour, and
the cost was estimated
at $0,012. The hay was
charged in the gas producer
without taking any
special precautions, and
was packed down with a
rod. The alkaline slag
which comes from the
furnace may be used for
a fertilizer. In the case
of wheat or oat straw,
the ash and water are
somewhat less than with W''- ••& A- y&'ST^'-'^SA •' ~t •' - '--'• 9,'% ^fefc!
hay. The horse-power OYSTER SHELLS EMPLOYED IN ROAD-BUILDING.

176 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
jiounds of air-dried sawdust in some recent
experiments, and the quality was
said to be excellent. It has also been
found that a high yield of sugar—about
thirty per cent of the quantity of wood
used—can be obtained from birch sawdust.
The collection and disposition of sawdust
for a variety of common purjioses
form a considerable industry in many
cities. In New York City, for example,
there are some 500 sawdust vendors
having a cajiital of about $200,000. and
doing a business of more than $2,000,000
a year. The sawdust is sold for use on
the floors of saloons and restaurants, to
jilumbers to deaden the floors and walls
of buildings, to packers to put about
fragile articles, to makers of dolls for
stuffing, and for other purjioses.
The use of wood pulp in the manufacture
of paper is not new, and wood pulp
is not now regarded as a waste, so important
has the pulp industry liecome.
Yet, in its first application to papermaking,
the wood pulp emjiloyed certainly
was a so-called waste, being the
thin bark of the poplar, willow, and other
trees used as a substitute for rags on account
of the scarcity of the latter. Paper,
indeed, always has been made chiefly
from waste material of some sort, including,
besides wootl and old rags, old rope,
straw, waste paper, etc.
The chemical preparation of wood fiber
to form pajier is accomplished chiefly by
the bisulphite process, and the recovery
of the sulphite liquor as a waste from
wood-cellulose factories has of late been
receiving much attention from manufacturers
and inventors. The preparation of
glucose, alcohol, and oxalic and pyroligneous
acids, is most readily suggested
in this connection. The recovery of sotla
in the manufacture of paper forms a
valuable side-product. This is done by
recovering the alkali in the form of a carbonate,
by the evaporation of the waste
liquors, and the ignition of the residues.
An interesting article in the line of a
pajier product is described by Mr.
Henry D. Kittredge in a special report to
the L'nited States Census Office. It is a
paper board made from old newspapers
ground to a pulp and having the permanent
particles of the printer's ink
minutely subdivided and uniformly distributed
throughout it so that a smooth
and even tint is imjiarted to the board.
Indicating the extent of the use of
waste matter in the manufacture of paper,
are the rejiorts of the Census Bureau
TIIK REFUSE FROM THE SUGAR CANE CAN BE UTILIZED IN MAKING ALCOHOL.

HOW WASTES AXD BY-PRODUCTS ARE MADE VALUABLE 177
that from 1800 to 1900 there were 356,-
193 tons of old waste jiajier consumed in
paper manufacturing, and crude paper
stock, fit for no purjiose other than that
of being converted into paper, was imported
and entered for consumjition to
the value of $3,261,407.
From the great slaughter-houses of
Chicago, Kansas City, and elsewhere,
come a multitude of by-products which
have a commercial value. The reason
may not be obvious to a layman, why the
products of the gray brain matter of
calves should be used in the treatment of
various human nervous disorders, but the
fact is that they are. Among the nervous
affections to which the calf's brain contributes
a treatment are neurasthenia,
agoraphobia, chorea, St. Yitus's dance,
and psychosis.
A list of the slaughter-house byproducts
which are now utilized for commercial
purposes, includes hair, bristles,
blood, bones, horns, hoofs, glands, and
membranes—from which are obtained
pepsin, thymus, thyroids, pancreatin,
parotid substances, anil suprarenal capsules—gelatin,
glue, fertilizers, hides,
A ROAD MADI; OF CHATS, A BY-PRODUCT OF ZINC.
•*V>
• • r":>A<
skins, wool, intestines, neat's-foot oil,
soap stock, glycerin from tallow, Brewer's
isinglass, and albumen.
Albumen is obtained from the blood
of the slaughtered animals, and is used
by calico printers, tanners sugar refiners,
and others. The bones coming from
cooked meat are boiled ; and the fat and
gelatin which results are used, the former
to make soap, the latter for transparent
coverings for chemical preparations, and
for other purposes. The uncooked
bones are used in a variety of ways.
From the bones of the feet of cattle are
made the handles of toothbrushes and
knives, chessmen, and, generally almost
every article for which ivory is suitable.
Combs, the backs of brushes, and large
buttons are made from horns, which are
split and rolled out flat by heat and pressure.
Hoofs are utilized according to their
color. White hoofs are exported largely
to Japan to be made into various ornaments
and imported back as "Japanese
art objects." From striped hoofs, buttons
and horn ornaments are made; wdiile
black hoofs find service in the manufac-

178 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
ture of cyanide of potassium for the extraction
of gold, and also, ground up, as
fertilizer. From the feet, neat's-foot oil
is extracted, and from various other portions
of the body various other oils, all of
wdiich are highly valuable.
Substitutes for butter, such as butterine
and oleomargarine, are made by uti-
SMOKELESS POWDER IS THE FORM OF THREAP, TWINE AND CLOTH
lizing the fat of beef and hogs. Another
important article obtained from fat is
glycerin, which may be refined or distilled,
or used as an ingredient in glycerin
soaps and toilet prejiarations. Glycerin
is now recovered also from tank water,
which is a by-product of rendering establishments
produced in cooking the
scraps of meat, bones, intestines, and
other nitrogenous matter containing fats.
A valuable by-product of the slaughterhouses
is marrow obtained from the finer
medullary substances of the rib bones of
young cattle. This is extracted immediately
after the animal has been
killed, and is macerated or digested in
pure glycerin for several days. The
medullary glyceride is then strained off
for use as a medicinal preparation to
stimulate the production of red blood corjiuscles.
The manufacture of gelatin, or
glue, as a by-product of the slaughterhouse
is well known.
In the woolen industry there are many
materials formerly regarded as wastes
which are now made to serve valuable
ends. Old rags are recovered into new
wool, and wool-grease is used in other industries.
No fewer than five products
are obtained, by methods now in vogue,
from the greasy excretions which, after
circulating through the animal's system,
attach to the wool of sheep. These
products are used as a base for ointments
and toilet preparations, for dressings for
leather, as a lubricant for wool and other
animal fibers, and in conjunction with
certain lubricating oils.
At a large plant in Massachusetts,
more than
200,000 pounds of wool
are "degreased" every
ten hours. From two
million to three million
dollars' worth of wool
fat anil potash are estimated
to have been
wasted during a year in
the United States before
the solvent process of
extraction came into
general use.
Mention has been
made of the reconversion
of woolen rags into
wool. A few years ago
the rags were thrown on the waste heap
to liecome manure, or used to make a
cheap grade of paper. Now each little
woolen rag, regardless of its previous
condition of servitude, enters again into
the factory and once more emerges as
clothing. The rags are used over and
over again until completely worn out,
when they are mixed with horns, hoofs,
and the blood from slaughter-houses, and
melted with scrap iron and wood ashes
to form material from which Prussian
blue is made.
In the industries of cotton manufacturing
and cottonseed oil making, scarcely
anything is allowed to go to waste. For
many years the seed of the cotton plant
was regarded as without value; now the
cottonseed crop of the Cnited States is
worth about one-fifth of the total cotton
crop of the country. Among the principal
uses of cottonseed oil are its part in
making lard compound and white cottolene,
both valuable food products. Cottonseed
oil is also used as a substitute for
olive oil, by soap-makers in the making
of soap, by bakers, and also in the manufacture
of washing powders.
The leather industry is equally saving

HOll WASTES AND BY-PRODUCTS ARE MALE VALUABLE 17
in the matter of wastes. In the tanning
of leather, there are developed as side
products scrap and skin, from which
glue is made; hair, from wdiich cheap
blankets and cloths are manufactured,
and waste liquors containing lime salts.
By means of a special ajiparatus, scraps
of leather are converted
into boot ami shoe heels,
inner soles, etc. What is
called shoddy leather is
made by grinding the
bits of leather to a pulp,
and then by maceration
and pressure forming
them into solid strips.
Not many years ago
coal-tar or gas-tar was a
waste material very hard
to get rid of. When
thrown into a stream the
water was polluted ; liuried
in the ground, vegetation
w-as destroyed by
it. At the present time,
coal-tar products are of
the highest commercial value in the jiroduction
of beautiful dyes and in the making
of medicines and disinfectants: and
from them is also produced a saccharine
substance several hundred times sweeter
than sugar. Among other products of
gas-tar are naphtha, naphthaline, benzol,
and anthracene.
The solid refuse of breweries, distilleries,
and sugar factories is treated with
soda lye, then mixed with various kinds
of resins, dried, pressed, and used as
laths, panels, wall coverings, etc. ()ld
rubber is steamed, passed between rollers,
and in a softened condition applied to a
strong, coarse fabric, or used for stiffening
the heels of boots.
Even without chemical change, many
articles once profligately cast away are
now being made to serve useful jiurjioses.
Broken and worn stuff from the bench,
broken pieces of grindstone, old pipes,
etc., are more and more being regarded
as having only half performed their ser-
A VERY PLRF. KIND OF GELATIN MAP •KOM SEAWEED.
vices, and in a hundred different forms
are made still to contribute to the satisfaction
of human needs. Worn-out files
may make turning tools, scrapers, and
burnishers, while the steel by forging
down may be utilized in almost any way.
When a grindstone is worn to a small
diameter, it can be turned in a lathe into
grooves for grinding paring gouges. A
few elbows, tees, and bends, applied to
iron gas-piping, which formerly was
given away, will construct many things—•
excellent hand-rails to steps, or fencing
for gardens, or supports for shelves or
tables.
Trulv the conservation of matter is of
witle practical ajijilication.

TESTING CANDLES.
The relative values of kinds and proportions of constituents thus make themselvfis known.
Yo^ui Cainiini©tt Hill ttlhie Tallow Dip
My Wailfl^Eta H^ird
one of the best-informed IE "tallow manufacturers
dip" of our
grandfathers is no
T ^ f M longer made of tallow,
®fn exactly. It is matle of
Ml) stearic acid, which is
only one ingredient of
the tallow that grows
in the sheep and in the
Neither is the "tallow dip" of today
"diji." They used to take long
and dip them in hot tallow, time
after time, till the candle had acquired
the jirojier thickness. Today they run
hot stearic acid into mollis and make a
hundred candles instantaneously.
The "tallow dip" on the market today
therefore would be more accurately described
if it were called a "stearic acid
mold." But nevertheless it remains a
tallow jiroduct. It is the direct lineal
descendant of the "tallow dip" of our
grandfathers. And it is still so popular
that just about 130,000.000 pounds of
tallow, according to the calculation of
(180)
of Chicago, is consumed every year in
the candle factories of the United States.
Society has said good-bye to the tallow
dip many times. When illuminating gas
was brought into general use, the tallow
candle was commiserated. Its long and
active career was surely at an end. When
Mr. Rockefeller made kerosene so cheap
and so prevalent, the funeral oration of
the tallow candle was again pronounced.
And when Mr. Edison invented a practical
filament for the incandescent electric
lamp, the very last farewells were
waved to the old homely illuminant of
the Middle Ages. Yet. although gas
and kerosene anti electricity have deprived
the candle of a large part of the
popularity to which it might have considered
itself justly entitled, it is probable
that in both hemispheres today there
are at least as many candles shedding
their mild and humble radiance as in any
jirevious jieriod of the world's history.

YOU CANNOT KILL TIIE TALLOW DIP 181
In the first place, there are a great jiroducts. It arrives yellowish and
many more peojile in the world today greasy. It may have come from the
than ever before. In the second jilace, Chicago stockyards, extracted from tbe
there are millions of homes in which gas steers anil sheep wdiich have been made
and electricity are not available and in into steaks and chops, or it may have
which, as is natural, the kerosene lamp come from a remote farm in the country,
is not found to be so easily handled for or it may have come from the vast jilains
incidental use as the tallow dip. In the of the Argentine Republic. From all
third place there are thousands of metal over the world it makes its way to the
mines in which there are no electric modern manufacturer of the medieval
light plants and in which tallow clips are means of illumination.
used night and day.
Its first experience, immediately after
For at least these three reasons, and for its arrival, is to go into enormous tanks
a fourth which will be referretl to later, in which it gives up the glycerin which is
there were so many candles used in the a large part of its composition. This
year 1906 that in London there is a can­ valuable substance was for many decades
dle factory covering eleven acres and in allowed to run out on the ground. It
the United States there are at least fifteen is now carefully preserved and it finds
tallow candle manufacturers of promi­ so many divergent uses that its real
nence and importance. Thus the candle, character is calculated to perplex the ob­
like the English House of Lords, conserver. It is used in making parchment
tinues to exist and to be powerful and jiaper. It is used in making the inking
influential in an age which looks upon it rollers in printing presses. Distilled anti
as a curious and impertinent survival of
times gone by.
Any visitor to a candle
factory will rapidlv
purified, it assists in composing medibecome
convinced,
however, that candlemaking,
no matter how
ancient a process it
may be in its origin,
has now become a
process as completely
modern as the dynamo
in an electric light station.
The candle factory
of today is based
upon the most recent
developments in the
science of chemistry.
This is the reason
why tallow candles are
no longer made of full
tallow. Full tallow not
only makes a poor candle
but it contains ingredients
which are
much more profitable
when they are devoted
to other purposes.
The full tallow,
therefore, when it arrives
at the candle factory
is soon split Up
REAL STOMACHS OF THE FACTORY-WHERE THE TALLOW IS
, ' , , ,1 •
into at least three main
THE DIGESTORS— BOILED AT A HIGH TEMRERATURE.

182 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
cines which restore human beings to
health. But treated with nitric acid it
makes the nitroglycerin which blows
human beings into eternity. Pursuing
these various routes to usefulness it sejiarates
itself from its original tallow in the
tanks of the candle maker and leaves be-
CONCENTRATORS, WHICH RECEIVE THE GLYCERIN AFTER IT HAS PASSED
1HROLOH THE DLLESTORS.
hind it a substance which is now no
longer real tallow because it has lost one
of its jirincijial ingredients.
It is still to lose another principal ingredient.
It rests for some time in a
vast array of shallow pans arranged on
long tiers of shelves. It drips from the
higher pans to the lower. It finally fills
them all. It is still yellowish in color.
It lies quiescent for a few days.
When it resumes its troubles it is
taken, panful by panful, and wrappetl in
cloths. Carefully swaddled up, it is deposited
in hot pressing-machines. These
machines squeeze it till the observer
might suppose there would be nothing
left. Reddish streams, rich and thick,
issue from the cloths,
trickle into pipes and
are carried off into fat,
heavy barrels.
These rich, thick reddish
streams are oil.
Their essential jiart is
oleic acid. They form
a by-product fully as
important as glycerin.
They are sold by the
candle maker to the
maker of soaps. They
are also sold to men
who use them in the
shrinking of wool.
The candle maker's
tallow has now given
up its glycerin and its
oil. What is left is the
stuff from which the
tallow dips of today
are made. It is, of
course, not tallow at all.
It is stearic acid. It is
not yellowish but whitish.
The purer it is the
whiter it is. And it is
not greasy. It is dry
and crumbly to the
touch.
Each panful of tallow,
squeezed dry of
its oil, has now become
a flaky slab of stearic
acid. This stearic acid
is used for many purposes
besides the making
of candles. The
candle manufacturer sells a great deal of
it in its slab form without doing anything
more to it.
Stearic acid is used in the manufacture
of certain kinds of metal polish. It scours
our metal fixtures for us. It is used in
making graphophone records. It helps
to reproduce our voices. It is used even
in the manufacture of plaster casts. It
appears in the bodies of the little holy

YOU CANNOT KILL THE. TALLOW DIP 183
saints sold on street corners by Italian
peddlers. Yet it also makes candles, and
of course it makes candles more than
anything else.
It is now heated again and melted ami
carried in great ladles to the molding
machines. These machines, of which a
whole battery has to be installed in a
large candle factory, are of about the
jiroportions of an ordinary upright piano.
The melted stearic acid is poured in at
the top.
At the bottom of each machine there
are spools on which the wicks are rolled.
The end of each wick is carried up
through a mold and held taut at the top.
The melted stearic acid runs into all the
molds in the machine and envelops the
wick. Great ingenuity has been exercised
in constructing the machine in such
a way that it will hold each wick along
exactly the center line of its mold.
The molds being filled, like the pipes
of an organ, the stearic acid is allowed
to settle. Being settled, the whole group
of candles in each molding machine is
raised bodily. Each candle leaves its
mold and comes up drawing its wick
behind it.
DECOMPOSING AND CONCENTRATION VATS.
The machine now exhibits a whole set
of molded candles sustaining a whole set
of wicks running down through the
molds to the spools at the bottom. Another
dose of stearic acid is immediately
administered to the molds. The molds
fill up and the stearic acid in them is
formed into candles. Each machine now
has two sets of candles, one on top and
one in the molds. The two sets are still
connected by the wicks.
A workman wielding a sharji knife
now approaches and cuts the connection.
He runs his knife briskly along between
the two sets of candles. The wicks are
severed and the top set is ready to be removed.
There is quite a difference here between
present practice and the practice
of the days wdien the wick was dipped,
dipped, dipped into melted yellow tallow
till finally the rough bulk of a candle was
laboriously acquired.
The stearic acid candle comes out of its
mold smooth, white, fast. Yet, after all,
it remains, as previously remarked, a
real tallow product. Anil the wonder is
that it keeps coming out of its mold in an
age and in a country in which so many

184 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
THE THICK STEARIC ACID SWATHED IN COARSE CLOTHS AN
REMOVE THE OILS.
more brilliant methods of illumination
have been develojied.
Three reasons for this marvel have already
been remarked and a fourth was
promised. It is a strange reason—and
an obvious one. It is like the reason why
when a trolley road is laid down parallel
with a steam road both of them make
money. Peojile use the steam road
just as much as ever anil they use the
trollev road. too. Thev have simply become
accustomed to doing more traveling
than before.
In the same way jieople become accustomed
to using more light. The Standard
< )il Comjiany sells jilenty of kerosene
in towns wdiich have installed elec­
tric light plants. An
electric engineer remarked
the other day:
"We don't seem to
reduce the consumption
of kerosene in the
towns we strike. We
accustom the jieople to
a lot of brightness and
a lot of glare in the
streets ami in the
shop-windows. Then
some of them put electricity
into their homes,
those that can afford it.
But the others—who
think they can't afford
it—simply go ahead
and buy more oil lamps
and use enough kerosene
to float a ship. It
drives me to drink
when I look at it."
The candle maker
happily has the same
experience. He sells
candles to the men in
metal mines. They
have liecome so accustomed
to gas and electric
lights on the streets
and in the stores and
perhaps even in the
main shafts of their
mines that when they
go along the dark levels
where electric lights
are not commonly used
they insist upon enough
candles to make up for the difference.
They use their candles with a profusion
that was unknown fifty years ago.
As it is with the miner, so it is with
the housekeeper. Even if she has her
house stocked wdth electric bulbs she
lights a candle to go down into the cellar
or up into the attic and, in a kind of
reaction from the glare of electricity, she
frequently insists upon having shaded
candles at the dinner table in order to
secure a dim and cultivated effect.
In consequence of all of wdiich things,
nobody today ever thinks of practicing
economy on a candle. In the novels of
the early part of the last century people
were always blowing: out candles in order
D COLD PRESSED TO

YOU CANNOT KIEL LHE TALLOW DIP 185
CORNER OF HOT PRESS ROOM
Here the last trace of oleic oil is removed from the stearic acid.
MAKING A HUNDRED CANDLES AT ONCE.
The melted stearic acid runs into the molds of the machine and envelopes the wicks-

186 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
OIL COOLING AND FILTERING ROOM
to save an inch of tallow. Today we let
our incidental candles burn away, unnoticed,
in corners without that sharp regard
to thrift which characterized our
ancestors. Just because of the universal
diffusion of more and better light in the
world the user of candles is more generous,
more reckless, than ever before.
We are making candles today out of
every possible material. The Standard
< )il Company, having attacked the candle
with the kerosene lamp, turns around and
manufactures candles on its own account
out of jiaraffin, both paraffin and kerosene
being products of petroleum. The Catholic
churches still require enormous
quantities of wax for the candles which
The Hammers
Noise of hammers once I heard,
Many hammers, busy hammers,
Beating, shaping, night and day,
Shaping, beating dust and clay
To a palace ; saw it reared ;
Saw the hammers laid away.
And I listened, and 1 heard
Hammers beating, night and day,
In the palace newly reared,
Beating it to dust and clay,
Other hammers, muffled hammers,
Silent hammers of decay
they use in their servi
c e s, and there is
many a factory wdiich
finds the wax candle an
excellent basis for a high
financial rating in the
commercial directories.
In New England they
still make large numbers
of candles out of the
waxy protluct of the
bayberry bush, sometimes
called the tallowtree.
And in the southwestern
part of Europe,
as well as in certain sections
of North America,
candles are even made out of a mineral,
dug up from the earth like coal, a mineral
called ozokerite, so thoroughly suitable
for candles that it is frequently referred
to as mineral tallow.
Yet in the midst of all these rivals the
old "tallow dip" still keeps going. When
it reaches what all the spectators agree
should be the end of its race it simply
makes a slight shift in its attire and decides
to run another lap. It has trained
itself down to the extent of being only a
"stearic acid mold," but it is still in reality
the same old runner and while it doesn't
wdn any of the races it still insists on
finishing. It will be a long time before it
is finally ruled off the track.
—RALPH HODGSON.

.irds to Fight the Boll Weevil
HE continued menace
of the cotton boll weevil
to the cotton interests
of the country still
continues, notwithstanding
the fact that
the scientists of the
United States Department
of Agriculture have been for the
past ten years carrying on exhaustive
experiments with a view to checking the
pest in its steady march northward. It
is freely admitted that the loss to the
South is at least 500,000 bales yearly on
account of this greedy insect, Texas
being the heaviest loser.
But it is not Texas alone that suffers
from the ravages of the boll weevil, Lou­
»y Frank KL Bamsl&ettft
isiana, Florida, New Mexico, and other
Southern states are fast becoming the
feeding grounds of the little gray bug
wdiich has disturbed the general economic
conditions of the South, and likewise
caused disturbances in every quarter
of the globe where American cotton is
used in the factories. The people of
Lancashire, England, are almost as familiar
with the work of the pest as are
the people of the United States. Foreign
governments have become alarmed.
The Egyptian government some time
since issued a formal jiroclamation prohibiting
the importation of American
cotton seed on account of the danger of
introducing the boll weevil. As a matter
of fact, there is considerable danger
NORM
AL, UNINJURED SQUARE BUD AT LEFT. AND DAMAGED BUD AT RIGHT.
(187)

188 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
COTTON FIELD IN CENTRAL TEXAS.
This crop was planted early and shows a good yield in spite of the boll weevil.
that in time other cotton-producing suffer worse than this country has up to
countries may become infested by the the jiresent time, if the sjiread of the evil
weevil, and probably in many cases, is not checked. The total territory at
owing to climatic and other conditions, present infested comprises about thirty-
COTTON FIELD ACROSS ROAD FROM FLANTATION PICTURED ABOVE.
This crop was planted late and shows hardly a boll because of the ravages of the weevil.

BIRDS TO FIGHT THE BOLL WEEVIL 189
three per cent of the cotton
acreage of the wdiole
country.
About two years ago
the Department of Agriculture,
after many unsuccessful
experiments
with various spraying
fluids, with an ultimate
view to exterminating
the boll weevil, sent a
representative to Guatemala
to catch and bring
back a colony of Guatemalan
ants to turn
against the pest which
has cost the South so
much loss. But this exjieriment
likewise met
with failure, the ants entirely
disappearing within a few weeks
after liberation. Whether they were
made meat of by the voracious weevil or
whether they took to the ground is not
recorded. However, the scientists of the
Department did not give up the fight, and
now the Biological Survey of the Department
has hit upon a new method of
aiding the Southern cotton planter in his
war against the pest.
The Survey has been steadily investigating
the weevil in Texas for several
years and finds that no fewer than thirtyeight
species of birds feed upon the in-
COTTON BOLL WITH Two t.v ITS FOUR LOCKS DESTROYED
TIIROIT.H PUNCTURES MAIM-: I.V MAT.E WEEVIL-.
WLEVILS FEEDING ON BUD,
sect. It is not claimed, however, that
birds alone can check the sjiread of the
pest, but it has been successfullv demonstrated
that they are an important help
towards solving the puzzling problem.
Among the foremost of the useful allies
against the boll weevil are common
swallows. The food of these birds consists
almost entirely of insects, and they
are described by some scientists as "the
light cavalry of the avian army." Specially
adapted for flight, thev have no
rival in the art of capturing insects in
midair, and it is to the fact that they
take their prey on the wing that their
peculiar value to the cotton grower is
due. Other insectivorous birds adopt different
methods when in jiursuit of prey.
Orioles alight on the cotton bolls and
carefully inspect them for weevils.
Blackbirds, wrens, and flycatchers contribute
to the good work, each species in
its own sphere, but when swallows arcmigrating
over the great cotton fields
they find weevils flying in the open and
wage active war against them. As many
as forty-seven weevils have been found
in the craw of a single cliff swallow.
The idea of the Biological Survey is to
increase the number of swallows in both
North anti South. The colonies nesting
in the South will destroy a greater or less
number of weevils during the summer ;
wdiile in the fall, after the local birds have
migrated, northern-nred birds, as they
pass through the Southern states on their
way to the tropics, will keep uji the war.

THE STEEL CANAL READY TO RECEIVE WATER

A SECTION OF THE STEEL IRRIGATION CANAL BEFORE LEVELING.
Hirirsgatioini Cam^l of Steel
My J. Bo Vaura Br^issel
being N Egypt connected there together has recently by one-half inch
been completed an unusual
irrigation project, an irrigation
canal of steel. The
land to be reclaimed is dry
and parched, and is supposed
to have received no water for
the last 3,000 or 4,000 years. The
water of the Nile is discharged into
the canal by a special plant. This consists
of a set of powerful pumps, which
lift the water through suction mains six
feet eight inches in diameter and discharge
it into riveted steel raising mains
of the same diameter, which in their turn
pour the water into a service reservoir.
A large steel canal starts from this service
reservoir and turns the stream into
distributing earth canals or culverts,
from which it flows upon the land.
The lift of the pumps is from fifty to
sixty-seven feet, and the top of the reservoir
wall is over 300 feet above sea level.
The service reservoir is made of reinforced
concrete. The canal, composed
of riveted steel, has a total length of
over a mile. It is built up of seven
plates round the circumference, the plates
snaphead rivets, of which a total of 650,-
000 were used. External T-iron stiffeners
are riveted on; there is also a top
bracing of cross angles. To allow for
expansion and contraction the canal was
subdivided into a certain number of sections,
connected together by masonry
basins and packed expansion-joints.
For riveting, native workmen were engaged
; over three months were spent in
endeavoring to make them efficient in the
use of pneumatic tools, but the idea had
finally to be given up, and the work was
finished by band.
The method of leveling the canals was
as follows: During the riveting of the
plates, timber cradles were used to keep
the bottom level, and props to prevent the
sides from dropping out of shape. As
each section was completed, together with
the masonry basin by which it was connected
to the next section, the canal was
adjusted to its proper level by means of
special jacks, which were jilaced along
each side of the section, and before tbe
jacks were removed earth was banked
up on either side of the canal.
(191)

T© Stop Ceilb-Dswers 9 Clfoeatini
;>t an
When
motor
B^ Harry '

duced into New York the past summer,
a first lot of twenty-five electric cabs
being equipped with them June first. Two
hundred such cabs will be in operation by
winter, and fifty new gasoline cabs that
are being imported from France for the
jiublic service in New York will also be
fitted with them. These are all to be ojierated
by one company that has been in
the motor cab business for the last ten
years. Several newly organized companies
are also preparing- to put taximeter
cabs in the public service in the metropolis,
and one at least contemplates
giving similar service to Boston, Philadelphia
and Chicago.
The taximeter is a complicated piece
of mechanism. It is operated both by
clockwork and by a flexible shaft driven,
like an automobile speed indicator or
dashboard odometer, from one of the
road wheels of the vehicle. Since public
cab fares are paid on the basis of time
consumed and distance traveled, it is
necessary to compute both. When the
cab is standing, as wdien for makingcalls
or shopping, the taximeter is operated
by the clockwork, but when the
cab is under way the flexible shaft drive
overruns the clockwork and turns the
circular dials that do the registering. The
dials are rotated by a train of small spur
gears as in a cyclometer or mechanical
counter.
On the face of the instrument there is
a small ojiening which shows the "tariff."
When the cab is not engaged this space
shows blank. If the vehicle is engaged
for one or two persons, a figure 1 indicates
that the device is computing at the
single tariff; if for three or four, a figure
2 appears. When the vehicle is discharged,
the word "Payment" appears.
This dial is moved by the driver, wdio
turns it by means of a small handwheel at
the back of the instrument. Attached to
this wdieel is a short staff carrying a
metal flag bearing the word "Vacant."
This flag stands upright when the vehicle
is not engaged, and the wdieel stops the
clockwork, which remains idle until the
vehicle is hired and the driver turns the
flag down out of sight, bringing the tariff
figure into view-. The clock then continues
to run until it is stopped, when
the passenger dismisses the vehicle and
the driver turns up the word "Payment."
TO STOP CAB-DRIVERS' CHEATING 193
Below the word "Fare," on the face
of the taximeter, appears the figures "50
cts" as soon as tariff 1 shows, or "1 Doll"
if the tariff is number 2. These are the
minimum charges, and are for the first
mile. Thereafter an additional charge
of ten cents is indicated for each fifth of
a mile under tariff 1. and twenty cents
under tariff 2. When the vehicle is kept
waiting the clockwork keeps the gears
moving and registers an additional ten or
twenty cents for each six-minute period
that elapses.
In addition there is a dial on the face
for "Extras." This dial is controlled by
the driver, who turns it to register twenty
cents for each mile or fraction thereof
that he has to drive the vehicle empty to
the point ordered, or to register a charge
of twentv-five cents for a trunk carried
on the roof.
On the back of the taximeter are other
dials, controlled by the same mechanism,
where are registered automatically the
total distance traversed, the nuniber of
individual fares collected, and the individual
and total amounts of fares paid.
These records are for the information of
the company owning the vehicles, and
cannot be manipulatetl by tbe driver. The
dials may be reset at tbe end of each day
or week, as desired.

PORTIONS OF A GIANT CORE EXTRACTED WITH CIRCULAR CUTTER.

•orisig Ouat Coltunnniinis imi Solid
Rocfe
HE method of extracting
stones by means of wedges
driven into them at intervals,
or by explosives, is
beginning to be discarded
in quarries in favor of new
processes. The system of sawdng by
helicoidal cable is becoming more and
more widely employed, as it is found
to be most satisfactory. Utilized at
first for forming an entrance to the
lower part of strata in working shafts
where there existed no entrance with
natural slope, it is employed at present
for cutting out stone at
the shaft of quarries and
forming it into blocks.
For guiding and carrying
the cable, use is
made of a tubular support
provided with two
channeled pulleys, one of
them mounted upon a
fixed support at the upjier
part, and the other
upon a movable one
sliding along the entire
length of the tube. The
displacement of the movable
support is effected
by a long screw parallel
with the tube and which
gives the wire the pressure
necessary for the
sawing of the stone. For
the sawing of a detached
block, the mounting of
these tubes on both
sides of the block is done
very easily. But the
case is entirely different
when it is desired to saw
into a stratum in which
no break occurs. In such
an event shafts about
thirty-six inches in di­
By Jasper Tlhommpsoira
ameter designed for the recejition of the
tubes are formed at the extremity of the
length that it is desired to saw. In hard
stone the shafts are driven at distances
varying from thirty-five to fifty feet, while
if it is a question of soft stone they may
be driven at a distance of one hundred
and twenty feet from each other.
One of the accompanying illustrations
shows a special drill or circular cutter,
actuated by an electric motor, and used
for the sinking of shafts.
The essential part of this machine consists
of an iron jilate cylinder, at the
SPECIAL DRILL FOR BORING OUT COLUMNS.
(1»5)

196 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
base of which is mounted a knife twelve
inches in height. The knife also is
cylindrical and upon its lower part are
formed alternate teeth upon concentric
circumferences. This arrangement of
teeth in two rows permits the knife better
to attack the stone, and to widen the
space in which the cylinder moves. After
the shaft is driven, the cylinder and the
internal core of stone may be removed.
The cylinder and knife system receives
a circular motion of fifty or sixty revolutions
through the intermedium of a
square rod to the upper end of which is
keyed a helicoidal wheel, which engages
with an endless screw upon the shaft of
the electric motor. The axial reaction
of the endless screw is produced upon
accurately caliliered steel balls. The
square rod, through a sleeve, carries
along the cylinder, and permits it to
descend in measure as the work advances.
The weight of the iron plate
alone causes the descent of the knife.
The sleeve is held in the axis by a movable
guide sliding in three uprights of
U-iron, forming the frame of the apparatus,
in this manner.
One Music
There is a high place in the upper air,
So high that all the jarring sounds of Earth —
All cursing and all crying and all mirth-
Melt to one murmur and one music there.
And so perhaps, high over worm and clod,
There is an unimaginable goal,
-Where all the wars and discords of the soul
Make one still music to the heart of God.
As the entire apparatus has often to
be shifted, the motor is in no wise sheltered,
and so it is of the hermetic type.
It is from twenty to twenty-five horsepower.
When the operation of boring is
finished and it is a question of removing
the cylinder and the internal core, a hand
windlass fixed to one of the uprights of
the frame is employed. This windlass
takes the cylinder by the upper part,
while as for the core, a hook is first inserted
therein, after which it is broken
by driving wedges into the groove
formed in the drill.
When it is desired to bore deep holes,
a second cylinder may be superposed;
and sometimes even a third and fourth
are added. In this way shafts of fifty
feet in depth have been sunk. As a general
thing, however, the boring is not
done to a depth of more than twenty-five
or thirty-five feet.
The advance of the work varies greatly
with the hardness of the stone.
The full page illustration shows portions
of a granite core extracted with this
circular cutter.
—EDWIN MARKHAM.

Overbunrdleiniedl ByooMyim Bridge
$ l/M)^? NPERT engineers predict a
M ^ciy^p catastrophe more fearful
Ife* than anything that has ever
happened in this country
unless the conditions now
obtaining and daily growing
worse in the operation of the Brooklyn
bridge are correctetl. Erected twentytwo
years ago, before there was a
cable line in the city of New York and
before the trolley system of electric propulsion
had been perfected, the great
structure, more than a mile long, was intended
for the conditions then prevalent.
Cars were not expected to be run across
it. except the cable lines which began
operation with the opening of the bridge.
The weight then borne
was not very great.
Conditions have
changed and there is imminent
danger that the
growing strain may
prove too much for even
those eighteen - inch
strands of steel, and
that some day from five
to fifteen thousand persons
will be precipitated,
amid a mass of tangled
wreckage, to tbe East
River, 135 feet below.
The absolute loss of
every life on the bridge
at the time will be certain,
and the destruction
of property will total
manv millions of dollars.
No one knows wdiat
chemical changes have
taken place within those
eighteen-inch steel cables
during the past twentytwo
years. They were
never subjected to any
tests for conditions surrounding
electricity as a
motive power, and elec­
ly lEtiflgeia© Slhadle Baslbee
tricians are at sea as to what may have
occurred to weaken them.
The bridge is at present being ojierated
to the limit of its capacity. Trolley cars
are supposed to maintain a distance of
150 feet between them at all times, yet
they seldom are so far ajiart and wdienever
blockades occur there are continuous
strings of them and of the cable and elevated
trains from one end to the other.
These are, of course, jammed with people,
while other thousands walk across
the promenade. At such times 15,000
persons are risking their lives on the
structure and it is, in time, sure to give
way under the tremendous overload.
Every hour during the rushes of morn-
THE HUMAN STREAM THAT CROSSES BROOKLYN BRIDGE,
1
(197)

198 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
AFTER THE BUSINESS RUSH AT THE NEW YORK TERMINAL.
ing and night three hundred surface cars
cross the bridge. Added to these are
more than five hundred elevated cars
and many thousands of pedestrians.
Better terminal facilities would alter
these conditions and relieve the bridge
of such great strain. These terminals
are contemplated, yet red tape and dilatoriness
of public officials are responsible
for conditions which, in the opinion of
expert engineers, are sure to result in
fearful disaster if they are not soon taken
in hand. Among the officials of the lines
operating across the structure and who
have expressed the opinion that the
bridge was in danger of breaking under
the great weight imposed upon it, John
F. Calderwood, general manager of the
Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, is
Life
Have you found your life distasteful ?
very outspoken in his views. He says
that his company has before it on the
Brooklyn bridge the greatest transportation
problem in the world and that it is
powerless to better the conditions until
the officials of New York and Brooklyn
enlarge the terminals at both ends. Even
with the large number of surface cars
and elevated and cable trains that are
now in operation it is impossible to carry
all the people who wish to cross and
thousands are forced to walk. The
crowd shown in one of the illustrations
was photographed during the noon hour,
when the traffic is comparatively limited,
while that at the New York terminal was
taken in the forenoon after the business
crowd bad crossed to their destinations
in Manhattan.
My life did, and does, smack sweet.
Was your youth of pleasure wasteful ?
Mine I saved and hold complete.
Do your joys with age diminish ?
When mine fail me, I'll complain.
Must in death your daylight finish ?
My sun sets to rise again.
—BROWNING.

Oyster Fannnaeips isn J^pann
By George Edward M^rtisa
ters of HE Holland vegetarians and France, to the wdiere this
contrary, beans, rice
T V > 1 and other cereals are
II by no means the exyj
elusive food of the
Japanese. Fish is an
important feature of
their diet, great quantities
of which are taken along their extensive
shore line. Of their various sea
foods, the oyster catch is one of the most
interesting. However, it is not strictly
speaking a catch at all, as the Japanese
oysters are cultivated as carefully and
systematically as are any of the dry land
crops of these most skillful of farmers.
In rearing the toothsome bivalves the
lapanese are experts, at least equalling in
their product the artificially reared oys-
ancient practice has generally been supposed
to have reached its highest development.
Indeed, although there has
never, apparently, been any communication
between Eurojie and Japan on the
subject of oyster culture, the statement
is made by Prof. Bashford Dean, occupying
the chair of Zoology in Columbia
University, who has made a special study
of the Japanese oyster farms, that the
methods of culture used by European and
Japanese growers are strikingly similar.
The gulf-like sea of Aki and numerous
estuaries of the Island Kingdom afford
ideal conditions for this class of live stock
production, if it may be so designated.
In this sea, oyster growing has been carried
on for centuries. Regarding the
VSTFR PARK AT TANNA, JAPAN, SHOWING BAMBOO COLLECTORS ARRANGED
1 H,TT>ADAfTt?TTTX117C
asters, as they are borne in by the tides, attach themselves to these rods,
(190)

200 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
origin of oyster culture in this region
Professor Dean quotes from an ancient
Japanese fishery jiublication as follows:
"In ancient times certain shellfish,
tapes, were gathered in great numbers
on the flats of Aki; and while awaiting
their shipment to market the fisher peo­
AN OYSTER PARK NEAR N1H0J1MA.
ple came to keep them in shallow water
inclosures, the fences of which they
formed of bamboo stalks. The discovery
war then made that the brushy fences became
incrusted with young oysters, and
thus it soon became evident that under
certain conditions and at certain places it
NEWLY ARRANGED HEDGE OF BAMBOO FOR OYSTERS TO CLING TO.

would be more profitable to plant bamboo
and to cultivate oysters than to continue
the tapes industry. This was the
first instance, it is said, that bamboo collectors,
or 'shibi,' were emjiloyed in oyster
culture."
The Japanese oysters are described as
similar, though of different
species, to bluepoints
and the average Long
Island oyster. They are
said to be of a very superior
flavor, and Prof.
Dean's visit to Japan was
with the idea of determining
the practicability of
transplanting the best
kinds to the Pacific
Coast: possibly they may
be found adaptable to
Eastern culture, though
the large amount of labor
expended upon them by
the Japs may make their
growdng prohibitory in
our best oyster regions.
The Japanese use vast
quantities of bamboo
brush in breeding and
growing their oysters.
Bamboo is the national
wood of the islands and is
very cheap. At low tide
in the sea of Aki, the
water falling from ten to
fifteen feet, the network of
estuaries or island straits
and the river mouths bristle
with closely set oyster
farms, and from a distance
remind one, save in
color, of a region of European
vineyards.
Most of the bamboo
stakes used retain their
smaller branches, and as
various patterns and labyrinths
are affectetl by the
oyster culturists in setting
the stakes, not, as might be supposed, for
artistic effect, but to control the tide currents
for the benefit of the feeding oysters,
the low tide view of an oyster range is
most startling and beautiful. Seen from a
distance it looks as though, while the tide
concealed their activities, some ocean
workers had been constructing a feathery
OYSTER FARMERS IN JAPAN 201
.
J
city, symmetrical and exact. These tiesigns
are the outcome of centuries of
oyster growing, since the eddies and
swirls which play through the windingstreets
and avenues have been found conducive
to the attachment and growth of
the young oyster.
in A
y
How THE OYSTERS ACCUMULATE.
From left to righ t the photo shows a bamboo collector that has been in use one
month, six months and eighteen months respectively. The small
figures at right are detached oysters.
In the first age of the oyster comes the
tiny "spat,'' not "muling and puking in
his nurse's arms," but floating about,
feeling for something to which to attach
himself. The feathery skeleton of the
bamboo branch proves an ideal nursery.
He clings to it. Not being able to live
in as dense water as his parents, bamboos

202 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
for his attraction are placed in very shallow
water. After he has become established,
the bamboos are pulled up, wdien
the tide is low, and planted in much
deeper water. Here, with millions of his
brothers and sisters, he grows mightily
for a couple of years—one of a countless
host in an endless orchard. Next he is
somewhat rudely scraped off his bamboo
foster mother, with a heavy knife, and
falls to the ground. Here, however, he
is rolled and tumbled about by the tides;
his shell grows stronger and he becomes
a better skijiper. Next and last in his
well directed career he is placed at tbe
mouth of some river, where he fattens
greatly. Then it remains only to transjiort
him to his final destination.
The State of Man
Farewell! a long farewell to all my greatness!
This is the state of man : to-day he puts forth
Not the least interesting feature of the
Japanese oyster industry is its businesslike
regulation by the government. There
have been no grants of these valuable
franchises to corporations or wire-pulling
individuals forever or for ninety-nine
years. The cultivatable tracts are surveyed
and the farms are rented by auction
to the highest bidder. The tenant
during h'is lifetime has the right of renewal
of lease; but only for so much of
a farm as he can work himself. He cannot
use his privilege speculatively. The
franchises are administered by the government
for the people, not for the benefit
of cliques or corporations. Consequently
there is the most natural comjietition
in the selling price to the public.
The tender leaves of hopes, to-morrow blossoms,
And bears his blushing honours thick upon him ;
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,
And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,
And then he falls, as I do. I have ventured,
Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders,
This many summers in a sea of glory,
But far beyond my depth : my high-blown pride
At length broke under me and now has left me,
Weary and old with service, to the mercy
Of a rude stream, that must forever hide me.
—SHAKESPEARE.

TalMinig hy Wireless
By Dr. Alfred Gi
O the casual observer it
would seem that it is only
a question of months until
the wireless telephone will
supplant the jiresent systems
of telephony as a
means of communication. In fact, scarcely
a month passes in which important
steps are not taken toward the goal of
practical wireless telephony. But the
difficulties to be overcome are enormous.
Some idea of these difficulties and the
methods by which they are being surmounted
may lie gained from recent developments
along this line.
Some investigations of considerable
importance in the field of wireless telephony
were commenced a few years ago
by Mr. E. Ruhmer of Berlin, who developed
a rather promising system in which
the light waves given out from an arclamp
projector were used as a medium in
transmitting the human
voice from onestation
to another. At
the starting point was
installed a very sensitive
telephone transmitter
in circuit with a
battery and the primary
terminals of an
induction coil, whose
secondary terminals
were connected
through condensers to
the terminals of an arc
lamp supplied from a
direct current generator.
When words were
spoken into the transmitter
varying currents
were induced in the
secondary of the coil,
changing the current
on the lamp, and thus
varying the intensity of
its light. This also nroduced
sounds of vary­
ing intensity and pitch, and constituted
what is known as a "speaking" or
"singing" arc. As the arc light was situated
in the focus of a powerful projector
these changes in illumination were jirojeeted
as far as the receiving station.
where a similar projector was installed
containing in its focus a selenium resistance—or
selenium cell, as it is called.
Selenium is a substance possessing the
very remarkable property of varying its
electrical conductivity under the action of
light. When this cell is in a circuit
through which a current is passing the
variations in resistance of the selenium
cell due to the actions of the rays of light
will cause changes in current intensity in
the circuit. As the latter in the present
case contained a telejihone, it will bereadily
understood that similar fluctuations
in current intensity to those taking
place in the transmitting circuit were pro-
RUHMER'S APPARATUS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING THE FORM OF ETHER WAVES DURING
TRANSMISSION OF SPEECH, BY RAYS OF LIGHT.
A diagram of this arrangement is shown in Figure 1,
(203)

2tl4 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
RUHMER'S EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS.
The oscillograph tube.
duced at the receiving station, giving in
the telephone a distinct reproduction of
the words spoken at the other end. Now
this system is obviously practicable
within only a rather limited range, the
foremost condition being that the two
stations be situated in sight of one another.
In the case of distances exceeding
even a mile or so the stations communicating
with each other—or at least
one of them—should therefore always be
placed on some elevated spot, which is
not always feasible.
Endeavors were therefore made by
various experimenters to use electric
waves—in a way similar to tbat in wireless
telegraphy—in the place of light
waves, for transmitting the human voice
to a distance, without any material connection
between the transmitting and receiving
stations. As, however, electric
waves generated by spark discharges rapidly
decrease in amplitude no practical
results were obtained in this line.
Now. some jiioneers in the field of
wireless telegraphy have quite recently
succeeded in increasing the frequency of
what is called a "singing" or "speaking"
electric arc, by placing the latter in an
atmosphere of hydrogen—as suggested
bv Poulsen—or cooling the electrodes of
tbe arcs—as achieved by tbe Telefunken
Co.of German}-—and thus advancing into
the range of electric oscillations or waves.
A jiractical solution of the problem of
electric wave telephony has thus become
possible. In fact if such undamped electric
vibrations are influenced in some
manner corresponding to the talk to be
transmitted, the latter will be reproduced
at the receiving station, a telephone being
actuated by the electric waves sent out
from the starting point with the characteristic
modulations corresponding to the
sound waves.
The above principle thus is identical
with the principle used in optical wireless
telephony, but for the substitution of
the far more rapid light waves as carriers
of language.
The sending apparatus used in wireless
telephony is based on a vibratory circuit
permanently crossed by free electric
waves, and which, for giving out electric
waves, is coupled in exactly the same
way as in wireless telegraphy, with a
tuned open vibratory system in the shape
of a steel wire aerial.
Now there are two possibilities of acting
on electric vibrations through the
agency of the human voice according as
either their intensity is influenced in a
manner corresponding to language
—without any variation in frequency—or
else the characteristic vibration of the
closed or open vibratory system
is altered. In both cases electric
waves undulating in accurate
agreement with the sound waves
will be produced, their frequency
being either constant or variable.
THE SENDER
At tbe receiving station a wave
detector—sensitive to fluctuations
in intensity—arranged in
series with a telephone and *
battery, will be used in a way quite analogous
to wireless telegraphy. In the
case of constant wave lengths an alteration
in the intensity of the wave will re-

suit in a corresponding alteration in the
effect exerted on the receiver, while with
variable wave lengths a variable number
of waves will, during the same time act
on the receiver, the effect on which thus
depends on the number of arriving waves
of constant intensity.
Air. E. Ruhmer of Berlin has just succeeded
in obtaining a first practical solution
of the above problem, an account of
which he communicated to the International
Conference on Wireless Telegraphy
which was recently held at Berlin.
A sending ajiparatus arranged according
to Poulsen was used, comprising a
"singing" arc lamp arranged in a hydrogen
atmosphere and being fed with direct
currents at 220 volts. The vibratory circuit
was constituted by a capacity consisting
of seven Leyden jars—of about
.002 microfarads—an adjustable self-induction
coil anti the primary coil of a
Tesla transformer. In the case of a convenient
tuning a high tension flaming arc,
several centimeters in lengtii could be
maintained quietly burning between the
secondary terminals of the Tesla transformer.
On examining this electric arc it was
found to show the appearance of a continuous-current
arc, its frequency—about
300,000 per second—being far too high
to decompose it into individual spark discharges.
This observation induced Mr.
Ruhmer to alter the generation of waves
in the same way as the "speaking" arc
lamp. The choking coil so far inserted in
the feeding circuit of the arc, and which
was intended to prevent any reaction of
the rapid oscillations on the direct current
circuit, was replaced by an induction coil
the secondary winding of which was connected
to a transmitter and battery (fig.
1). This experiment proves successful,
as on talking into the transmitter the
oscillograph tube—an instrument for
measuring the shape of the wave—distinctly
showed a glowing band of variable
luminous intensity wdth notches corresponding
to the sound waves, showing
the intensity of the high frequency currents
in the secondary coil of the Tesla
transformer to be influenced in a manner
corresponding to the spoken words.
While being unable to decide which of
the two processes above referred to has
been realized in the present case, Mr.
TALKING BY WIRELESS 205
Ruhmer is inclined to suppose the existence
of a comjiosite effect, depending
on an alteration both in the wave length
and intensity of the electric oscillations.
Whenever a flaming arc was fed with
undulating high frequency currents, this
would render clearly and distinctly any
word spoken in the transmitter, in
fact with an intensity exceeding
that of the familiar direct-current
"speaking" arc.
After these successful preliminary
trials, there was not much left
to be done before the human voice
could be transmitted bv the same
TUNING COIL
FIG. 3. THE RECEIVER.
process with the aid of electric waves.
The arrangement used to this effect is
rejiresented in figures 2 and 3.
After first using a transmitter contact
as wave detector, Ruhmer eventually replaced
this by an electrolytic cell, wdiich
proved more efficient.
Experiments so far made, while being
confined to the inventor's laboratory,
gave surprisingly favorable results,
spoken words being transmitted, with the
aid of an aerial one and one-half meters
in length, to the available distance of
thirty meters.
Mr. Ruhmer is actively engaged in
continuing these interesting experiments
and confidently hopes by this method to
bridge distances of several kilometers.
provided aerials of sufficient length be
employed. The most advantageous
feature of this method seems to be the

206 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
fact that a most accurate tuning can be
obtained such as that required for two
stations to communicate wdth each other
without any risk of interference on the
jiart of a third party.
The utility of the wireless telephone
will jirobably be first seen in its applica­
tion to vessels as a means of lessening
the danger of collisions. This is a field
already taken by space telegraphy but involves
the presence of a skilled ojieratoi
constantly at the side of the officer in
charge—an objection wdiich will not apply
to wireless telephony.
Moisiiestt WMsttle nim ttlhe World
F a voice from Bedlam like
a triple blast of a monster
siren, rendering dumb all
the little noises, yelps,
toots, and w h ines of
smaller mechanical throats,
should suddenly pierce a traveler's ears,
it is very likely he would quickly cover
them and wonder what had broken loose.
A hundred chances to one, when the
roaring blast had ceased, he would seek
the cause of the uproar to register his
denunciation of the giant whistle trust, a
noise combine, that has throttled all the
smaller whistles in a radius of twenty
miles.
But if he sought a resident of East St.
Louis—the busy St. Louis suburb across
the Mississippi—and necessarily a victim
of the nerve-racking and discordant
blasts jiroceeding from the manufactories,
he would be told that the seemingly terrible,
three-mouthed monster is a blessing
in disguise to the 100,000 people living
within the range of its deep, jienetrating
blasts.
East St. Louis probably had more independent
whistles than any other city
of like size in the country, and exercised
them more. Each factory possessed its
sjiecial whistle, actuated in accordance
with its particular clock; anti scarcely
two time-pieces being exactly synchronized,
the din produced by the various
sirens, each of which had a distinctive
tone, was a discordant jamboree.
Whistles blew at all kinds of time—
tramp, local, and standard, also in variations.
The iron and steel foundry's
My J&inm@s Coolrle Malls
whistle sounded at seven o'clock "by its
clock time, and the aluminum works'
whistle sounded at 7:05 by the foundry's
clock, but at seven by its own. Whistles
on the glass works, elevators, flour mills,
gas works and a hundred others in various
lines were let loose before and after
the correct time, and for ten minutes or
more residents throughout the city were
in despair. In some factories there was
a rivalry to see whose whistle would get
the air first; and in this way many minutes
were lost at night, but made up in
the morning. All this whistling meant
extravagance, and discord, and danger
to the ear drums.
In order to reclaim the city from this
whistling babel a jiractical way was devised
by L. C. Haynes, general manager
of a suburban electric railroad. The
company communicated with various industrial
concerns in the city, proposing
to establish one powerful steam whistle
in a central location, to serve all the
manufactories. The plan was adopted,
and it was generally agreed that the new
siren should have a loud and penetrating
tone capable of being heard at least ten
miles, but that its voice was not to be
objectionably shrill.
After careful designing, an immense
siren, the greatest whistle in the world,
was made and installed on the power
house of the railroad company. This
great modern siren comprises three whistles.
The largest is almost six feet in
height and nearly as large in diameter
as a man's body. On each side of the
main whistle there is a smaller one. The

central whistle unit is loud and shrill and
penetrating, the two associate whistles
voice throaty tones, while the combination
of the three chimes makes a pleasant
sound, devoid of ear-splitting quality.
The deep, thunderous sound seems to
spread out and fill the sky from the earth
to the smoky dome above.
The great siren has never given voice
to a full, round blast, and what the tone
would be if the railroad comjianv turned
full pressure into the whistle,' nobody
knows.' The pressure now used on the
whistle is about 150 pountls of steam
through a three-inch pipe only half open,
for thirty seconds.
To 20,000 men, women, anti children,
on work-day mornings, this whistle
sounds forth the command, "Go to
work." At noon it announces the lunch
hour, a time of rest, and at one o'clock
its call is, "Back to your tasks." But its
six o'clock blast in three whole notes,
welcome to the tired workers, means
"Home, Sweet Home." For two minutes
every day all East St. Louis is bewildered
in a fog of noise, while the
siren's tones are heard over the territory
eastward as far as the towns of Belleville
and Collinsviile, and the entire city
of St. Louis to the west.
All the independent whistles are now
silent, squelched by the dominating tone
of the big whistler, the devil of noise.
Since the giant whistle trust can make
so much more noise in a half minute
than all the small sirens could make in an
hour, the profane have nothing to say.
They could not be heard. Even the
boats on the Mississippi withhold the
steam from their deep-toned sirens until
the great annihilator of peace has sounded
its calls to duty.
But the economy of the greatest whistle
in the world and its relief to the
nerves and tempers of the residents
of East St. Louis, are not its only
features. It has the desirable trait
of always sounding on time, at the
exact second. This is because it is
NOISIEST WHISTLE IN THE WORLD 2H7
THE WHISTLE THAT IS THE STANDARD FOR
EAST ST. LOUIS TIME.
connected with an electrical clock which
is regulated by the government standard
time sent out from Washington
at exactly noon each day. The
electrical clock is guaranteed not to vary
five seconds in time a year; and thus
the siren's voice indicating the exact time
every day, is one of its notable features.
The giant trust siren is also a valued
factor in the noise-making celebrations,
and on these occasions it, of course, holds
a monopoly. It drowns all other noises,
so that cannons are not fired, nor bells
rung while it ser.ds forth its full swirl
of sound, straight heavenward, without
an echo. On election night the siren
shouts the returns to the towns, villages,
and hamlets within ten miles in every
direction.

hSCIENCE AND INVENTION
Bird Wttfl&ouift Wiimgs
M E W ZEALAND is a land of sur-
^ prises, a country where things go
largely by contraries, but perhaps the
most peculiar freak of animated nature
to be found even in that strange land is
the kiwi, a bird without wings. This
singular creature is the only wingless
bird kno-.vn to the naturalists, and though
robbed of its flight, a right which seems
to belong to birds, it has a pair of legs
which enable it to flee from danger and
also afford it means of defense. The
kiwd inserts its long beak into the soft
earth in quest of worms, from which it
chiefly derives a means of living.
(208)
THE KIWI, NEW ZEALAND'S WINGLESS BIRD
HelggolaradPs Mo^el
Light
""THE Helgoland lighthouse of the
•*• Frisian Islands is equipped with a
remarkable light that is a novel departure
from the old methods of construction.
Instead of the whole illuminant
being surrounded by the reflector,
there are three parabolic lenses which
revolve four times a minute, throwing
out three great independent beams visible
at a distance of twentv nautical miles
on tbe surface of the water. So intense
are the lights that they can be seen when
the lighthouse itself is below the horizon.

Bottles Make
Homme
{~\UT in the mining
^^ towns of Nevada
the miners frequently
build some very curious
houses, but it is a ejuestion
if any is more curious
than the one shown
in the accompanyingphotograph,
for the
walls of this dwelling
are made almost entirelv
of glass bottles. Tbe
bottles were piled in
regular tiers one above
the other from the
ground to the roof ami
cemented to each other
principally with mud,
which was plastered
between the bottles, and when dry,
held them firmly in position. This in
teresting home is not only very warm
and comfortable in the winter time, but
is unusually light because tbe sun's rays
pass through the bottles as well as the
windows that have been made in the
front part. _
Safe Craclfeed im Public
"THE accompanying picture shows the
result of a safe blowing contest which
recently took place in the suburbs of
Youngstown, O., at which not only ex-
SCIENCE AND INVENTION 209
THE SAFES AFTER THE EXPLOSION.
HOUSE BUILT OF BOTTLES.
pert cracksmen were present but about
one hundred and fifty bankers who had
been invited to witness the affair. The
contest narrowed down to a safe manufactured
of chrome steel and another composed
of manganese steel. Each was subjected
to three explosions, applied in the
same manner and of equal power. Two
pounds of dynamite were first used,
placed upon the top of the safes. It
opened the joints of the chrome steel
safe. In the other instance it made a
dent a half inch in depth in the top,
knocking off some of the enamel covering.
Next a charge of
four ounces of nitroglycerin
was applied to
the chrome steel which
cracked the framework,
forcing out the circular
door to the extent of
several inches. A charge
of the same quantity
merely seared the enamel
of the other safe. A second
of the same quantity
of nitro-glycerin blew
tbe door of the first safe
from its hinges, bending
a jiortion of tbe inside
plates, wrenched the
framework as shown in
the picture and broke tinmetal
lining into scraps.

210 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
A similar charge applied to the other destroyed
more of the enamel but apparently
did no other damage until the safe
was opened. Then it was found that the
glass plate confining the time lock had
been shattered. The lock had been
"wound" to open the safe shortly after
the time appointed for the tests. When
the door was opened it was found that
the operation of the clock work had not
been affected. ^»
Wlhena tlhe §im©w Melts
l_I ERE is a picture that shows in what
a curious way snow sometimes
melts. It is a photograph taken in the
Rocky Mountains, in a very rough and
rugged country, where deep snowfalls
are not infrequent. Owing to the roughness
and ruggedness of the territory, the
CURIOUS SNOW EFFECTS IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS,
snow, in the process of passing away
from the landscape, often assumes aspects
which are not merely odd, but absolutely
weird—as illustrated by the accompanying
view.
Snails as Scavengers
IT has been noticed that snails are preva-
*• lent wherever there is some description
of decay or fungoid growth, but few of
us realize that the snail is one of Nature's
scavengers, owing his existence to just
such conditions, and by preferably consuming
decayed matter, parts of stalks,
etc., and fungoid growths, it aids in the
promotion of health.
The following is an experiment that
shows some of the work that a few
snails can do: A few gold-fish were in a
large glass vessel; in order
topromoteboth their
health and growth, some
growing water - plants
were placed in the vessel,
but matters did not
progress as was expected
; the fish pined,
the plants drooped and
the wdiole vessel was
pervaded with a fungoid
growth; in fact, entire
destruction seemed inevitable.
A few snails
were added to the establishment
and matters
proceeded well from that
time. The unhealthy
growth disappeared, the
fishes and the plants
both revived and the
water returned to its
original purity.
\Y/ M. F. RAMS-
HAUER, of New
York City, who calls
himself "The Human
B u g," entertained a
great part of Cincinnati
and the inhabitants of
the Kentucky hills with
an acrobatic performance
on a flag pole
recentlv. Ramshauer

PERFORMING ON A FLAG-STAFF.
stood on his head, balanced
on his feet, swung himself like
and sat cross-legged like a Turk,
a newspaper, on the
gilded ball that surmounted
the 30-foot staff
on the nine-story building.
Crowds gathered
on the down town streets
and on the hills on the
other side of the river
and watched the steeplejack
work.
All the while the pole
swayed, but the "Human
Bug" wasn't nervous.
It was the first
time he wasn't nervous
for a week. He says he
is always nervous when
he is down on the
ground, and is at his
ease near the clouds.
Ramshauer smokes
cigarettes, which are
supposed to make people
shaky.
SCIENCE AND INVENTION 211
himself
a flag
reading
iir&g| aim tlhe Sahara
M O WHERE else in the world, perhaps,
will you find birds who support
families, except in the Mohammedan
countries of North Africa, wdiere falcons
and hawks are in common use for this
purpose. One is amazed to learn
that the Arabs release them each spring
for the breeding season, and catch
a fresh "team" in the fall; although the
same birds are frequently captured several
years in succession, and take up their
strange duties of providing for Arab
families with the utmost willingness.
A team of falcons in the Sahara usually
consists of four families and one
male, jessed and leashed with strips of
gazelle-skin stained red. Beaters rout
out flocks of bustard and partridge.
When the falconer hands up tbe "star"
bird, and places her on the top of his
head, where she clutches the silken folds
of his turban wdth tenacious claws, he
sjiurs his horse into a gallop, and suddenly
giving a peculiar shrill cry, releases
the bird wdiich shoots into the aitlike
a rocket after tbc fast disappearing
game birds. Her swiftness of flight is
altogether remarkable. She overtakes
the flock and pounces upon one of the
finest bustards, which she brings to earth
HAWKFPS OF THE SAHARA DESF.RI

212 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
E»g(iE*e Stralkes ©win*
A REMARKABLE feature connected
/A with a recent wreck on the Southern
Pacific railroad was in connection wdth
the exjilosion of the engine's boiler.
This boiler, weighing many tons, was
shot ahead more than two hundred feet,
liOILEB STIUU
falling near the track. It was torn entirely
free from the platform trucks,
drivers, etc., but the latter part of the
engine remained partly intact. The momentum
of the train drove everything
forward, until the wrecked end crashed
violently into the detached boiler. It
was a paradoxical case, where the engine
had literally collided with its own boiler.
T
To Aiaclr&oir Posts
HE accompanying illustration repre­
sents a non-bearable post, the in­
vention of Percy T. Bailey, Melville
Station, Newport, R. I. It is particularly
adapted for use on metal fence
posts. It consists of a series of prongs
mounted in such a way that when driven
down they curve outward and are imbedded
in the ground on all sides of the
jiost. Thus, even if subjected to a side
strain, the post firmly maintains its upright
position. There are two sets of
these anchoring prongs to each post.
P7ach set is at right angles wdth the comjianion
pair. By means of two upper and
lower bolts, which pass through the head
of the post, a plate is secured to the
lower end of the post.
Resting against opposite faces of the
flange, between the head and this plate,
are two anchoring prongs, which consist
of narrow plates of metal, pointed at the
lower ends. The prongs pass under the
upper bolts, but the points curve out
over the lower bolts, so that wdien driven
downward they spread outward. Near
the top of the ground a pair of straps are
bolted to the post. These are bent to
form sockets, in wdiich the upper pair of
prongs are seated. The
straps are framed with
offsets, causing the
points of the prongs to
curve outward w hen
driven down. The post
is driven by using a
maul, first making a hole
of the required depth
with an ordinary crowbar
or post hole auger.
The anchors are then
driven in place, the
lower ones first, with the
aid of a rod and maul.

M

Bl&cR Balling hy OecteicitLy
My Howard Greeiae
(^^^^)LECTRICAL a button, transmitting his balloting vote elec­
gfxbS2£iC325C / j

withdrawn and the drops scanned. If
only the white drop has fallen a newmember
has been added to the club's
roll; but if anyone has pressed a black
button the black disk will be in view,
nipping the would-be member's aspirations
in the bud. It is of course impossible
to tell who has voted either way,
or even how many black balls have been
cast. A great deal of time is saved when
there are a number of names before the
board, as is often the case.
THE POET 21. r .
The Poet
The lunatic, the lover, and the poet
Are of imagination all compact:
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold,
That is, the madman : The lover all as frantic,
Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt :
The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,
The electric current is supplied by a sel
of four dry cells carried in the lower jiart
of a wood case; cables extend to the annunciator
and around the table, and
branch wires connect with tbe buttonblocks
in the members' bands. When
the ajijiaratus is not in use it is all packed
into the case above the battery and the
case is stored tint of tbe way. A handle
at the top renders it easy to carry about,
as the weight is not great. Hence it may
quickly be removed.
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.
Such tricks hath strong imagination,
That if it would but apprehend some joy,
It comprehends some bringer of that joy ;
Or in the night, imagining some fear,
How easy is a bush supposed a bear!
—SHAKESPEARE,

CONSULTING
DEPARTMENT
Are you puzzled try any question in Engineer int.' or the Mechanic Arts ? Put the Question into writing and mail it
the Consulting Department. TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE. We have made arrangements to have all such
Questions answered by a staff of consulting engineers and other experts whose services have been specially enlisted/or
purpose. If the question asked is of general interest, the answer will be published in the magazine. If of only ter sonal
interest, the ansnver will be sent by mail, provided a stamped and addressed envelope is enclosed with the Question.
quests for information as to where desired articles can be purchased uii 11 also be cheerfully answered.
Strength of Knots in Ropes
What arc the strengths of knots in ropes,
and why are they not as strong as the rope
when no slipping occurs in the knot?—W.T. H.
If a knot is tied in a rojie, its failure
usually occurs at that place. In the
straight part of a rope, each fibre takes
the proper share of the load, but in all
knots the rope is cramped or has a short
bend which throws tbe overload on those
fibres that are on tbe outside of the bend
and one fibre after another breaks until
the rope is torn ajiart. The shorter the
bend in the standing rope, the weaker is
the knot. The approximate strength of
knots as compared with full strength of
the rope is as follows: Eye splice over
an iron thimble, shown in Figure A,
90% ; a splice in the rope, 80 r 7 ; timber
(216)
VARIOUS WAYS OF KNOTTING ROPES.
hitch. Figure 1!, and round turn. Figure
C, 65% ; bow line, Figure U, slip knot,
Figure E, and clove hitch, Figure F,
60% ; square knot, Figure G, and weaver
knot, Figure H, 50% ; underhand knot.
Figure i, and Flemish loop, Figure J,
45%.
Efficiency of Westintfhouse-Parsons
Turbine
What can be said of the efficiency of the
Westinghouse-Parsons steam turbine? — C.
Ii. A.
Under test a 400 kilowatt Westinghouse-Parsons
steam-turbine, using
steam at 150 pounds initial pressure and
superheated about 180 degrees, consumed
11.17 pounds of steam per brake horse-

CONSULTING
power hour at full load. The speed was
3,550 revolutions per minute and the
vacuum was 28 inches. With dry saturated
steam the consumption was 13.5
jiounds per brake horse-power hour at
full load, and 15.5 jiounds at one-half
load. A 1,000 kilowatt machine, using
steam of 150 pounds pressure and superheated
140 degrees, exhausting into a
vacuum of 28 inches, showed the very
remarkable economy of 12.66 pounds of
steam per electrical horse-power per
hour. A 1,500 kilowatt Westinghouse-
Parsons turbine, using dry saturated
steam of 150 pounds pressure with 27
inches vacuum, consumed 14.8 jiounds
steam per electrical horse-power hour at
full load, and 17.2 pounds at one-half
load.
*>»
Gas Producer vs. Steam Plants
How do the efficiencies of Gas Producer
Plants compare with those of Steam Plants?
—H.R. N.
Tbe chart jirinted herewith will give
you a much better idea than any description
can do.
To Bronze Iron
Can you describe a good method for bronzing
iron that will prevent rust?—A. K. S.
All the methods as vet known for producing
a bronze-like surface, by rubbing
over the surface of the iron an acid solution
of cojiper or an iron solution, letting
it dry in tbe air, brushing off the rust
produced in this way, and an abundant
repetition of this method, give a more or
less reddish-brown crust or rust on the
iron body. Objects formed of iron can
easily be covered with copper or brass
by dipping them in the requisite solution,
or by submitting tbem to tbe galvanic
method. The surface so prepared, however,
peels off in a short time, by exposure
to moist air in particular. By the method
given below it is possible to cover iron
objects, especially such as have an artistic
aim, with a fine bronze-like surface; it
resists pretty satisfactorily tbe influence
of moisture, and one is, moreover, enabled
to apply it to any object with great
ease. The clean, polished objects are to
be exposed to the action of the vapors
of a heated mixture of hydrochloric acid
and nitric acid, in equal portions, for
from two to five minutes; they are not
DEPARTMENT 217
to be shifted, and the temperature may
range from 300 J to 350° C. The heating
is continued so long that the bronzelike
surface is well developed on the surface
of the objects. After tbe objects
have cooled they should be well rubbed
flown with vaseline and again heated
_^— PERCENTAGE OF ENERGY FROM FUEL AVAILABLE IN
^^^ BRAKE HORSE POWER
1 I POUNDS WATER PER BRAKE HORSE PO^ER
VMM POUNDS COAL PEP BRAKE HORSE POWER
CURVE 1 RELATION OF ENERGY AVAILABLE
CuRvE 2RELATONOF WATER CONSUMPTION
CURVE 3 RELATION OF COAL CONSUMPTION *
LARGE SMALL LARGE SMALL
PRODUCER GAS PRODUCER 6« STEAM PLANT STEAM PLANT
PLANT PI ANT
DIAGRAM SHOWING COMPARISON BETWEEN EFFICIENCY or
GAS PRODUCER AND STEAM PLANTS.
until the vaseline begins to decomjiose.
When again cold they should be a second
time treated with vaseline in the same
way. If tbe vajior of a mixture of the
two concentrated acids is allowed to act
on an iron object in this manner a light
reddish-brown tone is developed. If
some acetic acid be mixed with the two
acids, and tbe vapor of all the acids together
be allowed to act on the metallic
surface, a fine bronze yellow color can
be obtained. By using different mixtures
of these acids every tint, from a dull
red-brown to a light brown, and from a
dull brownish yellow to light brown yeb
low, can be produced on the surface of

218 THE TECHNICAL IFORLD MAGAZINE
the iron. In this way some T-rods for
iron boxes were covered with a bronzelike
surface, and at the end of ten
months, although exposed during the
whole time to tbe action of the acid
fumes of a laboratory, they had undergone
no trace of any change.
*y
Strainer for Rain Water
Can you suggest a strainer fnr rain water to
catch the refuse washed from the roof before
it reaches the cistern?—S. D. A.
Tbe accompanying sketch shows a rain
water strainer wdiich has been found to
give good results. It is eighteen inches
high, twelve inches in diameter at tbe
half-circle, five and a half inches length
DESIGN FOR RAIN WATER STRAINER.
of bottom, and five inches deep. Allow
for all seams.
A, A 2 , D, li". Pi, represents the outside
of finished strainer. K is a section
of circular top hinged at B 2 and
fastened with a turn butti in. Tbe dotted
lines at E show tbe section of circular
top, K, jiartly ojien ; m is a galvanized
strainer with three-eighth inch holes.
The strainer rests upon siipports at tbe
ends, and may be removed at will. L
is a tin strainer with one-eighth inch
holes, and is soldered in place. F and G
are three inch inlet and outlet. 2 2 are
straps on back side, by which the strainer
is fastened to the building.
As will be seen, the top strainer catches
the refuse wdiich is washed from the roof
and gutters, and is easily taken out; the
finer jiarticles are caught below and may
be removed when the top strainer is out.
To Figure Gears for Screw Cutting
How are gears for screw cutting figured?—
D. S. R.
The problem of cutting a screw on a
lathe resolves itself into connecting tbe
spindle of tbe lathe with the lead screw
by a number of gears in such a manner
tbat tbe carriage, moved by the lead
screw, advances exactly one inch during.
the lapse of time required for the lathe
spindle to make a number of revolutions
equal to the numlier of threads to the
inch in the desired screw.
The lead screw has nearly always a
single thread, and, therefore, to move the
carriage forward just one inch it must
make a number of revolutions equal to its
own number of threads per inch. It is.
consequently, fir.st of all necessary to
know the number of threads per inch on
the lead screw.
The spindle of the lathe is provided
with a gear which transmits the rotary
motion of the spindle co tbe stud gear,
below the spindle, by means of intermediate
gears situated within the head
stock. There are two of these intermediate
gears, one being an idle gear, for
the purjiose of changing the direction of
the motion of the stud and through this
the lead screw.
Tbe connection of the stud with the
lead screw may be accomplished by simple
or compound gearing.
In simple gearing tbe motion of the
stud gear is transmitted either direct or
by means of intermediate gears, which
simply transmitting the motion received
from one gear to another, do not affect
the resulting ratio of a train of gears.
Consequently, the intermediate gears in
simple gearing will be disregarded in all
calculations for screw cutting.
The stud gear is usually equal to the
driving gear on tbe spindle ; it mav, however,
be of a different size and" in the
following problem it will be assumed that

IC^L ir-JDfP
DOUBLE Cwec
VALVE
^7^3
D&/*IN CuP
CONSUL TING DEI 'AR TMENT 219
3 IKAIGMT AIR
Tz -\, f, f- • , •
i~ivG/rvcei?s3ieAr;£\'Ac : s£ >
DIAGRAM OF AUTOMATIC AIR BKAK1,
Working Automatic Air Brake
Please explain the working of the automatic
air brake as used on railway trams.—/. //. /',
There is a compressed-air reservoir on
the engine or tender, and a cylinder and
piston under each car in the train, operating
the brake-levers; but there is a separate
auxiliary reservoir on the engine
AUK
RC&E&VOIP
the gear on the spindle has double the or tender. The air-pump discharges into
number of teeth than that on the stud. the main reservoir; in connection with
The following formula will give the this is the engineer's brake-valve, with
required ratio for the gears on the stud which is connected the brake-pipe, which
and on tbe lead screw :
wdth its continuations, extends back
Number of teeth on stud gear
under the train, communicating with the
auxiliary reservoirs. Other pipes com­
Number of teeth on lead screw gear
municate with the auxiliary reservoirs
Number of turns of spindle
by the "triple-valves." In charging the
Number of turns of stud
-multiplied brakes the main reservoir is filled with
compressed air ; then the engineer's valve-
Number of threads on the lead screw is opened to let air through the brake-
by-
Number of threads per inch on required screw
pipe and triple-valves and into the auxiliary
reservoirs. The trijilc-valves close
Problem : It is required to cut a screw communication between the auxiliary
with 16 threads to the inch ; the lead reservoirs and the brake cylinders, as
screw has 8 threads to the inch and the long as there is pressure in tbe brake-
spindle makes 20 turns to 40 turns of jiipe ; but when this pressure is lowered,
the stud.
as by the breakage of the train, or jiur-
Solution:
Number of teeth on stud gear 20 8 1
jiosely clone by the engineer, they open
and let air from the auxiliary cylinders
to the brake-cylinders, thus apjilying the
Number of teeth on lead screw gear 40 16 4 brakes. Tbe engineer's valve permits
letting air out of the brake-pipe at will,
The required ratio is one to four, i. e.,
and thus apjilying the brakes wdien de­
when the stud gear will have 16 teeth
sired. By so turning the engineer's
the lead screw gear will have 16x4=64
valve as to close the opening by wdiich
teeth ; now if the stud gear will have 20
air may escajie from the brake-pipe, air
teeth the lead screw gear will have
flows from the main reservoir to the
20x4=80 teeth, and so on.
brake-pipe, this latter closing the triplevalves,
letting the air out of the cylinders,
and releasing the brakes, which are
forced from the wheels by springs.
Credit for the photos of Luray Caverns
printed in our July issue should have
been given to the Stnckler Studio, Luray,
Va.

THE ST. LAWRENCE BRIDGE AFTER THE DISASTER.
World's Greatlest! Bridge Inn Rmmu
'TIEN the huge, uncompleted
span of tbe St.
Lawrence cantilever
bridge, near Quebec, fell
into the river on August
29 last, one of the greatest
engineering undertakings of the century
became a disastrous failure and its awful
collapse cost the lives of nearly a
hundred of its builders.
For some six years this enormous
bridge lias been under construction and
the jirogress made upon it was being
watched with wonder by the whole engineering
world, fur some of the features
of its design were of such remarkable
character as to be the subjects of universal
discussion. In April, 1906, THE TECH­
NICAL WORLD MAGAZINE printed a brief
description of the designs for the bridge,
(220)
ly H. Ca. H^va rati snag
together with comment upon it, and magazines
and newsjiajiers everywhere have
given it much attention. Its destruction
is considered a national calamity to Canada,
and is of international importance to
engineers.
The design of the bridge specified a
total length of 3,000 feet between the anchorage
piers, and included two five-hundred-foot
anchor spans, extending from
the anchor-piers to the main piers
of the towers, and two five-hundred-andsixty-foot
cantilever arms, reaching out
to hold between them the tremendous
central susjiended span, six Iiundred and
seventy feet long. This central span, described
as the longest of its kind ever attempted,
was to complete the crossing of
the river, and with its sujijiorting arms
exceeded in length the total extent of the

WORLD'S GREATEST FRIDGE IN RUINS 221
longest cantilever ever built, the bridge
across the River Forth, at Edinburgh.
Wdien the St. Lawrence bridge fell,
some eight hundred feet of its length had
been constructed and hung out over the
river like a long arm of steel extended
to grasp the hand of its fellow reaching
over from the opposite shore. Day by
day for years it hatl been slowly pushing
its way out and up, adding tons of weight
to tons of weight at the extremity of its
reach, its builders working with jierfect
faith in their design and plan. Day by dav
the awful stress upon piers and anchorages
increased, while girder and beam and
pin and bar went into place, each contributing-
its mite to the stupendous burden
itself must help to carry, till, on the fatal
day, the figures of the engineers were exceeded,
some forgotten or uncalcnlated
weakness developed, or some unlookedfor
or neglected factor in the great problem
brought its inevitable result, and the
whole great creation went down to terrific
ruin.
Such a catastrojihe, viewed purely
from the point of view of scientific interest,
is sure to bring uppermost in most
minds increased wonder and respect for
great past successes and to stir greater
hopes for the future, desjiite the awful
new warning against the slightest transgression
of natural law. Builders of tbe
bridge itself and engineers the world over
will search and look for the cause of the
disaster, yet undiscovered, and when it is
found will go on to sjreater thing's for us
SOUTH ARM WHICH FILL, LOOKING KHOM BENEATH-
SHOWING "1 KAVhLhK AND GREAT HEIGHT.
to wonder at anew. We are daily paying
the cost in lives and dollars of a better
and bigger knowledge and every great
failure teaches something and is, therefore,
but one heavy instalment of the
jirice we pay.
The jiictures reproduced herewith show
the design of tbe bridge as it was to have
been erected at a cost of $10,000,000, two
views of the work under way, and a photograph
of tbe desolate wreck which
marks the place where busy activity and
SOUTH ANCHOR AND CANTILEVER ARMS COMPLETE BEFORE SWINGING OE 675-FOOT SPAN.

222 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
iLB^MBEjmiMM
THE ST, LAWRENCE BRIDGE AS IT WOULD HAVE LOOKED II- COMPLETED.
its protluct were so suddenly sucked down
into the great river by gravity's force,
because someone's work or figures went
wrong. The magnitude of the disaster
may be comprehendefl when it is recalled
that the jiortion of the bridge which collapsed
hung in mid air. one hundred and
fifty feet above the river, that its weight
bad reached into the thousands of tons
and that the crash of its fall was heard
.vening
Now came still evening on, and twilight gray
Had in her sober livery all things clad;
Silence accompany'd; for beast and bird,
distinctly in Quebec, which is six miles
away from the scene of the accident.
There were single jiieces in the structure
which weighed one huntlred tons, and
single girders which reached a length of
one hundred feet and over. Pins were
from nine to twenty-four inches in diameter
and uj> to ten feet in length.- The
number of rivets already driven was in
tbe hundreds of thousands.
They to their grassy couch, these to their nests.
Were slunk, all but the wakeful nightingale;
She all night long her amorous descant sung;
Silence was pleas'd. Now glow'd the firmament
With living sapphires; Hesperus, that led
The starry host, rode brightest, till the moon,
Rising in clouded majesty, at length
Apparent queen unveil'd her peerless light,
And o'er dark her silver mantle threw.
-MILTON.

VOWEL SIRENS DESIGNED BY DR. MARAGE.
Mea©^rainigJ tllhie HlMffiniaim Voice
t Grss.imdle
By measuring HE the Paris pressure scientist, of the Dr. air
Marage, whose invention
for photographing the
voice was described in
TECHNICAL WORLD MAG­
AZINE for June, 1907, has
designed an interesting apparatus by
means of wdiich the intensity of the
human voice and the sharpness of the
sense of hearing can be accurately gaged.
The apparatus comprises a cet of sirens
each of which corresponds to a given
fundamental vowel. These vowels are
produced by adapting the air currents
issuing from the siren to the shape of the
acoustical vibrations constituting tbe
vowel in question.
Such sirens, however, give the impression
only of sung vowels anti in order
to reproduce those of spoken words, each
siren has to be fitted with a mouthpiece
that accurately imitates the shape of the
mouth in pronouncing the vowel in question.
current traversing the siren, an accurate
gage of the sound is obtained. This can
be utilized in examining the liearing
sharpness of patients, for which purpose
no adequate method was so far available,
all former instruments failing to produce
sounds comparable with those of the
human voice.
The same ajiparatus is used not only
for gaging the sharpness of the sense of
hearing, but as well for improving it by
a methodical application of the apparatus
to the ear drum. Another jiossible application
is for gaging the acoustic qualities
of a given hall, and in this connection the
ajiparatus has been used successfullv by
its inventor in examining some of the
foremost Parisian music-halls and auditoriums.
It could obviously be used also
for artificially reproducing the human
voice, were this problem not already
solved so satisfactorily by the phonograph.
(223)

ow BTOadiwSiy ]L©©Sl§ from
Above
Views taken from the Thirty-third floor ol the new Singer Building, New York City, showing the appalling
(224)
heights to which modern architectural science dares to climb.
LOOKING SOUTH-EAST FROM THIRTY-THIRD FLOOR OF SINGER BUILDING

HOW BROADWAY LOOKS FROM ABOVE
LOOKING NORTH FROM THIRTY-THIRD FLOOR. PARK ROW BUILDING IS IX FOREGROUND.
5*
>*m «bm mm *•>*,
LOOKING DOWN ON BROADWAY
***P"*z
s^

Freedom of the Press
WE thought that the citizens of Athens respected
and desired freedom of the press.
Apparently they do not. James B. Parker,
whose wife is taking the part of Juliet in the
"charity series, objected to our calling her
skinny, and waited for us at the theater last
night. Fortunately, we caught him one on the
eye. which destroyed some of the effect his
objections might otherwise have borne.—
Athens (Kan.) Eagle.
A Pertinent Question
A TEACHER in a Long Island city school was
giving her class a lesson in hygiene.
"Never sleep on more than one pillow," she
said; "in fact, it's better to use no pillow at
all, because if you do it's likely to make you
round-shouldered."
Little Rocco Piscotta waved his arm wildly.
"Well?" said the teacher.
"S'posen you sleep on your stummick?"
piped Rocco.—Harper's Weekly.
But Two Dimensions
THERE was an old fellow named Green,
Who grew so abnormally lean
And flat and compressed.
That his back touched his chest.
And sideways he couldn't be seen.
Sensible Cow
MR, FLATT DWELLER—"The difference between
a cow and a milkman is that a cow
gives pure milk."
CHALKER (the milkman)—-"There's another
difference; the cow doesn't give credit."
(22fi)
Particularly Impressed Her
"You were at the concert last night, were
you ?" said the next-door neighbor. "How did
you like it?"
"It was splendid," said Mrs. Lapsling.
"They played one overture, with a wabbly
ghetto by the violinist, that was the finest
thing I ever heard in my life,"—Chicago Tribune.
What's in a Name?
THERE was a great swell in Japan,
Whose name on a Tuesday began;
It lasted through Sunday
Till twilight on Monday,
And sounded like stones in a can.
His Compliment
AN assistant seeretao' of one of the Federal
departments at Washington in conversation
frequently betrays his Celtic origin.
One day lately he lost his umbrella during a
tour of several shops in quest of an article
for his wife. Concluding that the umbrella
must have been left in one of the three stores
in question he doubled on his trail and revisited
them in turn.
"The umbrella has not been found here,"
he was told at the first establishment.
The same announcement was made at the
second shop; whereupon the official, with a
hopeless air, made his way to the third store.
There, to his delight, the umbrella was
awaiting him. As the floor-walker handed it
over, the overjoyed Celt exclaimed:
"Well, I must say you are more honest
here than at those other stores !"—Harper's.

Perfectly Impartial
THE manager of a shipyard is reported to
have assembled his men together in the time
ofiice and told them to vote in a municipal election
as they pleased. "In fact, I shan't tell
you bow I am going to vote," he said, "but
after it is all over I shall have a barrel of beer
brought into the yard." ("Hear, hear!"
shouted the men.) "But I shan't tap it unless
Mr. Blank gets in."—Argonaut.
*y
Separate Them!
DEAR LIZZIE—Don't bother with chaps who
are poor ;
Look out for a fellow with money instead;
Though the way may seem thorny, I bid you
be sure
A fool and his money are speedily wed
—Life.
Tf
Crusty
THE new stenographer's yellow hair glittered
in the flood of spring sunlight that
poured through the open window of the office.
But old Duke, the bookkeeper, had no eyes
for the girl's beauty. He lighted a cigar and
set to work.
"Mr. Duke," said the stenographer.
"Huh?" the old man grunted.
"Look here," she said, imperiously. "I am
sorry, but smoking always makes me sick."
"Then," said Duke, "don't ever smoke "—
Minneapolis Journal.
Tf
Instructions Needed
EVERYBODY knows one or more or those conscientious
egoists who cannot rid themselves
of the idea that no one can be trusted to carry
out the simplest details of routine work without
their personal supervision.
It was one of these men who sailed for England,
leaving in his brother's care a parrot
of which he was very fond. All the way
across the Atlantic he worried about the bird.
and no sooner had he landed at Southampton
than he rushed over this cablegram to bis
brother:
"Be sure and feed parrot."
And the brother cabled back :
"Have fed him, but he's hunery again. What
shall I do next?"—Woman's Home Companion.
BLOWING OLE' STEAM 227
The Bells
'\\ 1101 makes thot gnat shiver si., .Mike?"
'lie ale a lot av sleigh bells th' other dav,
an' ivry toime he moves they jingle, an' he
thinks it's winter."—Denver Post.
Tf
Somethin' Else Doin'
AN old lady who is very much of a borepaid
a visit to a family of her acquaintance
She prolonged her stay, and finally said to
one of the children: "I am going away directly.
Tommy, and I want you lo go a part of the
way with me."
"Can't do it. We are going to have dinner
as soon as vou leave," replied Tommy
Tf
The Manly Part
AT a dinner in Newport Rear Admiral
Evans spoke with scorn of a young man who
had married an old woman for her money.
"That chap calls himself a man, I suppose,"
said the great sea-fighter, "but there are various
definitions of the word man, and the
definition that would lit our friend best is
the Peebles one. A Scot of Peebles said to
his friend MacAndrew, 'Mac, I hear ye have
fallen in love wi' bonny Kate McAllister.'
" 'Well, Sanders,' Mac replied, 1 was near—
verra near—doin' it, but the bit lassie had nae
siller, so I said to myself, "Mac, be a mon"'"
—Rochester Herald
Tf
Doubtful Compensation
MR. HANS—"Doc, I ain'd got much monev.
Vill you dake my bill out in drade?"
DR. GANS—"Why, I might. What's your
business?"
MR. HANS—"I'm der leader off der liddle
Cherman band. Ve'll play in front off your
house effrv efening."—Cleveland Leader.
Tf
Blamed the Wrong One
HOTEL GCEST—"What's the matter with this
chicken ?"
WAITER—"It isn't the chicken's fault sir:
you ought to have come last week.—Jugend.

Vast Power
N the very heart of the
Kentucky mountains, on
the grand old Cumberland
river, is a mighty waterfall
which has rightly been
styled the "Niagara of the
The comparison with Niagara
borne out in the accompanying
photograph but to realize fully the similarity,
one must listen tn the noise of the
waters as they drop straight down fnr
seventv feet and witness the rushing of
the nearbv rapids. Kentucky holds in
store im mi ire interesting sight excepting
the Mammoth Cave. On account nf its
(228)
My Wo FT&Z&K McCluare
Tilt NlAGAR i OF IHR SOUTH."
Cumberland Falls in the li art of the Kentucky Mountains
seclusion less is really known of this
waterfall than man}- others less notable.
The nearest approach by train is Cumberland
halls station, thirteen miles distant.
The upper Cumberland valley lies between
the Cumberland mountains and
the Line mountains in Kentucky, the
Cumberland mountains being on the border
between Kentucky and Yirginia. The
I Hack and Brush peaks rise from the
valley to a greater height than either of
the ranges. Cumberland Gap is situated
at the point where Kentucky, Tennessee
and Yirginia join. On the opposite side
of the valley from Cumberland
Gap. the Cumberland
river cuts
through the Pine mountains
at Pine Gap anti
from this point soon
thereafter reaches Cumberland
Falls.
The main falls are
three hundred and fifty
feet wide in high water
and about one hundred
and forty feet in medium
stage. To be exact about
the main drop of these
falls.it is just sixty : eight
feet. Two hundred feet
above there is another
flroji of twelve feet. The
pool below the main falls
is seventy-five feet in
depth.
Engineers who have
investigated the possibilities
of developing the
water power of the "Niagara
of the South" estimate
that there would
be 20,000 horse-power
available all the year
round and 40,000 horsejiower
during the spring
and summer months.

TECHNIC-AL
W O R L D
MAGAZINE
TAB LB OF C O N T B N TS
Cover Design. FRED STEARNS.
Frontispiece. DWELLERS BV THE
ZUVDER ZEE
To Pump Dry a Great Sea. EM-
NOVEMBER, 1907
Pate
MEIT C. HALL 231
The Machine. POEM. MARGARET
ASHMUN 238
Trapping Wild Tuskers. TICMAS
A. JOHNSON 239
Twenty Million for Cut Flowers.
WM. GEO. FITZ-GERALD . . 240
Sixty Millions a Year Wasted.
RENE BACHE 25-t
Twin Monsters of the Deep. NICK
J. QUIRK 261
San Francisco Eighteen Months
After 268
Power House Under a River. AR­
THUR H. GOLDSBOROUGH . . . 270
America's Greatest Mastodon. LIL­
LIAN E. ZEH 272
Auto Creeps at Ten Miles Per
Hour. DONALD BURNS . . . 275
To Cut the Ocean in Two.
MCGRATH . . . .
Fighting Sand Blizzards. GUY E.
MITCHELL
To Use Trackless Trolleys. DAVID
BEECROFT 290
Reaping the Ten Year Cork Crop.
EVELYN STEWART . . . . 295
Camera Helps Save Eye. J. B. VAN
BRUSSEL 303
Machine That Cleans Fish.
FRANK MCCLURE .
W.
Conquest of the North Woods.
JAMES COOKE MILLS . . . . 309
Spouting Bores of Australia. WIL­
LIAM GEORGE
316
New Gas Engine Fuel.
GREENE
Waifs of Wit . .
Engineering Progress
Consulting Department
Science and Invention
HOWARD
3115
:;22
324
326
331
335
THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE, published the seventeenth of each
month preceding the date of issue, is a popular, illustrated record of progress in science,
invention and industry.
PRICE: $1.50 per year, in advance; single copies, 15 cents. Fifty cents additional for
points in Canada, except Newfoundland, which requires foreign postage. Foreign postage is
Si.00 a year additional.
H O W TO REMIT: Send money by draft on Chicago, express or posLoffice money
order.
T H E EDITORS invite the submission of photographs and articles on subjects of modern
engineering, scientific, and popular interest. Prompt decision will be rendered and payment
will be made on acceptance. Unaccepted material will be returned if accompanied by
stamps. While the utmost care will be exercised, the editors disclaim all responsibility for
nanuscripts submitted.
CC> CO Oi Oi Oi
THE TECHNICAL WORJLD CO.,
c^ CHICAGO, U. S.A. Oi
— •m • in Hi — Jgggjjjfe;
Entered at the Postoffice, Chicago, 111., as second-class mail matter
~:Ii~'r "• •:• •'•:• • • ---. - ••• '~l r :: .zc
-?~ bst^ffei* mmAzY rs>

inc. 1 izi^nivI^CIL, ivuni^jj mn.Kjeiie.Lirtc
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Mention Technical World Magazine

DWELLERS BY THE ZUYDER ZEE.
Their fishins; erounds are to be turned into farm lands

THE TECHNICAL
WORLD MAGAZINE
Volume VIII NOVEMBER, 1907 No. 3
T© F^amrnp Dry a Grealt Sea
>y E.ffimirme£ Camaplbelll Mall
ITTLE Holland, with its
L
5,000,000 people living
safely behind their
wave-washed dykes, is
about to make a new
conquest from its old
enemy, the ocean. Already
Dutch engineers
have begun the tremendous task which
will result in turning the Zuyder Zee into
1,400 square miles of dry land. Where of
old the great Dutch war-fleets gathered,
where now four thousand fishermen sink
their nets, there will rise happy villages,
broad pastures, poplar-bordered roads
and sleepy canals—new farms and homes
for 50,000 Dutchmen.
The task to be undertaken is a tremendous
one. It will cost nearly $76,-
000,000. In return the government expects
to secure annual rentals of more
than $5,000,000 from those who occupy
and till the hard won ground
The Zuyder Zee has occupied a most
prominent place in Dutch history. On its
Copyright, 1907, by Tech nical World Company.
shores are the ancient towns of Medemblik,
Hoorn, Harderwyck, Xorden and
Enkhuizen, under whose walls the Dutch
fleets used to lie at anchor in the days
when Holland disputed with England the
supremacy of the seas. It seems peculiarly
appropriate, now that Holland has
turned from the ways of war to the paths
of peace, that it should win in its great
fight with the sea— a fight that has continued
throughout hundreds of years—
attaining victory only by ceaseless vigilance
and fierce endeavor. And yet one
cannot but experience a feeling of regret
that those ancient cities which, though
nations rose and fell, made good the circles
of their battered ramparts, defying
alike the power of the sea and the might
of Spain, should become quiet inland
towns, far removed from the roar of the
breakers against the dykes.
As long ago as 1849 Holland cast her
eyes upon the Zuyder Zee, and a plan was
considered for shutting ofif the whole of
the Zee, but at that time it was con-
(231)

232 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
BUILDINGS EVERYWHERE STAND RIGHT AT THE WATER'S EDGE.
; ,V:-u,«WII'|ilM«lll|i MiMifMjiMwaypsa^^

*v
jp*
PI 1
TO PUMP DRY A GREAT SEA 233
Vr*-
*«?. •* . » . *£A~\ A^yZ,:^
IIIEBWOOI
A GROUP OF YOUNG DUTCHMEN.
To provide farms for them 1,400 square miles of sea are to be filled up.
If?

234 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
tended by engineers that tbe thing was one section reclaimed at a time, work
impossible. It was even asserted that the having already been started on the first.
pumping dry of Haarlem Lake was be : The Zuyder Zee is, in reality, a deep
yond accomplishment, but in 1850 this gulf, forming the mouth of the Yssel and
was done, and many thousands of acres other rivers, and it is the design, instead
of rich land thrown open for settlement. of simply dyking the rivers within their
In all practical respects, it is the plan narrow channels, to allow them to flow
MAP OF THE ZUYDER ZEE COUNTRY, SHOWING WHERE LAND WILL BE RECLAIMED
FROM THE OCEAN.
of 184'» that is now to be carried out.
A great dam or embankment will be built
across the north end of the sea from
Wieringen, in North Holland, to Piaam,
in Friesland, having sluices into the
North Sea, thus creating a great lake,
which will be cut up into sections, and
into a central reservoir, or lake, located
at a point approximating what is now
the middle of the Zuyder^Zee. The estimated
cost of the whole great project is
$75,828,000. Of the land reclaimed, it is
calculated that 750 square miles will be fit
for cultivation, and the nation should de-

TO PUMP DRY A GREAT SEA 235
i-A \ 1 Wkr
: Sf£c
#5^^ dH&9S&
£7*-?"-^
SSfcaJ'
{.m.
FISHERMEN WHOSE BUSINESS WILL BE RUINED.
r, — - - - --«—
^fl
ft, •wria V»
h srr^adHvJ

(236)
•. ..:••.' V
.^x$&i:
--- - -;' • :'"'.y", '-"".'", , '"''-' ""•" ?-^zyy*Z7ryeZ y~y~.y:yy' -"-- -~ -^'^yy^Ty
m

ive 'an income of at least $5,-
000.000 per year in rents from
this area, as dyked lands on
the verge of the Zuyder Zee
are worth from $10 to $20 per
acre per year.
At present some 4,000 fishermen
pursue their hardy
calling upon the waters of the
Zee, and the gross income
they derive from the fishery is
approximately a million dol- W ^ K - _
lars a year. In addition to the
loss of their occupation, these fishermen
will also be compelled to abandon their
boats and other equipment, as not suitable
to the rougher waters of the North
Sea, and it will be necessary for the Government
to compensate these men, thus
adding another considerable item to the
expense account.
The question of the effect of the draining
of a sea upon the health of the workmen
and of the citizens of adjoining
regions has received careful consideration,
the result of which is the conclusion
that no far-reaching or long continued
bad effects will result. That there will
be more or less malaria is inevitable, but
it is claimed that this malaria will be
found only in the area of actual operation,
and it is not intended that this area
shall be, at any time, extensive. The
work will be done section by section, each
succeeding subdivision being taken up as
the preceding one is finished. Thirtythree
years i.s the time estimated to be
necessarv for the completion of the work.
That portion of the work to be immediately
undertaken is the building of the
great dyke which is to stretch from the
coast of North Holland to the island of
Wieringen, and the drying and recovery
TO PUMP DRY A GREAT SEA 237
of that portion of the Zuyder
Zee known under the name of
the "Wieringen Meer," forming
the northwestern of the
four polders, or sections, of
the original plan.
This polder will be about
48,000 acres in area, of which
the borings indicate that fully
40,000 acres will be fertile soil.
As the dyke between Wieringen
and the coast of Friesland
is not to be built at
present, the eastern dyke nf the polder
will be directly on the Zuyder Zee and
will have to withstand the highest storm
flood tides, which in this part rise to
about ten feet above the average water
level, it being necessary, therefore, to
build the dyke five meters above the average
low water level.
By means of low inner dykes the polder
will be divided into four parts, from each
of which the water will be pumped out
separatelv. For this work four steam
pumps of 1,900 horsepower each will be
erected.
The cost of the undertaking, exclusive
of the interest, is estimated at 23 million
guilders ($9,246,000) and the work is to
be completed in seven years, of which it
is calculated tbat three will be required
in the making of the dykes and four in
the draining, making of canals, roads,
bridges and sluices in the recovered
polder and in the preparation of the soil
for tillage.
Thus it will come to pass that in another
generation men will plow and build
their cottages where the anchors of their
fathers' boats used to drag and little Holland
will have won another battle in her
endless warfare with the sea.

THE MACHINE
MARGARET /ASHMU1N
HO calls this shape a dull, insentient
thing—
A blind device for mere and stupid
gain?
He has not watched with wonder in his brain
Its rhythmic process, heard it whir and sing,
And, inly thrilling, felt the fateful swing
That moves its rods with grim, tremendous
strain;
He has not seen the marvel, subtly plain,
In silken slide of band and wheel and spring;
Else would he cry, "Behold, there labors
here
A visible intelligence — a mind
Made up of many minds, that, year by year,
Have thought and dreamed, resolved to seek
and find,
Till now stands this—clean, exquisite and
sheer—
The concentrated genius of mankind!"
V

FROM BrERBMMPH COPiR&Ht B
*v
U6
V 1
WOOD * jriD£B*O0D, I
r n £
w /A
TRAPPING
WILD
TUSREHS
B^> THOMAS A.JOHNSON
AN army has camped in the tangled
jungles of Chittagong, and tomorrow
a division of the Bengal elephant
catching service will go forward.
Then shall you see the grandest, the most daring
piece of work the wilderness records. Four
hundred brown men are moving like wraiths
in this chill December dusk of rose and gold.
Evening fires are lighted, and vague tongues
of flame reveal the shining might of fifty docile
tuskers filing up from their river bath.
The tents of the sahibs on yonder hill are
walled with light, and before their flaps sit
fierce whiskered Ghurkas and Sikhs; Afridis
and Pathans. The camp is a wild medley of
howdahs and packs ; guncases and ropes ; tools
and tents; boxes and sacks and miscellaneous
litter. It all looks like a great circus, by some
chance spilled out here in the Indian jungle.
jj
f i
0SF m
ULL . 1 *miZ
Hp 4
§ 4
~ m
wi
(239)

240 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
:.*Vv W.
"$v
TAME Tl'SKER THAT IS USED TO BULLY WILD ELEPHANTS INTO SUBMISSION.
Note how he assists the mahout to mount.
Ilvder AH, the overseer, gaunt, bearded
and brown, cocks his turban coquettishlv
and strides to the tent of the chief
to report in liquid Urdu. Within, the
officers squat on string beds, and the
master tracker grovels in a corner with
closed eyes, weaving wondrous tales
from the wet leaves and broken twigs
he has seen this day as he slipped through
the tangled jungle.
Hyder Ali's tale is soon told. Sixtyelephants
are in the wild herd ; already
they have been classified. And now
Donald Stewart, with young Forbes,
Robert Hill and Captain Purlev, confer
together until the strategy be complete.

Ere they have done the fires have died
down, and elephants and men are sleeping.
Onlv four miles away in the forest
depths the wild monsters lurk all unsuspecting,
enormous and dim among the
giant trunks and drooping orchids. Now
and then one of them lifts an ear uneasily
and a mysterious little turbaned
head melts into ambush.
At sunrise the big camp is humming
with business. Down the river packelephants
crash through the scrub, collecting
fodder for tbe day—five hundred
pounds for each. The big brutes heave
up grassy sheaves on to their own backs,
and presently turn homeward as moving
hillocks of green. Up and away now !
The sahibs climb into their howdahs
ere the river mist has lifted. Stewart
leads the way across the yellow flood and
into the forest's heart. On and on. Suddenly
the foremost elephant halts with
trunk aloft; the long line stops also. A
tracker from out of the jungle is pointing
ahead with excited gesture. The wild
herd is but a mile away! The strangest
of wars is about to begin.
According to the plan, the beaters will
surround their mighty prey and hem
them in for days by gunfire and clanging
gongs, and brushwood fires at night; the
while a great log stockade is being built
with feverish energy for the final capture.
It sounds simple; yet it mav mean
utter failure, and sudden death therewith.
Men are dropped in twos, that seem
so futile in so vast a wilderness. And
thev begin to run up a flimsy screen of
wattled bamboos, fast as a spider spins.
Not to restrain wild elephants, surely—
this fence that a child could pull down?
Even so, friend ; but this is not the final
trap. That is a vastly stronger stockade
of tree trunks, as you shall see. And
yet let the terrified creatures reach this
swaying bamboo barrier at any point,
and up from the unnatural trap-like
screen rises a fiendish uproar of gongs
and fireworks, with howls and clappings
that no self-respecting elephant will face.
These colossal, yet most timid of animals
will surely draw back bewildered by the
strange things that have invaded their
junele home.
Thus the frail bamboo fence becomes
ringed with fear, and not to be lightly
TRAPPING WILD TUSKERS 241
forced. At the same time it has been
forced many a time. Stewart Sahib
over there could tell of a great herd,
seventy strong, which, led by a valiant
tusker, broke through and got safely
away. For the beaters' line was weak.
It is one of the risks of the elephant
catching service. Another time a superb
herd over sixty strong balked at the very
door of the kheddah or final stockade;
turned and stampeded like an avalanche
through bunches of unsuspecting beaters,
killing many and undoing four thousand
dollars' worth of preparation.
But now is an anxious time. Under
low branches and creeping lianes the men
advance in utter silence. Such swift
progress is wonderful amid great boulders
and rotting trunks and high, dense
cane-thickets, laden with waxen berries.
Heavy jungle hems them in, opening sullenly,
closing with a snap. Only by the
compass can the leader tell when the
half circle is complete.
At last a murmur of satisfaction as tbe
horns of the two strategic crescents meet
by a clump of sal trees. At sundown
comes a little rest, and the white officers
confer anxiously about the great stockade
of logs. Little sinewy Dacca men dive
into the packs and bring out ropes and
axes, big saws and mighty hammers. The
sahibs select the trees, and the master
tracker tells his men their work is done.
They must now turn to another kind.
Word is sent to the overseers around
the living circle that half their forces
must be drawn off at dawn for treehewing
and-rope-making. A world of
ghostly tents begin to dot the malarial
clearings ; but in spite of the strenuous
day tonight will be sleepless.
With the Indian twilight—a marvel of
mauve and rose—flames shoot up around
the wild elephants. That damp bamboo
explodes and sparkles like fireworks. No
sleep for the ringing beaters tonight, lest
the herd slip through and all the trouble
and expense of this expedition go for
nought. A smoke pall broods over the
jungle, starting from the wet leaves and
drifting among giant cotton-trees as
though the hill men had started this
grass-burning in autumn.
And in the midst of it all the corrugated
monsters huddle together anxiously,
shrinking this way and that from the

242 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
girdle of noise and flame. How long
will the spell of terror be upon them ?
Will some brave tusker lead a desperate
charge? Truly an anxious time. At
noon on the third day the kheddah is
ready—a marvel of woodcraft and
cunning.
BABY ELEPHANT AND HINDU CHILD.
Just inside the southern rim of the
great circle of heaters it stands—a tenfoot
stockade of closely planted logs,
lashed together with jungle ropes. A
deep ditch within, and without strong
braces. And with bristling, chevaux-defrise
disposed at places likely to sustain
an assault. The great gatewav facing
north, and masked with foliage, is approached
by a runway of logs, screened
with vegetation and arranged funnelwise.
Above that entrance hangs the
ponderous gate, studded inside with
spikes and ready to drop like the knife
of some colossal guillotine on easy-running
cables.
The natural approach to the trap is
surely guileless, even to cunning elephant
eyes. It shows only a leafy forest wall
with one ragged gap. These kheddahbuilding
days have been terribly trying
to the two forces. On the one hand half
the army have been building the stockade
; and while hurry is imperative, nothing
must be carelessly done, for a great
herd of wild elephants needs a titanic pen.
Scores of tame tuskers, with mahouts
perched behind their ragged ears, have
toiled crazily to please Stewart Sahib—
dragging,pushing and raising logs ; stripping
big trees of their branches with a
dexterity far more than human. On the
other hand, from dusk to dawn the drone
of distant beaters has kept the jungle
restless.
So far the preparations have cost
$3,000. Suddenly two rifle shots ring
sharply. The distant army of beaters
has begun the drive. The sahibs and
their tactical aides move out to the funnel
and settle down behind its mighty screen.
Stewart Sahib, axe in hand, a black
cheroot in his mouth, stands beside the

taut cables that hold on high the great
gate.
The critical moment approaches. Gradually
the distant hum grows into a diabolical
uproar of voices both hoarse and
shrill; of gongs and tom-toms and shooting.
From a point not far away now
comes the thrilling sound of splintering
saplings, of ponderous bodies moving in
perplexity.
A long-drawn sigh comes from the
watchers as a gigantic tusker, half covered
with mud looms out of the forest
shadows. The great sail-like ears are
lifted; the mighty head and trunk rolls
to and fro, bewildered. And behind
crowd other gigantic shapes gleaming
with ivory. Some strike the jungle floor
with their trunks, and the noise is like
crackling sheet iron—a sign of sore fear.
In the rear and all round clashes the unseen
pandemonium driving the monsters
inexorablv.
The hidden hunters hold their breath.
The enormous tusker, king and leader,
comes slowly, slowly down the narrowing
funnel—magnificent in his unkempt
TRAPPING WILD TUSKERS 243
A WILD TUSKER ROPED.
When a prisoner refuses to submit he is thus bound.
wildness. Keen little pig-like eyes measure
the masked gateway. Beyond it a
clearing seems to invite certain escape
from further torment. Pressing and
crowding come a world of mighty shapes
on his very heels.
With a swing of his trunk the leader
moves under the hidden gate and into the
kheddah. Almost on top of him crowds
an avalanche of great, heaving, dusty
backs to escape the smoke of the riflemen
and the yelling gong-beating figures.
The last elephant is through! With
a yell of triumph Donald Stewart swings
his axe. A sharp snap ; a reverberating
crash! The ponderous gate falls, and
the herd is safe at last! Now may the
army's triumph be let loose. Out of the
jungle come the beaters, howling and capering
to line the supports of the stockade.
Riflemen are whirling their guns
and shooting reckless salvoes, as though
drunk with arrack. Bengali tacticians are
hugging the sahib's knees. A complete
success has been scored.
Meanwhile the trapped herd of mighty
animals huddles in the centre of the khed-

2-44 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
dab, badly scared by the riot and smoke.
But ere that great tusker, the leader, can
find his head, Stewart Sahib must act.
The huge gate creaks up once more; and
into that jungle amphitheatre the tame
SOME OF THE WILD HERD, TERRIFIED BY THE SHOOTING AND
CENTER OF TIIE STOCKADE.
tuskers go shuffling, encouraged by the
yelling mahouts. Behind hang the Bengali
noosers. clinging by the girths and
armed with great loops of cable. Trained
in many a dusky kheddah combat, the
tame beasts have learned how to conquer
the unscientific frenzy of their wild
brothers. Working in pairs they dive at
the huddled herd and break it up. Watch
a couple get one vast terrified beast between
them without giving him unnecessary
alarm.
Thev shunt him dexterously from his
'PROAR. HUDDLED IN THE
fellows and wedge him against a tree, one
on each side. The noosers now slip down
their tails ; and while the cunning brutes
with blunted tusks jolt tbe breath out
of their captive, the little brown men
dodge bravely among the ponderous shuffling
feet, looping the wild one's legs to
the tree trunk. A few swift seconds later

those marvelously trained brutes draw
apart, their mahouts dashing derisive dust
into the amazed eyes of the prisoner.
Leaving him now to strain and bellow,
the noosers mount once more; the mahouts
drive back into the dusty scrimmage
for another victim.
Stewart Sahib and his white aides, too,
have driven into tbe uproarious ruck,
shouting orders this way and that, where
short-lived duels are being fought between
the wild and the tame, to the clash
of furious tusks. Now is the kheddah
GOLDFISH OF AVALON 245
Goldfish of Avalon
A glowing flame beneath the limpid wave !
A moving flame that ever lambent beams,
full of brown mist and dust, in whose
heart mighty bodies str.ain and tug dimly.
Ere sunset the last cunning knot is tied,
and the battle cloud settles down upon
the conquered chaos.
All sixty of these jungle kings are now
trapped and fettered by these little folk
with the master minds. By and by the
lights in the tents go out; camp fires
sink into red beds of ashes and all is
quiet, save where in the shadowy trap
dim captives strain at their bonds. The
great drive is safely over.
With wavering darts of red and golden gleams,
Unquenched, tho' plunged in water-filled cave,
As blaze of sun ! Ascending sheen of moon,
New silvering from the kelp in nether night,
Yet brilliant as the winnowed cloud's clear white
When balanced in the sky at height of noon.
Fine as the mist-hung webs at breathless morn,
That spiders in the dewy summer spin,
Droop pendant shreds of languid, swaying lace,
That crystal roofs of ocean halls adorn,
As rich and rare as Eastern traders win.
And draped 'mid scenes of wondrous fairer grace.
—RALPH L. HARMON, in Overland Monthly.
I

TWENTY
H E R E is a white hermit in
Colombian wilds, with
monkeys, parrots and savages
for company; his
dwelling a hut of bamboo
poles, thatched with cocoa
leaves, on the Rio Magdalena ; his food
banana-roots and raw sugar; bis object
—to get orchids for the city's market.
The man crosses mountains with his
caravan of loaded mules, and is assailed
by floods; labors hip deep in the morass,
wdiose feverish mists are food for the
glorious floral parasites high up on the
trunks of forest trees.
But no hardship counts if the store of
cattleyas and odontoglossums grows
great; if the air-feeding plants are seen
in plenty, lighting the jungle gloom with
their superb floral spikes; if at the season's
end he can despatch one hundred
and fifty cases of the dried plant packed
in sphagnum moss down to Savanilla,
there to catch the steamer north.
But the orchid hunter, after all, is but
a free lance—a mere scout of an army
18,000 strong engaged in our harvest of
flowers from ocean to ocean, and to this
number we must add thousands of extra
hands outside America. There is Bermuda,
for instance, which lives largely by
lilies—$100,000 worth a year grown for
the Atlantic states.
Here is a fifty-acre field of tall swaying
blooms wdiose fragrant snows melt
(24S)
away in the green, flanks
of a distant hill. Planted
in autumn, the bulbs develop
into a mass of
lovely blossom by the
following March and are
ready for the Easter trade. And they
are packed so carefully in the divided
cases as to avoid all risk of crushing
during the seven hundred mile trip. Indeed,
on arrival the half-open buds will
blossom forth and remain fresh for a
fortnight in the homes or churches of
New York, Boston or Philadelphia.
And far away up the busy Cantor
river, too, are beds of the Chinese sacred
lily, being likewise grown for our homes.
"But," said our Washington experts, "if
an acre of lilies be worth $1,500, why
not grow them in our own southeastern
states?" Bermuda sends us more than
3,000,000 bulbs every year, wdiereas if
only freight rates were lower no better
soil on earth could be found for their
propagation than that of Olaa in Hawaii,
where three crops a year may be looked
for.
And so seedling plants of Lilium
Harisii were imported from Japan and
experimented with in the greenhouses
of the department of agriculture. Tinv
fragile things, they were; one hundred
of them would go into a woman's thimble,
yet they were expected to flower in
seven months in this new strange land.

TWENTY MILLIONS
It seemed a pity we shoul.l be paying
out nearly two millions a year for imported
floral products, excluding seeds,
when we might grow all the flowers and
plants we need between Yirginia and
Texas, with cheap land to offset the foreigner's
cheap labor. Little Holland
alone sends us a million dollars' worth of
bulbs from great nurseries below sea
level, and out of them we get $250,000
in duty. Then the French Riviera grows
for us two million bulbs of tbe Roman
hyacinth alone ; and there are besides the
pansies of Normandy, the gloxianas,
azaleas, and begonias of Ghent, wdth
many another source more than glad to
have prosperous and cultured America
for a customer.
But all these foreign accessories assume
their proper proportions wdien the
immense magnitude of our home traffic
in flowers is considered. For we have
in this country between 0,000 and 10,000
considerable establishments growing and
selling cut blooms ; this is a conservative
estimate, and does not include the smaller
people.
Owing to climatic reasons these flower
farms are mainly under glass—perhaps
FOR CUT FLOWERS 247
FLOWER FARM NEAR NEW YORK CITY.
30,000,000 square feet. New York state
is credited with 1,200 important houses
and 4,500,000 square feet; Illinois with
nine hundreel establishments and 5,000,-
000 square feet; and Pennsylvania with
nine hundreel and 4,000,000, respectively.
Ohio and New Jersey rank next.
The business—clearly an indication of
refinement and taste—has developed
most rapidly in Illinois. One grower in
this state added 163,275 square feet of
glass in a single season, and now has
over twenty-five acres in solid blocks,
with not a detached house in the place.
And the wdiole crystal palace is devoted
exclusively to roses and carnations, of
which new- varieties are constantly being
introduced. Thus a superb new carnation
was produced last season, making
no useless grass and shooting up to four
feet by New Year's day, with a lovely
bloom four inches in diameter. The
ground color is a delicate white overlaid
with pink, in mottles deepening to the
center. One dollar a blossom is the retail
price of such a flower in our great
cities.
And, by tbe way, Chicago bids fair to
lead all America in the quantity of stock

248 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
grown and handled ;
one establishment
alone in that center
has upwards of 7,000
feet of sale room.
The value put upon
all the flower growing
establishments of
the United States, including
boilers and
fixtures, is fixed at
fifty cents for each
square foot of glass. Thus, on
the basis of only 22,500,000 feet,
we have a sum of $11,250,000.
And the producer's income will
be the same—fifty cents for each
square foot of glass. Now,
doubling this amount in the case
of the retailer we have all America
paying the enormous annual sum of
$22,500,000 for lovely blooms and ornamental
plants in the home. Surely
a healthy symptom of national taste,
thus commented upon by Professor B.
T. Galloway, of the bureau of plant
industry at Washington: "Increasing
love of flowers," he says, "denotes a
growing refinement; a higher appreciation
of all tilings artistic, which promises
well alike for individual and nation."
Now, since our flower-farmers live
literally in glass houses they must guard
against the heavens throwing stones—a
very real danger. Accordingly they
have formed a co-operative society
known as the Florists' Hail association—
a purely private and non-money making
concern, whose subscribers insured last
year 25,056.546 feet of glass. It is an
interesting fact that the trade itself took
up successfully a line of insurance wdiich
capitalists would not dare to handle.
The idea originated in Germany.
Strange to say, wdiile 1905 brought the
heaviest hail loss of any year in the
society's history—$19,817—last year saw
the lowest sum of all paid out in damages.
Altogether sixty-eight losses were
paid, representing a breakage of 58,357
square feet of glass.
Missouri headed the
list with claims for
$722, then came New
York with $688, Nebraska
$568, and Illinois
$496.
As the photographs
sent in with claims
" Jjftk clearly show, Heaven's
artillery may do
as much damage in
one minute as many mischievous
boys could in a month, even if
given a free hand in the work of
destruction.
The growth of an industry so
nationally significant as that of
flower-farming took more than a
generation. A century ago our
forebears had no time for the refined
amenities of life. Every available
man was urgently needed to conquer the
wilderness. And as wealth gradually
concentrated in the cities, there
it was the demand first sprang up for
costly flowers at all seasons and for all
functions, from baby's christening on
through life even unto its end. Philadelphia
was perhaps the earliest in the
floral field, followed by New York and
Boston.
The greenhouse of the forties was a
pretty crude affair, however. Only the
sides and ends were of glass, and heating
was done by means of hot air, carried
in through perforated bricks. Yet
even thus early a fair trade was done in
camelias, tuberoses, azaleas, rhododendrons,
fuchsias, pelargoniums, and, to
some extent, roses.
The hot water heating apparatus
marked an epoch ; and by 1860 our big
cities were beginning to call imperatively
for cut flowers. The rose, now queen
of them all, grew rapidly in importance,
especially La Marque and Bon Silene.
together wdth such bulbous varieties as
gladioli and lilies.
But the bouquet in those days was an
WWm*.

TWENTY MILLIONS FOR CUT FLOWERS 249
absurdly formal thing of tuberoses and
waxen camelias, bordered with Bristol
board, and with an edging of silk fringe
such as our floral artists" of today look
back upon with amusement. Homes
were decorated for weddings wdth flowers
contorted into hearts, cupid's darts
and bows, and even balls of buds, massed
in solids and suspended in the drawing
room.
The Civil War naturally checked the
growing taste; and it
was not until 1870, when
the carnation came to us
from Europe, that the
present amazing progress
in scientific floriculture
really began. At
that time specialization
was undreamed of; but
now the imperious demand
compelled growers
to turn their thoughts to
the exclusive production,
first of roses, of carnations
next, and then of
violets.
These last w^ere first
grown in frames and
then in sunken pits,
which in turn gave place
to the modern violet
house as we know it
today in the Hudson River section of
New York, which turns out an almost
perfect flower fetching $6 a hundred at
retail.
And gradually the general gardener
disappeared and the expert specialist
took his place ; thus we have today the
national rose society, a carnation society,
a chrysanthemum society, and
• similar bodies, organized wdth the object
of studying how a certain lovely and
universally appreciated flower may be
brought to its uttermost perfection. And
today perhaps 20,000 men are catering
to the floral tastes of America's cultivated
millions, who insist on having in
their homes the most gorgeous blooms
that nature and art can produce and that
at all seasons of the year.
And, by the way, the retail prices paid
in a great city like New York or Chicago
are quite startling. Thus, fine
American Beauties at Christinas and
New Year's will fetch $36 a dozen, carnations
$6, cattleya orchids $15. One
grower of Madison, N. J., took into New-
York three hundred buds of the General
Jacqueminot rose and got $300 for the
THE SPRING HARVEST OP DAFFODILS
lot. They probably retailed at $2 each.
The favorite roses grown in large
quantities, besides American Beauties,
are the Bride, Bridesmaid, and Meteor;
wdth Perle Niphetos and Madame Hoste
in lesser quantities. The Ulrich Brunner
and General Jacqueminot figure in the
spring trade, while in summer the glorious
Kaiserin Augusta Yictoria bursts
upon us in all her regal splendor. But
if such perfect and beautiful flowers
bring large prices, the risks and expense
of their production are proportionately
great.
The demand from the cities is so large
and constant as to call for immense floral
establishments in the suburbs. One

A TYPICAL MODERN HOTHOUSE WITH ITS FLORAL STOCK.

grower near New A'ork has
TWENTY MILLIONS FOR CUT FLOWERS 251
square feet of glass covering even in
midwinter a gorgeous and fragrant
jungle of orchids, palms, ferns, roses,
carnations, violets, and mignonette. The
outlay for glass alone is so serious tbat
the Society of American Florists has contemplated
putting up enough money to
start a window glass factory of its own
on co-operative principles, just as it insures
its existing glass against hail.
Then there are the much dreaded insect
enemies of the grower. First come
the hexapods that prey upon the rose—
chewing, piercing, and sucking. Forces
armed with dry or liquid arsenical compounds
must be marshaled against these
tinv pests with scientific precision. The
coleoptera, too,—especially the rose
chafer,—must be fought with paris green
or hellebore ; and when the battle is at
its height the persistent enemy pushes
forward the green fly or aphis, wdiich
may give birth to six million individuals
during her brief
weeks of life!
And the rose slug,
rose - leaf hopper,
gall fly. and red
spider must also be
dealt with by means
of whale-oil, soap,
tobacco, kerosene,
pvrethrum, and
other skilful weapons
specially forged
for the battle by the
Washington field
marshals of scientific
culture.
Then, too, the
freight on cut flowers
for a journey of
possibly three hundred
miles is a serious
item. But most
serious of all is the
question of fuel.
One strike in the
hard coal region of
Pennsylvania may
menace the entire
business with utter
ruin. A mill or factory
manager in
such event may suspend
work, draw
260,000 fires and water from Ids boiler, and shut
CARNATIONS AND LILIES
THE FARM.
down indefinitely. But let the fires die
down even for an hour in a five hundred
foot glass house of delicate roses or carnations
during cold weather, and the
costly stock is forthwith killed.
Thus, whatever the price, fuel must be
had. Distracted flower farmers have experimented
with all sorts of substitutes
for coal—wood, peat, charcoal, coke,
sawdust, spent tanbark, wdieat and rye,
straw, crushed cane, corn cobs, and cotton
stems. But they found it took four
pounds of straw to do the work of one
pound of coal, and to do it badly at that.
Crude oil is really the best substitute;
but nothing quite equals coal. One
pound of it will evaporate seven pounds
of water at two hundred and twelve degrees
Fahrenheit.
But in spite of trouble in the greenhouse
the demand increases always. Today
nine growers will annually send to
New York five million roses; and round
about such cities as
1! o s t o n, Philadelphia,
Cleveland, Chicago,
and Washington
are grown not
less than thirtyseven
millions of
the queen of flowers,
and far more than
that number of carnations.
The product
grown under
glass, as well as that
raised on tens of
thousands of acres
in the open air, is
largely grown by
specialists and handled
by wholesalers
and retailers, who
are largely specialists
also.
Great risks there
are, as I have
shown, but for the
right man catering
in the right way for
this welcome demand
of a prosperous
nation, there is
also great profit.
FRESH FROM
Many a man buys
a half-acre lot for

252 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
$500 or so near a city of say 40,000
people, and he builds three houses respectively
for roses, carnations and
violets, each costing $1,000. ddiese three
flowers cannot be grown in one house,
for each requires a special temperature
and treatment. Add $1,000 for a home
and $500 for general equipment and vou
have an investment of $5,000. Professor
Ii. T. Galloway, of Washington, claims
that at present prices the profit from the
three houses for the first vear should be:
Gross, $3,000 to $3,500; net, $1,800 to
$2,000. And when the entire half acreis
covered there should be a net income
of nearly $4,000—surely an amazing return
for half an acre of suburban land!
Labor is not a great item. It works
out all through the country at one man
for every 1,500 square feet of glass;
though some of the great rose-growing
people do not use more than one man
for each 10.000 feet. Carnation houses
average about the same ; but in the case
of violets the work involved in clearing
A RIOT OF WILD FLORAL BEAUTIES.
the little plants and picking the delicate
flowers calls for a far higher average
of labor.
Much depends on a quick sale; but
this, and the matter of picking and transport,
has been reduced to a science, so
that flowers now arrive in the city's heart
in all their exquisite perfection. Tn
Greater New York nearly thirty brokers
are engaged in wholesaling cut flowers
on a common basis of fifteen per cent.
Ano 1 the largest concern handled one
January day 82,889 roses, 167,995 carnations,
323,750 violets, and 23,100 lilies
of the valley; besides larger lilies and
lilac, mignonette and orchids, chiefly
cattlevas and cyprepediums. Altogether
$12,000 worth of cut flowers may change
hands in a single day in America's greatest
citv ; and taking one year with another
New York's annual business is worth
$2,500,000.
As to the floral decorations of today.
while much less lavish than those of a
decade ago, they are in far better taste.
The highest price ever
paid for a wedding decoration
in New York was
$3,800; now one-third
of this would be considered
a high figure.
Tbe grouping of magnificent
palms is a feature
of church weddings
today, with graceful and
stately Kentias and rich
foliaged and tropical
latania borbinica. Cut
flowers with long stems
are used, and both altar
and chancel decked with
masses of snow white
blooms backed by lovely
fronds of asparagus plumosus.
Bridegroom and bride,
the latter with her lovely
"shower" bouquet of
snowy star-shaped pescatoria
orchids, walk
through a lovely and
fragrant jungle of Kentia
and palms, some of them
worth $600 each; with
fern masses, lilies, and
caladiums ; arches of

TWENTY MILLIONS FOR CUT FLOWERS 253
roses, too, and banks of violets and
stephanotis. And the home is admirably
decked for the happy occasion with
smilax and orchids. A great staircase
carries groups of palms wdth a brilliant
background of potted azaleas and climbing
roses.
As a rule the florist of today, a man
of excellent taste and real love for flowers,
is given a free hand, though his
clients often evince strange tastes. A
wealthy woman whose daughter was
about to graduate at college came into an
expensive florist's one day and spoke of
a dainty bouquet as appropriate to the
occasion. A very charming one was
made up of roses, gardenias, tuberose.
and lilies of the valley, but the price
was $15. "Mv," was the startled comment,
"I wouldn't like to pay that. I
A FIELD OF GLADIOLUS IN NEW YORK STATE.
thought of something about a dollar or
even two; but I guess I'll have to make
her some paper flowers instead."
The florist bowed. "It is a literary
function, madam," be said, with grave
sympathy, "anil so jierhaps paper flowers
would be more suitable, after ad."
More ambiguous and less courteous
was the rejoinder of the florist to whom
the friends of a deceased butcher came
for a floral tribute. They suggested, with
questionable taste, it should take the
form of a cleaver! The artist in flowers,
dismayed, protested strongly ; his clients
were firm, however.
"Well, well," cried the exasperated
man at last, "there's no knowing what
road your friend went, and perhaps after
all a cleaver'll be the very thing he'll
need at the end of it!"

CONCRETE FLUME AT POWER PLANT, SALT RIVER, ARIZONA.
'ixtty MIMoims a Year Wasted
My IReim© ]Bmclh«
1117 newly-created Inland
Waterways Comp
• 1 mission is going to
1 teach the people a lot
X of things about tbe
most valuable mineral
in the world—a mineral
of which, because
it is plentiful, we are more wasteful than
of anything else, throwdng it away wholesale,
and exhibiting a stupid neglect of
its possibilities of usefulness.
The mineral in question is water. Everybodv
drinks it, and most folks use
it for bathing, ddie latter employment
is considered by some non-essential, but
as a beverage it i.s so far indispensable
that, if wholly deprived of it, all of mankind
on the earth—not to mention the
fowls of the air and beasts of the field—
would perish in about four days. The
crops, too, are made to grow by the same
beneficent fluid, which, incidentally, furnishes
power on an enormous and steadily-increasing
scale for manufacturing
purposes. To the harnessing of their
rivers the Southern States mainly owe
their recent industrial rejuvenation.
(254)
The census of 1880 gave the number of
horsepower produced by water for industrial
purposes in this country as 1,225,000.
But in those days it was necessary to
locate a mill at the power site, whereas
now it is put in the place most convenient
for trade and transportation, and the water
power, converted into electricity, is
transmitted over copper wires. Thanks
to which change of method, there has
been during the last ten years an annual
increase of applied water power greater
than the total above quoted for 1880.
Nevertheless—to show how much improvement
remains to be made in this direction—it
may be mentioned that at the
present time there is going to waste, over
clams built by the government to help
navigation, 1,600,000 horsepower. This
enormous amount of energy, readily
available for manufacturing or other useful
purposes, is absolutely thrown away;
yet, if sold at a fair rental—say, twentv
dollars annually per horsepower—it would
maintain all of our inland waterwavs.
keeping them dredged and in repair, and,
in addition, would construct all of the
new canals and other aqueous thorough-

fares tbat we may require in the future
wdth no expense to the taxpayers.
This is only r one example of the gigantic
waste' due to our ignorance and
carelessness in the use of the fluid. Even
now the Water Resources branch of tbe
United States Geological Survey is preparing
a statement of the amount of
power tbat is going to waste in the Mississippi
basin. It is not yet completed,
but the preliminary and approximate estimate
is 3,300,000 horsepower. Just think
what that signifies! At a rental of twentv
dollars a vear per horsepower, it means
a literal throwing away of $66,000,000
in good money every twelvemonth.
Inasmuch as most people do not know
what a horsepower is, it may be as well
to explain that it i.s the amount of energy
produced bv one cubic foot of water per
second falling nine feet. The total energy
represented by the Mississippi
River, as it flows from Cairo, at tbe
mouth of the Ohio, to the Gulf, is 13,-
000,000 horsepower. But the great
stream, of course, cannot be utilized for
industrial purposes, because the slope
Mtji; .%*
SIXTY MILLIONS A YEAR WASTED 255
over which it passes is too gradual. A
mighty dam might be built at its lower
end, so as to get all of its fall in one descent,
thus making its power economically
available; but such an expedient obviously
would be out of the question, inasmuch
as it would transform the Mississippi
Yalley into a vast lake covering
thousands of square miles of what is now
dry land.
Now, one result of our failure to control
properly our water supply is the
curse of floods. It will be news to most
people that the damage done by floods
in the United States far exceeds $100,-
000,000 per annum ! Think of the wiping
out of that much of the product of human
industry every year by unexpected oversupplies
of the most indispensable of all
necessaries! Consider, too, that the bulk
of this loss is wholly needless, inasmuch
as it could easily be prevented.
Take, for instance, the case of the Ohio
river floods of last wdnter. Thev caused
personal losses of at least $100,000,000—
without reckoning incidental depreciation
in the value of a great deal of real estate.
AN OVERFLOW IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP, VIRGINIA.

256 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
This was bad enough, but think of the loss of
water! During those floods the excess of water,
over and above what could be carried by the
river channel up to the danger line, was according
to official estimate, 23,000,000,000 cubic feet
—all of it absolutely lost, of course.
How unfortunate, truly, when it is considered
that during long periods the Ohio
river is difficult, or even impossible,
of navigation by reason of lack of water!
Is it not obvious that the only solution of
the problem for the future lies in establishing
great reservoirs in the hills, to
hold the flood waters, thus preventing
them from doing harm, and rendering
them available for use when they are
wanted? If this were done, there would
be no more overflows of the Ohio, and in
dry seasons there would be plenty of
water to maintain the river at a proper
stage. •
The problem involved would not be
verv difficult from an engineering standpoint.
It appears that the Ohio flood of
last March at Pittsburgh was one of the
THREE-INCH COLUMN OF WATER AT WOON-
SOCKET, S. D , RISING TO A HEIGHT
OF NINETY-SEVEN FEET.
biggest that ever happened in that
region ; it was certainly the greatest since
1884. If, as estimated, the excess of
water was 23,000,000,000 cubic feet, then
it is merely a question of constructing a
reservoir of that size. Pretty large?
Well, rather so ; but the government has
already built one reservoir for storing
the flood waters of the Platte river, in
Wyoming, which holds 43,000,000,000
cubic feet; and it is now completing another,
in the Salt River Valley of Arizona,
which will contain 61,000,000,000
cubic feet.
The method of constructing such a
reservoir is quite simple. Choice is made

of a natural basin in the
bills, and a great dam of
concrete, built like a wall
between two mountains
where there happens to
be a narrow pass, does
tbe rest. When the dam
in the Salt river valley,
which is to be the second
highest in tbe world, is
finished, it will convert
the adjacent hollow in
the landscape into a lake
twenty-five miles long,
ten miles wide, and two
hundred and thirty feet
in maximum depth. Of
course, basins of such capacity
are not easily
found in the east, but it
is an easy matter to utilize
for the purpose several
smaller reservoirs, putting one of
them, perhaps, on each important tributary
of a river.
To take one more example, the instance
might be mentioned of the city of
Paterson. N. )., which in ()ctober, 1903,
was visited by a flood that did $7,000,000
worth of damage. Onlv a vear previously
it had a $4,000,000 "flood; and
similar disasters, due to overflows of the
SIXTY MILLIONS A YEAR WASTED LV.7
UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY RATING STATION AT LOS ANGELES. CAL.
Here the meters used in the stream flow measurement work are calibrated.
GAUGING THE VELOCITY OF A STREAM TO DISCOVER THE FLOW IN GALLONS
PER MINUTE.
Passaic, are certain to occur from time
to time in the future unless means are
taken to prevent them. All danger of
such happenings can be done away with,
however, by tbe construction of a single
reservoir, at a cost of about $3,500,000.
We need water for power, for navigation,
for irrigation, for household purposes,
for fish (an important part of our
food supply), and for the development
of parks and other
places of rest and recreation.
It wid be the
business of the newlycreated
Waterways Com-mission
to find out exactly
what our aqueous
resources are, to ascertain
how they may be
utilized to best advantage,
and to determine
how they may be saved
from injury by carelessness
or ignorance.
It is likely that the
commission will recommend
to congress the appointment
of a board,
whose duty it will be to
devise plans applicable
in this or that locality
for the prevention of
floods, or for the utiliza­
tion of available water
power. People ought to

258 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
[•$'AMJ*li9&.
CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF THE FLOOD.
Scene at Paterson, N. J., 1903, after the subsiding of the waters.
have some means of finding out where the
water power is, how much there is of it,
and in what way they can use it. With this
end in view, it is necessary, for one thing,
PART OF DAMAGE DONE BY A S7.000.000 FLOOD.
River Street. Paterson, N. J., after great inundation of 1903.
to measure the streams, in order to find
out how much the flow amounts to; and
these measurements must be made
through a long series of years, to be sure
of their accuracy. It is
not the maximum flow,
nor the average flow, but
the minimum flow that
determines the amount
of money that can be
safely invested in a
power plant.
Work of this kind has
been for many years an
important feature of the
business of the water
resources branch of the
Geological Survey,
which, under the direction
of Marshall O.
Leighton (recently appointed
consulting engineer
to the Waterways
commission), has gath­
ered an immense amount
of valuable information

elating to water problems of all kinds
in this country. It is a great pity
that so useful a branch of investigation
should be obstructed by a lack of
understanding on the part of congress
SINE)' MILLIONS A YEAR WASTED 259
wdiich has brought about a reduction of surface of
—a vast sheet of water which might
be called a subterranean lake. The
water, however, instead of being
free, is held in rocks of porous sandstone,
1,200 to 3,000 feet below the
the ground. These rocks
the appropriation for its continuance. come to the surface far to the north, in
Incidentally it should be mentioned Minnesota and Wisconsin; and it was
that one of the most important water there that the water, falling as rain, oiigiquestions
has to do with artesian wells, nally made its way into the formation.
respecting which there is a widespread Percolation through the stony strata was
popular ignorance. Most people seem necessarily slow ; and it is reckoned by
to have a notion that artesian water can geologists that the water first drawn from
be found anywhere, if only a pipe is put artesian wells in Iowa must have fallen
down deep enough—though tbe fact is from the heavens in showers before the
that such water occurs only in well-de- discovery of America. Indeed, in the
fined areas. An immense amount of deeper sandstone layers it may have been
monev, in the aggregate, has been spent imprisoned during the whole of human
in boring futile holes for artesian water— history, and even since remote geologic
a kind of foolishness which the Geological
Survey is trying to minimize, for
the future, by making
and publishing maps to
show where tbe water
can be found, at what
depth it may be struck,
and the quantity that
will be yielded by a pipe
of a given size.
Another popular delusion
is to the effect that
artesian water is inexhaustible.
So far is this
from being the truth
that an artesian basin
mav be emptied as surely
as the rain barrel behind
the kitchen door. Furthermore,
if used up by
reckless over-draughts, it
will not fill up again—at
all events, not for a very
long time.
Briefly speaking, a
flowing artesian well is
the result of puncturing
wdth a drill a waterbearing
stratum in which
the water is under pressure.
It is under pressure
simply because it
comes from a higher
]evel just as is the case
with a service pipe in a
dwelling house. Beneath
the state of Iowa is an
enormous artesian basin
ages!
To revert for a moment, m conclusion,
DRILLING INTO BED OF SALT RIVER, ARIZONA.
Ascertaining thickness of rock stratum, for data in constructing proposed darn.

260
to the conversion of
river power into electricity
for industrial
employment, it is a
noteworthy circumstance
that possibilities
of this kind are being
developed to an astonishing
extent at the
present time in Colorado,
wdiere streams
both big and little are
dammed over wide
areas, every available
watercourse being
called upon to furnish
its quota of energy, to
illuminate and run the
machinery of mines,
and for many other
purposes. Even across high mountain
ranges the energy is carried, by the help
of tunnels which in frequent instances
are necessary to keep the copper wires
from being broken down by snow. Bv
such means 20,000 volts can be sent over
a distance of one hundred miles with no
THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
Life
When I consider life, 't is all a cheat.
A FLOWING WELL IN THE DESERT.
Yet fool'd with hope, men favour the deceit;
Trust on, and think to-morrow will repay.
To-morrow's falser than the former day;
serious loss; but in that part of the
country it is customary to transmit the
current at 70,000 or 80,000 volts pressure,
this being transformed into a much
lower voltage for use at the point of delivery.
And so the wasted forces of
water are being in some degree utilized.
Lies worst, and while it says we shall be blest
With some new joys, cuts off what we possest.
Strange cozenage! none would live past years again,
Yet all hope pleasure in what yet remain;
And from the dregs of life think to receive
What the first sprightly running could not give.
—DRYDEN.

W O monster Atlantic liners,
each a great mass of
lights, will before long
regularly speed past each
other in the night on their
hundred hours' trip between
English and American ports. Trip
is the word; why call the brief crossing
"voyage" ? One of these great steamers,
the Lusitania, is already in service; her
sister, the Mauretania, soon will be.
These ships are the biggest affairs ever
put afloat for passenger service, and can
steam incredibly fast.
The first crossing of the Lusitania,
from Oueenstown to New York, which
she recently accomplished, was made
under very unfavorable circumstances.
Fog and general bad weather conditions
inters of tHhie Deei
By Hick J. Qtiairfe
made it impossible for ber to show ber
best speed, but she made the trip in five
days and fifty-four minutes, which is
the record for maiden trips. She averaged
23.01 knots per hour. The record
for tbe trip is 23.58 knots per hour, made
by the Kaiser Wilhelm II.
The speed trials of the Lusitania off the
coast of Ireland, however, were for fortyeight
hours of continuous steaming. Over
the twelve hundred mile course selected
the vessel averaged twenty-five and onefourth
knots an hour. There were times
wdien the astonishing speed of twentyeight
knots an hour was attained. Four
hundred guests aboard the ship witnessed
the owners' and builders' triumph, who
had guaranteed but twenty-four and onehalf
knots and who had beaten that figure.
THE MAURETANIA AFTER LAUNCHING. ONLY THE HULL IS COMPLETED.
(261)

262 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
To the Parsons turbine is due the wonderful
record of this ship. It is equipped
with engines of 70,000 horsepower, the
most powerful ever constructed. Her
sister, the Maurctania, has duplicate engines
installed. These turbines are simply
an adaptation of the pin-wheels that
children spin by blowing upon. The mod-
I'HE TURBINE LAUNCH TURB1NIA. MAKING THIRTY-THREE KNOTS OFF
SPITHEAD.
ern turbine engines use jets of steam instead
of a child's breath to whirl millions
of metal blades around inside their
drums, thus causing four big propellers
to turn with the shaft to which the blades
are attached.
The vibrations of reciprocating engines
shake the hulls of the largest sea-goers.
But the whirling motion
of the turbine is continuous.
Besides there i s
little friction. This, with
the immensity of the
ships, contributes to
steadiness of the great
vessels, and, hence, will
tend to obviate seasickness.
It is just a decade
since the first marine
steam turbine craft, the
Turbiuia, created a sensation
at the naval review
off Spithead, during
Queen Victoria's
Diamond Jubilee, by
circumscribing the fleet
GUESTS AT LAUNCHING OF THE MAURETANTA, RIDING THROUGH HER PROSTRATE SMOKE
FUNNELS.

BOW VIEW OF LUSITANIA BEFORE HER LAUNCHING.
She is one of the twin steamers which are the largest ocean passenger craft ever built.
(263)

284 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
at a speed of forty miles an hour.
The Turbinia was but one hundred feet
in length; the Lusitania and Maurctania
are each eight hundred. The Turbinia
had engines of 2,300 horsepower ; the sister
ships are engined up to 70,000.
These monster craft have a displacement
of 38,000
tons, a length of
seven h u ndre d
ninety feet, a width
of eighty - eight
feet and a total
depth of sixty feet.
As the passenger
steps into his
cabin, be notes,
first of all that it
is unusually spacious.
It is, in fact,
fifty per cent larger
than on other vessels. He also finds
that the furnishings are unusually
sumptuous, wdth all conveniences very
nearly on a par with everything obtainable
in the best modern hotels. The sec­
TABLE SHOWING COMPARAT
STEAMSHIPS
ond-class cabins are said to equal the
first-class accommodations of most other
transatlantic liners.
No convenience or comfort is lacking
on these ships, for special improvements
making for the general ease, including
that of the third-class passengers, will be
appreciated by those familiar wdth crowd-
ed barrack-like steerage accommodations
of the past. One notable feature is the
luxury of shower and needle baths. Most
of the space reserved for the latter class
is divided into real staterooms, many of
them outside, with port lights opening to
the sea to the light and the fresh air.
The wireless telegraph
is installed in
its most improved
form, so that Marconigrams
may be
received and delivered
between ship
and shore throughout
the entire voyage.
The same
wireless system
contributes
IVE BREADTH OF BEAM OF
OF TODAY.
no small measure
to the security of
the voyage and has already played its
part in effecting the rescue of crews of
disabled steamers. This and many automatic
protective inventions minimize
the danger of human carelessness.
Should a light on masthead or at the
bow go out, a bell in the wheelhouse an­
nounces the fact. A sudden leak in the
hull would need no watchful eye, as the
inrush of water would automatically close
a water-tight door. A dangerous reef or
fogbound vessel can be located by submarine
telephone, whose sensitive mech-
| DIAGRAM SHOWING COMPARATIVE-SIZE-OFVARIOUS -TrPESOF-CUHARD-HAllzSTEAMERS
luriwofimrin
SIS 0~\*10 & SZV
0*055 TUHOGt

LONGER THAN CHICAGO'S GREATEST HOTEL.
If the hull of one of the twin ships were set down before the Auditorium and Annex, in Chicago, it
would lap over the front of these buildings at each end.
WOULD HIDE THE NATIONAL CAPITOL.
Big ships have greater length than the legislative building at Washington.
(265)

266 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
anism gives warning of danger and its
direction. Electricity, of course, has an
important part in all these functions, and
the cables for distributing this force
measure more than two hundred miles on
each of these vessels. A complete system
of telephones to all parts of the liner is
installed, and just as easily as the passenger
from his stateroom sends his order to
the stewards, the lookout far up in the
"crow's nest" forward tells the officers
on the bridge what is ahead. Between*
stem and stern, cellular bottom and mastheads,
almost every art and calling has
I
contributed its share, and engineering
records have been eclipsed in solving
problems more difficult than those encountered
in other professions.
There are two electric elevators in the
center of each ship for the use of passengers,
and six others are installed for the
handling of mails, baggage and express
matter. The provision for natural light
is very complete; there are 1,200 windows
and sidelights, including five hundred
ventilating lights.
Some idea of the enormous size of
these steamers may be gathered from the
STERN VIEW OF LUSITANIA, SHOWING HER FOUR PROPELLERS.

followdng facts: Three times rourfd the
promenade deck gives a mile. Two hundred
and fifty of the three thousand odd
passengers could be.served in one of the
funnels, wdth ample room for seating every
guest. It requires three hundred and
fifty firemen and stokers to feed the fires
that pour their smoke through these funnels.
The turbines weigh six hundred
tons, revolve two hundred times a minute,
and contain each three-quarters of a
BLINDNESS •JCT
Blind
inaness
Thus with the year
Seasons return; but not to me returns
Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn,
Or sight of vernal bloom or summer's rose,
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine;
But cloud instead, and ever during dark
Surround me; from the cheerful ways of men
Cut off, and for the book of knowledge fair
Presented with a universal blank
Of Nature's works, to be expung'd and raz'd
And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out.
million blades. The electric generating
station is larger than that which supplies
a city of 87,000 inhabitants.
These tremendous marine marvels are
the climax of English invention, skill and
patriotism—the British government furnishing
funds for their construction and
securing a lien on them for war emergencies.
They will prove standards for future
ship building in all parts of the
world. But how long will they lead?

CISCO
after the earthquake
STRUCTURES BUT HALF FALLEN j-Kiv
SENTED GREATER PROBLEMS THAN
WHERE UTTERLY DESTROYED.
NEW HUMBOLDT SAVINGS BANK.
Foundations for this building were
laid before the fire.
... ttM
•B
GHOSTLY RUINS OF THE OLD WHICH
HAVE GIVEN PLACE
TO THE NEW.
FLANNERY BUILDING.
First concrete structure completed
after the lire.

Power Mo^ase Umidler si River
My A.s*$]hy\uiir HI.

^
POWER HOUSE UNDER A RIVER 271
%*.
nf
J
OVERHEAD FLOWS THE RIVER WHICH FURNISHES POWER TO DRIVE THESE GREAT GENERATORS.
pany. Here power was generated with
the well known form of dam and millrace
and power was transmitted from
the turbine to dynamo, by means of bevel
gearing and rope drive. This plant had
a maximum output of only six hundred
horse power, which also included a steam
engine which was used to help carry the
peak load.
Current at the new plant will be generated
at an electromotive force of eleven
thousand volts and will be distributed on
triple petticoat insulators, guaranteed to
withstand a voltage of twenty thousand.
This high potential will be stepped down
to the customary one hundred and ten
volts, by the use of transformers near the
various subscribers to the service.
The interior of the power house, which
is constructed entirely of concrete and
steel, is remarkably well lighted and ventilated.
This is accomplished by the
novel construction of the dam, which is
formed somewhat in the shape of the
letter "S"; the upper portion of the dam
slopes at an angle of forty-five degrees;
this, in connection with the lower slope,
throws the excess water flowing over the
dam away from the outer wall.
This wall is pierced through with many
windows, giving splendid illumination to
the interior of the power house. These
windows can be opened and one may
look out and see the water pouring in
torrents over his head.
Ventilation is easily secured by the
two hooded entrances, one on each side
of the river, by means of which one may
enter on the Baltimore county side, pass
through the power house under the dam,
and emerge on the Howard county side;
the river at this point being about two
hundred feet wide.
When one stops to consider the tremendous
difficulties with wdiich the engineers
of this project had to contend, the
building of coffer dams temporarily to
divert the course of the river, the transportation
of the heavy machinery to its
location under the river, and the thousand
and one difficulties which beset the
men who have successfully carried out
this ingenious construction, it indeed
seems that truth is stranger than fiction,
and that the time of the "Arabian
Nights" contained fewer mysteries than
that of modern engineering. It is one
more triumph for modern skill and genius.

America/® Greatest Mastodon
B>y JLiliiasa E. Z£

indicate that this animal was twentyseven
years of age at death.
This lucky and historic find was come
upon by mere chance, in August, 1845.
A Mr. Brewster, a farmer near Newburg,
was desirous of obtaining some
fertilizing material for his fields. " In one
of his bottom tracts there had been a
small pool of water, about forty feet in
diameter, in the midst of wet, swampy
surroundings. This spot, owing to an
unusual summer drought, had been left
dry, so the farmer determined to use its
contents for his desired purpose. Consequently
he set a number of laborers to
work with spade and shovel. After
digging three or four feet the workmen
came to a bed of shell-marl, and the
spade struck a hard substance, which was
thought first to be a stone or log. On
further excavating, however, it was discovered
that it was a portion of a fossil
remains, and the spade had first struck
the top of the head. On the second day
the buried object was excavated, and re­
vealed the remains of a gigantic mastodon.
The whole of the skeleton was intact,
with all the bones extraordinarily preserved
and in place, just as the animal
had sunk helplessly in the mire several
thousand years before. The position of
the limbs indicated that the great beast
was making a brave struggle and attempt
to extricate his weighty body from the
pitfall in which he had been mired. Inside
of the ribs was found what was
probably the last meal of the mastodon,
a mass of from four to six bushels of
twigs and branches, one and one-half
inches long, leaves, some sort of vegetable
substance, half masticated.
The skeleton was temporarily stored
in the farmer's barn, and shortly afterward
the news of the discovery was
spread over the country, and attracted
the attention of Dr. John C. Warren, a
distinguished professor of anatomy in
Harvard University at that time, who
bought the skeleton. In 1849 it was
placed in a little fireproof structure or
museum near his home in Boston, where
it remained till its recent purchase by-
Mr. Morgan.
One of the noteworthy features of unusual
scientific interest which Prof. Os-
AMERICA'S GREATEST MASTODON 273
ONF. OF THE MASTODON'S GIGANTIC TUSKS.
This weapon of the prehistoric monster is eight feet, seven
inches in length.
born has brought to light is the size and
shape of the animal's brain. By cutting
into a section of the skull and opening
the brain cavity, it was found possible to
obtain a plaster cast of the mastodon's
enormous brain. The giant undoubtedly
possessed considerable cunning, keen instinct,
and a high order of brute intelligence.
The huge sixty-foot and seventyfoot
Dinosaurs like Diplodocus and Brctosaurus,
in comparison had incredibly
small brains, even less than the size of a
tea-cup. The surprising size of the brain
wdiich guided this mighty beast is strikingly
set forth in comparison with a
man's head. The brain cast is thirteen
and a half inches long, twelve inches
wide, and seven inches thick. In life
that brain probably weighed twelve or
fifteen pounds.
The mastodon is regarded as a species
of fossil elephant, but it differs from the
true elephant in the structure of the
teeth, which resemble those of a more
typical mammal, such as the pig, for instance,
and also in having a longer head.
The mastodons' remains in this country
are found in the uppermost layers and

274 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
FAMOUS WARREN MASTODON, MOST COMPLETE IN THE WORLD.
For this specimen J. Pierpont Morgan paid $30,000.
deposits of the Pleistocene age. They
lived almost in historic times, only a few
thousand years ago. The extinction of
the race of mastodons, which were of
such enormous size and great strength,
and able to endure extremes of heat and
cold, is thought not to have been due to
climatic conditions alone, but to some
mysterious and unknown cause. Prof.
Osborn suggests that an insect pest may
have caused their disappearance from the
face of the earth, as such pests today are
deadly exterminators of mammals in certain
parts of Africa. It is also possible
that they may have been hunted or driven
to extinction through the agency of man.

^nt© Creeps at Tenn Miles am Houar
ITH tbe aim of convincing
the citizens and police of
American cities that ten
miles per hour is a
ridiculously slow pace
for automobiles on city
streets, one of the leading American
manufacturers of speed measuring instruments
constructed a leviathan speed
recorder and n.ounted it on the rear part
of a motor car so that every pedestrian
on the sidewalk or passengers in other
vehicles could see the speed at which the
car was traveling. This mammoth instrument
measured nine and one-half feet
My Doimaldl B^riras
in height ; tlie turret top, through an
opening in the side of the which the speed
of travel is indicated, was four feet in
diameter; the rotating ribbon carrying
the figures showing the speed was ten
and a half feet long; and the figures
twelve inches in height—so large that
those who ran could read. The instrument
was more than twenty times as
large as the small speed recorders that
are considered indispensable accompaniments
of a motorist since the rise of the
country constable and the sparrow cop.
Wdth this instrument mounted as illustrated,
the car was driven through many
SHOWING UP A CITY'S SPEED ORDINANCE.
Mammoth speed indicator carried through city streets to show the absurdity of Compelling motor
Maininum v cars to keep within
limit of ten miles an hour.
(275)

276 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
of the leading thoroughfares of New
York at a speed never permitted to exceed
ten miles per hour. On paper ten
miles per hour may seem fast traveling;
in a horse vehicle it is a good speed; but
in a railroad train or motor car it is
crawling. At this pace all of the horse
pleasure vehicles on the streets and a
good percentage of the lighter business
wagons passed the car wdth the autometer,
and throughout the test the car
with the speed recorder passed only
three moving vehicles—three heavily
laden trucks.
ddie slow pace of ten miles per hour
excited the interest of street goers, who,
accustomed to motor cars traveling at
twenty or twenty-five miles, could not
easily" reconcile the car with the ten-mile
gait. The difficulty with the uninitiated in
Infancy
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
judging the speed of motor cars is that
their quietness compared with horse
vehicles, due to pneumatic tires, and their
freedom from movement tend to give an
impression of slow speed. Wdth horse
vehicles traveling at the same speed as a.
car, the rapid movements of the horse7s
legs, the apparent faster movement of the
larger carriage wdieels, and the greater
vibration of the lighter constructed
vehicle all combine in magnifying the
speed. Those not experienced with
riding in motor cars have under test
been asked to estimate the speed of the
car when traveling over a good pavement,
and in every case they underestimate
it up to a speed of thirty miles per
hour, but once the car exceeds this limit
the inexperienced exaggerate the speed,
and guess as far wrong the other way.
The soul that riseth with us, our life's star,
Hath elsewhere had its setting,
And cometh from afar.
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy.
—WORDSWORTH.

CUT THE OCEA
[HE best thing I know
between France and
England is the sea,"
said Douglas Jerrold.
And a quarter of a century
before the English
playwright had voiced
these words, Napoleon
boasted that, if he were given but twentyfour
hours' control of the English Channel,
the world would be his. The old
fear of each other is still with the nations.
Their natural dikes they jealously
guard.
In the early months of this year four
great projects were revived—projects
that, if consummated, would link Ireland
to Great Britain; Great Britain to Eu­
rope ; Newfoundland to Canada ; and the
Americas to Asia; so that one might
travel by rail all the way from St. John's
to Killery H?. r bor. Four great tunnels
beneath the ocean's bottom were to constitute
the binding chains. The English
looked across to France, the coast of
which on a fine day may ;ust be mistily
discerned from Kent, ane shook their
IN TWO
By P. T. M c Grath.
• z _ T
heads. The Russians were not particularly
enthusiastic over the tunneling of
Bering Strait; and so far as the people
of the United States were concerned,
they could see no immediate commercial
advantage in joining with steel rails
Alaska to Siberia. There remained, then,
the two proposals: the burrowing under
the bed of the choppy Irish sea, and beneath
the fog-encompassed Belle Isle
Strait. Perhaps it is because of the native
sluggishness of the English temperament,
or it may be because their enterprise
is not urgent; at any rate, it
looks as if the Canadians and Newfoundlanders,
taking the initiative, would start
the work long before their conservative
English cousins have decided just what
they will do regarding the matter.
The building of the Belle Isle strait
tunnel would mean much more than appears
at first glance. It is not merely
the offering of better transportation
facilities to the inhabitants of the misty
island of the north. The first result
would be that the distance across the
Atlantic Ocean would be cut from 3,000
(277]

278 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
to 1,650 miles, and the voyage's duration
to three days, just time enough for the
ocean traveler to get seasick and recover,
or if the traveler has his sea legs on, to
enjoy a good sail and the ocean breezes.
A week at sea seems a long time, but
three days—why, it takes longer than
that to run from New York City to San
Francisco! On land we have such fast
service to clip the minutes as the Twentieth
Century Limited offers. But in
crossing the Atlantic we
are going to save time in
a new way—not by increasing
the speed, but
by literally annihilating
distance. We are going to
have a new starting point
and a new destination.
At a recent session of
the Newfoundland legislature,
a firm of English
the concession of establishing
a steamship line
between Killery Harbor,
on the west coast of Ireland,
and Green Bay, on
Newfoundland's eastern
coast. For Newfoundland
feels keenly her
economic isolation. She
yearns to expand, to
reach out, to take a part
in the humming activity that suddenly
seems to have possessed the main land.
Give Newfoundland railroad communications
with Labrador and Quebec Province.
Let her seaport, St. John's, be one
of the outlets of a continent, and who
will dare prophesy the limits of her
future? Within five years the favored
company must, by the terms of its charter,
take advantage of its concession.
Passenger traffic alone between Newfoundland
and Ireland would scarcely be
worth while. Freight must be carried—
freight in vast quantities. It is essential,
therefore, that the tunnel be built. An
additional three years is granted for this
purpose. It is believed that financiers,
American, Canadian and English, will,
by that time, be vitally interested in the
development of this new commercial path
and that the Irish project, as well a> the
Newfoundland one, will be put through.
SIR EDWARD MORRIS, ATTORNEY-GENERAL
OF NEWFOUNDLAND.
Drafted the Belle Isle Strait tunnel
contract.
With what results ? Killery may, on the
European side of the Atlantic, stand as
the great rival of Liverpool, and on the
American side St. John's as New York's.
Why should not a tourist cut his hours
on the ocean in two, and substitute for
the perils and inconveniences of ocean
travel the speed, safety, and comforts of
the railway express? Three million persons,
it is estimated, cross the Atlantic
every year. Of course, an enormous
nuniber of these are immigrants—glad
to reach
this continent, no matter
how great the miseries
they may experience in
so doing. But the others
wdll seek Killery Harbor
and St. John's—to be
reached by railroad from
London and New York,
respectively.
The Killery-St. John's
route also furnishes the
shortest, most direct
route to Japan, China
and the Far East in general.
By followdng this
path instead of sailing
through the Suez Canal,
the Englishman may
save nineteen days in
his journey from London
to Tokio.
But it is not passenger traffic alone that
makes for great seaports. The quantity
of commercial products, grain, cattle,
hogs, and manufactured goods, that pass
through a city is a factor of still greater
importance. Canada teems with wealth.
Her vast plains are golden with grain
and dark with cattle. Great pines crash
beneath the sturdy blows of the woodsman.
Her bosom is pierced with pick
and racked with dynamite that she may
reveal her mineral hoards. At present
the bulk of her foreign commerce finds
its way to the world's markets down the
channel of the St. Lawrence. This is for
seven months of the year, when that
waterway is free from ice. During five
of these months the ships on passing into
the Gulf of St. Lawrence turn north
through the Strait of Belle Isle on their
voyage to Liverpool. For the remainder
of the year vast impenetrable floes en-

TO CUT THE OCEAN IN TWO 27!)
FISHING VESSEL AT STATION IN BELLE ISLE STRAIT.
veloped in chill, wdiite fog, block this
passage. It is then that the vessels from
Montreal gain the open sea through
Cabot Strait, south of Newfoundland.
This latter course lengthens the voyage
to Liverpool by one hundred and sixtyeight
miles. When Cabot Strait is closed
by Winter's icy hand, Halifax is Canada's
most northerly port.
With the recent phenomenal develop-
PROPOSED TERMINUS OF BELLE ISLE TUNNEL.
Peaceful scene which will some day be transformed into one of busy commercial activity.

280 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
ment of her natural resources, and the
accompanying great influx of foreigners,
Canada suddenly finds herself too big for
her transportation facilities. The United
States cannot greatly assist her. At the
present time the American railroads are
TAKING THE OCEAN'S HARVEST.
Fishermen at work in the Belle Isle Stra
overworked. J. J. Hill's declaration
that the railroad companies of the United
States must within the next five years
expend not less than $500,000,000 if
the volume of our business is to be
handled is familiar to all
of us.
To meet her most urgent
needs two great lines
of steel track are being
thrown across the ricb
Canadian plains, namely,
the Grand Trunk Pacific
and the Canadian Northern.
The Laurier cabinet
promises a road to
Hudson Bay. A line to
the Atlantic seaboard in
Eastern Labrador — in
the neighborhood of the
Strait of Belle Isle—is
likewise proposed. There
would be little point in
building a railroad
through this Saguenay
country, as it is termed,
for the sake of the brief summer
period when it would be possible to run
steamers to Labrador, because there
are numerous harbors along the Gulf,
that would serve the same purpose
at far less expense. If, however. Belle
Isle Strait were tunneled and the rail­
road system extended through Newfoundland
to St. John's, it would be possible
to utilize it the whole year round;
and this is what is contemplated. It
must be remembered that the shortest
and most direct route between these
western territories and
the British Isles lies
through Labrador and
Newfoundland, and that
cities like Chicago and
St. Paul would be
brought as near to Belle
Isle Strait as to New
York, so that the gain
by this route would be
as the difference of a
steamer run of 1,650
miles against one of
3,130 miles. Cattle and
grain could be moved
direct from the ranches
and elevators to St. John's
even in the midst of winter. The climatic
conditions in Newfoundland and Labrador
are not so trying as in the Northwest,
Ontario, or Quebec, nor is the snowfall
so great. The average snowfall at Moose
BOARDING A WRECK IN THE STRAIT.
Factory, Hudson Bay, is only eightv
inches, wdiile at Montreal it is one hundred
seventy-seven inches, and the Lake
St. John railway, in the northern section
of Quebec, was operated continuously all
through the exceptionally severe winter
of 1904, when the railways in maritime

Canada were blocked with snow for davs
together. Sir Wm. Van Home, the great
railway magnate of Montreal, recently
declared that "Canada's hoppet was too
big for the spout"; in other words, that
her products for export were increasing
far more rapidly than her facilities for
exporting them, and it was to remedy
these conditions that the building of her
new trans-continental railways was determined
upon. In like manner, when
the Dominion Parliament, in March,
1907, declared itself in favor of granting
only to British goods, landed from
British vessels in Canadian ports, the
preferential tariff treatment which Canada
now accords to the mother country,
Sir Wilfred Laurier, in accepting the
principle, suggested that the date of enforcing
it be left to the Cabinet, as by
1911 the new railways would be able to
convey grain from the prairies of the
West, and then Canada would no longer
be dependent upon the United States for
the bonding privileges through American
ports and territory, wdiich are no
TO CUT THE OCEAN IN TWO 2s 1
- \
\\
A GROUP OF NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERMEN.
small factor in the effective development
of her foreign trade.
Here, then, we have the motives for
the building up of a great seaport, which,
in its turn, depends upon the construction
of a tunnel under the Belle Isle Strait:
it \yill greatly enhance the economic and
political importance of Newfoundland;
furnish an outlet of that big section of
the continent called Canada, just back
of her; free Canada from her partial de-
pendence upon the United States for
transportation privileges ; and render her
self-sufficing.
At its narrowest point—between Point
Amour and Savage Cove—the Belle Isle
Strait is slightly less than nine miles
wide. A few years ago it was proposed
to construct a vast dam here of gigantic
proportions and use this as a causeway
for railway tracks. Such a feat is entirely
practicable. Flagler is doing that
very same thing between the mainland
of Florida and Key West. The plan had
great merit. It would turn aside the
chill arctic current, and correspondingly
,
X

282 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
raise the temperature of the adjacent
islands and mainland. Locks for liners
to pass through were contemplated. The
scheme fell through, however, for the
reason that the strait is one of the natural
highways of the sea. and such highways
may be closed only by international
agreement.
The tunnel project was then proposed.
The feasibility of such an enterprise has
never been questioned. The geological
formation encourages the belief that the
rock beneath the sea could be bored without
danger of encountering any serious
fissures. The Simplon tunnel, twelve
and one-fourth miles long, cost $16,000,-
• ft.
mj. tLSa/SSsk**** "*** ~ J-i'*"*
Night
How beautiful is night!
000. But the work was done "above
ground"; i. e., the debris was removed
by means of cars on a track and did not
have to be raised to the surface. This
latter factor greatly increases the cost of
a tunnel. It is estimated that the tunneling
of the English Channel would cost
$80,000,000. On this basis, to burrow
under the Belle Isle Strait would cost
about one-third that sum. With its approaches
the Belle Isle tunnel would be
some fourteen miles long. It would take
three years to build it. But Canada will
spend the time and money on no better
object, and those who are watching her
development look for an early beginning.
- * • « * »
A dewy freshness fills the silent air;
No mist obscures; nor cloud, nor speck, nor straiD,
Breaks the serene of heaven:
In full orbed glory, yonder moon divine
Rolls through the dark blue depths;
Beneath her steady ray
The desert circle spreads
Like the round ocean, girdled with the sky.
How beautiful is night!
— SOUTHEY.
* w tf ,

PROTECTING A ROAD FROM SAND INVASION
Method taken on Cape Cod to prevent driftinB and blockin8 of highway.
Flgjh^limg' Sand BMszanpd*
My Quay E. Miftclbelll
Secretary of the National Irrigation Association.
, HE instability of houses
built upon sand is com-
T " V 4 mented upon in the
1 J Scriptures, and this exyj
pression has come to
have a double meaning
with reference to the
great shifting sand
areas of this country along its coastal
region and about the Great Lakes. It
applies also with equal strength to the
sandy beaches of the older countries
across the water, but this is of lesser importance
to us, except in so far as the
efforts of those countries to check and
avert the evils of sand inundations may
be studied by us with a view to profiting
by their experience.
Not only i.s a sand foundation insecure,
but the surrounding sand is likely to
engulf and submerge'any structure "built
upon the sand," whether it be a building,
a coast town or a harbor itself. The
treacherous nature of sand is evident
along our entire northern Atlantic and
Pacific coasts, where the shore-line is not
rock-bound, and in much of the land
of the Great Lake territory. Large proportions
of these areas were originally
covered with vegetation—even forests
but the short-sighted policy which has
generally prevailed in America of utiliz­
es?)

284 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
ing every natural resource in sight without
regard to the future, has resulted in
its denudation and the endangering if
not destruction of adjacent properties.
Now, however, artificial forces are at
work to overcome the action of the elements,
and man again, though at a large
cost, is rebuilding what man in his profligacy
has in the past ruthlessly torn down.
W^&%$MMw$mgmm$gm!
SAND HILL PLANTED WITH BAYBERRY BUSHES
This is an instance of the use of this bush on Cape Cod, without grass protection.
Left to herself, nature always checkmates
her own actions. Where the gale
and the blizzard swept up the sand from
the ocean beach and deposited it in great
drifts a short distance inland, there were
developed species of tough, fibrous plants
which formed mats of vegetation, their
roots intimately intertwining, to bind
these sand piles together and prevent
their wholesale encroachment upon the
grass and forest lands of the interior. In
many localities trees worked their way
close down to the beach, their root mat
successfully resisting the cutting force
of the blasts; but when these were cut
down or the grass grazed away by cattle,
the land became transformed into sand
wastes as deep and shifting as the drifts
of a big snow storm formed by a hurricane.
So serious did the results prove that
the very existence of
harbors has been threatened
and in some instances
the harbors
themselves filled up by
shifting sand, to the extent
of rendering them
useless for navigation,
large swamp areas have
been created through
the clogging and closure
of natural drainage
channels, railroad tracks
have been submerged by
sand storms and traffic
suspended, fertile fields
devastated through the
veritable sand-blasts occasioned
by a fifty-mile
gale driving the fine particles
against tender
vegetation, and even
within towns themselves
the sidewalks have been
obliterated, the buildings
partially "snowed under,"
and in some cases
abandoned. When the
forces of nature are let
loose, her precautionary
measures having been
destroyed by man, the
result is always likely to
be disastrous and in no
instance is this more true
than in areas where sand is the principal
constituent of the soil. In this connection
it should be remarked that some of our
most sandy soils are among the most
fertile.
For many centuries the toilers by the
sea, in the older countries, have endured
and fought the sand evil. They found
the beach grass, the bayberry and other
tough growths naturally combating the
inroads of the ocean, and by transplanting
them they have held some of the

most stubborn and dangerous
beaches in good
control. By the aid of
the beach grass largelv,
tbe people of Holland
have secured their bard
won country from the
inroads and ravages of
the "old man of the sea,"
and similar protective
and aggressive work has
gone on in France, Denmark
and North Germany.
In the United
States devastation from
sand drifting is no new
thing, for one of the
principal sand dune
areas is that of Cape
Cod, and in the early
settlement of New England
deforestation and
cattle grazing broke
down the natural barriers
against sand invasion.
Nearly tw r o centuries
ago committees were formed and authorized
to enter upon any property consisting
of shifting sands and plant
thereon beach grass, and large portions
of the Cape, at that time constantly
menaced with sand storms of the most
violent nature, have since been, to a
great degree, armored to meet these
FIGHTING SAND BLIZZARDS 285
EROSION OF UNPROTECTED SAND.
The brush row marks line of beach grass planting. The whole left portion of the
slope is cut away by the action of wind.
visitations. Every springtime, in the
early days, there was a "beach grass
planting," done after the manner that
the road tax is worked out today in some
rural communities. Instead of receiving
a written notice, the citizens were
apprised of this duty by the town crier
reciting the following dines :
"And now, all ye who
1 bear, are admonished by
( the authorities that it is
time to plant marrow
(beach) grass, and all
these good citizens therefore,
who respect the
law and fear for the
penalty of its neglect,
will forthwith proceed to
the planting of marrow
grass."
Desultory but efficacious
planting on Cape
Cod continued up to
1893, wdien the state of
Massachusetts put into
operation an extensive
system of reclamation
which has proven very
successful. The sand
DIGGING LEACH GR\SS TO REPLANT IN EXPOSED PLACES,

286 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
SAND DUNES IN THE NETHERLANDS, COVERED WIT H YOUNG PINE.
Heather was first used on this spot, but proved inadequate.
areas at the extremities of the Cape
comprise about 6,000 acres, about half
of which, however, is under forest cover.
The initial planting by the state, on this
area, of wood plants, was unsuccessful,
owing to their introduction wdthout the
protection of the beach grass. But followdng
grass planting, large quantities
of bayberry bushes, young pines, etc.,
were introduced among the grass which
mothered them until they attained sufficient
strength to be self-protecting. The
state has expended on sand binding on
Cape Cod within the past thirteen years
some $14,000 as a protective feature,
vital to the harbor improvements upon
w-hich the state and the federal government
have spent during this period over
a quarter of a million dollars.
The city of Provincetown itself,inCape
Cod harbor, with its extensive fishing and
shipping interests, lies at the very base
of a veritable sand volcano, which, wdth
a little neglect, would submerge it as
effectively as ever was Herculaneum ; but
fortunately this volcano can be controlled,
and at that, by a lowly, creeping plant.
ddie town is built upon a narrow strip of
reclaimed land lying in the lee of the
range of dunes bordering the harbor, its
peculiar shape and position bringing it
into immediate peril should the adjacent
dunes be left unguarded. The harbor
itself is in equal danger—a harbor, by
the way, of exceptional importance and
value, where as many as a thousand ves­
sels have found safety
during a single gale.
Valuable commercially,
it is also considered of
great strategic importance
in case of war. All
depends upon keeping
grass and shrubs growing
on the sand dunes a
stone's throw distant.
To one who has
walked along a dry, seashore
beach, during a
heavy blow, it is not difficult
to appreciate the
changes which can be
wrought in a sandy
region where strong
winds prevail. The sand
strikes and whips the
face with the force and sting of
mustard-seed shot—more viciously than
the most driving sleet—and it would
seem impossible that any vegetation
could stand before it. Where the
natural cover has been in any way
disturbed, great excavations are eaten
out and hills of sand built up in an incredibly
short time.
The ordinary sand dune is formed
LEE SLOPE OF A BARREN DUNE.
The trees are being gradually smothered by the
drifting sands.

near the beach and travels back toward
the mterior. The typical "wandering
dune" presents a gradual slope toward
the wdnd and an abrupt slope on the lee
side. The wind forces the sand up the
slope and it falls over the edge. The
bill or ridge then travels in the direction
the wind is blowing at a speed depending
upon the force and constancy of the
latter. As these wandering dunes recede
from the coast, new ones may form
at the beach.
But the eternal foe of the wandering
A "SET" OF BEACH GRASS READY FOR
PLANTING.
dune is the beach grass and tbe bayberry.
The former especially delights in
the fierce sand blast, bending, it is true,
before its fierceness, but always tossing
up its head for another struggle. In
fact, it requires the severest conditions
in order to thrive and grows in its greatest
luxuriance where the sand is drifting,
attaining there a height of from one
to three feet and spreading by means of
extensive creeping, underground stems.
A healthy growth of beach grass can
thrive wdiere the burial by sand is as
much as twelve inches a year. On the
other hand, in quiet sand, it quickly dies
out. It is easily transplanted.
In some of the more fiercely sandswept
regions it is found necessary to
first build a sand fence in order to get
FIGHTING SAND BLIZZARDS 2S7
even the beach grass started inside of its
protection. In establishing a forest upon
sandy wastes a temporary protection is
also necessary. Sometimes a grass is
planted, in other instances artificial means
are used, such for instance as cut
heather, wdiich is spread in rows and the
trees planted between. In Gascony great
areas of formerly sand-swept wastes have
m this manner been reclaimed to profitable
timber lands.
While the Cape Cod region has been
the scene of the greatest activity in sand
REMAINS OF A FOREST—CUT, BURNED OVER, AND,
FINALLY, COMPLETELY RUINED BY SAND.
binding in this country, other sandy
localities have been very active in reclamation
and much interest has been
aroused in the possibilities of reclaiming
areas thought to be hopeless, through
the investigations of the department of
agriculture. Experiments have been
made, under the direction of Prof. W. J.
Spillman, the agrostologist of the department,
with various sand binding grasses
and shrubs from New England south,
as far as the Carolinas on the Atlantic
coast, in Washington and Oregon and
especially on the shifting sands of the
Columbia river, where high board fences
have not kept the sand from covering the
railroads, and among the sand dunes of
the Great Lakes region. The cost of
establishing a grass plantation varies

(288)
frV* - >7 '^>'',*. *-
-••• - -i_i. „
rfcflBSR* 2 *

from ten dollars to sixty-five dollars an
acre according to the required density of
the planting.
While a land of sand dunes, where the
wind sweeps savagely and but a few
bunches of grass or a growth of scrubby
bushes here and there meet the eye, may
seem tbe embodiment of desolation and
worthlessness, the effect of such a region
MEMORIES 289
Memories
Oft in the stilly night,
Ere slumber's chain has bound me,
Fond memory brings the light
Of other days around me.
The smiles, the tears,
Of boyhood's years,
The words of love then spoken;
The eyes that shone
Now dimmed and gone,
The cheerful hearts now broken.
—MOORE.
upon an adjacent and more valuable property
may be potent, and it is now the positive
statement of experts that no sand is
so shifting, no wandering dune so lawless
that it cannot be controlled by artificial
binding through the aid of nature herself
and that eventually there will be
no sandy area that will not be reclaimed
and made to serve some useful purpose.

T© U©e Tractile©© Trolleys
'HE trackless trolley has
come: Germany conceived
it in 1901,
France experimented
with it two years later
and now Germany,
France and Italy are
maturing this youngest
prodigy of the transportation realm.
In the opening hours of the present
century a German electrical house established
a short trackless trolley system
near the town of Bielatale, the line measuring
less than five miles in length and
serving as a medium for transporting
manufactured products from the factory
to the railroad. Necessity demanded
transportation of this nature on account
of the objection by the municipality
to the laying
of tracks on the
roadway. Success
in a minor degree
was attained, the
scheme proving not
onlv feasible but --*•'
economical. The
wagons employed
were heavily built
vehicles with an
electric motor harnessed
to each rear
wheel, the necessary
current being
taken from an
overhead trolley
wire, by an improvised
trolley pole
carried on the top
of the wagon cover.
A steering mechanism
completed
the pioneer trackless
trolley.
Wdth this crude
arrangement—this
improvised car, a
child of necessity,
(290)
ly Davi( >e©

trackless trolley will
become no mean competitor
of the present
horse-team wagon, the
gasoline automobile
truck, tbe electric truck
and the invading motor-bus
and passenger
coach. It is in the
usurpation of these
fields that its victories
must be looked
for and, incidentally,
as a complement of tbe
trolley and steam train
in localities w here
these would prove too
expensive an investment.
This field is an
extensive one embracing,
as it does, the many stage runs in
rural districts, motor bus systems in large
centers of population, freight work between
manufacturing cities and express
carrying.
With their usual carefulness of detail
and accuracy of design the Italian engineers
who constructed the cars for the
trackless trolley line out of Milan, have
perfected the cars used on tbe system
manufacturing them with the materials
and finish of a modern motor car. The
car chassis, a pressed steel construction,
carries improvements over other European
trackless cars in the suspension of
the two electric motors for driving the
TO USE TRACKLESS TROLLEYS •f.'i
HEAVY TRUCK TAKES CURRENT FROM TROLLEY WIRE.
FORM OF TRACKLESS TROLLEY USED IN ITALY FOR PASSENGER TRAFFIC,
rear wdieels. These motors, located under
the frame and in front of the
rear axle, are geared direct to a countershaft
by cylindrical gears and transmit
from the countershaft to the
road wheels through roller chains. Instead
of bolting the motors direct to the
frame where they would be subjected to
every vibration of the frame the engineers
have suspended them through a series
of four rubber supports which eliminate
the jar, the cylindrical gears accommodating
all variations in distance between
the motors and the countershaft
when the motors are at rest, but the
frame vibratiiu This is counted a great
conquest, as by it the
life of the motor is
more than doubled and
it is possible with a
motor so mounted to
take a car over rough
roads.
Next in importance
in the Italian system is
the ingenious current
collector which takes
the electricity from the
overhead wdre and delivers
it to the motor
through the trolley
pole. The device consists
of a four-wdieel
truck carried on the
top of the trolley pole,
two wheels bearing

2! >2 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
upon the power wire and two upon
the return wire. Close to the attachment
of the trolley pole to the truck is a ball
and socket joint to permit of all four
wheels of the collector truck adapting
themselves to the irregularities of the
tered in a controller lever adjacent to the
driver. When intended for use on mountain
roads a system of water-cooled
brakes is fitted in addition to the standard
equipment.
The Italian engineers assert that the su-
SPECIAL DESIGN OF TRACKLESS TROLLEY MOTOR.
This type has two trolleys, one for power and the other for return wire.
wires and maintaining constant contact.
Each truck wheel bears upwards on its
wire with a pressure of twelve pounds.
Making tbe trolley pole of good length
permits of a shifting of eight and onehalf
feet of the car to each side of the
overhead wires, a distance sufficient to allow
of cars using the same wdre and
meeting at a speed of thirty-five miles
per hour. This distance is deemed sufficient
for the heavy traffic requirements
on country and city roads.
Accommodation is furnished in the
Italian trackless trolley cars for fifteen
to twenty passengers, nine to fourteen
seats being the general size, seats running
lengthwise along the sides of the car or
arranged crosswise with a central aisle.
Steering rests with a medium-diameter
wheel in front of tbe driver, braking is
through a set of five frictional and electric
brakes and current control is cen-
periority of the trackless trolley car over
the gasoline motor car is sufficient to
warrant a rapid introduction of the former.
In the gasoline car are a four or
six-cylinder gasoline motor, speed changing
gearset, friction clutch, water-cooling
system for the cylinders of the motor,
electric system for igniting the charge,
complex lubricating means and, in brief,
a vast complexity all of which means
much weight and calls for expert attention.
Not so with the trackless trolley
car, it has its electric motors and a controller—gearsets,
differential gears, gasoline
motors and their many aides being
discarded. A trackless trolley car for
fourteen passengers weighs 4,400 pounds,
one for twenty-four passengers 5,100
pounds; whereas gasoline motor cars
with the same accommodation will weigh
forty per cent more. During a test at
Milan cars of this accommodation trav-

elled over the nine and one-half mile
route at an average speed of twenty-two
miles per hour wdth an eighteen-passenger
load, the roacl having a maximum
grade of seven per cent. The car making
this trip had an accredited mileage of
31,300 before the test was made and during
the test run bad a current consumption
of five hundred and sixty watt-hours
per car mile on good roads in dry condition,
but only four hundred watt-hours
on muddy roads.
The installation of this Milan trackless
trolley line affords good data on the initial
outlay and general operation of any
trackless trolley system. To be exact tlie
route measures nine and three-eighths
TO USE TRACKLESS TROLLEYS 293
to $24,000, making a total of $73,000 or
less than $8,000 per mile. The operating
expenses, as averaged over a period of
several months, including general expenses,
interest on capital, depreciation
and maintenance of the line, were, together
with current, seven cents per carmile.
This figure is considered too low,
engineers preferring to average the cost
per car-mile at twelve cents.
In France the only trackless trolley line
is in the vicinity of Charbonnieres-les-
Bains, near Lyons, wdiich line is four and
one-half miles long and has as rollingstock
six jiassenger cars each with seats
for tHirty-eight passengers and standing
room for ten. By use of an extra long
ajra»«w^' 7r" ; . : -/- ; z\&.
FORMS OF GERMAN PASSENGER AND FREIGHT TROLLEYS.
miles. The power plant for furnishing
the five hundred and fifty volt alternating
current entailed an outlay of $36,000 :
the three passenger cars called for a total
of $9,000; a freight car was billed at
$ ? 000; transforming stations added
$^000' and the total outlay on the line
foi- overhead wdres, roadbed construction
and other necessary parts amounted
trolley pole the cars have a radius of
twelve feet at each side of the overhead
wire w-hich provides room for two cars to
travel abreast and meet a third, or for
two cars meeting to pass on the oppositesides
of an intermediate vehicle. Current
cost on this line has been forty cents per
day per car for ten miles travel or four
cents per car-mile. Each car weighs 6.800

294 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
pounds, travels at nine miles per hour
and carries one fifteen-horsepower motor
with an overload capacity of twenty-two
horsepower.
One of the early German lines, designated
tbe Neuenahr-Ahrweiler-Walpozhein
system, has a line three and one-half
miles long and is used chiefly for passenger
traffic but has cars for freight transportation.
It was built at a cost of $32,-
000 as compared with an estimated cost
of $80,000 for a trolley track over the
same course. Much of this cost was occasioned
by the steep grades encountered.
In a test period in wdiich the car covered
one hundred and fifty miles, 1,052 passengers
were carried for $47.69. Each
trip of three and one-half miles was made
in from twenty-five to forty minutes,
twenty-five minutes going down grade
and forty up grade. Going down grade
the car averaged fourteen miles per hour
and nine miles per hour on the up trip.
Fare collected averaged two cents per
passenger per mile. On this route freight
trains operate, each motor carrying
its load and pulling one or more trailers.
In the United States as well as Europe
can be found mam- suitable fields for the
trackless trolley. ' Large manufacturing
plants can to advantage link themselves
with railroad depots or wharves in this
-manner; wholesale firms can dispense
with horse teams between store house and
railroad station ; and innumerable industrial
enterprises wdll find little difficulty
in adapting it to tbeir conditions. In rural
districts and for stage work its original
cost is so slight in comparison with the
installing of other systems that it is bound
to become popular where traffic conditions
warrant it. The remarkable low
cost of construction per mile when only
the overhead wire is needed is its great
advantage and the requiring of a power
house to supply current its great disadvantage.
This, however, vanishes when
the line is in places where power can be
purchased from electric companies, this
being an easy matter, as cars can operate
on a five hundred and fifty volt line or
those of lower or higher voltage, to suit
conditions. Rapid spreading of its use
and popularity is freely prophesied.

Reapnmg ttlhe Tenn Year Corllft Crop
iLTHOUGH millions of
corks are used annually,
there are comparatively
few people wdio
know anything of the
origin of these very
necessary items o f
traffic in liquids of all
descriptions. Vet the story of the cork
is a very interesting one.
ddie outer bark of a species of oak tree
is that which provides tbe common cork
of commerce with which we are familiar.
I -ii- ••
By lEvelyim Steward
A VIEW OF THE CORK COUNTRY.
ddie tree is an evergreen, growing lo
a height of about tliirt)- feet. Its fruit is
an edible acorn, resembling the chestnut
in taste, ddie successful growth of the
tree does not demand the nourishment oi"
a rich soil; indeed, it thrives best on poor
and uncultivated land, ddie cork tree
abounds in many districts in Spain and
Portugal, especially in the former country.
Italy, Sardinia and France can
boast of their cork tree forests; the environs
of Bordeaux being well supplied.
Algeria is another country where the
(2.9,5)

296 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
GATHERING THE HARK CUT BY THK STRIPPERS
cork oak is very plentiful, thousands of
acres being occupied by it, cork harvesting
forming one of the principal Algerian
industries.
The basin of the Mediterranean seems
peculiarly adapted for the successful
aforesting of the cork tree; its climate,
soil, etc., have a most
stimulating effect upon
the development of the
bark. Immense plantations
are laid out
from time to time, seed
being frequently used
for tbe purpose. As a
rule, large, sweet
acorns soon set forth'
strong, healthy shoots,
developing with great
rapidity into trees of
regular growth, to
yield, in due time, cork
of excellent quality.
Plantations are usually
laid out with fifty trees
to the acre.
The tree in the
course of its growth
will naturally shed its
bark, i. c, the outer
casing which we call
cork. The latter
periodically completes
its growdb, whilst the
inner bark abvays progresses, when
consequently the cork splits off. The
earlier splittings are coarse and woody
and of very little value. During this
period it is highly important to keep the
forest cleared of naturally shed virgin
cork, which, drying quickly in the great
A MULE PACK-TRAIN, BRINGING DOWN BARK FROM THE MOUNTAINS.

heat, soon becomes intensely inflammable,
wdien, if once fired, it would probably be
the cause of a huge conflagration in
which tbe entire forest would in all likelihood
be destroyed. Therefore, of little
value as tbe early stoppings are, they
must be collected and stored safely away,
to produce whatever small sum may be
bid for them.
lhe time for artificial stripping varies
with the locality from fifteen to thirty
years. The first yield much resembles
naturally shed cork and hardly pays for
the workmen's time employed. But it is
necessary to perform the operation at the
jiroper period, so that the tree may begin
to produce the second growth, wdiich is
of somewhat greater value. This, however,
will not be ready for "barking" for
at least eight or ten years, and subsequently
the period named enables the tree
to produce further growths, which become
more valuable until the life of the
tree begins to close—some 150 years or
thereabouts during which it is valuable.
REAPING THE TEN YE.AR CORK CROP 297
Andalusia, that most picturesque province
of sunny Spain, is remarkable for its
huge forests of cork trees. By far the
largest supplies and best quality of corkcome
from that locality. The value of
the cork annually collected throughout
Andalusia is enormous. With such an
attraction to those who have no scruples
about making the most they can out of
their neighbor's property, these forests
WEIGHING THE BARKWOOD WITH THE ANCIENT ROMAN SCALES.
are frequently visited by poachers, who,
were they not watched, chased, and
(sometimes) captured, would strip the
trees of their valuable bark for their
own gain. The authorities are compelled,
owing to this custom of itinerant
"explorers," to employ a large nuniber of
watchers whose duty it is to see that the
poachers are restrained in their efforts to
gain wealth quickly. Frequent conflicts
between the guards and the poachers ensue,
but the forests afford excellent cover
for tbe intruders, who use every wile
to baffle the efforts of their enemies and
t succeed in their nefarious designs on

298 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
the cork, and despite the watchers many a
load is carried off surreptitiously and disposed
of through channels more or less
illegitimate.
Fhe cork harvest, it is hardlv necessarv
to say, forms a very important annual
event in Andalusia, an immense number
of hands being employed during the two
or three months in which the trees arcin
proper condition for barking. July
and August are the months of the year
when the industry is at its zenith.
ddie day having been chosen for the beginning
of operations, as in an ordinary
English harvest, the various workers are
summoned, and the whole company pro-
ceeds to the spot agreed
upon as a camping-place.
It goes without saying
•
that most of the men
engaged in the cork harvest
are of a somewhat
rough and uncouth appearance,
in some cases
by no means pleasant to
look upon, but their garb
being of a picturesquedescription,
if somewhat
ragged, they are not
without a certain charm
to the foreigner who
happens to observe the
scene of making preparations
for the coming
sojourn in the forest.
I lie company is usually in charge of
one of the' owners of the forest
or h lis chief man, and a line of discipline
is perforce, laid down to which subordinates
are subject under pains and
penalties that need not be mentioned here.
Hot words, and even stronger methods—
in which knives sometimes play a part, if
only for show—have often to be used,
but on the whole the cork harvester is a
happy-go-lucky, somewhat boisterous
creature, full of song and laughter and
seemingly enjoying the life.
Supplied with all the requisites for the
sojourn in the forest, the party tramps
through the wood urging on heavily laden
donkeys at the point
of the stick, until a suitable
spot for camping is
reached. It is seen that
the trip is properly organized
for cooking
utensils, food, and other
necessaries are promptlv
produced, and a good
meal is provided for all.
Tables, chairs, or other
means of enjoying a
meal in the shape of
knives or forks, plates,
etc., are almost invariably
dispensed with as
unnecessary. The food
when cooked is laid out
in huge wooden bowls,
each large enough to
hold sufficient for a
dozen men. Every man

is provided with a big
spoon; this is inserted
into the wooden bowl
and withdrawn full of
what appears to be something
appetizing and
dainty, for tbe diners
devour it with exceeding
relish, meantime
standing about or walking
around the camp,
until tbe big spoon requires
replenishing when
another dip into the
wooden bowl takes
place, and the partaker
of the fare is satisfied.
ddie daily round of
tbe camp is somewhat
monotonous, but to the
Andalusian, who objects
to hurry and scurry, the life appears
to be pleasant enough. Work
generally begins at 5 :30 a. m., a pause for
breakfast being made at eight o'clock;
dinner at noon, a two hours' rest from
the midday sun, and supper at six. An
English "hopper" or fruit picker would
probably turn up his nose at the quantity
and quality of the food provided for the
Andalusian cork harvester, but no complaints
on that ground are heard by the
visitor. Very little in the shape of physical
enjoyment satisfies, there being much
solace, apparently, in the cigarette, which
the worker must have under all circumstances.
Although a fire in the forest
would be nothing short
of a catastrojihe, and in
the hot weather there is
considerable risk of this,
the inevitable cigarette
is to be seen in close
proximity to the more or
less inflammable material
peculiar to the
surroundings of a cork
tree forest.
The harvesters are
content with a gipsy life
of the roughest descrij)tion.
Here and there arcroughly
built huts, sometimes
augmented by
tents, and other still
more primitive covering
from the night air.
REAP1.XG THE TEN YEAR CORK CROP 299
Wdth these and a remarkably small allowance
of food the Andulasian is content
for the time being. In his leisure
he smokes or gambles or chats according
to his inclination and the strength of bis
finances, which, by the way, are never of
Rothscbilde-like j)roportions, for his pay
is but scanty.
The corcheros, or bark strippers, are
the first to begin work when camjiing
preliminaries and refreshment are over.
They are provided wdth sharj) axes, having
handles shaped somewhat after the
fashion of a burglar's "jimmy." With tbe
edge of the axe a cut is made around tbc
trunk of tbe tree two or three feet above

300 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
the ground. Experience has given these
men the knack of delivering a blow upon
the bark whereby the axe is inserted to an
exact depth in the outer bark wdthout
penetrating the inner one in the very
slightest, for, if the inner bark were injured
the tree would probably die. When
the lower cut meets with mathematical
BL .
I
I
Wm
y-. m
\vt .';
ill !
E ^g0, ~\ A. HS
K- '
B
wit^^^^' /^B^v ^1
IL -• 9U ^V ^^V tttL
mfm
•f^^
Bl
i *
PL-£i
^B ^tffl
precision, a similar line is made with the
axe just below the fork. Then, starting
at the top ring, the stripper cuts a perpendicular
line to the lower one. Then the
'wedge-shape axe-handle is introduced
into the perpendicular cut, and with a
gentle pressure exercised, the bark begins
to come away from the trunk gradually
in one jiiece until finally it drops off in
semi-tubular form. The operation is usually
])erformed with wonderful rapidity
considering the amount of care and precision
necessary. The stripj)er work
done, the tube of cork is seized upon by
a couple of assistants, wdio, by means of
slings, carry it to a convenient place
where a heap can be formed to await
transportation in quantities.
According to the age of a tree, the
upper branches also are stripped, the finer
cork being that produced by that part of
the tree. The thickness of the bark removed
from any jiart of the tree is seldom
less than three-quarter inch or more than
-
*** ,'."-
• . •
g|1
Still
' :as«i
i ! Hli "
PACKING FINISHED CORKS IN BURLAP BAGS.
•
s
K : . ; fl ^^^B
UL '"•'J1*S
.. :''^*3^^HHHBSH
WZTK^K r ^zMM
^'•^mfc-' ^"fc
li TSSSH
three inches. In France, by the way, arc
strictly enforced laws governing cork
culture, no bark under a certain thickness
being removable. In any case thin
bark is of very little value and the cutting
of it is but time wasted.
The stripped bark being of a tubular
shape and therefore inconvenient for
handling or transport, various methods
are adopted for straightening it out into
"j)lanks." The larger jDieces are sometimes
placed one on top of another partially
flattened under heavy stones and
then transferred to a big and roughly
constructed screw press. In other cases,
the curved bark is placed in front of a

large fire, when the heat removes the
warp in a more or less successful degree
when the screw press is called into use
and the pulling and pushing power of a
couple of strong men reduce the bark to
a state of comparative flatness wdiich facilitates
its removal to the factories. The
larger pieces, stripped from the trunk, are
cut into uniform "tables" of three and
one-half feet long by one and one-half
feet wide, ddiis cutting is performed by
skilled workers, known as rajadorcs.
As soon as the flattening and splitting
has been done, the crude cork is conveyed
to various points in the forest convenient
for removal afterwards and stacked
in large piles, wdiere it is left lying for
ten or twelve days, sometimes less, so that
some of the moisture may evajiorate in
the heat of the sun. This, of course, reduces
the weight considerably and renders
transport to stores or factories less
difficult.
Owing to the nature of the surroundings,
transport is mostly accomplished by
REAPING THE TEN YEAR CORK CROP
SCRAPING THF. BACKS.
301
the help of a donkey corps of great
strength. The cork having been dried
and tied up in bundles of one hundred
pounds weight or thereabouts, are ingeniously
packed on the backs of the
donkeys until there is scarcelv anything
of the'animals visible excejit their poor
little legs, wdiich form a very ludicrous
contrast to the enormous burden with
which they are laden. However, that
burden is not so heavy as it looks and
the donkey corps makes great headway—
and footway too in the more difficult
parts of the route—to their destination,
covering an astonishing distance upon
each journey.
Next come the various processes by
wdiich the crude cork is made ready for
its various uses—and they are legion. In
cork-growing countries the material does
duty in many responsible positions: as
pavements, sometimes as buttresses for
churches, and even as coffins for the
dead!
For the moment, however, we are in-

302 THE TECHNICAL
WORED MAGAZINE
terested in tbe future of the "tables" of sides of the "tables" of cork, which gives
cork as stoppers for bottles and other them a clean, bright ajijiearance. In this
vessels. From the forest, they have been way the}- are ready for pressing and tying
transjiorted to the store yards of a mighty by iron bands, in which condition they
cork factory in the town of Algeciras, are exjiorted to factories in other coun­
wdiere hundreds upon hundreds of stacks tries for further manipulation.
of crude cork are always to be seen wait­ I bit when not intended for export the
ing their turn for manipulation and trans­ "tables" are subjected to further procformation
into the common cork of comesses until they become "corks."
merce so largelv in demand.
"Slicing" is the cutting of the cork­
An important process necessary for wood into various sizes according to the
that purpose is the effectual closing of its purjiose for which they are intended, or
pores, otherwise it would be of little use. the size of the bottle or other vessel to
The most common method of filling up which they will act as stojijiers.
cavities in crude cork is by placing the The "squares" are then washed by tbe
"table" before a hot fire to char or singe primitive means of a tub filled with water
it, the heating being conducted with great and a boy with a stick, the latter being-
care, the sides changed constantly. ()bused to stir uji the jiieces of cork to make
jection to this process was taken because the cleansing effective. They are then
it causes a secretion of oil, which is apt to ready for cutting into corks. It wdll
make its presence felt at inconvenient mo­ come as news to most readers that even
ments. The much better plan now gen­ in this age of machinery corks are mostly
erally adojited is to boil the "tables." cut by hand. Invention after invention
scrape the surface and then dry in the for the mechanical shaping of corks has
sun. The pores are more effectually closed come and gone. The fact is, cork blunts
by sun than by fire-heat,and the sun-dried the sharpest instrument almost directly,
material does not show any of the dark­ and a blunt knife won't cut cork. It is
ness visible in that dried by artificial heat. found, however, that a man with a spe­
Having been extracted from tbe huge cially prepared sharpening board before
tanks of boiling water, the bales of cork­ him can keep bis knife constantly in good
wood are unroped and dried, and the condition, and though many machines
scraping jirocess ensues in due time. have failed at this point, latterly some
Skilful workers are employed at this cork-cutting machinery has come into use
process, as a good deal depends on the and has jiroved fairly successful for the
proper scraping of the material. A small, purjiose.
hoe-shaped instrument is used, and in the In many factories, however, the cut
bands of a clever workman the cork as­ cork is still the work of a knife manipusumes
a clean, smooth appearance to
lated by a man. lie works with marvelous
rapidity, and it does take long for a
wdiich it has previously been a stranger.
large heaj) to lie beside him. Then comes
The next jirocess is the "trimming."
sorting and a final cleansing, and the
This means the cleaning of the ends and
cork is read\- for packing and a customer.

Camera Melp© Save tike Eye
My Jo Bo Vsiia Bruassell
>>N y-^y £? THORNER, assistant
oil I • lo at l ' lc cnn > c °f e y e (ns ~
J// 1_^ \\ eases at tne Royal
T^/ ^7 Charity h o spit a 1 at
iJL^ x"N. _^J Berlin, has recently
v.^^^3C^^2^ made a discovery of.
great imjiortance in the
domain of ocular science, in solving a
problem that several practitioners had
OPTIC NERVE OF AN EYE BADLY AFFECTED
BY MYOPIA
hitherto studied, but with indifferent results,
lie has succeeded in photographing
the back of the eye and in obtaining
good photographic reproductions.
I lis invention is a large imjirovement
upon the Helmholtz eye sjieculum, which
has permitted only of examining the back
of the eye, while now an image of it can
be fixed. Owing to this invention the
delicate art of the oculist is destined to
enter a new phase which will doubtless
be the starting point of interesting discoveries
in the domain of ocular science.
ddie failure of all attemjits made up to
the |iresent to photograph the interior.
and the back, of the eye has been due to
the jieeuliar structure of this organ. It
is difficult, in fact, to illuminate the eye
sufficiently to obtain a photograph of it;
and even ujion employing powerful
sources of light, the exposure of the
organ would take too long and would
occasion unendurable pain to the patient.
ddie ajijiaratus as actually used by the
inventor is represented in OIK- of the
PHOTOGRAPH OF WHAT IS COMMONLY CALLED THE
"YELLOW SPOT," THE MOST SENSITIVE
PLACE IN THE ILYE.
accompanying photographs. Before
coming to this fine imjiroved ajijiaratus,
Dr. Thorner in the first place constructed
a trial apjiaratus by means of which hesucceeded
in photographing the eyes of
certain animals, and principally those of
cats. As the back of the eye is darker
in the man than in the cat, it was necessary
to modify the apparatus before it
was possible to jihotograph the back of
the eye of the man. Then, starting from
good principles, Dr. Thorner, after
patient researches, finally obtained comjilete
success.
The following gives a good idea of his
(.11)3)

304 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
nation lasts for a sufficient
length of lime to
allow the back of the
eve tu be reproduced
upon the jihotographic
jilate. The images thus
formed are slightly imperfect,
and it is necessary
in developing them
to exercise jiartieular
care in order that good
negatives may be obtained,
which shall permit
of making jiositives
such as are represented
in the photographs herewith.
Among these images
may be seen a healthy
eye and diseased ones.
THE THORNER API
>R PHOTOGRAPHINI INTERIOR OF THE EYE
llere we observe the
manner of operating with the newly jier-
ramifications of the delicate
vessels of the retina, tbe heavy lines
fected machine:
rejiresenting the veins and the less con­
ddie wide-open eye illuminated by the spicuous ones the arteries. It is through
soft light of a kerosene lamp, is jilaced the observation of such details that
at the entrance of the ajijiaratus. A lens healthy eyes are distinguished from dis­
reproduces an exact image of the ineased ones. Very short-sighted eyes, for
terior of the eve on a jilate of ground example, are characterized by a peculiar
glass. After an accurate focusing has aureola around tbe center which emits a
been secured, the shutter is closed and very light radiation after the manner of
set and the ground glass is rejilaced by a sun. It is therefore now possible grad­
a sensitized jilate. A simple jiressure ually to follow the progress of an eye dis­
operates the shutter, and, at the same ease through its successive periods, and
moment, an electric spark ignites a quan­ likewdse to photograph each of the parts
tity of flash-light jiowder. ddie illumi­ of tbe interior of the eye separately.

Madhimie ttfinaft Oeaims Fislh
117 automatic cutting
and cleaning of fish at
the rate of two hundred
to three hundred
jier minute is a newdy
successful ajiplication
of machinery. Heretofore
all down the
ages this work has been a hand ojieration
and. although fishermen often remarked
about tbe revolution that would come to
the industry with automatic cutting and
dressing, they little dreamed of its accomplishment.
d he feeding table of the new machine
is equipped with jiockets upon an endless
belt, ddiese jiockets are arranged in rows
side by side and each one is made to hold
a fish. From a large box or bin at the
rear of the machine the fish are taken and
laid in the resjiective jiockets by two
By Frarafe W» McClwe
feeders, boys or girls, the row of jiockets
moving forward as rapidly as filled and
another row coming up promptly to take
its place and likewise be filled.
In these pockets the fish are carried
forward and deposited in a chute where
they are clamjied and held firmly, all
lined uji in a jierfect row with their noses
against a shutter. After they have been
clamjied, the shutter opens and allows
the fish to jiass on to the knife which is
to cut them, still held in the grasji of the
clamps which are attached to a revolving
drum, idle knife is thirty inches long
and travels in two jiaths or motions governed
by sliding cams. The knife
moves endwise as it is jiressed through
the fish's body. It first jiasses downward
through the fish entering just back of the
gills, and then gradually makes a curve
and passes back through the tail of the
. TEN FISH ABOUT TO BE RUN THROUGH CLEANING MACHINE.
nil of the operator does not touch them after they have heen placed upon this feed table.
(305)

.;m'i THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
'.-r; «i-i^^'---'-^- •-
NEW AUTOMATIC FISH-DRESSING MACHINE WHICH CLEANS FISII AT THE RATE OF THREE
HUNDRED A MINUTE.
fish, severing a striji from the under part motion causes them to be cut and then
of the body which leaves the intestinal the same upward motion wdiich brings
cavity entirely open. Each ujiward mo- ten fish to the knife, also carries the fish
tion of the handle which controls the that have just been cut on to a scraping
movements of the machine brings ten device. The intestinal cavity, heretofore
fish under the knife. Idle downward referred to, is thoroughly scrajied in this
1NAL OPERATION IN FISH CLEANING MACHINE.
Knives automatically rip and scrape the intestinal cavity.

device. Subsequently the fish are automatically
released from the clamps and
the cut and dressed fish are thrown out
of the front of the machine wdiile the entrails
fall beneath it. An automatic register
for counting the fish can also be
used.
The machine shown in the accompanying
photograph is known as a "ten-cutter"
machine and, with thirty strokes per
minute, 10,000 to 18,000
fish per h o u r, it is
claimed, can be handled.
ddie machine is also
made in larger sizes that
will cut from twenty-
. five to thirty fish at a
clip, cutting and cleaning
40,000 'to 50,000 per
hour. It can also be
constructed either to slit
the fish, leaving the head
on or to take the head
off, or it can be made to
open the fish on its back
when so desired, just as
well, making its knifecut
from the under side.
MACHINE THAI ( LEANS FISH 307
In many jilaces the most exjiensive and
tedious work of the entire fishing industry
consists in the cutting and cleaning
of fish. While 17. G. Deloe of Roaring
Springs, Pa., was visiting in Virginia
some two years ago he discovered this
fact while watching the fishermen of tbe
Chowan river region and set to work upon
an invention to meet the need, with the
result that he has jierfected this machine.
FISH AS DISCHARGED FROM THE MACHINE, WITH HEADS AND ENTRAILS
REMOVED.

(3U8)
'SNAKING" OUT A FRESHLY CUl AND TRIMMED LOG.
STEAM CRANES SPARE HAND LABOR IN LOGGING.
The heaviest logs are now loaded with ease and without dangei to life or limb

Conquest of ttlhe Mortlh Wood;
TJP m the Little Bay de Xoquette
country in northern Michigan is
the lumberman s paradise. Traveling on
the "Soo Line" through a rough
country, twisting around perilous side-
>y Jamaes CooM® Mills
chain tender, the donkey-engine men,
and the "road-monkeys," are at work on
the forest.
Before this army of invasion that is
conquering the pinery, made its first ad-
WINTER VIEW OF LOW LYING CAMP OF THE LUMBER JACK.
bills, across burned slashings thick
with blackened stumps, now and then
darting through stretches of virgin wood.
it is a dreary journey from settled country
to the dark shores of Little Bay de
Xoquette. Here, at the mouth of Rapid
river, we are on the edge of the almost
unbroken forest. The balsamic and
pitchy smell of the pine, the distinct
charm of the north woods, become our
lure urging us on to the solemn stillness
in the depths of the dark green forest.
Squatted low in the thick, moist undergrowth
lies a typical logging camp, the
landings piled high with new logs, and
behind it a still steeper skidway worn
with the downward rush of ponderous,
shaggy logs. Here, the axman, the sawyer,
the swamper, the barker, the dog-
vance into the wood in early wdnter,
other woodsmen had gone before and
blazed the way. In late summer or early
fall these skirmishers broke through the
forest, and located the camp where the
ground was high enough to be quite dry.
Then they proceeded to make a clearing,
using the logs from the felled trees, to
build the camps, wdiich were to be the
home of the army of lumber-jacks during
the long winter, and are six all told.
While these operations were going on,
gangs of road makers were cutting a
path through the forest, to connect the
camp with the railroad some four or five
miles away. This branch road was completed
and in operation before the first
fall of snow, thus ojiening communications
with the base of sujijilies. ddie men
(.109)

310 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
then opened up a
have not sown, of
ti ite - r< iad straight
drawing r i c h e s
out into the forest
from the combin­
with branch lines
ing elements of
radiating from it,
earth, the sky, and
to right and left.
air, rendering the
Along these roads
jiroduct i if tbe for­
at con v e n i e n t
est of use to man­
jioints skidways
kind, is w or t h
were built of long
going far to see.
slender logs laid
First of all in the
side by side «in the
grouji of shanties
cleared g round,
in this lumber-jack
and about five feet
village, covered
ajiart, and held in
with a thick mantle
jilace by stake's and
of snow, is the
braces. ( )n these
men's camp. This
skids the logs, as
is in one large
they are cut, are
room, the bunks
stacked ready for
being arranged
h a u I i n g t

corner is a rough wooden sink set
out with tin basins, and flanked
by roller towels and a barrel of water,
whereat the "jacks" make their toilet.
About the room are rude tables and
benches where tbe men jiass the short
evenings and Sundays at cards, or
smoke the time away. In the gathering
are Swedes, Belgians, Italians, Indians
and half-breeds, and man}- a jileasant evening
is sjient in story
telling of thrilling exji
e r i e n c e s in manv
climes.
Xext is tbe cookcamji,
and this also is of one
large room, having a
huge range and cook
table in one end. 1 [ere
at evening we see the
fat cook in oil-cloth
apron, bringing on the
huge pans of beans,
"sow-belly," potatoes,
soda-bread, coffee, and
jirunes to toji off with,
for the jacks' supper.
The long tables, on
w h i c h the tempting
viands are laid out, are
set with a great array of
tin jilates, dishes, and
cups or rather basins,
while the knives and
forks are of steel with
iron handles. Along the
walls back of the tables,
are lines of posters in
bright colors, of advertisement
girls, of canned
vegetables, and tobacco.
Even as the fat cook
lays out the last dish of
steaming-hot "truck," the
hungry jacks troop in with joyful shouts
and"much stamping of feet, making a
rush for bench seats along the tables. It is
amusing to watch these ravenous men at
table. There are no waiters to hand out
the dishes, and the long arm reach is
quite the thing to have. Sugar and milk
are dealt out in coffee cans, while the
salt- and pejiper-shakes are but bakingpowder
cans with nail-hole perforated
tops. But desjiite all this the jacks enjoy
their meals: there is an abundance of
everything, and the average appetite is
CONQUEST OI THE NORTH WOODS 311
sated onh by about three jilates of each
item on the list, and as many cups of
black coffee.
ddie stable and blacksmith shop shanties
are much like the others, with lowroofs
that the animal heat of tlie horses
and oxen may go as far as jiossible toward
keeping it warm, ddie store-house
located beside the cook camji is stiil
lower-roofed, and almost buried in snow
CHOPPERS GUIDE THE FALL OF THE TREE.
These skillful men can so cut their notch as to drive a stake in the ground with
the falling trunk.
to keep out tbe frost, so that the quantities
of provender within may not be
damaged.
The office or "Van" as it is called in
the parlance of the camji, is a little log
but by itself, wherein the camp-clerk
keeps the books of account, and general
merchandise needed by the men. There
is a full stock of Mackinaw jackets, stagpants,
heavy underwear, socks, hurons,
shoe-pacs, mittens and cajis ; also tobacco,
jiipes, and a little stationery, llere are
also tbe bunks of tbe camji foreman, the

312 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
scaler, and the clerk, and several extra
ones for visitors. At eight o'clock, all
the lights in camp go out and everv man
tumbles into his bunk.
Long before day-break the camp is
astir, ddie chore-boy's coming is the first
call to arms. I le lights a fire in the box
stove, and soon every nook and corner
of the little shanty is aglow with warmth.
By the dim light of a lantern the men
turn out and after the hastv toilet of the
W:-% t\
Ml7
K -'
camji, hurry to the cook-camp, for breakfast.
As the first rays of the rising sun
jiierce the tops of the forest giants, and
the deeper shadows in the woods fadeaway,
the lumber-jacks come forth for
the day's onslaught. What a motley and.
picturesque grouji they make as they
press ou over the main logging-road, out
into the forest, ddie .Mackinaw jacket—
a veritable gorgeous sunset of red—together
with yellow and green plaid stagpants,
is much in evidence, while the assortment
of flannel shirts, Scotch caps,
German socks and hurons, could not bomatched
anywhere outside a lumber-
camp. Literally they are suits of many
colors.
Along the glaring surface of the ice
road, made so by fresh sjirinkling the
late afternoon before, the decking teams
and drays plod their way taking the army
of workers to the combat. Every now
and then gangs of them drop off the
sleighs, or on the drays delve into the
thick undergrowth, to this side and that,
making their attack. A mile and a half,
THE LOGGERS' DINNER IN TUP WOODS,
'-" has brought the n I meal tn the workers on the "firing-line
two miles, and on to two and a half they
go, into the very depths of the primeval
forest, where the clean bright snow is a
fit covering for the moss and ferns two
or three feet below; and untouched by
the shoe-jiacs of the woodsmen. This
indeed is the heart of the north woods.
ddie swish of the wind through the broad
branches, towering above, is pleasant to
lhe ear. while occasionally from afar out
in the forest come the rattling tinny
sounds of the donkey-engine as it winds
on its cables, and less frequently the
whistled signal of some invisible logboss.
First comes the head feller who picks

the tree to be laid low,
and, lookin g up its
mighty bole, a hundred
feet or more, decides
the direction of its fall.
ddien selecting tbe place
where it shall lie so that
its falling will do the
least injury to tbe stanib
ing pines, he cuts out a
notch in the bark to indicate
tbe lane through
the trees, and passes on.
Following him, come tbe
real fellers, the axmen
and the sawyers, who
fell the doomed tree.
The axmen fall to their
work with a vim, for
tbe air is sharp with
cold, and soon the kerf or notch
on the side that the tree is to fall, is
a foot or more deep in the clean
white wood. Skillfull)' has this notch
been made, for it is this that governs
the fall of the tree; and all the
ground beneath is covered wdth pitchy
chips, as the choppers cease. Of all the
forest workers these are the men whose
judgment never fails, and where the pine
should fall, there it falls. Set a stake
fifty feet from the foot of tbe pine, and
they so cut the kerf that tbe falling tree
wdll drive it into the ground.
Xow ? as the choppers
follow the trail of their
leader, there is much
hard work for the sawyers
ere the noble tree
gives up its stand. They
begin with their long
double-toothed saw, one
at each end, on the side
of the trunk opposite to
the notch. Steadily these
sawyers, draw the swift
cutting saw, back and
forth, through ring upon
ring of the tree's yearlygrowth,
and on into its
very heart. Frequently
they stop to oil the
gummy blade with kerosene
to remove tbe pitch,
and drive wedges into
the kerf to slightly ease
CONQUEST OF TIIE NORTH WOODS 313
ROAD LOCOMOTIVE HAULING LOGS OUT OF Wooos TO SHIPPING POINT.
the saw on the downward rub, and also
to helji the notch guide the tree in its
fall.
Still tbe sturdy pine, standing as firm
and solid as the ages, gives no sign of
yielding. Only when the tearing saw has
cut through its heart and beyond, do we
hear the sharji cry of distress, a sound of
rending wood, of cracking fibers, jienetrating
and far-reaching.
"Watch out there!" roars the head
feller. "( Hit of the way. Watch out!
Watch out I"
Even as he yells, the wedges are
RECORD LOAD OF THE Y'EAR, DRAWN F.Y ONE TEAM.

.ill THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
sledged home, the mighty tree is forced
over ; it loses its balance, ddie cries of
distress increase, they grow louder, the
fibers break off with quick cracks, the
top sways aside slowly at first with
matchless dignity even to the last. The
branches moan as they sweep through
TRACTION ENGINE USED TO HAUL A TRAIN-LOAD OF LUMBER
the air, and as they fall faster tbe moan
becomes a whistle, and then a shriek a.s
they gather speed. Faster and faster
falls the tree until it strikes the ground
with a tremendous crash, jarring the forest,
the sound reverberating through the
dense woods, hoarse, appalling—the
death cry of
the jiine.
Before us lies tinprostrate
tree that in the
days of the Pilgrim
Fathers, was a promising
sapling. Through
two centuries and more it
grew and waxed strong,
d e f y i n g the fiercest
storms and shocks of the
elements of air and sky.
It seems almost a tragedy
that it should be
laid low,but of such is the
conquest of the forest.
Xow it is time for
lunch, and the other
bosses and their crews
through the deep wood
from far and near, at the call of the
The cookee with the "truck-sled
come the long way from camp ; and be is
welcomed with a mighty shout from the
famished lumber-jacks. For each one
there is a heajied jiyramid of cold beans,
three boiled eggs, five or six wedges of
bread, cold bam in quantities, three cups
of coffee, and crackers—a meal in proportion
to the work.
After lunch back in tbe woods by the
felled tree the sawyers, after measuring
the trunk, saw it up into logs, twelve,
fourteen, and sixteen feet in length.
ddien from out of the woods come
"swampers" who cut
paths through the brush
to the dray-road. These
men are the recruits—
the least experienced
men in camji—and the
paths are no more than
trails. And now we see
teams coming up the
trail drawing drays, and
followed by a driver and
dog-chain tender. Quickly
they roll one end of
a log on the cross-beam
of the low dray, cast a chain over
and around the log, and secure it.
A mighty pull by the teams brings
the log out straight behind, the other
end dragging along over
The skidding crew hauls the
the snow.
JS out to a
LOADING LONG SPARS ON CARS.
These timbers are from sixty to eighty feet long and are used for heavy poles,
derricks, etc.
come romping
on every side,
lorn.
has
branch of the main log road. Here is a
skidway piled high with logs, snaked out
and stacked, ready for the long haul in
mammoth loads, to the banking ground
beyond the camp.
Xow the great rough logs are loaded
on the strong and heavy sleighs, tier
upon tier, until finally, the "jieeker" is
in jilace. A snaking crew conies upon
the scene from toward the camp, and

commences the regular course of loading.
The team is first unhooked, a long but
light chain i.s secured to a stake opposite
tbe skidway, and then jiassed over tbe
sleigh and around the first log, while the
other end is fastened to the team's crosstree.
When tbe team moves out into the
woods at right angles to the skidway, the
log rolls over and over guided bv cant
hook men, until it is rolled into jilace on
tbe sleigh. As the pile grows, there is
great danger to the "top-loader," the man
who receives the logs on the sleigh, and
many an arm or leg is lost, or worse, in
placing the "pecker."
In some jilaces in the forest where the
felling is on hill sides or
in marshy spots, donkeyengines
are used in skidding
a n d s n a k i n g
tliriui g h the woods.
These cumbersome machines
move about on
skids or runners, by
fastening one end of a
long heavy cable to a
tree some distance up
the roacl, and with the
other end wound around
the drum of the engine,
thev crawl along the
road with much fussing
and wheezing. In skidding,
the operation is
the same as with teams
THF
or oxen.
As the mammoth sleigh load of logs
goes back to camp it jiasses, on the way,
a crew of "road-monkeys" working on
the ice-roads, to keep them solid and
firm and smooth. This work is of much
importance, for upon the condition of the
roads depends the size of the loads
hauled, and the exjiense of logging.
more or less, depends on that, d he work
is simple, and easily done by means of a
wood tank mounted on runners with
small holes at the back end and at the
bottom. Where tbe road is rough and
the ice soft, a scraper is hauled alongahead
to level off the surface and remove
sticks and rubbish, ddie tank follows,
sprinkling the surface evenly, and
during the night the water freezes hard.
The next dav mammoth loads may be
hauled with one team, a record load re­
( ONOUEST OF I 111: NORTH WOt >DS
:;i;,
ported t" tlie writer being 23,576 feel,
log scale.
Down below lhe camp a little way is
the banking-ground, close to the railroad,
and here the load of logs is stacked
awaiting tlie train crews to haul them
awa)' ti i the saw-mills.
In summer the logging ojierations in
the forest go on more or less actively,
but the methods employed are somewhat
different, due to the lack of snow and
cold, and the consequent soft and uneven
roads through the woods, ddie snaking,
skidding, and loading operations are accomjilished
entirely by the use of steam
log loaders and donkey engines. Where
IAD-MONKEYS" AT WORK MAKING ICE ROADS.
the logs are King within a thousand feet
of the railroad tracks, the huge doublearmed
octopus stretches out its tentacles
—in fact steel cables, and grijis one end
of a log with stout tongs, very much like
the iceman's tongs. Winding up on the
revolving drum of the engine, the cableis
quickly drawn in from out in tbe
woods, in an instant the log is snatched
up in air. swung over the car, and lowered
into jilace.
In the deeper stretches of the forest,
road-locomotives are used to haul the
logs out to the tracks, ddie logs are
loaded on broad wagons, fitted with wide
tired wheels. One road locomotive, of
fifty horse jiower, will haul from fifty to
one hundred tons, requiring a number
of wagons, over almost any kind of road,
and UJI almost any kind of hill as well.

IMPORTED CAMELS IN SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA.
tore the finding of great water supplies these animals were used because of their ability to do without drinking
for long periods.
po^flHisufi Bores of Amsttralia
My William G©

mighty central ranges to create them.
At times the "water-courses" run roaring
as full bankers, but pass away as
though the country's face were one em irmous
sponge.
The Australian pastoralist scoops out
dams to hold back what be can—tbe merest
drop in that ocean of rainfall. But
it was not until almost tbe other dav that
the Government geologists began to Wonder
what Xature herself
had clone with all this
water? Had it, they
wondered, percolated
into tertiary drifts and
cretaceous beds far below,
there to be kept
safe from evaporation—
that all-devouring enemy
of the run-holder's dam ?
It dawned upon Government
and people that
an illimitable artesian
supply might be had
from beds extending
under an immense area
of Central Australia,
from the western districts
of New South
Wales to an unknown
limit in arid W'estern
Australia. So far mere
theories. And wdiile the
geologists were arguing,
the practical men were
figuring out the rainfall
and river flows to calculate
how much water
was "missing."
Billions of gallons
were unaccounted for,
and so an experimental
bore was put down on This is the way wat
the Kallara Run in the
Colony of New South Wales. When down
to about one hundred and fifty feet, the
expectant stock raisers were astounded to
behold a tremendous gush of water,
which wdth a roar and a hiss shot nearly
thirty feet above the surface! It was a
momentous event in the history of an entire
continent. Tbe Government of the
colony took the matter up instantly, and
going systematically and scientifically to
work, from 1884 onward has been sinking
wells with perfectly magical results,
as I shall show. Jn a couple of decades
SPOILING BORES OF AUSTRALIA 317
the bowels of the earth in Xow South
Wales had been tapjied in one hundred
and nineteen jilaces. with an aggregate of
216,059 feet of piping, which brought up
from the depths more than fifty million
gallons of water every twenty-four hours.
A wdld enthusiasm seized the Australian
jiastoralists. Xo depth or no cost
was too great. The Whitewood bore on
the famous Bimmerah sheep station in
SUCCESS IN A BIG AUSTRALIAN BORE.
• is now flowing in many spots in a once thirst-parched land.
Ouccnsland was long considered a fail­
ure. Yet after $35,000 bad been sjient in
sinking that slender jiipe to the amazing
depth of 5,045 feet, up gushed a flow of
70,000 gallons a day.
ddie Dolgellv bore, tbe deepest in Xew
South Wales, is clown to 4.086 feet, with
a magnificent yield of 682,000 gallons a
day. Even this, however, is nearly
trebled by the enormous Milchomi bore,
around which a veritable city has sjirung
uji in what was a fearsome desert, only
to be crossed by the hardiest jiioneers on

TYPICAL SHEEP RUN IN AUSTRALIA, THE BURRAWONG STATION IN NEW SOUTH WALES.
Entire kincdonis of Europe might be dumped down on some of these Australian sheep runs, without touching the boundary fences

camel-back. A bird even could scarcely
cross that country, which now waves
with a superb wheat crop yielding forty
or fifty bushels to the acre !
A "Miracle of Moses" indeed! The
quality of water thus brought from the
bowels of the earth varies most curiously.
Sometimes it is heavily impregnated with
soda or other minerals. In many cases it
has to be treated even before the stock
can take it, or allowed to flow down
channels in which its organic contents
are precipitated more or less. Again, it
may be delicious jiotable water.
Strangest of all, as in the case of the
Moree bore in Xew South Wales, a regular
health resort may spring up around
the magical tube, with Government baths
and a sanatorium for rheumatic and
other ailments. Another singular jioint
is the enormous variation in temperature.
For this artesian water ranges from icy
coldness to far beyond boiling jioint.
The waters of the Helidon bore are
only 60° Fahrenheit, while the "Elderlie
Xo". 2" in Queensland hurls up 1,600,000
gallons of hissing, steaming fluid every
day from a depth of 4,523 feet at the
astounding temperature of 202° Fahrenheit.
More than one well sinker has
been scalded to death bv these life-giving
waters!
Sometimes, too, water at positive boiling
point down below issues at a temperature
enabling both stock and human
beings to drink it wdth impunity. For
the most part, however, these wonderful
sujijilies must be cooled off considerably
before they can be drunk by sheeji and
cattle. For this reason, and also for irrigating
and other purposes, the artificial
fountains are carried along in channels
for forty or fifty miles over the stupendous
sheep runs of Queensland and Xew
South Wales.
On the way big lakes are formed, in
which luxuriant rushes and sedges flourish,
and the kangaroo and waterfowl love
to dwell. Pipes and flumes carry sujiplies
both far and near, for the water is
also largely used for wool scouring; ami
in main- cases the soda and similar properties
held in suspension make it sjiecially
fitted for laundry work.
But one of the queerest uses to which
ingenious farmers put the natural heat
of these artesian fountains is to form in­
SPOUTING BORES OF AUSTRALIA 'il!i
cubators by means of lined boxes full of
eggs, ddie hot waters just out of the
tube flow all round these boxes, and
batch out chickens with wonderful celerity.
I have said that these bores have actually
given birth to cities, ddie most
wonderful case in jioint is that of Barcaldine
in Queensland. Here were once
glistening salt-flats without a blade of
grass. Yet Barcaldine is now a thriving
township, because the Government put a
bore down these successfully, and the examjile
was followed by jirivate individuals,
until the wdiole district fairly spouted
with water. Wdiere wheat had not
previously been dreamed of, as much as
forty bushels to the acre was secured
from rich lands by artesian irrigation;
and farmers round about, by alternately
irrigating and feeding off, have been able
to carry as many as twenty sheeji to the
acre.
ddie pastoralists of Australia now jirovide
a kind of insurance against drought
by running irrigation farms from their
bores. During tbe great drought of 1900
Mr. Gatenby, a well-known pastoralist of
Xew South Wales, demonstrated under
the severest official insjiection that lie
could grow enough lucerne by bore irrigation
to feed seventy-five sheeji to each
acre! And some of these were choice
stud flocks—the result of a hundred
years of careful breeding and selection,
such as have made the Australian merino
sheep the finest wool-producing creature
in the world.
Government examjile has led to an
enormous increase in jirivate enterprise.
In Queensland seventy successful bores
were put down by the State and jiroved
so marvelous in results that the jiastoralists
themselves soon had eight hundred
and fifty-eight bores of their own all over
the northern State, yielding nearly twelve
million gallons a day. And yet this is
only a beginning. Mr. J. 1!. Henderson,
the hydraulic Engineer-in-Chief to the
Queensland Government, has ascertained
that an area nearly twice that of all
France is cajiable of furnishing most
generous artesian sujiplies.
At present well over a thousand bores
are spouting in the rich northern jirovince
of Australia, their total perpendicular
depth being over three hundred miles

320 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
of tubing. What this means in potential
wealth in a vast and rich country like
Queensland, with very few big rivers,
can only be realized by the student on the
spot.
The Xew South Wales Government is
now considering a scheme to water the
Riverina country by constructing a dam
two hundred feet high and nine hundred
feet long in an ideal gorge jiosition, such
as would form a forty mile lake at a cost
of about five million dollars. This reservoir
would water some five hundred
square miles of country outside the usual
artesian areas.
As it is, both the fauna and flora of the
island continent have adapted themselves
wonderfully to their environment. The
whole tribe of eucalyptus, as well as the
edible scrubs like saltbush, and the Australian
grasses, can exist longer without
water than any other plants and trees in
the world, ajiart from real desert cacti.
Millions of sheeji too, in locations vastly
removed from the railroad, were thought
to have perished in various droughts,
having been abandoned to their fate.
And yet they lived on—how, no one
could ever tell.
Every year the hydraulic exjierts of
various Australian Colonies are experimenting
and encouraging tbe pastoralists
to prosjiect for water and install these
IRR1GATING A SUGAR PLANTATION.
The water in this ditch spouted from one of Queensland's bic new wells.
magical spouting bores that have alreadydone
so much to change the face of the
Continent. Thus the artesian area in
Xew South Wales alone is estimated by
the Government geologist, Mr. E. F. Pitman,
to consists of 83,000 square miles
of storage rocks and deposit.
In Queensland the area is vastlv
greater—at least 445,000 square miles.
Mr. W. Gibbons Cox, another authority,
estimates that of the annual rainfall in
Queensland no less than 7,848,208,217
gallons per diem filters down into the
artesian rocks! Even wild and little
known South Australia has made a suc-

cessful beginning with these bores, and
so has golden W'estern Australia. The
colony of Victoria, on the other hand,
which does not need artesian reserves
owing to her fine rivers, is utterly without
them, so strangely does Xature come
to the rescue wherever necessary.
When this salvation of the Australian
Continent was begun the appliances were
naturally primitive and cumbersome.
But when the vast exjierience of tbe
American oil and water borers became
available and American contractors
found tbeir way to Australia, the American
systems were first adopted and then
adapted to meet special local requirements.
The cost, too, has been steadily
falling, until now $3.50 per foot will
cover sinking and casing in most in­
./ GOOD NAME 321 •
A Good Name
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord.
Is the immediate jewel of their souls:
stances. Thus a fanner with $3,000 or
$4,000 to spend can secure a "desert"
tract lor next to nothing and soon turn
it into a land of plentv.
There is, therefore, good reason for
thinking that the old horrors of an Australian
drought are now a thing of the
jiast. It is only a few years ago thai
word would be sent to London saying
that stock was dying in hundreds of
thousands, and farmers and pastoralists
alike face to face with utter ruin for want
of water.
Immigration, too, has been quick to resjiond
to the new conditions; and altogether
there is every prospect that the
"Dead Heart" of Australia will leap into
life in a few years, and send its rich
jiroducts coursing everywhere to market.
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing ;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
—SHAKESPEARE,

New Ga© Ennalinie Fuael
XCF the passage of the
measure providing for
S W / J the removal of the in-
Wl tenia] revenue tax on
^2, denatured alcohol little
has been done toward
bringing this fuel into
the market as a comjietitor
of gasoline. As matters stand at
present, alcohol is not in a jiosition to
compete with gasoline as a fuel for internal
combustion engines.
Chief among the engineering reasons
for this state of affairs is the fact that
alcohol, vajiorized and mixed with air,
burns slowly as comjiared with the combustion
of gasoline vajior. To use alcohol
advantageously the engine sp-eed must
be low and the compression high. Stationary
motors for burning alcohol, running
at three hundred revolutions a minutes
or less and highly compressing the
charge, have given
excellent results;
but this only goes
to indicate the unsuitability
of alcohol
for automobile
m o t o r s as ni iw
built. But a newmethod
of using alcohol,
develojied
from the idea of
altering the characteristics
of alcohol
wdthout impairing
its fuel
value, has been devised
and covered
by letters jiatent
issued to F. W.
Barker and Thomas
L.White, of New-
York, on Decem­
ber 25, 1906.
Briefly, tbe Barker-Wdiite
system
consists in vajioriz-
(322)
TF

cohol. Tests have shown that eighteen
per cent of water, by volume, is sufficient
to generate the proportion of
acetylene gas required to give a
mixture about equal in its effect to gasoline
vapor, as indicated by diagrams taken
by means of the manograph. There
is another advantage in this system in
that the water in the alcohol, wdiich has
a tendency to cause jutting and corrosion
of the valves and cylinder walls if car-
NEW GAS ENGINE FUEL 323
lav er of ordinary lamp carbide. The
sjirayed alcohol and air are thrown downward
on the carbide, and pass through it
to the supply pipe, whose end opens from
the carbide chamber under the netting.
The lieat liberated by the decomposing
carbide assists materially in conijiletely
vaporizing the alcohol.
ddie gas formed in this way is called
by the inventors "alkcethine"; it is believed
to have some interesting character-
TESTING TIIK I'.ARKKK-W'HITE ALCOHOL-ACETVI.KNK PROCESS.
riecl over with the vapor, is removed.
d'ests of tbe new fuel gas have brought
out no trouble of this kind.
The tests are being carried out by Josejih
Tracy, of Xew York, who in everyday
life is a consulting engineer. A single-cylinder
water-cooled DeDion engine
of 3y horsepower is used, and its outjiut
is absorbed by a dynamo feeding incandescent
lamps. ddie alcohol is first
sprayed in an ordinary gasoline carbureter
and mixed with air in the usual way.
This mixture jiasses to the carbide chamber,
a brass cylinder, of four or five times
the capacity of the engine cylinder, having
a wire netting for the support of a
istics tliat bave not yet been worked out.
The motor can be started cold on alkiet
li inc, there being no need to first warm
uji the engine by running on gasoline, as
with jiure alcohol. ( hving to the volume
of air originally present in the carbide
chamber the motor would have to be
turned by hand a number of times before
tlie gas could fill the sjiace; so the exjiedient
is adojited of throwing a littlealcohol
and water on the carbide. The
gas thus generated at once jiasses into
the cylinder and starting is effected with
a single turn of the crank. When alcohol
is as cheaji as gasoline, the new gas will
be quite likely to be very largely used.

He Had Microbes
FRIEND—"Doesn't the doctor know what's
the matter with you ?"
PATIENT—"I guess not. He knows I've got
microbes, but he doesn't know what kind they
arc."
.V
Remodelling the Style
A VOTING gentleman recently engaged to the
girl he adored unfortunately had his nose
broken while playing cricket. A doctor was
hastily summoned, but the victim of the accident
would not accept his services until he had
received an answer to a telegram just dispatched.
Two hours later the reply came. It
was from his lady-love, and the young gentleman
handed it to the doctor, saying, resignedly:
"Go ahead now!"
The reply to his wire was: "Have nose set
Roman : do not like Greek.—Ada."—Tit-Bits.
Two Philanthropists
"WHAT two men in the past century have
done most to relieve the troubles of mankind ?"
'09 (absentmindedly)—"Tom and Jerry."—
Harvard Lampoon.
*»•
The Nasty Little Things
FIRST CHAUFFEUR—"There's one thing I
hate to run over, and that's a baby."
SECOND CHAUFFEUR—"So do I. Them nursing
bottles raise Cain with tires."—Scissors.
*>»
A Little Puppy
"Miss VERNER," said Mr. Dubley, who is
fond of dogs, "don't you think you ought to
have an intelligent animal about the house
that would protect you and "
"O, Mr. Dubley," giggled Miss Yerner, "this
is so sudden."—Philadelphia Press.
(324)
Just a Way They Have
"WOMEN," remarked the typewriter boarder,
"are always ready to forgive and forget."
"Yes," rejoined the fussy old bachcelor at
the foot of the mahogany, "but they never let
a man forget that they forgave."—Chicago
News.
*f
No Amateur
"WANT a job on the mine, eh? Do you
know how to use dynamite?"
"Yes, sare. I was a practical anarchist for
two years, until ze cheap German competition
lose me ze job. I have blown up much of ze
nobility of Europe."—Sydney Bulletin.
His Career No News
"I UNDERSTAND," began the large, scrappylooking
ward politician, "dat youse had a piece
in your paper callin' me a thief."
"You have been misinformed, sir," said the
editor, calmly; "this paper publishes only
news."—Cleveland Leader.
What Field Wanted
ON one occasion the genial but sad-faced
Eugene Field sat at "a table in a New York
restaurant. The voluble waiter rattled off a
number of dishes that were ready for service.
Field looked at him solemnly for a moment
and then remarked: "O friend, I want none of
these tilings. All I require is an orange and a
few kind words."
*»»
Her Sharp Retort
"IF you had a spark of genius." he began
crossly 'to hi.s typewriter
"I wouldn't be here," she interrupted; and
no more was said.—Home Companion.

Why Not?
W H E N Maggie, a recent arrival from over
the sea, had finished cleaning the windows her
mistress was amazed to discover that they had
been washed upon the inside only. She inquired
the reason for this half-completed task,
thinking that, perhaps, the girl was afraid to
sit outside the windows. Maggie's reply was
delivered with fine concern :
"I claned 'em inside so's we could look out,
mum, but I lift the dirt on the outside so the
people couldn't look in."—Harper's Weekly.
**•
Bait Was All Right
"OH, I've forgotten the bait!" exclaimed the
first fisherman.
"What?" yelled the other. "Why, you puddin'
headed, blank idiot, how in thunder did
you "
"What's the matter with you ?" retorted the
other. "You had as much right to remember
the can as I had. When I put the worms
in it "
"Oh, the can," interrupted the other, with a
look of relief, "I thought you meant the bottle."
—Philadelphia Press.
*>»
Our Ne-w Organ
BOBBY had early shown a great interest in
anatomy, and always drank in information
about the various parts of the body most
eagerly. One day he came to his mother in
great perplexity and said :
"Mother, I know where my liver is, but
where is my bacon?"—Harper's Weekly.
Not Very Much
TOMMY—Pop, a man's wife is his better half,
isn't she ?
TOMMY'S POP—So we are told, my son.
"Then if a man marries twice there isn't
anything left of him, is there?"—Philadelphia
Record.
**•
Illustrating the Point
RUFUS CHOATE once tried to get a Boston
witness to give his idea of absent-mindedness.
"Well,'' said the witness, who was a typical
New England Yankee, "I should say that a
man who thought he'd left his watch to hum,
and took it out'n his pocket to see it he'd time
to go hum and get it, was a leetle absentminded
"
WAIFS OF WIT 325
The Cat's Strange Offspring
"IF you please, ma'am," said the servant
from Finland, "the cat's had chickens." "Nonsense,
Gertrude!" returned the mistress of the
house. "You mean kittens. Cats don't have
chickens." "Was them chickens or kittens that
master brought home last night?" "Chickens,
of course." "Well, ma'am, that's what the cat
has had."—Youth's Companion.
He Stopped It
AN actor in a London lodging house, who
had discovered his landlady's propensity for
"swiping," numbered and listed his things.
One night he roused the household by shouting
down from his attic a demand for "No. 8."
"No. 8?" shouted the landlady back. "What
No. 8?"
"I want cube No. 8 of my lump sugar," he
replied.
Thenceforth the provisions in his cupboard
were unmolested.—Argonaut.
Tf
A Sad Reminder
KIND LADY—"What do you mean by putting
my spoon in your pocket after eating the
pudding?"
SANDY PIKES—"Oh, pardon me, mum, it
was force of habit. I was rich once and contracted
the souvenir habit."—Chicago Daily
News.
V»
Floored
ONE SEXTON—Do you have matins at your
church ?
THE OTHER—No, we have oilcloth.—Harper's
Weekly.

ENGINEERING
Stl©5re

ENGINEERING PROGRESS 327
WATER PIPES OF WOOD, INSTALLED IN PHILADELPHIA IN 1799,
many pipes of the first water system installed
by the city, in 1799, were found.
These were made of oak logs, about
three feet in diameter, rough dressed on
tbe outside and with a bore varying
from six to twelve inches. Sections of
pipe were joined by iron bands, hand
made by the blacksmiths of the latter
part of the eighteenth century. In a majority
of instances these bands had entirely
rusted away, but the wooden mains,
which were used by Philadelphia for
more than two decades after they were
laid, are as sound and serviceable today
as when installed.
The old pipes made quite a contrast
with those of the twentieth century as
sections of the two were laid together.
The new pipes are of steel, forty-eight
inches in diameter, and, although they
are made of the best material obtainable
WATER PIPES OF TODAY.
today, no one expects
them to live such long
lives as did their more
bumble predecessors.
T*»
§eairclhJaj|phL&§
T 1
HE War Department
is entering upon a
fi e 1 d of experiment
which promises to revolutionize
warfare of
modern times. Great
searchlights are being
tested, not only for target
practice at night, but
for signaling, taking the place of rockets,
colored lights displayed from balloons,
and the wigwagging with lanterns.
LOGS A CENTURY OLD STILL IN GOOD CONDITION.
A great searchlight, the only one
so far, is in use at Port Leavenworth,
Kansas. A first test given the light was
on a target range. At distances from one
hundred to one thousand
yards excellent
scores were made, some
of the men making a
perfect score by the rays.
The light has been accurately
tested to a distance
of five miles, and
has been distinctly recognized
at twenty-five
miles.
This will permit of
great battles being
fought at night, anel
bodies of men within
twenty-five miles of each
other can send and receive
orders, and tell of
attacks, much more accu-

328 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
rately than by any system
heretofore used.
When the light at
Fort Leavenworth is not
in use for instruction
and practice, it is placed
under cover and the dynamo
and boiler are used
for lighting the headquarters.
The officers
enjoy the novelty of
making out their reports
at night by the light of
incandescent lamps and
appreciate the advantage
of possessing this plant.
PI MHHHI
^7^J3P
•k£f
*T' A
Motor Tractor for ^11
aronanadl Use
A MOTOR tractor has been invented
**• in England, that can be used for
plowing, for hauling a harvesting machine
and reaper, for driving a threshing
drum, or any other farmyard machine.
It can perform any farm work at present
done by horses. Its motor develops
fifty horse-power and both front wdieels
as well as the rear are used for driving,
thus preventing the machine from becoming
fixed in any loose ground or in a
hole. The machine shown in the photograph
is to be shipped to a cotton estate
in British East Africa.
During some trials carried out in Bedfordshire
prior to its dispatch, an acre of
ground which had been rendered very
SIDE VIEW OF MOTOR TRACTOR.
'£$&. - A.A:••
'1- . ,W '"*• ."-.,- • "-':''-••••: /•'." "A '•.:**" \
• > • -.'• •• 'i ' -*-, ; ' . , -" — >
. • '••-; i -,-':-.:,:-v ?''-'v * •
A REAR VIEW OF NEW ENGLISH MOTOR TRACTOR.
muddy by recent frosts, was plowed and
cultivated in one hour; the amount of
work done being more than the average
for a day's work with a horse drawn
plow. During the tests a four-blade disc
plow, cutting four furrows twelve inches
wide and eight inches deep was employed.
At this rate, the motor tractor
can replace thirty-six horses, since it can
work day and night. Its cost is about
$2,000, much less than half the price of
a steam plowing set, which, moreover,
cannot be employed for so many purposes.
Even the big English farmers
hesitate to accept motor power, wdiile
their brethren in Canada, Africa and the
Argentine Republic are ordering more
than the manufacturers can supply and
using every new appliance that is of value.
T>«
Binig|eE&i©tui§
edible Clhsiini^e
A T a mine near Ger-
^*' miston, the Transvaal,
South Africa, there
has been ever since the
mine was started in 1895
a 13 by 26 inch Robey
engine, used as a man
hoist, but owing to circumstances,
such as
doing more work than it
was really built for, it
has been found necessary
to replace it with a
20 inch by 48 inch
coupled drop Robey man
hoist, 700 horse power,

ENGINEERING PROGRESS 329
which has - been built
alongside the present
one at an angle of 14°
29' to the shaft. Owing
to some mistake the
drums—wdiich are 10
feet in diameter—were
grooved for a one and
one-eighth inch wdre
rope, instead of a one
and one-fourth inch rope.
The accompanying photograph
shows how- the
difficulty was • gotten
over. A screw cutting
lathe was fixed in position
and weighted down.
The back gear was removed
and fixed at the
front, and two large
How THE ERROR IN GROOVING WAS REMEDIED.
wheels meshing with one
another, so as to be direct. It was conSouth's
Big* Sterne
nected with a shaft, extending the length
of the drum shaft, with a sprocket wheel T H E contractors for the Terry's Texas
keyed on the end. Another sprocket Ranger monument, located in the
wheel was fastened on to the crank disc,
and both connected with a rolled chain;
therefore the lathe and drum would turn
at the same speed, when driven bv the
'r winch, which had been geared down
to a suitable speed. The old grooves were
turned off and new grooves one and fivesixteenths
inches pitch cut, which gives
one-sixteenth inch clearance for the rope
and fits the new hoist for operation.
LARGEST BLOCK OF STONE EVER QUARRIED IN THE SOUTH.
yard of the state capitol at Austin, Texas,
recently accomplished the huge task of
moving from its quarries near Llano,
that state, the largest block of stone ever
quarried in the South. The stone was
quarried six miles from Llano, situated
100 miles northwest of Austin. It is
stated that this stone, as originally
blocked out and removed from the
quarry, weighed forty tons, or 80,000
pounds. It was dressed
down to thirty tons, or
60,000 pounds, in the
polishing yard of the
contractors at Llano.
The stone is gray granite.
The work of transporting
the stone from
the quarries to the railroad
station at Llano
was a stupendous task.
It cost just $2,200 to
move the stone this six
miles. It was too heavy
to cross the wagon road
bridge which spans the
Llano river, and it had
to be rolled through that
stream and up a steep
bank on the opposite
side. It took the com­
bined strength of two

330 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
railroad flat cars to transport the stone ]R,ecpici FS^©t© C o p i e r
to Austin. Another difficulty was encountered
when Austin was reached. T H E necessity for expediting the des-
The city council at first refused to permit patch of drawing-office work has
the stone to be hauled over the paved given rise to a succession of useful instreet,
but this permission was after- ventions. The continuous photo-copying
machine is one of the
latest.
Two spindles, one containing
tracings attached
together to a length of
fifty or one hundred
yards and the other a
special sensitized paper,
are so placed in the machine
that they will feed
simultaneously to the
upper contact roller and
be carried together
through the machine.
Under unchanging pressure
of the contact roll­
A VEIN OF SILVER.
wards granted and the big block was
placed upon two heavy wagons and
hauled a few rods each day by eight
ers, the tracing wdth the
sensitized paper behind
it, passes slowly over the flat glass plate
before the direct rays of the arc lights,
and the print is made at the rate of about
mules until the site of the monument was one lineal foot per minute. Tracing and
reached. It took more than three print are wound on rollers after the printmonths'
time to transport the stone from ing and develojiing are done as usual.
the quarry to its final
destination. The stone
is used as base for the
monument.
T*»
Aim OpeaVein
of Wealth
"THIS photo, taken on
*• the seventh of May,
1907, shows the big native
silver vein lately discovered
on the Pludson
Bay and Temiskiming
property. This vein is
on the surface and at its
broadest is nine inches,
the length being about
six feet. The photograph
shows a foot rule
against the side, the projection
being about nine
inches above the bedrock.
In a drift eight
feet below the point
seen here the vein continues.
NEW SINGLE CONTINUOUS PHOTO-COPYING MACHINE

CONSULTING
DEPARTMENT
Are you puzzled by any question in Engineering or the Mechanic Arise rut the question into writing and mail it to
the Consulting- Department, TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE. Ife have ma,re arrangements to have all such
questions answered by a sta.tfofconsulting engineers and other experts whose services have been specially enlisted for t
purpes:. It the question asked is of general interest, the answer will be published in the magazine. If of only personal
interest, the a nswer will be sent by mail, provided a stamped and addressed envelope is enclosed with the question. Requests
for information as to where desired articles can be purchased will also be cheerfully answered.
Economy of High Pressure Steam
^ hy is there economy in high pressure
steam '1—II. C. B.
From the steam tables the following
condensed table of heat needed at different
pressures may be constructed :
Absolute
Pressure.
14.7
2o.(i
loo.o
3oi.!i
Temperature
F.
212
228
327. G
418
Heat of
Liquid.
180 s
196 9
297 9
392 5
Latent
Heat.
961.8
9.54. ti
884.0
81(3.9
Total
Heat.
1146.6
1151.5
1181.9
1209.4
From this the following conclusions
can be drawn :
As the pressure and temperature increase,
the latent heat decreases, but less
rapidlv than heat of the liquid increases,
hence the total heat increases. The percentage
increase of total heat is very
small being for the pressures of 20, 100
and 3C1.9 pounds absolute, only 0.43,
3.0 and 5.4 per cent, respectively, more
than required for the pressure of 14.7
HOME-MADE ICE BOX.
lbs. The temperatures, however, increase
at the rates of 7.5, 54.5 and 97.1 per cent.
The efficiency for a perfect steam engine
is proportional to the expression ^-',
in which t and t are absolute temperatures
of steam at admission and exhaust,
resjiectively. In actual engines the efficiency
only ajiproximates to the ideal,
yet it will follow the same general law.
Since the exhaust temjierature cannot be
lowered beyond jiresent jiractice it follows
that the only available method of increasing
tbe efficiency is to raise the temperature
at admission, wdiich means
either higher steam pressure, or use of
superheated steam. A.s above shown, the
increase in jiressure will require but a
trilling increase in fuel, hence the higher
the jiressure the greater the economy.
T*»
To Construct an Ice-Box
How can I make a practical ice box at
home?—F. W. S.
Take a convenient size store box and
place in this a smaller box, and jiack the
bottom and s|iace around the sides with
saw-dust. Inside the smaller box fit a
galvanized iron pan, making it one-half
as deep as the box. Provide the pan with
a spout, about five or six inches in length,
for taking care of the water as the ice
melts. A hole should be bored through
the double bottom and saw-dust packing
to admit the sjiout. ddie ice box may
be provided with short legs, and a vessel
set underneath to catch the drippings. A
tightly fitting cover should be put on.
(330

332 - THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
Cooking by Electricity-
How can heating and cooking utensils be
fitted for the use of electricity?—6". D. F.
To fit heating. and cooking utensils
for the use of electricity, a thin film of
enamel or cement is spread over the outer
saucepan, griddle, kettle or heater. Then
iron, platinum or other high resistance
wire is laid zigzag over it, with copper
wire connections made to the two ends ;
and more of the cement or enamel is
spread over the wires so as to completely
imbed tbem. Wdien enamel is used the
apparatus is put in a kiln and burnt on
similar to the ordinary iron cooking
utensils. In both methods the film of
enamel or cement insulating the heating
wires is put on so thin and is so good
a conductor of heat that the heat generated
by the electricity is rapidly conveyed
to the utensil to be heated. Electricity
can thus be sent through the wdres
without fear of overheating them. This
would not be possible if they r were exposed
to the air. which does not conduct
heat, but radiates it.
T*»
To Straighten Steel Tools
I have had trouble with reamers bending
while hardening. Can you help me in straightening
them?—/. G. W.
Such tools as taps, reamers, or drills,
which liecome bent or crooked in hardening
may be straightened in the followdng
manner. Place the bent tool between the
centers of the lathe and then put a rather
heavy piece of steel in the tool post of the
lathe, as shown in the accompanying
figure. The end of the bar in the tool
post should be against the convex side of
the work.
Rub a little oil on the work and heat
until the oil commences to smoke; then
apply pressure by means of the cross feed
4
screw, until the article bends a little the
other way. While in this condition the
work should be suddenly cooled. If it is
not straight, the process may be repeated.
Great care should be taken to cool tbe
pieces uniformly; otherwdse the unequal
contraction would probably cause the
work to crack. This method is proving
very successful in many shops, and is the
method advised by authorities on steel
work.
To Measure Power of an Engine
Kindly explain the use of a transmissiondynamometer
for measuring the power of an
engine.—W. R. D.
A form of transmission-dynamometer
which may be easily and cheaply constructed
has been devised by Professor
Goss of Purdue University. It is shown
diagrammatically in the accompanying
figure. This dvnamometer consists of a
differential lever by which the difference
in tension of the two sides of a belt is
determined. This lever is pivoted to a
fixed point "c" and carries the pulleys
"b" and "c." It is provided with a scalepan
"s," and a combined dash-pot and
counterweight "d." The power transmitted
by the belt is measured by the
speed in feet per minute at which it runs
multiplied by the difference in tension of
the two sides, as shown on the dynamometer.
The force tending to raise the
left end of the lever is twice the tension
of the tight side of the belt; that tending

to raise the right side is twdce tbe tension
in the slack side. Hence the resultant
movement tending to produce rotation
of the lever is twice the difference in tension
of the two sides of the belt, acting on
an arm bo (=Oc) equal to the distance
er
*?C
BELT TRANSMISSION DYNAMOMETER
from the fulcrum of the lever to the center
of the pulley supported by it. Since
the lever arm of the scale-pan "ao" is
twice the above, a weight on the pan
equal to the difference in tension of the
belt will advance the lever.
The belt speed is known from the revolutions
per minute of the driven pulley
and its circumference in feet. The form­
ula for horse-power is H. P. = H ^ >
where "d" is the diameter of the driven
pulley plus the thickness of the belt in
feet, "n" is its revolutions per minute,
and "w" is the weight in pounds necessary
to balance the lever. The observer
in charge should keep such a weight on
the scale-pan as will cause the lever-arm
to move evenly between the stops.
To Make a Shoe Polishing Box
How can I make a shoe polishing case?—
H. W. R.
One writer suggests a box fitted as is
shown in the accompanying illustration.
A strip is fastened a few inches below the
top of the box, for a foot rest, with rollers
made of broom handles on each side.
A strip of flannel passes over the shoe and
under the rollers, and may be moved
CONSULTING DEPARTMENT 333
very briskly by grasping the ends. A
drawer may be fitted into the lower part
of tbe box for carrying the blacking and
brushes.
•*•
Remedy for "Grounding" Troubles
How does a ground in the armature of an
incandescent lamp lighting dynamo announce
itself? Please give the best method for locating
and clearing trouble.—T. J.
Two or more "grounds"—accidental
connections between the conductors on
the armature and its iron core or the
shaft or spider—would have practically
the same effect as a short circuit and
should be treated in the same way. A
single ground would have little or no
effect, provided the circuit is not intentionally
or accidentally grounded at some
other point. On an electric raihvay—
overhead trolley—or other circuit which
employs the earth as the return conductor,
or a three-wire system wdth the
neutral conductor grounded, one or more
grounds in the armature would allow the
current to pass directly through them,
and would cause the niachine to spark
and have a very variable torque at different
parts of a revolution.
A ground may be detected by testing
SHOE POLISHING BOX.

334 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
with a magneto and bell. It may be
located by the drop-of-potential method.
Another way to locate it i.s to wrap a
wire around the commutator so as to
make connection with all the bars, and
then connect a source of current to this
wdre and to the armature shaft—by
pressing a wire upon the latter. The current
will then flow from the armature
conductors through the ground connection
and the magnetic effect of the armature
winding will be localized at the point
where the ground is. This point is then
found by the indications of a compass
needle slowly moved around the surface
of the armature. The current mav be
obtaineel from a storage battery or from
the circuit, but should be regulated by
lamps or other resistance so as not to
exceed the normal armature current, ddie
armature core may be more or less insulated
from the shaft and ground bv
the insulation between the laminae, in
wdiich case one contact with the conductors
would not have the effect of a
ground. Sometimes the ground may be
in a place where it can be removed without
much trouble, but usually the particular
coil and often others have to be
rewound.
Tf
Steam Action in Duplex Pump
How does the steam act in a duplex steam
pump, and how is valve gear set?—F. A. McL.
The steam must enter the cylinders before
the stroke is completed, because the
steam accelerates the speed of the piston
in the duplex pump quite as much as in
the simplex pump. When the steam pis-
\%A
4J
ton arrives at a distance of three and onehalf
times the width of a steam port from
the cylinder head, it begins to close the
channel that lies nearest to tbe exhaust
port, cramps the exhaust, and when if
arrives at a distance equal to two and
one-half times the width of a steam port
from the cylinder head, the steam cannot
exhaust at all. The exhaust steam is
now compressed while the driving steam
is becoming wire-drawn, which continues
till the piston arrives at a distance
of one and one-half times the wddth of a
steam port from the cylinder head. At
this moment the steam begins to enter in
front of the jiiston, and the driving steam
begins to exhaust. Wdien the steam piston
has arrived at a distance of two and
one-half times the width of a steam port
from the cylinder bead toward wdiich it
is moving, the slack is used up on the
valve of the other steam cylinder, which
is then ready to start.
The two steam jiistons should be placed
in the middle of their strokes, and the
rocker arms set plumb to the piston rod
with the large rocker arms attached to
the piston rods so as to be guided thereby.
Then the steam valves must be
mounted on their respective seats, so as
to cover both outer ports in the chest
face. Then the valve rods must be inserted
and joined to the respective short
rocker arms, and the set collars adjusted
to the valves so that the slack may be
equally divided. Then one of the large
rocker arms must be placed out of plumb
until the outer port of tbe opposite steam
cylinder is quite open. Then the valve
gear is set.
HAA3>

I SCIENCE ANDINVENTION |
iia oit
IT is no wonder naturalists should be
bewailing the disappearance of the
African elephant. This pile of twenty
thousand billiard balls, reckoning ten to
each mighty beast—five for each tusk—
represents all that a herd of two thousand 1
full grown elephants will yield. In Asia
and Africa there are hosts of resident
agents buying tusks from tbe natives or
financing white or black hunters in expeditions
into the interior that may take a
couple of years.
The precious tusks are wrapped in
sacking and brought to London or Antwerp,
where sales totalling $400,000 -at
one time are held periodically. It is an
WHY THE ELEPHANTS ARE DISAPPEARING
astonishing sight to walk through the
ivory "floors" at the docks with their far
stretching vistas of curved tusks of all
sizes—some of them seven feet long.
Here come the brokers, their sales lists
in hand, to go feeling and tapping among
the ivory to see wdiich is perfectly sound
and solid, and bid accordingly. A hollow
tusk is readily detected and fetches barely
one twentieth of the price of a hard and
perfect specimen. It is from the brokers
that the billard ball makers buy, and then
forthwith put the tusks on to whirling
saws and turning machines, from which
they soon emerge as costly and perfect
spheres ready for the chalked cues and
green cloth of the favorite indoor sport.
(335)

336 THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
A SILVER NECKTIE.
€s©ldl Glomes Silver Ti©
T H E latest novelty in the line of the
A goldsmith's art is a golden glove covered
with precious stones, wdiich is put
on the left hand by its fortunate owner.
The possessor of such a glove can be seen
in the international fashionable watering
jilaces and also in the elegant sections of
Paris. The expense involved in the mak-
HAND ENCASED IN GLOVE OF GOLD. STUDDED WITH JEWELS,
ing of such a glove is estimated as being
from $1,100 to $2,400.
A neck-tie made of silver threads, the
invention of a Wiesbaden jeweler, is less
expensive than the glove just described.
These neck-ties are considered very
pretty, especially by those wdio can afford
to spend the necessary amount thereon.
They cost $350.
To B^ildl ILsyrger De=
&&TOy
DLANS and specifications have recently
A
been completed by the navy department
for five new torpedo-boat destroyers
authorized by tbe last congress.
These new torpedo-boat destroyers will
be of about twenty-eight knots speed and
700 tons displacement. The plans call
for vessels considerably larger than those
of similar type now in service. The
largest of the present destroyers displaces
but 433 tons, and is 248 feet long. Bidders
will be given the jirivilege of submitting
estimates on boats with oil-burning
apparatus for generating steam, reciprocating
and turbine steam engines,
and internal combustion engines. These
items were never before included in bids
for boats of this class, but owing to the
successful results from oil burning engines
it is probable that within the near
future all the new vessels will be equipped
with such apparatus.
Great care is being taken by the navy
department to send out circulars and
other information concerning
destroyers and
new battleships only to
such concerns as have
the facilities for filling
contracts for the vessels
if awarded to them. This
secrecy is in accordance
with Secretary Metcalfe's
recent orders and
is maintained for the
purpose of preventing
detailed information of
new naval construction
falling into the hands of
foreign governments always
on the lookout to
obtain such news.

TECHNICAL
W O R L D
MAGAZINE
I 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS
" i (
\ • :
A
A
••:•'-,
m y >-< •
Cover Design. H. S. DELAY
Christmas Design. FRED STEARNS 337
Where Courage is Capital. H. G.
HUNTING 33! I
Baby. POEM. GEORGE MAC­
DONALD 351
Top of the Continent. AUBREY
FULLERTON 352
To Sink a Ready Made Tunnel.
FREDERICK M. CALDWELL . . 360
For the Boy's Sake. STORY. HARRY
M. LAWRENCE 367
Setting Sunlight to Work. FRED­
ERIC BLOUNT WARREN . . 375
Bicycling in the Air. C. M. DEAR-
DURF 380
How High Can We Climb? W. G.
FITZ-GERALD 383
DECEMBER, 1907
By Motor to the South Pole. WIL­
LIAM GEORGE 303
Teieposting Against Time. E. F.
STEARNS 397
To Abolish Cape Hatteras. C. H.
CLAUDY 402
Steam's New Rival Wins. JAMES
COOKE MILLS 409
We're on the Verge of Flying. H.
G. HUNTING 411
Tunnel Helps Build Itself. WM. T.
WALSH 421
Science and the Orange. WILLIAM
R. STEWART 425
Science and Invention
Waifs of Wit . .
Consulting Department
Engineering Progress
THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE, published the seventeenth of each
month preceding the date of issue, ia a popular, illustrated record of progress in science,
invention and industry.
PRICE: $1.50 per year, in advance; single copies. 15 cents. Fifty cents additional for
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SI.00 a year additional.
order.
H O W TO REMIT : Send money by draft on Chicago, express or postoffice money
THE EDITORS invite the submission of photographs and articles on subjects of modern
engineering, scientific, and popular interest. Prompt decision will be rendered and payment
will be made on acceptance. Unaccepted material will be returned if accompanied by
stamps. While the utmost care will be exercised, the editors disclaim all responsibility for
manuscripts submitted.
CO CO CO ^THitoli^hed bjo C3i Ci Gfr
THE TECHNICAL, WORLD CO.,
CO CHICAGO, U. S.A. Ch
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Entered at the Postoihce, Chicago, 111., as second-class mail matter
4:;:;
438
440
443
till

TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
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FOR THE SAKE OF A STRIKING PICTURE
Daring effort of photographer to net an unusual view of the top of a city.
\
~~r *m

THE TECHNICAL
WORLD MAGAZINE
Volume VIII DECEMBER, 1907 No. 4
MAN who
can stand or
sit on the
flange of a
steel beam,
not so wide as the sole of
your shoe and six hundred
feet above a roaring
granite-paved city street,
there coolly to take successful
pictures of the top
of the city far below him,
must be possessed of
three qualifications, and
each of the first water.
He must have judgment,
patience and courage,
these three and, one may
add without slighting the
other two, the greatest of
these is courage.
The eager eye of the
camera goes everywhere
nowadays and the man
who makes picturegetting
his business
adopts no peaceful, unexciting
pursuit. If he is
under contract to a great
newspaper or magazine
he may be called upon to
secure a picture of anything,
from a flashlight
in the black depths of a
metropolitan sewer to a
portrait of the fairest
Jhere Courage is Capitol
>y Ho Go Htunaftaiaj
7
1
^Jf-J&Jt2zl£Sffi&3m^&£^T8^i!*i:z
PHOTOGRAPHING TROTTING-]
FROM ABOVE.
white slave in a Turkish
harem. He may be asked
to "get" a female grizzly
nursing her whelps, in
her mountain lair, to illustrate
some naturalist's
work, at one end of the
year and, before the other
end has come, he may
snap a shutter on the lip
of some smoking volcano's
crater.
When you see a striking
or a startling picture
of man or beast in some
extraordinary place or
pose, do you ever stop to
think where the photographer
was who made the
negative or how he got
there? Reproduced herewith
is a photograph of
a man at work repairing
one of the supports of a
cable on Brooklyn bridge.
lie is in a perilous place,
it appears, but where is
the photographer who
took the picture? You
cannot see him, but he is
standing on the other
cable of the great bridge
or on the dizzy top of its
huge pier at a much
higher point than the mechanic
and, unlike him,
Copyright, 1907, by Technical World Company. (339)

340 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
* LOOKING OVER THE
YOSEMITE, 3275
FEET ABOVE
THE SEA.
with neither
hand free to
hold to some
support but
with both busy
over his camera.
Hun d r e d s of
feet above the
swirl of the outrushing
tide in
East river, with
the stiff breeze
perhaps tugging
at his cameracloth
and with
nothing at all or
only a swaying
strand of wire to
rest against for
steadiness a n

dripping walls of
the great drain
crowded the smoke
of his flash down
upon him afterwards
till he had to
make his escape
with dispatch to
avoid most unpleasant
effects.
Another member
of the craft was directed
to get views
of smoky chimneys
about the city, to
show which factory
owners and
other producers of
soot were defying
the ordinances. He
spent a week
climbing about on
the roofs of the
WHERE COURAGE IS CAPITAL .ill
LHW000 4 UNDERWOOD, I
sky-scrapers down
town, even creeping
out on cornices
and window
ledges, where
none b u t the
washers of windows
ever set
foot and they not
without their supporting
tackle of
canvas belt and
stout ropes attached
to window-casing.
This
photograp her
also, with an assignment
to secure
a picture of

342 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
the great crowd of unemployed boys and
men who daily besiege the office of an
afternoon paper at the hour of the edition
which contains the help-wanted ads, tried
in vain to plant his camera in the street
where it would not suffer violence at the
hands of the singlemindedjob-hunters,
and, after having
his camera upset
several times
with some breakage,
he was finally
forced to climb upon
the structure of
the elevated road,
and there, dodging
trains and watching
long for a
chance to set up
h i s instrument,
finally caught the
desired views and
delivered them triumphantly.
Among the illustrations
with this
article is one of a
daring adventurer,
suspended in midair
over the sea, in
an effort to take a
picture of the nest
of the sea-eagle,
while his assistants
wait to pull him up
to the top of the
cliff after bis task
is accomplished.
He has no support
other than the slender
lines to which
he clings and, below
him, the surf
is dashing against
the foot of the
huge rock, with
aplenty and with all kinds of difficulties
to overcome, some infinitesimal but nonetheless
fatal to good picture-taking, were
expended to obtain the views this man secured,
not to mention the care and expense
and labor of preparation for such
an undertaking,
which went before.
One of our illustrations
shows a
j) h otographer
seated on the
frame-work of the
top cornice of an
unfinished building,
hundreds of
feet above the
street - level, and
the situation needs
no words to make
it understood. The
m a n behind the
camera seems to
have no eyes for
the depths below
h i m a n d n o
thoughts except for
the business in
hand. But some
companion, who
stood at the moment
in the same
relation to him as
you now do, while
you look at the record
of his feat, took
this picture, and
doubtless displayed
equal coolness and
daring. It is
enough to chill the
human who keeps
religiously a w a y
fro m dangerous
toying with the
law of gravitation,
to look even at the
certain death wait­
FINE VIEW-POINT AT A FIRE.
reproduction of this
ing in its foam for
Photographer perched near the top of a tele­ p i c t u r e, which
tlie creature who
graph pole to get pictures ot a burning building.
gives, after all, but
should be so unfor­
faint idea of the
tunate as to fall
reality. Think of
into it. And the risk and the effort holding a camera over the eyes like
are made to secure something new in this, while sitting on a steel bar the size
pictures for you and me to look at in of a rail from a light trolley-track, with
the pages of a favorite magazine. one foot barely resting against a brace
Hours of hard struggle, with bruises and the other swinging free, over a space

WHERE COURAGE IS CAPITAL 343
* NO THOUGHT BUT FOR BUSINESS.
Camera-man ignores the roaring city street three hu . ed feet below.
REPAIRS ON BROOKLYN BRIDGE CABLE.
The photographer who took this picture stood on the cable opposite this workman.

344 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
in which a man would have
time to die, should he fall, before
he would strike the pavement.
Making negatives of "lost"
freight-cars in yards full of
switching trains, or burrowing
back into some crowded tenement,
to find the evil whereabouts
of a stifling, germreeking
sweat-shop and gain
a photograph of child labor;
scaling the ice-mountain at
the foot of Niagara in winter,
to get souvenir views of the
freaks of frost, or plunging
on snow-shoes into the still
solitudes of a government reservation
to secure evidence of
timber thefts ; going down in
a miners' cage to the bottom
of a shaft to photograph the
results of an explosion of fire-
damp, or clambering laboriously
to the bald pate
of some mountain giant,
to get a view of the top
of his cloud-turban —
these are the things that
give spice and variety,
endlessly to the life of the
commercial photographer.
The element of danger
enters into a far greater
percentage of his exploits
than one would suppose
without following him a
little way. It isn't mere
fun to take pictures of a
mob of hoodlums which
often makes itself of news
importance at time of a
great strike. Nor is it a
joy to be called upon to
set up a camera under the
trembling walls of a burning
building to get pic-
COVERING AN ASSIGNMENT ON STILTS.
An American photographer in India.

tures of a new fireapparatus
in
action.
Of course, there
are tricks in the
trade. Faking of
photographs is, unfortunately,common
enough, particularly
in those
which are intendec
for publication.
Objects may be so
distorted and so
pulled out of proportion
by the camera,
that they have
little semblance of
the original, and
yet one can scarcely
detect the decep­
WHERE COURAGE IS CAPITAL 345
tion. An ear of corn,
hung close to the lens,
may be made to look
colossal in a view of
farm products, when
its actual proportions
may not be remarkable.
Prints may be
so cleverly "patched"
as to defy the investigating
eye, so far as
their printed reproduction
is concerned. A
man may be represented
as seated on the caboose
of a miniature

348 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
best results. It sounds easier than it is,
for breezes are tricky and kites are uncertain,
and cameras are sometimes stubborn,
rebellious things.
But the craft is certainly not devoid
of pleasures. Facing danger and accomplishing
things in the face of it brings its
own reward of exhilaration, satisfaction
and pride of achievement. Seeing the
world, as many of our photographers do,
furnishes plenty of mind enrichment and
both intellectual and physical pleasure.
Outdoor work, with the scaling of mountains
or tramping of woods ; cultivation
of the eye to see sunshine and shadow at
their best; the privilege of looking upon
the actual form and the color of things
which are so wonderful in simple black
and white print—these are things to enjoy,
and things which are enjoyed to the
full. The fascination of the work seems
to get into the blood of the men who en­
gage in it, and the best work is done, as
in every other field of endeavor, by the
man who does it for the very love of it.
Obstacles and risks and disappointments
are of little account to the enthusiast, and
the joy of success, the exultation of spirit
over a real triumph of craft, is to be
compared to that of any other creative

ON THE RIDGE OF THE GLACIER.
The photographer who made this plate climbed
high above his companions.
WHERE COURAGE IS CAPITAL 349
ON THE FACE OF THE CLIFF.
Dangerous climb in execution of a commission
to get pictures.

350 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
effort. In no work is the worker more
self-effacing and probably no craftsman
receives less credit or smaller measure of
fame than the photographer in commercial
service. The names of the men who
are doing the best work and the work
which stirs the most interest would be
strange to the eyes of most readers if
they were printed here. But they do not
THE CAMERA IN STRIKE TIMES.
Making pictures during the street-car liots in Chicago.
The Way to Live
So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan which moves
To that mysterious realm where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night,
complain. Most of them are regularly
employed on the staffs of the magazines
or newspapers or by the bureaus which
make a specialty of securing and furnishing
scenes of artistic or news interest all
over the world, and their work is printed
under the names of their emjiloyers. Ye:
no cry of distress has arisen from them
over their state of obscurity.
Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.
-BRYANT,

m m
A
J
i
ft
•
0m
* y icj^..
Baby
w m m
• M .
•^w
By George MacDonald
Where did you come from, baby
dear?
Out of the everywhere into here.
Where did you get your eyes so
blue?
Out of the sky as I came through.
What makes the light in them
sparkle and spin?
Some of the starry spikes left in.
m m m m m
'^^»»OPjf ;•->••-*,
,',V
Where did you get that little tear?
I found it waiting when I got here.
What makes your forehead so
smooth and high?
A soft hand stroked it as I went
by.
What makes your cheek like a
warm white rose?
I saw something better than any
one knows.
'*-/ ^W\ CIS.**
Whence that three cornered smile of bliss?
Three angels gave me at once a kiss.
Where did you get this pearly ear?
\jod spoke, and it came out to hear.
Where did you get those arms and hands?
Love made itself into hooks and bands.
wF&
.
£? Mgr'" A
vjmiM'' ' l 4
'^wA't'rP
-i imESd
•IT
p*^
'\&
Feet, whence did you come, you darling things?
From the same bo.x as the cherubs' wings.
How did they all just come to be you?
God thought about me, and so I grew.
But how did you come to us, you dear?
God thought about you, and so I am here.
(351)

TOP of the CONTINENT
bjr Aubre^^Tullerton.
T must have been a
pleasant and Columbuslike
feeling that filled
and thrilled the soul of
each first traveler on
each of the great rivers
of America. It must
have been so, because
that is how the normal boy feels when he
finds a new path through the woods or
across lots, and the man-explorer is but
a large-print edition of the boy-explorer.
Those were great and glorious first
trips up the St. Lawrence, from east to
west; down the Alississippi, north to
south; up the Columbia, west to east;
down the Mackenzie, south to north.
They are history now, and if you want to
know what they felt like there are only
two ways of finding out, and then only in
(352)
part: to read the journals of the men who
made them ; or, better, to follow yourself
in the path of one of them by going, this
summer or next, down the Mackenzie.
For the Mackenzie trip has changed
the least of them all since it was made
for the first time, and something of the
original sensation is still possible. It is
the last primeval thing left us, and, even
there, if your canoe upsets or you are
stranded on a really lonely shore you are
likely to be rescued by a smart-looking,
electric-lighted steamboat at just about
the time you are beginning to feel like
Columbus and Crusoe combined. It's a
bit disappointing, to be sure, but otherwise
the Mackenzie trip is the real thing.
A vast stretch of two thousand miles
of Northland shows on the map above the
present end of the rail. From Edmonton,

the new railway hub of the Northern
West, towards which four transcontinentals
are aiming, to Athabasca landing, a
hundred miles, by trail; thence up the
Athabasca river to the Mackenzie, and
down the Mackenzie to the Arctic: that is
the route of the most remarkable sightseeing
in America today. It is the top of
the continent, a land of magnificent distances
and many surprises, where one
finds things he did not expect and does
not find things that he did expect.
The Mackenzie is to this vast region
what the Mississippi is to the Central and
Southern states, a great main artery from
which and into which branch numerous
river and lake veins east and west. The
"king of northern rivers" is one thousand
miles long and a little more than a mile
in average width. It is well-behaved
though swift-running, shows a variety of
good-looking scenery, and is ready to
serve the modern captain of industry as
well as it has hitherto served the native
Indians, the fur traders, and the occasional
voyager.
"The Barrens of the North" is what
they used to call this whole Top-Country
; but Nature never did such bad balancing
as to weigh down a continent
whose lower regions are inestimably rich,
TOP OF THE CONTINENT 353
with a worthless top, and to the north
end of the American continent it gave
a full share of attractiveness and riches.
They are a bit hard to get at, it is true,
but Nature's idea in caching them thus
far away probably was merely to keep
them in reserve until men needed them
enough to go after them. It is true, too,
that there are parts of the North-country
which are still and rightly called the
" Barrens," but they are not the region
drained by the Mackenzie.
The development of the far-flung
North-country will be one of the industrial
masterpieces of the next two decades.
Men are going hither and fro
just now, with transits, pick-axes, and
divining-rods. They are scratching the
surface here and there, just lifting the
bed-clothes of the sleepy North, and presently
they will be getting down to work
and waking the giant with a loud call to
get up. The alarm is set and pretty
nearly ready to go off.
"When I landed on the opposite shore,"
wrote Alexander Mackenzie, in his journal
on August 2, 1789, "I discovered that
the natives had been there very lately
from the print of their feet in the sand.
We continued walking till five in the
afternoon, when we saw several smokes
ONE OF THE MACKENZIE RIVER STEAMERS.
This boat was built in the North and machinery was carried in overland.

354 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
along the shore. As we naturally con­ fire had been going before Mackenzie's
cluded that these were certain indications visit, and how many thousand tons of
where we should meet the natives who coal had been consumed in the nearly
were the objects of our search, we quick­ a-century-and-a-quarter since, are unened
our pace ; but, in our progress, exfathomable secrets.
perienced a very sulphurous smell, and In the Athabasca country, farther
at length discovered that the whole bank
was on fire for a very
south, is the greatest gas well in the
considerable distance.
It proved to be a coal
mine, to which the fire
had communicated
from an old Indian encampment.
The beach
was covered with coals,
and the English chief
gathered some of the
softest he could find,
as a black die; it
being .the mineral, as
he informed me, with
which the natives render
their quills black."
The fire is still burning,
and apparently
has been burning ever
since, for it has now
spread over an area of
twenty miles along
How WHEAT GROWS IN THE PEACE RIVER COUNTRY.
the river. The smoke
and the smell are the same today as
when Mackenzie wrote, and near Fort
Norman, some two hundred miles
from the Arctic Circle, the burning
coal-seam, with its broken length
of low mysterious earth-flame, is at night
one of the grandest and weirdest of
Northern sights. How many years the
world. The Canadian government bored
for oil at Pelican Portage, and at a depth
of 860 feet struck a heavy flow of gas,
which shortly afterward caught fire. It
has been burning now for eleven years,
and is apparently undiminished.
Coal, oil, and gas are the three wonderriches
of the North. Timber, and fur, and
iron ore, and even gold,
one would expect to
find, as typical Northern
resources; but these
other closely associated
products seem a bit out
of place and point to
a busy time away back
somewhere in creation
days, when there
were mighty shiftingsabout
in the top parts
of America. The whole
North-land above the
present line of rail is
a region of mineral
wealth, which in its
TEN MILES FROM THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.
Fort Good Hope, store-houses and factor's residence
nearer limits takes the
form of the largest gas

and oil reserves in the world and, farther
north, of coal beds no one knows howlarge.
Where Nature has been so lavish
as to keep burning up and still have plenty
left it may be taken that she is filled and
soaked with combustibles, solid, liquid,
and gaseous. There is every evidence of
great subterranean lakes of petroleum,
for oil oozes out along the shores of
Great Slave lake and the Mackenzie
river, and tar drips all summer long
from the banks of the Lower Athabasca
and Great Slave rivers.
It is told of a party of campers-out on
the Peace river that they noticed a strong
smell of gas, seeming to come from one
of the sand bars; a
match was struck and
dropped on the beach,
and the result was a
fire over the gravelstones
large enough
to cook the camp dinner
with. How many
dinners could be
cooked, how many
houses lighted, and
how many engines set
a-going, with all the
underground gastanks
of the North
tapped and piped, is a
problem in twentiethcentury
prophecy.
The coal in these
Northern districts is a 7: r. *«»"-'
lignite, varying somewhat
in fuel value,
but every- pound of it
good for some industrial or domestic purpose.
The southern limits of the coalbearing
area are now being extensively
mined at Edmonton, and the fact that
Northern-mined coal was in demand
throughout the Canadian West during the
fuel shortage of the past winter suggests
the commercial possibilities of the whole
Top-Country when the railroads get
there.
There is hematite iron on the Great
Slave river ; gypsum near the mouth of
the Peace river; and on the lower part
of the Athabasca stone suitable for building,
clay that will make good brick, and
sand which can be turned into glass.
There is gold in the gravel bars of the
Peace river in such quantities that min­
TOP OF THE CONTINENT 355
ers have been panning out from ten to
fifteen dollars a day; and the mineral resources
of tbe yet farther-North are, il
may be, equally varied, though as yet
unkm iwn.
But greatest of the North's surprises
are those of the farm-land. Instead of
the vast stretch of empty barrenness with
which the North has been supposed to be
synonymous, there are tracts of rich prairie
identical in character and possibilities
with those to the south. The Peace river
country is claimed to be one of the most
fertile districts in tbe West and in every
way fitted for agricultural settlement. It
is a countrv of rollintr flower-strewn
BOATS ON THE GREAT SLAVE LAKE.
Takini; supplies into Fort Resolution.
prairie, where wheat grows thirty bushels
to the acre ami oats a hundred.
Fort Vermillion, seven hundred miles
straight north from Edmonton, is the
Farthest-North agricultural settlement in
America, and there a crop of 20,000 bushels
of wheat from something less than a
thousand acres was one man's record last
year. At Fort Providence, near Slave
lake, and in latitude 61° 25', the middle
of July in a normal year finds potatoes in
flower, peas fit to use, strawberries ripe
and gone, and nearly every variety of
garden vegetables and fruits in healthy
growth. All the common vegetables will
grow at Fort Simpson, 275 miles down
the Mackenzie, and the trading-posts at
Fort Norman, 500 miles further north.

356 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
have gardens for their own use. Fort
Good Hope, ten miles south of the Arctic
Circle, produces potatoes that any farmer
in Aroostook county would be proud of.
And, while this comes of tillage, the
northern soil of its own natural richness
grows aspen, poplar, and birch all along
the Mackenzie to its delta, and spruce almost
to the shores of the Arctic. The
buildings of the trading-posts at Fort
DARING FEAT OF NORTH RIVER BOATMEN.
Taking a fifty-foot scow through a dangerous rapid.
Macpherson, the northernmost settlement,
are made of logs cut from the adjoining
forest. At the juncture of the
Peace and Slave rivers timber grows to
fourteen inches in diameter, and in the
Peace river country proper to twice that
size and to from 100 to 140 feet in height.
Both timber and wheat are milled at Fort
Vermillion, where a well-equipped roller
process flour-mill grinds all the grain
grown in the district and a saw-mill produces
merchantable lumber from nativegrown
spruce and tamarack.
That all this is possible points to another
surprise of the north : its climate.
Vegetation grows freely and fast because
the season is short and the summer heat
very often intense. In the country
around Lake Athabasca the thermometer
sometimes stands at 100 degrees in the
shade, and so intense at times has been
the heat at the Arctic Circle that the
husky-dogs that are in their element on
the winter trail have been known to die
of heat-prostration. It is the country,
too, of all-night daytime. For twenty out
of twenty-four hours there is, at the
height of the summer season, full light
of day, and this length of day. with the
intense brightness of the sunny North, explains
the quick maturing of the crops.
It also explains, in large measure, the
witchery and charm of travel in a land
where there is no real darkness but only
a fading of day to twilight and then an
almost immediate dawning back to day.
The size of this new North is comparable
only to that of states and nations.
The Peace river country alone is a
stretch six hundred miles long and from
fifty to two hundred miles in width ; and
the area drained by the Mackenzie is
450,000 square miles, nearly one-fourth
more than the basin of the St. Lawrence
and the Great Lakes. Great Bear lake,
down on the Arctic Circle, is the fifth

largest fresh water lake in the world.
Inland from the river courses are vast
regions equal in area to half of Europe,
and in the very heart of the northern interior
are tracts, as large as almost any
state of the Union, that have not as yet
even been explored.
All this vastness of surroundings gives
to the passer-through a sense of awe,
albeit of fascination. The North, by
TOP OF THE CONTINENT 357
ONE OF THE BEAUTY SPOTS OF THE SLAVE R1VK1
reason of its bigness, either downs a man
and fearfully oppresses him, or it draws
out of him those qualities that make him
its master and thrill him with a love
for it. It is not hard to love it, in a
summer mood, for there are not many
places in the world where there is
grander sight-seeing than along the two
great river-sy r stems of the north. Noble
streams in themselves, whose shore-lines
look still very much as they did when
Nature left off marking them, the glories
of the northern sky give them a subtle
quality of charm and beauty that the
tourist guide-book will never catch.
There is nothing like it.
A pleasure trip down the Mackenzie
is a conception that seems a long way
removed from the accustomed experiences
of northern travel by trader's boat
and portage. Hitherto it has been possible
to reach the northland only by the
hard-travel route, in much the same picturesque
but uncomfortable way in which
the first explorers went and in which the
natives go still. But there are up-to-date,
electric-lighted, state-roomed steamboats
nowadays that ply right down to Fort
Macpherson and make a summer trip
both feasible and enjoyable. It will soon
be a tourist trip, and Mackenzie's Journal
will be having modern duplicates in
the diaries of Northern sightseers. And
there is no reason why it should not. The
lure of the North is real and rational,
for the North is worth seeing.
This is the country which until now
has been the exclusive domain of the fur
trader. Into it goes each year a trading
stock of miscellaneous merchandise
worth, freight added, a million and a
half of dollars, and out of it comes in exchange
a stock of furs of like value. For
the barter of fur for goods still goes on.
In the Peace river country, where there
are agricultural possibilities equal to the

358 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
best of the American or the Canadian
west, there is already a substantial movement
of white settlers, and its vast prairie
stretches will very soon be seeing the
same great drama of colonization that the
Western states have already passed
through and that the western provinces
are passing through now. But the farther-north,
down in tbe Mackenzie country,
is today as when .Mackenzie found it,
save for the clusters of white men's
houses at each of the trading-posts ; save
for the traders and the missionaries it is
still the land of the red man and, beyond
the circle, of the Eskimo.
The taking-in of the trading goods and
the bringing-out of the furs is the thing
of most picturesque interest in the North,
and as yet it is the industrial life of the
country. The distributing jioint for the
one hundred trading-posts of the North is
Athabasca landing, where the merchandise,
brought in by sleds over the hundred-mile
trail from Edmonton, is stored
during tbe winter. Navigation opens
about mid-May, when staunch northernbuilt
steamers set out with full-up cargoes,
up the Athabasca and Lesser Slave
lake for the Peace river countrv, down
the Athabasca for Great Slave lake and
the Mackenzie.
( )n the latter route, covering a distance
of 2,000 miles, there is a deal of hard
traveling. The first one hundred and
sixtv miles, bv steamer, are followed Inone
hundred miles of rapids, through
which nothing but open boats can be
taken. The freight is therefore transferred
to scows, ten tons to each, and put
through the bad water by sheer man
power until steamer is taken again at
Fort McMurray. Much the same jirocess
is repeated down the Mackenzie, with
frequent portages and shiftings of cargo,
and on Great Slave lake the scows are
strung together and towed.
The north-country scow is a boat of
about forty-five or fifty feet in length,
fourteen feet in width, and three feet in
depth, built of north-sawn spruce, and
worth a hundred dollars. Five halfbreeds,
strong, reckless, happy-go-lucky
offspring of the wilderness, man each
boat, with four at the oars and one at
the sweep. Very seldom do they lose a
cargo, for tbe half-breed is a navigator
seemingly proof against bad weather and
bad water. He, nor any man, is equal,
however, to bringing back his fleet as
easily as he took it down. The greater
number of the scows are sold at their
journey's end for firewood, for the reason
that only as many are brought back up
tbe swift Mackenzie current as are
needed to carry the return cargo of furs,
and one scow can carry the fur-equivalent
of perhaps ten scow-loads of merchandise.
Each year, therefore, a new
fleet of boats is built for the down trip,
a side industry of considerable importance.
Of steamers there are in all about
twenty on the Northern rivers and lakes,
of which the Hudson's Bay company own
six and the missions an equal nuniber.
This method of freighting costs money.
The rate is fourteen cents a pound to the
way-down posts, which means fourteen
dollars added to the price of a hundredpound
sack of flour. On the return trip
the rate is twenty-two cents. One may
look for high prices as a natural consequence.
The traveler with money in his
pocket may have to pay fifty cents for a
can of corn even at Peace river landing
and a dollar at Fort Graham.
The liasis of trade with the Indian is
the "made beaver" skin. It is the uncoined
money of the North, a wholly technical
standard, in terms of which the
value of furs or merchandise is estimated
as equal to so many "skins." In actual
money value it varies from a quarter- to
a half-dollar as one goes north. There is
a standard of prices for tbe furs, which
is adhered to as closely as the competition
between opposition traders will allow, for
the ancient and honorable Hudson's Bay
comjiany, which long had the field all to
itself, now shares it with some three or
four independent trading companies.
Tbe amount of stock which any of these
trading firms supplies to its customers is
governed bv the amount of fur which
they bring in. A good year's catch, per
man, runs at about five hundred dollars;
the average is nearer two hundred dollars,
and according to whether his furs
count near the one figure or the other
will be comparative affluence or bare necessities
for the Indian trapper.
Tbe time was when Winnipeg, then the
frontier post of the Northwest, was the
center of the fur trade. The advance
of the steel, however, sent the frontier

farther north, and Edmonton became the
fur market. Edmonton is today the ambitious
capital of the newly-formed province
of Alberta, but it still remains the
greatest raw-fur depot in the world.
When, however, it ceases to be the end
of the rail, and when the present plans
for building a road into the new North
materialize, the fur trade center will be
shifted to the banks of the Peace river,
where a new town will grow up to dominate
the region beyond.
For the rail is going north, into the
mighty top-country of the continent. With
farmers already settling on its prairies
and the government conducting experiments
in agriculture and horticulture,
with two fully organized and well equipped
corporations now boring, for oil and
gas, with the coal-hunger constantly increasing,
and with the old-time fur trade
still as important as ever it was, the need
and practicability of a railroad into the
last north is one of today's industrial
facts.
FREEDOM'S BANNER 359
Freedom's Banner
When Freedom from her mountain height
Unfurled her standard to the air,
She tore the azure robe of night,
And set the stars of glory there.
She mingled with its gorgeous dyes
The milky baldric of the skies,
And striped its pure, celestial white
With streakings of the morning light.
Another important engineering enterprise
is the improvement of the Lesser
Slave river, which connects Lesser Slave
kike and the Athabasca river, and which
would be an admirable waterway but for
twenty-two miles of rapids. These are
to lie overcome by the building of a
series of wing dams, for which the Canadian
government has made a grant as
its first move in the way of public works
in the North. When these have been built,
during the present year, there will be a
continuous waterway of four hundred
miles into the Peace river country. A
next step will probably be the cutting of
twenty miles of canals, which would connect
3,000 miles of navigable waters radiating
from Fort Smith, on the Mackenzie:
an easy bit of work that would give
an internal water system almost unrivaled
in the world.
With trains ami with more steamers,
the silent places will be silent no more.
Tbe white man, as he goes north, carries
his noise with him.

T® Siunk a Ready Made Tuminie!
My Frederick M. Caldwell
HAT modern tendency
to expend millions of
T V * dollars in discounting
ll at one stroke the most
yj serious of the traffic
difficulties of the future,
finds a significant
example in the present
project which seeks to connect the cities
of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Canada,
by means of a double barreled, subaqueous
passage, for Michigan Central
railroad trains, under the Detroit river.
ited passenger trains have been carried
across this, one of the greatest of the
highways of commerce, by giant, cumbersome,
blunt-nosed car ferries, costly in
time and money and often times subject
to such circumstances of river congestion
and weather as to prohibit the maintenance
of anything approaching a definite
or accurately reliable train schedule.
Since the great trunk lines began to bring
the East to the West, railroad operatives
have dreamed of a mammoth, swinging
steel structure, capable of sustaining on
STEEL SECT TONS OF THE GREAT DOUBLE-BARRELED TUNNEL AS THEY APPEARED ON LAND,
This passage is to be effected by means
of a steel and concrete tunnel, similar in
general design to others now in operation,
but in tbe construction of which
perplexing engineering problems are to
be solved by entirely novel methods.
For many years, both freight and lim­
(360)
its trestles the tonnage of the road and
fitted to eliminate those obstacles which
have placed the certain direction of trains
practically beyond mortal control. With
the development of such traffic conditions,
however, as would justify such an
undertaking, the commerce of the great

lakes has kept equal pace, until now the
almost continuous passage, during the
eight months of the navigation season,
of the great freighters of the lake flotilla,
precludes any such possibility. Though
the project of a tunnel meant, at first
hand, the expenditure of
even a modern fortune,
involving attendant engineering
risks whose
cost and extent could
not be approximated,
the spirit of the present
day progress was insistent
and the construction
of such an alternative
was begun.
In perfecting the tunnel
plans and specifications
it was naturally
necessary to consider
with great care, just
what functions the traffic
demands would require
the tunnel to ful­
fill, and the question of
car movement and anticipated
volume of business, together
TO SINK A READY MADE TUNNEL 361
and the general alignment. In many
ways the tunnel will be in tbe nature
of an experiment in the handling of
traffic. The expectations are that it
will have an annual capacitv of considerably
more than 1,000,000 cars, and
UNDER THE BED OF DETROIT'S BEAUTIFUL RIVER,
when completed, will be the source
with endless other problems, has en­ of a great saving, increasing facilities
tered very largely, in connection with from four hundred to five hundred per
physical conditions, into the matter cent. The heaviest passenger and freight
of establishing grades at the approaches business handled by tbe Michigan Cen-
RAILROAD YARDS AT THE TUNNEL ENTRANCE.
The Detroit end of the tunnel is located here. Note the car ferry slip at the extreme left.

362 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
tral is east bound, west bound freight of material made, that one might well imcars
being largely empties, so that the agine that thoroughly disciplined, well
tunnel grade from the center of the river seasoned campaigners were in the field,
to the portal on the Canadian side is one throwing up immense fortifications, as
and one-half per cent. Tbat on the defenses against a formidable enemy. On
Michigan side is one-half of one per cent. either side of the river, blacksmith shops,
greater, the easier grade thus being pro- sawmills, warehouses for the storage ot
vided for the heavier business. supplies, machine shops and substantial
office structures have
been erected. The approaches
are marked by
broad, deep timber-lined
cuts, on whose high
banks temporary railroad
tracks, for the handling
of materials^, pick
their way between towering
piles of heavy
logs waiting to be cut
into desired lengths before
they are lowered
away into the "hole" at
one of the six shafts, for
use as supports in the
excavation work.
At every point of attack,
the tendency to
eliminate human muscle
is apparent, steam being
substituted wherever
possible. Like grim
spectres of power, sturdy
derricks extend the long
gaunt arms of their
cranes as if in benediction
over the workmen
beneath them and vapory
clouds of exhaust
come puffing from the
lungs of small high
power engines that pant
and strain under the
load of their separate
burdens. At frequent
intervals elaborate and
expensive mechanisms
for the handling of ma­
DlVFR ABOUT TO MAKE DESCENT FOR WORK.
All sections of the Detroit tunnel must be bolted together after they are in place
on the river bottom.
Apparently a determined army of invasion
has taken its position along the
line of the tunnel survey, great scars in
tbe earth marking the irregular rushes of
its deploying skirmish line. So systematically
are the men directed and tests
terials have been installed.
Millions of yards
of concrete are used in
the construction of retaining
walls and arches,but of the gravel
and cement used in its preparation, not a
shovelful is moved by hand. From the
moment the gravel is picked up from the
river or lake bottoms, by means of the
big "sand-suckers" which pump greedily

yard after yard through canvas tubes let
down from the deck of a barge, to the
time it is mixed with the cement, every
handling, done with cranes and bucket
shovels, means a few feet more elevation.
Finally the gravel rests in spacious bins,
built at the top of high trestles or platforms.
By a similar process the cement
is placed in an adjacent elevated bin.
Both this and the gravel are allowed to
run, by means of chutes, into a huge
mixer just below the bins. The properly
proportioned mixture of gravel, cement
and water—the resultant concrete
then dumped into small cars which
on a still lower trestle,
to be carried to
the point at which it is
to be finally applied.
The details of this
great engineering work
have required a little
more than two years for
their final adjustment
and yard after yard of
blue prints has marked
the successive stages in
the working out of the
approved specifications,
until the engineers' diagrams
have roughly divided
the tunnel work
under the following
TO SINK A READY MADE TUNNEL :;i;:;
—is
run
heads: Westerly open
cut, 1,540.07 feet'; westerly
approach, 2,128.97 feet; sub-aqueous,
2,625 feet; easterly approach, 3,193.14
feet, and easterly open cut, 3,300
feet, making the total distance of excavation
a little more than 2.42 mile.s from
surface to surface. The approach tunnels
are twin concrete structures, between
which a bench or retaining wall of the
same material is four feet in lateral
thickness. In chambers along this wall
will be placed conduits, through which
power, telephone and telegraph cables
will be strung. The side walls will vary,
as earth formation and pressure necessitate,
from two feet and nine inches, to
five feet in thickness.
When the tunnel is completed, which
it is now thought will be about June 1,
1909, all cars will be operated at the
terminals by means of high power electric
locomotives, a third rail system being
used.
features
this way the disagreeable
smoke and consequent bad
air in the tunnel will be eliminated.
< )f the various plans originally suggested,
for the method of construction,
one included the use of a dredged trench
in the river bed, partially filled with concrete
and containing twin tubes of reinforced
concrete, eighteen feet in diameter.
This proposition involved the placing
of saddles in tbe concrete footing in
the trench, the sinking of forms on them,
the filling in of concrete about the forms'
and their final withdrawal, followed by
the building of an inside reinforced
WINDSOR END OF THE DETROIT TUNNEL.
The shaft is located where the scaffolding appears at the left.
lining. Another plan was the excavating
of a tunnel by means of the usual shield
method, tbe idea being to first deposit
on the river bottom a blanket of clay,
under which the operation of tunneling
might be carried on.
The final plans, however, included a
modification of the first proposal, and it
was decided that the object of the workcould
best be attained by building steel
tubes on shore, excavating in the river
bed a trench, in which a steel cradle for
the reception of the tubes should be imbedded
in a footing of concrete, the sinking
of the tube shells within the arms of
the cradle and the final depositing around
them of a complete covering of concrete.
The cradle feature and the elimination of
the use of a cofferdam, comprise a
method never before attempted in subaqueous
tunnel construction.

364 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
Each of the tubes is twenty-three feet
and four inches in inside diameter, their
centers being about twenty-six feet apart.
This diameter, it is estimated, will allow
eighteen feet of clearance between the
tops of the rails and the roof of each
tube, which will contain a single track.
When the submerged structure has received
its outer covering of concrete it
will be fifty-five feet in width and thirtyone
feet in depth, over all. A lining of
specially prepared concrete, twenty inches
thick, will be placed inside the tube shells,
which are made of three-eighths-inch
steel plates, and this lining will be reinforced
by one inch longitudinal rods,
placed horizontally at intervals of approximately
eighteen inches on centers
located about six inches within the interior
surface of the thus reinforced lining.
To provide further rigidity for the
structure, the tubes penetrate at regular
intervals, a series of upright cross sections
or steel diaphragms, extending
below the bottom surfaces of the shells.
Between the cradle arms, above mentioned,
heavy steel alignment beams, running
parallel with the trench, will be
placed, thus stiffening the arms on which
will rest the lower edges of the diaphragms.
Like the tube shells, the
diaphragms are also made of threeeighths-inch
steel plates, the outer edges
being reinforced by heavy flange angles.
Between these cross sections are frequent
flanges to which as an additional reinforcement,
one inch steel rods are connected
to serve much in the manner of
the spokes of a wheel in relieving tension.
Along the outer edges of the diaphragms,
heavy planking extends, parallel
with the tube sides. Into the spaces
thus afforded, masses of concrete will be
dumped, forming an outer arch for the
resistance of water pressure and at the
same time serving to help in securely
anchoring the entire structure, which, it
must be remembered, loses in weight in
HOW THF. TUNNEL SECTIONS ARE FLOATED TO THEIR PLACES.
Each length, completed on the surface, is towed into place and sunk to its bed in the river.

proportion to the amount of water its
mass displaces.
The tube sections shoulder in heavy rubber
gaskets at the joints, in each face of
wduch are partially cylindrical chambers,
extending along the entire circumference.
Into these chambers will be forced the
best grade of cement grout bv means of
high pressure tubes connected with air
pumps on the river's
surface. The joints
will be finally locked
with heavy pins fitting
into correspondingsockets
in the adjoining
section, and securely
bolted by divers. To
facilitate this conjunction,
the forward end
of each of the tunnel
tubes carries a seventeen-inch
sleeve, and
can thus be more readily
fitted over the end
of the section pre-
viously sunk.
Before launching
the first of the tube
sections, which have
been under construction
at the plant of a
ship building company
on the Ste. Claire
river, some forty
miles from the tunnel location, the open
ends of the section were enclosed with
immense bulkheads, that the structure
might be floated down to position, as the
hull of a ship is towed to her moorings.
At the bottom of the bulkheads are a
series of inlet valves for the admission of
water ballast to serve in helping submerge
the shells. A similar series of
valves is placed along the upper area as
vents for escaping air, all the valves
being so arranged as to permit their manipulation
from the river's surface.
Several steel cylinders, sixty feet long
and over ten feet in diameter, capable of
sustaining the six hundred tons weight of
each tube section, will be made fast for
the time being, to the various diaphragms,
by heavy chains, and will act as
buoyant air chambers.
As soon as all is in readiness, the lower
series of valves in the bulkheads will be
opened, admitting water into the tubes.
TO SINK A READY MADE TUNNEL 365
The upper valves will then be adjusted to
permit the discharge of air displaced by
the entering water, and the buoyant cylinders
will be placed in the proper positions
to maintain the tubes on a horizontal
plane, as they are gradually submerged.
These cylinders are provided
with a compressed air mechanism and
with such valves that thev also mav be
METHOD OF BUILDING SEPARATE TUNNEL SECTIONS.
partially submerged by the admission of
water ballast, or elevated by the forcing
in of air, as the circumstances of tbe
moment may demand.
In this way the engineers will have
complete control of the entire structure
at all times, a.s the tubes can not sink
except as the buoyancy of the air chambers
is overcome by the weight of the
water admitted through the bulkhead
valves and that allowed to enter through
the intakes of the air cylinders themselves.
To surmount difficulties anticipated in
effecting a safe and exact conjunction
of the submerged sections, pilot pins between
five and six feet in length and six
inches in diameter, extending parallel to
the axis of the tubes have been provided
on the alternate sections. These pins are
so arranged as to fit into corresponding
sockets of cast steel bolted to the outer
surface of the adjoining section.

(36B)
THEY SAY YOU GOT FIRED, JOE/ HE SAID."
sm

"Yes
• • • • '•» • ' saaam
msjm BGTS rtgr SAKE
Harry MALanrence
[IG JOE EM MONS'
huge, grimy fist closed
in a hard knot, so tight
that it whitened at the
knuckles. But his face
did not change, except
the eyes. They glittered.
he said evenly, "I'm goin' to
take it up with Billy when I see him.
It's union politics that's done it, and
he's back of it."
Little Mrs. Joe's blue gingham apron,
with which she had been covering tears,
dropped from her hands and her eyes
widened with slow fright.
"Don't, Joe," she cried quickly. "You
scare me."
She came to him, unafraid for herself,
and put her hands up to. hi.s beard-roughened
face. "Oh, Joe," she went on, "I
didn't mean that. I didn't mean so much.
I was angry. Oh, I am so angry I'
daren't talk about it any more to you—
But don't vou go hu-rtin' anybody—even
Billy Carson! It'll only make things
worse. Billy's the whole thing in the
union now."
Joe's lean, powerful arms closed gently
around her, but he did not speak. He
could not. It had been the fear of hurting
her that had kept him quiet till now
about Billy and Billy's clever, _ lying
tongue that had so long been injuring
him and that had now struck him a
staggering blow. I le had feared the
effect on her and of her sympathy ton
himself. And, now that she knew, it was
even worse than he had thought, for both
of them.
"It's not because we can't get along
that I feel so bad, Joe. We got enough
for our lives. But I was certainly mad
over the way Lilly's done, lyin' to
Super'ntendent Fanning and everybody
else about you, and tackin' lies into truth
so smart they had to believe 'em. But
you're the best engineer the C. & O. has
got and your eyes are as good as any
of 'em. The tests'll show. I was just
mad at Billy."
She held him. Clearly she knew how
much she had stirred him. lie waited
now to hear what else she would say.
"You treated that boy like your own
from the time he commenced firin' for
you till you got him the yard-engine at
Brighton, Joe. You've always stuck up
for him among the boys, when they
didn't like him any better than I did. I
couldn't help bein' mad. But you
mustn't—you mustn't do nothin', Joe."
She was pleading. Her words were
not arguments to cool the passion she
bad read in him. but her tones, full of
her love and of her jealous, faithful care
of him, touched him even through bis
hard anger. His rage against Billy was
(3117)

368 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
great—Billy, whom he had, as she said,
treated as he had meant to treat his
own dead son, but who had, in return,
thrust the knife of false-witness into his
back at a vital spot. But the feeling did
give place momentarily to his love for
her and to his life-long habit of shielding
her.
"Well," he said gravely and noncommittally,
and kissed her.
"I know," she went on, still anxious.
"You think it won't make much difference
how the eye-tests come out tomor-
SHE CAME TO HIM, UNAFRAID FOR HERSELF.
row. Billy's got Jim Panning hypnotised
and he'll drop you anyway. But
suppose they do lay you off. We don't
have to care. We can go back up to
Milton then and live in the little house
there, an' be happy while we're growin'
old. An' think, Joe, I won't ever have
to worry about you, out on the run,
again."
This last was a sweet woman's wile,
worthy of her, for she knew how fond
he was of her. And Joe even smiled a
little. Then he kissed her again and
took his pail.
"Maybe this is the last run for me on
old No. 90, Nellie," he said. "See you
tomorrow night; then we'll know all
about it."
When he was out in the street, on his
way to the round-house, he breathed a
long, deep breath. "I don't know," he
said to himself, "but I think that when I
meet Billy Carson there'll
be some trouble."
It was even as little Mrs.
Joe had said. The boy they
had taken to their hearts and
home — because Joe had
wanted to befriend him—
had turned on his benefactor,
like the cur that bites
the hand that has fed it.
Joe had known for months
" that the boy was working
against him, that he was
carrying about with him,
and distributing where it
would do the most harm, the
venom of ridicule that breeds
unjust inference against its
object, and he had even had
some knowledge that his
young enemy had carried his
poison higher up than the
men about the round-house.
j ! But he had not dreamed
that anything Billy could
say would ever really affect
him—till it was too late.
Joe had been slow to
wrath, but in his brain his
anger had coiled away like
a spring, slowly drawing
into hard compactness under
a key that has turned it
daily a little tighter. He
had not been conscious that
the feeling was so strong—till today,
when the record of all that Billy
had done was suddenly made plain
to him, and had been like a final wrench
that had brought the tension to the last
point of endurance. And now—well, he
knew what it meant that Jim Fanning
should take a trifling error of judgment
in his otherwise almost clear record of a

year and base upon it a special order
that he should take the eye-tests; and he
knew wdio had sown the seed that had
borne such fruit.
Of course he knew why Billy had become
his enemy It was because the boy
had been ambitious and had talked about
his ambitions as if they had been realities,
and when, through Joe's efforts, he had
at last got his engine, and it had been
only the pony and switching in the yards
at Brighton instead of a run out on the
line, the boy had been piqued and humiliated,
and had blamed and cursed Joe in
his wrath. And none of the men bad
tried to make it easier for him, for, as
Nellie has said, they did not like Billy.
And even when later Joe had helped him
again and had got him out upon a good
run and Billy had worked along up to
the goal of every engineer, a passenger
engine, the rancor in the boy's heart had
not diminished and had matured at last
into that strange growth called hate. Joe
understood it all very well.
"It was a dirty thing to do," muttered
the big man to himself, as he walked
away from his home in the twilight of
the evening. "A feller's eyes is all he's
got, runnin' engine."
He was quite sure there was no truth
in the charge implied in Superintendent
Fanning's order. His eyes were quite
as good as ever they had been, despite
the fact that his hair was turning gray
upon his temples. He would surely have
some fore-warnings himself if they were
failing, and he knew he would be honest
enough to admit it when the signs came.
But it was the one vulnerable point
against which a shaft of suspicion might
be aimed and Billy had been clever
enough to see it.
The interior of the big round-house
was dark when he reached it. A torch
glowed here and there, and a few dingy
oil lamps smoked in brackets about the
blackened walls. In the murk half a
dozen big locomotives steamed quietly
in waiting for duty and a dozen men
talked and laughed together in alert halfidleness.
Joe looked them over as he
entered. For the first time in his career
he felt some dread at meeting any of the
boys. How much or how little they
might know, or what comments they
might make mattered little. They could
FOR THE BOY'S SAKE 369
not be kept in ignorance for any long
time, and he could foretell almost with
certainty what each would have to say.
But he did not want to show to them the
feelings he had with such difficulty concealed
from his wife. Those of them
who were his friends had warned him
about Billy and would think this anger
tardy. The others would say he was
squealing under the gaff.
He knew that Billy would not be there
tonight. It was Billy's night to run up
from Brighton. He himself would meet
the other's train at Perry Junction or at
Hamilton, on his down trip. He would
not see Billy till tomorrow night at the
earliest. He wanted to keep quiet with
tbe boys till then at least. He would
know then just wdiat was ahead of him
and perhaps he would know what he
meant to say and do about Billy.
Owen Frank, his fireman, was the first
of the group of men to see him.
"Hello, Joe," he said.
The others looked up at him. To
Emmons' ears there seemed to be something
of a hush in the general conversation,
an awkward pause as if they had
even then been discussing him.
"Hello, there," he said, in general salutation.
No. 90. hi.s engine, was standing but a
little way from them and he crossed at
once to her. Owen jumped to get bis
oiler and torch for him from the cab.
"How's everything tonight, old man?"
said Joe, as casually as he could.
"All right," replied the fireman. But
he stood awkwardly beside Joe while the
latter filled the oil-cups, and Emmons
knew at once that the story of his trouble
was before him. Presently the boy
blurted it out. "They say you got fired,
Joe," he said.
Emmons set his long oiler on the crosshead
of the connecting-rotl and turned to
look at the other. It was hard to be as
calm and indifferent as he would like to
be. "Who says so?" he asked, quietly
enough.
"Well, the fellers," replied Owen.
"They say the old man called you for
runnin' past a block last night, and laid
it to your eyes gettin' bad."
"It's true," said Joe, calmly. "Of
course, I don't have to tell you whether
my eyes are gettin' bad or not. You'd

370 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
know if they was. Do the boys know
why Jim Fanning's so dam' willin' to believe
it's my eyes ?"
"Of course. Carson."
Joe turned back to bis engine without
a word.
"But ain't you goin' to do anything?"
asked Owen. "You ain't goin' to just
Mt down an' take it, are you?" There
was anxiety in his voice, and it told Joe
suddenly that tbe boy cared.
"I got to take what's comin' to me,
( )wen," he said.
lie worked busily
ft ir a m o m e n t.
S y m path y was
hard to accept
gracefully, though
it touched him
deeply. Then, because
he did not
know what to say
in the sudden renewed
stress of
feeling, he spoke
harshly.
"Forget it. Don't
talk about it." he
added, and walked
away from the boy
when he w ould
have been glad to
have said some
kinder thing in appreciation.
He had meant to
mingle w i t h the
men as usual dur­
ing the brief time
before he should
pull out to hook up
to his train. But after this he felt that it
would be impossible. Owen's words hail
been another rub upon the raw and bis
nerves were too tightly strung now to risk
more of the same kind of thing. In a sort
of fevered quiet he went on about his work
with a particularity he knew Owen had
made unnecessary, but with the urgent
need to keep busy pushing film on. And
when the time came for them to get
away he felt the first moment of relief.
"I never supposed I'd feel like this,"
he thought, as he leaned from his cab
window'in the brilliantly lighted station,
waiting his signal for the start. "I never
thought just how my quittin' time would
come." lie looked back along his train,
viewing the bus}- throng of people and
listening to the familiar sounds with halfrealizing
sense that this might be the last
time he would look so upon them and
hear these notes that were dear to him.
And all at once there was a mist in his
eyes that nearly blinded him and he
turned to stare away into the shadows
of tbe freight sheds out of reach of the
station lights. "An' it hurts like hell,"
he added, simply.
But the harder
feeling came back
with the first great
throbbing exhaust
No. 90 sent up into
the night air. As
he turned, after the
signal came, to
take up his vigil
upon the track
ahead, the whole
realization of what
was happening to
him swept upon
him with a force
that made wild rebellion
instantly
leap to meet it. He
tugged viciously at
his throttle with
more bitter curses
on his lips and the
wrath of his heart
mounting into his
brain like the
fumes of liquor.
Yes, he knew
I NEVER SUPI-OSED I'D FEEL LIKE THIS,' HE THOUGHT.
this would be the
last run. Fanning
meant it should be, and Billy had
meant to make any run—as soon as
possible the last. This would be
the last time he would look out upon
that nightly path of his, whose inches he
knew by heart. It would be the last
time he would follow this headlight Willo'-the-Wisp
that danced away before
him into the dark, leading him on and on
—that had led him on and on through all
the years of his service—to what? It
would be the last time he would feel the
mighty strength of his engine under him,
obedient to his hand but always tugging,
tugging at its leash. Good God, why did
a man have to give it up? And this

would be the last time he could think
and feel himself a part of the great proud
power that held such a place in the glorious
world of work. What would he
be when it was over ? One of the castasides,
branded a cripple, no longer fit to
bear a part with men who were sound
and good—no longer a man !
With a heave of the big lever, which
he gripped with a hard grasp of nervous,
eager fingers seeking some hold upon
which to expend their ferment of energy,
he shortened the stroke and cut down the
note of No. 90's gasping breaths, while
their beat rose to a fluttering whir, as
she settled into her gait. Out ahead the
yellow spot of light fled away into the
night before him, the shining parallel of
steel slipped toward him softly, steadily,
easily; the gray gravel of the road-bed
flowed like a molten stream down the
path of headlight's ray till it suddenly
turned blue-brown under the pilot's
shadow to scud away dimly under him
and back into the forgotten distance behind.
Winking switch-lights dodged
past, overhead street-bridges, which momentarily
crowded the smoke down upon
the cab, gave place to elevated viaducts
over which No. 90 roared and snorted
like a live, glad thing emerging from
hated city bonds into the freedom of the
country. Buildings drew back and away
from the tracks and the dark clumps of
stone and brick broke up and scattered
more and more. Labyrinths of tracks,
with their rattling switches, shrank
steadily^ together, the swift engine nosing
out her way unerringly among them, till
her single parallel again stretched
straight and plain before her. Then,
with a fresh impulse, she leaped to her
race again.st time as if with the joyous
certainty of winning, throwing her wild,
hoarse cry of warning out across the
quiet woods and fields to the lonely crossroads
ahead and spouting her lurid
sparks with rollicking impudence up at
the cool, still stars.
Joe drank it all in like a draught of
wine. Oh, God, how he loved it! But
it cooled his rage-parched heart but a
moment. This was the end—this was
the last he would ever know of the joy,
the beauty, the luxury of it. This was
his farewell. Tomorrow he would be
exiled from this craft he loved and tossed
FOR THE BOY'S SAKE 37]
aside, condemned and fit only for the
human scrap-heap! It was a matter for
wonder that they bad let him have this
one last run. If they had known what it
meant to him, doubtless they would have
taken it, too, away from him. It was
only because they were short-handed that
he hatl been allowed to make his trip
tonight. And yet he knew in his soul
that he was as fit as any man alive to
handle his throttle. See? Of course he
could see. And as for running past signals,
he was certain the block had not
been up against him. Union politics,
that was it. And the man who was back
of it was—Billy Carson.
The passion in him was out of bounds
again. It flooded over his sense of his
duty, over his judgment, over his reason.
It was like a madness. Curses were on
his lips again and his hands clinched upon
his levers as if with throttling impulses.
Yes, probably Owen and some of the
others did think he was slow to act, passive
under attack, but he meant to act
now. Even Nellie had seemed to think
that he should do something, till he bad
frightened her. Lie would—yes, he
would strike some blow at Billy Carson,
some hard, crushing blow of revenge
that would live at least in the memories
of the rest. It should be something that
would break that traitorous heart—as
the traitor was breaking his tonight!
Orders read to meet the upbound express
at the Junction, below Hamilton.
Joe had noted them on the sheet of flimsy
tissue handed up to him back in the station.
I Ie remembered clearly now, for
on that engine that hauled tbe upbound
train would be Billy Carson himself.
They would meet and pass at the little
station in the midst of the silent countrv,
and the thought of it rose in his mind
amid the seething of his grief and bitterness,
like an acid current tbat burned
him anew. Why could he not meet Billy
there ? Why should be have to wait ?
His mind leaped with the thought and
imagination pictured the meeting. He
could see himself jumping down from
No. 90's deck and springing into the
other's cab, to pull and jerk the coward
intriguer out and down to the ground,
to make him stand up like a man before
a man and take what he would give him.
His muscles hardened and tightened,

:;72 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
but the current of his thoughts was suspended
for the moment. The lights of
Hamilton had risen into view and he
was rushing through the outskirts of the
little suburb. Use and habit guided his
hand to the whistle cord, and the brazen
blast woke the echoes against the white,
quiet houses. Then, in a moment, he
And then—suddenly, out of the black
cut at the beginning of the curve there
burst a light, brilliant, dazzling, blinding
—the headlight of an engine. Less than
a hundred yards away, it turned and
faced him on the single track and blazed
its mad defiance straight into his eyes—
and Joe Emmons' world ceased to be one
'BILLY,' HE WHISPERED."
was out and away again among the open i of thought and reason and became a
meadows, leaving only a long smoky v world of instinct and action.
cloud of dust under the station's incan­ The air, the reverse, the sand, and
descent lamps to mark his passage. then the yell to Owen, and Joe, having
Tbe break calmed him slightly for the e done all human being could do, jumped
moment and be looked more quietly and 1 out into the darkness from the side of his
steadily out ahead, down the mile stretch i cab, without an instant's choice of a place
oi straight track to tbe curve where the ? to alight upon. Next instant he was
road rounded tbe hills above the Junc­ lying half stunned upon the clovertion.
Quietly be watched his engine pick i covered bank, a dozen yards from the
up the distance, as if she greedily swal­ track.
lowed the yards and rods by the score. When the engines struck. No. 90's
Then he pusher] bis throttle home and 1 speed had been checked somewhat, but
bis right band rested on bis valve, ready being the heavier and more powerful
to give her tlie air, to slow for the curve ; locomotive of the two, she plowed her
and tbe Junction. He pulled his whistle- way forward, turning the smaller macord
again and No. 90's heavy chime ? chine aside and pitching it over and into
rang ]. md and long out over the higher r the gully almost as if it had weighed
ground and down into the valley beyond. pounds instead of tons. But then the

shock and the sand told, and she stopped,
without leaving the track.
Joe sat up, sick and dizzy, but with
the anxiety for his train forcing him to
see through the lightnings that were
flashing before his eyes. And he saw
the long line of sleepers standing unbroken
in the starlight, with men and
women already pushing out from the
doors, filling the night with their foolish
cries. The vision stamped itself photographically
upon his memory, to be seen
again through long later years, always
with its strange attendant impression of
the wild, animal-like scramble of these
poor creatures in their crazed agony of
fright.
Of the rest that happened in that
next half-hour no clear record, with reference
to the sequence of events, ever
shaped itself in his mind. The knowledge
that no one was hurt among the
passengers of either train found its way
to him and then the sickening news that
one poor engine-man, whose fault in
running past a signal had caused the
wreck, was buried in his crushed cab,
beneath the overturned engine, brought
him with others to a place at the gullyside,
to work with their feeble hands at
the mass of twisted iron and splintered
wood that covered him. Sometime in
the midst of it all, the certainty that it
was Billy Carson, down there in that
mashed pile of debris, fastened itself
upon his brain, and after that he lived in
a hideous dream of heart-breaking
struggle to which he seemed driven by
some awful force quite above and outside
his will and which he could not
name. From somewhere, out of it all,
out of the whirling memories of his
wrongs at this boy's hands, out of other
recollections, more remote, of a love like
a father's this boy had stirred in him, of
the breach that had come and widened
between them, of his wrath and bitterness
that had hindered things he might
possibly have done to bridge it, and the
thoughts he had harbored till they grew
to this night's lust for revenge, mounted
a horrid, unreasoning, accusing sense of
guilt—guilt that would be unbearable—
if the bov should die.
Things that Joe Emmons did that
night were talked of for years afterward
in cab and roundhouse up and down the
FOR THE BOY'S SAKE :m
road, and related, by men who saw them,
to breathless boys in many distant homes,
as deeds of exemplary heroism. But to
Joe himself, as he worked in the sweat
and the smoke, with straining back and
torn hands, no consciousness that he bore
an extraordinary part in the fight for another
man's life made any portion of
thought or motive. As he wrenched and
clawed and dug his way down into that
heap of steaming wreckage, just one
fierce resolve ruled and rode upon his
spirit—to take his boy alive from this
fearful prison, if life anil strength and
sight should last.
Careless of flowing blood and searing
burns, slowly, slowly he opened the way,
till a hole yawned under him and the
torch above threw its glare down upon
a huddled figure and he saw a white face
with wide, conscious eyes fixed pitifully
upon him. And then, while a dozen
hands held to his clothing, he stretched
his body down and reached out his arms
and found that tbe man below ci mid
grasp and hold and help himself to
safety.
And it was then that the prostrate
engine settled back just one more inch
in the yielding earth, and somewhere
within her burning vitals a twisted tube
reached the breaking point and burst. A
scalding, blasting jet of steam flooded
into his face with a bite that seemed to go
straight through into his brain, and consciousness
went out like a light that is
snuffed.
It was hours afterward, it seemed to
Joe, that he lay upon his bed at home
and heard them talking, whispering
about him, treading softly, working over
him. Some one was holding one of his
hands, heavy in bandages, and he seemed
to know before he heard her speak that
it was Nellie. Then he understood, almost
at once, from what she said, that
Billy, despite hurts of his own which she
was urging him to remember, was refusing
to leave his side, anti the thought
lifted him up into clear consciousness.
He pushed his free hand across the
coverlet toward where the boy seemed
to be. "Billy !" he whispered.
His wife bent close and then he felt
the boy's hand firm upon his shoulder.
Then some one else stirred close by, and
he knew the doctor, the good old doctor

374 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
who had cared for him and for Nellie
many times.
"Don't talk, Joe," he said. "Billy's all
right—and so are you."
"Not my eves, Doc," said Joe. He
could feel the burn.
"Well, Joe," said the physician painfully,
"your eyes are—are rather—are
somewhat—"
But the wife broke into the stumbling
sentences with a sob and Joe set his
teeth. He did not need to be told, then.
"Cot iked !" he said.
Billy choked like a crying child. "Oh,
Joe," he cried, his hoarse voice startling
in the quiet, "why didn't you stay out
and let me be? Did you know it was
me, Joe?"
"Sure," said Emmons heavily. Then
his courage came back again. "I saw
you, Billy—I saw your face just before
the steam come."
lie turned to his wife and groped to
draw her closer.
"Queer, ain't it," he added slowly,
"that should be the last thing I'd ever
see ?"
Memory
I remember, I remember
The fir-trees dark and high;
I used to think their slender tops
Were close against the sky;
It was a childish ignorance,
But now 't is little joy
To know I'm farther off from heaven
Than when I was a boy.
—HOOD

efttog' §\uuraItig'M tt© Work
My Fsredetrac B1©SUIEI\1£ Wsunreia
)S the good old Doctor
Franklin reached up
into the air three hundred
years ago, leading
the way to the utilization
of electricity, just
so has Frank Shuman,
chemist and inventor,
when looking about for a method to save
the heat generated in compressing air,
learned the secret of corralling a new recruit
from Nature's forces and setting it
to work for the benefit of humanity. The
The Shuman solar engine is not a theoretical
mechanism but a perfected mechanical
equipment that has been put to
work under exacting tests and made to
fulfill the expectations of its creator. The
idea of harnessing solar power is one
upon which millions of dollars have been
expended and lost and the wrecks along
the pathway to attainment have been as
plentiful as bleached bones on the African
desert. Nearly all the previous attempts,
however, were based on the idea of concentrating
the rays of the sun, with the
FORM OF MACHINE THAT PUTS THE RAYS OF THE SUN TO WORK DIRECT.
enlargement and perfection of the machinery
he has designed, as an outgrowth
of his experiments, will go a long way
toward the abolition of the engines that
run only with a fire beneath the boilers
and a smoke-cloud trailing away from
towering chimneys. lie is using the
sun's rays instead.
aid of mirrors or lenses, on a boiler of
some construction and with this boiler
running an engine. Working along these
lines, inventors, in consequence, found it
absolutely necessary to keep a reflector
pointed toward the sun, necessitating
complicated clock movements. Mr. Shuman
has entirely ignored this principle.
(375)

376 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
FRANK SHUMAN.
Who has discovered how to utilize sunshine for
From the plenty of the sun's warmth he
has taken such heat as that planet has
been willing to impart to a big hot-box
placed in tbe yard of his home in Tacony,
which is a jiart of Philadelphia. This
hot-box adheres to the principle of the
common hot-bed used by farmers and
florists. It is simply a big wooden frame,
eighteen by sixty feet, sunk into the
ground and covered with a double top of
ordinary hothouse glass, with one inch
of air-space between the layers. Below
this coating of glass arc coiled iron pipes,
painted black, from which the inventor
derives his power. These pipes, in the
latitude of Philadelphia, are filled with
ether and connect with a
nearby engine. The
circuit is scientifically
designated as a "closed"
one and the ether in the
pipes is converted into
vapor in the hot-box,
passes through the engine,
developing the full
power of the machinery,
thence into the condenser
and back again
into the hot-box. Entire
reliance is placed in
the heat of the sun to
convert the liquid into
vapor and no other fuel
is demanded to make
this possible. In tropical
climates water may
be substituted for ether
in the pipes. The economy
of the idea is apparent.
In the unsuccessful
experiments of other inventors
there were a
number of causes that
contributed to the failure
of their efforts,
a m o n g them being:
Enormous first cost of
the installation per
horse - power, running
to about $1,000 per
horse-power ; impossibility
of constructing large
power units, ten horse-
>ower - power being the maximum
; fragility and great
wear and tear of insulation ; necessity of
expert attendance; deterioration due to
expansion and contraction ; necessity for
heavy construction to resist winds in the
focusing reflectors, which were sometimes
as large as thirty feet in diameter.
These objections are obviated in the
Shuman engine which is based on the
principle of utilizing the direct rays of
the sun, without concentration, in his hotbox.
This box acts to conserve the rays
of the sun and, in Philadelphia, a temperature
of 240 degrees, Fahrenheit, has
been reached. In the tropics, Mr. Shuman
estimates that 300 degrees Fahrenheit
and higher will be easily obtained.

An outline of the detailed economies
effected in the method of construction
employed in the direct-acting solar engine
includes the following:
Disadvantages encountered in the attempts
to focus the sun's rays are not
presented ; first cost of construction is no
more than that of a modern steam plant
of the same power; engines can be made
of any size and are capable of indefinite
expansion ; no difficulty is anticipated in
the construction of a hot-box that will
yield large horse-power.
Experiments have already demonstrated
that the wear ami tear in a solar
plant is only about one-tenth of that of
an ordinary steam-power plant. Any
steam engineer can run it. The cost of
attendance is likewise about one-tenth of
the cost of a modern steam plant. There
is no cost for fuel. Compared with this
a water-power plant costs nothing for
fuel but the first cost entailed in its erection
is enormous as compared with the
first cost of a solar plant. The one drawback
to a solar-power plant, under the
Shuman or any other system, is that even
in tropical latitudes power is only r available
for one-third of the total time. At
eight o'clock in the morning the power
starts, reaches its maximum between
eleven and three o'clock and then dies
down at four o'clock. In engines which
must run continuously this obstacle
would necessitate the use of an accumulator.
Under average circumstances the announcement
of a perfected invention that
will eventually be put to such tests as this
must meet would be taken with many
grains of salt by a skeptical public and a
still more skeptical scientific fraternity.
But, by reason of its inventor's triumphs
in other fields, it has received at once the
attention it merits. He has been successful
in converting to practical use many
excellent but overcostly schemes and devices.
He has received two Franklin Institute
medals and has invented machines
for making wire glass, perfected an installation
system for concrete piling, together
with other appliances wdiich are
controlled bv companies having an aggregate
capital of more than $20,000,000.
"Now I do not want you to take my
theories too strictly," he cautioned in beginning
a description of the solar engine,
SETTING SUNLIGHT TO I VORK :rn
its limitations and its wide possibilities.
"I am not a theorist, but merely have the
ideas that I intend to outline. They may
be wrong, but of the working of my invention
I am sure. The idea of generating
solar power, as my engine has been
doing for several months, occurred to
me about two years ago when I was
figuring out a method of saving the heat
of compression in compressing air. ()ne
thought in connection with this was the
reheating of the compressed air, and
along these lines I conceived the idea of
exposing the compressed air in pipes
under a double glass box, all parts of
which are painted black. This would be
gaining solar power. From tbat point it
was easy to diverge into designing a true
solar engine. I have ajiplied for patents
on between twenty and thirty methods
of attaining these desired results and
there is sufficient originality in the applications
to afford me all necessary jirotection.
"There is nothing really new about
solar power. Millions of dollars have
been spent in the wrong direction and
the experiments were actual failures.
Thoughtful jiersons are likely to ask how
T am able to secure temperatures as high
as 240 degrees Fahrenheit in my Philadeljihia
hot-box when this temperature
is not reached in the atmosphere which we
breathe D Why, in other words, with
this existent temjierature, is not all humanity
scorched out of existence? There
is a great diversity of opinion as to the
nature of the sun's rays, initial temperature
and other attendant features. I am
no more sure of the real action of the
sun's rays than many scientists of greater
eminence, but the most plausible theory
of my hot-box is that the radiant heat
of the sun striking tbe blackened metallic
surfaces underneath two layers of glass
is converted into ordinary heat wdiich
has longer wave lengths and will not
pass off again to any great extent
through sheets of glass with air-space
between them, thus compelling their
absorption by the liquid contained in the
pipes. The radiant heat passes without
obstruction through the two sheets of
glass and the air space. The ordinary
heat into which it is changed can only
jiass through very slowly. I am by no
means able to retain all of this heat. If

378 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
this were possible, the temperatures in
my Philadelphia hot-box would probably
reach four hundred degrees Fahrenheit.
A great deal of it gets away, however,
through the enormous surface covered by
the double glass. At all times I have
been able to retain enough of this heat to
generate good working steam pressures
with ordinary water in Philadelj>hia,
when there is bright sunlight. In the
•%A.A
the sun only shines on the same atmosphere
half the time; the atmosphere all
the time is radiating heat into space.
The winds and air currents equalize the
temperature between night and day; and
between the poles and the equator. In
consequence we receive in the atmosphere
only an average temperature which
is sufficiently low to be beneficial to all
forms of life. When the sun shines into
ANOTHER VIEW OF THE DIRECT ACTING SOLAR ENGINE
tropics it will be equally easy to obtain
one hundred pounds per square inch
steam pressures in water. Throughout
the entire summer of the present year I
have had only two days of bright sunshine
; tbat is. two entire days. On all
other days it has been rainy, cloudy or
partly cloudy. Since I did not wish to
interrupt my daily tests I felt compelled
to introduce ether into my solar system
because it boils at a much lower point
than water. Its action is exactly the
same as water in regard to generating
mechanical power, although with ether I
can run with decreased power on a nearly
covered sun. This ether remains indefinitely
in the pipes and none whatever
is lost. Through an ingenious arrangement
of the flash boiler very little ether
is used.
"And now to answer the question that
the public is most likely to ask. The
solar rays do not heat the atmosphere to
the same point as my hot-box because
my hot-box the radiant heat passes immediately
through the glass on the blackened
pipes. There is no circulation to
allow the radiation of heat into space.
The blackened surface converts the light
into ordinary heat. Personally, it is mv
opinion that light and radiant heat are
synonymous. From these collective ideas
I have constructed an engine and with
this machinery there has been pumped in
excess of 100,000 barrels of water. It is
efficient and beautiful in its work and
thus far has never failed for a single
moment. Nor has it demanded any repairs.
Its simj)licity is so pronounced
that any boy can operate the mechanism."
The efficiency of this system has been
so fully demonstrated that its inventor is
now at work upon a fifty horse-power
engine that will be erected next spring
in the vicinity of Miami, Florida. The
hot-box for this engine will be much
larger than the present one, with which
all of the tests have been made. The

ox which by this time any reader, now
in possession of the details of the invention,
should realize is the boiler, can be
enlarged indefinitely anil made to cover
even a mile of territory. The power
possibilities of such a boiler are almost
unlimited. The small hot-box that now
stands in the inventor's yard, if placed
in the tropics, or as far south as Miami,
would produce about thirty horse-power.
It is planned to locate large solar-power
plants at convenient shipping points in
the tropics, as, for instance, the Isthmus
of Panama, the Suez Canal, Havana,
Mexico and Cairo. The reasons for these
projected plants reveals the wonderful
scope of the invention.
For pumping water for irrigation purposes
the solar engine is eminently fitted.
As long as the sun shines the pumps will
be in operation and whatever water is
drawn from the depths of the earth will
be free of cost, with the exception of
lubrication, the interest on the investment
and the extremely small cost of
attendance. One man on horseback will
be able to attend to fifty small pumping
stations. It is not unlikely that our Western
American desert, on which the government
has already spent millions of
dollars, may be made productive at i
greatly lessened cost. Such intense interest
has been shown by the government
in this invention that the LJnited States
weather bureau has completed its plans
for the erection of a plant at Washington,
where private tests will be made ; an Anfherst
college professor will take another
to a high mountain range and test its efficiency
r , and negotiations are already under
way for the ojieration of a trolley system
by a solar plant in the land of the Pharaohs.
But there is an even larger field for
the utilization of solar power and chief
among these uses will be the manufacture
of liquefied air. Liquefied air can be produced,
Mr. Shuman claims, at a price
even below one dollar per ton. Its chief
usage would be for the operation of continuous
expansion motors, such as steam
engines. It is now being used largely in
England for running automobiles and it
has proved very successful. Scientists
are prompt to admit that liquefied air
possesses many advantages oyer ice for
refrigerating purposes. It can now be
SETTING SUNLIGHT TO WORK 379
safely stored and shipped to great distances
without serious loss.
A triple effect from liquefied air can
always be obtained. In other words, the
solar engine will first manufacture liquefied
air ; this liquefied air will be jiut into
boilers furnished with a column-still attachment.
The first run of this boiler
will, naturally enough, be nitrogen. This
will be diverted into gasometers after it
has gone through the engine and given
off its mechanical power and after it has
passed through brine tanks and imparted
its refrigerating properties to the artificial
ice and from this nitrogen calcium
cyanamide, an artificial fertilizer, can be
macle. The full amount of mechanical
power, the full amount of refrigeration
and the full amount of nitrogen can be
obtained from liquefied air, the inventor
claims, each without detracting from the
other.
"What would be the possibilities of this
invention in such cities as New York or
Chicago ? What would it do in the way
of mechanical power in other cities of
those latitudes and climates?" he was
asked.
"The temperatures of New York and
Chicago differ greatly from that of New
Orleans but the application of the process
to those cities cannot be affected more
than half by the atmospheric inequalities,"
was his answer.
And now, suppose a moment is given
to contemplation of the changes that will
have been wrought when solar-power has
been developed as fully as the steam engine
is at the present time. Suppose that
half of the machinery in New York and
Chicago and all of the machinery in the
cities that are perpetually blessed with
warmer climates was ojierated by this
revolutionary power, even as engines
today are driven by steam? Mankind
might then begin to receive its birthright
of an uncontaminated atmosjihere ; health
and purity would once more find a foothold
in the constitutions of the future
generations; an infinite power would be
wrested from Nature; the coal dejiosits
of the nation that are as yet unmined
would be saved for the smelting of iron
and other metallurgical purposes, for
which solar heat at present cannot be
adapted. In the days to come it may
drive the machinery of the world.

licycliinig inn tlhe Air
,HE "sky bicycle," recently
invented by
Cromwell Dixon, tbe
fourteen year old boy
of Columbus, Ohio, has
some remarkable features
which make it
well worth attention,
whether or not it soon becomes a popular
means of locomotion.
Young Mr. Dixon's design of airship
has been tested in a number of very successful
flights by the young inventor
himself and has been found to work very
(3S0)
My Co Mo De^rdvm^lnF
satisfactorily when weather conditions
were not too unfavorable. Its simplicity
of construction, the ease with which it
can be handled, and the fact that it is independent
of mechanical power of locomotion
are the points that especially
commend it. As no motor is used in
developing power, this feature that has
proved so perplexing to most navigators
of the air is eliminated from the possible
sources of trouble. On the other hand
it will never be of any practical utility
and at the best will he little more than a
toy wherewith a man may amuse himself,
CROMWELL DIXON STEERING HIS AIRSHIP, THE MOON, BY MEANS OF A BICYCLE
ARRANGEMENT.

as it is dependent entirely
upon the foot power
of the operator for its
locomotion and cannot
therefore be worked up
to a high speed nor develop
sufficient power to
c o m b a t successfully
against high winds or
adverse currents of the
air.
Instead of the gasoline
motor of light
weight and high power
which is characteristic
of the Knabenshue and
other airships, Dixon
resorted to a simpler solution
of the power
question. He merely
took the gearing of an
old bicycle and adapted
it to his air ship. He
has tested the machine
in a large number of ascensions
in Columbus,
Ohio, and in various
other Ohio towns during
the past summer and so
far has had only successful
trips, unmarred by a
single accident. In a
calm air or in a light
breeze not to exceed
eight miles an hour, he
has been able to control
the flight of his vessel
at all times and to travel
practically r wherever he
willed. With a wind
higher than ten miles an
hour velocity he has
found considerable
trouble in beating back to his
starting point. The vessel that he has
used is small and lightly built, so that it
offers but little resistance to the air..,
Whether a larger vessel, with lifting
power sufficient to carry a man of normal
weight could be as easily controlled is a
question not yet solved.
The airship despite its simplicity of
construction and the fact that it involves
no new ideas is in its way a remarkable
achievement, as the inventor is but fourteen
years old now and was only twelve
when he began experimenting two years
BICYCLING IN TFIE AIR 381
SAILS THE SKIES.
Cromwell Dixon, aged fourteen, who has built a dirigible air-ship.
ago. He has figured out the perfect balance
of the machine and its "boat," a portion
of the work of construction in which
so many would-be navigators of the air
find their chief stumbling block. Two
years ago Cromwell Dixon, then in the
sixth grade of the Columbus public
schools, witnessed a flight of Roy Knabenshue's
air ship and from that time on
has been working constantly in an effort
to build a similar vessel. lie worked for
more than a year on a motor driven boat
but finally was obliged to give it up as he
could not secure a motor that would work

382 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
to his satisfaction. After several disaspeller in front. There are two propeller
trous attempts he finally hit upon the idea blades and, as he was obliged to reduce
of a bicycle gear and having worked out the number of their revolutions, Dixon
the problem of transmitting power by increased proportionately the expanse
means of a cog wheel arrangement at­ offered to the air resistance. They meastached
to a propeller shaft, he attached ure seven feet in length by three at the
his boat to the gas bag and in May of flange and one and a half at the base.
this year made his first flight at the Co­ They revolve about two hundred times to
lumbus driving park.
the minute but can be sent faster if oc­
Tbe wind was blowing about ten miles casion demands. Tbe steering gear is
an hour, but despite the adverse currents similar to that of an ordinary boat, except
he met with, he was able to make the that Dixon uses a huge rudder ojierated
circuit of the race track several times by ropes attached to his handle bars. The
and to control the machine almost at will. cigar-shaped gas-bag is small, measuring
His first gas bag was too small to give forty-seven feet in length, seventeen feet
him the needed lifting power, so that his at its center and having very blunt ends.
flights were close to the ground but this The small size of the operator and his
he has since remedied by increasing the light weight,—about ninety jiounds—re­
capacity of the balloon.
quires but little lifting power.
By using a high-geared bicycle wheel The "boat" is an exact model of a
he was able to develop considerable canoe skeleton, made of light ash strips,
power, the wide expanse of his propeller and permits the operator to move about
blades assisting in this. Dixon's knowl­ in safety. It is fifteen feet long, a foot
edge of mechanics was necessarily limited and a half deep and two feet wide at the
and he learned much as he progressed in center. The vessel is tilted from the
his work. His jirincipal ideas were ob­ horizontal and raised or depressed by
tained from studying Knabenshue's air­ means of sand-bags which slide along a
ship and he has had the aid of the Toledo central pole or by the operator shifting
man in a number of ways.
his weight. The only disadvantage of
In the "boat," or canoe-like frame the latter is its effect on the driving
where the operator rides, the pedals of power.
the bicycle gearing are attached to a Dixon is now at work on a larger ves­
ratchet wheel which in turn revolves the sel of similar construction which he ex­
light steel shafting, extending through pects will add to his fame as a successful
the forward part of the boat to the pro­ inventor of air-ships.
The Dancing Feet
Her feet beneath her petticoat
Like little mice stole in and out,
As if they feared the light;
But oh, she dances such a way !
No sun upon an Easter-day
.3 half so fine a sight.
— SUCKLING.

HARDY ADVENTURERS CUTTING STEPS IN THE ICE AS THEY ASCEND.
Mow mgfo Cann We CMmmb?
My Wo Go FMs-Gesradd
on to the Karakoram Himalayas. Here
C^v £J mountaineering became
OH I Gi a sc ' ence - First the
fit I MT ^'P S wer e conquered;
\IJ •!• ^» then the Caucasus
gJL ^„^ VI range. Gradually the
^C^c^jo^^7 c h m her developed into
a trained explorer and
map-maker. He attacked the New Zealand
peaks, the mighty Andes, and then
the "Ramps of Himalay," where the
highest land on this planet is found.
Even the central African "Mountains of
the Moon," held mysterious and sacred
for ages, were not exempt from invasion ;
and terrible Ruwenzori was conquered
last year by the Duke of the Abruzzi.
Thus the Swiss pastime of Huxley and
Tyndall itself became an elaborate science,
as may be traced in the record of
Sir William Martin Conway, greatest of
living alpinists. Beginning with a traverse
of the Alps from end to end, he went
he readied twenty-two thousand feet
after many adventures, great outlay and
much suffering. He surveyed and mapped
two thousand miles of the world's
mightiest range. Next came the desolate
peaks of Arctic Spitbergen, and after
them the towering domes of Sorata and
Illimani, in the Andes of Bolivia. And
lastly, Aconcagua and the glaciers of
Tierra del Fuego.
This is serious work. An ascent of the
Matterhorn is far from a joke—has in
fact killed and maimed hundreds. Yet it
is child's play compared with the conquest
of Aconcagua, one of the world's
giants of twenty-three thousand feet.
"Nothing is so valuable to the mapmaker,"
says Conway, "as a panoramic
view from a great mountain-top. Tt enables
him to link together in a series of
observations all other points whose positions
have only been roughly deter- (383)

384 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
,#» - ~
|
i f
->^--
p, • 'C"
i
i - - Ai i
CLIMBING IN A WORLD OF BLUISH GREEN ICE, ON MONT BLANC

^i ^
SLOW PROGRESS THROUGH THE DEEP SNOW.
mined." But it is a giant's task, with
Napoleonic perseverance and Job's own
patience. Conway will never forget
breasting the last slope of Sorata, with
reeling head and freezing limbs, in a
blizzard that laid him and his tripods flat
on tlie glassy dome. But he rose up,
piled rocks about the tripod's legs and
set up other instruments to take the round
of angles for which he had battled four
months. It was real torture. His story
is a most interesting one.
"Mountain sickness was upon me," he
said in recounting the exjierience, "an
agony of helplessness and despair unknown
to the worst sufferer on the sea,—•
a splitting head, and heart and lungs
going crazy. Yet an effort had to be
made. Every twenty seconds I retreated
under the shelter of a rock to beat my
numbed hands and feet into pain at least.
And each return to the instruments was
like a charge upon hostile battalions, so
furious and wounding was the icy gale.
"Once, on the lower slopes, over a hundred
Indians rushed up and swept us all
away for offering insult to the spirits of
the mountain!"
So many drawbacks are there to the
conquest of a great peak. Climbing, the
local natives well know, is terribly arduous
work. Therefore the alpinist is
either mad or has some sinister motive.
"He is a gold prospector," they said of
Whymper in the Andes of Ecuador. And
a peasant came with much secrecy to
show him a mine that might be worked
on half shares.
Then too, when the first British and
American climbers visited the Dauphine
Alps there was a woman in the party.
HOW HIGH CAN WE CLIMB.' 385
"The men." declared the chamois hunters,
"are gold seekers ; and this woman is
a witch they have brought with them to
show where the gold is hidden."
But in mountaineering as in other
things obstacles merely lend zest to the
work; and, in this record-making age,
the foremost climbers are asking
whether, after all, Everest herself—last
and greatest of all the peaks on earth—
is, humanly speaking, impossible? The
first man to scale that giant of the Himalayas,
which is over five miles high, will
hold an enviable record. For not only
has the feat never been done, but once
accomplished it can probably never be
surpassed, because it is believed that no
higher mountain exists.
Here then is an ideal that only lately
entered into the wildest dream of the
ablest , climber. What encouraged him
was, firstly, the gradual beating of records
up to nearly T'4,000 feet, and, secondly,
the curious experiments of Signor
Angelo Mosso of Milan. Professor Mosso
is one of the foremost living authorities
on human physiology and has devoted
AT THE TOP OF ZUPO, 13,000 FEET HIGH, IN WINTER.
many years of research to the effects of
high altitudes on the bodies of men.
"If birds fly to a height of twenty-nine
thousand feet," he says, 'then man ought
to be able to reach the same altitude at a
slow and cautious rate of progress. I am
convinced that a capable climber may attain
the summit of Everest without
serious sufferings."
Note that word "serious." But that
record will cost many a man his life ere
it is won. What is the highest point yet
reached .by a. mountaineer? For. some
i

386 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
years it stood at 23,393 feet. This is the
Iieight of Aconcagua, the loftiest summit
of tlie main cordillera of the Andes. This
point was reached by the famous guide,
Mattias Zurbriggen of Macugnaga, and
Mr. Vines, two members of the Andean
• —
A CONVENIENT METHOD OF DESCENDING A SNOW FIELD
Expedition that went out in 1897 under
E. A. Fitz-Gerald. Prior to this Sir W.
M. Conway held the record of 22,600
feet, a peak in the Karakoram Himalaya.
Tt is good for us to know, however, that
the present world's record is held by Dr.
•lliam Hunter Workman, and his wife,
nny Bullock Workman, who are
Liuericans. These with the great Zurbriggen,
who has climbed in all regions
from New Zealand to Patagonia, and
who has run the gamut of mountain-
climbing experiences, have been at work
in the Himalayas for the past five years.
The Workmans have beaten all records
by a narrow margin of about five
hundred feet. Some of their best climbs
have been made in Baltistan or Little
Thibet, starting from
Srinagar in Kashmir.
They would camp at 18.-
600' feet with reluctant
coolies who were terrified
by the descent cf
terrific avalanches, followed
by a trail of snowdust
such as fifty locomotives
might produce
if steaming abreast
through a jilain. Dreary
Arctic camps followed
one another, often
backed against cheerless
snow walls that rained
down avalanches day
and night.
"We had to hold on
///"'•'''/'•'•? v, to the quivering tent-
'' ' ''.''* '' poles in the cyclonic
gusts," Mrs. Workman
said, "as one might to
the rigging of a sinking
ship. We were making
our first ascent of the
great Chogo Loongma
Glacier. Very few of
our coolies would work;
most of them lay on the
ground groaning and
complaining of sickness.
"It was no wonder. I
myself spent whole
weeks in a semi-frozen
condition and suffering
a good deal from the
rarefied air. At night
I would crawl into an
eiderdown sleeping-bag; and although
my feet were encased in high felt boots
and my hands fur-gloved I often had to
rise and go out upon the ice to rub my,
feet with snow or beat them with an iceaxe
until their tingles and twinges denoted
safety from frost-bite."
In the summer of 1903 the Workmans
made their record ascent with the Italian
guides, J. Petigax and Cyprien Savoie,
who were with the Duke of the Abruzzi
on his Polar journey; and L. Petigax,

porter. They would rise at dawn to attack
the lofty silvery peak that towered
above them in the silent blue-gray haze.
At twenty thousand feet half the coolies
struck. Dr. and Mrs. Workman went
back to find the laggards, and beheld
most of them stretched
on the snow as though
dead.
Their sjiokesman declared
"they w ould
rather cut their throats
than go on." Traveling
lightly, however, the
Workmans and their
guides pushed on to an
altitude correctly taken
at well over twenty-four
thousand feet. But even
these veterans found life
almost unendurable at
that height. "Even at
nineteen thousand feet,"
Mrs. Workman said,
"sleep was almost impossible.
I was not conscious
of undue heartbeating
; but no sooner
had I dozed off than I
would wake up in ten
minutes or so, gasping
painfully for breath.
"A friend of mine,
Miss Annie S. Peck, attacked
Mount Sorata in
the Andes recently and
holds the woman's record
for South America.
She hopes later to conquer
Mount Huascara
in Peru, the loftiest peak
in all that continent. Her
idea is to climb with an
oxygen tank hung about
her neck, from which she
may imbibe oxygen through a rubber
tube as soon as the air becomes extremely
rarefied."
Here is the climber's crux. We seem
to live at the bottom of an atmospheric
ocean, and our bodies are adapted for life
at low levels. Transport us to great
heights, and respiration at once becomes
difficult; the circulation of the blood is
interfered with; the heart greatly fatigued.
And then dread symptoms of
mountain sickness set in, with over­
HOW HIGH CAN WE CLIMB? 387
powering lassitude and exhaustion—
symptoms most alarming to the novice.
It was these phenomena that led to
Angelo Mosso's experiments on Monte
Rosa. The Italian Government lent
some of the Alpine troops of the Bersa-
M. CHAPIN CLIMBING THE FACE OF THE SALERE IN ORDER TO MAKE HIS
DESCENT.
gliere Regiment, and these were put
through violent dumbbell and other gymnastic
exercises on the glaciers and eternal
snows, at a height of fourteen thousand
feet.
All their symptoms were carefully observed
and recorded, and as a result Professor
Mosso is convinced that even Everest
herself may be conquered. Mountain
sickness is as uncertain in its symptoms
as seasickness. Some are verv
acutely affected at only nine thousand

388 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
feet. Others, again, can make an ascent
of Mont Blanc, well over fifteen thousand
feet, without a violent attack.
The first symptoms are breathlessness,
quick and painful heart-beats, headache,
and a tightness about the lungs and
throat. Still, Mosso assures us that the
Fabian policy—fcstina Icntc—is a sure
maxim for even the conqueror of Everest
and Kinchinjanga, her stately sister in
Sikkim. A climber will be found who
shall not only be marvelously fit physically,
but who will also acclimatize him-
ALPINE GLIDES. EXHAUSTED FROM BREATHING RAREFIED AIR, SNATCHING A
FEW MOMENTS SLUMBER.
self during a slow rate of progress, in
order to reach the summit in possession
of full health and strength.
His victualing arrangements must be
generously yet prudently made, especiallv
since the last stages must be very slowly
performed. It is all very well to say that
since twenty-four thousand feet has been
accomplished, it is but a small matter to
add another five thousand feet so as to
make up the height of Everest. But as
every veteran knows, climbing becomes
extremely painful as well as arduous
after sixteen or eighteen thousand feet.
Sir Martin Conway states that every step
beyond twenty thousand feet was much
more painful than a whole mile of ordinary
rock and ice-work below.
The trouble is that for one reason or
another mountaineering expeditions have
adopted too rapid a rate of ascent. Consequently
the nervous system has not had
time to accustom itself to tbc action of
rarefied air, nor the organisms to the
intense cold. In short the fatigue of the
ascent eats up the climber's strength and
he is left no time in which to regain it.
Signor Mosso established a curious
pneumatic chamber in his observatory on
Monte Rosa. Here the would-be climber
was tested, firstly in a chamber with air
rarefied to correspond to a height of
twenty-five thousand feet. The pressure
was then gradually reduced until the conditions
of thirty thousand feet were produced.
In this way realistic
"ascents" of Everest
were rehearsed, and
in the chamber were also
fotin d apparatus by
means of which the student
could use those
muscles actually exercised
in the real climb.
Douglas W. Freshfield
is most hopeful
about the conquest of
Everest. He has made
many attempts on Kinchinjanga
in the Karakoram
Range of the
Himalayas—a mountain
of 28,156 feet. His high­
est point, however, was
little more than 21,000
feet, for his startingpoint,
Darjeeling, is within the rainy zone
and his caravan wandered for weeks in
a perpetual canopy of mist.
To the north of Kinchinjanga is a wild
uninhabitable region, impracticable for
animals, and entailing big trains of
coolies. These men, being drawn from
sub-tropic regions, have no love for wandering
in the eternal snows and will desert
at the first opportunity. One pass
in this section is officially reported at the
tremendous altitude of 22,300 feet. Then
there is the political difficulty of Kinchinjanga.
All its western slope is in
little-known Nepal, one of the few regions
of the world absolutely forbidden
to the traveler.
Freshfield's way lay at first through
marvelous sub-tropical forests and profound
gorges, wooded from crown to
base with rhododendron and pine. It is
but recently these terrible defiles have

een pierced by rough tracks leading into
Thibet. At eighteen thousand feet Freshfield's
difficulties began. He himself regarded
Kinchinjanga as a kind of stalking
horse for Everest itself, but the difficulties
were enormous.
"The thick gloom would suddenly
HOW HIGH CAN WE CLIMB-' 389
heat as in this white frozen wilderness.
Our faces were so burned that the relief
party bringing fresh provisions rejiorted
us 'safe but wounded !'
"Yet I know no reason," said Mr.
Freshfield, "why the modern scientific
mountain explorer should not attain Ev-
MOUNT EVEREST, 29,002 FEET HIGH. IT HAS NEVER BEEN SCALED BY MAN.
It is the peak immediately to left of highest appearing. Because of its distance in the interior of Nepal, Everest always
fails to impress the observer with its great height.
lighten," he said, describing the climb,
"and the mists vanish, so that we found
ourselves under a scorching glare in a
world of dazzling, unbroken brightness.
Everywhere the facets of new-fallen
snow reflected a blinding blaze of vertical
sunshine. Never have I felt such fierce
erest's 29,002 feet. Remember how
gradually the rarity of the air increases
between 20,000 feet and 30,000 feet. I
am sure, too, quite a big expedition can
attack Everest. In my party were over
fifty men, most of them carrying loads
varying from fifteen pounds to forty

390 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
pounds, and that over a pass above 21,000 in the unexplored interior of Nepal are
feet. We slept twice at 20,000 feet. peaks at least as much higher than Ev­
"True I felt pretty slack after we erest as Everest is higher than Kinchin­
passed the 15.000 foot mark; and on janga.
reaching the foot of the final ascent at The question of respiration is the most
21,000 feet. I was utterly breathless and serious of all—even more serious than
quite unable to wade over a long snow- that of the deep-sea diver, who may overplain,
followed by a gentle slope. But come water pressure with mechanical ap­
after a light meal the sense of utter expliances. The Workmans have given
haustion was fast passing away."
much attention to this problem; and I
Other great climbers, like Whymper think it likely that Dr. Workman at least
and Clinton Dent, believe that a serious has in mind an early attack upon Everest,
effort should be made to ascend Mount with a view to obtaining for America a
Everest with the co-operation of the In­ world-record that can never be snatched
dian Government. This is vital; for the from her.
AN OCEAN OF CLOUD.
Looking down from Mount Pilatus, Switzerland. The mountain tops project like rocks in a rough sea.
Maharajah of Nepal has a distinct promise
from the Calcutta authorities that no
white man shall ever enter his dominions
save by special invitation.
Of course the attempt will be long,
laborious and costly. Picked men will
have to work for a year or more with the
one definite objective; and above all
things the ascent must be made by slow,
resolute stages. One startling possibility
is that even in the event of victory, it may
be found that the colossal peak, named
for Sir George Everest, who organized
the great survey of India, is not after all
the highest jieak on earth! For years
there have been suggestions that further
The Doctor sums up his observations
as follows: An increase in the force and
frequency of the respiratory movements
is first noticed at about 15,000 feet. Here
the climber slackens his pace. At 17,000
feet to 18,000 feet the change becomes
more decided; and from this height onwards
all movements must be made with
deliberation. Three or four incautious
steps ; a sudden stooping to pick up an
object; or so trifling an exertion as the
use of a hand camera—will all cause
painful difficulty and gasping.
But Dr. Workman has not noticed any
marked increase in the severity of the
symptoms between 17,000 feet and 21,000

feet. At the former altitude his pulse
was seventy-eight, and respiration eighteen.
These were registered while resting.
The climber must conserve his vital
powers and never attempt an ambitious
ascent unless he feels perfectly fit. Moreover
great attention must be paid to diet,
and meat scrupulously avoided. There is
one man living who, all great climbers
believe, could conquer Everest, and that
is Mattias Zurbriggen. The one ambition
of this king of guides is to stand at an
elevation of 29,000 feet above sea-level
on the summit of the highest known
mountain in the world. He has had more
experience than any other man alive, and
is quite certain the feat is possible.
Both Zurbriggen and his former employer,
Sir Martin Conway, believe that
the two main difficulties of climbing Everest
are politics and finance. Let the
Indian Government persuade the jealous
Maharajah of Nepal to let one of the
HOW HIGH CAN WE CLIMB:' 391
THE GOAL ACHIEVED.
At the top of the Petite Dent de Neisivi.
*
i. »...,.—z.~.-.z..
great Alpine clubs try the ascent; and
let $50,000 be subscribed for the work,
with good climbers and jilenty of porters,
—and then Everest will surely be conquered.
"If the world's highest peak were in
one or other of the Americas," Conway
has remarked, "the problem would
have been solved long ago."
The successful climber will have to
start from Darjeeling, whence both Everest
and Kinchinchanga are visible. From
this point the world's mightiest peaks
stretch half way round the horizon. The
vastness of the view—vast beyond that
of any other spot on earth—is overwhelming.
Seven thousand feet below the spectator
the silvery Rang-ut flows in a deep
gulf; and beyond are mighty masses of
dark forest-clad mountains rising tier
above tier, carrying the eye up to the
stupendous flanks of Kinchinchanga that
tower over 28,000 feet in the air.

THE NIMROD. THE SHIP IN WHICH LIEUTENANT SHACKLETON WILL SEEK THE SOUTH POLE.
(392)

Y Motor to ttlhe So^uitllhi Pole
>y WiOi&mm GeorM®
LARLY next April in all
E . , human probability the
\V mystery of the South
rf jiole will be solved.
** For the stout little oakbreasted
sealer Ximrod
will have anchored
under the towering
ice-cliffs of King Edward VII
Land, and a dash will be made over the
level ice with the help of automobiles of
very novel pattern ; Siberian ponies ; special
instruments, and all the aids that
science can suggest.
At this moment Lieutenant E. H.
Shackleton and his Antarctic veterans of
the Discovery expedition of six years
ago are on their way south in the effort
to cross desolate seas for 2,000 miles to
the dim and remote South polar continent.
Over this great venture there has been
no flourish of trumpets; and yet it is
doubtful if any such attemjit were ever
more certain of success. Its leader.
Lieutenant Shackleton, was with Captain
Scott in the Discovery;
and both men made a
daring attempt to reach
the Southern magnetic
pole under truly terrifying
conditions. For one
hundred and t w e n t y
days they lived in utter
darkness. So bitter was
the win d that their
breath blew back and
froze on their faces. The
dread white spots of
frost-bite appeared on
many, with disabling effects.
One man was
killed; all were smitten
with snow - blindness.
And it was only by a
miracle that they got
back to the ship.
Captain S c o t t's
"Farthest South" was S.2 degrees seventeen
minutes, or 450 miles from tbe
pole. To reach that jioint he traveled
with dog-sledges over the ice
for 380 miles, taking fifty-nine days on
tbe trip. It was only the collajise of his
dogs and the failure of food supplies that
forced Scott to return. Then it was that
the motor-car occurred to these fearless
pioneers. Even when planting the British
flag on the farthest point south as yet
trodden by the foot of man, they saw
vast stretches of level ice utterly unlike
the mountainous hummocks of the frozen
North.
The chief obstacle in their way was a
towering range of peaks, wreathed in
blizzards and frightful storms up to a
height of 15,000 feet. But it is evident
these can be turned or avoided. Naturally
then, Shackleton, the second in command,
asked himself what was to prevent
a specially designed and equipped motorcar
from making, in three or four days,
the journey which Captain Scott had
taken twenty times as long to do ?
TAKING IN STORES FOR THE Nimrod EXPEDITION.
Special triple cans and plenty of vegetables are stored to prevent scurvy,
the sailors' scourge.
(.'».?)

394 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
The action of explosion-engines in extreme
cold could easily be tested in laboratories
at home ; and as to a possible
break-down—what explorer worthy the
name was ever deterred by mere risk of
failure? Had not Scott himself with
Shackleton and Dr. Wilson already faced
the deadliest of perils in this dread
lifeless land? They dashed south leaving
depots of provisions on the way; and
had they missed even one of these as they
so nearly did more than once, all must
SHIP'S COMPASS so ARRANGED AS TO BE FREE FROM ALL MAGNETIC
INFLUENCES.
have perished from the lingering tortures
of hunger, intensified by cold.
As a result of all this experience, plus
a close study of Antarctic work, from
that of Sir James Ross in the forties to
Borchgrevink seven or eight years ago,
the Nimrod expedition is equipped with
a hundred unique devices to insure success.
Experts were sent to Manchuria
and the icy plains of Eastern Siberia to
select hardy desert ponies for the land
journeys; and sleighs of phenomenal
strength, considering
their lightness, were
specially built in Norway.
As to the stouthearted
old sealer herself
she may be called
the sum total of all polar
lessons, both Arctic and
Antarctic. A special
compass platform has
been built upon her,
forty feet above the deck,
and all fittings near it
are of brass "instead of
iron. Regular magnetic
observations will be
taken at frequent intervals
; and every five hundred
miles or so the vessel
is to be swung for
deviation and variation.
All told the expedition
numbers thirty-two
men, including several
scientists of international
reputation. Only twelve
will land, however, and
for these a special shelter
will be built on King
Edward VII Lan d.
This is a wooden structure
thirty-three feet
long by nineteen feet
wide, with double doors
and windows. It is lined
with the thickest felt
and several layers of
granulated cork.
But foremost among
all the novelties of the
Shackleton expedition
are the steel motor-cars,
specially hardened to
withstand an enormous
degree of cold. They will

BY MOTOR TO THE SOUTH POLE 395
r^mtmssmm^mums^
"4 7ifc* " *-• "*
LIEUTENANT SHACKLETON, WHO WILL MAKE A DASH FOR THE SOUTH POLE WITH A NEW
KIND OF MOTOR CAR.
transport no passengers, being solely for
the haulage of stores and provisions—a
matter of vital importance, as witnessed
by the terrible outbreak of scurvy
among the members of the Discovery
expedition.
These motor cars—the very first to be
used in polar exploration—have special
sets of wheels for varying qualities of
ground or ice. And when wheels are
impossible altogether, sledge-runners
may be fitted instead; yet the cars will
still forge ahead, hauling their long
trains of sledges over the ice driven by
twenty-horse power motors of unique
pattern, sjiecially designed for the jntrpose.
Nothing has been left to chance. The
petrol has been tested in amazingly low
temperatures, artificially produced by
chemists of the British government.
Great reliance is placed upon these automobiles
; but even should they fail there
are the Siberian ponies to fall back upon.
These will travel much faster and farther
than the dogs usually employed all
through the long and thrilling history of
polar exploration; and moreover these
sturdy little horses from the Siberian
steppes will require proportionately much

396 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
less to eat. In Shackleton himself, with Three men—magnetician, biologist and
Captain England, his commander, and geologist — will work systematically
Dunlop, the engineer, the expedition has within a radius of one hundred miles
a trio of unique experience and daring; from winter headquarters; and when the
so that no matter what surprises the mys­ southward rush for the Pole is decided
terious Southern continent may have in upon, long lines of laden sledges will be
store when its great ice-mantle is crossed hitched to the panting motor cars, and
and its terrible volcanoes circumvented, "ten-mile marches accomplished over a
it is hard to see how success can elude terrific country until the flag is hoisted
these explorers.
and the expedition camps at the Southern
They have mappeel a most determined
magnetic pole in April next.
assault on that awful fortress of ice-
If all goes well, it is hoped that the
cliffs, whose outposts are smoking Ere­
Nimrod will turn her head homewards
bus and Terror. The Discovery, by the
way, only approached the South polar
about the end of January, 1909. In any
continent at King Edward VII Land
event provisions for fully two years will
under gravest risk of utter destruction. be carried; and the expedition also has a
Some of the floating bergs were seven
big life-boat with a motor, and enough
miles long and three hundred feet high! provisions to keep the landing party of
The ship could only crawl a mile an hour twelve for nearly three months.
for days on end, and she anchored On the way home, an erratic course
at last under a sheer cliff of solid ice, will be taken and soundings made in the
3,000 feet high!
hope of finding out whether the many
During the four months of Antarctic patches of land which have been sighted
night Lieutenant Shackleton's landing by pioneers in the past, do really form
party will live in their felt huts and tents part of that great mysterious Antarctic
devoting this season to scientific studies. continent.
Idle Tears
Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean.
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy autumn-fields
And thinking of the days that are no more.
—TENNYSON.

Telep©gtimg Against Tissue
!HE Chicago man, half
way through with his
T g U New York business
(®i triji, has finished his
y^p/ one-thousand-word report
to the home office.
It is a voluminous
report, full of nice details
and impossible of incorporation in
less than the thousand words. Further,
it must be in the Chicago office by nine
the next morning—and that means telegraphic
transmission.
And yet the Chicago man's counte-
smaller bills and silver coin, he lounges
interestedly over the counter and watches
proceedings.
Things are going on behind that counter.
For a beginning, he sees the operator
seat herself before a typewriter keyboard.
He sees her adjust a switch or
two ; he hears the gentle humming of a
small electric motor. Thereafter, he
hears something closely resembling the
tick of the common, or garden, variety of
typewriter.
Off to the left, a little distance, be
watches a strange apjiearing machine,
THE KEYBOARD OF THE DELANY TELEPOST.
With this instrument one thousand words can be telegraphed in less than sixty seconds.
nance doesn't wear that half-worried, altogether
grudging look of the man about
to pass a thousand words to the telegraph
company—with its blood-curdling equivalent
in good, United States money. Instead,
having parted with his ten-dollar
bill and received a substantial return in
plainly connected electrically with the
keyboard. Through it, a narrow paper
tape is running. It enters the machine on
one side intact; it emerges at the other
perforated with puzzling little holes.
Judging from the color of the paper and
the appearance of the little holes, as the
(387)

398 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
tape is reeled automatically, one might
almost suppose that somewhere in the
neighborhood was an automatic piano of
the approximate size of a cigar box, and
that the roll of perforated paper was
destined to be placed therein and to give
forth more or less melodious strains.
The idea lacks good foundation—and still
has a certain basis in fact.
The typewriter manipulation seems to
THE RECEIVER.
The message, in characters of the Morse code, reels up on a piece of tape
be over with now. On the reel, our Chicago
friend perceives a considerable roll
of the perforated tape. He has heard
about this sort of thing before and he
wants to see the rest.
His interest grows as the operator
rises, deftly slips off roll, tape and all
and crosses swiftly to another table.
There is another contrivance here, somewhat
similar to the affair which perforated
tbe paper. On an axle at one
side, the punctured tape is slipped. There
is a little pause, a little ticking of the
Morse key, perhaps—and the operator
has accomplished the Chicago circuit and
is ready to send.
And then?' Well, there is the click of
a switch—a whirring and buzzing—the
perforated tape begins to race through
the machine in a positively whirlwind
fashion, winding automatically on another
reel as it is fed through. Ten seconds—thirty
seconds—almost a minute—
and the machine has stopped again.
"Something broken?" inquires the Chicago
man.
"Not that I know of," the operator responds
calmly.
"But—"
"Your message has gone through—
that's all."
Whereupon, the operator returns to betstation
and picks up further papers; and
the Chicago man is left to scratch his
head and doubt her veracity, if it pleases
him. One thousand words sent and actually
received away out in Illinois—and in
less than one minute!
But that is die Delany Telepost way of
. -, doing business!
Meanwhile, let us
drop in at the Chicago
Telepost station. A
message is about to
come in from New York
—ves, it is coming now
—a bluish-yellow tape,
oddly moist, is whirling
along through an instrument
very like the transmitter
we have seen in
New York. With a
whizz and a hum, it
reels up on the other
side, much as the perforated
tape has done
on the other end. It
stops, then, and is torn off; and upon its
nondescript surface has appeared an
endless line of dots and dashes—the message
in characters of the Morse code,
standing out in dark blue.
The roll is carried over to a typist, who
slips it deftly upon a frame which feeds
it jiast her eyes above the typewriting
machine, as she manipulates the keys.
For a time, the writing machine clicks
monotonously ; four or five neatly written
j)ages are laid aside, an envelojie directed
and the sheets enclosed.
And Mr. Chicago's various sentiments
and statements are mailed to his home
office, where they will land the last mail
tonight, perhaps, or certainly in the first
delivery tomorrow morning—twentyfour
hours earlier than if mailed in New
York and at a cost almost insignificant.
< )r, if he has elected otherwise and paid
the difference, one of the regular office
messenger boys is dispatched with the
envelope in the conventional telegraph
fashion.
Just what has been accomplished? A
thousand word message has been hurled
half across the continent in something
less than a minute, with an absolute me-

chaiiical accuracy. It has been received
at equal speed, and in such shape that it
has become, if necessary, a matter of record.
It has been reduced to typewriting
at a speed unknown by the ordinary
sound-operator, taking the message by
ear—and it is delivered.
Just what has it cost ? If the sender
has ordered its delivery by mail, $5. If
he has ordered its delivery by messenger,
$5.13!
As a process, it is a bit startling. As a
reality, it is very much in existence. As
an actual servant of that big quantity
termed the general public, it is not yet
doing its work; but as regards the Telepost
that "not yet" is a term certain of
early extinction. The system of machinemade
telegrams has come to stay and to
grow and to demonstrate the fact that the
Morse key, the slow, hard-labor, handsent
message and the unreliable "wire"
are things of the past.
Rapid automatic telegraphy is not a
brand-new idea. Systems have risen—
and died. In one instance, a persevering
worker came so near to success that, with
all conditions favorable for the test, it
TELEPOSTING AGAINST TIME 399
and waiting, apparently, at every turn to
nullify the effects of the rapid automatic
system.
It remained for Mr. Patrick B. Delany,
after years of tireless experimentation
and application, not only to devise means
of controlling, but actually of utilizing
the hitherto entirely hostile force; and
thereupon the system was put into the
hard test of actual, practical daily operation.
With the right of operating over a line
of telegraph wjres secured, with the system
installed, the Telepost put in one
year of continuous daily operation,
through every variety of inimical
weather, through a winter, too, of much
more than ordinary severity. And when
the year was over, the inventor remained
altogether triumjihant! His claims had
been justified. He had met and conquered
the obstacles that had hitherto
proved baffling, that had prevented the
efficiency of every previous system. The
static energy of the line was working, not
against him, but for him!
And the practical working speed of
1,000 words per minute for the Telepost,
THE PERFORATOR.
The machine that stamps, by means of a pair of steel punches, the message into the tape.
was possible to send 1,000 words per
minute. But there was one element beyond
control of the earlier inventors and
operators—the residual magnetism or
"static force" stored in the telegraph wire
wholly undisturbed by "vagrant currents,"
utterly unannoyed by any outside
electrical influences, was a happily established
fact!
For a brief glance at the actual work-

400 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
ing of the Telepost system, we can do little
better than quote the following description
:
"Messages are sent by means of a perforated
tajie. . . . The tajie is drawn
through the perforating machine at any
desired speed under a jiair of steel
punches. Each of these punches is operated
by a magnet. The magnets are
controlled by the usual Morse transmitting
key. A downward stroke of the key
causes one of the punches to operate, and
upon release of the key the other punch
operates. Thus, each ojieration of the
THE TRANSMITTER.
key, whether for dot or dash, serves to
make two perforations of the tape, one
near the upper edge and the other near
the lower edge of the tape. The primary
and secondary perforations have an angular
relation to each other which is due
to the fact that ths tape is constantly running,
and which varies with the interval
of time between the downward stroke
and the release of the key.
"When a message has been perforated
in the tape, the latter is passed through
the transmitting machine. Here the primary
perforations co-operate with suitable
mechanism to send positive electric
impulses through the lir.e, while the secondary
perforations permit the passage
of negative electric impulses.
"The perforated tape at the transmitting
end passes between two primary
contact fingers and two secondary contact
fingers. When the primary fingers make
a contact through the perforations of the
tape, they send a positive impulse over
the line. This impulse is followed at the
proper interval by the negative impulse,
by contact of the fingers through the
secondary perforations.
"The signal or impulse is electrolytically
recorded at the receiving end on a
chemically prepared tape, by means of
an iron electrode connected with the line
and a platinum electrode connected with
earth. The current passing through the
chemical tape from the iron electrode to
the platinum electrode, forms_a blue mark
on the tape at the point of the contact
finger."
All of which is doubtless quite true;
and also reasonably confusing to the lay
mind. A bird's eye view
" of the actual working of
the Telepost system may
be of more immediate interest.
For a beginning, the
sending tape may be perforated
in two ways.
The Morse key may
be connected with the
perforator and the message
ticked off in the
usual manner. The average
working speed of
- the average Morse operator
is from fifteen to
twenty words per minute,
and somewhat higher in the case of
exceptionally expert operators ; and under
the best of previous systems no more than
four messages could be run simultaneously
over the same line. If, with the
Telepost system, a steady working average
of 1,000 words may be maintained
—and on occasions 5,000 words may be
sent—how many Morse operators would
be required to run a Telepost line to its
full capacity from morning till night?
It's worthy of jiencil and paper.
Again, as noted above, the perforation
may be better accomplished by the keyboard
perforator. This ingenious contrivance
enables anyone acquainted with
the letters of the English language to
send messages in Morse with absolute
accuracy and, after a very little practice,
with a speed far beyond that of the key.
Another application of the keyboard
perforator is found in the keyboard transmitter,
through which agency one may
sit before the conventional typewriter
keys and send Morse for reception by
sound at a speed far in excess of that

TELEPOSTING A AGAINST TIME 401
possible by the ordinary Morse key. sider the feat of reeling off an entire
As concerns the receiving end of the newspaper jiage of news matter in a space
service, the chemically prepared tape is ; of ten small minutes—and side by side
not altogether alone. It is the startling, consider the time that would be required
the high speed method, but there are by the fifteen-words-a-minutc to accom­
others.
plish the same amount of work. Again,
For one thing, tajie transmission may on the speed side of the case, consider
be slowed clown from the thousand-word I the actual fact of fifty dispatchers work­
pace and be received by ear by the oring at one end of a single Telepost wire,
dinary Morse operator at the small sta­ and fifty typewriters working at the other
tion where business would not warrant : end over the transcribing of wired mes­
the full equipment.
sages—and the line not overcrowded!
For another—and this chiefly where it t On the count of accuracy, we find—
is desirable to send matter for re-trans­ simple perfection. Machines are rarely
mission to a number of other points—it t guilty of mistakes; the Telepost mech­
is perfectly possible to receive the mesanism itself is incapable of them. But
sage at the other end in the form of per­ the perforating is done by human agency,
forated tape once more. By means of the - you say? And the ordinary human is
automatic tape duplicator, a perforated 1 fully capable of all sorts of mistakes?
message may be reproduced as easily a i Perhaps. But whether the tape be per-
thousand miles away from the operator r forated by means of the extremely facile
as within ten inches of his elbow, and 1 keyboard or by the conventional Morse
from there be re-sent to fifty different t key, the perforations are a matter of rec­
points.
ord. Let the errors of the careless op­
So that the apjilications of the system, erator occur, if they must; they are all
and the many transpositions of which it t neatly imprinted upon his tape—and
is capable are varied and broad—and too i careful manipulators of the typewriter
numerous to receive adequate attention i keyboard are not difficult of discovery
in the scope of an article such as this. Of f when we desire to replace the erring one.
all of them, the lightning-like sending of f Let us suppose that a message of high
1 words, the cyclonic automatic reception importance is to be sped across the conof
the message on the chemical tape, are - tinent, and that any violation of com­
by all odds the most fascinating.
jilete secrecy may entail a loss of thou-
Let us see just what this rapid-fire - sands of dollars. The message tape is
business is going to accomplish.
perforated in the firm's own office by
For point the first, let us take a strictly >
American one: the Telepost is a money
saver all around. That, naturally, means
a money-maker. It has been estimated
that the average charge of the older telegraph
companies for a ten word message
is thirty-one cents. The charge for a
fifty word Telepost—delivered by mail—
or a twentv-five word telegram, delivered
bv messenger, is twenty-five cents between
any two stations in the United
States. In other words, the plain citizen
mav do either five or ten times the
amount of telegraphing for several cents
less. There seems to be a radical difference
between the dollars-and-cents aspect
of the old order and the new.
We are a hurrying nation, too, if one
ever existed. We seem to be hurrying
just a little faster with each succeeding
year, and the Telepost chimes in
neatly with the spirit of the times. Con-
r the firm's own operator on the firm's
y own Telepost perforating machine. It
s is sent on the reel to the Telepost station.
1 It is dispatched to the other end in a
half dozen minutes. The original pers
forated message is returned to the firm's
i office by their own messenger, after
he has watched the words whizz to their
1 destination. The record at the other end,
by this time, has been sent intact to the
1 recipient for private transcription. And
i while the entire message has passed, and
s in such shape that it may be referred to,
s fifty years later, not a soul connected with
the telegraph company need have the
t vaguest idea of what has traveled over
the wire!
; The system requires no special accommodation
of any kind. It may be employed
over any telephone circuit, without interi
fering in the slightest with whatever conversation
may be passing over the wire.

T© AfooHisIh Cape lattera;
NEW coastal canal is
A i i v to slice off a strip of
\\[ our .Atlantic shore from
\l Chesapeake bay siluth
1 to Beaufort inlet. Its
course is by way of the
natural waterways of
Albemarle, Pamlico,
Croatan and, jierhaps, Core sounds, and
such other natural rivers, bays and inlets
as may be available. And it is to
pinch out a row of the most dangerous
sea-miles known to our coast trade. A
glance at the maji will show in what
way this is to be done.
The project as it now stands will start
from the head of the southern branch of
Elizabeth river, at Norfolk, Va., and
will go either through the route of the
present Albemarle
and Chesapeake
canal, or
through a new call
a 1 to be cut,
known as t h e
C o o ji e r creek
route. The two
routes are so nearly
alike in engineering
features—
that is, the good
points of one are
so nearly balanced
by tbe bad points
of the other, and
vice versa, that the
board of Engineers
having the matter
in charge, under
Congress, have advised
that cost of
construction be the
deciding factor,
and the Albemarle
a n d Chesapeake
canal route is
therefore chosen.
But the hitch
(402)
>y C 1. Cla^aciy
JOHN W. SMALL,
The father of the inland waterway, whose seven years'
tight has at last culminated in victory.
comes in the purchase of this canal. The
owners refuse to say what they will sell
it for. Naturally, they want the best possible
price. So the engineer board has
determined its value, not as a property
earning money, but by its value to the
project. The final decision is that, if the
canal can be purchased for half a million
dollars, its use will be economical—if it
cannot be jiurchased for that amount,
then the Cooper creek canal should be
dug.
The jiroject is of enormous concern to
the whole maritime world, and particularly
to the coastwise trade. As things
are at present, the only route south or
north is past capes Lookout and Hatteras,
the former bad enough, the latter
the terror of the mariner—the Diamond
Shoals, the "Graveyard
of the Atlantic."
being so
feared by sailors
that, comparatively
sjieaking, there is
no coastwise trade
uji and down this
stretch of coast,
except by steam
vessels. For a few
days in the year,
Llatteras smiles.
The rest of the
time, contrary
cross currents,
shifting sands, terrible
and destructive
winds, raise
havoc with anything
within their
reach. As for
barge towing, for
freight, it is hardly
thought of ten
months in the year
and the rest of the
time essayed with
fear anti trembling

and often loss of property and life.
The new inland waterway will avoid
the two capes, and all their
Starting at Norfolk, a
sailing vessel, a barge,
clangers.
a string of barges, a
steamer, too small for
the outside passage—
anything that floats and
does not draw too deeply—can
go through the
river, the canal, into
Currytuck sound or, by
way of Pasquatank
river into Albemarle
s o u n d, according to
which route is finally
adopted; thence into
Pamlico sound and
finally, by way of Neuse
river and a short canal,
into Bogue sound and
out Beaufort inlet into
TO ABOLISH CAPE IIATTERAS in::
THE PROPOSED ROUTES OF THI
NEW CANAL.
Owing lo the cheaper cost of building
the North river route has been
recommended by engineers
the Atlantic. Thus, securely land-locked,
shijis elude the dangerous capes.
Aside from the saving to the vessels
of the coastwise tratle the dangers of
navigation they now encounter, the jiroject
will loster and build up a class of
coast trade which now does not exist.
From the south and from the north,
heavy freighting in small quantities is
done by rail. Anything but an iron
steamship-full is sent by rail. Lumber,
cotton, iron, machinery, and such heavy
freights have to go by land. Hut, if lhe
inland jiassage is constructed, dozens of
small firms, operating from one to a hundred
barges, towed by tugs, will come
into the field. It takes but little money to
start a barge line, and the start can be
made small and the business grow with
increase of trade. Comjietition and
water freights mean eheajier jiroduce.
The railroads are not opposed to tbe
scheme, for the reason that they make
more money on lighter classes of freight,
and have now more business than they
can handle. The sentiment seems to be
in favor of shunting off the heavy, ]>rofitless
freight, to the sea, and using the cars
for stajiles of lighter and more exjiensive
character.
Hut its national aspect, bulking large
as it does to the unprejudiced eye, is not
the part of the scheme which North Carolina
sees, as much as the enormous help
•it will be to her, individually. For all
the eastern part of the state, with some of
ALONG THE COURSE OF THE ALBEMARLE AND CHESAPEAKE CANAL.

404 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
AN OLD LAKE LOCK.
This stretch of water will be incorporated in the
the finest natural waterways ever given
to any section of country, is landlocked.
If any one in North Carolina, within
reach of any of its coast waterways,
wishes to ship south by water, the vessel
has first to jiroceed up the sounds and
rivers, through the Albemarle and Chesapeake
canal, to Norfolk and Hampton
Roads, then out through
the capes, Henry and
Charles, and down the
coast again, daring Hatteras.
Diamond Shoals,
and Cape Lookout,
doing two hundred and
five miles twice over to
get started! The five
inlets of the ocean to the
sounds are all closed to
navigation, and can not
be kept open, the winds,
tides and sand choking
them up as fast as they
could be dug out. The
opening of a channel of
communication with the
new canal.
Atlantic, to the south,
by the four mile cut
from Adams creek, of Neuse river, to
Beaufort inlet, will mean a saving of
from two to four hundred miles of water
travel on south bound freight, a saving
which will mean the difference between
success and failure on a hundred lines of
business which would extend a southward
arm.
A NARROW WATERWAY THAT THE NEW ALBEMARLE AND CHESAPEAKE CANAL WILL THROW
OUT OF COMMISSION.

TO ABOLISH CAPE 11 ATT ERAS 405
AN ABANDONED WATERWAY IN THE DISMAL SWAMP. TYPICAL OF THE COURSE
OF THE PROPOSED CANAL.
Brief!}', the scheme provides,
Elimination of the terrible dangers of
Ilatteras, Diamond Shoals and Cape
Lookout and the fierce storms of that
region, for all ships of ten-foot draft or
under; intercommunication with the
ocean at both ends, making an ojien road
of a land-locked cul-de-sac of waterways,
valuable now only in one direction ; increasing
the depth of the waters to a
degree permitting the navigation of boats
of ten feet draught—that is the provision
of a twelve foot channel
for the entire distance;
increasing the coastwise
trade by drawing into it
vessels of draft at present
too light to enable
them to dare Hatteras;
increasing all exportation
by opening the
road to the south; in
creasing all southern exports,
by providing a
safe inland route to the
markets of the north,
via Chesapeake bay, and
perhaps, the New York-
Baltimore Inland Waterway,
if such should ever
become a fact.
Now as to the iires­
ent status of the project. In the last
river and harbor bill, of 1905,
Congress autborizetl the expenditure of
$550,000, enough money to secure an
adequate rejiort of engineers, as to
the feasibility of various routes, for
both a ten-foot and twelve-foot depth,
deeming the ten million dollars required
for a sixteen-foot depth more than the
scheme warranted at the time. This decision
was readied, too, regardless of the
recognition, by those interested, that the
BARGE CARRYING FREIGHT AT GREATLY REDUCED SHIPPING RATE.

406
r
-sL.,
TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
A CANAL DUO THROUGH A SANDY CLAY SOIL, WHICH IS EASILY AND INEXPENSIVELY REMOVED
investment of that amount would be more
than repaid by the good it would do, and
that in a short time.
The expense, as estimated by the board,
will strike the interested reader as surprisingly
low. The board estimates that
the Albemarle and Chesajieake canal
route will cost $2,900,425 plus the $500,-
000 for the jiurehase of the canal. If the
canal cannot be purchased, the Coojier
creek route, tbe alternate, will cost but
$3,378,055, little more than the sum of
these two amounts. The maintenance of
the canal, which it is advised be dune by
the government itself and not bv contract,
will cost$73,000per year—and that is all!
It seems as if so imjiortant a measure,
costing comparatively so little, affecting
so much territory and so much trade,
> •
.&tof :%*.'•!
could not but command the attention of
congress. But there are upward of three
hundred millions of dollars projected already
for waterway improvements of one
sort or another and until the present time,
Congress has not cared to burden itself
or the country with improving anything
m the nature of an artificial waterway,
confining itself to the rivers and harbors
with direct ocean connection.
Here the friends of this movement
bave a strong argument in their favor.
The project is for the improvement of
existing waterways, the only cut being
contemjilated being the Adams-Core
creek four-mile cut, unless the alternate
cut is made to the Albemarle and Chesa-
]>eake canal.
As an engineering problem the matter
'* f x
]
"mWMmm
A BANK OF STRATIFIED CLAY-THE KIND THAT DREDGE AND SHOVEL FAIRLY EAT AWAY.

is simple. The climatic objections are
somewhat prominent, mosquitoes, malaria,
and fever, being the usual accompaniments
to such a class of work as this
is, but no more serious here than elsewhere,
and certainly not to be mentioned
with the Panama canal difficulties.
The earth is mostly sand or mud. there
is no rock to encounter and the dredging
will be largely ladder dredge or suction
dredge work. The excavation, of course.
will be from floating dredges, which work
to the blind end of the canal, floating on
the water they make room for as the
work progresses.
Whether or not a guard lock will have
to be maintained in the Albemarle and
Chesapeake canal to take care of a rapid
flow of water, is one of the questions.
The canal has a guard lock at the ujiper
end, which is used but verv seldom and
then only when an unusual wind banks
the water up from the shallow sound.
With tbe widening of the canal, to the
size contemplated in the project, it is believed
tbat the necessity of this guard
lock for even special occasions will be
done away with, and the canal is to be
widened without making jirovisions for
this lock until its necessity is proved.
The other engineering difficulty is, will
the canal dredged through Croatan
sound stay, or fill? This is again a jiroblem
to be found out by exjierience, but if
it does fill, there are plenty of alternative
routes not open to the objections of this
small body of water between two larger
ones and catching the wind, waves and
water from both in times of bad weather.
At present the whole enterprise hinges
on the further action of Congress. It is
hoped by the friends and sujiporters of the
measure that this year's river and harbor
bill will include it. If it does not, it is
almost certain that action will be taken to
continue the necessary work of surveying
and procuring statistics. A.s a local measure
it might have small chance, with the
TO ABOLISH C IFF. 11 ATT ERAS 40*7
apparently more important project of the
Delaware-Chesajieake canal to be considered,
but as a matter of fact, tbe establishment
of this inland waterway affects
more people, over a larger area, than any
other waterway improvement in the country,
with the single excejition of lhe
Panama canal.
And that brings to consideration the
great and principal jioint of interest this
project has for those whose interests are
not active in some maritime manner.
The United States has undertaken the
greatest waterway project of the world—
tlie disconnecting of two halves of a great
continent and the connecting of two
great oceans. The establishment of this
great international waterway will call
for side improvements of a large order.
Chief among them will be those which
permit to our own marine the greatest
benefits of the canal. If the comparatively
safe southern and northern coast
waters can be matle to continue in an
unbroken line to the mouth of the canal,
bv skipping the Diamond Shoals and the
two capes, through an inland waterway,
the entire Atlantic freeboard can share in
Pacific coast trade, which now does not
exist. If the jiassage from north to south
to the big ditch is outside, the barge
freight, the small sailing ship and the
medium sized steamer are debarred from
competition, rates rise, anti the full benefits
of the canal are not realizetl by the
eastern section of the people who built it,
but only by those shipping, from abroad
anti from this countrv by large, jiowerful
and high rated steamers.
The two projects fit one another as
the tenon fits the mortise. To the world
and to us, tbe Panama canal is, of course,
the thing, but it must be fed, and to feed
it to best advantage and with the greatest
variety of shipping, the inland waterway,
opening up small boat trade of the whole
Atlantic coast is, it would seem, a necessitv.

Jtteainni 9 © New Rival Wnmis
My Jr^Eimes GoofiS.© Mil
(O O) sider i T was not so very long
ago, perhaps six or
eight years, when a gas
engine of one hundred
horse-power was conered
' about the limit
j J : ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ in
size
siz
and power. No
jiractical means had
been devised to start the engine easily
and with little human effort. They had
not the symmetrical design, the refinement
of valves with positive action, or
jierfection in bearings, in those days.
Gradually, however, the early defects
bave been overcome and. as imjirovements
have been made, larger engines
were built, so tbat now we see them built
to three hundred, five hundred, or one
thousand horse-power, or even above, in
practical use.
In San Francisco great things are
doing these days, as we well know, and
one of the notable things in mechanics
is the installation of great jxmderous
(408)
GAS ENGINE POWER PLANT.
gas engines by an electric corporation to
furnish current for all the street railways,
under the control of the LTnited
Railways.
The power units, four in all, have been
in constant service for some months as
adjuncts to the power system, which is
fed by a number of hydro-electric plants
and two steam plants. Each unit comprises
twin tandem, double acting engines
operating on crude oil water-gas,
and connected directly to alternating current
generators. The twin tandem engines
have a normal rating of four thousand
brake horse-power, capable of
thirty-five per cent overload carried mo-
mentarily, showing 5,400 brake horsepower,
while the usual overload rating
of fifteen per cent for short periods gives
4,600 brake horse-power. These engines
are by far the largest yet constructed,
and their performance is being watched
with much interest by the mechanical
world, especially since at the usual over-

load rating of 4,600 horse-power the
engine in actual operation has frequently
run for whole days at a stretch without
the slightest inconvenience or interruption
in the service.
Three of the four jiower units drive
twenty-five cycle alternating current generators,
while the fourth drives a sixty
cycle. A fifth engine and generator unit
are being built, the success of the other
STEAM'S NEW RIVAL WINS 409
THE GAS ENGINE AT WORK.
units being so marked as to warrant the
corporation in gradually replacing the
steam plants with the direct driving gas
engines. The maximum power installation
is now 23,000 horse-power, and it is
the intention of the corporation to install
several more of the same size at this
station, so that when completed the plant
will in all probability have an output of
50,000 horse-power. When this immense
amount of power is available in one -station
by the use of crude oil water-gas,
absolutely reliable in the mechanical operation
and with hydro-electric plants
going up all over the country, there will
not be so great a lapse of time before
steam as a heavy working agent will be
abandoned. In all truth it may be stated
as a fair prophecy that the days of wasteful
steam engines are counted within a
few thousand. When the oldest steam
engine builders in the country are now
building the greatest gas engines ever
heard of, the "signs of the times" as applied
to this branch of mechanics is plain
indeed. All the machinery, air comjiressors,
and cranes in tbe largest locomotive
works in the world, in Philadelphia, are
ojierated entirely by gas engines, in small
units throughout the works.
But let us go through this modern electrical
power house of the San Francisco
corporation and see what the great gas
engines are like. We have all seen some
type of gas engines, if no larger than
those in motor vehicles of today, but in
our first sight of the ponderous engines
here installed, all our ideas are badly
shattered, and we look through the long
well lighted building in amazement. Our
first impression is one of massive groupings
of heavy, solid steel parts, fastened
securely together by huge bolts and burs,
the twin engines each resting on its own
betl of concrete. There is a huge main
shaft weighing fifty-two tons, carrying
the flywheels and the cranks and connecting
rods, running to crossheads on
guides very like the designs of steam
engines we are familiar with. With four
double acting cylinders forty-two inches
in diameter and a sixty inch stroke, it is
surprising that the space occupied by
each engine is not greater than seventyfour
by thirty-five feet, which is comparatively
small for gas engines of this

410 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
type. The speetls of the engines are eighty-eight
and ninety revolutions a minute
for the twenty-five anil sixty cycle units,
respectively.
Of sjiecial interest is the mechanical
design of the engine. Its total weight is
six iiundred tons, almost a third of wdiich
is made up of the two main frame castings,
one on each side. The main bearing
block and slides for the cross-head are
carried on the frame. The foundation
bolts run clear through the body of the
frame, so that the entire strength of the
frame is available for holding the engine
solidly to its foundation.
The flywheel is twenty-three feet in
diameter," weighing almost forty-nine
tons for the twenty-five cycle engine, and
almost sixty-eight tons for the sixty
cycle. One" great advantage gained is in
having all working parts above the engine
room floor. All valves are located
on the same side of the cylinders, with
the inlets above and the exhaust valves
below, the intake for each cylinder
branching to both ends. Tbe valves are
all operated from a common lay-shaft
geared to tbe main shaft, and tbeir action
is effected by means of vertical rods,
rocker arms and cams. The valves and
gear look very complicated to the layman.
but when it is explained that because the
engine is double acting there is an inlet
and exhaust valve on each end of the
cylinder, so that on each side of the twin
unit there must be eight valves, he sees
that every part, however small in comparison
to the mass of the engine, has
its duty to perform, and its place in the
projier working of the great machine.
A feature apjiealing to all gas engine
men is the design of the inlet valve, mixing
chamber and cut-off valve, so that
gasoline can be injected to the surfaces
which require cleaning, thus rendering
the removal of any dejiosit an easy matter
without removing the parts.
In tbe thorough water-jacketing each
individual part is furnished with a sejiarate
sujijily pipe, so that the amount of
water feed may be regulated. ( )n this
account the carrying of high temperatures
in the cylinder heads, medium temperatures
in the cylinder jackets and low
temjierature in the rods and metallic
jiacking is possible. The cylinders are
supported on pedestals to jiermit of ex­
pansion, and are rigidly bolted to the
main frame.
Both pistons and piston rods are carried
by two cross-heads and a tail rod
which extends through the cylinder head
and slides on the bottom guide, thus removing
the weight from the cylinder
walls and reducing the wear. With this
support and the two cross-heads, there
are three points of bearing for the piston
rod, so that it is rigidly supjiorted and
insured against vibration. The piston
rod is fifteen inches in diameter, the
crank pin nineteen inches in diameter and
the same length. The wrist pin is slightly
smaller, being seventeen inches in diameter
and eighteen inches long. These
figures give some idea of the massive
construction employed throughout. The
piston rods are hollow, and convey
water to the pistons for cooling, the pipe
for introducing the water being placed
at the tail rod. The cylinder heads are
so constructed that they can be taken off
from any of the cylinders by simply removing
the nuts and disconnecting one
water supply pipe.
Lubrication of gas engines is of the
utmost importance, and an engine of this
size requires special consideration and
treatment. In these engines it is effected
by an oil pump for each engine, with
four leads to each cylinder, the leads entering
at points best suited to successfully
effect the proper distribution of the
oil. The oil is fed to the cylinders on
the admission stroke and spread on the
compression stroke, so that the cylinder
is thoroughly lubricated for the working
stroke, which follows. Positive feed
lubrication for the journals is employed,
the oil being carried to the parts by
means of small tubing leading from the
multiple feed oiler.
The gas engines are operated on crude
oil water-gas, which is generated by the
Lowe system. The generation is simply
accomplished by heating the oil to a temperature
of 300 degrees, when it is vaporized
and then mixed with superheated
steam. After the excess of water is
taken out, the vapor and steam are
passed to a hot chamber and superheated
to 600 degrees F., the high temjierature
turning tbe mixture into a fixed oil and
water gas, which is then purified and
passed to the engines.

TIIE VILI.E DE PARIS IN ITS SHED.
This is the huge balloon constructed and used by M. Deutsch (de la Meurthe).
e 9 2°e ©mi ttlfoe Yerg'e ©f Fflyiimg
My 1, Go Hsuiiafliiiagl
October 21 to 23 inclusive, occurred a very spectacular race ot balloons, starting from St. Louis, Mo. The
contest was international and nine balloons, none of them dirigible, were entered. The race was won by the German
balloon, Pomtnem, with L'Isle de France, the French entry, second. Germany also won thud place, while Major
Hersey, with the United States balloon, Ametica, was fourth. The Pommetn landed at Asbury Park, N. J., after
being in the air forty hours. The French balloon was in the air longer, forty-four hours and fifty-nine minutes, but
covered a distance about five miles less than the German entry. Racing records for time spent in the air and for length
of flight were broken, though the record for length of flight in individual trial still stands. The Pommetn made 880
miles, air line distance from start. The record held by Count de la Vaulx, of France, is 1,200 miles.
N a single day, recently,
disjiatches announcing
successful flights of
war-balloons in London,
Paris, Berlin and
at one of our own
American experiment
stations, appeared in
the evening papers. Within that twentyfour
hours preceding, military men of
the four great powers, England, France,
Germany and the Lmited States, had
demonstrated the efficiency of tyjies of
flying apparatus intended for use in campaigning
against hostile armies. In
doing so, they demonstrated, by their
simultaneous arrival at the goal of their
aim, one other tremendously important
thing—that we are on the verge of solving,
at least, the problem of aerial flight.
The fact that the types of successful
machines vary greatly and differ in innumerable
points indicates onlv wider
knowledge of the jirinciples involved and
not a hopeless state of uncertainty, as the
casual observer might conclude. And
the record of many failures which the
jtast year has seen is simply a record of
the elimination by exjieriment of some
of the troublesome factors in the situation.
Whether, in the end, we shall
most of us fly by means of the lighterthan-air
apparatus, eventually dejiending
on gas for sujiport, or by the heavierthan-air,
emulating Nature's other flying
creatures, is yet a matter to be decided
by further elimination. Hut the fact that,
as a race, we shall fly, and that soon, is
quite beyond a doubt.
Santos-Dumont, the clever and persist-
(411)

112 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
THE NEW BRITISH LAI-LOON. FOR WHICH GREAT THINGS ARE PROPHESIED.
cut Frenchman, who has given as much
time and effort and who has taken as
manv ri.^ks, for the sake of the cause, as
anv other living man, believes that we
must follow the birds and do away with
the gas-bag. Cajitain Berber, of tbe
French army, Colonel Caffer, of the
British balloon experiment division, and
Count Von Zeppelin, the daring German
officer, differ with him, if we are to judge
by their works. Despite the fact that the
two machines of the aeroplane type, with
which Santos-Dumont appeared in public
this jiast summer, proved to be failures,
he clings to the belief that wings and
planes and sails will solve the remainder

of our difficulties. But
the British, French and
German . governments
have confined their experiments
almost entirely
to the dirigible balloon.
For the Frenchmen,
Lebaudy brothers
have produced the success,
and Germany's and
England's own officers
seem to be responsible
for their newest acquisitions.
In America less noise
has been made about
success. Perhaps it is
because we are less
ready to believe we have
solved the problem, or
perhaps because the European countries
have really taken a step in
advance of us. Our own flyingmachines,
so far as their application to
FILLING ONE BALLOON WITH GAS FROM ANOTHER AT
ENGLISH MANEUVERS.
military uses is concerned, have been
almost invariably gas-bags. It has been
left for private individuals to experiment
with the aeroplane and the real measure
of success attained, is yet an unproved
matter. While the Wright brothers, of
Ohio, still refuse to raise the curtain of
mystery which hangs about their invention,
for which the most extraordinary
things are claimed, we can only be certain
that we have not yet seen the machine
upon which we can base expectations
with certainty. And the balloon
ascensions at Washington and elsewhere
have not been reported in a manner to
rouse enthusiasm, though moderate suc­
WE'RE ON THE VERGE OF FLYING 413
AN ENGLISH INYEHTI ATTEMPT TO USE WINC
cess has been scored in some of the various
trials.
Great furor has been created by the
daily press on several recent occasions
by report of entire, comjilete and unquestioned
solution of the jiroblem of flight by
some individual air-shiji and, among
these so advertised, the British dirigible
balloon which first ascended in Sejitember
last, is one of the most interesting.
The balloon is of the familiar "sausage"
shape, as to her great gas-envelope, and
carries her car suspendeel beneath by the
thousand and one customary cords. But in
the manner of attaching the supports of
the car to the bag, she is different from
other types. She has four broad bands
of canvas, encircling her great cylinder,
at equal distances from each other along
her length, and to these are attached the
lines which carrv the frame-work of the
ANOTHER BIRD IMITATION WITH DOUBLE WING
A RRANGF.MENT.

414 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
LEBAUDV BROTHERS' LA PATRIE, BOUGHT BY TIIE FRENCH GOVERNMENT.
car. Reporters and other observers were
not allowed, at the earl)- flights of the
balloon, to approach sufficiently close to
the apjiaratus to note all the new features,
but it is learned that the material
of the envelojie is very similar to goldbeater's
skin. The
whole is built up of
thousands of small
pieces, joined together
by a jirocess
that has been kept
a carefully guarded
secret. One hundred
feet long and
about ninety in circumference,
tbe bag
is rounded off at
each end and covered
with a fine
network of cords,
like a veil. .About
ten feet below
bangs a metal
frame suspended
upon the cords
and below this is SMALL AMERICAN WAR-BALLOON JUST BEFORE FLIGHT.
supported the car itself, which is
canvas-covered and looks like a narrow,
sharp-pointed boat. The engines, which
have not been described, are placed forward
in the car and are very
powerful. On either side, long arms
reach out ending
in a driving-wheel.
The propellers are
two-bladed and are
made like a pair of
ordinary oars. Tbe
rudder is at the
stern, a large saillike
affair, set in
sockets between the
car anti the balloon,
so that it may
be turned at any
angle to the car. A
pair of large wings
e x t e n d outward
from the center of
the car and other
wings are arranged
above it. At the
end of the car, a

large semi-transparent tube, of light material
like oiled silk, leads up into the
balloon above.
At the first trial, after a slight accident,
the balloon rose to a height of 2,500
feet and made a circle of three miles
without any apparent hitch. She seems
to be a fair type of the progress made in
this design of flying-machine up to the
present moment. The French La Patrie,
Lebaudy brothers' design, is not unlike
her, in essential things observable from
the stand of the onlooker, and the German
designs are similar, excejit in the
matter of size. Count Yon Zeppelin
built tremendous gas-envelopes, over
four hundred feet long, and his machines
attained very high sjieeds. But the general
principles involved are not different.
As a matter of fact, the balloon La
France, built by two French officers. Captains
Renard and Krebs, more than
twenty years ago, embodied most of the
principles which have been followed
closely in practically all gas-bag con-
3*&
WE'RE ON LHE I'ERGE OF FLYING I If,
THE LUDLOW AEROPLANF, WHICH HAS MADE SUCCESSFUL
F'LIGHTS.
structions since. The lines of the envelope,
the manner of placing the rudder
and the mounting of the propeller are all
similar in tbe later balloons to the methods
adopted in the early model. Count
Von Zeppelin, the German, who is a
builder of large ideas, used a structure
AN INTERESTING MEETING BETWEEN GERMAN DIRIGIBLES. AT MANEUVERS.

416 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
of aluminum rings, to
preserve proper distension
of the envelope,
while the French cling
to the air-bag enclosed
inside of the gas-envelope
to perform this
duty. Count Zeppelin's
machine attained the
greatest sjieed yet recorded
for this tyj)e
of d e s i g n, and was
cajiable of carrying a
weight of eight tons in
addition to its own. But
this was due to its huge
size rather than to
greater merit in design.
Germany and France
have so far led in the
matter of applying the balloon to
military uses. Britain and the United
States are following rather conservatively.
Lebaudy brothers' La Patrie,
which carries three men and a weight of
1,870 pounds ballast, or seven men and
PROF. A. GRAHAM BELL'S REMARKAIILE KITE
SANTOS-DUMONT'S ILL-STARRED Bird of Prey IN AN EARLY TRIAL.
1,120 pounds of ballast, is owned by the
government, and the avowed intention is
to use her in war. Germany has Major
von Parseval's aerostat, which is to be
used for transportation purposes in time
of war, while Von Zeppelin's balloons are
looked upon as intended
for military purposes.
In the field of the
aeroplane, the actual
success achieved has not
been so general, though
the adherents of this
method of construction
are firm in their belief
that it is to displace the
gas-bag entirely in the
near future. The
Wright brothers stand
foremost, with their
man-carrying aeroplane,
which has made one
hundred and sixty successful
flights and has
accomplished a distance
of twenty-four miles at
a stretch with a speed of
thirty-eight miles an
hour. This American
invention seems to have
all the elements of a successful
machine. If there
were less secrecy surrounding
it, possibly
Americans might now
be able to claim the dis-

WE'RE ON THE VERGE OF FLYING 417
tinction of first and
complete conquest of
the air with the heavierthan-air
machine, on the
ground of this achievement
of the Ohio men.
The Wright brothers
have put their machine
through all kinds of
maneuvers, against the
wind, with the wind,
circling and soaring in
straight lines, and have
certainly proved that
the problem of use of
the aeroplane is very
close to solution, at the
least.
In the two styles of
flying-machine, however,
the principal difficulties
lie at two point s—
speed of propulsion and
balancing. In the gasbag
type, it is very difficult
to devise a motor
or motors which shall be
able to drive the great
volume of gas necessary
to lift a useful weight
through the air. Motors
are moving balloons
with the wind and in
still weather, but an engine
has yet to be built
SANTOS-DUMONT AND HIS HELIOCOPTERE, WHICH LIFTS BY MOVEMENT
OF ITS FANS.
that will be light enough and powerful an hour in still air, but the huge envelope
enough to propel a practical working is a terrible handicap in a stiff breeze.
machine of this class against a wind of So far it has proved a really unconquer­
more than thirty miles velocity. Cars able one. Nevertheless, the degree of
have traveled at a speed of thirty miles success that has crowned the efforts of
AEROPLANE OF M. FLORANERE. A CLOSE IMITATION OF A BIRD

418 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
THE VII.LE DE PARIS, THE HUGE FRENCH DIRIGIBLE BALLOON.
the latest models mentioned above, puts
them far above the class of experiments.
In aeroplanes, the jiroblem of balance,
in the study of which Otto Lilienthal and
the Englishman, Pilcber, sacrificed their
lives, has been the greatest obstacle to
progress. Octave Chanute deserves the
credit of solving one feature of this difficulty
bv devising a method through
MOTOR-DRIVEN AEROPLANE STARTING ON WHEELS ALONG GROUND.
h ^gf^isifr-
which the tips of the planes, when struck
by a gust of wind, would fold slightly
backward, and by this means he minimized
the danger attending the shifting
of the center of air-pressure. In the uncertain
breezes of the upper air, the
greatest danger arises from the sudden
shifts and swirls of the air-currents, and
this is one of the things that has caused
many a failure of machines
which have done
much to conquer the
other features of the
problem. This idea and
also that of using two
superimposed planes,
w h i c h Chanute also
originally applied, were
adopted in the construction
of Wright brothers'
machine.
Santos-Dumont's latest
machine embodies
tbe features both of the
gas-envelope type and of
the aeroplane, but its
achievements are looked
upon as productive of no
great amount of new in-

WE'RE ON THE VERGE OF FLYING ll:i
formation, and as
solving no real
difficulty, as it is
little more than a
balloon, after all.
More is owing to
one man, whose
last experiment
ended in a pitiful
failure, than people
generally are
inclined to think.
Samuel Pierpont
Langley was a man
who made a study
of the jirinciples
involved in the
aeroplane style of
flying for a longperiod
before he
attempted to build
a man-carrying apparatus.
Tlie fact
that his last machine
collapsed and
fell into the river
upon which it was
being tried, is attributed
by many to PAIR OF EXPERIMENTAL LINEN WINGS.
ROY KNABENSHUE'S DIRIGIBLE IN A FLIGHT ABOVE NEW YORK CITY.
improper launching,
and it is believed
that if funds
had not been lacking
for the renewal
of Langley's experiments,
he would
have demonstrated
that his device was
a success. Two
models made on
the same plan as
the larger machine
were entirely successful,
before the
fi n a 1 exjieriment
was made a n d
great hopes were
based upon flights
made by them. But
nothing has been
done to carry out
Langley's plan s.
As a result of his
study it was disci
ivered that an
aeroplane driven
through the air requires
less power

420 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
CLOSE IMITATION OF BIRD WINGS, WHICH DID NOT PROVE PRACTICAL FOR
MAN-FLYING.
for its driving as its speed increases, which
is a jirincijile exactly opposed to any governing
a surface vehicle. And it shows
that a jiower of which we have been quite
ignorant exists in the air.
Alexander Graham Bell, of telephone
fame, has recently been experimenting
with a curious kite, which is built upon
lines wholly different from those adopted
by any other inventor. lie has built up
a great man-carrying device, which,
when in flight, looks more like a flock of
small birds engaged in concerted effort to
carry a general burden, than like a single
kite. It is made up of hundreds of tetrahedral
cells, each a kite in itself, which
acts like an independent bird, so far as
automatic balance is concerned, but which
bears its share in lifting the weight of tbe
whole. The idea has not yet been applied
to a motor-driven machine, but it
seems to hold great promise.
If anything like an attemjit were made
to give the history of develojiment of the
two forms of flying-machine most in use,
many other names woultl of necessity be
included in the list of those who have
contributed to tlie knowledge we now
possess. Hiram Maxim's
great aeroplane wdiich
failed, not because of
wrong principles adopted,
but because of the
failure of materials,gave
much to the men • who
succeeded him in this
department of experiment,
and many another
has failed, only to see
his itleas forward the
general progress by another
step. Of course,
many freaks of inventiveness
have appeared,
some of which yet contain
the germ of an idea
later developed by some
saner mind than that of
the inventor. Some of
the records made have
leen remarkable, but the
tale is too long to be included
here. Results as
a whole have lifted the
whole question of flying
out of the dream-class,
certainly.
Tbat the first really successful flyingmachines
should be ajiplied to military
uses is natural. The probability that they
will take a conspicuous place in any important
future campaigning, is a foregone
conclusion. International agreements
will never prevent their use as
engines of destruction against armies and
M. LLERIOT'S AEROPLANE-HYDROPLANE.
fortifications on the surface of the earth
and their effectiveness in this field can
readily be imagined. Every nation will
undoubtedly soon have her fleet of
armed, perhaps armored, air-craft.

Tumimell Helps Emld Itself
UT from the beach, at
East Seventy - third
street, Chicago, there
rises up over the waters
of Lake Michigan a
system of wires and
supports that suggests
an electric car system.
For two or more miles the wires reach,
curving apparently toward the middle in
a great undulating sweep
that is due chiefly to the
illusive effects of distance.
All the past summer
they have been
there, the wonder and
speculation of visitors
to Jackson Park and the
South
Club.
Shore Countrv
This thing that has attracted
so much attention
is, indeed, a trolley
system—not of the electric
type, nor for the
purpose of hauling cars,
or boats even, but to
transport trains of buckets
laden with blastshattered
rock. A hundred
feet or more below
the bottom of the lake
this rock is being torn
from its bed, and this
skeleton against the skyline
is a part of the machinery
being employed
to extend the system of
great tunnels upon
which Chicago is dependent
for her water
supply.
The Stockyards district,
and, in fact, all
Southwestern Chicago,
has never been adequately
supplied with
water. Three firms of
Wsmio To W^lslh
contractors now have gangs of men
at work night and day hastening to
make good the want. A huge sixteenfoot
tunnel, to act as conduit, is piercing
the bowels of the earth. The
contractors having the work in charge
are operating separately, and when their
work is completed, the several sections
will be united in one great tube.
While two of the contractors are working
AN AERIAL PASSENGER CAR. SEATING FOUR, READY TO START ON ITS TRIP.
(42V)

122 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
\jrww^^ r ^f^^^ a ^^ m '
^OOKING UP THE STEEL-LINED SHAFT, ONE SEES THE SKY AS IF IT WERE THE LENS OF
A VAST TELESCOPE.
r^^aaHezz-K.
THE CABLES OF THE AERIAL RAILWAY HANG LIKE SLIGHT THREADS AGAINST TIIE SKY.

TUNNEL HELPS
inland, a third is sending out from the
shore and from the crib, already constructed
far under the water, his tunnels
that will meet somewhere beneath
Lake Michigan.
The trolley line, as has already been
noted, is for hauling the broken rock
from the shaft out in the lake to the
shore. The "buckets" emjiloyed as conveyors
look very much like tbe old fashioned
coal-scuttle; only they are much
larger. When this "line" was first opened
up, the contractor invited a jiarty of some
fifty people to enjoy a ride in sjiecially
constructed passenger "cars." They experienced
a rough but very exciting and
exhilarating passage as they bobbed
along thirty feet above the grey rolling
waves.
This trolley system consists of a very
stout cable that ojierates on the same
principle as the endless chain. The
buckets come dancing shoreward on the
upper wire and return to the crib, as
the foundation of steel and concrete and
BUILD ITSELF iH
stone, built out in tlie lake, where the
water enters the conduit, is called. Each
bucket is jirovided with an automatic
brake, so that when its destination is
reached the side ojicns and the load is
discharged. On four steel posts, that project
just out of tbe water, stands each of
the latticed towers, also of steel, that SUpjiort
the wires and conveyors.
The work of excavating cannot be carried
on continuously. In tunnels of the
dimensions of the one herein described
the accumulation of debris, after several
blasts is so great tbat this part of the
work must necessarily be suspended till
the shaft can be cleared and the earth
and broken stone raised to the surface.
The fumes of dynamite are especially
pungent and jienetrating. Workmen describe
the sensation of inhaling them as
most overpowering. As one workman
said, "It is as though your lungs were
turned to rubber." The limbs of the
sufferer become numb and flashes of red
puzzle the vision.

424 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
WHERE TIIE WIRES LEAVE THE SHORE
The heavy jointed rod conveys the compressed air for the drills tunneliim the bed of the lake.
From the mouth of each pit that forms This rock, shattered and splintered by
one of the entrances to the several tun­ the powerful exjilosives, is hurried
nels, crawls a long black pijie, twelve shoreward. It is an old saying that Na­
inches in diameter. As you stand above poleon made war support itself, the
looking down, its great black length booty he secured from a ravaged prov­
seems to cling to the steel-lined walls ince enabling him to equip his forces for
like a vast serpent. This is the pipe the next campaign. In like manner the
through which the noxious dynamite engineers at work on this huge water
fumes are whiffed away. Following this system make use of the debris they
pipe into the power bouse, one finds at wrench from the under-world. It is
its mouth a revolving fan driven by an crushed and screened and then placed
engine. Tt is this fan that sucks the with cement in those rolling, weirdly-
smoke awa)'. And by tbe side of this shaped machines called concrete mixers.
ventilating pipe runs a tube of a smaller This concrete, which so recently formed
bore. Through it the throbbing engines a part of the earth's interior once more
force the compressed air that drives the finds a resting place in the old depths.
air drills, or air guns, as the workmen Following in the track of the compressed
call them. Far out over Lake Michigan, air drill and the dynamite, come the men
on the same supports as those of the laying concrete. They line the great bore
trolley system, runs this tube, transmit­ with the impervious substance. The
ting a power of ninety pounds pressure stone that is not used in this manner is
to tbe drill that churns anti bites its screened and sold, and thus another
wav into the solid rock beneath the source of revenue is derived for the cost
waves.
of the work.

caeinice aumcdl tlhe Oraimge
^OR a product of Nature,
a California navel
orange as it graces the
breakfast table or the
pushcart is about the
most artificial thing in
the world. It is also a
very striking illustration
of the fact that while beauty may be
only skin-deep, it counts for a whole lot.
To begin with, the navel orange of
California is an exotic, reaching its present
habitat after devious wandering. And
be it ever so sweet-tasting, if its skin has
had its beauty marred it scarcely ever
gets beyond the orchard where it
grew. Not only that, but even the most
comely ones, before they are boxed and
Eftjfc, Ess^*
jgV.-;-. ^
• Mm-'
mm
My Williams R. Steward
PICKING THE ORANGE CROP.
The workers receive two and one-half cents a box.
shipped are brushed by machinery and
polished and otherwise fussed with to
give them a beauty which mere nature
never would have jirovided.
Science and machinery have been busy
with the navel orange ever since it came
to California, and the result has been
very striking. Fifteen years ago there
were only some 1,250,000 boxes of
oranges shipped a year from the state;
now there are about 12,000,000 boxes,
and their value is upwards of $20,000,-
000 annually. To their cultivation 75,000
acres in the southern part of the state are
devoted, representing an investment of
about $125,000,000,^11*1 there are said
to be more than 6,000,000 trees in process
of growth in the various orchards.
SBr*-*!-;
(425)

426 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
Labor saving devices have been applied
to the handling, polishing, grading and
packing of oranges, and a system of cooperative
direction in their marketing,
till now the average cost to the grower
for both packing and marketing is 35
cents a box, as comjiared with 50 cents to
75 cents a few years ago.
The storv of the Southern California
orange industry begins, logically, in 1872,
THE CALIFORNIA FATHER OF THE NAVEL ORANGE.
The parent tree from which this American species of orange has sprung.
when an observant United States consul,
at Bahia, Brazil, sent to Washington a
few samples of seedless oranges growing
wild in the swamps of the Amazon. A
year later Mrs. Fliza Tibbetts, a Maine
woman, got a few shrubs, and taking
them to California, planted them on some
land which her husband had bought at
Riverside. Two of the shrubs died, but
the third grew to lie a tree. You can see
it now, surrounded by a wire fence and
honored by a tablet, in tbe court of the
Glenwood Hotel, where it was transplanted
with much ceremony, President
Roosevelt being present, in 1903. This
tree still bears fruit—and as orange trees
live to be hundreds of years old there is
no reason why it should not go on bearing
for manv generations—and every
now and then the White House receives
a shijiment from it.
From the tree which Mrs. Tibbetts
planted sprang the
twentv -million -dollar-ayear
industry. As the
oranges it bore were
seedless, propagation
had to be by budding,
and for a while the
thrifty w o m a n from
Maine got a dollar a
bud for all she sold.
Later the price fell to
five dollars for a dozen
buds. In 1880 the navel
orange crop was one
box !
Los Angeles is the
shipping center for California
oranges,and shipments
are made every
month of the year.
F r o m November to
June, however, constitutes
the real shipping
season, only a small
quantity of blood and
Valencia oranges being
shipped during the summer
months. In November
the navels, not
yet at their best, are
rushed East for the
Christmas market, and
the flood of this seedless
variety keeps up all winter.
There are no off-seasons for the orange
tree. It is a steady worker, and bears
fruit with unvarying regularity. But it
insists that the orange grower be a steady
wi irker also. Constantly there are irrigating
ditches to be dug or attended to,
wind-breaks of eucalyptus trees or
cypress to be provided, the ground to be
cultivated and fertilized, and pests, especiallv
the scale, to be fought.
Irrigation is in most cases accomplished
by the furrow system, the water

eing supplied from artesian wells. The
water is brought to the borders of the
groves in pipes, or small canals, and from
there is let in among the trees during the
dry season. The irrigating plants are
usually under jiublic ownership and are
managed by officials elected for the jiurpose
by the growers. These officials
notify each individual grower just when
his turn to have water comes, and how
long he can draw from
the supply. The tax for
this irrigation amounts
to about five dollars an
acre for the year.
Two methods are employed
to fight the jiests
which attack the orange
trees. A distillate, composed
of a preparation
of crude oil, is sprayed
on them at regular intervals,
in the case of
minor jiests. The red
scale, however, can be
exterminated only by
fumigation, which is accomplished
by covering
over each tree with a
tent-like canvas, under
which a vapor of cyanide
of potassium or suljihuric
acid is set free.
The spraying is usually done by contract,
by men who go about among the
various orchards with spraying ajijiaratus.
The charge for this is about ten
dollars an acre for a year.
For fertilization, it has been found
that different species of the leguminous
family, grown between the rows of trees
and plowed under, are both eheajier and
better than the ordinary manures. For
these "cover crops." as they are called,
the field pea i.s principally used, but experiments
are now being made with the
cow pea and with several varieties of
vetch. Some of these have long, deep,
stringy roots, which serve a.s a sort of
subsidiary irrigating system, letting down
the water and air into the soil, and also
gathering from the atmosjihere free
nitrogen through the working of the soil
bacteria.
Picking the oranges from the trees is
now about all that is not done with the
aid of machinery, after the fruit is rijie.
SCIENCE AND THE ORANGE 427
Ticking times are busy times. Each
morning gangs of men with ladders,
knives, boxes and sacks swarm tlie
groves. They are Chinese, Jajianese,
Americans, Mexicans—all sorts of men,
but no women. The work is too heavy
lor them. The part ot the women comes
later, in wrapping the fruit in tissue
paper. If the early morning is foggy,
the jiickers are obliged to wait till the
sun comes out to dry tbe oranges, for
damp collects the dust, which cuts the
skin and spoils the ajijiearance of the
fruit.
The jiickers are armed with bottomless
bags—you can see them in one of the
illustrations—into which the oranges are
dropped as gathered from the trees. The
under ends of the bags are merely gathered
up on the sides by hooks and can be
dropped instantaneously, allowing the
quick emptying of the oranges into the
boxes. A specially expert jiicker can
make two dollars and fifty cents a day,
the pay being at tbe rate of two and onehalf
cents a box. A good average, however,
is eighty boxes to a day's work, or
two dollars.
After the oranges are picked and taken
in wagon loads to the packing houses
they lose their identity. They are no
longer Mr. So-and-So's oranges, but
oranges from such-and-such a district,
and are arranged according to size and

428 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
quality. Old friends of the same tree are
sejiarated, the large ones going into one
lot, the smaller into other lots. Before
this is done, however, the boxes are
checked and credited to the grower from
which they come.
In the packing house the boxes are
first set aside for twenty-four hours, in
ortler that the oranges may "wilt." that
is, that they may give off the moisture in
their skin which would cause sweating of
r
the fruit if they were immediately
packed. During this jieriod of wilting,
the skin of the orange draws considerably
closer to the pulp.
After the wilting, the oranges are
dumped into a long tank filled with water,
at one end of which there is a large
wheel having a tire of soft bristles. This
wheel as it turns works in conjunction
with another set of brushes in a smaller
tank underneath, which brighten and
clean the oranges. This apjiliance is the
mechanical successor of the woman with
brush and tub who formerly did a similar
service for the fruit. It is a cleaner and
sjieedier process.
With their outer surfaces thus
groomed, the oranges are next spread on
long racks in the sun to dry, then rolled
off into boxes and taken to the warehouse
to rest after their bath and sunning. All
this is accomplished mechanically, without
handling. Next the oranges are fed
into a hopper, which drops them one by
one on a belt which runs between revolv­
ing cylindrical brushes. This process
gives a still sleeker glow to the blushing
cheek of the orange, and in this condition
of jiolished beauty they are carried in a
belt elevator to a sorting table.
The orange sorter is an expert as wonderful
as a tea taster. As the experienced
taster of teas can detect the most
delicate gradations of flavor in the leaf,
so the man whose business it is to assort
the oranges as they pass before him in
what seems to the ordinary person a continuous
yellow blur, can stand all day and
deflect to their proper channels the

"fancy," "choice," "standard," and
"culls," detecting every flaw in the moving
stream of fruit. It is the looks of
the orange, not its flavor—that is uniform—which
decides its fate at the hands
of the sorter.
The table on which the sorting is done
is set at a slight incline, and the divided
stream of oranges runs in two files on
narrow tracks of moving ropes. The
smallest fruit fall through first, anti so
on to the largest, the oranges graduating
themselves into their proper bins. There
are twelve recognized sizes, from oranges
which require 360 to fill a box, to the
monsters of which only 48 are required
for a boxful.
Every bit of spout, bin or table with
which the orange, during any of these
processes comes in contact, is padded, for
the orange is tender, and a slight scratch
will swell and fester in transit across the
continent and make an unsightly even if
a succulent thing when it reaches market.
For the same reason the finger-nails of
the packers—who are mostly women—
are kept cut short and filed smooth.
SCIENCE AND THE ORANGE
SORTING THE GOLDEN HARVEST.
The packers, like the pickers, count
their earnings by the number of boxes
they handle, and at the same rate—two
and one-half cents a box. They are of
all types, from the wives, or widows of
Americans who have come to California
for their health and are poor, to Spanish,
Mexicans, Japanese anti Chinese. The
work • is mechanical, but grindingly
steady. Every now and then the packers
change places among themselves, so as
to give all an equal chance at the large
and the small oranges. As the boxes are
filled, boys carry them off to a table,
where covers are nailed on them and
they are ready for shipment.
The system by which California citrus
products are shipjied and marketed i.s an
interesting one. The hand of the city
of Los Angeles is on the industry, and
almost ninety per cent, of the entire
orange and lemon croji of the southern
section of the state is handled from the
packing houses to jobbers throughout the
country by this city's fruit agencies and
associations. Although the fruit is
packed and loaded anti fruit trains are

430 -TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
made up in the growing districts, the
work is all done under direction from
headquarters in Los Angeles. Like train
despatchers, the executive heads there
guide every car from the side-tracks in
the orchards over branch and trunk lines
to the markets of the world, diverting, as
occasion may seem to advise, the shijiments
from a first-intendetl market to
some other.
Hundreds of ears with only a general
destination leave Los Angeles daily dur-
THE WHITE HARD ROAD IS BORDERED BY SWEET-SMELLING GROVES
ing the shipping months, and these must
be kept track of and guided into the city
of tbe greatest demand. If from telegraphic
reports the despatcher finrls, for
instance, that New York is receiving too
much fruit and that there is therefore
danger of a break in the price there, he
diverts a part of the New York consignment
to ('hicago, Philadelphia, or some
other jioint. 1 Ie must see that every district
has enough fruit, and that none has
too much. He must get tbe top price for
the growers, and yet sell all of the fruit.
I Ie must keep the market even. 1 le must
figure against the changes of weather in
each district, and against the competition
from Florida and Europe.
There are many factors which affect
the demand for tbe fruit in each market.
Tf too manv cars of oranges are massed in
one large eit)' for even a day the prices
will droji materially. Markets are ticklish
and erratic things, and weeks of time and
thousands of dollars may be needed to
restore prices to a normal level after a
seemingly unimportant slump. At division
points along the great trunk lines the
I os Angeles directors station inspectors.
These examine the fruit as it comes
along, and report its condition. If a car
shows signs of going to pieces, then the
men at Los Angeles must find a market
for it at once..
The California Fruit Growers Exchange
is the principal
association for marketing
the orange crop,
handling at the present
time about 55 per cent.
of the total product.
The Exchange is comjiosed
of more than
eighty local associations,
covering every citrus
fruit tlistrict in California,
and packing
nearly two h u n tl r e d
brands of oranges and
lemons. The several associations
in a locality
unite to form the local
Exchange, which serves
as a medium between
the associations and the
general Exchange. The
latter consists of thirteen
stockholders, all
directors, and all selected by the
local exchanges. The organization is
thus controlled by the fruit growers
themselves, for the common good of all
tbe members. Each of the local associations
owns packing houses, and each is
allowed its projiortion of the various
markets of the country. The exjienses
of marketing are divided pro rata on a
basis of actual cost, and each member of
the exchange gets his share of the proceeds
from sales.
The exchange svstem is quite democratic.
Tbe members of tbe local associations
establish their own brands, make
such rules as they may agree upon for
grading, packing and jiooling their fruit.
All members are given a like jirivilege to
pick and deliver fruit to the packing
house, where it is weighed in and properly
receipted for. Every grower's fruit
is separated into different grades accord-

ing to quality, as already
described. Any given
brand is the exclusive
property of the association
using it, anti the
fruit under this brand is
always packed in the
same locality, and therefore
is of uniform quality.
An idea of the increasing
importance of
the Southern California
orange industry is found
in the fact that two railr
o a d companies, the
Southern Pacific and the
Santa Fe, have just had
completed more than
7,000 new refrigerator
° COVEEII
cars to operate over
their lines beginning
with the present fall's shipments.
Angeles will be the headquarters for the
southern division of this new refrigerator
car service, and the general headquarters
will be in Chicago. The new cars are the
best of their kind in existence. Each car
cost $1,700, and the total order by the
Southern Pacific through the Pacific
Fruit Express Comjianv means a cash
expenditure of $11,000,000. Each car is
built with a steel frame, practically prohibiting
telescoping of tbe car in case of
accident, and has double walls and all
WHERE THE YELLOW
SCIENCE AND THE ORANGE 431
MICATING TENTS
Kin SCALE.
HI: PESTIFEROUS
LI the latest devices lor preserving fruit in
transit.
Not many by-products have yet been
attempted with California oranges, because
of the cost of transjiortation to the
Last, which makes the selling of the
whole fruit alone profitable. Marmalade
is made to some extent, but not largely,
and orange jierfumes, oil, essences, etc.,
are still the exclusive outjiut of Sjiain.
Science has a good deal to do with
orange growing, anti exjieriments are
constantly being made in tree culture.
It makes little difference
what seed may have
been planted to start the
tree, so long as it belongs
to tbe citrus family
the fruit will be absolutely
true to the variety
which is budded
into it. The tree may be
starteel from a seed
orange, a lemon, sour or
sweet seedling, or grape
fruit; if a navel orange
bud is subsequently
grafted on, and the rest
of the tree cut away, the
fruit will be a navel
orange. It is also jiossible
to have grape fruit,
lemons anti oranges in
anv variety, all from a

432 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
single tree, by repeated buddings
upon various limbs of the tree, after it
is somewhat matured, and the distinctiveness
of the fruit will be as perfect as the
fruit of the original tree.
The budding is performed usually
when the seetl tree is two years old, a
bud from a selected liearing tree being
taken out and inserted near tbe grountl
in the young tree, and bound in in the
ordinary manner. This bud will in time
throw out a branch, which will be the
trunk of the future bearing tree. The
following season this branch is brought
up straight, and tied to a supporting
stake, and tlie rest of the tree is cut completely
off above the scion branch. The
entire life of the roots is now given to
the transformed tree, and by the following
year, the scion being four years old
from the seed, though only two years
from the bud, is ready to be set out in
F ame
Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise
(That last infirmity of noble mind)
To scorn delights, and live laborious days;
But the fair guerdon when we hope to find,
And think to burst out into sudden blaze,
the orange grove. It should begin bearing
three years later, and increase in
productiveness steadily for many years
afterwards.
There is some subtle chemistry of soil
and atmosphere which adajits the foothills
of Southern California so admirably
to the navel orange. Nowhere else does
it thrive as it does here. The orange tree
will do well in a thousand different locations,
but the flavor never is exactly the
same. One may theorize about soil and
temperature, freedom from fog and
presence of sunlight; the one certain fact
remains that the orange, so far as its
preferences go, is a law to itself. Man
can change its nature in a dozen ways,
render it immune to moderate frosts
even, but the deciding test of bearing and
of flavor is one which the orange seems
to decide for itself, according to whether
it likes the place where it is planted.
Comes the blind Fury with th' abhorred shears
And slits the thin-spun life.

^SCIENCE AND INVENTION!
1 I 'HE jiicture illustrates one of the most
marvelous cases of ship surgery on
record. The big 12,000-ton White Star
liner Suevic, wrecked on rocks in a fog,
was cut in two by means of dynamite and
partly under her own steam came into
harbor at Southampton, England, two
hundred miles away. Two hundred feet
of the steamer's length was left impaled
on the rocks. The value of the portion
saved, including boilers and cargo, was
$800,000. All this goes to show what
wonderful strides have been taken in the
building of vessels in tbe last quarter
century. In the old days a ship once
on the rocks was usually considered as
being a total loss. The only hope of
salvage was that she would hold together
long enough for the wreckers to save her
cargo anil perhaps her spars anti sails.
There was rarely any thought given to
recovering the ship itself as the hulls,
constructed of wootl, were too fragile to
withstand the pounding of the seas on a
lee shore. This was also partly true of
the first iron vessels that were built.
THE AFTERPART OF TIIE SUEVIC, WHICH CAME INTO PORT PARTLY UNDER HER OWN STEAM.
(433)

431 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
ROBIN ENTANGLED WHILE ATTEMPTING TO SECURE
PIECE OF STRING.
S^olbiia Harass Itself
A ROBIN, in carrying a string to its
/_ *' nest, got it entangled in the small
twigs of a birch tree, and although the
premises contained many other pieces
equally good, she persistently struggled
at this until she was entangled with fatal
results.
Horse Meat Good Food
T H E use of horse flesh for food i.s
largely on the increase in Belgium,
due not only to the fact that it is much
cheaper than beef, but to an educational
crusade being pushed by dealers. Persons
who are accustomed to eating horse
flesh are loud in its praises, and many
persons eat it under the impression that
it is beef. When the meat is dressed the
only noticeable difference is in the color
and quality, which are of a deeper red
and coarser fiber than beef.
The first Europeans to eat horse flesh
to any extent were the Danes, in 1807;
the Germans, in 1815; and hipjiojihagic
slaughter houses were established in
Prussia in 1847, in each case the direct
cause being a shortage of other food sup­
plies. In China horse flesh has been
popular for some six hundred years.
Scattered through Liege are many
shops selling horse flesh, and during
1905 about 2^,000 horses were slaughtered
in that city. Choice cuts sell for about
twenty cents per jiound, as against thirtyfive
cents for beef. The only reason why
horses are not more universally used for
food would appear to be the prevalent
"impression that only old and worn-out
animals are killed, while, as a matter of
fact, only colts and young horses are
butchered.
If the consumption of horse flesh in
Belgium and other European countries
continues to increase as it has for the
past few years, a valuable field for American
exports will be created, inasmuch
as in some sections of the West young
horses may be bought at two dollars a
head which would sell in Europe for at
least twenty dollars. There have even
been cases within the last year or so
when drove horses found no buyers when
offered at fifty cents a head on the range,
and it has been found necessary in some
sections to hunt down and exterminate
great bands of wild mustangs, thousands
being killed, in order to save crops.
\
BIRD HANGS SELF IN ITS STRUGGLES.

Holiest of Saiad SuacMeifs
""THE attention of inward-bound lake
*• travelers approaching Chicago at
night is attracted by a spectacle off the
north shore so brilliant that it suggests
a night excursion steamer illuminated
from stem to stern,but which the observer
is informed is the latest and greatest marine
dredge in this country.
It was designed for the Park Board of
STEEL DELIVERY PIPE AND PONTOONS THAT KEEP IT
AFLOAT.
the City of Chicago, for the purpose of
extending Lincoln Park out into Lake
Michigan. The dredge sucks sand off
shore and pumps it through many hundred
feet of jointed pipe. The sand is
thus delivered as required in filling in a
large area bounded by the new breakwater
northeast of the
present park shore line.
The undertaking is
quite "a large order," as
it means dredging
enough sand and clay
from the bottom of the
lake to add two hundred
and sixty acres to the
real estate of Chicago.
The Francis T. Simmons,
as the dredge is
called, is the largest of
its kind. It has a hull
of steel 150 feet long by
35 feet beam. Its capacity
i.s 1,500 cubic
yards per hour.
The dredge is equipped
with five anchors,
SCIENCE AND INVENTION 435
but is usually handled by two great
"spuds" locatetl at the bow. The spuds
are immense round stakes of wood'
fifty-three feet long and two and one-half
feet in diameter. Each of these huge
wooden cylinders is shod with a steel
point weighing twelve tons, and by dropping
them and swinging the entire structure
from them alternately, the cutter at
the stern can sweeji a channel one hundred
and seventy-five feet witle.
The Simmons has established a record
for hydraulic filling operations which is
remarkable, the outfit having excavated
and deposited five acres of "matle land"
in twenty days.
When this extension to Lincoln Park
is completed the property will be worth at
least $4,000,000, anti it is due to the business
acumen of the Park Board that the
undertaking is being carried out economically.
With but a $1,000,000 appropriation, it
was found impracticable to close a contract
with private parties at thirty cents
per cubic yard as bid, so the Francis T.
Simmons was specially designed to meet
the requirements. After paying $148,000
for the vessel, her operating expenses,
etc., there will still remain a recordbreaking
dredge that can be sokl for a
handsome sum at the end of her civic
service. American municipalities are
gradually learning to carry on business
enterprises with the skill long displayed
by the city councils of Europe.
Francis T. Simmons. AN EXCELLENT TYPE OF THE SUCTION DREDGE.

V*.
CONSULTING
DEPARTMENT
Are you t lizzie.I by anv Question in Engineering or the Mechanic Arts' Put the question into writing and mail it
• Hi,. Consulting Detartment. TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE. We ha-,;- made arrangements to have all such
, r est ions an sloe red by a staff o.t consulting engineers and other extorts whose services have been s feci ally enlisted
urfosc. If the Question asked is of general interest, the answer will be published in the magazine. If 0/ only lersonal
•itercst, the answer will be sent by mail, frovided a stamted and addressed envelope is enclosed with the Question. Re
insts for in formation as to where desired art it les can be purchased will also be cheerfully answered.
How to Read a Gas Meter
Will you please explain how to read the gas
meter?—//''. D. C.
The index showing the number of
cubic feet of gas used, is generally placed
at the top of the meter. Different meters
vary but little in the arrangement of the
dials. For meters used in dwelling
houses, as a rule, there are only three
dials on the index, but some large meters
have as many as five. These numbers
do not include the upper dial, which is
used only for testing, and which is not
taken into consideration when one is
reading the index.
The number of cubic feet of gas consumed
is recorded by the dials A, B and
C, shown in the figure. This is the most
common form of index. Each complete
revolution of the hand on dial A represents
1,000 cubic feet of gas passed
through the meter; on dial B, 10,000
cubic feet; and on dial C, 100,000 cubic
feet. It will be noticed that the hands
CUBIC FEET
100TH0USAND I0TH0USAND I THOUSAND
GAS METER DIALS.
on dials A and C move in the direction
of the hands of a clock, while that on
dial B moves in the opposite direction, as
indicated by the arrows. This necessitates
great care in reading, as a large
error would occur if all hands were considered
as moving in the same direction.
In reading the index shown in the
figure, begin with dial C. It will be seen
that the hand on this dial is between 1
and 2, showing more than 10,000 and less
than 20,000 cubic feet of gas have passed
through. The hand on dial B, being between
8 and 9, indicates more than 8,000
anti less than 9,000 cubic feet, while that
on thai C, between 4 and 5, indicates
more than 400 and less than 500 cubic
feet, but is read 400, because, as a rule,
the index is read only to the number of
hundred cubic feet. The amount of gas
recorded by this index is therefore 18,400
cubic feet.
Stains on Bricks
What causes the white stains sometimes noticed
on brick walls?—T. E. D.
Afasonry walls are sometimes disfigured
by efflorescence caused by the dissolving
of salts of soda, potash and magnesia.
These salts are found in the
cement or lime mortars and in walls
where brick has been burned by a sulphurous
coal. This action, due to the
dissolving of salts, is injurious to the
wall, in that the salts enter the pores of
the stone or brick and crystallize, thereby
chipping off small particles, and sometimes
cracking the wall. The action is
very similar to that of frost.

To Find Diameter of Pulley
I want to drive a rattler at fifty revolutions
per minute with a pulley, pinion and wheel,
as shown in the figure, the pulley and pinion
on the same shaft, and the wheel on the rattler
shaft. The pulley on line shaft is twelve inches
in diameter and makes 200 revolutions per
minute. The centers of wheel and pinion are
twenty-seven inches apart. What size pulley,
pinion and wheel must 1 put on?—D. E. M.
18" + 9" = 27A And, 27" -j- 3 = 9.
And 9+ 9 = 18. Then the ratio between
gear speeds is as 9 is to 18, or, as 1 is
to 2.
Then, 9 : 18 :: 50 : 100. So, 100
revolutions per minute will be the speed
>
kl
-J
LINE SHAFT 200 REVS. PER MINUTE
Ol
PINION 9" RADIUS
RATTLER
SOREVS.PER Mltr,
I
DIAGRAM TO ILLUSTRATE METHOD OF FINDING DIAMETER
OF A PULLEY.
of the jiinion, and of its pulley also.
Then, 100 : 200 :: 12 : 24. So, 24
inches will be the diameter of the jiulley.
And,
=
27 X 2 X 2
3
36 inches, the diameter of the wheel.
And
=
27 X 2 X 1
3
18 inches, the diameter of the pinion.
Theory of the Stereoscope
Kindly explain the theory of the stereoscope.
—R. S. B.
An important fact
contributing to the
perception of solidity
is that the two
retinal images
formed by a solid
body are different,
in consequence of
the different position
of the two
REFLECTING STEREOSCOPE, eyes with reference
CONSULTING DEPARTMENT 437
to it ; these two different
images being mentally
combined into one.
This is the principle of
the stereoscope, which is
an instrument by mean.-,
of which two slightly
different pictures of an
object may be combined
so as to jiroduce tbe effect
of solidity or relief.
In the reflecting stereoscojie,
two plane mirrors,
1 m and m n, inclined 90°
REFRACTING
STEREOSCOPE.
-•B
to each other, are used to effect the combination,
as shown in the diagram, in
which a b anti a' b' are the two objects,
combined by reflection into a single image
A B. In the refracting stereoscope
the images are combined by means of two
prisms with curved surfaces, m anti n,
placed as shown in the diagram, a partition,
c d, being so placed as to prevent
either eye from seeing the object intended
for the other. The pictures used in the
stereoscope may be drawings, the two
differing simply in the point of sight; or
jihotographs, taken generally with a
double camera, the distance between the
lenses being equal to that between the
eyes. Of course, since the relief is
greater as this distance is made greater,
it may be exaggerated indefinitely.
***
Cost of Electricity in the House
I am thinking of using electricity in the
house, and would like to have some idea as to
its cost for lighting, heating, and small motors.
—L. B. A.
At a recent meeting of the Ohio Electric
Light Association, Mr. A. S. Miller
gave the following data: A 0.25-horsepower
motor is large enough to run a
washing machine and 50 cents will do
eight washings of 3 hours each. Three
16-candlepower lamps will light a stable
an hour every night for thirty nights for
50 cents. A 6-pound flatiron uses 500
watts or 5 cents worth of current in an
hour if current is left on. Actually it will
be cut off half the time, reducing the
cost to 3 cents an hour.
The sewing machine motor can be run
3 hours for 1 cent. It costs 1.5 cents to
boil coffee, 3 cents to make a rarebit or
broil a steak, 0.25 cents to fry a couple
of eggs, and no heat, dirt or smoke.

438 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
To Find the Offset in Turning Tapers
Please show me how to find the amount of
offset for the tail stock in turning tapers.—
/. B. F.
The amount of offset of tail stock in
taper turning is found by subtracting the
small diameter of the taper from the
large diameter of the tajier and dividing
by 2. Multiply this by the length of the
E -AAzAM^r
PIECE IN POSITION TO EE TURNED.
bar anti divide by the length of taper, or
divide the length of the bar in inches by
the length of tbe taper in inches and multiply
the offset first found by this amount.
In a formula it could lie stated this
wav :
L
The offset
xD-d
Where L = the length of bar ; 1 = the
length of taper ; D = large diameter of
tajier; and d = small diameter of taper.
We should take into account the fact
that y inch is taken off of each end of
the length of the bar by the depth of the
center, and the depth of both centers
must be deducted to get the exact result.
To Test Cements
How do you test cements?—/. L. M.
Cements are tested to determine their
1. Fineness.
2. Setting.
3. Soundness.
4. Specific gravity.
5. Strength.
1. Fineness is determined by passing
the cement through sieves of various
meshes and noting the percentages retained.
2. Setting is determined by making
jiats of the cement and noting the time
before they resist penetration of wires of
specified weight.
3. Soundness is tested by noting the
condition of the etlges of the pats ; also
by heating pats with steam and seeing if
they blow or eraek.
4. Specific gravity is determined by
the comjiarison method.
5. Strength is determined bv jireparing
briquettes and jiermitting them to
remain in air and under water sjiecified
periods, anti then breaking them in a
testing machine and noting the breaking
load.
To Repair Meerschaum Pipe
My meerschaum pipe is broken. is thete
any hope for it? If there is any method by
which it may be repaired, kindly let me know.
—B. C. R.
Clean a clove or two of garlic (the
fresher the better) by removing all the
outside hull of skin ; throw into a little
mortar and mash to a paste. Rub this
paste over each surface to be united and
join quickly. Bring the parts as closely
together as possible and fasten in this
posi'tion. Have ready some boiling fresh
milk ; place the article in it and continue
the boiling for thirty minutes. Remove
anil let cool slowly. If properly done,
this makes a joint that will stand any
ordinary treatment, and is nearly invisible.
For composition, use a cement
made of quicklime, rubbed to a thick
cream with egg albumen.
Mix very fine meerschaum shavings
with albumen or dissolve casein in water
glass, stir finely powdered magnesia into
the mass, and use the cement at once.
This hardens quickly.
If the amber stem is broken, it may be
repaired by slightly heating the amber
and moistening with a solution of caustic
sotla, then place the broken parts
firmly together.
To Judge Gas Consumption
Is there any method of judging the amount
of gas burned from the size of the flame?—
A. C.
The accompanying sketch shows apjiroximately
the number of cubic feet of
gas burned per
hour in the ordi
nary fish tail
burner. It will
be noted that
when the gas is
turned high, a
very slight increase
in light
makes a large
increase in the
number of feet
of gas c o nsumed.
I ,'3 FE^ET PER HOUR,
/ S FEET \ |
I I ' j PER HOUR 1 I
I I I
1 l
\ t 1 \ | I FOOT I • //
VV 1 . iPERHOURI , 11 t
DIAGRAM SHOWING GAS
CONSUMPTION.

TECHNICAL
W O R L D
MAGAZINE
TAB LB OF CONTENTS
JANUARY, 1908
Pace Pace
Cover Design. H. S. DELAY Farmer's Feathered Friends. E B.
Poets of Power. GEORGE F STRAT- CLARK 504
TON 441 xo Chloroform a Battleship. Lie-
New Chiefs for World's Cruise of INGSTON WRIGHT ."ill
Fighting Ships. WALDON FAW- TO Save 0ur Roads Cy WHIT.
CETT 455 WELL : . . 518
New Camera Dwarfs Distance. C. „ , 0. , ...
Real Sinews of War. WILLIAM
H. CLAUDV . . . . . . . 4H0
GEORGE o2(l
To Link the Lakes with the Sea.
H. G. HUNTING 4H7 Silk Worm ' s Monopoly is Gone.
RENE BACHE 525
Novelties from the Auto Shows.
DAVID BEECROFT 476 Coal Stored Under Water. H. M.
POST 530
Train School Boys to Shoot.
CHARLES A. SIDMAN .... 481 Cutting Down Electric Light Bills.
Iron from Sinai. POEM. LEWIS GEORGE R. METCALFE . . . . 532
WORTHINGTON SMITH . . . 487 Engineering Progress ..... 534
Romance of the Fur Trade. W.G. Consulting Department 540
£ITZ-GERALD 491
- . ., .. .. . . c T r Waifs of Wit .546
Tricking the Air into Service. H.
G. HUNTING 4t)i) Science and Invention 548
THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE, published the seventeenth of each
month preceding the date of issue, is a popular, illustrated record of progress in science,
invention and industry.
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w

THE TECHNICAL
WORLD MAGAZINE
Volume VIII JANUARY, 1908 No. 5
Foetts ©f Power
My

442 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
HOW THE WATER COMES DOWN AT ELECTRON, WASHINGTON.
The conduits serving the power plant may be seen above the mills.
Far up on the slopes of Mt. Rainier,
Washington, is a water-fall which, according
to the legend, was inhabited by a
giant of enormous strength, Menuhkesen
by name, brum out nf the East there
came a Genie possessed of such courage
and audacity that when he was warned
against the terrible powers of Menuhkesen
he laughed lustily, and swore tliat
he would call forth the surly giant and
make him do his bidding. Summoning
his afrites he gave them orders, and they
immediately surrounded the falls, some
of them peering through strange instruments
and making mysterious signs with
their hands; while others measured distances
and drove stakes bearing weird
and cabalistic symbols, into the river
banks.
Then the Genie stood on the bank overlooking
the falls and shouted: "Ho!—
Afrites—dig me here a deep hole!'' and
immediately they went to work with
great activity. When they had dug down
one hundred feet the Genie again commanded
them to tunnel under the falls.
"W'e will unearth this giant and prove
his strength !" he cried defiantly.
So they dug a tunnel until they reached
a great mass of stone underneath the
brink of the falls, and here they hewed
out a huge cavern and into it carried
strange machines and many wheels,
fastening them strongly. When all was
ready the Genie grasped a great lever and
shouted: "Ho! — Menuhkesen — come
forth now and get busy!"
Then he pressed down the lever and
instantly the Spirit sprang out of the
falls and, leaping upon the wire, rushed
along it with such swiftness than no one
could see him. The next moment he was
many miles awa)' performing marvelous
feats of strength—pushing great streetcars
at incredible speed, turning the
wheels in great mills and factories, and
lighting the streets and dwellings. In
fact, he did whatever the Genie ordered
him to do, without an instant's delay or
any demur.
The story is true. The name of the
(lenie is Stroughtson, a Pennsvlvania en-

gineer, who, educated at Cornell University,
developed into a wizard.
All that is to be seen around that wildly
picturesque mountain waterfall is a
little ten by twelve foot rough stone build­
ing—the entrance to the shaft. Down
underneath that seventy foot rushing torrent
of water is the cavern, hewn out of
solid granite, and in it are the water-
POETS OF POWER 443
BIG IRRIGATION DAM FURNISHES POWER.
La Grange Dam at Modesto, Southern California.
wheels and electric generators. The inlet
water-pipe leads Irom the bottom of the
river through the roof of the cavern. The
outlet pipe discharges at the foot of the
falls and immediately behind them.
Transmission wires lead from the cavern
down to Seattle, forty miles distant, and
over these wires six thousand horsepower
is constantly transmitted.

(Hi)
'•'**• V '
MOUNTAIN-SIDE FLUME IN PUYALLUP CANYON, WASHINGTON.
41 .'••.

Standing at the foot of these falls, in
the shadow of the great sequoias, with
the rugged mountain slopes tipped with
brilliant and ever-present glaciers, the
majestic solemnity of-all unbroken bv any
sight or sound of industry, it is not easy
to disassociate the legend of the Spirit
of the Falls from the Power which is
invisibly gliding over the wire leading
down through the rocky canyons and
dark forests.
In the harnessing and curbing of these
mountain streams the utmost engineering
skill and ingenuity has been called into
play. Often the power-house is situated
miles back in such inaccessible wilds that
the greatest difficulty has been encountered
in carrying the machinery and supplies
to the desired spot. At one point
in the Sierras men and material were
transported across two yawning chasms
by means of single wire cables, under
which ran a freight basket. Many of the
streams utilized are small, but by proper
POETS OF POWER 445
diversion and concentration give a great
head of water—five or six hundred feet
being not at all uncommon.
The most striking illustration of the
power of a small stream is shown in
San Juan county, Colorado. The Animus
river, in its course between Silverton
and Durango—a distance of twenty
miles—has a gradual fall of about fifteen
LAYING THE STEEL FLUME OF THE ONTARIO POWER CO., NIAGARA, WHERE 220,000
HORSE-POWER IS TO BE DEVELOPED.
hundred feet. Although called a river
it is but a mountain stream, tumbling
over little falls and through rock-strewn
gullies ; at no point showing more power
than would be sufficient to drive a very
modest saw- or grist-mill. But the
genius of science has so cunningly diverted
it and concentrated its energy, as
to develop at last no less than forty thousand
horse-power.
A dam is built a few miles below Silverton
and the stream turned into a
wooden conduit or flume which is only
six by eight feet in size. It will be seen
that it must be a very small stream whose

446 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
waters can be run through such a restricted
channel. ( )ver valleys and across
chasms; sometimes on high trestles;
sometimes through deep cuttings, the
flume carries the captive river for ten
miles, finally discharging it into Cascade
reservoir, a natural basin three miles long
and three-quarters of a mile wide, llere
it gains some little accession from the
waters of a small creek, and at the lower
end of the reservoir it again enters a
flume; this time a steel tube onlv four
feet in diameter. The current is now
rapidly increased: this four foot tube
must carry as much water as the six by
eight conduit, consequently its work must
be done much faster.
Two miles brings it to the edge of a
cliff near Durango, one thousand feet in
depth, and the pipe turns over the edge
making a perpendicular drop of that distance,
conducting that solid, four foot
column of water, one thousand feet in
height, into turbine wheels operating
electric generators of forty thousand
horse-power capacity.
This is the biggest perpendicular fall
in the world ; it is the most forceful four
foot drive of water known. A rifle-bullet
fired into it glances off as from solid
chilled steel: a jet from it no bigger than
a pen-holder will drill a hole through
sheet steel in a few moments. At the
reservoir a dainty fly-line may he plaved
in the water—at the flume no mortal man
could thrust a bayonet one inch into it.
A Cnited States trooper essayed, on a
CAPE INSULATOR THAT CARRIES A HIGH TENSION WIRE.
wager, to cut a two-inch stream with his
sword—a shattered weapon and broken
wrist was the result.
From the four foot steel pipe, nozzles
five-eighths of an inch in diameter conduct
the water into the turbines, which
are of the type known as "impulse"
wheels and the speed of which is from
three to four thousand revolutions per
minute. The speed of the jets of water
emerging from these
nozzles is no less than
twenty - five thousand
feet—or over four miles
per minute.
Xote how science still
further concentrates and
controls the giant it has
evoked. That forty thousand
horse-power force,
making that mighty
plunge over the cliff, is
met by magical machines
and switched into
a copper wire but little
larger than a lead pencil.
Fortv feet of that
unyielding steel flume is
a load for a heavy
freight car; forty feet
of the copper wire is a
load for a ten-vear-old
UNUTILIZED POWER IIILING ITSELF AV boy.

POETS OF POWER 447
13,000 HORSE POWER TURBINE, BUILT FOR THE ELECTRICAL DEVELOPMENT CO, ONTARIO.
At one moment the power is in that
roaring, headlong, terrific plunge—the
next it is miles away, invisible, noiseless
and mvsterious, illuminating great arc
from great to small,—whirling dainty
fans, or—cooking an egg!
And the little stream, freed from its
captivity, widens out, rippling merrily
anel rnvsienous, uiuuiuioviug &-"" — i ---• > ----- - ---, , , 0 . J
lamps,'running heavy cars, and,—to come over the rocks, perhaps to be, sometime,

448 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
NIAGARA, BY COMPARISON WITH WHOSE POWER OTHER WATERFALLS ARE MEASURED.
"rounded up" again and made to give a
similar demonstration of strength further
on.
For, although the refrain of an old
song says that "the mill wheel will not
turn with the water that has passed" the
assertion is refuted by many of the modern
hydro-electric installations.
In the Niagara Gorge is a power-plant
which is using the same water three
times. A canal was dug to conduct
water from above the falls along the top
bank of the gorge. Before the days of
the electro-generator a water-wheel was
installed forty feet below the canal level
—that being the limit of head which
water-wheel manufacturers, at that time.
m
felt able to handle. A few years later
another wheel was placed thirty-five feet
lower, using the water which came from
the first. And recently a third turbine
has been installed at the foot of the
gorge, still using the same water and
two hundred feet below the canal level.
A view, today, of the Niagara Gorge
shows a number of power-plants at various
elevations up the cliff, and the dates
of the building of these plants can almost
he determined by their distances from
the top.
The greatest power-houses in the
world are, as might be expected, at Niagara.
One of these—the plant of the
Toronto and Niagara Power Company, is

' POETS OF POWER m
MOI
NTAIN RAILWAY OPENING ITS WAY INTO THE WILDERNESS.

450 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
situated on the Canadian rapids, above
the Horse-shoe Falls. A pit has been
sunk in the bank one hundred and fortvfive
feet deep, at the bottom of which are
the water-wheels—which thus get a head
of water of about one hundred and forty
feet. The outlet is remarkable. It con-
No OBSTACLE STANDS IN THE WAY OI- FLUME BUI
MOUNTAINS OF THE WEST.
sists of a tunnel, excavated under the
bed of the river and emerging, immediatelv
behind the Horse-shoe Falls and,
of course, at their lowest level. This
plant develops 140,000 horse-power.
A report made by the Commission
which was appointed to examine the conditions
at Niagara gives some very interesting
facts. The total energy of the
falls' is estimated at 7,500,000 horsepower
; equivalent to the latent energy of
all the daily mine of coal in the world—
something over 200,000 tons. Conces­
sions have been made to power comjianies
on both sides of the river, amounting
to something over one million horsepower.
But it will jirobably be manv
years before all this is taken up. At present
machinery is installed to generate
about three "hundred thousand horsepower.
But, although Niagara
is gigantic, it does
not surpass in interesting
peculiarities a great
many other waterpowers.
From many
points of view the greatest
and most interesting
single power plant in
the world is situated on
the Necaxa river, in
Mexico. In a certain
stretch of three miles
this river makes a drop
of over three thousand
feet. Six thousand men
have been employed for
three years upon this
section. Four dams
have been constructed,
ranging from 66 to 177
feet in height. To conduct
the water to the
power-house there are
four and one-half miles
of mountain tunnels,
five and one-half miles
of eight foot pipe, and
seven miles of thirty
inch steel pipe. Machinery
is in place to develop
80,000 h o r s empower,
and jirovision is
made to install sufficient
to develop 200,000
he current
horse-power.
is transmitted over one
hundred and eighty miles to the citv of
Mexico. Three thousand steel towers
carr)- the transmission cables, and thirtysix
patrolmen are on duty, day and night,
watching the line. The total cost, when
finished, will he eighteen million dollars.
Although high head j)owers are usually
much more interesting and picturesque
than low head, there are, nevertheless,
some very strange installations at
low head. On the Patapsco river, in
Marvland, a somewhat sluggish river

ut having a great volume
of water, a dam has
been built and 1,650
horse - power utilized.
But, standing by that
dam, no sign of powerhouse
or machinery is
visible. All ix contained
within the dam itself.
which is hollow and divided
by interior buttresses
into chambers
for the water-wheels and
generators. Water is
taken from the upper
side of the dam and discharged
at the lower
side. Here again, the
visitor—be he engineer
or layman, poet or
plumber—cannot fail to
be impressed with the
scene. The banks are
wooded and wild, showing
no buildings or machine
shops. A thin
sheet of water is gliding
over the spill-way and
you are only conscious,
because so informed,
that a might)' power is being evoked beneath
that mass of water. Mysterious,
unseen and unheard here, it is gliding
HIGH TENSION WIRES STRUNG ov ER A RAILWAY.
POETS OF POWER I.". I
WHERE A RIVER'S POWER IS STRING ON WIRE;
High tension crossing, showing guard wires.
down the wires to the distant city, there
to break into strident action at the pressing
of a button—the turning of a switch.
Another unusual develojiment of low
head power is seen on the Feather river,
California. The west branch of this
river makes a big horse-shoe bend twenty-five
miles above Oroville, coming
within three miles of itself again. A
mountain intervenes, hut this has been
tunneled and the water diverted from the
upjier stretch of the river through the
tunnel into the lower reach. And upon
that black, rushing, underground torrent
the wheels and generators will be jilaced.
The Strong Spirit of the waters will become
the Spirit of the Mountain, and
will "get busy" at the turning of a wrist.
The head, or height, of water available
is always one of the most imjiortant
jioints in determining the site of a powerhouse.
A comparison between two extreme
instances will show this importance.
At Albany, in Georgia, is a river
flowing at the rate of twelve hundred
cubic feet per second. A dam was built

452 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
TRIPLE LEAP OF THE FAMOUS NECAXA FALLS, IN MEXICO.
Its 80,000 horse power operates lights, cars and factories in the City of Mexico, 100 miles away.
giving an available head of twenty-three
feet, and three thousand horse-power is
secured. ( )n the Stanilaus river, California,
is a stream running three hundred
cubic feet* per second—one-fourth as
much as the Albany water—but with a
fall of fifteen hundred feet, and the
power obtained equals 25,000 horsepower—over
eight times as much as the
Albany power. These high heads in
mountain streams are, however, usually
secured onh' by fhe construction of ex­
pensive flumes. The stream is dammed
high up the range and led into a timber
or steel flume ; thus, instead of wasting its
energy by trickling down the mountain
side, it is conducted by an easy grade to
some cliff at the foot of the range where
the entire droji is made available at one
time.
Some of these flumes are from twenty
to thirty miles in length. They cross valleys
and canyons upon great trestle
works. They circle the sides of mountain

POETS OF LOWER
THE WATER THAT HAS PASSED.
Niagara power houses and the water they have used.
spurs and, in many cases, tunnel through
them. Usually they are simply square
troughs constructed of heavy planks, but,
as they approach the power-house where
the flow becomes rapid and the pressure
great, steel pipes are used.
The water-wheels used in these great
hydro-electric plants are fine illustrations
of the readiness with which American
engineers and manufacturers adapt themselves
to new conditions. Until electricity
furnished, means of transmitting
power over great distances, water-power
was confined to the very narrow limits
of individual users, and the wheels were,
consequently, of very small power. Today,
however, turbines of from five to
ten thousand horse-power are by no
means uncommon. At Niagara Falls
there are four turbines, which develop
nearly fifteen thousand horse-power
each, and which are, probably, the
largest in the world. An article in the
Philadeljihia Record referring to these
turbines, savs: "The building of these
machines marks another epoch in the
country's history, because their design,
as well as their manufacture, is wholly
American, and all the engineers and
workmen concerned are American and
graduates of American schools and shojis,
though the work is being done for a company
in a foreign nation—Canada—and
the contract was awarded against the
competition of the largest builders all
over the world."
Such a wheel as this is a giant, not
only in power but in stature. Its weight
is 620,000 pounds for the turbine alone,
the electric generator being a separate
machine, although directly connected to
the turbine shaft. A monster like this,
doing the stupendous work of fifteen
thousand horses, requires much water. It
is supplied by a pipe eleven feet in diameter,
through which a solid column of
water flow's, at the rate of ten feet per
second.
These great wheels are known as reaction
wheels, and are generally used
only when the height of the water is not
very great. For high heads, particularly
in the western mountains, the impulse
wheel is generally used. This is very
much smaller than the re-action type,
but what it lacks in size it makes up in
speed—the necessity for this lying in the

454 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
WHERE NIAGARA'S POWER IS DOUBLED BACK UPI
Electric current crosses river channel.
fact that water coming from a height of
six, eight, or ten hundred feet comes
verv rapidly and must he taken care of.
It is but very recently that the world
has awakened to the latent possibilities
of usefulness in many apparently insignificant
streams. A review of what one
comparative!)' small jilant is doing in
Washington shows a surjirising amount
and diversity of utilit)' from this jiower.
The Snoqualmie Falls,
near Seattle and Tacoma,
are about sixty
feet in height, and machinery
has been installed
to develop ten
thousand horse-power.
This power is running
the trolley cars at Seattle
which carry forty
million passengers yearly.
It runs the cars at
Puget Sound, carrying
over one million passengers
yearly between Seattle
and Tacoma, and
it also operates the Seattle
and Renton railway
with twelve hundred
thousand
yearly.
passengers
It grinds over twelve
thousand bushels of
wheat daily; treats 750
tons of ore daily at the
Tacoma smelter; furnishes
power for the
largest iron works in
the Northwest; for the
metrojiolitan press of
Seattle; for the Washington
Shoe Company,
>N ITSELF and for the American
Steel and Wire Comjiany.
It runs scores of
small industries in Tacoma and Seattle;
it sujijilies the entire city lighting of Tacoma,
and it furnishes jiower and light
to Renton, Kent, Puyalluji, Sumner,
Swansea, Issquah and Auburn.
And yet, that mysterious and mighty
jiower glides silently into those cities,
over small wires from one of the most
beautiful falls on the coast—the home of
another Menuhkesen.

efe for
Fimiise ©f Figlhittliiig Slhip
My Wsildoia Fawcett
'HE great squadron of
warshijis, which under
T i l command of Rear Ad-
// miral Robley D. Evans,
it) will round Cape Horn
and cruise the waters
of the Pacific, is the
most powerful battle
fleet that ever sailed the seas. The aggregation
will consist of sixteen first class
battleships," and nineteen cruisers and
auxiliaries', together with over 1,000
guns and 14,000 officers and men. The
distance covered before the ships once
more reach home will be about 44,000
miles. Inasmuch as many of the officers
in charge of the various ships would,
owing to their advanced age, go on the
retired list before the completion of the
cruise, new men have been ajipointed to
-.11 ft B -IL .1) U IL a II •• r- ••• Hill,. • •» an • ,'• | • I « •••! T-TTr, '• 4). M.J"'
r^*„.^. .*•-••'. :.$jA;mAmmAK&z.:f •:•*'•:%_
ADMIRAL URIEL SEBREE.
Commanding the "Pathfinder Fleet."
?AA-
lll-M»lMlil t'*M
(455)

456 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
take the places of such.
The ruling may seem
rather hard upon the old
•'sea dogs," but they recognize
it is for the good
of the service. These
new conditions render the
personality and past careers
of the "younger
men" who are now coming
to the fore of particular
significance.
Admiral Uriel Sebree
i.s a notable new appointee,
having been selected
to command the
"Pathfinder Fleet" of armored
cruisers which is
preceding the battleship
squadron to the Pacific.
Admiral Sebree, who is
the youngest admiral in
the navy holding a position
of so great responsibility,
will not be called
upon to retire for age
until the year 1910, and
is being prominently
mentioned in official circles
as the probable successor
of Rear Admiral
Robley D.Evans as commander-in-chief
of the
fleet.
Admiral Sebree is a
native of Missouri and
entered the United States
Naval Academy in 1863,
from which he graduated
four years later.
He was promoted to

NEW CHIEFS FOR WORLD CRUISE OF FIGHTING SHIPS 457
ensign in 1868, to master in 1870, and
commissioned lieutenant in 1871. In
1884 he participated in the Greely Relief
Expedition on the Thetis and in 1889
was promoted to lieutenant-commander.
In 1897 he was advanced to the grade
of commander, and in 1901 was ordered
to command the United States naval station
at Tutuila, Samoa. Admiral Sebree's
most recent duty was as secretary of the
light house board, a position' which
brought him in contact with numbers of
engineers and other technical experts.
All told, Admiral Sebree has had during
his busy career more than twenty years
of sea service and a slightly shorter ag­
gregate of land duty, nearly forty years
of service, all told.
Capt. W. H. 11. Southerland, the
new commander of the battleship New
Jersey, has had a very interesting career
in the navy. He started as a naval apprentice
and entered the Naval Academy
in 1868. He attained the rank of midshipman
in 1872, ensign in 1873, master
in 1877, junior lieutenant in 1883, and
lieutenant in 1884. During the early
years of his career he saw much service
on the Pacific and Asiatic stations, interspersed
with intervals in the hydrographic
office, the bureau of navigation
and other important administrative offices

458
at Washington. At the outbreak of the
Spanish-American war he was in command
of the Eagle and later was assigned
to service in the office of the assistant
secretary of the naw. Soon
after his promotion to the rank of lieutenant-commander
in 1899 he was ajipointed
to the command of the cruiser
Dolphi,,, which is used as the president's
private yacht. Later, advanced to the
grade of commander, he had charge of
the cruiser Cleveland. At the time he
.was selected for his present detail he
was acting as the president of the naval
board of insjiection and survey. Cap­
tain Southerland, who is about fifty-five
years of age, has had nineteen years of
sea service during his career and approxi­
TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
mately an equal amount of duty ashore.
Captain Austin M. Knight who, in accordance
with the new" sentiment for
younger men, has been assigned to the
command of the Washington, is about
fifty-seven years of age, and is another
officer who has had much to do with the
technical side of naval administration, for
until a few weeks ago he was president
of the board of naval ordnance, with offices
at the navy department in Washington.
Captain Knight was born in
Massachusetts, but was appointed to the
Naval Academy from Florida in 1869.
He graduated as midshipman in 1873,
was made an ensign the year following^
a master in 1879, a junior lieutenant in
1883 and a full lieutenant two years

NEW CHIEFS FOR WORLD CRUISE OF FIGHTING SHIPS 459
later, finally being advanced to the grade recent service has been as assistant to the
of lieutenant-commander in 1899. Dur­ chief of the bureau of ordnance of the
ing his early career he spent considerable Navy Department—a branch of the serv­
time in the Pacific and is thus conversant ice that has been conspicuous in the jiub­
with conditions in the western ocean. lic eye of late years owing to the grow­
At the outbreak of the Spanish-American ing importance of the question of armor
war he was on the Puritan and saw ac­ and armament on our warships.
tive service during the conflict in con­ Captain Thomas B. Howard wdio was,
nection with the blockade on the north not so very long ago, in command of Ad­
coast of Cuba and the Porto Rican exmiral Dewey's famous flagship, the
pedition. After the war he was for sev­ cruiser Olympia—now the station ship
eral years head of the department of at the Naval Academy—and who has
seamanship at the Naval Academy, and been more recently on waiting orders,
during the summer of 1901 was at the has drawn the prize of detail as com­
Naval War College. Captain Knight is mander of the newly commissioned Ten­
accounted an authority on seamanship nessee. Captain Howard was horn in
and is the author of "Modern Seaman­ Illinois, but was one of the appointments
ship."
at large to the Naval Academy, wdiich
Captain Charles Ward Bartlett, aged institution he entered in the year 1869,
fifty-seven, is the new commander of the graduating four years later. In 1874 he
first class battleship Ohio, and is repre­ was an ensign, and five years later had
sentative of the class of energetic, capable advanced to the grade of master. He at­
and resourceful officers who are hencetained to the junior lieutenancy in 1883
forth to be picked for the important and lieutenant two years later. His pro­
fighting commands in the navy. Captain motion to lieutenant-commander came in
Bartlett was appointed to the Naval 1899. He was with Dewey at the battle
Academy from Massachusetts in the of Manila Bay, on the Concord. He was
summer of 1867 and graduated as mid­ on the Charleston at the battle against
shipman in 1871, was promoted to en­ the insurgents in Manila in 1899 and
sign the following year, and to the grade later took command of the monitor Mo-
of lieutenant in 1875. His advance to the nadnock in the Philippines. FIc had
rank of captain came in 1882 and pro­ command of the monitor Puritan at the
motion to lieutenant-commander in 1899. time of the presidential inauguration of
In his early years in the service this offi­ l'HDl, and later commanded the practice
cer was attached successively to the ship Chesapeake on its annual cruise with
Wabash, Saratoga, Constellation and the midshipmen from the Naval Acad­
other famous ships of the old navy. He emy. Still later he was in command of
had several different periods of service the monitor Nevada.
at the Naval Academy, interspersed Thus, while the fleet on its voyage to
with intervals of sea service on the Pacific will be commanded by
both the Atlantic and Pacific. In 1901 younger men, still, it will be seen that
he was attached to the naval station these new officers are, after all, men of
at Cavite in the Philippines, and a few- experience and judgment—men who
years ago was in command of the mon­ have already made records for themitor
Florida. Captain Bartlett's most selves.

New Cammerai Dwarfs Distance
HE day has gone by
when one army stands
T V * i up and shoots at an-
II other army, with only
yj the unaided eye to find
the range. The day has
gone by when one
army gets within a few
rods of another and fights to a finish in
a hand to hand conflict. We get behind
walls, and in trenches and miles apart,
and find out ranges with wonderful instruments
and fight without seeing wdiat
we are fighting—we are killed and
wounded by projectiles that come to us
on a parabolic curve, and to save ourselves
from exposure on the level is no
more to be safe from harm.
Anything that helps one general in
command to find out something about the
other general and his army, and where it
(41111)
C^o Cl^^ady
is and wdiat it proposes to do, is a strenuous
friend in time of need, in war.
As yet untried, but being eagerly examined
and tested, in this connection, is
a strange, weird and wonderful camera
called a Telephot Vega, made abroad, and
of which there is one solitary specimen in
this country, now being tested by the
Signal Corps. The writer had the
good fortune to be present and to assist
in making the first tests of this remarkable
instrument, and, imperfect and
much to be improved as the results are,
they show the wonderful capability of
this instrument, or others which may
come after it and which will be better, as
this is better than anything hitherto imagined
for the purpose.
The end to be gained in this camera—
and let it be said, in any camera which
will give accurate information regarding
THE ORDINARY CAMERA'S VIEW OF THE NATIONAL CAPITOL, TAKEN FROM TOP OF
WASHINGTON MONUMENT, WITH SIXTEEN-INCH B. AND L. ZEISS PROTAR LENS.

the whereabouts and range of an enemy
who is not visible to the eye—is a large,
clear, magnified jiicture. Those of you
who are photographers will at once think
of telejihoto attachments for cameras.
The trouble with these attachments is
that the images they yield are not very
sharp, will not stand magnification and
cannot be made at speed. The lens forms
an image, as in the usual camera, and.
with the telephoto attachment, this image
is spread out, or magnified. A loss
of light and illumination results, and a
time exposure, or at most a slow snaji
shot, is indicated. Finally, the image is
hard to focus, the instrument delicate of
adjustment, and delicate and sensitive to
such influences as wind or vibration.
The Telephot Vega goes at the matter
in a new way. It is a well known scientific
fact, of course, that the longer the
focus of a lens, the larger the resulting
image—the size of the image bears the
same relation to the size of the object,
that the focus of the lens, does to the
distance of the lens to the object. Why
then, not use a long focus lens and get
a large image in the first place, rather
than a telephoto? The difficulty is one
NEW CAMERA DJVARFS DISTANCE 461
of mechanics. Take, for instance, a sixtyfive
inch lens, such as is in this Telephot
Vega instrument, and mount it in a camera.
The first requirement it will make
is a bellows extension of seventy inches—
two inches less than six feet! This
TELEPHOT VEGA CAMERA OPEN, READY FOR USE
would be a handy instrument to strap to
one's back and climb a mountain with!
The next demand will be some delicate
mechanism to focus the lens, in front, and
yet reach the extended arm of the man in
the rear, who must look at the ground
WHAT THE TELEPHOT VEGA CAMERA DID AT SAME DISTANCE.
Compare this with ordinary camera's work opposite.

462 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
glass and the image in order to tell when
it is sharp and when the view he wants
to take is on the glass. If you attempt
to solve the problem with a back focus
camera, you have to admit a heavy bed
and strong side arms and increase your
weight enormously ! So. were that the
only solution of the difficulty the long
focus lens, acting as a telescopic camera,
might well remain something to be desired
in the abstract and shunned in the
concrete.
I!ut it isn't. The manufacturers of
r
1
this instrument have crawled round the
difficulty in an ingenious manner. They
have taken the focal length of the lens,
and doubled it up, as one doubles up a
strap and puts it in his pocket. They
provide a camera two feet long and about
twelve inches square, when closed. When
open, it is about two feet by twenty
inches by twelve inches. The top of the
instrument which is a collapsible cloth
dark-chamber, fits into the body when the
machine is shut up, and is extended—
see illustrations—when it is open. At
each end of the upper and lower decks
"of this camera are mirrors. The first is
at the end of the lower deck opposite the
lens and is tilted at such an angle that
the light rays, which fall upon it from the
lens, are reflected back-and upwards, to
a second mirror, in the lens-end of the
camera, in the upper deck. From here
the light rays are once again reflected to
the plate at the rear end of the upper
deck. The length of the camera is, as has
been said, about two feet, but the focal
capacity of the instrument is the distance
from lens to mirror, from mirror to mirror,
and from the last mirror to the plate
WHITE HOUSE, TAKEN WITH TWENTY-THREE-INCH B. AND L. ZEISS PROTAR LENS
—in all from sixty to seventy inches, according
to the jiosition of the lens.
The wdiole thing goes in a pack not too
large for a man's back and weighing approximately
forty pounds. Quite a load,
to be sure, but a mere bagatelle compared
to the six foot camera outlined above!
Now as to some of the results which
this instrument can accomplish. Accompanying
it was a booklet containing some
very remarkaiile views and it looked
dubious to the writer wdiether or not we
would succeed in equaling them. It was
suggested that the top of the Washington
Monument would give a very good

view point from which to test the Cajiacity
of the instrument, as from it can be
had a range of fifteen miles or more of
horizon, and the city of Washington
would provide many things to photograph
at almost any distance. At the
same time the instrument was tested,
some additional photographs were made
with an ordinary camera and a B. and L.
Zeiss Convertible Protar lens, wdth foci
of ten, sixteen and twenty-three inches
respectively, in order to have some basis
of comparison. These photographs were
made on 8x10 plates—the Telephot Vega
takes a plate 7x9^—which had to be cut,
by the way, from 8x10 plates, in a dark
room, and a difficult task it is, until you
know how!
The first object the Telephot Vega was
turned upon was the United States Capitol
Building, directly to the east of the
Monument. The two structures are
7,450 feet apart. The Capitol Building
just comfortably fills the plate with the
Library in the distance—with a lens of
average focus the Capitol is so small
that you have to hunt for it! On the
NEW CAMERA DWARFS DISTANCE 463
RESULTS SECURED WITH TELEPHOT VEGA
Compare with view on opposite page.
same picture at the extreme left i.s the
new Union Station, two miles from the
Monument. Compare its size with the
picture the Telephot Vega takes of the
same subject!
The jiicture of the LTnited States Naval
Observatory is perhaps as remarkable an
example of the work of this camera as
could well be imagined. In the actual
view of the building with the naked eye,
all that can be seen is a white blur among
the trees. Here the whole building is
plainly visible and the windows are easily
countable. It is impossible to see any
windows at all in a picture taken with the
ordinary camera or with the unaided eye.
Striking, if not so good an example of
the long distance work of the camera, is
the picture of the White House, and the
comparison with tlie picture of the White
House and the city made with the usual
camera, but with a very long focus lens
in it.
The lens in the Telephot Vega has a
focal length of sixty odd inches. Its diameter
is four inches, giving a relative
opening of F. 16. But it must be re-

464 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
NEW UNION STATION—AT EXTREME LEFT UNDER WHITE CROSS.
Taken at distance of two miles, with ordinary camera.
membered that this is a single lens—corrected
only for color aberration and
that the illuminating power is tremendous
in spite of the relatively small stop.
Moreover, taking pictures of distant
buildings and objects as it does, it ad­
mits a large volume of light to the plate,
so that snap shots in the true sense of the
word are easily made. In the pictures
reproduced here the exposure averaged a
fortieth of a second with a curtain shutter
in front of the lens, and wdth the lens
THE WONDERFUL PHOTOGRAPH INSTRUMENT READY TO PACK
The mirrois are placed in a special case by themselves.

DISTANCE 465
THE TELEPHOT VEGA BRINGS THE UNION STATION CLOSE INTO THE FOREGROUND.
Compare with opposite view
(1) wide open, (2) stopped down and
(3) with a very small stop indeed, according
to light conditions.
The mirrors are silvered on optically
plane glass, with the silver uppermost, so
that no double reflection and parallax of
image result. The faults of the lens,
spherical aberration, astigmatism, etc.,
are not noticeable except upon the edges
of the field of view and do not play any
practical part there, although the consequent
distortion of the image might
make accurate measurements, for range
finding, for instance, of doubtful value.
The remedy would be to use a corrected
lens.
It may be easily seen that as photographs
these prints leave much to be desired,
both as to definition along the
edges and as to exposure. But it must
be remembered that we were using a new
instrument about the capabilities and operations
of which we had but hearsay
ideas. Our tendency was to over expose,
and even with a very short exposure
the haze of the distance caused local
fogging. The camera is fitted with a
focal plane shutter as well as the front
curtain shutter so that true speed pictures
can be taken.
The military uses of this instrument
are apparently unlimited. As a recorder
of facts learned in a balloon it will at
once jump ahead of any visual and pencil
notes. The enemy's maneuvers will
be brought to one's eyes. As a map
maker of small portions of territory it
easily takes precedence over any other
method at present available in confined
situations or where time is of value.
It may readily be comprehended that
batteries could without any difficulty be
concealed in and about the buildings photographed
and never show in ordinary
photos, while with this instrument
their presence would be clearly indicated.
Frequently a general in command
will want to see with his own
eyes many features of the country
wdiich otherwise he has to take on the
faith of the reports rendered to him
by his aids. Equipped with a camera of
this sort, an aid could easily make a
photo in less time than he could make
notes, and present the developed plate to
his general in a very brief space of time
—and observations could be almost as

466 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
easily made from the plate as from the
jirint.
Of course all this is as yet speculation.
No use of this instrument has as yet
been made in war. It i.s now in the experimental
stage and the Signal Office,
which has the matter in charge, is not
as yet ready to give out any statement as
to its value. I'.ut the tests are being carried
on, and will undoubtedly be very ex­
The Hearts Prayer
As down in the sunless retreats of the ocean
Sweet flowers are springing no mortal can see,
So deep in my soul the still prayer of devotion,
Unheard by the world, rises silent to Thee.
As still to the star of its worship, though clouded,
The needle points faithfully o'er the dim sea,
haustive. It looks, however, as if a new
tool had been added to the rack where
the observer keeps his implements—a
new arm been furnished the Art of W r ar
by one of the Arts of Peace. Certainly
no one can deny that the results are remarkable,
or that the method used to get
the cajiacity of the instrument within
the carrying capacity of an ordinary man
is ingenious in the extreme.
So dark when I roam in this wintry world shrouded,
The hope of my spirit turns trembling to Thee.
MoOKE.

WHERE CHICAGO SET THE PACE.
View on the $50,000,000 Drainage Canal, offered as part of lakes-to-culf waterway.
JHICAGO is to become
a sea-port! The greatest
inland city of our
continent is to be made
an active competitor
for the world - trade
that is transported in
ships, and to receive directly
at its own wharves the argosies of
the old world and of the
southern seas.
And it is to be compassed
by bringing the
coast to Chicago and not
by moving the city to the
sea. For a loop is to be
taken in the coast-line,
as it were, and it is to be
drawn up from the Gulf
of Mexico and through
the valley of the Mississippi
and the Illinois
and hooked over a good
stout mooring at the
gateway of Lake Michigan,
forever uniting
salt and fresh water seas.
The Mississippi is to
My Ho G. H^unattaimgi
carry something else, in millions of tons,
besides sediment, and twenty-two great
prosperous states of our Middle West are
to come into their own.
For years a gradually swelling cry has
been going up from the valley of the
great river, strangely like a magically
multiplied echo of prophetic words spoken
centuries a

468 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
LOVERS' LEAP.
Great rock on the Illinois' beautiful cour
highway to the sea," is the burden of the
plaint that has the very sound of Marquette's
inspired foretelling, when he first
drifted down the mighty stream with
Joliet in 1673. There has been a strange
hiatus in the echo, it is true, for it has
not been plainly heard till now, but its
vibrations have found a sensitive sounding-board
in dire need at last, and are
waking the nation.
In the yalley of the Father of Waters,
there are fifteen thousand miles of rivers.
They tap a section of our country
where something like ten billion dollars'
worth of finished jiroducts is the yearly
output: where forty per cent of the area
of our fertile land is wdthout an adequate
market; where inexhaustible resources
are yet scarcely drawn upon ; where the
growth of business is outstripping the
utmost possibilities in railroad building,
five to one. They are the natural highways
of this great section which even
now jiroduces three-quarters of our exports,
the bulk of our agricultural products
and seventy-five per cent of our manufactures.
The time for the beginning
of their develojiment is near, for business
opportunity in this great middle
west is hanging like ripe fruit, suffering
for the picking.
The proposed Lakes-to-Gulf deep
waterway, which has so many friends
and some such bitter enemies is only the
beginning of what is to be done, but it
is a big beginning. The railroads cannot
keep up with the business that is
fairly bursting all bounds of expectation.
They are losing ground
in the struggle, and railroad
men, who once opposed
the inland waterways,
are now urgent in
advocacy of this mighty
one, wdth dire prophecy
concerning delay or neglect.
The only problem
that stands in the way is
an engineering, not a
financial one, for there
wdll be money enough
for the work, when the
engineers decide how it
.i is to be used.
Organizations of the
e. most progressive and
far-sighted business men
of the valley have been formed in the
various cities and almost every town,
hamlet and farm in the whole section
has earnest advocates of the
undertaking. It was in response to
the united invitation of the governors
of a dozen states that President
Roosevelt made his recent trip down the
river to attend the convention at Mem-
LAKES-TO-GULF WATERWAY.
Proposed route is marked by dotted line along course of
rivers it is to follow.

TO LINK THE LAKES WITH THE SEA m-
phis, when he gave clear
evidence of his hearty
support of the plan. A
bill is now before Congress
calling for the
issuing of bonds to the
amount of $500,000,000,
for the improvement of
rivers and it was . inspired
by the great interest
in this one project.
When it is realized
that one vessel of two
thousand tons burden
can float the loads of
two trains of thirty cars
each of average capacity,
down the broad brown
bosom of the river, at a cost of about
TWO-MILE CURVE ON THE DRAINAGE CANAL.
Wide sweep in great artificial waterway near Romeo, III.
one-sixth of railroad charges, it is no
wonder that this fact alone interests everyone
who has a pound of freight to
move. And when it is known that the
thousands of tons of products that might
be shipped cannot now find carriers at
any price, there is no doubt about the
building of the canal; the force behind
the plan makes it a certainty. It will be
the only saving of the Mississippi valley.
It has been stated that the Lakes-to-
WHERE REFLECTION MATCHES REALITY.
iew of Chillicothe, 111 , a pretty river town.
Gulf canal is as important as the Panama
canal itself and the statement is conservative.
To have an unobstructed passage
by water for freight from all the great
section bordering on our inland seas,
through the heart of our richest middle
country to which a thousand feeders
would immediately bring from other
thousands of sources, streams of traffic
like the rivers themselves, flowing endlessly
from the springs of interior industry,
will be of value incalculable. No

470 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
IN THE DEPTHS OF FISHBOURN CANYON.
One of the many scenic beauties to be found along the Illinois river.
single investment the government
and people of the United
States could make will pay
better. It is doubtful if any
other would pay so well.
Waterway competition will pull
down railroad rates, and such
a waterway as this can handle
our present business and give
opportunity for development
the railroads can never give.
For every dollar invested two
will be saved in rates in a
period less than the period of
building. And the value of
adequate facilities for development
cannot be guessed at, for
opportunity cannot be priced.
It will cost $100,000,000 to
build the deep waterway from
the Lakes to the Gulf. The
government engineers reported
in 1904 that it would require
$31,000,000 to deepen the Mississippi
and Illinois rivers from
St. Louis to Chicago. But this
upper part of the way is simple
in comparison with that below
St. Louis. The Mississippi
is a river of mud banks and
mud bottom. It is supposed to
have a channel below St. Louis
of eight to nine feet depth, but
that channel shifts like a ribbon
in a breeze. Dozens of feet
of silt may be deposited by the
laden waters in a w^eek and
swept away in a night. Dredging
under such conditions is
useless and by whatever plan
the canal is built, it will have
to control this restless change.
Wandering, willful, headstrong,
obstinate, resistless, the
river which has grown old in
habits of indifference to bounds
of any kind must be fettered
and led, like a big brown slave,
to the fetching and carrying,
and to the turning of wheels—
for waterjiower is to be one of
the priceless "by-products" of
the general plan. Geologists
say that the huge, blind, unguided
worker, wdth its sinews
of matchless power, brings
down in its giant grip each

year 400,000,000 tons of rich
earth it has filched on its ruthless
way from the Minnesota
lakes to the southland. Swirling
and twisting at the mercy
of the river's whim, this huge
bulk slips and slides to and fro,
forward and back, filling or
banking up or sucking away,
in constant, uncontrollable
drift, with the uncertainty of
clouds in the sky. From Cairo
to the Gulf, the river rides a
ridge of its own building, high
above the adjacent country,
where only dikes keep it in its
course.
Yet it has been the visionary
schemes and plans brought forward
by those only partly familiar
with the problems involved
that have stirred most
of the opposition the general
scheme has met. One idea,
that the 400,000,000 tons of
sediment should be kept "in
the townships where it belongs,"
is a specimen of the
notions advanced. The plan
proposed in the last river anti
harbor bill before Congress, of
appointing a board to report on
the practicability of a fourteenfoot
channel from St. Louis to
the Gulf, suggests turning a
portion of the route into a
canal with locks and dams, and
this idea has met with storms
of criticism and protest. But
ignorance is also responsible
for much of this. General
knowledge on the subject may
even fairly be represented by
the recent extravagant speech in
Congress, which pictured the
proposed canal as having "two
granite walls, two hundred
feet high and two thousand
miles long," in comparison
with which the famous Chinese
wall, twenty feet high and
twelve hundred and fifty miles
in length, would be insignificant.
This is absurd, of course,
but when it is considered that
the difference between the
river's high water mark in the
TO LINK THE LAKES WITH THE SEA 471
WHERE THE SHADOWS PLAY HIDE-AND-S EEK WITH THE SUNSHINE,
IN FISHBOURN CAN YON.

i Z»
TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
NEAR THE TOP OF LOVERS' LEAP.
One of the many places along the Illinois about which Indian legend clings.
spring and low ebb in the fall is a difference
of fifty feet, it may be imagined that
the works which will control the mighty
stream and make it permanentlv navigable
will be indeed of huge proportions.
But the kinks must be taken out of the
stream below St. Louis, for the river
travels as much as fifteen to twenty-five
miles to gain one, at times. Its course
through the lower valley is like the tor-
SOLITUDES IN A SETTLED COUNTRY.
Back in Fishbourn Canyon, away from the river, there is the quiet and wild beauty of the wilderness.

TO LINK THE LAKES WITH THE SEA 473
tuotis wanderings of a
lost thing. When one of
Nature's great forces is
uncontrolled, strange
things happen, and the
Mississippi cannot he
said to be better than
half controlled, for it
sweeps almost at will
wherever its course is
easiest, and everything
yields it the right of wav
or comes to grief. Once
at least every year it
shows its scorn of the
bonds we have so far set
upon it, and strikes
AT THE FOOT OF THE BLUFFS AT ELSAH, III.
strange, erratic blows,
as if of retaliation, at the hands Chicago stands behind her offer to give
that have imperfectly welded its chains. the magnificent Drainage canal to the
Never has its capricious meandering government as a part of the route, if the
been opposed in real effort to con­ government will complete the waterway
trol it, and prophecies are plentiful that to St. Louis. And this great canal, thirty-
it will prove a most unruly captive. But two miles long, twenty-two feet deep and
canalization will be necessary on a part with minimum width of one hundred and
of the route below St. Louis, both to sixty-four feet, cost Chicago $50,000,000.
shorten the distance and to cut out some But, as suggested, the cost of the great
of the great bends of the stream, where undertaking is to be defrayed in part at
many thousands of those tons of sedi­ least, by income from the sale of waterment
are scoured from the banks by the power, which will be created by construc­
water in its passing.
tion along the lines planned. The Sani­
The problem is even greater than that tary District set this example, and the
of the Panama canal, for its like has plans include this important feature.
never been attempted, and conditions are There is untold energy locked in the
of such an uncertain character. But if waters of the rivers which have been car­
the interests of Chicago and St. Louis rying craft in a desultory way, ever since
alone were to be considered, it would pay the time when La Salle's own little boat
to push the enterprise to completion. nosed through the current. The same
power wdiich helped
Tonty defend Starved
Rock against the hostile
Indians in 1680, is still
idling its way past the
base of the grand old
island monolith where he
made his fort. The mills
of the gods are not more
resistless, though not
more slow and still and
mysterious than that
wonderful force that
lives in the rivers and
waits and waits for op­
OLD INDIAN LOOKOUTS.
Notch Cliff near Elsah, 111., from which the Indians watched La Salle navigate
' the Illinois.
portunity. Only in the
riotous annual carousal,
when literally drunk

474 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
FAMOUS STARVED ROCK.
Scene of historic siege of La Salle's men in
with its own power, it gives terrifying
evidence of its presence, do we even realize
a part of the water's awful might.
And to gather and conserve and use this
power, now wasting itself away in alternate
sleepy uselessness and debauch, is
one of the great purposes in view.
A prophetic glance into the future, at
what may be in store for the Alississippi
valley, when the canal is built, is intoxicating.
Not only will the great traffic on
the Lakes have a water outlet to the Gulf
and so to the Atlantic
and, via the Panama
canal, to the Pacific, but
the waterway will provide
a passage for lighter
draft war vessels, to
or from the lakes. The
ports of the gulf and of
South America will come
into direct touch with
Memphis, St.Louis, Chicago,
Duluth, Detroit,
Cleveland, Buffalo. The
great middle west will
control the trade of the
entire west coast of
South America, after
!-85. the Panama canal is
completed, provided the
deep waterway from the Lakes to the
Gulf is constructed. Otherwise it will
be Japan, Germany and England, which
will exercise commercial sway over this
vast empire to be opened up. The wonderful
growing trade with the Orient will
not be the monopoly of our coast cities.
The tremendous agricultural and mineral
resources of our whole middle country,
which are simply incomputable, will pour
out to the world, and a return flood of
wealth will flow in ujion the country. If
CLOSE IN UNDER OLD STARVED ROCK.
er de Tonty made Ins long fight against the savages during the absence of his chief.

TO LINK THE FAKES WITH THE SEA 175
WHERE TIIE FOX RIVER MEETS THE ILLINOIS.
The bridge in the center of the photograph crosses the mouth of the Fox
any man says that opportunity for gaining
wealth does not now exist as in a
past generation, let him turn his eyes
upon the Mississippi and its waterway
project. For the canal is sure to come.
It will be undertaken within a few years
at the utmost, and it will be built, as surely
as the Panama enterprise will be com­
pleted. And some not distant day the
commerce of the South and of the East
and of the West will be crowding the
route which La Salle and Joliet and Pere
Marquette marked out, and which their
vision pictured, at the very period of discovery,
as the future highway of a
world's trade.

NoveMes frossi the Atmto §Ih©wg
HE day when it is necessary
to disjiute with the
Gotham cab driver either
before the starting of the
trip or at the conclusion
of it regarding the fare
charged is nearing its end, thanks to the
taxicab, or more jiroperly the taximeter
cab, which vehicle is provided with a
recording instrument on the dial of
which is shown the exact fare or tariff
due. A German inventor, a coujile of
years ago, perfected the first taximeter,
which instrument, housed in small metal
box a foot long, half a foot wide and four
or five inches deep, performs the manifold
duty of reckoning the fare the cab
earns while traveling on the street, while
>eees°©ft
total mileage of the day and the exact
mileage of each trip, and finally making
a record of mileage and fares for the
benefit of the cab owner. In brief, the
taxicab comes as a detective prodigy between
the cab owner and the cab driver
on the one hand and between the cab
driver and the traveling public on the
other hand.
On the conventional cab the taximeter
instrument is carried at the left of the
driver's seat, where its dial is readily
read by the driver and passengers; and
its internal clockwork and distance recording
mechanisms are absolutely enclosed,
being foul and weather-proof, the
metal case with its metal seals making it
impossible for the driver to interfere with
THE OLD LONDON BUS ADAPTED TO NEW CONDITIONS.
waiting in front of the club or department
store, while carrying extras such
as trunks and miscellaneous luggage, and
in addition keeps a record of the driver's
actions by registering the number of trips
the cab makes each day, counting up the
(476)
the mechanisms and so either cheat the
cab owner or the passenger. Some instruments
are housed in oblong boxes,
others in circular cases, but in both the
machinery is practically alike, one style
hailing from the German workshop, the

NOVELTIES FROM THE AUTO SHOWS 477
A TAXICAB, SHOWING CONNECTION FROM FRONT AXLE TO METER.
The meter records distance traveled and the passenger pays accordingly.
other from the Paris factory. The speed
and distance recording part of the
instrument is driven from the front
wheel of the cab through a flexible shaft,
but the clock portion consists of a standard
watch mechanism which is set in motion
by a vertical lever rising from the
top of the taximeter case and on which
lever are the words "For Hire." When
the cab driver starts for a club to pick
up a passenger he moves the "For Hire"
handle to a horizontal position, setting
the clock mechanism in order, which continues
until stopped by the driver at the
completion of the run. As the trip progresses
the dial shows the exact fare
chargeable at the end of each half-mile or
third-mile, this 'fare being adjusted by
the instrument according to whether one,
two, three or four passengers are carried.
The majority of taxicabs operate on
two schedules, one for one or two passengers
and the other for three, four or five
passengers. In the first schedule thirty
cents pays for the first half-mile of the
trip, with an extra ten cents for each additional
quarter mile, making the first
mile fifty cents for the two people and
each additional mile forty cents. When
carrying three, four or five passengers
thirty cents covers the first one-third mile
and each additional one-sixth mile is ten
cents, making the trip for five cost seventy
cents for the first mile and sixty
cents for each additional mile. On the
taximeter instrument are a couple of
press buttons for registering extras such
as trunks and long waits, beyond the
hour of arrival for which the cab was
ordered. Waiting costs two people ten
cents for each four minutes, the cost for
one or five passengers for waiting being
the same.
All told the taxicab promises to bring
about interesting changes in the cab business
in American cities the same as it has
done in Berlin, London and Paris, in all
of which centers the public demand for
rational cab rates without accompanying
driver's extortion was so great as to
necessitate the installation of taxicabs at
the rate of hundreds per month. New
York has placed over one hundred in
operation within the last four months,
and the city transportation companies are
awaiting the arrival of five hundred more

478 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
that have been ordered, for the taxicab is
very popular with passengers.
Although the wheels of permanent
progress turn slowly in developed industries,
the comparatively juvenile industry
frequently sets an unexpected pace that
occasions criticism in the minds of the
more mature. In motor building this
rapid trend has been most conspicuous,
UNIQUE TYPE OF POWERFUL AUTO-CYCLE, WITH EIGHT CYLINDERS
and nowhere is it better exemplified
at present than in the turning of attention
to six-cylinder motors by the
leading builders. In the infant days of
the motor car—the last two years of the
past century and the opening two of the
present century—makers considered one
cylinder enough. In 1903 the two-cylinder
motor was introduced at the expense
of much exposition in order to
break down the argument that "with
twice as many cylinders there will be
twice as much trouble." A year later
the two-cylinder motor was followed by
the four-cylinder type, which has been
the accepted style for the past three seasons,
and which is looked upon as not
increasing the troubles of driving a car.
Now comes the six-cylinder motor, representing
as it does a fifty per cent increase
over the four and which is claimed
not to augment materially the running
trouble. The six-cylinder motor has not
been introduced with the sole aim of
getting more power, as that could have
been done by making the cylinders in a
four type larger, but rather to reduce
the vibration of the motor when running.
With a single-cylinder motor there is
one explosion for every two revolutions
of the crankshaft, with a two-cylinder
motor there is an explosion every crankshaft
revolution, with the four-cylinder
motor there are two explosions per revolution
and with the six-cylinder motor
there are three explosions
per revolution. The
explosions in a hydrocarbon
motor can be
compared with blows
struck by a hammer, the
force of each blow being
designed to revolve the
crankshaft. From this
it follows that one blow
every other revolution
gives a slightly irregular
action which is counteracted
largely by carrying
heavy flywheels; in the
two-cylinder the blows—
power strokes — take
place every revolution, a
flywheel aiding in regu­
lating the turn of the
crankshaft; in the fourcylinder
are two strokes each revolution
and in the six three strokes,
all of wdiich means that the more powerblows
per revolution the more constant
will be the speed and power of the motor
and the less vibration set up. Reducing
the vibration means increasing the life
of the motor. At the recent New York
motor shows fully twenty-five per cent
of the makers presented six-cylinder cars
and abroad the percentage is still higher.
The six-cylinder motor weighs but
slightly in advance of the four in that
what weight is needed in its two extra
cylinders and the larger crankcase can be
taken out of the flywheel, which can be
very much lighter than in the four because
the three explosions per revolution
give so even a distribution of turning
force, or torque, to the crankshaft that a
heavy flywheel is not required to
steady it.
The low-priced car for which the wisdom
centers have been looking for several
years gives promise of taking its
place this year, and in fact one Detroit

NOVELTIES FROM THE AUTO SHOWS 479
maker has had a low-priced car on the
market for a year or two, having disposed
of over ten thousand of them.
The other makers are on hand and now
the eighteen horse power car that can
travel at forty miles per hour is purchasable
for eight hundred and fifty dollars.
The low-priced car is a four-cylinder machine
and in every respect is fashioned
closely after the higher priced machines.
It is not a toy car but a real motor
vehicle, capable of taking its load over
any roads and at speeds equal to the demands
of rational drivers. But while one
case a year, of the medium priced car,
appears, the prices of the other cars still
go up. The quoted prices for next year
show by careful compilations to be
higher than the listed prices for this
year, a condition obviously brought about
by the improvements in the material and
workmanship of the machine. Concerns
additions each year, adding the latest
automatic machinery and experimenting
with various metals and constructive materials,
all of which sap the treasury and
prohibit big cuts in prices.
Each season brings out its particular
style of body for motor cars, a style
largely determined by the continental designs
and by the leading carriage builders,
who have broadened their lines of
manufacture to incorporate the motor
car with the horse drawn vehicle. For
next year the new body is the tourabout
—a four-passenger design wdth four individual
or bucket seats as they are
termed. Heretofore the driver and passenger
beside him occupied this type of
seat and the rear or tonneau jiart carried
a large seat for three or four passengers
across the back of the car with additional
room for two extra seats. Now all this
is eliminated and instead of the tonneau
CARS ARE COMING WITHIN REACH OF MANY PURSES.
This machine sells for $850.
in getting out their models for next year
saw devices that had to be added in order
to keep in step with the progress of
rival concerns and the additional expense
of these many changes made it imperative
to add from fifty to a couple of
hundred dollars to the price. Then, too,
many makers have been making factory
are two seats similar to those occupied
by the driver and the passenger beside
him, making a four-passenger car only.
The reason for this restriction of seating
space originated with the car owner who
feels that four seats are enough and that
with such a car the tire repair bill is greatly
reduced, the life of the car increased and

480 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
A SEPARATE SEAT FOR EVERY PASSENGER IS PROVIDED IN SOME OF THE NEW CARS.
its appearance not a little enhanced. The
stage coach body is also on the increase
although its future will be very limited.
In design it is fashioned after the old
English private coach with such added
luxuries as top for the driver and the
finest interior finish in silks and cabinet
woods. It is a style of body well adapted
for inter-estate uses rather than for
street, park and boulevard service.
AN AMERICAN TYPE OF MOTOR TRAIN.
The train is equipped with the multiple-unit system of electr c motor; i. e., each
car can be controlled separately.
One phase of the motor industry that
has received little attention up to the
present in America but which is now
coming to the front is the motor cycle,
that two wheeled successor of the bicycle,
with its gasoline motor. Nothing has
brought the motor cycle up more than its
speed performances and in this the Curtiss
is a leader, it having made the mile
in 26 2-5 seconds, a speed proportionate to
135 miles per hour. This
-^ particular motor cycle
exceeds the present prescribed
limitations of design
in that it uses an
eight - cylinder motor
having the cylinders arranged
in sets of four,
each set placed to the
other as are the arms of
a V. Using this number
of cylinders gives to
the crankshaft, four
power strokes each revolution,
which, combined
with the light weight of
the machine,makes great
speeds possible. But it
is not merely as speeel
leaders that the motor
cycle deserves attention,
rather its field promises
to be one of unlimited
range in that it is well
suited for postal and

messenger duties. Abroad a third wheel
has been added converting it into a tri-car
and when so manufactured it is useful as
a light delivery machine and one that can
be maneuvered much easier in crowded
streets than can a four-wheeled car. Its
cost of maintenance is comparatively
small, due to its light weight and simplicity
of parts.
In contrast with the motor cycle and
rising in the motoring firmament at the
same time is the motor train of three or
four cars which can wend its way with a
forty-ton load through a crowded street
with as great facility as a touring car.
One American has begun the making of
the road train and this train has demonstrated
to great advantage its superiority
over individual wagons for
army transportation service and for long
haulage. On the front car, styled a
tractor, are mounted a gasoline motor
and an electric generator. The gasoline
motor drives the generator and the generator
manufactures the electricity wdiich
is used to supply the electric motors on
rg^^B^^f^nTIE Fmited States, traiwJ^'^-^Tw?
ditionally devoted to a
MA7 r • 1 UjA policy of peace, and
\Aw) I (Wi anT, i n g itself only for
(Wl{ A w) defense, is teaching its
P^j\^v\/vv7iT^ children to fight. The
(^^^^^^) work thus far done in
maintaining a regular
standing army and a national guard is
held to be inadequate, in the light of
political conditions growdng out of the
Spanish war. For many years attempts
have been made to supplement our imperfect
military system by instruction in
the public schools, hut these as a rule
have proved unsuccessful. New York
TRAIN SCHOOL BOYS TO SHOOT 481
each of the trailers as well as a motor on
the tractor. In short the tractor is a jiortable
power house,generating as it does its
own electricity and the power to jiroduce
it. The entire train is designed to steer
from the forward car, or tractor, and in
turning a corner each of the trailers follows
the tracks of the tractor, there being
no cutting of the corners such as occurs
when one horse wagon is pulling another
after it. This turning mechanism is accomplished
by using the center pair of
wheels for driving the train and the two
front wheels and two rear wheels for
turning, the front wheels turning in one
direction and the rear wheels in the opposite
direction. The entire train responds
to the control of the driver
whether going ahead, reversing or braking.
The using of six wheels on each car,
although a new construction in America,
has been in operation in Europe and has,
as its leading merit, the distribution of
the load over six points instead of over
four, together with advantages accruing
from quicker turning.
Traimi Sclhooll Boys to SlhooH
My Clhairles A. Sadlsmaira
City is an exception. Today that city has
seven thousand of its school children
under arms.
An art acquired in childhood becomes
second nature. The ancient Siiartans
recognized this fact and from the tender
age of five or six, the Spartan boys began
that hardy military training which made
them the first soldiers in the world.
When the call comes again for men, the
United States should have ready to respond
to that call a multitude of young
men trained from childhood in the use of
fire arms, instead of the raw recruits that
are the horror of the indefatigable drill
sergeant.

482 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
HOW THE SOLDIER SHOOTS WHILE LYING ON THE GROUND.
Using the new sub-target gun machine.
Few appreciate the magnitude of the
New York public school system. There
are over 515 schools, with more than 14,-
500 teachers, and about 600,000 pupils,
which number is more than the entire
population of the city of St. Louis, the
fourth city in the F T nion. Half of these
pujiils are boys.
The vast territory over wdiich the citv
has spread—about 325 square miles—and
iSOQ |
•
its congested streets have made it impossible
for the children, particularly in
the jioorer districts, to obtain systematic
physical exercise, and the bodily condition
of many of them has, in consequence,
fallen below normal. Instead of
spending their energies in play, as they
do in the country, many boys are led to
join "gangs" and to become criminals.
This was just the field wherein to in-
A TARGET REPRESENTING A HUMAN BEING IS SET UP.

augurate military training.
Here were the
boys not only willing,
but eager to enter upon a
course of drill and rifle
practice. Weary of inaction,
craving as all
hoys do, for healthful
activity, many of them
were rapidly developing
into hoodlums and thugs.
In Holland, Portugal,
Italy, Belgium, Switzerland
and many other
countries, encouragement
in various forms
has been afforded to
school boys, including
free ammunition, the
loan of rifles and access
to existing ranges on
Sundays and holidays.
The result has been as
successful as circumstances
would permit.
The Board for the
Promotion of Rifle Practice
undertook to inaugurate
a system of rifle
practice in the schools of
New York City. They were successful.
Their success there has demonstrated the
advisability of the plan for other city
schools of the nation. Military drill that
consists merely of the manual of arms
and simple maneuvers is, however, not of
the greatest practical value viewed
from a military standpoint. Soldiers
must be able to shoot, to shoot accurately
and rapidly—in short they must know
the art of killing men. Besides, to arouse
the maximum amount of interest in the
TRAIN SCHOOL BOYS TO SHOOT 4K.'{
IN THE THREE-HUNDRED YARD RANGE. CAMP PERRY, OHIO.
KNEELING POSITION.
work—or play, as the boys probably consider
it—the drill must be "sure enough"
soldiering, and nothing will so convince
a boy as to the reality of his military
training as will a gun that can shoot and
which, moreover, he is permitted to
shoot.
President Roosevelt is himself a crack
shot, and believes that every man and
boy should learn to handle a gun properly.
In speaking of the fact that so
many people know so little about rifle
shooting, he says, that
"nowadays the most
valuable fighting man
and the most difficult to
perfect is the rifleman;
for however well drilled
a man may be, his inability
to maintain an effective
fire makes him a
dangerous and demoralizing
encumbrance on
the battlefield." Certain
it is, there is no use to
pay, equip, subsist, and
transport a soldier to the

4*4
TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
'" volunteers ; and in such
event these volunteers
should know how to
shoot; for if a soldier
has the fighting edge,
and ability to take care
of himself in the open,
his efficiency on the
line of battle is almost
directly proportionate
to excellence in marksmanship.
We should
establish shooting galleries
in all the large
public and military
schools, should maintain
national' target
ranges in different
parts of the country,
and should in every
way encourage the
STANDING POSITION IN USING TARGET GUN FOR PRACTICE,
formation of rifle clubs
throughout the country."
Thus it came about
that the advent of the
Board of Rifle Practice
created so much interest.
In fact the object
, of the Board,as its name
implies, was to create an
interest in target work.
It has been considered
by army officers
field of battle unless he can hit an enemy that if the average "rookie," regular or
when he shoots at him.
volunteer, had a loaded rifle placed in his
In addition to the National guards hands and was told to develop a score or
maintained in the several states, the Fed­ qualify according to a specified rating,
eral government encourages military drill the chances were, "dollars to doughnuts,"
at the state universities. A United States there would be a great waste of ammuni­
army officer is detailed to each university tion, a disgusted individual with a sore
as commandant, and for every young shoulder and tired eyes, and one who
man under arms the institution receives seldom landed on the target. He would
a sjiecificd sum. Rifle practice is part of have no idea or conception of what his
the work done. Drill is compulsory for "holds" were, and would have rather a
the first two or three years of college life, hazy idea as to how to correct errors
and, as a result, some of these universi­ which he knew to exist.
ties are able to show a roster of from 600 If this is true of a strong man in the
to a thousand members.
regular army, how much more true must
President Roosevelt in his annual mes­ it necessarily be of a growing youngster
sage to Congress of last year, said, that in the schools ?
"excellent results have alreadv come
from the law providing for rifle practice,
but it does not go far enough. Our regular
army is so small that in any great
war we should have to trust mainly to
Fortunately, though not until after
many experiments, a machine was devised
for the purpose of providing a more
effective medium for use in the preliminary
stages of musketry instruction; to

eliminate the difficulties incidental to the
necessity of using expensive ammunition,
and to provide a ready and efficient
means for shooting practice in towns and
armories.
This might, figuratively speaking, be
described as a rifle wdth a captive bullet,
the course of which from rifle to target
is visible. Any rifle can be attached to
AT THE WARMING OR FOULING PIT.
the machine and aimed in the regular
way. The office of the bullet is performed
in a most ingenious way by a
pointer, which, besides duplicating every
movement of the rifle, pricks a small
hole in the target when the trigger is
pulled. On the machine another little
target is placed, and the moment the rifle
is taken in hand, the pointer indicates its
every movement, wandering over the face
of the sub-target just as the sights are
wandering over the face of the distant
target, and coming to rest when
the sights come to rest. W hen the
TRAIN SCHOOL BOYS TO SHOOT 485
trigger is pulled, in place of a bullet flying
towards the aiming target, the subtarget
jumps forward and hits the
pointer, receiving a visible indentation,
which occupies relatively the exact position
of a bullet, had one been fired at the
target aimed at.
As the machine may be used indoors
and by artificial light, no time is lost in
f I
INSIDE THE PIT, SHOWING TARGETS AND MARKERS.
journeying to distant ranges, no expensive
cartridges are required, and consequently
there is no element of danger or
expense. Being operated by electricity—
four cells of a common dry battery are
the operating power—there is but little
expense attached to the machine.
The fact that the navy of the United
States uses machines for the preliminary
target practice of the men proves their
worth, and the wonderful records that
have been made by our sailors during the
past years, is due to continuous training.
For the boys in the New York high

186 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
SUB-TARGET GUN MACHINE IN USE IN NEW YORK CITY SCHOOLS.
schools, a "marksmanship committee"
was appointed in each school to organize
and control the shooting adopted by the
high schools games committee.
The sub-target machines were installed
in those schools and a teacher was selected
in each school, one who was interested
in the subject, as superintendent of
shooting, and four boys from each class
as sergeant-instructors. Squads of boys
in rotation were detailed to practice their
firing under the immediate direction of
a sergeant-instructor.
A badge for marksmanship was established,
to be awarded, as in the army and
in the national guard, for those who
showed satisfactory proficiency in shooting.
The qualifying score first adopted
was forty out of a jiossible fifty off-hand.
It was found almost immediately that the
boys were shooting so well that it was
i necessary to raise the
standard, which has now
been raised to forty-four
out of a possible fifty.
It is hardly necessary
to state that the experience
of our recent wars
has pointed out that
while there is no difficulty
in case of war in
getting all the volunteers
that the country requires
and they can be
given a reasonable
amount of drill in a few
weeks, it takes a long
time to teach them to
shoot, and unless they
can shoot accurately
they are of little value as
soldiers. If, however,
\ the young men who are
22 graduating from our
high schools in the different
states should be
skilled riflemen, the country can rest content
with a small standing army, knowing
that in case of war it can put into the
field at short notice a force of volunteers
whose skill in rifle shooting will enable
them to be fully the equal of any army
which may be brought against them.
The improvement in marksmanship
has been enormous, and now the man
behind the gun is recognized as the most
important factor in military efficiency.
Now, too, everything gives way to target
practice; the one thing a commanding
officer is more interested in than anything
else is the record that his men can score
on the ranges.
There is no gainsaying the fact that
rifle practice trains the eye, steadies the
nerves, encourages alertness and decision,
and exercises a stimulating effect not
lightly to be disregarded.

148} I

4SS TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
Soft fell the balm and the perfume of night with its damps.
Rapture looked out of each face at the feast of the lamps.
So to the goddess they came, but my place was afar;
I could but wonder at Neith. Did she dwell in a star.
Dying at morn when the sun lived again in his strength?
What did she" keep fof her -worshippers passing at length
Out of the sun and the glory to death-lighted gloom?
Out of the spirit's assurance to rest and the tomb?
Question on question might crowd as I heard the hymns roll.
Mine but to bear up the oil for the flame in ray bowl.
Faces might come and be gone and the years die away;
Neith were no nearer my knowing for all the rapt play
Of eager aspiring in eyes that were fire and then dust
Age after age as they passed to the gods of their trust.
I could but symbol a passion of worship not mine.
Seeing but death and not daring to dream the divine.
Rusted and old, tossed aside with the refuse of years.
Lost to all use, to all pleasure, and even to tears.
Borne to the crucible's torturing passion of fire,
I was the chain of a slave at the forge's desire.
Over the sea went our galley, the oars keeping time.
Bitterly sweet -was the song in its rhythm and rhyme.
Soft the far distance -where blue of the sea and the sky
Seemed but the veil of an infinite peace to the eye.
Sometimes a trireme of Greece or of Rome came in sight.
Pirate ship loomed in the haze, or the fears of the night
Deepened to terror past that of the goad or the lash
When in the dark and the distance a light seemed to flash.
Lurid, portentous. Then swiftly the oars beat the foam.
Tense grew the muscles and fiercer the longing for home.
FS.

IRON FROM SINAI
-**-^ r
Better were death than the bench and the oar and the chain;
Better the dirge than the galley song turning the brain.
Mixing 'with laughter and song of a time-darkened day;
Better the body down-plunging, the soul through the spray
Bubblingly seeking the wide empyrean of ligHt,
Free from the noisome and foul, from the day turned to night.
^^hat could a galley slave dream of a glory to be ?
W 7 hat could a galley slave know but the toil of the sea?
visions might come of the maidens bright-eyed in the dance.
Shouts of the youths in the hunting, or gleam of the lance;
Ever a mist would becloud and the glory be past.
Wild-eyed delirium draining the passion at last.
Year after year sped our galley; the rowers sank down
Dead at the laboring oar. I could see the soft brown
Change to the death-coursing blue on the pain-twisted limbs
Ere they were tossed to the shark or the sea-bird that skims
Lightly the surface and gathers its meal as it flies.
Then a new rower, the hope not yet dead in his eyes.
Took the oar grimly, nor knew that awake or asleep,
I should not loose him until he was food for the deep.
[(>-««
4

TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
So year by year, day by day, I was servant to pain.
Bondman to death, seeing ever with wistfulness vain
Night on the Nile and a glory surpassing the stars.
Dearer that now in the dark and the dim and the jars.
Trembling and strange, of the galley*s response to the oar.
Mine it should be to see glory about me no more.
Fashioned again to a use and a purpose of man,
I was a blade of Damascus. The swift flashings ran
Over the heaps of the dying where peasant and lord
Lay in the passionate peace of a sombre accord.
Hatred and wrong fell before me, and valor and strength.
Daring too nobly against me sank pulseless at length.
Torn in the madness of conflict, the young and the old
Gasped in the rush of their blood and grew one with the mold-
Swung in the masterful might of a king's battle-play,
I was a scourge and a passion of ruthless dismay.
Or in the chance and the change of the mutable years
I was the promise of freedom that burned through men's fears.
Now on a cushion of silk for the gazers to see
I shall be idle forever; new worships may be.
Born of new hopes and new strivings, but never again
Up to the stars shall I light the aspirings of men.
Out of earth's hungry ambitions new serfdoms may come;
Never again shall I chain the slave's agony dumb.
Truths shall have birth in the flashings of battle-swung brand;
Never again shall the hero hold me in his hand
Idle forever, no memories more to amass.
Food for the thoughts of the happy who see me and pass,
I can but know that they dig the new ore from the hills.
Put it to -wonderful uses iron only fulfils;
Strings that make music when thousands are silent for awe.
Wires that have gathered earth's secrets,, whose whisper is law.
Through which the passions of myriads sweep in a day.
Sweep and are gone as they came- and I stay, and I stay
Here where they pause for a moment with curious eyes.
Idly regretting the ages of knightly emprise.
Gone is the glory forever, the curse and the song.—
Tell me. oh. tell me. what yearnings and agonies throng
Under the satisfied ease that has deadened your fears.
You who inherit forever the good of the years.

: - ' • - • ' " - . ' - • - - ' . . . . . . :
O more fascinating
"Romance of Trade"
N exists than the efforts
nf an army of adventurers
in the w a s t e
places, charged wdth
the annual fur production
of the world,
which now amounts to $25,000,000.
Here is the oldest industry known to
man, and one beyond the reach of any
trust, since any lonely trapper can throw
his pelts on the market at his own price.
I will remark in passing that the fur
hunters have probably done more worldexploring
than any other travelers. It
was the little beaver that lured men from
the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi, and
thence to the Rockies. Again it was the
sable that led the tribesmen of Asiatic
Russia across to far Kamchatka; and
the big sea otter lured the Spanish and
the English, with Russians and Americans,
all round the world in crazy craft,
exploring our Pacific coast from Alaska
to California.
Todav Canada alone jiroduces over
$3,000,000 worth of furs every year; and
to this Alaska now adds $750,000 of raw
pelts, and Labrador jirobably half this
amount. Until a decade or so ago the
Prybiloffs and other seal islands sent out
$2,500,000 worth of skins annually ; and
then of course we have the enormous
quantities dressed and manufactured for
the home markets.
The woman who buys a coat of sable
or seal, mink or chinchilla, probably little
dreams that her dainty furs represent
more adventure and strange happenings
than any other article of personal or
household adornment. Take "The Company
of Adventurers Trading into Hudson
Hay,"—that unique corjioration
which for two hundred and forty years
held sway over territory equal in area
to the whole of Europe.
It was in 1670 that the Frenchman
Groseilier fired Prince Rupert's imagination
with tales of Arctic territory
filled with jirecious ermine and sables,
beavers and bears, and rare foxes. A
little company was formed with a capital
of $50,000, and mi this slender capital
the far famed Hudson Bay Comjiany
began operations. A couple of centuries
(491)

492 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
later it was supreme
over half
a continent,
possessing nearly
160 posts and
factories, a n d
employing an
army of servants,
both red
and white. The
ji r o fi t s were
enormous. I n
o n e year the
Company declared
a dividend
of fifty
cent!
And it had had no
more faithful servant
than young Donal
Smith, who traded for
furs in desolate Labrador
w a s t e s, and
sjient fifteen years in
the fur region s,
tramping on snow
shoes for thousands
iif miles. That lad is
today Lord Strathcona
and Mount Royal,
Governor of the
Hudson Bay Company.
Lord Strathcona
loves to tell nf
the good old days
when jirices for fine
skins at Fort Dunvegan
nn the Peace
river were absurdly
low. An Indian
wanting a trade musket wnuld he asked
to pile uji as many Rocky Mountain
sables on either side of the weapon as
would cume level with the muzzle.
These skins fetched seventeen dollars
apiece, yet the old musket would have
been dear at five dollars.
In those days the fur factor in the
wilderness sat within his rude log fort
surrounded with jiiles of blankets, cojiper
kettles, knives, guns, looking-glasses
and beads, all to be bartered with up
country redskins from the vast regions
to the west.
For six or eight months out of the
year the trader's world is a white wil-
SKIN OF OTTFR TAKEN
WORTH
IN CHINA SF*
$1,110(1.
when the cold is
tiny weasel coat
derness of snow,
shifted here and
there by poleswept
winds.
Now and then a
big train of dogteams
drives up
with packs of
skins, chiefly otter
and mink,
beaver and
muskrat. The
trader makes an
offer; and if
this be accepted,
he passes over the
little bales cf flannel,
a.s well as tea, powder,
knives, beads,
and tobacco. The
furs in the pack are
immediately sorted.
A silver fox skin may
be worth six hundred
dollars. Cross fox
and the blue and white
varieties will fetch
from ten dollars upwards.
Ermine is always
ajipreciated at the
fort, and many an Indian's
daughter or
squaw wears rudelymade
garments of
this beautiful fur
which no expert could
possibly mistake for
doctored rabbit. Ermine
is at its best
most intense, and the
turns from faun to
yellow, from yellow to cream, and from
cream to snow-white, according to latitude
and season.
Fox, lynx, marten, otter and oear are
now taken with steel traps of various
sizes. As he goes his rounds the lonely
hunter notes the queer little tracks in the
snow, and reads them like the dots and
dashes of a telegraphic code. From the
length of the leajis he judges the ermine's
age. Fourteen inches from nose
to tail-tip means a full grown animal:
and a snare of twine is arranged from a
twig in such a way as to lift the little

ROMANCE OF THE FUR TRADE 493
WITH THIS RUDE VEHICLE THE TRAPPER TRAVELS HUNDREDS OF MILES
THROUGH TIIE FORESTS.
creature clear off the ground and strangle
it instantly. If the tracks are like
the prints of a baby's fingers—that is to
say close and small—the keen eyed trapper
hopes to take a skin fit for a queen
—the little pelts that the kings of
France used to pay one hundred and
fifty dollars each for.
When the trading season is over the
trappers go off to their winter hunting
grounds, which they will not leave from
October till June. In this latter month
the long straggling brigades of canoes
and boats, pack horses and ox carts,
come back with the harvest of winter
furs for the women and girls of civilization.
Considering the untold millions
of skins taken annually, one is apt to
wonder whether the supply can be maintained
? Yet the fur trade of America
is greater today than ever before. The
great Hudson Bay Company sells more
furs than in the days of its monopoly,
although now opposed by a French concern
as powerful as itself, besides hundreds
of lesser competitors that support
free traders in the wilderness, and also
buy by mail.
In fact our fur trade today is actually
greater than when buffalo and beaver
had the run of the whole continent.
True, the buffalo as a fur yielder has
gone, and the beaver is practically extinct.
The sea otter too, that once
yielded 100,000 pelts every year, has now
dwindled to a few hundreds. And the
fur seal is fast on its way to extermination
owing to reckless poaching. But
other furs have taken the place of these.
There is more money going to trappers
today for such ordinary skins as
skunk, musk-rat and fox than was ever
made out of beaver, sea otter, seal and
the rarer furs. The swamps of New

491 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE

Jersey and Delaware alone will yield
three million musk-rats in a fairl}' dry
season, and these fetch from 25 to 40
cents a skin. In these two sections of
this country alone $800,000 a year has
been paid for musk-rat!
The demand for skunk skins so greatly
exceeds the supply that men in the
West are running skunk farms and receiving
prices equal to those paid for
beaver in the old days ;
that is to say two dollars
or three dollars.
Every woman knows
there are fashions in
furs, as in hats or
frocks. And it is
fashion that regulates
the fur trade. A distinguished
woman or
some great Paris house
will take a fancy for
chinchilla, mink, or
other fur, and then up
goes the price. Word
is sent to the trapper.
and they pursue that
skin because it pays
the best. Meanwhile
other little fur bearing
animals get a rest and
multiply during the
respite. In this way
the balance is held
even between the various
furs. And there
are other protections
for the little creatures.
Poison the animals
and you will spoil the
fur. Or kill them out
of season, and you will
have fur that does not
pay for your trouble.
Consequently the most
paving months are
those of midwinter,
when furs' are at their
best. Thus the animals have jierhajis
eight or nine months out of the year
when they are immune from pursuit.
Tlie actual winning of the pelts is a
long and difficult task, for the trapper
must cut himself off entirely from civilization.
Take the vast silent woods ot
Maine where everv vear are taken over
ROMANCE OF THE FUR TRADE 495
200 hears; 300 louji> cerviers ; 700 otters
; 2,000 fisher cats ; 50,000 foxes ; 75,-
000 skunks, and hundreds of thousands
of musk-rats. Most of the choice otter
skins of this section go to Russia, where
lhe nobles have also ordered in advance
all the silver gray and black fox pelts
that may he secured in the state for
years to come. But so rare is the silver
fox that not three specimens will turn
uji in 50,000 skins.
And even these freaks
will jirobably be worth
only three hundred
dollars, or perhajis
half the jirice of the
Russian variety.
The hunter must
carry his traps and
sujijilies into the remotest
regions, where
even lumbermen are
unknown. He builds
a low wide sled holding
three h u nd r e d
jiounds, and loads this
uji with jiork, flour,
u nderclothing
and steel traps. And
when streams and
lakes will bear his
weight he starts into
the wilderness, there
to lead a hermit's life
for seven months.
Arrived at a point
fifty miles from the
nearest habitation the
trajiper looks for two
jiarallel streams. Here
lie pitches his home
camp, setting traps
along both rivers.
This enables him to
visit traps for twenty
miles down one of the
EQUIPPED >"R THE WILDERNESS
frozen streams, camjiing
in a brush shack at
night, and returning down-stream on the
second line next day. An able man will
attend to a hundred traps, taking chiefly
fishers, mink, and otter. It hardly pays
to drag a musk-rat skin fifty or sixty
miles through snowy woods for the sake
of twenty-five cents. But with fisher cats
at five dollars, mink at six dollars, and

496 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
otter at ten dollars or twelve dollars.
there is plenty of profit in the winter's
work.
Yet the labor is exacting, and the
frightful loneliness has driven some men
insane. Otter traps are baited with
fresh pickerel, and those for mink with
musk-rat flesh or hare meat. The fisher
cats are jiarticularly cautious and timid.
A whole day is taken once or twice a
week in cooking food and stretching
skins. These are scrajied and stretched
over wide thin slips of cedar wood,
whittled into shajie with a jiocket knife.
The work is varied by catching fish,
snaring rabbits, and taking musk-rats for
bait and larder. Xow and then the
hunter mav kill a wandering bear—an
event which may lead him to a big store
of wild honey in a hollow tree. In this
utter solitude the fur trapper lives, not
knowing the day of the week or the
month of the year, lie only fixes the
date for breaking up camp and turning
back to civilization by the condition of
the fur on the little animals he takes, or
ESKIMO HUNTER AT A HUDSON BAY POST.
by the effects of sunlight on the snow.
Xow and then he will shoot a deer, or
even a moose, for the sake of the rawhide,
meat, and fat—which latter keeps
his trajis from rusting. A file serves
him instead of a grindstone to keep axes
and knives keen ; and he washes his own
clothes through a hole in the ice, drying
them by an open fire.
The dazzling glare of February often
brings snow blindness ; and a month or
two later the fast thinning fur on his
jirey shows that further work is unprofitable.
Lie then secretes his traps in
hollow logs ready for the next season;
packs his load of pelts on the wide sled,
and trudges off through the forest on a
journey of two or three weeks. On arriving
at a town the trajiper sells his furs
outright for six hundred dollars or so,
and then takes a brief rest before seeking
emjiloyment during the summer
months.
Hunting wood marten on the slojies
of the Rockies—dark glossy skins of the
best—is also an arduous task The trapjier
sets forth in summer for the winter
grounds, traveling up-stream by canoe,
and later taking to snow shoes. Heavy
loads are carried dejiending from a packstrap
around the hunter's forehead ; and
then follow long lonely nights in snowpadded
silences of the great wastes.
And when spring comes the terrible
journey by dog sleigh or canoe must be
faced,—jierhaps to far Winnipeg, one of
the world's greatest fur centers.
Some varieties have almost disapjieared.
Take the sea otter, so high in
favor today in Russia. There was a time
when 150.000 skins would he taken off
the .Aleutian islands ; but the entire harvest
today is a bare 400 pelts, of which
one-half come to the American market,
while the rest go to Russia. And even
these are won at great cost in human
life. Thev must he hunted in the very
teeth of wild Alaskan gales that destroy
even the hardy Aleuts that try to ride
the storm in flimsy skin skiffs, seeking
the big dog-like sea otters that lie hidden
with heads buried in the tossing seaweed.
The Xorth American Commercial
Company has an exclusive right to the
seals of the Prybiloff islands ; but there
is also a Russian concern that has the
run of the Commander islands. Most
ruthless of all, however, are the poachers
that roam the high seas, raiding the
migrating herds, and plundering the
islands with cruel recklessness. Of these
poachers the Japanese are reputed the
most daring. But some idea may he
formed of the general depredations wdien
I mention that two or three decades ago

m—saaaa
the seal herds of the
Prybiloffs numbered
over five millions.
Today, in spite of
international treaties,
there are not 180,000
seals on the islands;
and it is doubtful
whether more than
ten or twelve thousand jielts will come
into the market annually during the
next few years. It is computed that
nearly 20,000 young seals die from
starvation every year on the islands because
their mothers have been killed off
by poachers, who make a dash upon the
herds under cover of fog.
There seems to he no end to the interest
of this subject. Take the curly
glossy Persian lamb, one of the best
known of the more costly furs. One
great international companv have sheep
farms of their own at Bokhara, in Central
Asia, and also imjiort lambs from
Thibet whose skin is noted for being
white as snow and fine as silk. Including
Shiraz, pure Persian lamb, and
Thibet lamb, over a million skins are exported
from Central Asia every year to
this country and Europe.
ROMANCE OF THE EUR TRADE 497
Another wellknown
lamb skin
is the astrakhan,
from South Russia.
Over 600,000
of these skins are
sent annually to
the great fair at
Xijni Novgorod.
Another house
has a silver fox
farm of its own
AT THE HUDSON BAY WAREHOUSES THESE SKINS ARE STITCHED, AND SORTED
INTO LOTS.
on a rocky island off the Labrador
coast. Xo other species exists on the
island, yet by a curious atavism the
animals continue to jiroduce both red and
"cross" puppies, as well as the jirecious
silver, whose pelt may be worth a thousand
dollars.
Xo one yet knows whether the true
silver fox—glossy as silk yet springy as
wdre—i.s a distinct species or a mere
freak. Certainlv not more than two or
three thousand silver fox jielts come on
the world's markets yearlv. Ordinarv
foxes, of course, yield one of the biggest
of the world's fur crojis. In one season
there will come on the market 260,000
English foxes; 300,000 Siberian; 625,-
000 German; 400,000 from Russia in
Europe; 120,000 American red foxes,
and some 60,000 Alaskan foxes of all
varieties.

498 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
The demand for skunk skins is quite
universal. The pelt itself is deodorized
by rolling and tramjiling in mahogany
sawdust. Already the skunk farms of
the West have jiroved profitable experiments,—unlike
the beaver farming attemjited
some years hack', north of Lake
Superior. At least 700,000 skunk skins
come every year from .Michigan, Wisconsin,
Ohio, and the group of Central
Northwestern states. As a general rule.
however, it may he said that fur farming
is a risky business, too often foredoomed
to failure.
Fur comes to its greatest excellence
only when the animal has an enormous
geograjihical range ; and the colder the
weather the finer the fur. Chinchilla is
the best product of the South American
Continent ; 1 ut nutria is the stajile fur
of this region. Over 600,000 nutria
skins come to Xew York every year
from Brazil alone. It is extremely like
a light beaver, and is cleaned by being
revolved in saw-dust tanks and tubbed
in huge butter vats.
Some exjierts prefer a first class
American marten to any Russian sable,
except the most costly. Perhaps the best
sable fields are in Kamchatka, Yakutsk
in Siberia ; and in Xorthern China. Few
people realize that the little sable is barely
nine inches long, even including the
tail; and brown, dark brown, silver and
black are its prevailing colors. Tiny as
this creature is, as much as $150 has
been paid for one of its little pelts. From
this figure the jirice runs down to a
coujile of dollars, according to the
quality.
Xot more than 25,000 black sable
skins come into the world's markets in
any one year. The ermine is no larger.
and is geographically limited to the
coldest regions. True, the little fellow
is found much further south ; but here
the ermine is only a vicious yellow little
weasel worth less than nothing. The
best Russian kinds come from the Yakutsk
jirovince of Siberia ; and the Mackenzie
river district yields the finest
ermine on the American continent. For
a prime and jierfect specimen lhe trapper
will receive four dollars.
Strange to say, a few years ago mink
was so unfashionable that the fur went
begging at a few cents a pelt! But
there "came a time when fashion ajiproved
it, and jirices soared from two
dollars to seven dollars for different
qualities. As a result over 700,000 mink
are exported from Canada and the
l'nited States to European markets.
Our own otter fetches from seven
dollars and fifty cents to thirty-five dollars
: but specimens from the salt water
states of the South rule much lower. Of
racoon, over half a million are sent
from our Xorthwestern states to the
London market, which handles over
$6,000,000 worth of furs every season.
Then comes the badger, wolverine, and
ojiossum. In the case of the last named,
we send another half million jielts to
Europe annually.
Musk-rat, squirrel, and rabbit are sold
literally in millions. Australia alone
produces over 25,000,000 rabbit skins
every year. Rabbit has been called the
greatest sinner in all the long list of
shoddy imitations; but on. the other
hand the musk-rat. almost equally plentiful,
is an imitation that wears. And
some varieties can be dyed to a perfect
imitation of marten.
There was a time when London was
the fur market of the world, but her
supremacy in this respect has passed
away. And, unnoted by the public, another
industrial leadership has come to
the l'nited States; for New York City
is now the greatest fur manufacturing
center in the world. More than 3,000
establishments for the treatment of fine
furs and the making of fur garments
are in ojieration in our largest city, and
the value of their annual jiroduct exceeds
$7,000,000. Experiments by our
own chemists within the last twenty
years have largely changed the methods
of fur dyeing, and now the skin dressers
of Xew York are recognized as preeminent,
especially in the treatment of
otter, mink and beaver.
In some of these establishments you
will see fur coats more costly in quality
than if they were cut from hundreddollar
bills! One of the best houses will
show you a silver fox pelt worth $3,000;
and it is nothing unusual for a big firm
to invest half a million in Russian sables
alone.

Triclqiigilie Air into Service
X a mountain side in
northern Michigan,
I
there is a hole that
strikes down into the
ground some three
hundred and fifty feet.
for the purpose of entrapping
a river and
compelling it to do a strange new thing.
In an underground chamber at the bottom
of this hole, the plunging water once
caught is held up and robbed of a very
precious possession which it is tricked
into bringing down with it, and which,
oddly enough, becomes more precious the
farther down from the surface it is carried.
For the treasure is air, which becomes
compressed air, as the river carries
it down into the underground chamber,
and when it is released in the rock) cavern,
cut in the solid heart of the mountain
for its purpose, it is under such a
pressure that it is ready and eager to
act, and so is very valuable indeed for
power in the neighboring mines.
The jump which the river makes is
not at all spectacular, because it is all
hidden inside of great steel tubes, five
feet in diameter and, to lie exact, three
hundred and forty-three feet long. It
does not make a flying start, but flows
to its tremendous leap as quietly as anv
other unsuspicious, untrapped thing
might approach a pitfall. Hut once
launched on its downward course, it becomes
a subterranean cataract of more
than twice Niagara's height. It is no
wonder that the air. caught in millions
of minute bubbles from the lips of sjiecial
feed-pipes which touch the flowing
stream at the top of its leap, is helpless
to escape till the bottom of the plunge is
reached, and it finds itself imjirisoned in
the dark, with escape blocked everywhere
by the invincible water, and its freedom
onh' jiurchasable in exchange for the energy
its fall has developed.
It is a wonderful air-compresser that
the inventor, II. C. Taylor, has jiroduced
and ajiplied to the needs of the Victoria
Mine, at Victoria, Michigan, where the
air, enslaved by its means runs every machine
in the whole great jilant. The underground
prison for the air is 281 feet
long, twenty-six feet high and eighteen
feet broad. The intakes, of which there
(439)

500 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
BLOW OFF FROM UNDERGROUND A1R-COMPRI
are tliree, for this hole in the earth is a
three-barreled hole, are eacii five feet in
diameter. At the top of each are a number
of tubes which bring the air in touch
with the streams of water as they commence
their descent. The rushing water
sucks the air through these tubes, breaks
it up into bubbles and sweeps it down to
SOR SENDS WATER JET SEVENTY FEET HIGH.
the chamber below. Here, as the intake
l>ipes have their lower ends submerged,
the air is carried below the surface of the
confined body of water and forced to
come to the surface within the cavern
All outlets, through which the water
leaves the cavern are also submerged, so
that the air cannot escape except through

TRICKING THE AIR INTO SERVICE 501
-' -••^'•- "x. .X
SPRAY FROM WATER JET BUILDS AN ICE MOUNTAIN IN WINTER.
valves in control of the mine engineer at her reaches a sufficient degree, the
his central station.
pressing down on the surface
The tail-race,
through which the
greater part of the
water is carried away,
leads to the surface
of the ground at a
point lower than the
river, so that the
water naturally finds
its way out of the
prison by that exit.
Four pipes, with
mouths under the surface
of the water in
the cavern, lead to
the surface. Three
of them small pipes,
of two inches diameter,
lead each up to a
bell, or section of
larger tube telescoped
over the head of an
intake. When pressure
in the air-cham-
air,
of
HEAD OF INTAKE PIPES.
The suction of the water through these tubes draws down myriads of air-bubble
the underground cavern.

502 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
the confined water, forces the latter
up through these small jiipes and
under the bells, raising the latter and so
shutting off the flow from the river, ddie
fourth pipe which leads out of the cavern
is a safety blow-off jiijie, through which
the waer is forced in exactly the same
manner, but only to relieve a jiressure
which cannot be taken care of in other
ways.
It is tlie escape of lhe water from the
safety blow-off jiijie that causes the sjiectacular
exhibition shown in some of the
photographs jirinted herewith. The water
comes out at high jiressure and shoots
to a height (if seventy feet. In the sunlight,
this great stream of water, twelve
inches in diameter, makes a fine sight and
its spray is brilliant with rainbows. In
the winter the sjiray freezes, and falling
down in the form of sleet, causes a small
glacier to form near the mouth of the
pijie. This little ice-berg sometimes
grows as high as the stream throws its
spray.
The outlet of the tail-race is 271 feet
above the normal level of the water in
the air-chamber. The jiressure of the air
in the chamber is due to back-pressure in
the tail-race, while the distance from the
normal water level in the air chamber to
the top of the intakes, 343 feet, gives a
working head of seventy-two feet. Each
of the three intake pijies will develop
1,700 horse-power, so that when all three
are in use, a total in excess of 5,000
horse-power is available. So far, one
intake pipe has supplied all the power
necessary to run the mine-plant. With
this single intake jiipc delivering 11,900
cubic feet of air per minute, under a pressure
of 125 jiounds jier square inch, an
efficiency of eighty-two per cent is obtained.
These figures loom big beside
the efficiency of a turbine air-compressor,
which loses fifty per cent by the time the
water is transformed into actual air
jiressure.
The pipe which leads from the airchamber,
at Victoria, to the mine is
twenty-four inches in diameter. Smaller
jiipes carry the air from this main to the
WIND AND SPRAY MAKE SILVER WORK OF THE FOREST.

various points at which
it is actually used. The
supply of air is inexhaustible
; for, once a
plant of this type is in
operation, it runs as long
as the water supply
holds, and with little or
no expense. There is
nothing to wear out and
no extra attention is
needed, as the comjiressor
takes care of itself at
all points. It gives great
satisfaction to its owners.
Plants of the same
type are also in operation at Magog.
Ouebec, and at Norwich, Connecticut.
The idea is comparatively new, but it is
DEATH 503
Death
Come to the bridal chamber, Death !
Come to the mother's, when she feels
a thorough success, wherever it has been
installed and where conditions make its
construction jiossible.
For the first time her first-born's breath !
Come when the blessed seals
That close the pestilence are broke,
And crowded cities wail its stroke!
Come in consumption's ghastly form,
The earthquake shock, the ocean storm!
Come when the heart beats high and warm,
With banquet song, and dance, and wine !
And thou are terrible !—the tear,
The groan, the knell, the pall, the bier,
And all we know or dream or fear
Of agony are thine.

Farmer 9 © FeatHheredl Frnemdls
My lEdwsvs^d EL O^irlS.
With Photographs from life by N. Dearborn, Assistant Curator of Ornithology, Field Museum of
Natural History, Chicago
According to the recent statement of William Dutcher, President of the National Association of Audubon
Societies, $800,000,000 in crops is destroyed annually by insects, and this destiuction is entirely due to the rapid decrease
of insectivorous birds in this country. The public is just beginning to realize the tremendous economic value of many
of the commonest birds. Mr Clark is an authority on ornithology, and presents the whole matter in a clear and
entertaimng way.
!HE American farmer is
just beginning to scrape
T & X T an acquaintance with
(OT his best friends, the
g// birds. He has had
them with him in field
and in garden through
the years, and they have
toiled for him during the hours of longer
working days than even the over-worked
husbandman has toiled for himself. The
chances are that the first bird that Adam
laid eyes on was pecking away at a
cherry ; for, seemingly, from the day of
Adam, man has held the bird to be a
thief. That we have the feathered ones
still with us despite the fact that the
human hand has been against them ever
since Eden's time,
is due more to the
sagacity of the
birds than it is to
the kindliness of
man.
It would seem
perhaps that the
farmer living in
the very heart of
nature, should
know n a t u r e's
ways, but for some
reason the farmer
until recently never
seemed to be able
to see things in the
right light. Experience
taught
him little. If a
hawk carried off a
(504)
THE SCEEECH-OWL OUTCLASSES THE CAT WHERE THE
CATCHING OF RATS is CONCERNED.
chicken, the hawk was nothing but a
chicken-thief. The fact that the bird
had earned some pay for his labors
in jirotecting the growing grain and
the corn in the crib from the rats
and other rodents, either was lost to
sight entirely or was allowed to weigh
nothing in the balance against the occasional
chicken ravaged from the poultry
yard.
Happily today things are different.
The birds get their cherries from the
trees on most farms without running the
danger of being shot. The chickens are
protected from the hawks by means of
wire netting, and in case one happens to
fall a victim to the appetite and the talons
of a "red-tail" or a "broad-wing" the
fact is not made
the excuse for the
shooting of every
hawk that has the
boldness to cast its
shadow on the
farm.
Not long ago
some of the wise
ones of the Illinois
legislature,prompted
to the attempt
by pot - hunting
"sportsmen" living
in the big cities,
tried to pass a law
putting meadow
larks on the game
bird list. Protests
went to Springfield
to the burden-

FARMER'S FEATHERED FRIENDS So5
i rV'T.-.vi"fe**^?-'^s*Hfc , ^^zAs, A?e
WkA^b,,^y--^A^A: -. %m\W&Z.#// I
OW-"*. : £V *•,* ' :•.:;-£:• '•
.•vz.^r^z^Cz'
'::-",- •f.-iCi.c fvf.*-z~•'•:.?,.yz'
YOUNG MARSH HAWKS.
fPV.c:f:r:z.frc^'^^

506 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
ing of the mail bags, and hundreds of
these protests were sent by the farmers
of the state who had learned
finally that the meadow lark wdiich sits
on tlie fence post in the early spring to
whistle the green things forth, was one
A CHIPPING SPARROW SHADING ITS YOUNG FROM THE SUN'S RAYS.
of the best guardians of the growing
crops. The meadow-lark was not put on
the game bird list, and something akin to
legalized murder was averted.
The Xorthern farmer has come to love
the bobolink ; the Southern planter always
has hated the bobolink. The Northern
farmer protects the bird in May, June
and July, and the Southern planter shoots
the bird in August, September and Octolier.
The bobolink, between the two,
seems to be just about holding its own.
There is no more apjiealing bird of the
meadow than Robert of Lincoln, as the
poet has called him.
Bob r e a c h e s his
northern n e s t in g
ground the last week
in April, and he has a
riotous time of it
waiting the arrival of
his mate, for Mrs.
Bob refuses to travel
northward with her
lord and master for
sume unknown and THE LONG WORM-LIKE TONGUE OF THE FLICKER,
WITH WHICH HE PROBES FOR INSECTS.
unquestionably feminine reason, but
which must be satisfactory to herself.
The male bobolinks rollic around the
fields singing in chorus all day long for
every day of the week that elapses before
the females appear. Then there is the
pairing and the nesting,
but Bob keeps up his
singing until the young
are in the nest and he
must give over music
for the work of feeding
the children. The bobolink
sings on the wdng
and it is this habit added
to his beauty that makes
him a marked bird. If he
would mount to the
heights of the skylark
and let his bubbling
music drop down from
the clouds the American
poets would have attempted
to do for him
what the English poets
have done for their native
lark.
While the bobolinks
are in the fields of the
North they live almost
entirely upon insects and the small seeds
of useless plants. The young are fed practically
entirely upon insects, and as the
young bobolinks have appetites that are
all out of proportion to the size of their
bodies, the inroads that their parents
make upon the grasshopper crop are huge
and commendable. Bob does not leave
the work of caring for the young to his
wife. He is a devoted father and a devoted
husband, and notwithstanding the
fact that he develops a voracious appetite
for rice while passing through the Southland
he deserves a better fate than the
death which so often
overtakes him at the
mouth of the shotgun.
Today there are
few farmers in the
land who have not
been supplied by the
biological survey of
the government's De­
partment of Agriculture
with information

concerning the habits of the common
birds that dwell in and about the farmlands.
The farmer knows now, if he
never knew before, what birds to protect
and what birds to shoot. He knows that
there are so few of his feathered neighbors
deserving of shooting
that it is not neces- ....,..,..„,„.,_
sary for him to load his VA-J ,•>" A77; '.A
gun oftener than once or
twice a season.
The woodpecker (Colaptcs
auratus) ordinarily
called the flicker,
though it has thirty-six
other local names, was
for a long time on the
farmer's proscribed list.
It was hard for the husbandman
to understand
how any bird that pecked
holes in trees could be
otherwise than injurious.
For years it did
not occur to many farmers
that the woodpeckers
were seeking in the bark \iy !r*:.;?7;'''_•
of the trees the insects
wdiich were destroying
the tree's life. When
the bird drills a big hole in which to lay
its eggs it almost invariably picks out a
dead tree or a dead branch upon a living
tree.
The flicker seems to have departed
from the ways of its remotely removed
ancestors for it is no longer exclusively a
bird of the trees. Fully one-half the time
it seeks its food upon the ground wdiere
it destroys thousands upon thousands of
ants, and shows also on occasion a
marked appetite for grasshoppers. The
Washington biologists examined the
stomachs of two flickers and found them
completely filled with ants, the stomach
of one bird containing more than 3,000 of
the insects. The flicker's tongue is particularly
well adapted for the picking up
of the inconsidered trifles of the insect
world.
There are two species of American
cuckoo, the yellow-billed cuckoo and the
black-billed cuckoo. Unlike their English
cousins the American cuckoos build
nests of their own, and rear their own
young. It is not probable that many persons
outside of the ranks of the bird
FARMER'S FEATHERED FRIENDS 507
students know the two American species
ajiart. They are much alike in ajipearance,
and their habits are almost identical.
In the country districts the cuckoo
i.s called the rain crow, because when it
is heard to call, the current belief is that
ROBIN FEEDING ITS YOUNG.
a rainstorm will follow. The bird, however,
is a poor projihet on man)- occasions.
Through three weeks of dreadful
drought in central Illinois I heard the
cuckoos daily at their noisiest, and while
my farmer friends said "Tomorrow it
will surely rain" no rain came—and the
cuckoos kept on calling.
Tent caterpillars, cankerworms, fall
webworms, tussock moths and codling
moths the Washington scientists tell us
are among the worst enemies of the fruit
grower. The cuckoos make war upon all
these pests, in fact they prefer them to
any other food. One cuckoo stomach
that was examined contained 250 tent
caterpillars, while in another stomach
there were found 217 heads of the fall
webworm. Many species of caterpillars
are protected from the attacks of most
birds by their hairy covering. In fact
caterpillars of the hairy kind are practically
immune from the attacks of all
birds except the cuckoos, wdio for some
reason best known to themselves, seem
to prefer as a steady diet the repulsive
creatures which no other bird of the for-

508 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
est or field will so much as look at—a
brave and commendable thing to do.
The cuckoo is a very wraith of a bird.
It makes its way through the tree-tops
like a ghost. There is something almost
uncanny in its movements, but the fact
only adds interest to its life. The farmers
in many instances know the bird only
as the poet knew the English cuckoo, as
a "wandering voice."
The chipping sjiarrow is a bird of the
farm-house door-yard. It is a mite of a
creature, familiar in its habits and almost
absolutely fearless of man. It builds its
nest in the vine that clambers over the
porch or in a low tree or a bush close to
the path. The farmer has
known the chipping sparrow
for generations, and probably
has loved it for its confidence
in him, but doubtless he never
has had a realizing sense of
what the "chippy" has been
doing: for him. The bird is a
great destroyer of the seeds of troublesome
grasses, such as crab grass and pigeon
grass and the species which are allied
to them. During the fall months threefourths
of the chipping sparrow's food
supply is made up of the seeds of these
plant pests.
_ The song sjiarrow is jierhajis the onlv
bird which sings every month of the year.
Its cheerfulness is frost proof and heat
proof. If undisturbed it will become as
familiar as the chipping sparrow. It is
not at all unusual to find the bird's nest
in the currant or raspberry bush of the
garden. The song sparrow, however, is
also a lover of the wild places and there
are few Northern fields which have not
one or two pairs of the songsters homesteading
it for the summer.
The song sparrow is a seed eater, and
the number of weed-seeds which it destroys
in a season is almost incalculable.
In some stomachs wdiich the scientists examined
there were more than 200 seeds
each. When it is taken into consideration
that digestion is a rapid process
among birds, some understanding
can be had of.the
value of the song sparrows
to the agriculturist.
The sparrow family is a
large one, for race-suicide
has never entered into its
calculations. The chipping
sparrow and the song sparrow
have cousins in scores—the tree
sparrows, the fox sparrows, the juncoes,
the white-throats, the whitecrowns
and so on through a long and
honorable list of sparrow family names.
They are humble birds, nearly all of
whom dress in homespun, and most of
whom have the song jewel in their
throats. They are voracious seed-eaters
and to their credit let it be said that they

FARMER'S FEATHERED FRIENDS
7- . |
A BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO WITH ITS PREY, THF. LOCUST.
confine the activities of their appetites to
the seeds of the weeds that the farmer
despises.
It is not necessary to introduce anybody
to the robin. The fruit-grower does
not love the robin any too well, but the
bird in the early spring does something
to make the fruit possible. At this season
the robin lives .almost entirely upon
insects, and it does not neglect the insects
whose particular prey is the fruit
tree. Later in the season the robin eats
quantities of fruit, but it prefers the wild
fruit to the cultivated varieties, and the
man who has forethought enough to
plant a few wdld fruit trees about his
fields will be fairly safe from loss. The
robin, however, has so made his way into
the hearts of the people of the North that
they look upon his thieving with something
. like tolerance. Where the bird
needs protection is in the South where
it is shot in the winter time to make potpies
for all the hotels from Palm Beach
to western Texas.
The brown thrasher is almost univer­
5(1!)
sally called the brown thrush, though it
is not a thrush at all. It is one of the
finest singers of the whole tribe of American
birds. There is not a farmer in the
land who has not stopped his plow horses
on an April morning to stand to listen
to the thrasher's music as it came from
the top of the osage orange or the hawthorn
at the field's edge. The thrasher's
song earns him all the fruit that he takes,
and if the song is not enough to give him
the right to forage on the farmer's preserves,
his habit of insect destroying
would make him a paying guest.
The owl has been a sort of an outcast
among the birds from the time that birds
first were. Sujierstitions have clustered
about the owl because of its night prowling
habits. The little screech owl (Megascops
asio) is one of the most widely
distributed of the owl family. The
farmer probably knows it well by sight
and it is probable, also, that by this time
he knows its value to him as a protector
of his crops. It destroys great numbers
of mice and thousands upon thousands of

510 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
insects every season, thus proving itself
one of the farmer's best friends.
Why the screech owl is so called no
one knows, for its note, so far from being
a screech, is a sort of a tremulous whistling
murmur,nothing uncanny and nothing
unpleasant. The barn owl "who doth
to the moon complain" is, taking everything
into consideration, probably the
most useful of American birds, and yet
everywhere it is shot on sight. A pair
of barn owls will rid a farm of rats in
a single season and will then go to the
Love, the Monarch
In peace, Love tunes the shepherd's reed ;
In war, he mounts the warrior's steed ;
In halls, in gay attire is seen ;
In hamlets, dances on the green.
adjoining farm to perform a like service.
In recent years the students of bird life
have multiplied amazingly. The people
have found out the real living interest
that there is in the pursuit of the feathered
ones wdth no weapon more harmful
than an opera-glass. The farmers' institutes
have taken up the subject of the
study of birds in their relation to agriculture,
and the study has made for the
protection of birds that for years untold
were looked upon almost wholly as workers
of injury to the industries of the field.
Love rules the court, the camp, the grove,
And men below and saints above ;
For love is heaven, and heaven is love.
— SCOTT.

To OhdoFofomnni a BattttlesMp
r ^ ^ ^ l R U G G I N G 'em to
YV^^^^^ST/ death! Sending
v\\ T^v //$ through the side of a
((§ 1 1 S)j ship a shell that is
aw M-*J \\» loaded with a powerful
/^rv^-y^y-^X anesthetic, putting the
lJ(^&$S)

512 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
pounds to the square inch, fitted with
tubes and conveniences for rajiid heating,
and connected with the puncturing
tube or anesthetic shell. This "puncturing
gun," as Wheaton calls it, is of peculiar
construction, carrying a tube which
has a bore of three-quarters of an inch
and an outside diameter of one and onehalf
inches, with a larger portion to fit
the bore of the gun. The tube is about
five feet long.
The detail procedure in attacking a
ship is as follows: A bomb is carried in
the interior of the submarine and only
placed in the discharging tube at the
moment preceding its use. It is forced
out of the tube by a piston operating
from the inside, and the piston rises to
the top of the tube, where it remains
until the cap of the tube is returned to
its jilace, thereby practically excluding
all the water which would otherwise
enter.
The bomb is attached to a strong,
flexible cord, twenty to thirty feet long,
coiled in paraffin on its top, the other
end being attached to a ring which is
placed in a recess in the muzzle of the
gun through which the jiointed end of
the bolt projects. This, when discharged,
penetrates the outer shell of the ship,
firmly fixing it thereto, with the bomb
and attaching cord trailing astern and
held firmly in contact with the ship's
bottom by means of buoys on the outside
of the bomb. These buoys are fully inflated,
just after they leave the tube,
giving them a lift of several pounds in
excess of their weight. This method of
allowing the bomb to trail astern before
exploding is to avoid all risk of detonation
from the shock of the discharge
which drives the bolt. The bomb can be
exploded by a time mechanism set to
operate after a sufficient time has elapsed
to allow the submarine to reach a safe
distance.
The guns for the application of the
anesthetic and those for firing the bolt
are elevated from two to three feet above
the top of the turret, when operated, the
buoyancy of the boat being slightly increased
at the time to hold it firmly in
contact wdth the bottom of the ship attacked.
After the submarine has done
its work it can sink away by admitting
more water into its interior.
.Motive power and that needed for all
operations of the submarine would be
furnished by electrical storage batteries
of a capacity to allow a cruising radius
of one hundred and fifty miles.
Wheaton is a man fifty-seven years of
age and a watchmaker and engraver by
trade. He has invented, as has been
said, a nuniber of machines which are in
practical mechanical use; one of them
is a safety clutch wdiich has for years
been in use, for one place, at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology as a
model for the study of the students.
Doubtless a further excerpt from a
letter of Admiral Wilde will serve to
show just what a task Wheaton has to
meet in setting forth the features of his
remarkable project:
"That portion of your plan which contemplates
the bloodless capture of an
enemy's ship is, in my opinion, the most
feasible, most humane and most valuable
of the wdiole system. It took time to convert
me, as it will in the case of others."
Assuredly, if there is a possibility of
destroying a ten or twenty million dollar
battleship with $1,200,000 worth of
"anesthesia submarines," that is, merely
firing the sleep-inducing compound into
the engine room and by rendering the
men wdio drive the engines unconscious,
capturing the vicious craft at your leisure,
naval experts may well look into the
matter! The invention, if kept a close
secret, would render the United States
invincible in naval warfare.

T© Save O^EIT RoacH
By Cy. WMftweM
e N efficient system of
treating roads has long
been sought, whereby
the dust and surface
disintegration incidental
to the increasing
utilization of motorpropelled
traffic may be
minimized. The top metaling of any
road, however solid, is apt to become
loosened under the imposed weight, or
by the powerful suction of the pneumatic
tires, producing a large amount of dust
or mud, and unless the pulverization
process due to the stones rubbing against
one another is arrested, the road surface
becomes severely broken up in a short
space of time. It is obvious therefore
that some top-binding medium should be
applied whereby the interstices between
the stones may become filled up and at
the same time bound together into a
homogeneous mass.
Numerous chemical solutions which
are claimed to achieve this end have been
devised from time to time, but their action,
if successful, has only been temporary.
The most satisfactory material
yet adopted towards this end has been
tar, which is undoubtedly an excellent
binding medium when correctly ajijilied,
as our American consul in Paris recently
pointed out in one of his official communications.
In European countries
where this problem is possibly more
acute than in the L'nited States a vast
amount of experimental work has been
carried out with tar treatments, the successful
application of which by mechan­
APPLYING TAR OILS TO ROAD, UNDER PNEUMATIC PRESSURE.
ical agency to the road surface with
economy and sjieed now furnishes inventors
with a new scope for their faculties.
With regard to tar dressings it is generally
conceded that the most efficient results
are accomplished by applying the
medium in a heated condition, but the
difficulties and disadvantages of this
method are obvious since the system
which stands the greatest possibility of
(513)

514 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
.*9 k --«->»i ^jifc^ fl*
THIS MACHINE SPRAYS THE ROAD WITH DEHYDRATED TAR, IMPARTING THERETO A
FINE ENAMELED SURFACE.
commercial utilization is that which is
pre-eminently simple in character. Any
resort to preliminary heating to render
the tar sufficiently liquid for distribution
may not only complicate the process, but
may at the same time increase to an appreciable
extent the cost of the method
and extend the time involved in the operation.
SPRINKLING ROAD SURFACE WITH HOT TAR, PROJECTED IN FINE JETS.
One of the most interesting of the tar
spreading machines devised is that by
means of which the tar or other viscous
liquid is administered in its cold condition,
the medium being discharged upon
the road surface in a highly diffused state
and under considerable pressure so that it
is caused to percolate to a certain depth.
binding the top metaling and dressing
of the thoroughfare
solidly together. The
distribution is effected
by pneumatic agency,
there being a pump
driven from the road
wheels supplying air to
a receiver jilaced between
the tank of the
vehicle containing the
tar and fhe distributing
pipe and spraying or atomizing
nozzles.
The advantage of this
system is perfectly apparent,
since no time or
labor is involved in heating
the material so that
it is converted into a sub­
stance sufficiently fluid

to flow readily, while at the same
time the bulk of the space of the
vehicle is devoted to the reservoir for
containing the tar. A regular and constant
high pressure is maintained in this
apparatus of over 200 pounds per square
inch. In the first instance the receiver is
charged wdth air until a pressure of 100
pounds per square inch is indicated upon
the accompanying gauge. The air-valve
is then closed and the tar is forced from
the storage tank into the receiver by
means of a pump until a pressure varying
between 225 pounds and 150 pounds per
square inch is reached, the pressure varying
according to the temperature of the
atmosphere. The air pressure of 100
pounds per square inch is maintained
constant within the receiver. When engaged
in spraying, the flow of tar into
the receiver is regulated according to
the quantity spread on the road. Only
two operatives are required to actuate
this appliance, one driving the tractor and
the other controlling the distribution of
the liquid. A section of road varying in
width from four and
one-half to seven and
one-half feet may be
sprayed simultaneously,
while the provision
of a powerful tractor
enables not only a
large supply of tar to
be conveyed in the
tank, bufr also facilitates
the ascent of
steep gradients.
In repairing macadamized
roads the tar
is used as a matrix together
with whin stone
chips and dust instead
of the usual gritty
matter and water.
When the road metal
is spread it is then.tarsprayed,
two applications
being carried out
to ensure the surface of the stones being
covered with a thin film of the material.
Practice has demonstrated that some six
gallons of tar are requisite for each ton of
road metal. Whin stone chippings are
then finally distributed over the coated
area to fill up the interstices between the
stones and the whole then consolidated by
TO SAVE OUR ROADS 515
rolling, followed by anotlier coating of
tar, a further layer of whin stone chipjiings
and dust, and a final rolling. The
cost of building a road upon this system
approximates twelve cents per ton of
metal, with the tar at three cents jier gallon,
above the ordinary cost of macadamizing
processes, hut the surface produced
is infinitely better and more consolidated,
being asphaltic in appearance,
absolutely waterproof wdth an entire absence
of mud or dust. Naturally the
system is equally ajijilicable to existing
roads, the surface of which is previously
swept of loose grit followed by a spraying,
one gallon of tar being administered
over from five to nine square yards, and
the coating then dusted over with the
sweepings originally removed if suitable
for the purpose. The cost of such treatment
varies from one-half to one cent per
square yard, according to the amount of
tar administered. It is important with
this system that the tar should be sufficiently
distilled to ensure the best results,
while similarly distillation should
MACHINE FOR "PAINTING" ROAD WITH CRUDE VISCOUS OILS.
These oils are heated to 300 degrees to attain a certain fluidity, and then brushed
into the road surface
not be carried to an extreme elegree,
otherwise the effect is equally unsatisfactory.
Another system which has been submitted
to severe practical application is
that in which the tar is distributed under
pressure through a series of fine jets, hut
in a hot condition, the means for heating

516 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
being contained within the apparatus.
The tar issues from the nozzles in fine
jets which are so disposed as to impinge
upon one another similar to that practiced
in regard to acetylene gas burners. Consequently
the fine streams of tar are
minutely broken up before the road surface
is reached. With this apjiliance a
road can be treated at the rate of one
COATS ROADS WITH A COLD MIXTURE OF TAK OILS AND WATER
mile jier hour, the amount of tar administered
varying with the prevailing requirements.
No other treatment such as
brushing or squilgeeing is necessary, the
surface produced being clean, smooth,
and perfectly homogeneous as well as
waterjiroof. At the same time, however,
there is not a superfluous amount of tar
deposited upon the roadway, which so
often conduces to the formation of a
black slime after frost or rain, nor is the
surface rendered at all slippery. A road
treated wdth two coatings of tar in this
manner has been found to retain its imperviousness
and dustlessness for twelve
months and subsequently only one coating
per annum is requisite to preserve it
in that condition. When constructing
new roads, by spraying the metal in this
manner the latter is practically converted
into tar macadam, and when rolled thoroughly
consolidates.
In one instance it was found that a
series of jiublic roads aggregating fortyeight
miles in length could be treated
twice with this apparatus in less than
twenty ten-hour days. In this case attempts
to overcome the prevailing dust
evil by manual tar painting had been
abandoned owing to the heavy expense
entailed, and the amount of time required
to complete the operation. The painting
of four and one-half miles of road surface
alone by manual effort with two
coats of tar cost $1,250, and occupied
thirty-two ten-hour days, while mechanically
it could have been treated with far
better results in about twenty hours and
at less than half the
a cost. The hot tar
when applied not only
covers merely the road
superficies but at the
same time permeates it
to a certain extent, the
depth averaging about
two inches so that an
impermeable air- and
water-tight skin to the
fabric beneath is provided.
The city of Manchester
has adopted a
widely different sys­
tem for the treatment
of its roads, the medium
employed consisting
of an emulsion of oily materials
preferably tar, mixed with water, the
combined liquid being distributed upon
the road surface in precisely the same
manner as water is sprinkled from a
watering cart. The percentage of oil,
though small, is at the same time sufficient
to bind together the dust particles
with the heavier portions of the metaling.
At the rear of the vehicle containing the
tank is a smaller compartment where the
emulsifying process is carried out, there
flowing thereto a stream of water and of
oil respectively from two compartments
of the storage tank, where the)' are
mixed together by means of an agitator
comprising a series of blades mounted
on a rapidly revolving shaft. Immediately
emulsification is completed, the
mixture is applied to the road.
The most consolidating effect with this
process is obtained by the use of tar oils,
the tar being dissolved up to forty per
cent, though other oils are equally efficacious
if more readily obtainable. No
chemicals of any description whatever are
employed and the two ingredients do not
come into contact until the emulsifying
chamber is reached. The oilv molecules

ind the macadam and weight the dust
particles into a solid mass, the water
being used partly as a vehicle for the
conveyance of the oleaginous materials
into the crevices between the stones, ddie
application is carried out upon the stretch
required in coatings upon subsequent
days with a five per cent emulsion, and
then four or five further apjilications at
various intervals during the year are
essential to preserve the effect. Road
treatment especially in regard to city
thoroughfares is highly efficacious and
cheaper than the ordinary tar systems,
the cost averaging about fifty dollars per
mile per annum, including cost of material,
labor, etc., the expenditure naturally
varying according to the local conditions
prevailing in point of the price
of materials and labor. The foregoing
estimate, however, is the result of experience
upon a twenty-four-foot road
subjected to seven applications jier
annum.
Another interesting hot-tar spreading
system is that in which the road is given
an enamel-like surface. This apparatus
comprises a horizontal
cylindrical vessel containing
the material and
appliance for heating
and spreading the dressing
under pressure upon
the road surface through
a horizontal sprinkler.
The pressure is supplied
either by steam or heated
gases, and amounts up
to ten pounds per square
inch upon the surface of
the tar within the vessel,
which is sufficient to
force the viscous liquid
through fine perforations
upon the roadway.
The introduction of the
vaporous or gaseous
pressure into the distributing
pipe thoroughly sprays the
tar through the perforations in such
fine jets "that until they touch the
road surface they are almost invisible, the
atomizing thus being perfectly secured.
By this means the penetrating influence
of the heated tar, which is maintained at
an equable temperature,is spread with the
TO SAVE OUR ROADS .MT
maximum of efficiency and economy over
the road surface.
ddie tar together with a certain quantity
of water is pumped into the boiler,
which is fitted with a furnace grate. The
water is cvajiorated and is available at ten
jiounds of steam jiressure at 300 degrees
Fahrenheit for spraying the hot tar. But
instead of steam the valve gear of the
feed tank is so contrived that air is
pumped into the boiler as the machine
operates and dehydrated tar, or tar and
water, is pumped into the boiler by a
second pump, these being driven by
sprocket gear from the road axle. The
spraying action is controlled by valves,
while a dial pyrometer mounting permits
variations of the temperature to be followed
by the operator.
With another ajijiliance of a somewhat
more elaborate character a large cycle of
operations are all carried out simultaneously.
In this case the road has to be
primarily brushed, the surface then
combed "or slightly scarified, the hot-tar
spread into the interstices thus made, and
a thin layer of dust finally brushed over
PUTS ROAD IN PERFECT CONDITION.
Brushes surface, sucks up loosened dust, applies tar dressing, and re-deposits
automatically, the grit previously removed.
the treated surface. These distinctive
functions are achieved as follows: Near
the front of the machine is a revolving
broom placed diagonally, which in operation
removes the loosened road surface.
Disposed immediately behind the broom
is a row of combs, the teeth of wdiich
just scratch the top of the road binding.

518 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
To the rear edge of this comb are placed
a number of exhaust suckers by means of
which the previously disintegrated road
surface is drawn up into a vessel, leaving
the scarified roacl surface rough and
clean. These suckers are in turn followed
by a row of nozzles by wdiich hot
tar is sprayed upon the road, completely
filling the interstices made by the scarifier,
effectually binding the metaling together
and leaving a perfectly clean and level
surface, which is then brushed over with
the dust previously drawn up through the
exhaust suckers. The machine is automatic
in all its actions, and requires no
adjustment after it has once been set in
operation. The tar tank, which is of
1,000 gallons capacity, has its contents
kept heated to the requisite temperature
by the passage of the exhaust steam from
the forty horse-power tractor, through a
series of coils, while similarly the rims of
the wdieels of the vehicle are warmed by
a novel arrangement of steam pockets so
that they can pass over a stretch of recently
treated road surface without inflicting
any damage.
Obviously the expense and commercial
practicability of such methods of treating
road surfaces is largely dependent
upon the immediate availability of the
requisite materials at a low cost. The
cruder the tar oils which are used the
lower the cost, and the easier the possibility
of securing supplies from local gasworks,
oil refineries, etc. In one ajijiaratus
which is being exploited the crude
viscous oils are used but in order to
achieve their distribution certain modifications
are essential in the system. This
device comprises both a heater and special
type of distributor. The coal tar is
placed in the tank situated beside the
heater, in which by means of steam a
vacuum is created and the coal tar drawn
therein. Within this heater is a coil
through which steam circulates and
raises the temperature of the tar to 200
degrees Fahrenheit, thereby making it
fairly fluid. Steam pressure forces the
hot tar to the spreader, which comprises
a series of weighted brushes, by means of
which the tar is automatically distributed
over the road surface, the brushes insur­
ing the percolation of the road surface to
some two inches. The advantage of this
system is its comparative cheapness, the
average price varying from three to four
cents per square yard, while the surface
produced is closely similar to asphalt
paving.
The progress of developing processes
for the tar treatment of roads has been
closely followed by the various governments
of Europe, which are keenly alive
to the fact that the modern situation of
highway traffic demands the closest attention
to preserve a clean, smooth and even
surface. Especially is this the case in
Great Britain, where the government is
to be urged to appropriate the sum of
$5,000,000 to assist the various local
authorities in tar-treating the highways
of the country. In the county of Kent
alone $20,000 have been expended experimentally
in this direction, while
owing to the complete success that has
attended the treatment in localities where
different conditions of traffic prevail,
from busy streets of the metropolitan
district to secluded country lanes, a further
$30,000 is to be expended in this
direction. It is stated that tar-spreading
of roads is the only means of combating
the dust and mud nuisance and at the
same time prevent the disintegration of
the metaling. In France and Germanv
equal activity in this connection prevails,
and the interest of the various civic and
municipal governments in stimulating the
evolution of a practical and economical,
as well as efficient system of mechanically
painting the roads is now rapidly bearing
fruit.

Real Simiews ©f Wair
My Willnsiinffi Geo^d©
0 achieve a jierfect
jiowder i.s the dream of
T i l every war chemist of
IL today. For upon this
/// uncertain stuff does the
destiny of nations depend,
in spite of Hague
conferences and the
amiable platitudes of peace envoys.
Great Britain has her cordite and lyddite
; France puts her trust in jioisonreeking
melinite; Japan has her Shimonose
powder. In short, every war office
has its own formula, but all are based
on a "nitro-compound" like guncotton.
This is a high explosive almost entirely
smokeless, and enormously more powerful
than ordinary gunpowder, long since
relegated to the limbo of other days, just
as gas has been superseded by electric
light in the more peaceful walks of life.
Unfortunately the compound cannot
be relied upon. The absolute requisite
is stability—the ensuring that the powder
will endure without change any heat or
climatic variation. An unstable explosive—the
terror of every warship afloat,
which stocks tons of it—looks like any
other in the laboratory, and will shoot
as well as the best, jirovided it be used
before it has time to burn itself up. The
trouble is that no chemist on earth knows
when spontaneous combustion will take
place through decomposition within the
powder itself. Hence many terrible disasters
of recent years in all navies.
And yet the smokeless jiowder of today
seems wonderfully harmless stuff.
Pound it with a hammer and nothing
hajijiens ; throw it in the fire and it burns
feebly, sizzling as it goes. And yet a
little cake or slab would blow the bottom
out of a ten million dollar Dreadnought!
The key to its tremendous energy is
THE WOMEN FIRST PICK OVER THE COTTON AND THEN IT IS PASSED ON TO THE TEASING MILL
(510)

520 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
merely a little detonator of fulminate of
mercury.
The fact is, "jiowder" is now an entire
misnomer. The modern explosive is a
dark amber substance that comes in big
two-inch cubes and sticks for our great
naval guns, and small beads or strings
for the lesser weapons. It is nothing but
a mixture of guncotton, alcohol and
ether, or acetone. Or it may be acetone
with guncotton and liitro-glycerine.
To one who has ever visited a great
factory where this awful stuff is produced,
it is inconceivable that human
beings should be found who would run
the risk of such environment. A smokeless
powder mill has been described as "a
gigantic bomb filled with human creatures,
and loaded with tons upon tons of
nitro-glycerine and guncotton, primed
and ready to explode from a score of
known and unknown causes."
And in spite of the labors of expert
chemists, who have spent their lives
poring over formulas, faulty powder is
likely enough to be turned out, through
an invisible particle of "free acid" in a
clot of the cotton. It mav be that the
latter was cheap and inferior, or was
rushed too quickly through the dividing,
picking, washing, and boiling machinery.
It is now known that the terrible disaster
on the Georgia was due to some
such fault; and as the stuff is sent out in
lots of 50,000 pounds the awful gravity
of the risk throughout the United States
navy will be readily seen.
It may be well, however, to consider
for a moment the origin of guncotton,
now the foundation of all high explosives
used in the world's armies and navies.
The first step in the discovery was made
by the French chemist Braconnot so far
back as 1832. Little attention was jiaid
to the discovery, however, until 1846,
when the German chemist, Schonbein,
announced the discovery of "cotton powder"
made with nitric and sulphuric
acids. The manufacture was at once undertaken
in England, France and Russia.
Like all new inventions in explosives,
it was at first marked by terribly disastrous
explosions, and Great Britain and
France gave the stuff up as hopeless. In
Austria, however, General von Lenk
AS THE HAND-PICKED COTTON IS PASSED THROUGH THE TEASING MACHINE, THE LATTER OPENS
OUT ALL THE KNOTS AND LUMPS AND MAKES THE COTTON READY TO RECEIVE THE ACID.

continued experiments, and so imjiroved
the manufacture that in 1853 the Imperial
Government erected a factory at
Hirtenberg, near Vienna. Lenk's process
now attracted the notice of the famous
British war chemist. Sir Frederick Abel.
The process employed at this time was
to clip long staple cotton, in the form of
yarn, into a mixture of nitric and sulphuric
acids and afterwards put it into
REAL SINEWS OF WAR 521
IN THE DIPPING-HOUSE MEN RECEIVE THE CHARGES OF COTTON AND
IMMERSE THEM IN ACIDS.
cages or wire baskets in streams of running
water. Here the cotton was allowed
to remain several weeks until sufficiently
purified from free acids, so as
to be comparatively stable. If required
for mining purposes, the yarn was afterwards
twisted and made into ropes of
various sizes.
The form chiefly used in shot-guns,
rifles and heavy ordnance at this period
was a braided tube, like certain lamp
wdcks; but the results were erratic and
unreliable. In 1865 Sir Frederick Abel
himself revolutionized the explosive by
a system of pulping and purifying that
obtained a density and purity hitherto
unattainable. It also enabled the manufacturer
to use a super white, or comparatively
cheap cotton waste, instead of
the expensive long staple cotton formerly
employed.
Ordinarily guncotton is a safe, reliable,
powerful, and convenient explosive.
Properly made and kept wet, spontaneous
decomposition is all but impossible.
Dry guncotton, on the other hand, is
terribly ticklish stuff to deal with, and
decomposition can only be detected by
the application of delicate "stability
tests." Yet in the form of pulp and entirely
unconfined it burns eight times more
quickly than gunpowder. Confine the
cotton in a strong case, even of wood,
and it explodes with tremendous force.
The strength of the exjilosion will depend
entirely on the
thickness of the case.
Three per cent, of water
diminishes the sensitiveness
of the cotton to detonation
; five per cent.
renders it incapable 'if
detonation by an ordinary
Service detonator; and
thirteen jier cent, renders
it uninflamnlable altogether.
()n one occasion
the British government
set fire to a building
containing a ton of
wet guncotton, and it
merely s m o u 1 d e r e d
away. On the other
hand comjiressed guncotton
containing even
as much as twenty per
cent, of water can be detonated by exploding
a dry charge or jirimer in contact
with it; and this is the system used in
mines, shells, and torpedoes, wdiere the
great body of cotton is entirely wet.
Lor the production of the high grade
guncotton used in armies and navies
today it is, however, imjiortant that the
cotton used should be as nearly as possible
pure cellulose. Cotton mill waste
thoroughly purified is usually employed
in England. After careful chemical examination
to ascertain freedom from
grease and other impurities the waste is
picked over by hand to remove wood,
cardboard, string, etc. It is then passed
through the teasing machine, which
opens out all knots and lumps, and makes
it ready for the acid treatment, besides
exposing any other foreign substances
that may have escaped notice. When
perfectly dry, the cotton is removed to
air-tight iron cases, in which it is allowed
to cool.
These are next taken to the dipping-

A22 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
HURRYING THE CHARGES OFF TO THE BOILING HOUSE
houses, where the cotton waste is
weighed into small lots, wdiich are then
quickly transferred to the mixed acids.
In these the cotton remains a few minutes,
and is then removed to the grating
and the excess of acid squeezed out. The
cotton now contains ten times its weight
of acid, and each lot is placed in an
earthenware jiot and hurried off to the
steeping pits. Here it remains twentyfour
hours; a low temperature being
maintained by a stream of cold water.
The cotton is now wholly converted
into nitro-cellulose. A centrifugal extractor
removes the superfluous acid,
after which the guncotton is taken out
of the machine and immersed
in water, to be
thoroughly washed until
it shows no acid reaction.
The moisture is
then wrung out and the
guncotton hurried to the
boiling vats, where it
undergoes several steam
boilings.
Wdien the heat test
shows that a sufficient
degree of stability has
been obtained, the stuff
goes to the beating engine
and is reduced to a
very fine state of division.
The resulting pulp
is then run by gravity
along wooden chutes
provided with grit traps
and electro-magnets that
catch any traces of sand,
iron, etc., into large
"poachers" in which the
cotton is continually
agitated in water. In
this way it is finally
washed and a blend made
of a large quantity.
In this country ordinarv
Tennessee baled
cotton is used, and tests
made at every stage,
from the first immersion
in sulphuric and nitric
acids until the final condition
in the big "poacher,"
which holds 5,000
pounds of cotton. Samples,
too, are sent to the ordnance department
at Indian Head, Maryland, or if the
powder is being made for the army the
samjile is sent to Sandy Hook. The
manufacture does not progress beyond a
certain stage until the sample is passed
as up to grade by our naval and military
chemists.
Then, too, in all battleship magazines
a small quantity of each lot of powder
is kept in a test tube, so that if there be
any defect the stuff begins to decompose
and shows its faults to the experts
on board. A powder expert like Dr.
J. E. Blomen, who studied under the
great Swede, Alfred Nobel, the inventor
t^. fcL. ^
THE STEEPING PITS.
The cotton, containing ten times its weight of acid, is placed in earthenware pots
and allowed to remain in a low temperature for twenty-four hours.

of dynamite, very properly dismisses as
preposterous the theory that a spark
could set off a bag of modern high explosive.
For the truth is the whole bag
might have been cast in a furnace with
the most unsensational results.
The mischief lies much deeper, and invariably
consists in little clots of raw
cotton that have escaped treatment. So
delicate is the material that one grain
may infect a mass of 5,000 jiounds.
Some of our high officials think it unfortunate
that our government does not
make its own powder and other ammunition.
In Great Britain and other first
class powers, the government itself sees
to it that only the very best material is
used in the manufacture, and never permits
the chance of a private corjioration
LOVE OF NATURE 523
adding to its jirofits at the exjiense of
soldiers and sailors.
ddie jiowder supplied to the ill-fated
Georgia came from the well known
works at Haskell, New Jersey, which
have a cajiacity of about 10,000 jiounds a
day. It was at one time suspected that
inferior cotton was used in this establishment
in the making of smokeless
powder, and the authorities thought it
might be necessary to destroy five million
dollars' worth of the factory's product,
distributed to our shijis and arsenals.
In any event, however, it is doubtful
whether the possibility of accidents can
be eliminated until our chemists attain a
better understanding of the mysterious
processes that go on in the cotton after
it has been treated by the acid.
Love of Nature
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods ,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore ;
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar :
I love not man the less, but Nature more.
—BYRON

mlK Worsim 9 © Moimopoly is Gone
1ISC0VERY of a new
source of silk supply
D , W may well excite world-
Wl wide interest, inasmuch
^Z, as there is no civilized
country that "does not
use vast amounts of
this most precious and
beautiful of all fibers. Limited as is the
productive capacity of the silkworm, that
industrious caterpillar is able to turn out
only a certain quantity of the material
in the course of a year—a quantity
which, though large, is small relatively
(524)
My WL

SILK WORM'S MONOPOLY IS GONE 525
EDUCATIONAL FRAME," SHOWING SILK WORMS, COCOONS, AND THE SILK IN
VARIOUS STAGES OF PREPARATION.
coon, of course, is made by one individual
caterpillar, and eventually brings forth a
moth. The cocoon can be easily unwound
in a single thread, without break
—a very important point, necessarily.
But the most interesting bit of information
relating to the matter is that the enclosing
envelope itself, which is quite
thick and composed of pure silk, can be
utilized for "floss"—the sort of stuff that
is taken from the outside of silkworm
cocoons, and which has a variety of commercial
employments.
The nests of these caterpillars, it is
stated, are built in trees, on the leaves
of which they feed. The species of tree
is not named, but there is abundance
of them. Some of the nests have

526 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
been brought to Germany by the
discoverer, and, it may be presumed,
have been subjected to expert tests of
the availability of the material for commercial
purposes. If, as
asserted by the American
consul, the fiber of the outer
envelope can be utilized,
there might be great profit
in gathering the wild crop in
East Africa, even though it
should prove impracticable
to domesticate the insects.
It is a fact worth mentioning
incidentally that similar
communal nests arc built by
the so-called "gregarious
butterfly" of Mexico. They
are nearly a foot in length,
and look and feel as if made
of stiff parchment, a small
hole at the lower end serving
for a door, through
which the insects are able to
go in and out. The labor of
constructing such a place of
envelope is seen to be composed of an infinite
number of shining silken threads,
crossing each other in every direction.
When opened with a knife, it is found to
- '. . THE GREEN COCOON BUILDER.
.., This moth has been found useful by the
Japanese in experiments in
silk production.
THE CECROPIA, AN AMERICAN SILK-MAKING MOTH
AND ITS COCOON.
- - . L
temporary abode—designed to serve as a
shelter for the caterpillars while undergoing
transformation—must be enormous.
Under a magnifying glass, the
;
....
contain one hundred or more
cocoons, attached to the walls
on the inside, each one representing
a future butterfly.
The silk composing the envelojie
is exquisite, and wdth a
little care twenty or twentyfive
sheets of it can be stripped
off, looking as if woven in a
loom. If it could only be drawn
out in a continuous thread and
spun, the gregarious butterfly
might soon displace the silkworm,
and the silks and satins
of commerce might be of butterfly
manufacture. Up to
date, however, the difficulty
remains unsolved, though
many attempts have been
made. Could a solution of
the problem be found, silk might liecome
much less costly, inasmuch as the nests
of this kind of butterfly can be gathered
in immense numbers as a wild crop in the

forests of Mexico. The question of domesticating
these little creatures of course
at once presents itself to the reader.
When it comes to a question of domesticating
wild silk-spinning caterpillars,
however, two difficulties arise. ( )ne
of these is the prolilem of furnishing adequate
quantities of the
requisite food plant;
the other relates to the
taming of the insects.
The silkworm is the
domesticated insect jiar
excellence. It has been
kept in captivity for
thousands of years,
and. like the canary
bird, has become incapable
of taking care
of itself. It shows no
desire to escape from
confinement, so long as
it is supplied wdth food,
and it has even lost the
power of flight. If
placed on a branch of
a mulberry tree—its
natural food plant—it
is liable to fall off;
and, if it tumbles, it is
too helpless to walk up
again.
Consequently, silkworms
are easy to
keep. They are quite
satisfied to stay in one
spot, and they will feed
on half-wilted leaves
such as wild caterpillars
would disdain to
touch. In truth, they
SILK WORM'S MO NO PO FY IS GONE 527
suit, the silkworm oi today builds a
cocoon wholly disjirojiortionate in size
to the caterpillar that makes it or to the
moth that issues from it. Other peculiarities,
appearing accidentally, have been
perjietuated by breeding, and at the present
time there are nearly as many races
. . . - ; . . - • . , . . . .
SILKWORMS AS THEY APPEAR ON THE MULBERRY PLANT, THE LEAVES
OF WHICH ARE THEIR FAVORITE FOOD.
are so lacking in vigor
that one important ob­ -'. 'Ai. : :>- - .'......
ject in hunting for
wdld silk-making insects has been to in­
of the silkworm as of the dog, and that is
duce the latter to breed with the silk­ a very large number.
worm moths, to render the silkworm The silkworm, it should be realized, is
stock more hardy. But, when the wild only one of many kinds of caterpillars
moth and the tame one are put together, that make silk. All caterpillars that make
the latter is usually killed by the former.
cocoons wrap them in silk. But not all
Utmost efforts have been made to im­ caterpillars spin cocoons; and, of those
prove the silk-making powers of the silk­
which do, only some produce a desirable
worm by the selection of breeding stock, fiber in adequate quantity which can be
and for thus purpose during thousands reeled off. In this country we have two
of years the largest cocoons have always large species of moths which build 7good-
been saved to produce moths. As a re- sized cocoons wrapped with a reasonable

528 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
THE "SILKWORM OF THE SEA"—BIVALVE MOL­
LUSK—AND A GLOVE WOVEN FROM THE SILK­
LIKE FIBER OF ITS ANCHOR ROPE.
quantity of excellent silk. One of these
is the Cecropia moth, and the other is
the Luna moth. Attempts have been
made to utilize their caterpillars as silkspinners,
but not with success as yet—
partly owing to the wildness of the insects.
Not distantly related to the Cecropia
gri^r^rV^*^ '':.. :7 'c Vz^SSBHHBHUSBKUS^^BKBBtBKKBL
moth is a Japanese species, which has
been utilized to some extent for silkmaking
in that country. Its caterpillar
feeds on the oak tree, so that it can be
bred in latitudes further north than are
practicable for the silkworm, which depends
upon the mulberry. Not long ago
our Department of Agriculture obtained
from Japan a small consignment of the
eggs of this moth, for experimental purposes,
but they failed to hatch. The
cocoon built by the insect is of a beautiful
greenish color, and is wound wdth a
very fine quality of silk—as good, indeed,
as that of the silkworm.
The color of the silk spun by caterpillars
appears to depend upon the pigments
which happen to be contained in the
leaves on which they feed. Hence,
doubtless, the green hue of the Japanese
moth's cocoons. Silkworm cocoons are
sometimes white, sometimes yellow, and
occasionally green. As a result of recent
experiments, made at Rubaix in France,
it has been ascertained that the color of
the silk produced by silkworms may be
modified at will by staining with dyes
the mulberry leaves on which they are
fed. When the leaves were stained blue,
the worms spun blue silk; when the
leaves were dyed red, the caterpillars
ANKLET OF SILK COCOONS WORN BV NATIVES IN SOUTH AFRICA.

produced red silk ; green, green silk, and
so on.
In South Africa a species of silk-making
caterpillar is utilized in a way quite
extraordinary. Its cocoons are gathered
after the moths have emerged from
them, and are thereupon attached by
sewing to strips of leather which are
made to serve as anklets, being tied about
the lower leg. Into each empty cocoon is
put a small pebble, so that, when the
wearer of such anklets walks along, an
agreeable rattling noise is produced.
Spiders produce a very beautiful silk,
which would be available for commercial
use if only enough of it could be obtained.
Fabrics, in fact, have actuallv
been made out of it. But, unfortunately,
attempts to keep these arachnoids in confinement
for the purpose of persuading
them to spin have been uniformly unsuccessful,
owing to their inclination to eat
each other up. As a result of an experiment,
there would usually he a small
quantity of silk obtained, together with
one large fat spider to represent the original
industrial colony.
Even among the mollusks, it may be
said in conclusion, there is one sjiecies
that produces an exquisite silk. The animal,
which is a bivalve, reasonably plentiful
in the Mediterranean, attaches itself
to rocks, or other solid objects on the
bottom, by means of a sort of rojie, or
"byssus." The rope, which is extremely
TAKE TIME TO SORROW 520
Take Time to Sorrow
He that lacks time to mourn, lacks time to mend.
Eternity mourns that. 'T is an ill cure
For life's worst ills, to have no time to feel them.
Where sorrow's held intrusive and turned out,
There wisdom will not enter, nor true power,
Nor aught that dignifies humanity.
strong, may easily be divided into a multitude
of glossy, silk-like threads, suitable
for weaving. Gloves and other articles
have been made out of this marine
silk, for sale as curiosities.
— SIR HENRY TAYLOR.

THE CARS PASSING OVER THE PITS, EASILY UNLOAD THEIR BURDEN.
Coal Stored Umidleir Wattes 0
C
(O O) contr
lONTINUED uncertainty
of the coal supply,
due to strikes, shortages
and various other
conditions beyond the
trol of manufacturhas
led the Western
Electric Company,
which is one of the largest electrical
y=^V=5=^ ers, 1
manufacturing concerns in the world,
carefully to consider the prolilem of coal
storage. In their plant, located at Hawthorne,
Illinois, which has been built during
the last few years, they decided, after
having their engineers investigate every
known system, to adopt that used by the
Britisli admiralty.
Two huge storage bins, constructed entirely
of cement and concrete, one of
4,000 and the other of 10,000 tons capacity,
hold this enormous supply of coal in
safe storage, ready for use at all times.
These bins are located below the normal
ground level, and are constructed with
tracks extending over them, so that they
may be easily filled or emptied from the
cars.
(630)
Mo F©sti
The illustrations clearly show the
method adopted in dumping the coal; the
means of removing it being a locomotive
crane, fitted with a grab-bucket. The
How THE COAL IS THROWN INTO THE WATER.

THO' LOST TO SIGHT, TO MEM'RY DEAR 531
principal point of interest in this system
of coal storage is the fact that these bins
are kept flooded with water at all times,as
by this means they positively eliminate
any chance of spontaneous combustion of
the coal.
The water for flooding is obtained in
an economical manner, as the roofs of
the various buildings of the jilant are
connected by jiipes with the storage bins,
and the roof-water collected from these
buildings is usually sufficient to cover the
coal. By this system of coal storage,
there is provided sufficient coal at all
times, and at any season of the year a
sufficient amount to ojierate the entire
jilant under normal winter conditions for
four months.
Tho' Lost to Sight, to Mem'ry Dear
Tho' lost to sight, to mem'ry dear
Thou ever wilt remain ;
One only hope my heart can cheer,—
The hope to meet again.
Oh fondly on the past I dwell,
And oft recall those hours
When, wand'ring down the shady dell,
We gathered the wild-flowers
Yes, life then seem'd one pure delight
Tho' now each spot looks drear;
Yet tho' thy smile be lost to sight,
To mem'ry thou art dear.
Oft in the tranquil hour of night,
When stars illume the sky,
I gaze upon each orb of light,
And wish that thou wert by.
I think upon that happy time,
That time so fondly lov'd,
When last we heard the sweet bell chime,
As thro' the fields we rov'd.
Yes, life then seem'd one pure delight,
Tho' now each spot looks drear;
Yet tho' thy smile be lost to sight,
To mem'ry thou art dear.
—GEORGE LINLEY.

CunMiiinig Dowmi Electric Ligpht Bill®
r!fo^]^(^J^QrT HE incandescent electric
V^-^^ 15 ^ 2 ^^/ lamp is, at first sight,
y\\ r I 1 }£\ one of the most com-
((?\ 8 ^)) nion ly known and sim-
(Tj\ X \Vn plest household devices
/J^_^_^-^X with which we have to
jjf^K^g^j^^J deal. The lamp in general
use is labeled sixteen
candle power, and the average user
of these lamps is generally contented
with the mere knowledge of how to turn
his light on and off, and does not trouble
himself much as to the economical use
of his lamjis further than to turn them
off when they are not needed. He will
undoubtedly grumble at times at the
amount of his monthly bill for lighting,
and will often be inconvenienced by the
dimness of some of his lamps, but the
deficiency in light is made good by turning
on another lamp, and the monthly bill
is further increased. It would jirobably
never occur to him that it would be an
actual economy in dollars and cents to
throw away his old lamps and provide
new ones at his own expense ; and yet
such is the case.
As simple, a device as the incandescent
electric lamp appears to be, it really requires
considerable care and study to realize
from it the maximum amount of
light for the least money! Take the
sixteen candle power lamp as a standard,
the lamp in most general use ; it consumes
about fifty watts of current; that is, a
100-volt lamp will require one-half an
ampere of current to bring it up to
candle power when new. As the lamp
grows older the carbon of the filament
disintegrates to some extent, due to its
high temperature, and is deposited on the
interior surface of the lamp 1 ulb, causing
the familiar blackening of the lamp. This
blackening reduces the amount of light
given off by the lamp, and the reduction
in the size of the filament still further
reduces the light, so that after a
time the lamp which gave originally six­
(632)
By George R. Metcalfe
teen candle power will not give over ten
or twelve candle power; and if it continues
to burn long enough before breaking,
its light may fall considerably below
half of what it was when new.
While the light is thus rapidly diminishing
during the life of the lamp, the
current required to operate it diminishes
also, but in a very much less degree.
During the time the lamp first .loses three
or four candle power the diminution in
the amount of current it requires is very
slight, so that in effect it costs about the
same to obtain twelve or thirteen candle
power after the lamp has burned for
some time, as it does to obtain sixteen
candle jiower when the lamp is new.
After the lamps have lost fifty per cent
of their initial candle power it will be
necessary to use two lamps to fill the
place of one new one, and the cost of
light to the consumer, per candle power,
will be nearly doubled. From numerous
experiments which have been made the
fact has been established that there is a
certain point in the life of a lamp when
it becomes actually cheaper to throw
away the old bulb and purchase a new
one to replace it rather than to burn the
old one any longer. This point in the life
of a lamp has been termed the "smashing
point," and varies to some extent
with the quality of the lamp.
The "smashing point" cannot be accurately
determined for any lamp without
rather extensive tests, but in general it
is not necessary to determine it accurately.
A variation of one or two candle
power will hardly be perceptible under
ordinary conditions. It is only when the
lamp falls off three or four candle power
that its dimness becomes appreciable, and
it is a safe rule to follow, and it will
prove more economical, to buy a new
lamp rather than burn an old one after its
diminution in candle power becomes
noticeable. By this is meant that it will
be more economical for the amount of

light obtained, because as the lamps fall
off in candle power, more lamps must be
burned to obtain the original amount of
light. If the reduced quantity of light
from old lamps is sufficient, as, for example,
in halls and closets, it would still
be cheaper to throw out the old lamjis and
replace them with new ones of smaller
candle power.
Probably the extreme useful life of any
lamp is not over 600 hours, and in most
cases 300 to 400 hours would be a more
economical life, but as keeping a record
of the number of hours most lamps are
burned would be impossible, the most
convenient and economical method is to
renew any lamp that is noticeably dim.
There are any quantity of lamps which
have been in service from one thousand
to several thousand hours which are erroneously
believed to be very economical,
as thev have saved the cost of several
renewals, but for the amount of light
DEATH AND LIFE :A> :
Death and Life
Life! we've been long together
Through pleasant and through cloudy weather;
'T is hard to part when friends are dear,
Perhaps 't will cost a sigh, a tear;
Then steal away, give little warning,
Choose thine own time ;
Say not "Goodnight," but in some brighter clime,
Bid me " Good morning."
obtained from them the user probably
jiaid from two to three times the jirice
for current that a new lamp of the same
candle power would require.
It will be readily seen that the initial
cost of a lamp is a very insignificant part
of its total cost. As a rough example, the
cost of current for a sixteen candle power
lamp is commonly advertised as one
cent per hour. If the lamp burns 600
hours it will cost six dollars plus the
initial jirice of the lamp—say a total of
$6.25. This is, of course, only a rough
apjiroximation, but it shows very clearly
that replacing an old lamp wdth a new
one is vastly cheaper than burning an
extra lamp to make up the deficiency in
light, if can also be seen that as the
first cost of the lamp is but a very small
fraction of its total cost, it wdll be economical
to buy the very best lamp on
the market. Here, as elsewhere, "Penny
wise is pound foolish."
—MRS. BARBAULD.

ENGINEERING
HDlecthpitcntty to BHaiadlle
T5ruacIrS.s
HTIIL handling of the great masses of
baggage and mail which must be
transferred at the depots of big cities has
always been a serious jiroblem, requiring
a large force of men and much hard
toil, two or three men being called upon
to pull about trucks heaped high with
heavy trunks—enough for a fair load for
a two-horse wagon.
Following the general tendency to replace
physical effort with small power
electric or steam outfits, the Pennsylvania
Railroad company has recently built three
electrically propelled trucks for carrying
mail and baggage between trains and the
baggaee and mail rooms of stations. Two
of these trucks are in service at Philadel­
(534)
phia and the third at Altoona, and are
giving excellent satisfaction.
The three trucks, though very similar
in general appearance, are not alike, the
idea being to determine by experiment
which form is best adapted to the work.
In general appearance, the truck is similar
to the hand-drawn type, such as may
be seen at any railway station, andacasual
observer would not notice that it was selfpropelling,
inasmuch as it is operated by
a man who walks ahead of it, apparently
pulling it along by a tongue, or handle.
As a matter of fact, he is merely leading,
or guiding, the big truck, which it would
require at least four men to move, if not
electrically propelled.
Control of the motor is made as simple
as possible. Only two speeds forward
and one backward are provided. These
BAGGAGE TRUCK PROPELLED BY ELECTRIC POWER.

are approximately four
and six miles per hour
for the loaded truck and
on crowded jilatforms
they have been found
fast enough.
The contact box is of
metal, cylindrical in
form, and operated by a
rod which slides axially
through it. The rod is
provided at one end
wdth a ring, which is
readily grasped by the
operator. A slight movement of the rod
starts the truck forward at low speed;
further movement of the rod gives the
high speed. The rod is returned to the
off position by a spring so that the instant
the ring is released the truck stops.
T^HE construction of regular railroad
lines through the mountainous timber
belts of the Coast Range and Sierra
Nevada mountains is very expensive. The
substitution of traction engines is much
cheaper, and the method has jiroved very
successful. Large trains are quite easily
hauled up and down the grades of these
mountain roads, at a fair rate of speed,
and vast quantities of lumber are thus
conveyed down to the regular trains or
wharves. The photograph shows two
traction trains in Shasta county laden
ENGINEERING PROGRESS •;N>
TRACTION ENGINE HAULING LUMBER IN THE FOREST
LOCOMOTIVE ON ERIE RAILROAD WITH HAULING CAPACITY TWICE THAT OF
LARGEST FREIGHT ENGINE.
with lumber on the way to railway connection.
MostL Poweiriftnil
TTHE jihotograjih gives a fairly accurate
idea of the proportions and construction
of the 200-ton Erie locomotive recently
completed at Schenectady, N. Y.
The locomotive is of the articulated
compound type, being jiractically two
engines, mounted flexively under one
boiler.
The boiler will contain 42,000 pounds
of water; its 404 two and one-half inch
tubes weigh 23,000 pounds and the total
weight of boiler is 140,000 pounds.
The engines are compounded on the
Mellin system, the valve gear being
of Walschaert type. The reversing gear
is arranged so that the weights of front
and rear valve motions counterbalance.
Compressed air cylinders, with an auxiliary
lever controlling
the air cylinder valves,
operates the reverse
gear.
In working order, the
locomotive has total
w eight of 413,000
pounds, all of which is
on the sixteen drivingwheels.
With a boiler
pressure of 215 pounds
and d r i v i n g wheels
fifty-one inches in diameter,
the engine will
haul a train of 210 loaded
freight cars, making
a train a mile and onehalf
lone:.

536 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
Oil Fr©iaffi Steele
A N industry which might be profitably
**• exploited in the Lmited States is the
distillation of oil from oil-shale, this material
being found in several sections of
the country. For over half a century the
process has been followed in Scotland,
though the working is practically confined
to two counties. The annual output of
The accompanying illustration show?
the construction of a French seismograph,
which is of more than passing interest.
This instrument consists of a
steel pen arm and pen A, as shown in
the accompanying illustration, which is
carried by a movable part made to move
in function of the time by the clockworkmechanism
contained in S. The steel
pen traces a line on the glass plate C,
A FRENCH SEISMOGRAPH OR RECORDER OF EARTHQUAKE SHOCKS.
shale oil has varied in recent years from'
two to two and a half million tons, 2,~
331,885 tons being produced in 1904, the
last vear for which accurate statistics are
available. From this crude material there
were obtained the following marketable
goods: burning oil, 16,991,746 gallons;
naphtha, 2,517,2 ( '6 gallons; gas oil, 37,-
997 tons; lubricating oil, 39,476 tons;
paraffin wax, 22,476 tons; sulphate of
ammonia, 49,600 tons, the total value of
which was about $9,000,000.
^S^MPaiag
qj^asil&es
"THF tracing of curves showing the
trembling and movements of the
earth's crust are made by means of an
instrument called the seismograph.
the surface of which is previously covered
with lamp black. This glass plate
C is supported by four steel balls which
rest on a steel bed plate D, forming the
base of the instrument. By means of
adjusting screws the base of this delicate
instrument can be made perfectly horizontal
when the seismograph is ready for
making the delicate records.
When an earth trembling or shock
takes place, at the moment of vibration,
the mass of the instrument is displaced,
wdth the exception of the glass plate,
which owing to its inertia and to its
easily movable supports, does not move.
The steel pen therefore traces a series of
lines, showing all the horizontal movements
due to the shock or vibration. A
number of these French instruments
have been placed in laboratories in this
country.

Mag|taet tlh&fc Lifts Tonus
T H E lifting magnet is, today, one of
the most indispensable factors in
iron foundries and rolling mills. There
are two types of this magnet. One type
is employed for handling scrap and other
small pieces of iron and steel, as well as
large irregular shaped pieces. The other
kind is what is known as the flat magnet,
especially designed for lifting flat surface
pieces weighing from one to twelve tons.
The illustration shows one of the latter
style transporting a steel tank weighing
9,600 pounds. Six horse power are required
to operate it.
Toottlh Pullers of tlfoe
P^st
"THE illustration shows instruments of
torture of three centuries. All are
dentists' tools. Idie instrument on the
left is a sort of cant hook used in the sixteenth
century. The next is a turnkey
arrangement of seventy-five years ago.
The remaining one is a modern tooth
extractor.
ENGINEERING PROGRESS :,n
EVOLUTION IN TOOTH EXTRACTORS.
MAGNET PERFORMING ITS TITANIC TASK.
,0-iS.i (h, Bsictorfa
of all pre-existing contentions, and assigns
the part of disease jirodncer to the
real criminal, ddiis micro-organism they
disinterred from the depths of the bron­
TPHE microbe of whooping cough has
been the subject of investigation and
contradiction for more than a decade, and
any number of micro-organisms have
been assigned the distinction of producchial
tubes, where it can lie dormant and
produce its maleficent effects without
danger of expulsion by an ordinary
cough. It is a bacillus of an oval shajie,
more or less elongated, and sometimes
ing this extremely infectious malady. not unlike a micrococcus in appearance,
MM. Bordet and Gengou contribute to though in general fairly constant in
the annals of the Pasteur Institute, Lon­ shape.
don, a paper which conclusively disposes Idiev made cultures of the microorganism,
and found
that it could not be agglutinated
by the serum
of ordinarv jiersons, or
by those Who had had
whooping cough at a remote
period, ddie serum
of children recently recovered
from the malady
has, however, a
moderately agglutinating
effect on the colonies
of the microbe.
With these conclusions,
there is some prospect
of finding an antidote
against the infection.

638 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
A Toy for a Frinnce
A MODEL locomotive has been constructed
for the crown prince Boris
of Bulgaria. This engine is practically
an exact copy of the locomotives which
haul the Twentieth Century and Emjiire
PLAYTHING FOR PRINCE BORIS OF BULGARI
Express on the New York Central railway.
The two foot rule at the side of the
locomotive in the illustration shows the
comparative size of this model.
This locomotive is comjilete in every
resjiect. Its total length, including tender,
is 72 inches; width, 1L S ^ inches, and
the height 17 inches. The length of the
boiler is 30 inches; diameter, 7 inches.
The number of boiler tubes is 16; diameter
of the driving wheel
8 inches; diameter of
cylinder, 2 1-16 inches.
The engine was designed
for a gauge of
track of 5>4 inches. The
stroke of the cylinders
is 2y inches, and the
working pressure 60
pounds per square inch.
The speed is 480 revolutions
jier minute. A
horsepower of 2.55 is
developed at a speed of
480 revolutions per minute
and (L) jiounds per
square inch jiressure.
The sjieed would thus
be one-fifth of a mile
jier minute.
M^iale Ainmlb>iialatinice
T H E startling increase in accidents in
the hard coal mines of Pennsylvania
has led to the organization of the First
Aid to the Injured corps in the various
districts and the introduction of a new
kind of car-ambulance.
The body of the ambulance
cars is similar to
that of the ordinary
mine car, but between
the platforms are sets of
springs which prevent
jarring as the car is
moved. On the upper
platform two upholstered
stretchers are
placed side by side, and
the car is so arranged
that either may be used
separately. The sides of
the cars are also upholstered,
and so built that
when once an injured
*• man is jilaced on the
stretchers he is held
firmly while being taken to the surface.
Wdien the outer air is reached, the
stretchers may be taken off the car without
disturbing the accident victim. Each
car has a full emergency equipment of
rubber and woolen blankets, a medical
case containing bandages, ointments,
stimulants, means for stopping flow of
blood and sjilints for broken limbs. A
mule furnishes the motive power.
AMBULANCE FOR USE IN COAL MINE.

•
*^,es©tnaaia§| es. iL*©coinm©uave
A N odd accident recently occurred at
*"*• Stettin, Germany, on the railway
bridge over the River Parnitz, when a
train fell into the water, the bridge being
open at the time for the passage of a
steamer. While the fireman and engineer
jumped in time, a machinist with
them took an involuntary
dip in the river and
had a very narrow escape.
It is thought that
the heavy fog, preventing
the signal from
being seen, was responsible
for the accident.
After lying in the
river during a whole
week, the six coaches
were first berthed, while
the rescuing of the locomotive
weighing nearly
200 tons proved a rather
perplexing job. But on
Sunday the big floating
crane of the Vulcan
Shipyards happened to
ENGINEERING PROGRESS 539
THE WRECKED LOCOMOTIVE IN THE RIVER.
be disengaged. Without the aid of this
crane, the unfortunate engine would have
been allowed to lie in the water for many
days to come, as the cajiacity of the remaining
cranes of Stettin harbor is only
some ninety tons, ddie locomotive was
lifted from the water by the huge crane,
which looked like a giant handling a toy.
BEGINNING THE WORK OF SALVAGE.
i

* * -« —
CONSULTING
DEPARTMENT
Ts^vf
-.'Jfcir;
.liv r,v/ puzzled by any question in Engineering or the Mechanic Artsf Put the question into writing and mail it
to the Consulting Department, TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE. We have made arrangements to have all such
questions answered by a staff of consulting engineers and other experts whose services hazre been specially enlisted for
purpose. If the question asked is of general interest, the answer zvill be published in the magazine. It of only personal
interest, the answer zvill be sent by mail, provided a stamped and addressed envelope is enclosed with the question, /re
quests for information as to where desired articles can be purchased will also be cheerfully answered.
To Connect Mercury Vapor Lamp
to Charge Battery
What is the operation of tlie mercury vapor
lamp? How is it connected for charging a
storage battery?—C. IV.
Mercury vapor has a jieeuliar property
which makes it possible to change alternating
current into direct current with-
< irit using a rotary converter. Wdien a
solid conductor such as iron, graphite, or
carbon is in contact with mercury vapor,
current will jiass from the solid conductor
to the mercury vajior with ease so that
for this direction of current flow there is
but little resistance between the solid conductor
and the vapor. If, however, the
direction of the current be reversed so
that the current tends to travel from the
vapor to the solid conductor -the resistance
is so great as to prevent the flow of
A C. 5UPPLV
F' LCTrFlZRBULB
SUSTAINING COIL
IIO OR 220 V
AUTO TRANSFORMER
QyrTTERY
3UPPL £ M£ MTAflV
5TART/JV5
Rc-S'-STAA/Cf
lllllllllllllllll
CHARGING BATTERY FROM A.C. SUPPLY WITH MERCURY
ARC CONVERTER,
(5411)
current entirely. In other words, current
passes readily from a solid electrode to
mercury vapor but cannot pass at all
readily from the mercury vapor to the
solid electrode. There is but little resistance
to the flow of current between the
mercury vapor and the mercury, after
once being started, so that all of the current
entering the bulb on either positive
electrode is obliged to pass through the
mercury vapor to the negative electrode.
As the positive electrodes will pass current
only in one direction when once
started and oppose all current flow in the
opposite direction, the current flows
through the two positive electrodes alternately
and through the mercury vapor to
the negative electrode always in the same
direction, producing a true uni-directional
current with small pulsations.
The accompanying diagram shows the
method of connection for charging a
storage battery from a single-phase alternating
current circuit.
The -'Pitch" of a Screw Propeller
What is meant by the "pitch" in reference
to screw propeller?—R. E. S.
The pitch of a screw propeller is the
distance that a point travels in the direction
of the axis during one revolution.
It is the distance that the propeller will
advance during one revolution provided
there is no slip. A screw propeller is
very similar to an ordinary wood or machine
screw of coarse pitch. In the case
of a wood screw or cork screw, the screw
advances a distance equal to the pitch
during every revolution.

Joint-Making in Splicing Telephone
Wires
How are the joints made in splicing telephone
wires?—A. B. L.
There are two methods of making
joints in the wires. One of these, now
passing out of use, is shown in the upper
left-hand figure of the illustration, and'is
called the W'estern Union Splice. It is
made by wrapping the ends of the two
wires about each other. This joint should
JOINTS IN TELEPHONE WIRE SPLICING.
always be soldered, and in so doing the
heat should be applied at the center point,
as the solder takes hold best under these
conditions. This form of joint is being
superseded by that made by the Mclntire
sleeve, which is shown in the right-hand
figure of the illustration, and which consists
of two copper tubes a and b sweated
together. These sleeves are made in various
sizes to accommodate the different
sizes of wire used. The two wdres to be
joined are introduced into holes c and d
respectively. The sleeve is then twisted
through three turns as shown in the
lower figure of the illustration, in
which a represents one of the wires
entering one side of the sleeve, and
b the end of the same wire emerging
from the sleeve. The other wire, c, is
brought in from the opposite direction,
and its end is shown emerging at d. The
sleeve is given three turns, as already
said, and the short ends b and d are
slightly bent over as a further precaution
against their pulling out. This class of
joint need not be soldered.
To Weigh Smallest Fraction of Gram
What is the smallest fraction of a gram that
it has been found possible to weigh with
reasonable accuracy? I should also like some
information as to the method by which tlie
measurement is made.—£. L. IV.
Your question is hardly susceptible of
a direct answer. The difference between
two kilogram weights can be determined
.to about 1-100th of a milligram or to one
part in one hundred million. The limit
CONSULTING DEPARTMENT 1AX
attainable in the case of the one gram is
hardly less than the 1-lOOOth of a milligram
or one part in one million. In the
case of a milligram it is not possible to
determine differences smaller than the
l-5000th part of a milligram. You will
see from the foregoing-that while the
absolute error decreases with smaller
weights, when expressed as a jiercentage
of the whole weight the accuracy in the
case of larger weights is considerably
greater.
ddie above estimates are for weighings
made on the best equal arm balances,
using the method of vibrations and transposing
the weights in the pans.
To Point Edges on Cutting Dies
How should the cutting edges point on
threaded dies?—R. C. E.
For general shop work, where the dies
are to be used for all kinds of stock, it
is advisable to make the cutting edges
as shown in left hand figure, the cutting
edges AAAA all pointing to the center.
For cutting brass castings, the cutting
DIAGRAM SHOWING POINTING OF EDGES.
edges should have a slight negative rake
as shown in right hand 'figure, the cutting
edges A A A A all pointing back of
the center.
V*
Whitworth Quick Return
Will you kindly describe the operation of
Whitworth Quick Return?—/'. P. S.
Ill various kinds of machinery, particularly
machine tools, it is desired to
move a piece backward and forward ; the
forward motion being slow and the return
motion more rapid. Take for example
the shaper; a.s the tool when moving
forward is cutting metal, it should go
slowly and steadily, but after the cut is
made it is desirable to get the tool back
ready for its next stroke as quickly as
possible.

542 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
If the jiroportions are such that a cir­
Small Cement Block Plant
cle drawn around the center A, with ra­ Will you please give me some idea as to the
dius AD, falls outside the center B, as equijiment for a small cement block plant ?—
shown in the figure, we have what is A. L. B.
known as a Whitworth quick return mo­ In the equipment of a cement block
tion. Here the slotted crank makes one
comjilete revolution for each complete
revolution of AD, but its speed is not
plant a shed is necessary about 30 by 70
feet, with a wing on the north side, preferably
in the middle. The shed should
face the west and east, with windows
only on the north. ddiis to prevent
any of the sun's rays from striking the
green blocks inside. A track should run
through the center of the shed for a car
• - ( - - .
to convey the blocks from the west end
during the morning, and from the east
end during the afternoon.
The wing should be large enough for
a sand bin, a cement room and the machines.
It should be two stories in height,
' - • — ' , - . — • " '
WHITWORTH'S QUICK RETURN.
and on the second floor should be placed
a cement hopper, with a spout leading
down to the mixer below. The cement
uniform. In this figure, a connecting rod
hopper should be of sufficient size, so
I'd" is rejiresented as attached to a jioint
that it wdll be necessary to fill it not more
P on the slotted link. The other end of
frequently than three times a day. Un­
this connecting rod moves the tool holder
less the mixer has an automatic feed, the
T along the straight line BT. When the
cement should be measured into the spout
linkage is in the position shown, T is in
to suit the batch. If it has an automatic
its extreme right-hand position, and it
feed, the cement of course may run
will lie in its extreme left-hand position
through the spout continually.
when BP occupies the position BP,. In
turning BB through this angle (180°)
A sectional rack of five or six tiers
AD has turned through the angle L. In
should be installed in the shed. When
returning BP to its right-hand position
there are several machines in operation,
again, AD has to turn through the an­
a car system may be used, and the racks
will not he necessary. For convenience,
gle M only. Now, since AD turns with
uniform speed and since angle M is less
elevators may be installed to convey the
than angle L, T makes its stroke from
material to the hoppers.
left to right in less time than was required
to move from right to left. The
time of advance and time of return are To Control Circuit from Different
in the ratio of angles L and M. If the
Points
length of the crank AD and the ratio of Please show a method of wiring lamps to
time of advance to return are known the turn them off or on from several different
distance AB may be found as follows: points.—F. C. W.
With A as a center and AD as a radius, The accompanying figure shows a
draw a circle and divide the circumfer­ method of wiring for controlling a cirence
by the points D and D, so that
angle L may bear the same ratio to angle
M tliat the time of advance bears to the
time of return. Join D and T)1 and from
cuit from a number of points. Any
number of double pull switches, as shown
at A, may he cut into the line. The two
outside switches, as shown at B, are
A draw a line perjicndicular to DD,,
meeting it at B, which will be the required
center for the driven crank.
ddie distance BP governs the length
of the stroke of the tool, so that by varying
the jiosition of P the length of the
stroke may be varied.
B
-¥: c2_
B
N>
WIRING TO CONTROL LIGHTS FROM SEVERAL POINTS.

three-way snaji switches. Throw-over
knife switches may be substituted for
these three-way snaji switches if desired.
Determining Size of Hydraulic Ram
Kindly tell me what measurements determine
the size of a hydraulic ram.—W. D. IV.
In order to select a ram of suitable size,
the following data must be obtained and
CONSULTING DEPARTMENT 543
DIAGRAM OF AN HYDRAULIC RAM.
measurements made as shown in the
sketch :
1st. Quantity of water, in gallons jier
minute available for supply.
2nd. Quantity of water, in gallons, required
at discharge in 24 hours.
3rd. Vertical fall in feet, from supply
to proposed location of ram (A).
4th. Distance from supply to ram
(B).
5th. "V ertical distance from ram to
point of discharge (C).
6th. Required length of discharge
pipe from ram (D).
Treating Scaled Boiler
What would be the best method of treating
a badly scaled boiler, that was to be cleaned
by a liberal use of compound?—A. L. W.
First open the boiler up and note
where the loose scale, if any, has lodged.
Wash out thoroughly and put in the required
amount of compound. Wdiile tlie
boiler is in service, open the blow-off
valve for a few seconds, two or three
times a day, to be assured that it does not
become stopped up with scale.
After running the boiler for a week.
shut it down, and, when the pressure is
down and the boiler cooled off, run the
water out and take off the hand hole
jilates. Xote what effect the compound
has had on the scale, and where the disengaged
scale has lodged. Wash out
thoroughly and use judgment as to
wdiether it is advisable to use a less or
greater quantit)' of compound, or to add
a small quantity daily.
Continue the washing out at short intervals,
as many boilers have been burned
by large quantities of scale dropping on
the crown sheets and not
being removed.
To Wire a Four-Cylinder
Engine
Please publish a diagram
showing the wiring for a 4cylinder
engine, using jump
spark ignition so that the
cylinders mav be fired from
either a storage battery or
from a set of dry cells, as
desired. — C. H.
The accompanying sketch will show
one of the more common methods of
jump sjiark ignition for a 4-cylinder engine.
By throwing the switch to one
PL UQS
DRY BATTERY
SWITCH
WIRING DIAGRAM FOR A FOUR-CYLINDER AUTO ENGINE
USING JUMP SPARK IGNITION SYSTEM,
point or the other either the storage battery
or the dry battery may be used as
desired. Usually the storage battery is
replaced by another set of dry cells. The
ground wire is connected to the cam shaft
on the engine.

544 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
The Secohmeter
What is a Secohmeter—and where did it get
its name '.—//. C. C.
A Secohmeter is an instrument for
measuring induction in an alternating
current circuit. The unit of induction is
called the "Henry" or the "Secohm."
The instrument receives its name from
the latter.
ddie Secohmeter consists of two commutators
on the same shaft. It has a
INSTRUMENT IOR MEASURING INDUCTION.
set of resistances like the Wheatstone
bridge, except that two of the resistances
(Rj and R2) are inductive rather than
ohmic resistances.
A galvanometer, G, is put in circuit
wdth a key, k2, across the bridge, and is
connected with the galvanometer commutator.
In the same way the battery is
connected across the other two jioints of
the bridge, and to the battery commutator,
which is immediately in front of
ami on the same shaft with the galvanometer
commutator.
With the shaft stationary, balance up
the bridge with L.. as the induction to
be measured ; L, is a known standard induction
resistance. Then, from the law
of the Wheatstone bridge
Ri _ Rs
R2 ~~ Ki
ddien, after that, start the motor. We no
longer have a balance on account of the
induction set uji in R, and R2; and it is
known that
Li _ R3
L2 - Propeller Pump
Please explain the action of the propeller
pump.—F. P. A.
The basic principle of the propeller
pump is that the water is lifted by screws
somewhat similar to propeller screws,
termed "runners," each consisting of two
half circular inclined blades fastened to a
shaft at intervals of 5 feet and of still
less diameter than the casing.
In one form of the propeller pump
known a.s the "Woods," there is a boxing
for the shaft placed immediately underneath
each of the runners. The boxing
is held in position by a set of spring
blades, termed "guides," set lengthwise
of and engaging the well-casing, and
thereby held firmly in position, and so
arranged as to interrupt the whirling motion
imparted to the water as it is thrown
upward by the runners, and to turn the
water back in the opjiosite direction, and
thereby deliver it into the revolving
blades of the runners in a direction opposite
to that in which the runners are
rotating. By this method the whirling
motion of the water is utilized and the
capacity of the pump largelv increased
without any increase of jiower.
Wdth this pump water may be raised
from several Iiundred feet below the surface
by extending the shaft and runners
clown the well-casing the desired depth ;
it being necessary, however, to always
have the lower runner submerged in
water. Then as the shaft is rotated the
lower runner lifts the water up to the
runner above it. and that one to the next,
and so on until the water is delivered to
the surface, or above the surface if desired,
the distance depending upon the
size and pitch of the runners, the number
of runners and the speed at which they
are run.
No increase of speed is required for
additional depth, because more runners
are added as the depth is increased : and
this compounding of the runners increases
the efficiency of the pump, for
whatever number of pounds pressure is
exerted on the water by one runner in
lifting it at a given rate of speed is rejieated
by each of the runners. For example,
if one runner running at a given
Ri
rate of speed, gives ten pounds pressure
.from which L, mav be determined ex- per square inch, then two runners would
actly.
give 20 pounds; three, 30 pounds, etc.

Duties of Surveyor's Helpers
What are the duties and requirements of
the axeman, chainman, and rodman in a surveying
party?—A. C. B.
The duties of an axeman are to prepare,
drive and mark stakes; to cut
brush, fell and blaze trees, and keep the
line clear for sighting and chaining as
directed. He must cut points on stones,
assist in setting up instruments, in chaining
and running the rod. 1 Ie must carry
tools, keep them in good condition, and
be generally useful.
The duties and requirements of the
chainman are:
To run the chain, read it and keep tally
of the chain lengths. He should know
the sources of error in his work and
avoid them as much as possible; he directs
the axeman in clearing lines for
chaining, and the stakeman in driving
stakes, assists in carrying instruments
and acts as rodman when required.
The duties and requirements of a rodman
are:
To "run" the rod, take readings and
keep record of same as a check upon the
leveler's notes.
To select and fix turning points and
bench marks.
To act as chainman, set and mark
stakes, etc.
To set up instruments.
To take the place of the leveler in the
latter's absence.
To assist in carrying instruments,
tools. In calculations, office work, etc.
He should be familiar with the principle
of leveling, and understand the
sources of error in his work. He should 1
known the rudiments of trigonometry, be
able to use logarithms and assist in earthwork
and other calculations.
To Prevent Steam Leaking
Where the piston rod of a locomotive passes
through the back head of the cylinder, how is
the steam prevented from leaking?—D. S. H.
The rod passes through a stuffing-box
and the space between it and the box is
filled with an elastic material like hemprubber
and cotton; this material being
pressed against the walls of the stuffing-box
and the outside of the rod
by the box cover. A tube which projects
inside the box presses against the
box and the rod. There are also split
CONSULTING DEPARTMENT 545
packing-rings of anti-friction metal
which are jiressed against the rod and the
box by springs.
Method of Setting Valves
How can I set the valves on a single cylinder.
4-cycle gas engine?—A. L.
Make a mark on the surface of the
cylinder, and with the cylinder head off,
turn the engine over, holding a rod fast
against the end of the piston and determine
the exact jioint at which the jiiston
is at the end of the stroke. To do this
make a mark on the rod and turn the engine
over several times to see that the
mark on the rod is in the same jiosition
each time at the end of the stroke.
Wdth the piston exactly on center, take
a tram as shown in the accompanying
figure, and with a jioint at x scratch a
circle on the face of the flywheel and
make another mark at y. Note the exact
distance between the points of the tram,
and at a suitable time you can find when
the end of the piston is at the end of the
stroke wdthout taking off the cylinder
head. To determine the jioint when the
piston is at the opjiosite end of the stroke,
mark a line from the point y past the
center z of the crankshaft. It is best to
m ark the machine
when first
received from
the factory, say
with a point m
showing the time
of closing of the
inlet valve, and a
point 1 showing
the time of opening
of the exhaust
valve.
A good way to
determine just
when the cam
puts a thrust on
the valve stem is
to slip a thin
piece of paper
To SET VALVFS ON A GAS
ENGINE.
under the stem and turn the engine over,
until the paper is gripped. The point of
release of the valve can be determined by
finding when the paper is released. When
the igniter lead is constant another point
n should be marked on the flywheel
showing the time when the spark occurs.

settsoffit
And Still They Come!
AMONG the most prominent families in
Hartford, Connecticut, is one which President
Roosevelt would certainly never censure for
"race suicide." The size of this family has
always been a standing joke in Hartford. Mark
Twain himself, although a devoted friend of
the family, has not scrupled to poke fun at it.
It is related that, when a certain pastor of
Hartford, who had just been raised to a
bishopric, was making his last pastoral calls
before entering upon his new duties, he visited
the mother of the family in question. After
a brief conversation, during which some reference
was made to the "children," the good man
rose to go. "Vou haven't seen my last baby,
have you, doctor?" asked the mother.
"No, madam," answered the divine, with a
smile, "and 1 may say that I never expect to."—
Success.
False Logic
ATTORNEY-GENERAL MOODY, discussing a
legal point, said :
"That is striking but false logic. It reminds
me of a conversation I once heard «t the seashore.
"A man in a striped bathing suit was running
on thin, pale legs over the hot, white beach
toward the cool water when a friend, seizing
him by the arm, said :
"'What! Are you going in to bathe just
after a heavy lunch? Why, you will be
drowned.'
"'Oh, no; not at all,' replied the other. 'I
ate nothing but fish.' "—Philadelphia Bulletin
V*
An Optimist
A GEORGIA man lost a leg in an accident, and
when they picked him up the first words he
said were: "Thank the Lord, it was the leg
with the rheumatism in it!"—Atlanta Constitution.
(546)
i^YiliiriMi-iufiiiri IM I
The Test Supreme
"Is HE a thoroughly honest man?"
"I don't know," answered the man from
Missouri. "I have trusted him with hundreds
of thousands of dollars, but I never tried him
with a book or an umbrella."—Washington
Star.
Why Norah was Worried
MY maid Norah went to consult a fortuneteller
and returned wailing dismally.
"Did she predict some great trouble?" I
asked sympathetically.
"Och, mem, sich therrible news!" moaned
Norah, rocking back and forth wringing her
hands.
"Tell me," I said, wishing to comfort the
girl
"She tould me thot me father wurks hard
shovelin' coal an' tindin' foires fer a livin'."
"But that's no disgrace nor sorrow," I said,
a trifle vexed at such affectation.
"Och, mem, me poor father!" sobbed Norah.
"He's bin dead these noine years!"—Judge.
Twin Gods
RETIRED PUBLICAN {explaining details of his
new mansion)—I'd like to 'ave two statues at
the foot of the stairs.
ARCHITECT—What kind of statues would you
like?
RETIRED PUBLICAN—I'd like Apollo on one
side and Apollinaris on the other.—The Taller.
*>*
Pre-empted
MR. GROOBY is confessedly stout—but he is
kind-hearted, and a great lover of children.
"Come here, Mabel," he said to his little
niece one day. "Come sit on Uncle Charlie's
lap."
fO«>=
"I can't," said Mabel, eyeing him critically.
"Your stomach's sitting on your lap."—Youth's
Companion.

No Jays for Hers
MRS. AI. DE Mr 3TAHD- -And have vou any
paintings by Ruben a?
MRS. JUSTIN DE BUNCH -Mcrcv, no! All
our pictures are by the best artists
MRS. A. HE M.—But Rubens
MRS J. DE B.—Don't tell me. I never saw a
"Rube"
Leader.
yet that could paint.—Cleveland
Her Sole Thought
FATHER (of large family)—My dear.
it about time that you were thinking of
ge
married 5
isn't
tting
DAUGHTER—Heavens! I haven't thougl t of
anything else for vears.
The Good Provider
"THOUGH Mrs. McKinley." said a Canton
clergyman, "left an estate of about two hundred
thousand dollars, she was one of the most
charitable women in Ohio. Her experiences in
charity work were interesting. I used to liketo
hear her talk of them.
"She once told me about a colored widow
whose children she had helped to educate.
The widow, rather late in life, married. A few
months after her marriage Mrs. McKinley
asked her how she was getting on.
" T'se a-gittin' on fine, thank ye,' the bride
answered.
" 'And is your husband a good provider?'
said Mrs. McKinley.
' 'Deed he is a good providah, ma'am,' was
the reply. 'He got me five new places to wash
at dis las' week.' "—The Utica Observer.
*/*
Rude Haste
THEY were on their honeymoon. He had
bought a catboat and had taken her out to
show her how well he could handle a boat,
putting her to tend the sheet. A puff of wind
came, and he shouted in no uncertain tone,
"Let go the sheet!" No response. Then
again, "Let go that sheet, quick!" Still no
movement. A few minutes after, when both
were clinging to the bottom of the overturned
boat, he said:
"Why didn't you let go that sheet when I
told you to, dear?"
"I would have," said the bride, "if you had
not been so rough about it. You ought to
speak more kindly to your wife."—New York
Evening Post.
WAIFS OF WIT 547
Much Better
REPORTER—Why is it that so many people
commit suicide in the sjiring?
THINKTANK- I don't know. I think
myself that a well or a river would be better.—
Flashlight.
*>»
Familiarity Breeds Contempt
HE—There is a certain young lady deeply interested
in me, and while I like her' you know,
still I never could love her. 1 want to put aii
end to it without breaking the poor girl's
heart. Can you suggest any plan?
SHE—Do you call there often ?
"No, indeed; not any oftener than I can
possibly help."
"Call oftener."—Exchange.
An Unappreciated Present
AUNT—Yes, Johnny, Santa Claus brought
you a baby brother.
JOHNNY—Great Scott! Another present that
ain't any use.—Harper's Bazaar.
Truthful Johnny
GUEST—Ah, Mrs. Blank, I seldom get as
good a dinner as this.
LITTLE JOHNNY—Neither do we.
Flour Wasn't Ground Right
"I WANT to complain of tbe flour you sent
me the other day," said Mrs. Newliwed severely.
"What was the matter with it, ma'am?"
asked the grocer.
"It was tough. My husband simply wouldn't
eat the biscuits I made with it."—Philadelphia
Press.
rlnSI
hz A

SCIENCE AND INVENTION
fiatcHIa^ h>y Ellectls'aci^y
A FTER several years of experimental
*"• work electric incubation has been
demonstrated to be practicable and economical.
For attractive displays the
"Electrehen," a unique and artistic oval
glass electric incubatorjias been invented.
It is operated by the heat of an electric
incandescent lamp, controlled by a delicate
and sensitive thermostat which holds
the temperature at 103 degrees Fahrenheit,
without the variation of more than
a fraction of a degree.
The "Electrehen" is a novel glass electric
incubator," having a metal base, with
nickel-plated oxidized copper or gun-
(548)
AN ELECTRICALLY HEATED INCUBATOR
metal finish, forming the hover or
brooder for the newly hatched chicks. A
drawer is provided, which is partly
drawn from the base and the electric
chicks run about in the fenced enclosure,
about three or four feet square, making
a most interesting exhibit for nature
study in schools and kindergartens.
This device is easily connected to any
electric lighting circuit, either alternating
or direct current, of 110 volts, by the
usual flexible cord and plug. It is only
necessary to turn the button and sufficient
heat is provided for hatching and brooding
the chicks, while there is nothing in
the way of odors or escaping gases to

SCIENCE AND INVENTION 549
Br •' wl B
MHWn
s. rjA,
(gff
•1' iiWpmii '•'. :-j r«#
^^^^^^fc^. ^£~
BRIDGE WHICH COLLAPSED WHEN FREIGHT CAR KNOCKED OUT SUPPORTING TRUSS.
prevent its introduction into the handsomely
furnished parlor or library of the
electrically equipped home or the office of
the most fastidious professional or business
man.
Drol&era airae,®
A DISASTROUS wreck of a bridge
** near AIcKee's Rocks, Pa., resulted
recently from an apparently insignificant
cause. A freight train was passing over
the bridge when a flange of one of the
wheels broke, chipping off a portion
nearly one foot in length. The wheel
that failed was of cast iron and was beneath
a steel hopper car of 100,000
pounds capacity loaded with coal. The
car left the rails and knocked out one of
the posts of the bridge truss. The entire
structure collapsed.
The accident is a typical failure of this
kind of bridge. The pin-connected type
of truss, which is almost universally used
in truss bridges in the United States,
nearly always gives way when one of the
posts is knocked from position. British
engineers generally use a riveted truss,
which is not so readily destroyed by the
breaking of one part.
§ Folsoiras HV©es
CCIENTIFIC experimentation seems to
show that trees are poisoned if grass
is allowed to grow beneath them. All
plants, indeed, produce a poison in their
growth. This poison is often more baneful
to plants of the species that has secreted
it than to those of a remoter relationship.
When a soft wood, like pine
for instance, is cut away, contrary to
what might be expected to happen, the
succeeding growth of timber is of another
kind of tree. This second growth
will generally be found to be of hard
wood. The explanation lies in the fact
that the seeds of the pine are unable to
mature in a soil rendered noxious tp them
by their progenitors.
THE BROKEN FLANGE THAT WRECKLD

5-50 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
A ClocM. in a 1
A GERMAN clockmaker, living in the
**• little village of Gommer, near
Magdeburg, has built a clock in a bottle.
The maker, H. Rosin, secured a strong
movement with a cylinder escapement,
measuring forty-five millimeters, and began
by sawing the plate into halves. The
opening in the neck of the bottle measures
fifteen millimeters, and in order to
get these halves into the bottle he cut
another segment of each of the halves of
the plate. He built a sort of tripod as
a resting place for the movement. This
tripod was assembled after he had introduced
its parts into the bottle separately.
The tripod is so constructed that it cannot
turn when the movement is being wound.
The four pieces of the plate were fastened,
side by
side, by means of
screws, to the
p 1 a t f o r ni attached
to the tripod,
a long screw
driver and other
tools especially
constructed for
the purpose having
been used for
this operation.
When the plate
was put together
the clockmaker
proceeded to put
all the parts of
the movement in
their original
places with the
motion wheels
for the hands. A
ring of white
metal (c), was
placed around the
neck of the bottle
and upon this
THE CLOCK IN THE BOTTLE.
ring was soldered
a round plate,
thus closing the opening. On this cover
were fastened in an inclined position the
arms (d), which serve as a support for
the dial.
The dial is made of a ground glass
plate, which has a diameter of twenty
centimeters. The black numbers on the
PIECE OF ARMOR PLATE EIGHT INCHES THICK PIERCED
BY PROJECTILE.
dial are cut skeleton fashion and cemented
to the glass. At night one can tell
the time by placing a light behind the
dial.
Airnaor Splat h>y Shells
""THE great damage which modern projectiles
will do is illustrated by the
accompanying picture, which is a section
of an armor plate used as a target. The
photograph shows the side of the plate
opposite to which the gun was placed
which discharged the projectiles. The
cannon was what is known as a twelveinch
rifle—a gun throwing a missile of
steel which weighs no less than 1,300
pounds. The armor plate is a piece of
the hardest steel no less than eight inches
in thickness, yet the force of the projectiles
was such that their points can be
seen sticking through the plate in three
places, while in one case the projectile
went entirely through, leaving the hole
which may be seen in the center. Altogether
six shots struck the armor, in every
instance splitting and cracking it.

A Moimuaffla

552 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
mines of the district. An enterprising beetles in Pennsylvania, if not the United
ore-buying company asked permission to States. Four thousand of these he has
assay ore taken, and samples were picked mounted in the form of a flower pot.
from the walls at various heights and on from which extends a spray of flowers,
various sides of the buildings, the assays and bearing the figures "1906," denoting
running in value from three to twenty- the year in which it was completed. The
four dollars a ton, in gold and silver. The majority of the insects used in this are
total average was about eight dollars per the common "dog bane" beetles, indig­
ton, making the value equal to that of enous to I'ennsylvania, while the border
many gold mines now in operation. which surrounds it is composed of other
beetles and flies, some of which he secured
in journeys to the Southern states,
Msil&e§ Fnct^.E'es ©tuit of
I7 ( >R a quarter of a century Daniel S.
Emerich, a barber at Reading, Fa.,
has devoted his spare time to entomology,
and although he claims to be nothing
more than an amateur, he has a collection
of specimens which is the envy of
many an expert. Xot content with
merely placing his finds in boxes or cabinets,
Emerich, who has an eve for the
artistic, had utilized them in a decorative
way.
His chef d' oetivre is composed of what
probably is the largest collection of
among them being several poisonous
dragon flies of the Florida swamps.
In 1885 Pennsylvania was visited by
the three kinds of locusts, the familiar
annual variety, the thirteen-year kind and
the famous seventeen-year locust, an occurrence
which scientists declare will not
happen again for 221 years or until the
year 2106. Because of the exceeding rarity
of the phenomenon Emerich gathered
a large nuniber of each kind and
mounted them in an attractive design in
a large picture frame. The wings of the
three varieties he utilized to form an
artistic border.
2Jtif^i m "' r '^»f -f".^^ ltffc »M**^*- ^~? gl i\ • .ttr.A~A.^)U
PICTURE MADE FROM THE BODIES OF OVER 4,000 BEETLES.

TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
lOOO Words a Mijrmntte
My Beverly Go Tlhommsis
|V/>^ V "'"^V« ^ ^ thousand words a
"V f~~\ \ te ^ e S ra attainable by the wrist has always been
fixed and the human agent has reached
ph wire, with
his limit. The greatest speed of the most
vv 1 I yjr absolute accuracy, is expert hand operator is from 40 to 45
-41 V-^ #jL what I was told had words a minute, but it is not possible to
*\\jmuj^/f* become, not only possi- maintain it for any length of time. 15
C^S>£^ ble, but practicable. words a minute over a single wire is
Being an old tele­ acknowledged to be a fair general avergraph
operator, I tried to reason it out, age.
for the purpose of realizing what this ter­ I stated my unbelief in no uncertain
rific and unprecedented speed signified. terms and for reply was invited to wit­
1,000 words a minute. The average ness a demonstration of "the system for
word contains four letters ; hence 4,000 which this miracle was claimed.
letters a minute. These letters are trans­ To begin with, the System consists of
mitted in the Morse telegraph code com­ the inventions of Patrick B. Delany and
posed of dots and dashes. There is an is known as the "Telepost." Messages
average of three dots or dashes to each are sent and received by automatic ma­
letter and a separate and distinct positive chines and consequently with machine-
impulse of electricity is necessary for like accuracy.
each dot or dash. This means 12,000 It is difficult to convey in words the
positive impulses to record 12,000 char­ truly marvelous and speedy performances
acters in a minute, or 200 of them in a of the Telepost and there is but one way
. —— ;
O O O O OOOOO o o ooo
o 0 o o OOOOO o o ooo o J
Tlie illustration above shows the perforated tape used for transmittals and the one below
shows the electro-chemically printed receiving tape which is transcribed into
ordinary English by typewriters, and delivered as a printed page.
second,—while the clock ticks once,—and
in addition, each positive impulse is followed
by a corresponding negative impulse
to form the dot or dash. This
makes—but no, my brain is already in a
whirl and I say, "absurd ; incredible."
The old Morse hand sending system is
now in general use throughout the country.
The Morse hand operator of today
can transmit messages no more rapidly
than he could 50 years ago. The speed
for the mind to grasp the remarkable ingenuity
of the inventor, and the lightning
speed with which messages are flashed
over the wire. The System must be seen
in operation, if one would comprehend
and grasp its wonders.
The method is as follows:
First—The Keyboard, similar to the
keyboard of the typewriter, each Key
marked with one of the letters of the
alphabet. The "Keyboard" is electrically
the Technical World MagaAne is mentioned tve guarantee the reliability of our advert

TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
connected with the "Perforator" to and inject another there. So long as the
which is attached a coil of paper tape. electric current passes through the wire it
No knowledge of telegraphy or of the records correctly, precisely, and reliably.
Morse characters is necessary in opera­ The most expert musician frequently
ting the "Keyboard," which can be done strikes the wrong note. This will be
by an ordinary typist. The illustration true as long as the mind has a direct
on the preceding page will explain the bearing on the action of the hand, but
method. The upper tape shows the per­ the automatic piano makes no such misforations
for the word T-E-L-E- take. Like Mr. Delany's mechanical de­
P-O-S-T, and it is this tape that is put vices, it strikes only as the mechanism
through the "Transmitter." The lower directs.
tape shows the record from the "Re­ As an instance of how the speed of the
ceiver" at the receiving end of the Telepost System will reduce the cost of
line.
operation it may be stated that there are
When the message or messages have upward of 22,000 newspapers published
been perforated on the tape at the send­ in the Lmited States and that thousands
ing end of the line, it is passed on to the of them are daily furnished with tele­
"Transmitter" through which it whizzes graphic matter of exactly the same
with incredible rapidity. Simultaneously nature and length.
at the receiving end a chemically pre­ Think of the army of skilled operators
pared tape shoots from the "Receiver" necessary to rush it through the country
with lightning sjieed, bearing the mes­ and of the corresponding number at the
sages in the .Morse telegraphic code. other end of the line to receive it at an
As every operator knows, telegraphy average speed of 15 words a minute.
has made no appreciable advance since Think of the wires needed to carry it.
the days of Morse, who put the first line By the Telepost System it will be run
in operation between New York and off on a perforated tape, which will then
Washington, in 1845.
be flashed through the "Transmitter" to
President Clowry, the highest author­ the different destinations. The same
ity of the Western Union, says of its tape may be used over and over again,
system, "The truth of the matter is that thousands of times, and with the aid of
99 per cent, of the messages transmitted one operator will lie transmitted and au­
now are transmitted in the same old tomatically recorded at a speed of 1,000
way that was in operation in the days ivords a minute over a single -aire.
of Morse. The system is not changed It costs the old companies an average
except that the output per operator is of 32.2 cents to send a 10-word tele­
not nearly so great as it used to be."— gram. The Telepost can send a 50-
(N. Y. Times,' April 3, 1007.)
word "telepost" or a 25-word "telegram"
It was long ago discovered that a or a 100-word "teletape" at the uniform
single telegraph wire was capable of rate of 25 cents between any two points
carrying thousands of words a minute, in the United States, irrespective of dis­
but the question of how to utilize this tance, at an average cost of 11 cents.
capacity could not be solved.
This will give a net profit of 14 cents a
The one logical method was machin­ message against 3y cents for the old
ery, but the antagonistic force commonly companies.
known as the "static charge" of the tele­ It is worth your while to investigate
graph line defeated all efforts at speed the Telepost. Call at the offices of" the
and accuracy.
Sterling Debenture Corporation, Madi­
Improved machinery has supplanted son Square, New York City, and wit­
hand labor in nearly every field. Telegness a demonstration of the' system, or
raphy alone has been dormant, and the send for the illustrated booklet No. 26,
precision of automatic machinery is that is mailed without cost to you and is
needed not only to obtain great speed full of interesting facts and exact in­
and reduce cost of operation, but to seformation. A small investment in such
cure accuracy.
a revolutionary and radical improvement
Machinery cannot become tired or in­ in the field of telegraphy mav assume
attentive. It cannot omit a word here the proportions of a life competency.
If the Technical World Magazine is mentioned we guarantee the reliability ol our adverti

TECHNICrVL
W O R L D
MAGAZINE
j I TABLE OF ^^ CONTENTS
E— SHSNHpf:
Cover Design. FRED STEARNS.
New Problems of Great Cities. C
F. CARTER
Fortunes in Philippine Trees. NEW
TON FOREST
Wires and Wireless Among the
Snows. SANDS CRAIGHILL
To Farm for Basket Willows
RENE BACHE
To Make Linen Cheap as Cotton
FRANK N. BAUSKETT
Is Science's Dream Realized? h RANK
C. PERKINS
Washington's Living Relatives
Guv E. MITCHELI
Floating the Suevic's Fore End
JOHN VANDERCRAFT . . . •
Climbing Mountains by Rail. HENRY
HALE
Gustavus Lindenthal . . .
Remarkable Home for Savage Pets
J B. VAN BKUSSEL .
$1600 for a Bird's Egg. HARRY
H DUNN . . . . . .
Rebuilding a Great Canal. LINDON
BATES, JK - . .
FEBRUARY, 1908
Pace
X)
585
591
59-1
600
801
612
613
616
How Money Carries Poison.
ARD BENTON
New Milking Machine. OBED C.
BILLMAN
Motor Omnibuses in Service. H.
W. PERRY
Sleep Caused by Electricity. FRAMP-
TON PEMBROKE
New Buoy for Huge Ships. J. B.
VAN BRUSSEL
Science and Invention 648
Prisoners Build Railroad. ALBERT
GRANDE
America's New Naval Auxiliary. F
N. HOLLINGSWORTH . . . .
Waifs of Wit
An Hour's Work in a Minute. How
ARD BANE
The Way of Steam. H. G. HUNT
Consulting Department . .
Healing Premature Senility.
ALFRED GRADENWITZ . .
622
Where Clothes Grow on Trees.
Ruining a State. GEORGE C. CAL
G. FITZ-GERAI.D . . . .
631 Engineering Progress
h
THE TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE, published the seventeenth of each
month preceding lhe date of issue, is a popular, illustrated record of progress in science.
invention and industry.
DR.
W.
654
656
658
PRICE: $1.50 per year, in advance; single copies, 15 cents. Fifty cents additional for
points in Canada, except Newfoundland, which requires foreign postage. Foreign postage is
51.00 a year additional. Send money by draft, express or postoffice money order.
THE EDITORS invite the submission of photographs and articles on subjects of modern
engineering, scientific, and popular interest. Prompt decision will be rendered and payment
will be made on acceptance. Unaccepted material will be returned if accompanied by
stamps. While the utmost care will be exercised, the editors disclaim all responsibility for
manuscripts submitted.
CO CO CO ^Ptitoli^hed b>o £b Qi
THE TECHNICAL WORLD CO.,
CO CHICAGO, U. S.A.

TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
Schools and Colleges
FRENCH —GERMAN
SPANISH—ITALIAN
Spoken, Taught and Mastered by the
LANGUAGE
PHONE
METHOD
Combined with
The Rosenthal
Common Sense Method
oh'
Practical Linguistry
The Latest and Best Work of Dr. Richard S. Rosenthal
YOU HEAR THE EXACT. PRONUNCIATION OF EAl_H WORD
AND PHRASE. A few minutes' practice several times a day at
spare moments gives a thorough mastery of conversational
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One of the narrowest thoroughfares in the world for the volume of business transacted.

THE TECHNICAL
WORLD MAGAZINE
Volume VIII FEBRUARY, 1908 No. 6
NEW PROBLEMS OF GREAT CITIES
NY good housekeeper
could grant the sudden
A request of three hungry
children for a "piece"
with ease, and to the
entire satisfaction of
the petitioners. But if
the hungry ones attracted
by her bounty should be increased
to thirty next day she would be much
worried to supply their wants. If on the
third day the demand should be presented
by three hundred clamorous appetites she
would probably shut herself up to have
a good cry, and there would be an end of
the matter.
The only difference between this imaginary
incident and the parallel situation
actually confronting the governments of
the rapidly growing cities of the twentieth
century is that the municipal governments
can't give up. So swift is the
pace of progress that the village of today
By C. F. CARTER
becomes the city of tomorrow, and the
metropolis of the day after. Each stage of
development presents a new set of problems
pressing for immediate solution,
each of which is more complex than anv
which preceded it. Population grows in
arithmetical progression, while the problems
it thereby creates increase in geometrical
progression. Chiefly these problems
concern the fundamental necessities
of existence, for which the struggle in
great cities tends to become so fierce that
even the fittest scarcely survive to the end
of life7s allotted span.
While it is a relatively simple matter
to manage acceptably the affairs of a village
of a thousand inhabitants, to direct
the destinies of a municipality of a milion
or more of people requires statesmanship
of the highest order. Indeed, to administer
the public business of a large
.city so as to secure the greatest good for
the greatest number would seem to call
Copyright, 1908, by Technical World Company 555

STATE STREET, CHICAGO-ONE OF THE BUSIEST STREETS IN THE WORLD.
for the prescience of a prophet rather
than the plodding drudgery of the engineer.
Xew York, for instance, with all the
vast resources at her command, has not
been able to solve satisfactorily the foremost
of the great elemental problems:
How can dwellers in great cities find
room to live?
55S
If the urban citizen is to live at all he
must be within convenient reach of those
with whom he does business. As soon as
all the land within easy walking distance
of the lower end of Manhattan Island
was occupied the problem of transportation
was brought up.
It was as recently as 1832 that John
Stephenson, a carriage builder, made the

NEW PROBLEMS OF GREAT CITIES 557
first attempt to meet the demand for
transportation by laying a street railway
operated by horses in Fourth avenue.
The attempt was a failure. Twenty years
later, public need of rapid transit having
become more pressing, a horse car line
was built on a portion of Sixth avenue,
which was successful. In the succeeding
twenty years the horse car lines were
greatly extended, but the population grew
so much more rapidly that they were insufficient.
A system of elevated roads
was thereupon built which was expected
to meet all requirements for many years
to come.
The last rail on the elevated lines was
NEW YORK TERMINAL OF THE GREAT BROOKLYN BRIDGE.
Tens oi thousands cross this bridge daily, in elevated trains, in street cars, and on foot.

55!S TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
hardly in place before the whole system
was obsolete and utterly inadequate. Although
desperate efforts were made to
keep transportation, up to the demands
upon it by evolving the principal horse
car lines into cable and then into electric
roads and by superseding the inefficient
steam locomotives on the elevated lines
by electric motors the conditions grew
worse, with the swift increase in population,
until they were intolerable.
Nine years ago the wise men of the
eit)', with many a flourish of trumpets
TRAIN SHEDS OF ONE GREAT RAILROAD TERMINAL IN
JERSEY CITY.
announced a plan by which the future
was to be discounted by providing transportation
for years to come by means of
a four track subway to be built by the
city and operated by a private corporation.
In due time the subway was completed.
A week later this vaunted system
which was to anticipate the needs of
the city for years was swamped with
traffic and lias remained in that condition
ever since, along with all the other transportation
facilities of the greater city.
Today the tremendous problem con-
fronting New York is how to transport
a billion passengers a year on Manhattan
Island alone with facilities that cannot
comfortably accommodate more than
half that number. The best engineering
talent that money can command is striving
to relieve the pressure on the transportation
system by ten tunnels under the
waters that surround the Island. But
tunnel digging is slow, and New York,
which already contains one-twentieth of
the population of the United States, is
growing five times faster than any other
How THE SUBURBANITE IS SOMETIMES SNOWBOUND.
part of the country. By the time the
tunnels are finished' the traffic they are
meant to relieve will have grown beyond
their capacity.
At its present rate of growth of
twenty-seven per cent in ten years, and
more than thirty per cent in the suburban
districts, New York will have a population
of 6,000,000 by 1925. The Metropolitan
district will have 8,000,000. The
most extravagant of dreamers in his
wildest flights has not yet soared to the.
conception of a system of transportation

commensurate with
this imminent increase.
Yet New York is
by no means the
only city in America
in which the
problem of how to
find room to live is
acute. While some
areas on the East
Side are greatly
overcrowded the average
number of in-
FBOU BTEflEC.-,.;,. MOEHWOOD 4 UNOEHWOOD,
NEW PROBLEMS OF GREAT CITIES
FIRE IN THE TOP OF A NEW YORK BUILDING.
habitants to the square mile in Greater
New York is 13,130, while in Baltimore
the average is 18,424, in Milwaukee 14,-
888 and in Boston 13,956 to the square
mile. The relative congestion is indicated
also in the value placed upon real
estate, which in Boston is $15,000,000 a
square mile and in New York $11,000,-
000.
Fourteen years after the first electric
street railway was built in the United
States 22,589 miles of such road
had been put in operation at a
cost of $2,167,634,077. Such
phenomenal development has
never been paralleled in industrial
history. Yet it was not due
to competition between rivals
but to insistent public demand.
The supply of local transportation
in large cities has never
caught up with the requirements
of comfort and decency, and
there is no present prospect that
it ever will.
It may be some comfort to the legions
of strap hangers to know that in Europe
the transportation problem is more hopeless
than in America. In Paris and its
suburbs, where, because of the lack of
transportation 3,600,000 human beings
are herded on forty-five square miles, an
average of 80,000 to the mile, a man will
buy a numbered ticket and meekly stand
on a street corner for an hour or more

along with a thousand of his fellows
waiting for his numlier to be called in its
turn to get a seat on a passing omnibus.
The American mind is scarcelv capable
of conceiving such a situation being endured
without a murmur.
In London the wonder is not so much
that nearly five million people have been
concentrated within the 692 square miles
embraced in the Metropolitan Police District
as that so many can exist in such
close quarters without transportation
facilities that even an American street
railway manager would call adequate.
Within a fifteen mile radius London is
more compact than Xew York, Chicago
BH0
VIEW OF LOWER NEW YORK CITY AS IT APPEARED
or Boston. London's problem of how to
provide transportation has grown to
overwhelming proportions, aggravated as
it is by British "conservatism."
Xo boom town in Western America
can boast a swifter growth than Berlin.
Certainly none has had great problems
presented for prompt solution in more
rapid succession. A mere village a century
ago, Berlin, as late as 1870, was
known as the worst lighted, worst
drained, ugliest capital in Europe. Today
a population of 1,857,000 has gathered on
Berlin's twenty-eight square miles, now
the cleanest and handsomest city on the
continent. Yet even Berlin has its trans-
A PORTION OF THE SAME VIEW AS ABOVE, SHOWING THF; WONDERFUL

-1 nr^T - ^P . ,UJ
IN 1876, WHEN BROOKLYN BRIDGE WAS IN BUILDING
portation problem, and her increasing
population makes the outlook hopeless.
But while men and women may risk
life and limb in Brooklyn bridge crushes
or in clinging to a precarious hold on the
footboard of Chicago's surface cars, and
be content to eat late dinners after exhausting
journeys, they cannot do without
water. Xo other problem in municipal
government is so grave or so pressing
as this : I low can the city get water 7
Thanks to the reckless stupidity with
which advancing civilization turned
rivers into sewers and lakes into cesspools
the deatli roll of all the world's
battlefields is shorter than that charged
/,
/
up to contaminated water. Pennsylvania
in particular has had some terrible lessons
on the consequences of such folly.
Last winter a sudden epidemic of typhoid
fever broke out in Scranton which numbered
1,000 victims and one hundreel
deaths before it could be controlled. At
Warren, Penn., December 8, 1906, a
scourge of gastro-enteritis broke out. In
four days the patients numbered 1,800. It
was caused by a sewage polluted river
overflowing into loosened joints of pipes
in the drive wells from which the town
water supply was obtained. A few days
later an epidemic of the same disease
broke out at Kittanning, ninety miles
/ A
:/
.x.
IN NEW YORK'S SKY-LINE SINCE BROOKLYN BRIDGE WAS BEGUN.
561

562 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
farther down the same river. In eight
weeks there were four thousand cases of
gastro-enteritis and one hundred of typhoid.
At Butler, Penn., in 1903-4 there
was an epidemic of typhoid in which
there were 1,348 cases and one hundred
and eleven deaths. The town had a fine
filter system, but water from a polluted
creek was turned into the mains while
FffOM 8TEIE0SMPH, C0PTHISH'
PICADILLY CIRCUS, LONDON. ENGLAND.
One of the world's famous and busy thoroughfares.
the filter was undergoing repairs, a sad
comment on our boasted progress.
Now Pennsylvania has been obliged to
take the right of eminent domain from
the water companies. No water works
nor sewer systems can now be installed
or altered wdthout the approval of the
State Board of Health. Even yet the
typhoid death rate is scandalously high.

F«t,M 6TEXE0G
THE TOPS OF THE SKYSCRAPERS.
New York's roofs as seen from a neighbor of the Park Row Building, which appears in the center of the photograph.
Chicago, too, has had rather a pointed
lesson on the iniquity of taking her water
supply from the same lake she used for
a cesspool. In 1890, the year after the
Sanitary District was created to build the
great drainage canal, the deaths from
typhoid fever were eighty-three per hundred
thousand. The following year the
rate rose to one hundred and sixty. In
1905, after the drainage canal had been
carrying part of the sewage away from
Lake Michigan, the typhoid death rate
had fallen to sixteen.
Even with the drainage canal the problem
of a water supply threatens to be too
much for Chicago. When the population
reaches 4,200,000 which will not be many
years in the future, the maximum capac-
563

564 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
ity of the drainage canal will have been
reached. Meanwhile a great deal of
sewage finds its way into the Hyde Park
intake of the water supply system from
the foul Calumet river. Even the proposed
Calumet canal which it is planned
to build at a cost of $12,000,000, equal to
000 population eighty-five miles to the
north stfll pursues the old Chicago plan
of taking its water supply from the lake
and turning its sewage right back into
the same lake. The currents of the lake
carry this huge volume of sewage
straight south toward the intakes of the
CROWDING PASSENGER TRAINS IN NEW YORK CITV
View of one tr aek level and its tiaiiic, taken from another above—the elevated railroad structure.
sixty dollars per capita to the present
population of the district to be drained,
will afford no relief; for the district is
increasing in population so rapidly that
before the canal could be completed its
capacity would be exceeded.
Besides this, Milwaukee with its 300,-
Chicago water works. If none finds its
way into Chicago stomachs protection is
due to Providential interposition rather
than human foresight. Other currents
circulate the sewage poured into the lake
from numerous smaller cities on its
shores indiscriminately. When it is re-

NEW PROBLEMS OF GREAT CITIES 565
membered that certain forms of bacteria
under favorable conditions, are capable of
increasing to sixty-six decillion from a
single parent in eight days it is conceivable
that even Lake Alichigan might
become dangerously polluted in the
course of time.
along the Ohio, which flows through a
densely populated region.
Every day that passes makes the great
problem of water supply more serious for
every city in the land except the fortunate
few which like Portland, Oregon,
are able to secure a watershed in the
HIGH VIADUCT FOR TROLLEYS FROM THE LACKAWANNA FERRY TO JERSEY CITY HEIGHTS.
Truck elevators raise freight trucks, in foreground.
Even worse is the state of the cities
and towns along the Missouri river.
Every one of them, from Great Falls in
uttermost Montana to St. Louis below
the mouth, takes its water supply from
the river and then uses it for a sewer.
Worst of all is the plight of the cities
primeval wilderness and protect it from
even chance hunters by a rigid patrol
system.
Aside from the question of purity the
mere problem of quantity is formidable
enough to dismay any municipal government.
Chicago leads the world in reck-

566 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
less waste with a daily consumption of
two hundred and four gallons per capita.
Of course it would scarcely be possible
to pump Lake Michigan dry, but it is entirely-
feasible to drain the city treasury
of means to supply the agencies for distributing
such an increasingly extravagant
quantity.
In Xew Vork the problem of water
supply has reached colossal proportions.
In spite of the recent completion of the
Croton reservoir with its capacity of
30,000,000,000 gallons and the Cross
river reservoir with a capacity of 9,000,-
000,000 gallons the population and the
per capita consumption are both increasing
so rapidly that the present plans
calling for the expenditure of $165,000,-
000 to extend the water system can
hardly be carried out in time to prevent a
shortage. G. C. Whipple, probably the
foremost authority in America on water
supply matters, estimates that New York
will be consuming more than a billion
gallons of water a day in 1925, or enough
to make a lake a mile square and five feet
deep. The rising generation may live
to see all other available sources of supply
exhausted and the sewage polluted
Hudson drawn upon to supply the growing
metropolis.
By that time Manhattan will be an island
in a cesspool, for the billion gallons
of sewage then poured into the upper
bav daily will be sufficient to cover its
entire surface to a depth of three inches.
Even now there are two grave sources
of danger to the jiublic health in the polluted
waters of Xew York harbor: bathing
and sewage poisoned oysters and
clams.
This problem of water supply is worldwide.
It is a pressing one in England
where streams are small and population
dense. Manchester was obliged to buy
a watershed at a cost of $15,000,000 to
protect its source of supply. In Germany
for the last dozen years filtration of all
surface supplies has been enforced by
law. In Australia where rainfall is none
too abundant reforesting is. included in
the problem of protecting the supplv.
Melbourne's watershed of one hundred
square miles will only suffice for a population
of 750,000 which will be reached in
less than ten years.
Although the deadly effects of impure
air are sometimes slower in developing
than those of impure water they are none
the less certain. Bad air is even more
fatal, indeed, than bad water, for many
may escape infection from water, but
none who lives in cities can escape impure
air. It is fully established that the aqueous
vapor arising from the breath and
from the surface of the body contains a
minute proportion of animal refuse which
has been proved by actual experiment to
be a deadly poison. This poison has also
been fully proved to be the great cause
of scrofulous and tubercular diseases.
Average city air contains one-thousandth
of one per cent of this poison. In overcrowded,
unventilated cars and buildings
the percentage is vastly increased.
Aloreover, each adult needs 4,000 cubic
feet of air an hour if the carbonic acid
content is not to be increased two per cent.
above normal, at which point it becomes
objectionable. The chances of getting
even a small percentage of this amount
in a tightly closed car built to accommodate
forty persons, but actually containing
a hundred, or in a crowded store or
office, or still more crowded theater, may
be computed by any one of a mathematical
turn of mind.
If any delusions ever were entertained
about nature being able in some miraculous
manner to change the air even in the
streets rapidly enough to supply all the
inhabitants with the quantity of pure air
needed to meet the requirements of health
they were effectually dispelled by an elaborate
series of experiments conducted by
Professor H. Henriet in Paris in 1906.
Professor Henriet demonstrated that
while the layers of atmosphere in a city
are stirred by the winds they are not removed
as rapidly as they are polluted.
The proper agent for purifying the air
is ozone, a powerful antiseptic, which is
found in country air but never in the city.
Sea and country air always possesses
strong oxydizing properties while the air
of cities invariably exerts strong deoxydizing
action. This is a sharply defined
difference which Professor Henriet concludes
very probably contributes to the
known inferiority of city dwellers to
country dwellers.
Not only do these insidious foes to

NEW PROBLEMS OF GREAT CITIES 567
health always lurk in city air, but definite
disease microbes are numerous in it. In
a cubic foot of country air the average of
known dangerous bacteria is two. In
city air the average is twenty-two to one
hundred and fifty in dry and dusty weather,
with many more of the 6,000,000,000
air daily from eighty to a hundred tons
of soot, half of which falls. Not a little
of it finds its way into the lungs of
the inhabitants where it clogs the air passages,
for it is a very -sticky substance,
lowering vitality and inviting disease. Besides
this the one to three per cent, of sul-
PLANT FOR INCREASING NEW YORK'S WATER SUPPLY.
Stack of Power Station may be seen in the distance.
other bacteria in the square foot under
suspicion. The mud of streets is rich
food for bacteria and the great source
of their propagation.
But that isn't all. A soft coal burning
city the size of Chicago sends into the
phur in soft coal gives off enough sulphuric
acid to choke and irritate lungs
already overtried.
Added to all this is the deadly carbon
monoxide in the gas which is forever
leaking from the mains in all cities. This

568 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZIXE
leakage, according to official statistics greedy effort to squeeze the last possible
gathered from the gas companies by the dollar in rents out of the precious ground,
United States Commissioner of Labor, introduce another overwhelming problem
often amounts to twenty-five per cent, of the solution of which is disregarded with
the total output, and has been known to a recklessness beyond belief: How can
be as high as thirty-five per cent, and the citv protect itself from destruction by
even forty-five per cent. Water gas con­ fire7
tains on an average thirty per cent, of
the deadly carbon monoxide. In passing
through the earth all traces of odor are
filtered out, but none of the poisonous
properties are lost. Asphalt pavements
being gas proof the enormous leakage
escapes through the walls of basements or
follows water and other pipes into offices
and dwellings. Besides the ever present
dangers of poisoning there is the peril of
fire. It is estimated that seventy-five per
cent, of the unexplained fires in New
York are due to this cause.
All in all it may be seen that the problem
of finding air to support life is one
of the greatest the city is called upon to
solve. Xo one has even suggested a
solution except Professor Henriet, who
recommends as a substitute for the ozone
which cannot be obtained an abundance
of sunlight which is known to have
strong bactericidal properties. To this
end be recommends that obstacles to the
circulation of air should be removed by
widening streets and decreasing the
height of buildings.
It only requires a walk down one of
the narrow sunless canyons of Xew York
or Chicago to give zest to tbe unconscious
satire in Professor Henriet's recommendations.
As if health and even life
itself were not sufficiently menaced by the
crowded warrens of the cliff dwellers
towering two hundred to three hundred
feet into the air on either side of the narrow
slits called streets, there are three
buildings now being erected in Xew York
which will approximate six hundred feet
in height. For the demand for office
rooms grows ever more urgent as the
number of persons who want to earn a
living in a given area increases. Xew
"^ ork's sky line from the Brooklyn bridge"
to the Battery in 1907 when contrasted
with tbe same territory in 1876 illustrates
in a spectacular way how the struggle
for a foothold on a coveted spot in causing
the modern city to expand vertically.
The towering buildings put up in a
J
The President of the Xew York Board
of Fire Underwriters not long ago expressed
the conviction that the Metropolis
would some clay be swept bv a conflagration
such as those wdiich have devastated
Chicago, Boston, Baltimore and
San Francisco. Chief Croker, of the
Xew York Fire Dejiartment, still more
recently voiced apprehensions that heavy
loss of life from suffocation might occur
on the ujiper floors of some towering sky
scraper. It does not take a very large
fire to produce smoke in fatal quantities.
There are plenty of tinder boxes crammed
with combustibles surrounding the
so-called "fireproof" buildings, and for
that matter the "fireproof" buildings
themselves contain enough woodwork,
furniture and paper to make a hot fire.
In all Xew York there is just one building
in which any restrictions are placed
on the quantity of wooden furniture or
other combustible office paraphernalia
that may be placed in the rooms. The
law does not require fire escapes on a
"fireproof" building, so the only wav of
getting out in case of fire is bv way of
the elevator shafts which are always "first
to fill with smoke and flame and are the
centers from which destruction emanates.
It may help to form an idea of the
gravity of the fire peril to bear in mind
the fact that the average annual fire
losses in the P'nited States are more than
two hundred million dollars. The value
of the property burned is only a part of
the vast losses by fire. To tliis must be
added the premiums paid for insurance,
which in the forty-four years from 1860
to 1904 aggregated $3,622,406,354. Also
there is the item of fire protection. In
Xew York the support of the fire department
costs $9,834,000 a year. In 1904
the fire losses were $229,198,050; in 1906
they were $537,860,000, of which San
Francisco furnished $350,000,000.
Just six months before that great conflagration
the Committee of Twenty of
the National Board of Fire P'nderwrit-

ers said : "San Francisco has violated all
underwriting traditions and precedent by
not burning up. That it has not done so
is largely due to the vigilance of the fire
department, which cannot be relied upon
indefinitely to stave off the inevitable."
But did that terrible fire following so
close upon this impressive warning teach
San Francisco anything ? Xot a thing;
the last state of that city is worse than
the first.
If a city refuses to take a lesson from
an experience so severe as that of San
Francisco others could hardly be expected
to profit from less disastrous
warnings. According to insurance statistics
there are scarcely more than three
CUPID AND CAMPASPE 560
Cupid and Campaspe
Cupid and my Campaspe play'd
At cards for kisses; Cupid paid.
He staked his quiver, bow, and arrows,
thousand fireproof buildings in the twenty-one
larger cities of the l'nited States,
of which Xew York has 1,583, Chicago,
once destroyed by fire, only 320, Boston
375. St. Louis 190, Philadelphia 166, and
Pittsburg 100. ()ne western city in 1906
issued jiermits for 2,677 buildings to cost
$6,000,000, of which just three were to
lie fireproof. Yet the fire losses in that
city that year were $1,000,000.
Ajiparently the time when great cities,
at least in the United States, can set off
against the problem of protection from
conflagrations something more substantial
than luck and the fire department
is still in the future that is dim and
shadowy.
His mother's doves, and team of sparrows;
Loses them too. Then down he throws
The coral of his lip, the rose
Growing on's cheek (but none knows how);
With these, the crystal of his brow,
And then the dimple on his chin;
All these did my Campaspe win.
At last he set her both his eyes;
She won and Cupid blind did rise.
O Love! has she done this to thee?
What shall, alas! become of me?
—JOHN LYLY.

TREES GROWING IN SALT WATER-A CURIOUS PHENOMENON OF THE PHILIPPINES.
FORTUNES IN PHILIPPINE TREES
'INETY per cent of the
Philippine forests
N i l which have a growth
IL computed to be 1,400,ln
000,000 cubic feet, or
three times the yearly
cut in the United
States, is going to
waste, and all the while the world is
clamoring for the timbers. The ebonies,
mahoganies, iron woods, narra, and all
manner of previous woods, that need
onlv modern methods, a maximum of
machinery and a minimum of handling to
make Monte Cristos of the needed lumbermen
are beckoning with their aged
arms to the thrifty American to come and
make his fortune.
Two important concessions have been
570
By NEWTON FOREST
granted to lumbering concerns by the
Philippine Government, viz., the Mindoro
Lumber and Logging Company, on
the east coast of Mindoro, and the Insular
Lumber Company, in the Northern
part of the Island of Xegros. Both
of these companies have a twenty-year
license agreement and are doing an enormous
and profitable business.
The Mindoro concession includes the
forests on a low coastal plain near the
Bongabong river, and is on typical agricultural
land. This makes the property
even more valuable after the timber
has been removed. The tract contains
about seventy square miles, a great portion
of which is being rapidly cleared. The
Philippine Forestry Service in making
surveys took seven commercial tree spe-

HUGE LOGS OF NARRA WOOD READY FOR SHIPMENT.
NATIVES CUTTING OUT TABLE TOPS.
.57!

572 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
cies as a basis for counting. These seven
species represented more than one-half of
the total stand of timber on the tract.
The stand of valuable merchantable timber
on the forested portion of the tract
is large. A jiortion of the concession,
containing 3,500 acres has standing on it
SKIDDING NARRA AND MAHOGANY LOGS BY MAN-POWER IN IHE
ISLAND OF MINDANAO.
more than four million feet, board measure,
of narra above sixteen inches in
diameter. This represents but eight per
cent of the stand of commercial timber
on this small tract.
The Xegros concession lies back of the
sugar lands, at the foot of Mount Silay,
near Cadiz Neuvo, and, in contrast to the
Mindoro concession, represents an entire­
ly different type of forest. Ninety per
cent of the tract, comprising a total area
of sixty-nine square miles, is in heavy
timber of the third and fourth group
species. In making this valuation survey
six merchantable tree species were
counted, which represented ninety per
cent of the total stand of
timber on the tract. In estimating
the stand of merchantable
timber, trees of
sixteen inches or over in
diameter were counted. On
the forested area of this
concession were found approximately
35,000 feet,
board measure, of merchantable
timber per acre.
Some idea of the denseness
of these forests may be
gathered from the fact that
there is probably not an
acre of original forest in
the United States which
would furnish more than
12,000 feet board measure
of merchantable lumber.
There is an act in force
in the Philippine Islands
which allows a resident to
cut or have cut for himself
from the public forests,
without licenses and free of
charge, such timber, other
than timber of the first
group, and such fire wood,
resins, forest products.
stone and earth, as he may
require for house building.
fencing, boat building, or
other personal use of himself
or his family. But timber
thus cut is not allowed
to be sold.
There are many millions
of cubic feet of timber in
the forests of the Philippines
that should be cut in order properly to
thin out the dense growth. For instance,
where there are four trees growing on a
space required for one, that one so freed
would put on more good wood each year
than the four together. The question as
to whether 300 or 3,000 trees should remain
on an acre is where the real value
of scientific forestry comes in, and this

•
•WK
BSp*si--r' .iv.
DRAGGING LOGS WITH A DONKEY ENGINE.
LAND THAT HAS ONCE BEEN CUT OVER.
This photograph well illustrates the rapid reproduction of timber in the Philippine Islands
673

574 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
BOAT CONSTRUCTION BY FILIPINOS AT DALUPAON.
These craft are used for transporting timber down the
rivers to the coast.
matter is having the jiartieular attention
of the Insular Forestry Service. Then
too, there are many millions of feet of
The Inspiration of Labor
The hand that rounded Peter's dome,
timber which reach maturity and pass on
to decay, never thrilling to the woodman's
ax. The two companies mentioned
are about the only ones properly
equipped in the Islands to handle large
logs, and without master mechanics, expert
gang bosses, in fact, all the skilled
labor required, and without a full stock
of the best supply material, it is impossible
to move the large logs which must
be cut and brought to market if these
valuable forests are to be properly exploited.
According to recent reports a good
jirice is paid in Hong Kong for every
stick of timber from the Philippine Islands,
besides the local demand being
great. Here is the chance for American
lumbermen with modern methods to
make fortunes, and in doing so they will
not only help to educate the adaptable
Filipino as to practical things, but will insure
him cash wages, something unusual
in Spanish days.
American lumbermen, who see the end
of their industry in the not distant future,
would be wise in taking time by the forelock
and transferring their capital to our
insular possessions.
And groined the aisles of Christian Rome,
Wrought in a sad sincerity;
Himself from God he could not free;
He builded better than he knew:
The conscious stone to beauty grew.
—EMERSON.

WIRES AND WIRELESS AMONG THE SNOWS
By SANDS CRA1GHILL
COMPLETE wireless
telegraph system, con-
A f f l necting every military
\f l lns t in Alaska and
AT m a k i n g commercial
communication possible
between San Francisco
and small boats
plying on the Yukon, is planned by the
L'nited States Government. This work
is being done by the army forces of the
Signal Corps. The work has been rapidly
progressing during the jiast summer
and it is even now nearly completed.
Important work is also being done with
a view to perfecting the cable, telegraph
and telephone systems between the mainland
of the United States and Alaskan
•a ^as.
jioints. All of these lines are to be duplicated,
or doubled, in order to insure service
through the long winter months
which prevail in this far northern region.
Heretofore if one of the single lines became
disabled communication between
the points it spanned remained cut off
until summer came before the repairs
could be made. An accident of this kind
on the main cable would put it out of
commission, and consequently all communication
between the United States
and the army in Alaska would be cut
off completely maybe for the entire winter.
This is what the Government is
guarding against in doubling its lines.
The Government now owns 8,956
miles of land cable and wireless systems
Jf^Jm. *£*«*«
A "CACHE" LEFT BY CONSTRUCTORS OF TELEGRAPH LINES IN THE ALASKAN SNOWS.
575

576 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
UNITED STATES SIGNAL TKLFGKAPH AND CABLE SYSTEM IN ALASKA
The black line from Fairbanks to Circle indicates proposed wireless
in and about Alaska. These lines are all
under the control of the army Signal
Corps. The military cable and telegraph
system from Seattle to Alaska consists
of 2,534 miles of submarine cable, 1,403
miles of land telegraph and
107 miles of wireless.
These lines are now being
rapidly extended, and th
systems comprise elemi
not elsewhere combin.d,
the submarine, land and
wireless sections being
worked as a component and
harmonious whole.
Extensive wireless installations
in Alaska are being
made with a view to ultimately
furnishing a complete
chain of wireless stations
from Safety Harbor
tq the mainland of the
United States. In entering
upon this plan the Signal
Corps of the Army has cooperated
with the navy in
its projected plans. Money
has been appropriated for
the construction of a station at Fort
Gibbon, which will serve to connect the
existing wireless stations at Safety
and St. Michael with the proposed
naval station at Valdez, and thence
THE FIRST UNITED STATES TELEGRAPH OFFICE, MULATO, ALASKA.

BARGE IN USE BY TELEGRAPH CORPS AT FORT GIBBON, ALASKA.
via the proposed station at Sitka to
Tatoosh Island, off the entrance of Puget
Sound, and to San Francisco. This
will ultimately give a complete chain of
wireless stations, supplementing the
land line and cable system from Norton
Sound to the Umited States. To supplement
this system and to
reach other important
points in- eastern Alaska,
the Signal Corps has now
in process of installation
two wireless stations, one
at Fairbanks and the
other at Circle City.
These stations are about
140 miles apart and are
designed to -have a radius
of action of about
250 miles. The instrumental
equipment for
these two stations has all
been installed and will be
in working order shortly.
The power to be used is
derived from a gasoline
engine-driven dynamo of
one kilowatt capacity. The
antennae are suspended
by m e a n s of steel
towers 175 feet high. These towers were
shipjied in small sections and assembled
on the ground. Sjiecial jirovision was
made to insulate the liases of the towers
by means of creosoted timbers, which are
housed to protect the liases from moisture.
The establishment of these new
**

permanent wireless telegraph stations
should enable communication to be maintained,
if desired, with boats on the Yukon
river as well as smaller outlying
stations and camps, wherever they may
TELEGRAPH STATION No. 2, AT KEY STONE.
THE COMING WINTER MAKES THE TELEGRAPH DOUBLY WELCOME
AND VALUABLE.
Scene at Fort Michael.
578
be, using jiortable field wireless outfits.
The enlisted men of the Signal Corps
of the army and of the line on duty in
Alaska have continually to undergo hardships
in the maintenance of the telegraph
lines. During last winter
they had especia.Ily hard
times, many of them being
cut off for periods of from
six to eight months from
all contact with civilization,
with the temperature ranging
many degrees below
zero. A number of men
were severely frozen, and
during the breaking up of
the ice in the river in the
late spring, which washed
away over a hundred miles
of line, the men worked in
the bitter cold water sometimes
for days in order to
restore communication.
A certificate of merit
was awarded by the President
to one of the enlisted
men of the Corps for cour-

WIRES AND WTRKLESS AMONG THE SXOWS 579
age and intelligence displayed in rescuing
three comrades with badly frozen feet.
The .Alaskan Cable and Telegraph System
is under the direction of the Chief
Signal Officer, Department of the Columbia
at Seattle, Washington. For the
convenience of administration and supply
this system is divided into four sections,
with three officers of the Signal Corps
conducting these administrative functions.
The first and second sections include
the lines between Yaldez, Boundary,
and to near the Goodpaster river.
The third section embraces the extensive
and difficult country along the Tanana
and down the Yukon to Kaltag. The
fourth section lies west of Kaltag.
The Government's commercial receipts
for messages sent over its system in Canada
for the last fiscal year amounted to
something over $220,000. The lines are
being increasingly used for business
while for military purposes they will
soon be of the greatest possible value.
Truth
I held it truth, with him who sings
To one clear harp in divers tones,
That men may rise on stepping stones
Of their dead selves to higher things.
THE NETWORK OF CABLES OF THE WIRELESS SYSTEM
THAT BREAK THE SKY LINE AT FORT
MICHAEL, ALASKA.
—TENNYSON.

TO FARM FOR BASKET WILLOWS
BY RENE BACHE
, O add willows, for the
making of baskets, to
T V A the list of agricultural
Il jiroducts of the counyj
try, is the purpose of a
new move by Uncle
Sam's forestry service.
A small plantation at
Arlington, across the Potomac from the
city of Washington, has been established
for the growing of a number of different
species of basket willows ; and considerable
quantities of the osier rods thus jiroduced
have been made up into most excellent
baskets by manufacturers in Baltimore.
Baltimore is a somewhat important
center for the manufacture of fine
baskets, the raw material for which is
almost wholly supplied by willow-growers
in tbe vicinity. One might sav the
same thing of Richmond, where there is
tXa»**r**tr'%r**.
THE WILLOWS CUT AND TIED INTO BUNDLES.
a great basket-making establishment
which raises its own osiers ; and another
such town is York, Pa., which is in the
midst of a willow-growing district. These
cities, with plentiful supplies of osiers
near at hand, are able to ship high-grade
baskets all over the country.
The problem is to improve the market
for these high-grade baskets, and, by
reducing the cost of willow-production,
to comjiete with the cheaper baskets imported
from abroad. In order to accomplish
this object, it is necessary that
scientific methods of osier culture shall
be introduced—such methods as are already
practiced widely in France and
Germany. Incidentally it is important
that the inferior varieties of willows now
commonly grown in the L nited States
shall be replaced by superior kinds. One
of the purposes of the experimental plantation"
at Arlington, indeed, has been to
ascertain just what species
of osiers were most suitable.
The culture of basket
willows was first introduced
into the United
States in the forties by
German immigrants, in
western New York and
Pennsylvania. Having tried
the wild native willows and
found them unsatisfactory,
they imported cuttings of
European species and
planted them. But they
knew nothing of scientific
methods of willow farming,
and at the jiresent time,
save in a few localities in
Maryland, Pennsylvania
and Yirginia, the industry
in this country is pursued
on the crudest imaginable
plan. This is especially
true in western New York,

TO FARM FOR BASKET WILLOWS 581
where enormous numbers of cheap
baskets are made by foreign-born workpeojile
at almost starvation pay.
The business in western Xew York is
mainly in the hands of a few large dealers,
who buy the raw material from willow
growers and give it out to the basket
makers, to be made up into baskets at
home. Thus the manufacture becomes a
household industry, a specified price per
dozen being paid for the product, according
to size, and the conditions under
which it is carried on are typically European,
the principal object in view being
cheapness, while the wages paid are
so small that even the children have to
help in order to enable the family to earn
the barest subsistence.
The cheapness of the baskets thus
turned out may be judged from the fact
that fair-sized clothes baskets are put
on the market at $4 a dozen, wholesale.
To economize labor, the willow rods are
all steam-peeled—a process which turns
them to a reddish brown color and entirely
ruins them for any sort of fine
work. But inexpensiveness is essential,
in order that the product shall be able to
compete with imjiorted goods of like
class. Besides, it must contend against
the wooden basket, which, in a great
variety of forms, is so widely employed
in America.
In Europe today every grade of basket,
from finest to coarsest, is made of willow.
The heaviest farm baskets and receptacles
employed for handling rough mer­
STARTING AN OSIER PLANTATION ON THE GOVERNMENT BASKET-WILLOW FARM.
chandise are of unpeeled osiers. Market
baskets, clothes baskets, fruit baskets,
and even hampers and trunks are of the
same material. But in the United States
it is different. Here ever so many kinds
of baskets are of wood—some of woven
strips of pine, oak, or ash, others of
broad veneers fastened at the rim by a
strip. They are much less durable, less
elastic, and heavier, but they have the
advantage of greater cheapness, their
cost being reduced to a minimum by ingenious
machinery.
In tropical latitudes there grows a
wonderful forest vine called rattan,
which, thanks to its strength, flexibility,
and toughness, furnishes an excellent

582 TECHXICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
material for baskets and certain kinds of
furniture. It is largely used for those
purposes in the United States. But,
though easier to work than willow, it
does not possess the beauty of the latter,
which is being utilized in steadily increasing
quantities by makers of furniture
in Xew York and Boston, the principal
centers of the industry. This is a
•&&**-.'V-.-- ~iEMk£t
F FOHEBTSY.
the correct methods are practiced, will
enable American growers to compete
with those of Europe.
Willow furniture is much in fashion at
the present time, and its manufacture,
which has become a very prosperous industry,
calls for large supplies of superior
osiers. As for baskets, those of
high grade always command a market
-. ^^

TO FARM FOR BASKET WILLOWS 583
BASKETS MADE OF AMERICAN WILLOWS.
face after peeling, freedom from
branches, and great length of shoot in
proportion to thickness, with a small pith.
If osiers of such a description, produced
in this country, can be put on the market
an important exjiansion of the basket and
furniture manufactures will unquestionably
follow.
But rods of fine quality can only be
produced cheaply and in large quantities
by intensive culture. To satisfy this demand,
France, Holland, and Belgium,
early in the eighteenth century, developed
scientific methods,
knowdedge of which soon
became widespread. These
methods first reached perfection
in France, where
todav a most admirable relation
exists b e t w e e n
grower and basket maker,
the osier "holts" and basket
factories in the willowgrowing
centers being close
together. Thus the grower
is always in touch with the
manufacturer, and can
easily vary and improve his
stock in accordance with
the demands of the consumer.
In Europe willow shoots
are used not only for basket
ware, but also for barrel
hoops, for binding
vineyard and garden trellises,
for wattle fences, and
many other purposes. ( iften
small farms or jieasant
holdings meet their own requirements
by jilanting a
few rows of good basket
willows, the rods being cut
at the proper season and
sent to a basket-maker, wdio
works them up and returns
the baskets, charging for
his labor at a fixed price
per dozen.
The jirincijial varieties of
basket willows are the
American green, or almond,
willow, the wdiite willow,
the Welsh, or jiurple. willow,
and the Lemley willow.
Experiments with all of
these, and with other sjiecies, have been
made at the Arlington farm, and cuttings
of them may be obtained from the Department
of Agriculture. The Lemley and the
American green have been found particularly
satisfactory. But, whatever kind
is selected, utmost care should be taken
that all of the cuttings planted are of
the desired variety, so that no poor or
unknown sorts may be introduced. It is
bad enough to sell an undesirable kind
of corn or wheat, but in the case of willows,
which do not yield paying returns
DRYING AND PEELING WILLOW WANDS.
A scene at Eldridge, Howard Co., Ind.

584 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZlNF
for several seasons, the consequences of
failure to secure the best are much more
serious.
There is a popular notion to the effect
that basket willows grow best in swamps,
but this is a mistake. Rich, well-drained
bottom-land is better for the purpose.
The ground for a "holt" should first be
thoroughly cultivated and pulverized to
the depth of a foot or more, and rods a
year old should be used for cuttings,
dividing them into twelve-inch lengths
with a sharp knife. Every year they will
yield a crop of rods, which should be cut
as close as possible to the ground. The
rods are cut in winter, and in early
spring are stood perpendicularly, in
bundles, in pits a couple of inches deep,
filled with water. They soon sprout, and
then are peeled by hand. Afterwards
they are dried in the sun on a rack, which
i.s turned now and then, and, when thus
cured, are stored for two weeks in a
clean shed. Finally, they are sorted for
quality and size, and put away in a dark
place, to preserve their whiteness. It
may be added that the cuttings should
be put in the ground at intervals of
twenty by nine inches, allowing about
34,000 plants to the acre, and utmost care
Honesty of Critics
As soon
Seek roses in December, ice in June;
should be taken to get rid of all weeds
while the osiers are starting.
If willows were cheaply grown in this
country, they might be utilized on this
side of the water for as many purposes
as in Europe. Over there it is customary
in dairies and bakeries to display
eggs, buns, and rolls in delicately woven
and very beautiful shallow baskets.
Grocers often employ willow hampers to
contain dried fruits and nuts, which, set
on short feet to keep the receptacle off
the ground, are made with one side
higher than the, other, so that the wares
may be better seen. In England screen
doors and office window screens are exquisitely
fashioned of split willow, and
even hotel washstand sjilashers are of the
same material. Pretty little mats for hot
dishes are also of split willow, as well as
dainty bread baskets. Commercial travellers'
sample cases of willow, lined with
leather or canvas, and trunks, which are
both light and serviceable, are made of
osier rods. In short, there is almost no
end to the uses of this wonderful plant,
which is a luxury of the rich, a necessary
of the poor, and a help in a thousand
ways to the machinery of civilization. It
is a very desirable product.
Hope constancy in wind, or corn in chaff;
Believe a woman or an epitaph,
Or any other thing that's false, before
You trust in critics.
—BYRON.

TO MAKE LINEN CHEAP AS COTTON
By FRANK N. BAUSKETT
JOR more than two
thousand years of his-
Fgyi. toric record man. has
(•SY annually wasted from
g/( one-third to one-half of
the actual flax crop.
Worse than this, he has
added to this waste
the great expense of the primitive, slow
hand-process of getting the fiber ready
for the mills, and linen has therefore
never been produced in quantities sufficient
to meet the demand, when it should
be in use as universally as cotton.
Flax is such a curiously complex plant
that it was thought necessary to sacri­
fice some of its virtues in order to secure
the benefit of others. No one was able
to contrive a way to make use of all the
properties of the most ancient of all the
plants that have been in service to the
human race. In Europe flax is raised
for the fiber, which necessitates the sacrifice
of the seed, the harvest never being
allowed to ripen; in the United
States flax is raised for the seed for
making oil and the fiber is sacrificed,
which means that millions of tons of the
finest fiber-yielding straw,better than that
which furnishes the chief linen supply
of the world, is being burned annually.
The acreage of the flax crop for seed
RETTING FLAX BY THE OLD METHOD.
" Retting " consists in rotting the woody portions and yet preserving the fiber.
.085

AS THE LINEN MILL APPEARS WHERE THE NEW INVENTION HOLDS SWAY

TO MAKE LINEN CHEAP AS- COTTON 587
production has been increased in the
United States to such an extent in the
newly broken lands of the Northwest
that the annual value of the seed alone
of North Dakota is quite double that
of all the other states in which flax culture
is carried on. The annual yield of
flax seed in North Dakota may be conservatively
placed at 16,000,000 bushels.
The whole flax area of the L'nited States
covers approximately
3,700,000
acres, and the
yield of oil annuallv
amounts to
70,000,000 g a 1-
lons or over half
that
lars.
crop
been
one.
many dol-
The seed
has always
a paying
though the
remainder of the
crop has been allowed
to go to
waste for the lack
of an invention
that would quickly
convert this
vast waste into
linen, thus making
the value of
the flax crop cf
the United States
more than double
DRYING FLAX AT COURTRAI, BELGIUM.
its present value.
This is a process requiring three or four months' time
The four chief
flax - producing
regions of the world, named in the order
of their importance, are the United States,
Argentina, Russia and British India. For
a long time Russia has held the chief
place in the production of flax seed, but
Argentina and the United States have
rapidly forged ahead in the production of
the seed for oil purposes through the
opening of virgin sod to this important
crop, and probably also through the introduction
of a higher class of harvesting
machinery.
However, everywhere the pulling of
the straw is done by hand, flax thus
harvested bringing from one to two dollars
more a ton than the cut straw. There
is no machine that will do the work well.
Some writers claim there is much loss
of fiber if attempt is made to cut the
crop, for the reason that the best fiber is
located in the lower stem and root. There
is little or no foundataion for this belief.
The last two or three inches of the
flax stem is exceedingly woody and contains
but little fiber and the root contains
no fiber at all. At some of the
large scutching mills in Belgium it has
been contended that the filler from cut
straw is unsatisfactory
for spinn
i n g purposes,
for the reason
that fiber with
cut ends does not
bind together in
the thread properly,
that they
slip, etc. It is a
little doubtful as
to whether or not
there is any basis
for this belief.
The principal
reasons for pulling-
instead of
cutting flax seem
to be to avoid
stain and injury,
wdiich would result
from soil
moisture soaking
into the cut stems
while curing in
the shock and to
secure straw of
full length.
In European fiber work the seed is always
removed by hand, or such simple
machinery is used that hand labor is the
main element. The attempt is to save the
fiber in the small branches upon which
the bolls are located. Much care is given
to the proper drying of the straw and
seed bolls or capsules, so that the work
of seed removal may be as easily effected
as possible. The crop is sometimes left
in small bundles or swaths as pulled, and
then dried and stacked. Sometimes it
is kiln-dried, or often, in peasant districts,
hung in bunches upon fences or on racks
put up for that purpose.
The process of freeing the fiber from
the woody and gummy substances, so
that it can be easily removed by the pro-

588 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
HACKLING FLAX IN AN IRISH LINFN MILL.
' Hackling " consists in combing out the kinks and tangles
cesses of breaking and scutching, is
known as retting. Retting flax means to
"rot" the woody portions and yet preserve
the fiber intact. This may be done in water
or by a weathering process through
exposure to dew, rain and sun. This is
done in Europe by immersing the flax,
weighted down wdth stones, in pools of
water. In some of the fiber districts of
Russia the peasants use a combination
of shallow pool and dew retting. They
commence the work in the fall as soon
as the seed can be removed, wetting the
straw once by immersion in some shallow
pool for a period of two to five
weeks. The straw is then removed direct
to some grassy meadow and spread in
thin swaths for drying and dew retting
where it stays for another couple of
weeks. Retting in this way requires
careful attention so as to not let the fiber
rot instead of ret. The Russians are
careless in their methods, the result of
r "' '"^ which is that they produce
a great bulk of dark-colored
raw fiber which
greatly reduces its value.
Another process practiced
in Russia is a modified
pool or pit method. It
is there referred to as
American, the natives stating
that it was introduced
by a very bright American.
This belief, however, is not
confirmed. Very good results
are obtained from this
method. The straw is
stacked until May and is
then immersed in deep pits
or pools encased in heavy
planking or logs capable of
holding many tons of straw
in bundles. The retting
process is continued
throughout the summer
months.
After the flax straw is
retted it should be bright,
thoroughly dry, and have a
rather sweet odor. Then
the breaking and scutching
operations commence. As
the wood, skin, or bark
parts are harsh and brittle
and the fiber elastic and
tough, the straw is broken or crushed in
such manner as to cause the wood to drop
away from the fiber masses. This process
is called breaking. The straw may
either be crushed by pounding with mallets
or crijipled in some sort of breaking
machine. The scutching is done by means
of flattened paddles. If done by hand,
a bunch of broken fiber is held tightly
in one hand, while a glancing stroke is
made with a thin, smooth paddle, the
process being continued until all of tbe
ci iarse bits of broken wood are removed.
In the regular scutching mills the work
is done by a set of revolving paddles,
while the fiber is held in the hand of the
operator in such manner that the paddles
strike it a glancing blow as it rests over
a rounded, smooth-edged board with
slanted sides or edges, the ends of the
bunch of fiber being reversed from time
to time during the process.
But now an American has come to the

TO MAKE LINEN CHEAP AS COTTON 589
front with an invention for obtaining the
full value of the flax croji both in seed
and in fiber, and at the same time reducing
from months to hours the operations
of preparing- the fiber for the spinners.
The illustrations show how for thousands
of years—going back to Biblical times
—the task has been laboriously and crudely
performed by hand. But modern ingenuity
has solved the old problem and
brings the "fine linen" of princes within
the range of the "lowly."
To Benjamin C. Mudge, of Lynn,
Massachusetts, we are indebted for this
great boon to man and womankind. Mr.
Mudge is a graduate of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, and after
a score of years of experimental efforts
to treat flax straw mechanically and
chemically in a way to
utilize the full product of
the plant—fiber, seed and
shive—has had his patient
scientific work crowned
with success. He has perfected
mechanism that in
one operation "scutches"
and "hackles" the mature
flax straw, from which the
ripe seed has been "rippled"
by the growing
farmer.
The straw is fed into the
machine through a set of
fluted rollers, wdiich breaks
it and then empties it into a
rapidly revolving drum
with scutching and hackling
machinery inside. It is
here beaten and pulled, the
shive, or woody portion,
being loosened, shaken
away from the fiber, and
drawn out through a sieve
by an exhaust fan. The
fiber thus cleared is transferred
to a second drum
equipped with finer mechanism,
which prepares it
for the chemical treatment
that frees it from the gums,
fats and remaining shive,
and completes the process
with a perfectly bleached
linen fiber equal in every
particular to that produced
abroad, the difference being that this new
jirocess requires but a day to secure the
results that are obtained abroad only
after sixteen to thirty weeks.
When Eli Whitney invented his sawtoothed
cotton gin he enhanced the value
of the cotton industry a good many hundred
fold ; but that service was commercially
insignificant compared with the
benefits to follow the application of this
new invention to the linen industry.
Think what this great time-saving means.
The old methods yield only 170 pounds
of fiber from 1,000 pounds of straw and
sacrifices the seed croji; the new secures
250 pounds of fiber from the 1,000
pounds of straw after the ripe seed has
been saved. The' old method throws
away the shive ; the new method converts
WEAVING LINEN FROM FLAX FIBER YARN TREATED BY THE NEW PROCESS.

590 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
it into a pulp that makes a fine linen
pajier. The old jirocess has thirty-three
per cent, of waste or tow which is practically
useless ; the new jirocess uses this
'tow for making valuable new products.
There is no waste. Every particle of the
plant is utilized. Every particle has a
distinct monev value, which will mean
BLEACHING LINEN IN EUROPE.
The illustration shows the old process which requires six to ten weeks.
The new process takes tive hours.
thousands of dollars, heretofore thrown
away, to the flax farmers of the country.
Tlie best of the old methods now in use
is capable of producing, in from eight to
sixteen weeks, seventeen per cent, of long
line fiber and thirty-three jier cent, of
"waste" or almost useless material, leaving
fifty per cent, of "shive" regarded as
absolutely useless. To this lengthy process
must be added at least another eight
weeks, during which the woven fabric is
spread over grassy meadows to bleach'
in the sun, making a total of from sixteen
to thirty-two weeks to complete process
which tlie Mudge invention accomplishes
with very much more nearly perfect results
in less than ten hours. It is the
old story of mechanics and science in
competition with clumsy manual labor.
Linen is to cotton wdiat wheat is to corn ;
what gold is to silver, and who would be
content with the inferior article if they
could get the superior a.s cheaply? A
comparison of the costs of
the raw materials shows
that raw cotton in the bale
is worth twelve and onefourth
cents a pound. Flax
straw can be bought at two
to three dollars a ton,
from which twenty-five per
cent. — 500 pounds — of
fiber will be obtained, making
the cost only from twofifths
to three-fifths of a
cent a pound, an advantage
of approximately something
over eleven cents over cotton
at the start. The cost
of spinning the raw materials
for weaving is practically
the same in both
cases. Under the new
process this waste straw,
which can be purchased at
$3 a ton, will be transformed
into the finest
linen.
The linen industry is, of course, a
stranger to this country, we being dependent
for our supply on the output of
foreign mills, but an appreciation of the
rich field of profit open to the new industry
can be formed by a consideration
of the cotton industry of this country,
which is similar to it in many respects.
Tlie Oxford Linen Mills, at Gardner,
Massachusetts, is where the Mudge process
has been installed, and the workings
of that mill have been carried on so successfully
that arrangements have been
made for an immediate enlargement of
the plant and increase of the output.

SEAWEED GROWTH FROM ARTIFICIAL CELL. ARTIFICIAL CELL PRODUCING PLANT.
IS SCIENCE'S DREAM REALIZED?
(DREAM of science, which
A Y \ has been cherished for ages,
) J has recently come so close to
realization that the world
has had a start, as it were.
The artificial production of life, at which
experimenters have aimed, almost
since men first entered
into any extended knowledge WF^
of the elements and of chemical
action, appears to have been all
but accomplished, and, while
the man who has conducted
the experiments which haveshown
such remarkable results,
makes no loud acclaim over bis
discovery, he points to the
work he has done and we can
but wonder at it.
The accompanying illustrations
show artificial plants
which were produced in test
By FRANK C. PERKINS
tubes by Professor Leduc of Nantes,
F"rance, as well as artificial seaweed jiroduced
from an artificial cell, also the
culture of a single artificial grain. The
artificial organs showing mushroom
shape are of tremendous interest as well
.•••.:. • . . . • . y . .
LEDUC ARTIFICIAL SEED GROWTH.
:.:n

592 TECHNICAL
as the liquid cell tissues with which experiments
have been successful.
This French Scientist, professor in
"l'Ecole de .Medicine de Nantes," has
obtained these curious artificial plants,
cells and tissues from cane sugar, copper
sulphate and potassium Ferrocyanide,
and although they are composed of inert
matter, these interesting objects sprout,
branch and nourish themselves like actual
living organisms.
There is a strong feeling among some
scientists against not only attempting to
convert one element into another, as
dreamed of by alchemists of old, but of
generating living beings from inert matter,
and although the experimental work
of Professor Leduc is remarkable and
astonishing in its results, his theories are
attacked by Prof. Gaston Bonnier, of
Paris University and tbe Academie des
Sciences.
R.LD MAGAZINE
Tbe researches of Prof. Lehmann on
apparently living crystals have been most
interesting, and are said to have indicated
that certain bodies behave like living organisms
of the lowest type such as bacteria,
although mineral in outward appearance,
and Prof. Leduc has found
that the vital functions in animal and
vegetable cells are controlled exclusively
by the laws of diffusion and cohesion in
physics, or osmosis and molecular attraction.
The accompanying illustrations show
Leduc's artificial plants which would
defy many botanists in distinguishing
from certain water plants and other representatives
of the vegetable kingdom, although
they are not living but are artificial
bodies formed in the chemical
laboratory.
ANOTHER FORM OF ARTIFICIAL PLANT IN TEST TUBB.

IS SCIENCE'S DREAM REALIZED? 593
It is startling to observe
how, from an artificial seed
a small plant or shoot
springs up and develops
with apparently the same
forms of stems, leaves,
buds and blossoms as the
actual living plant, ami all
within a few hours' time.
One or two of Professor
Leduc's experiments in
producing artificial plants
and cells may be given to
show his methods of procedure.
A small artificial
seed about one-sixteenth
inch in diameter is immersed
in a solution of
potassium ferrocyanide,
sodium chloride and gelatine,
varying from one to
ten per cent. The seed
consists of two parts of
simple cane sugar or saccharose
and one part of
copper sulphate.
This little seed germinates
in this aqueous solution
in a few hours or a few
days, determined by the experimenter
according to the
SEAWEED PRODUCED FROM ARTIFICIAL SEED.
temperature he utilizes,
and it is claimed that under ve ry favor- tion may be shown by a lecturer in a few
able conditions, this process of germina- minutes, in the class room.
LEDUC ARTIFICIAL ORGANISMS, SHOWING
MUSHROOM SHAPE,
ANOTHER FORM OF ARTIFICIAL PLANT LIFE OF
MUSHROOM SHAPE

LIVING RELATIVES OF PRESIDENT WASHINGTON.
From left to richt the persons are, Mrs. Lawrence Washington, Lawrence Washington, Bessie Hungerford,
Julia Washington.
WASHINGTON'S LIVING RELATIVES
By GUY E. MITCHELL
The bell is tolling, the band playing
"Nearer My God to Thee," and the passengers
know even before they raise their
eyes to the fair sweep of Virginia's shore
line that the steamer i.s passing Mount
Vernon. A pretty custom, this, the tolling
of the bell and tbe playing of the
fine old hymn. A hush falls on the
crowded decks and one feels the thrill of
jiatriotism stirring the hearts of the jieople.
But tbe present fine state of Mount
Vernon is due to hard work and unselfish
effort. In 1853, the home of
Washington was in a rapidly deteriorating
condition. John Augustine Washington,
a son of General Washington's
594
nephew, was the owner of the estate.
The descendants of Washington evidently
did not inherit the clear business sense
of their illustrious ancestor, for, in General
Washington's time, the farm yielded
a handsome income. Now, the fields
were lying mainly untilled and useless
and the house and outbuildings showed
decay. The glory of that splendid home
was departing. It is to tbe credit, however,
of John Augustine Washington, that
he refused absolutely to consider propositions
advanced by private companies
and individuals to jiurehase the estate,
to be converted later into a pleasure resort.
Think of the desecration—a vaudeville

WASHINGTON'S LIVING RELATIVES 595
performance on
that magnificent
stretch of lawn,
waiters bearing
original condition
and preserving
for future generations
of Ameri­
their burdens of
cans this home of
food and drink
General George
through those
Washington.
stately halls and
During the civil
the daily uproar
war, though in
of irreverent
the very heart of
crowds. Perhaps
conflict, Mount
greater crowds
Vernon escaped
now visit Mount
serious injury
Vernon ; but it is
in a different
IN THE P.EAR OF THE MANSION AT MOUNT VERNON
through the heroi
s m of Miss
spirit. But then
Tracy, the secre­
the nation came to the aid, through the tary of the association, who took up her
efforts of Miss Ann P. Cunningham of abode at Mount Vernon, accompanied by
South Carolina and other patriotic only a few servants. There, for four
women, and in 1858 the estate was pur­ long years, she remained, practically cut
chased and the title passed to the Mount off from the rest of the world, managing
Vernon Ladies' Association of the the estate and guarding the buildings.
Union, and a charter was secured from In the scheme of restoration, not only
A'irginia exempting the property from the exteriors of the buildings have been
taxation, the organization binding itself rehabilitated, but the rooms, the furni­
to the restoration of the estate to its ture, the ornaments and the working
BOX GARDEN AT MOUNT VERNON.
Preserved in form very closely to what it was in Washington's time.

THE MANSION AT MOUNT VERNON, AS IT IS TODAY.
utensils have been purchased and put
in place, so that today, Mount Vernon is
practically as it was in the last days of
Washington. Even the grounds partake
of their original arrangement. It is only
tbe more leisurely of tbe tourists, how-
roe,
PRIVATE ENTRANCE TO MOUNT VERNON.
This road is not used by tourists.
ever, who see and realize everything that
has been done. Take, for instance, the
old box-wood garden. Some distance
back of the mansion house are the box
hedges, growing in conventional designs,
and undoubtedly looking just as they did
a century and a quarter
ago. This box is very old,
as box-wood in America
goes. Some of it was
planted by Washington's
older half-brother, Lawrence,
before George Washington
came to live at
Mount Vernon. Some was
planted by Mrs. Martha
Custis - Washington, soon
after she came to Mount
Vernon as a bride, and
some of it was planted by
her in the course of her
long residence there. Her
grandmother, Nellie Custis,
planted some of it and both
ladies gave their attention
to it, after the old-fashioned
method in which the elite

WASHINGTON'S LIVING RELATIVES 597
of former days personally directed and
even worked in their gardens. It is
probable that the ladies knew as much or
more, practically, about flower gardening,
than did their old black gardener. Of
course, the hard manual work, for the
most part, was done by blacks, but Airs.
Washington and Nellie Custis are said to
have been unremitting in their care of this
box garden in particular. In the main
square of the hedge are a number of oldfashioned
rose bushes which were planted
by the hands of Nellie Custis. They are
preserved with devoted care.
Many irindred of George Washington
dwell on and about the original Wash­
ington plantation in Westmoreland county,
A'irginia.
John Washington of Brighton parish,
Northamptonshire, England, came to
Virginia in 1657 and bought a farm on
the Potomac river between Bridge
Creek and Pope's Creek, in wdiat was
then Northumberland county, but wdiich
ANOTHER GROUP WHO ARE RELATED TO THE FIRST PRESIDENT.
At rear, Miss Fannie Washington. From left to right, Mrs. George Washington, husband and baby,
Frances Wirt and Elizabeth Wirt Washington.
long, long ago, became Westmoreland
county. He bought the farm from Col.
Pope, a great landholder in the early
colonial era, and whose daughter, Anne
Pope, became the wife of the immigrant
John Washington. These were the great
grand parents of George Washington
the Great, our first president.

598 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
John Washington through his mar­ to a farm house tbat snuggles in the
riage to Anne Pope obtained lands out­ shade of a graceful willow, old black
side of the farm purchased by him. The locusts and honey locusts. There are a
original farm is owned by John E. Wil­ clump of fig bushes, a crape myrtle or
son, who married Miss Betty Washing­ two, chrysanthemums and dahlias. The
ton, grand daughter of William Augus­ man who lives here is Air. George Washtine
Washington, a nephew of George ington, a kinsman of the Father of his
Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are Country. His wife was Miss Wirt, a
descendant of William
Wirt. The writer landed
from the river steamer before
dawn but loitering
along the road, the east was
alight when he came to this
house. Thin blue smoke
was curling from the
kitchen chimney. A man
came down the gravel walk
from the farm house. He
hadn't been long awake and
his toilet had been hastily
made. His hands were in
bis trouser's pockets.
"Are you Mr. George
Washington?"
traveler.
asked the
BLENHEIM, THE HOME OF ONE BRANCH OF THE WASHINGTONS
"Yes,
name."
suh. that's my
advanced in years. A score or more of
"What relation are you
to the great George Washington?"
Washingtons live on their ancestral lands "Indeed, suhr I don't just know, but
and within rirle shot of the spot where Air. Wilson, who lives at Wakefield, has
George Washington was born.
it all figured out and he will tell you if
Some of these jieople are prosperous you want to know."
farmers and jirofessional men ; others are Here was a kinsman of the Father of
not prosperous. They are all plain and his Country living in the original Wash­
simple folk who have the good wdll and ington neighborhood wdio had not paused
respect of their neighbors. A peculiar long enough in life's struggle to acquaint
thing about this family is that all its himself wdth the degree of kinship. Yet
members have the distinctive Washing­ there are persons who say Virginians talk
ton features.
pedigree in their sleep.
The Potomac river landing nearest the Air. Washington said:
birthplace and childhood home of George "The farm isn't looking very well just
Washington is Wirt's wharf on Maddox now. You can't get the hands to work.
Creek. Wirt's wharf takes its name from The wages are high, but the hands don't
the family wdiich owned tbe landing want to work."
place and still owns many thousand acres There was something in this speech
thereabout—the Wirt family. William very suggestive of the complaints which
Wirt, born at Bladensburg, Aid., in 1772, Washington, the Father, often made in
Attorney General of the United States his letters to Tobias Lear. Then Mr.
in 1817, and anti-Alasonic candidate for George Washington changed the sub­
the Presidency in 1832, was a member of ject. "Won't you come in and get warm
this influential family. The country ad­ and have some breakfast?" is what he
jacent to Wirt's wharf is called Wirtland said.
and a number of the Wirts dwell on their At table there was Mrs. George Wash­
ancestral lands. About a mile and a ington, nee Aliss Wirt, a comely matron
half from the wharf the traveler comes who was much more insistent that the

WASHINGTON'S LIVING RELATIVES 599
stranger should take some more coffee,
more corn muffins and more home-made
sausage and more country butter than
she was in giving out information about
kinship to the great departed. Another
at table was Aliss Frances Washington,
a great-great-grand niece of Father
Washington. She is a stately young woman.
Few persons near her home call
her Frances. White and black alike know
her as Aliss Fanny. Her breakfast gown
was a dainty garment of white-dotted
black la.wn with wdiite
shoulder strajis crossed.
Others at table were Miss
Elizabeth Wirt AVashington,
a quaint and reserved
little lassie of ten years.
and Aliss Frances Wirt
Washington, nine years old,
an active, bustling little
lady who had set tlie table
for breakfast and who sustained
her jiart in the general
conversation with decided
animation. She took
hold of the camera and
plate case which the stranger
carried and naively said,
"Ain't this thing pretty
heavy for you to tote?"
Then at table was the
baby. He had been christened
a few days jireviously and the
name given him was George Lee Swanson
Washington. The Swanson was in
honor of Governor Swanson of Virginia.
After leaving the home of the present
George Washington the road twdsts
through old fields, up-grown in young
pine and through old pine woods. One
passes several "cabins." A walk of a
mile or so brings you to the home of
Lawrence Washington, a descendant of
Augustine AVashington of AVakefield,
eldest brother of George Washington.
The by-path, along which the writer
travelled, brought him up at the kitchen
door of this Washington home, where
he was met by Airs. Washington. She
called to Air. Washington and that gentleman
came out.
Lawrence Washington was in his bare
feet. He has rheumatism and he wears
shoes only when it is necessary. He has
lived a leisurely life as a farmer and fisherman.
He served throughout the civil
war as a private in the 9th A'irginia cavalry.
He is an affable and kindly old
man. The young girl in the right of the
picture is Aliss Julia Washington, his
GEORGE WASHINGTON'S BED ROOM AT MOUNT VERNON.
daughter. Another daughter is a trained
nurse in the George Washington hospital
in Washington City. The young girl next
to Julia Washington is Aliss Bessie
Hungerford, whose mother was Lena
AVashington, daughter of Robert J.
Washington, of Campbellton.
A few hundred yards beyond the home
of Lawrence AA'ashington is Blenheim, an
old brick house erected in the eighteenth
century by William Augustine Washington.
Mrs. Hungerford, nee Lena AA^ashington,
lives there with her family. So,
almost in a group, and in simjile quiet,
live the descendants of the man Americans
delight to most honor.

FLOATING THE SUEVIC'S FORE END
MX7 r | 1 W M and the floating of her
>wi I Wli mn( ^ er P art nlto P ort
rw X jjan after the wreck of the
r^^rvr\/iyv7ir^-? vesse l, was regarded
(^^^§^^g!^) as a remarkable feat.
Complementary to this
performance in marine engineering, is
the bringing of the newly constructed
forward end from tbe shipyards in
Northern Ireland to the docks at Southampton,
England.
TThe Sucvic was severed in the middle
of No. 3 hold about forty feet forward
of the watertight bulkhead, but the
new structure is being carried up to include
this bulkhead, so that it is to that
extend longer than the portion that was
abandoned on the rocks, and a corresponding
length of material has been
By JOHN VANDERCRAFT
(^i^^S^^^^n T TF cutting in two of removed from the after portion, at
KSj^^jS^/ the steamship Snevic, Southampton. The renewed vessel will
thus be exactly the same length as originally,
the object in rebuilding up to and
including tbe bulkhead referred to being
to facilitate the towage to Southampton
and also to enable the builders to ensure
that the conjoined vessel shall be equally
as strong as the original ship. The
strength of the vessel was amply vin­
m>
JL —t-
- ~^~--*s** —*- m
jyestu*~~-- *~-
THE NEWLY CONSTRUCTED FORE END OF THE SUEVlC IN TOW.
Built to replace corresponding section left through wreck on the Irish coast
dicated by her behaviour on the rocks
when in spite of tempestuous seas, which
caused her to bump heavily on the
jagged abutments, she successfully resisted
the forces of nature long enough
to enable the greater portion of the ship
to be salved.
In dry dock the vessel will be built up
in such a way that the whole structure
from the keel up, will occupy exactly the
same positions as before.

THE LINE UP MOUNT PILATUS.
A typical Alpine steam railway and a typical bit of wunderful scenery.
CLIMBING MOUNTAINS BY RAIL
By HENRY HALE
ENJAMIN FRANK­
LIN'S famous experi­
B
ment in drawing electricity
from the clouds
by means of a kite
string has been reversed
in some respects
today. Instead of depending
upon the clouds to supply us
with electricity, we carry it up among the
clouds and make it of service in running
our trolley cars. AA'e even pass beyond
the clouds and calmly defy the lightning
to do its worst.
One by one great mountain peaks have
been climbed, first by hardy mountaineers,
with alpenstock and line; then by
early cog-wheel railroads and puffy engines,
and, finally, by the modern electric
road, with cars comfortably heated so
that as the ascent is made, the temjierature
inside can be regulated to suit the
needs of the passengers. AA'hat formerly
required days to accomplish at the imminent
risk of life and limb, can be performed
today by the merest tyro within
an hour or two without so much as jeopardizing
his life in the remotest way.
The pioneer mountain-climbing railroad
was of American design and construction.
In 1872 the cog-wheel road
was constructed up the sides of Mount
AVashington in the state of New Hampshire,
and passengers were carried

602 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
to the summit by a system of rapid
transit that was then considered remarkable.
A'isitors would start at the base
with light summer clothes on, but within
a short time they would experience
the chill of early autumn weather, and
before they reached the summit they
would be comfortable in winter wrajis
and furs. After that engineers dared to
NEAR THE SUMMIT OF MONT BLANC.
A trolley line will soon take tourists to the top
build similaf roads up the Rigi and
Mount Pilatus, near Lucerne, and then
boldly attempted to surmount Pike's
Peak in the western part of the United
States. These early pioneer roads were
of the rack-and-pinion type, drawn by
"hump-back" engines wdth a single car
behind.
With the adoption of the electric mountain
climbing system tbe engineers sought
to ascend to even higher altitudes, and
the famous Jungfrau, one of the most inaccessible
peaks of the Swiss Alps, has at
last been made easy of access. This
achievement has induced the engineers to
attack Mont Blanc, and an electric roadbed,
similar to the one that runs up the
sides of the Jungfrau, is being built to the
summit of this mountain peak. The new
road starts at an elevation of 3,260 feet
and will terminate 810 feet from the extreme
summit. The total distance from
the sea level is 14,970 feet, and the total
ascent of the road 11,710 feet. To make
__s
this ascent the road in its circuitous
course will traverse a distance of eleven
miles.
The electric road up the summit of the
Jungfrau is one of the most wonderful of
modern engineering feats above the
clouds. This has been ascended in the
past by only a few hardy mountain climbers.
Prior to 1856 only five mountaineers
had succeeded in reaching the summit.
The lofty mountain has made the world
pay tribute to it in the form of many
human victims who lost their lives in trying
to scale its sides. It usually requires
two full days to reach the point—13,729

THE JUNGFRAU FROM INTERLAKEN.
The black cross on the central peak shows the location of the highest railway slation, 12,000 feet above Ihe sea.

VIEW OF THE JUNGFRAU.
This photograph was taken from near the upper terminus of the mountain railway.
feet above the sea level, where the railroad
when finished will end. Even this
point is still some'250 feet below the top
pinnacle of the peak. But not to be
balked by anything, the engineers of the
road are to build from this tip-top railway
station, an elevator that will carry
passengers to the very highest point.
The work of constructing an electric
line up the side of a mountain so lofty
and precipitous that hardy mountain
climbers had difficulty in reaching it naturally
jiresents stupendous problems to
solve. Mountain-building engineers and
workmen are a class by themselves. As
the road progresses upward, only the
hardiest and strongest men can endure
the fatiguing work. Oxygen is very scarce
at such an altitude, and the workmen
soon become exhausted. Scores of people
wdio attempt to climb above 10,000
feet bled at the ears, nose and eyes,-and
every exertion appears like superhuman
effort. To survey the route of the road
6< U
and then to blast out the rock, lay the
tracks and haul the material up from the
levels below represented endless toil. Often
a mountain climber would first have to
make an ascent of fifty or a hundred feet
.and drill a hole in the solid rock. To
this would be attached a rope ladder for
the other workmen to follow. Then the
blasting and drilling machinery would be
hauled up by ropes.
A considerable part of the route is
through a tunnel cut straight through the
side of the mountain, but tbe road comes
out at unexpected points to give one a
magnificent view of the scenery. No road
could be built to hang on the steep sides
of the upper part of the mountain, and
tunneling through the rock was the only
recourse. The traveller thus actually
winds upward and around the inside of
the mountain.
The first stop is at Rothstock, built in
sight of the Eiger glacier, and wdien you
walk out on the platform to view the

CLIMBING MOUNTAINS BY RAIL 605
scenery you appear to stand on the side tourist. Beyond this sea of ice is "The
of a vertical shaft that fairly makes the Field of Everlasting Snow," wdiich in
brain whirl, so steep is it. The next stop time will be a side excursion for those
is at Eigerwand, wdiich is over a mile who wish to take it. The final stop
up in the mountain, and on the outside among the clouds is Jungfraujock, or
platform you look down upon a sharp tbe saddle or pass of tbe Jungfrau. At
declivity of over a thou ^nd feet. It is this great altitude the oxygen of the air
all like a great cave or series of caves is so light that few jieople can remain
cut through the mountain. But the caves there long wdthout suffering great dis­
are more wonderful than any in fiction, comfort.
for they are brilliantly lighted' and heated The Jungfrau railroad is divided into
by electricity, and there are beds and two sections; on the upper portion the
hotel accommodations to make one forget cars are propelled entirely by electric
the inconvenience of mountain climbing. jiower, wdiile on the lower the railroad
ddie road stops at a station at Fismeer, is what is known as the rack and pinion.
which means "The Sea of Ice." This The electric line begins at an altitude of
station has an altitude of 11,846 feet, 6,722 feet, and wdien completed its total
about twice as high as Mount Washing­ length will be seven and three-quarter
ton. Here one is able to view near-by miles. From the station of Kleine
the famous Grindelwald glacier. If he Scheidegg to tbe proposed terminus, the
wishes to stand for an instant on this route may be likened to a gigantic fish­
glacier there are rope ladders dangling a hook or horseshoe, one arm of which is
hundred feet below to support the daring more than double the length of the other,
PICTURESQUE CURVE ON THE JUNGFRAU RAILROAD

TOURISTS CLIMBING THE JUNGFRAU.
High above them can be seen the side openings in the railway tunnel.
for the lower portion describes a long
curve before entering the heart of the
mountain itself.
At present the necessary current, not
only for operation but also for the con­
struction of the railway, is transmitted
from the power station at Lauterbrunnen,
a distance of six miles from Scheidegg.
The watercourse known as the
White Lutschine generates the power

TROLLEY CAR, IN ITS ASCENT OF THE JUNGFRAU. ENTERING TUNNEL.
that hauls the cars speedily and safely up
the erstwhile dangerous slopes.
The Lutschine is merely a mountain
brook but its fall is so great that it generates
really an enormous power in pro­
portion to the volume of water, being
capable of supplying a current much
greater than that which is being utilized
for power and locomotion at the present
time. Here again, the engineers have lit-
em

608 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
erally made the mountain furnish its own
power since the stream which has been
converted into a power canal has its
source in one of the mountain glaciers.
The trains upon this railroad above the
clouds usually consist of two cars, one of
which contains the motors, while the
other is utilized as a jiassenger car. In
ajipearance they differ little from the
ordinary trolley car, although they are
required to climb a grade which is as
high as twenty-five per cent, at an average
speed of five miles an hour in ascending.
Consequently the horse power of a
single motor car amounts to 240 at a current
ranging from 450 to 500 volts. Each
locomotive weighs about fourteen tons,
which will give an idea of its great traction.
The trains on the lower section of the
Jungfrau railroad are drawn or pushed
by steam locomotives weighing fourteen
tons. This is the type of locomotives
used on the majority of the rack and
IN THE HEART OF THE JUNGFRAU.
Interior of one of the many tunnels on the mountain line.
pinion railroads in the Alps. In the
vicinity of Interlaken are no less than six
of these lines, each of which has a grade
ranging from twenty to thirty per cent.
Mount Pilatus is ascended by means
of a series of short tunnels and steep outside
track, which wind over long
stretches of ice-covered fields and snowcapped
peaks. Tbe Italian workmen and
engineers in building the road had to
work frequently while suspended on the
sides of the mountain at the end of onehundred-feet
ropes. Sections of the
tracks had to be hauled up by this primitive
method and then fastened to the
rocks until they could be spiked into position.
The work was dangerous and exhausting.
The tourist today rides up the
steeji sides of the mount with all the comfort
and pleasure of ordinary surface
railroad traveling. The wildest part of
the road is reached when it climbs the
wild escarpment of the Esel. It passes
around the fantastic blocks of the Mat-

THE MOUNTAIN VISTA FROM THE UPPER END OF TIIE JUNGFRAU LINE.
talp under the very edge of the enormous
mass of the Esel, whence a panoramic
view is had of the Alatterhorn, and then
describing a sharp curve it boldly mounts
the ridge that connects the two summits.
The road is at an altitude of 6,230 feet,
and it seems to cling to the very edges
of the wild escarpment of the wall of tbe
Esel as it slowly mounts upward, ddie
Bernese Alps, lakes, towns and cities can
be seen in every direction. The workmen
at this point had to labor in a climate
that froze their hands in mid-summer,
and they toiled against engineering
difficulties that might well puzzle one on
a level in tbe valley below.
Tbe normal speed of the cars up this
part of the mountain is a little over three
feet a second. Sometimes the gale at this
altitude i.s so tremendous that the engine
and car are in danger of being blown off
the mountain side. To prevent any such
accident a special arrangement is made
to lock the wheels to the track. Passengers
ascend Mount Pilatus in a combina­
tion engine and car, which climbs the
steeji track by means of cog wheels.
There are four pairs of cog wheels, two
in front and two behind, to propel the
locomotive on its upward journey. Electricity
has not yet been adojited on the
Mount Pilatus road, and the locomotive
of seventy-horse power, which puffs up
the steep grade, seems a little out of date.
In time it may be that electricity will replace
the jiresent locomotive, and the
journey up the steep sides will be increased
in sjieed.
Twenty-five years ago a cable road was
built up to the crater of Mount Vesuvius.
AA'hen first projected it was considered a
foolish scheme, and few tourists cared to
take advantage of it. Every few r years
dejiosits of hot lava overflowed from the
crater and formed in the gulley made for
the roadbed. There was frequent interruption
of traffic. With scarcely any
warning the roadbed would some night
be filled with hot ashes and lava and the
rails would be warped and twisted. Final-
609

CURIOUS MOUNTAIN TRAMWAY THAT CONNECTS WITH THE JUNGFRAU RAILROAD.
ly the road was improved by filling the
old hollow with stones, and the solid
roadbed itself was built about ten feet
above the surface. New rails were used,
heavier and firmer than the old, while the
latter were used for metal crossties. AVith
these improvements made the new com­
pany decided to operate at least a part of
the line by electric power.
The Alount Vesuvius observatory is
1.848 feet above the sea level, and the
electric road has been operated to this
point connecting with a cable road that
extended up the steep side of the lava

deposit to a point 3,887 feet above the sea
level. This brought one within a few
hundred feet of the old crater of the
volcano. The eruption of April, 1906,
however, again buried the trolley and
the cable lines.
The climbing of Pike's Peak in America
by a railroad is another engineering
feat of great importance. The grade is
sometimes so steep that the engineers in
building the line had to hang from ropes
CLOUD-TOPS SEEN FROM A RAILWAY TRAIN.
wdiile they made their surveys. The enterprise
was made doubly difficult by the
fierce "snow storms and blizzards that frequently
sweep down the mountain side.
AA'hen the valley below was clothed in the
verdure of spring or summer a fierce
blizzard would be raging up on the mountain.
Today wdien tourists ascend the
mountain they carry wraps and coats for
cold weather, although at the start the
temperature may be around the nineties.

GUSTAVUS LINDENTHAL, THE AUSTRIAN ENGINEER WHO IS BUILDING HUGE BRIDGES
ACROSS THE EAST RIVER, NEW YORK CITY
USTAVUS LINDEN-
I HAL, who is eon-
G n e c t e d w i t h m u e h
monumental constructive
work in and around
Xew York City, is a
man of large ideas and
tremendous e n e r g y.
Two enormous steel structures, now in
tbe course of completion, sjian the adjacent
waters of Xew A'ork and will go
down to time as the work of bis brain.
dens of thousands of jiassengers crossing
tbe ferry from .Manhattan to Long
Island City daily, view with curious interest
the enormous superstructure of
steel that stretches across Blackwell's
Island and in the mist and fog seems to
swing in the air unsupported. This huge
jiiece of engineering is part of the Blackwell's
Island bridge and projecting arms
reaching out across the Fast river from
each shore towards tbe central span.
Tbe bridge will be two miles in length,
and will cost over $20,000,000. It will
carry four elevated tracks, four trolley
tracks anti have a roadway and a promenade.
At Hell Gate, through which is
e,i2
the entrance to Xew A'ork harbor from
Long Island Sound, Air. Lindenthal is
constructing another monumental work,
almost as ambitious as the first. The
Hell Gate bridge will carry the heaviest
loads of any bridge in the world.
It was Lindenthal who originated the
Hudson river bridge project, a scheme
to throw a colossal suspension bridge
across the Hudson, the span of which
was to be three thousand feet; the height
of the towers sustaining the spans to be
three hundred feet ; the cost to be $80,-
000,000. This is the big dream of the
Austrian bridge builder, but so peculiar
are the laws of New A'ork and X T ew Jersey
that it is probable that it may never
be realized unless private enterprises
make it possible. Mr. Lindenthal came
to this country from Braunn, Austria, in
1876. Though equipjied with large
experience as a bridge and railroad
builder be was determined to become an
American and threw off his coat and
went to work as a carpenter and as a
mason until he found the opportunity to
pursue his profession in a manner better
suited to his training and his desires.

REMARKABLE HOME FOR SAVAGE PETS
By d. B. VAN BRUSSEL
T Stellingen, a pretty
suburb of the port of
A Hamburg, there has recently
been completed
one of the fin e s t
zoological gardens existing
in Europe, if not
in the world.
The zoological park oecujiies thirty-six
acres of ground and arrangements have
been made so as to throw another twenty-six
acres into the park if desirable.
But it is the bold and even daring manner
in which it is being laid out that
calls for special attention. Here you can
gaze at lions, tigers, and other wild
beasts appearing to the naked eye to be
entirely in the open, no iron bars or netting
"interfering with your view.
A description of the lions' quarters
will give an idea of how this is being
accomplished. At the back of tbe lion
bouse, which is artistically covered all
over with imitated rockwork, there is a
space sixty feet wide by forty-five feet
deep. On three sides there are rocks
which rise to such a height that no animal
could possibly jump over them,
while they are too steep to be climbed.
The other side is absolutely open, but
the animals are securelv confined to their
inclosure by means of a broad ditch,
fifteen feet deep and half full of water.
Immediatel)- in front of this ditch is a
narrow strip of garden full of tropical
ferns, plants, and other shrubs, and then
comes the jiublic footpath. From the
latter the jiublic gaze at both lions and
tigers, nothing separating them but the
ditch. From the animals' side of the
ditch to the footpath there is a distance
of thirty feet. No animal could leap this,
MAIN ENTRANCE VIEW OF REMARKABLE PRIVATE ZOO.
613

a
VIEW
614,
NOVEL LION HOUSE, OCCUPIED BY EIGHT LIONS AND THREE BENGAL TIGERS
IN THE LIONS' QUARTERS, WHERE THF. JUNGLE KINGS
LIVE CONTENTED LIVES.

REMARKABLE HOME FOR SAVAGE PETS 615
for the inclosure is so designed that it
is impossible for the animals to take a
running jump in that direction.
Eight lions and three Bengal tigers
now occupy this inclosure.
It is only right to add, perhaps, that
all these beasts are tamed animals ; that
is to say, they are accustomed to the
presence of their keeper, who can move
freely in and out among them. Should
an animal by any chance fall into the
ravine, it can regain its den by a series
of inverted steps at one end of the ditch.
Another interesting sight in this novel
zoo is the artificial mountain wdiere ibex,
mountain sheep, goats, and deer disport
themselves. These mountains are virtu-
and large pieces of granite stones have
been put into the cement, to afford the
animals a firm foothold in climbing during
frosty weather.
The garden really consists of four distinct
sections. The first of these is de-'
voted to all kinds of aquatic birds. The
second section is replete wdth camels,
dromedaries, yaks, llamas, ostriches, etc.
The third section is the open-air lion inclosure
for the big cats. The last section
is the artificial mountains. On the top
of the latter are placed large eagles and
vultures, and these birds are moving apparently
at liberty, being only fastened
by thin chains. Standing, therefore, in
front of the first section, namely, the lake
ARTIFICIAL MOUNTAIN, THE HOME OF IBEX, MOUNTAIN SHEEP, GOATS AND DEER,
ally masses of imitation rocks, piled one
on top of the other. In all there are some
eight of these mountains, and they tower
in height from sixty to one hundred and
fifty feet.
To watch the ibex climb the steep
sides and jump from one precipice to another
is a fascinating spectacle. A framework
of timber and poles was built on
pillars of brickwork. The whole structure
was then covered with a layer of
thick cement. The rocks are so arranged
that the animals can climb to the highest
points. To prevent their slipping, small
upon which is placed the waterfowl, the
visitor is confronted by a wonderful
panoramic view of wild animal life, for
he is able to see at one time the whole
of the four sections and the animals confined
within them, some six hundred
birds and mammals in all. This vast collection
of animals appears to be able to
roam about of their own free will, for the
visitor is unable to detect the ditches and
other cunningly devised arrangements
that are confining the animals to their
allotted inclosures.
The whole idea of the proprietor of the

616 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
park, Mr. Hagenbeck, who has devoted
his life to the stud)- of zoological gardens,
is to erect a zoo in a natural manner.
lie therefore is intending to add in the
near future other novelties to the panoramic
views of animals already described.
Xot the less interesting of these will be
an .Arctic landscape, showing an iceberg
supposed to be stranded on a rocky coast.
At the foot of this iceberg polar bears
will disport themselves. I'o the right of
this there will be a large basin where
seals and sea lions will congregate. Immediately
behind them, on raised ground,
reindeer will roam. Then there will be
a grouji of native villages populated from
races of all jiarts of the world. There
By HARRY H. DUNN
r^^^g)(^^^>r?OST of masculine Am-
)$f^^ (i= ^^yj. erica at some time or
(£\\ I* ft ]/2) other in its career has
((§! \/l fc)l nuntcc l birds' eggs,"
\-/I 1V A yns but few of all those
//S^^-^/p^-^M wn0 have tramped hill
liS^Qx©&^>i and dale, climbed towering
trees and peered
into hedgerows in search of tbe fragile
shells, realize that, in far corners of the
world, there are men who are spending
their lives in the jiursuit of those very
eggs, or others more rare.
The tangled jungles of equatorial Africa
know these men ; the snowy steppes
of northern Asia have felt the pressure
of their tireless feet ; they trace new trails
across the Saharas of the globe and on
the spreading Pampas of the XewAA'orld's
southern continent, while the distant islands
of the sea are scoured for newspecimens
in bird skins and birds' eggs.
Swinging on slender threads of rope
from dizzy cliffs that lean above the
lashing waters of the rough North Atlantic,
they glean rare sea birds' eggs
will also be an extensive playground for
children, where they can amuse themselves
in gymnastics and games of all
kinds. To provide further amusement,
Air. Hagenbeck will arrange that a number
of elephants, dromedaries, camels.
small ponies and dwarf donkeys will be
available for rides, as well as sundry
vehicles drawn by antelojies, llamas, ostriches,
and Shetland ponies.
In conclusion, we may say that the
zoological garden of Air. Hagenbeck has
been visited and inspected during the
past summer by commissions from the
United States, South America, Japan,
Spain and Italy, all of whom have expressed
much interest in the place.
$1600 FOR A BIRD'S EGG
The story of how men risk life and limb in lonely parts of the world in pursuit of the science of Oology is one
rarely told. Collections worth thousands of dollars are now owned in the United States, and the hunting of birds'
eggs is a regularly practiced profession.
from niches in the rocky wall which these
winged wanderers call home ; from the
tops of sky-searching pines they take
eagles' eggs while the brave parent birds
hurl themselves in vain fury against their
daring enemies. From caves far up in
the face of steep cliffs in the western
Sierra they gather the solitary egg of the
California vulture, the largest bird that
flies, and in the jungles of the tropics
they risk their lives amid fevers and
poisonous rejitiles and vindictive natives
in search of rare hummingbirds, and
other gorgeous-feathered dwellers in the
warmer lands.
A silent body of men, little known to
the outer world, saying nothing of their
deeds, thinking them naught" but the
every day work of the lives they have
chosen to live, the busy, hustling world
hears of them but seldom, as when
George C. Cantwell brought home specimens
of the great Alaskan bald eagle, or
when the expedition to Funk island in
the North Atlantic found the best preserved
remains of the great auk, a bird

now extinct, whose egg commands the
fabulous price of $1,600.
The money these men earn compared
to the work they do is practically nothing;
it is never compensation for the
fatigues they undergo, or for the dangers
they face; rarely, indeed, does it cover
their expenses unless they
are sent out by some large
museum or by some such
wealthy naturalist as
Rothschild or the Prince
of Monaco.
Some of the collectors
go out "on their own
hook," so to speak, to sell
the eggs they collect outright,
as a business venture.
There are many museums
wdiose collections of
birds' eggs are always
open to the purchase of
new specimens, and there
is a large class of private
collectors of birds' eggs
scattered over the United
States and Europe, who
cannot go away on these
expeditions and are compelled
to buy such specimens
as they cannot get
near home.
Oology is the name they
have given to their science
—the study of birds' eggs
—and it is a science,
though to many it may
seem more of a pastime.
Hand in hand with it goes
the study of embryology,
the most important branch
of all biology and the one
which must one day answer
the riddle of existence if it
is ever to be answered in
this world. Omnia ex ovum est, i. e.,
translating freely, the egg is the origin
of all things, says the oologist, and
with this in view he starts to find
out whether the hen was before the egg
or the egg before the hen. So far he
has not answered the question, but he
hopes he will. Besides the searching of
the mysteries which the egg holds, oology
has added much to the world's
knowledge of the life histories of birds.
$1600 FOR A BIRD'S EGG 617
The real life of the bird centers round
its nest, and the collector of eggs has
unrivalled opportunities to bring back in
his notebook full accounts of the actions
of the birds whose homes he has visited.
Many of the shore birds and the ducks,
and almost all of the geese and swans
COLLECTOR OF EGGS CHOPPING WREN'S NEST OUT OF TREE.
nest far to the north and practically all
that the world knows of the lives of these
birds has been learned by men who have
travelled far under the shadow of the
Circle in pursuit of their eggs. These
men regard with contempt the closet or
"stay-at-home" naturalists. In one of
the photographs presented herewith is
shown the nest and eggs of one of these
dwellers in the Arctics—in this case the
black brant,a close relative of the Canada

DRAWER OF RARE HAWKS' AND EAGLES' EGGS FRCM THE AUTHOR'S COLLECTION.
geese which go honking high overhead
on their migrations in fall and spring.
The black brant makes its nest on the
shores of some river or on the flat tundra
of the interior, raking together a mound
of grasses which is hollowed out in the
middle and the four or five or six eggs
deposited therein. These eggs are larger
61S
TOOLS USED BV OOLOGISTS IN PREPARING SPECIMENS.
than those of the domestic goose and
are worth from $4 to $6 each, according
to the demand among collectors.
But how are the prices fixed ? By
dealers in eggs and naturalists' supplies.
Practically every large city in the United
States has one of these dealers, and their
shops are among the most interesting
curio houses in tbe world.
In Europe they are twice
as numerous as they are
in the New World, for
there almost every boy is
student of some form of
natural history.
These dealers issue catalogues,
revised from year
to year. The American
Ornithologists' Union has
made a standard list of all
the birds of X T orth America
north of the Mexican
boundary, and this list is
followed by the dealers,
they merely adding prices
to the list of numbers and
names. The cheapest egg

in the'catalogues is that of the mourning
dove, which is listed at two cents, and the
most valuable probably that of the great
auk, already mentioned, a plaster cast of
which, however, accurately jiainted, may
be had for $1. Another valuable egg is
that of the California vulture, or condor,
a few pairs of which still breed along
the high sierras of the west coast. It is
catalogued at $225, but commonly sells
at from $150 to $175. In all probability
there will never be another great auk's
egg added to those now known to the
world of science, seven in nuniber, if I
remember correctly. The bird is totally
extinct, along wdth the
Labrador duck, the egg of
which is unknown, so far
as I am able to learn. The
last specimen of the Labrador
duck is believed to
have been shot by Daniel
Webster.
One of the most interesting
phases of oology is the
preparation and preservation
of the eggs after they
are collected. When the
collector discovers a nest,
he takes tbe eggs, if there
be a full set or "clutch,"
—i.e.,all the bird will lay—
marks each one with a
"set-mark" and, wrapping
each carefully in cotton,
puts them in his collecting
box, if he be near home or
camp. If he is far away
and will have a considerable
distance to carry the
eggs, he has r. pocket set
of tools and prepares them
on the spot.
The set-mark referred to
above consists of the number
which the bird bears
on the American Ornithologists' Union
list; a mark, usually a letter, to designate
the set from all other sets of the same
bird which he may take and the number
of eggs in the set. Thus, suppose one is
collecting black brant eggs in the far
north, his first set, supposing it to be
of six eggs, would be marked: 174 a-6;
if his second set is of seven eggs it would
be marked 174 a-7; if of five eggs,
$1600 FOR A BIRD'S EGG 619
174 a-5 and so on, 174 being the number
of the black brant on tbe A. O. U. list.
By this method of marking he can separate
any number of sets of tbe same
species at the end of the day's collecting,
which he would be totally unable to do
were his eggs unmarked.
Now, as to the preparation mentioned
above: Each collector has a set of drills,
made exactly like those of a dentist, wdth
burrs on the ends, excejit that instead
of being round or egg-shaped on the
head, they are pointed, and kept as sharp
as needles. These drills are of varying
sizes, for use wdth different sized eggs.
THE CALIFORNIA VULTURE, THE EGGS OF WHICH ARE CATALOGUED
AT $225.
Selecting the one that suits bis purpose,
the collector drills a hole in the side
of the egg which is least heavily marked,
and in the hole inserts the tip of bis
blowpipe, made like that of a jeweler
save that it has a curved end and a very
small tip. By blowing through the other
end of the blowpipe the contents of the
egg is forced out around the tip of the
pipe. The shell is then rinsed with water

620 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
NEST AND EGGS OF HUMMING BIRD COMPARED WITH EGGS OF THE CALI
FORNIA VULTURE.
containing some sort of poison, usually
corrosive sublimate, and the shells are
then placed on trays of cornmeal, or
sand, to dry.
Where large numbers of eggs are to
be blown, in the case of collectors doing
a large business for museums, water
blowers, wdth which water is forced under
jiressure through the blowpipe and
made to perform the service of air in the
process described above, are used. This
relieves tbe collector of a great deal of
w.ork.
Wdien eggs are heavily incubated, solvents
are used to decompose the contents
of the shell. For this purpose a chemical
must be found wdiich will act on the embryo,
but not on the shell, and pancreatin,
which is only an extra-strong pepsin, is
most commonly used.
When the blown shells are thoroughly
dried, they are placed on sheets of soft
cotton in the drawers of cabinets, wdiere
they can be shut away from the light and
where each set can be kept by itself. The
eggs are carefully gone over and the set
marks brightened up wdth pencil, and
then the data is written.
On blanks are recorded the kind of
bird to which the eggs belong, the date
of their collection, kind of nest and materials
of which it was constructed, where
located, etc., together with the condition
of the eggs, fresh or incubated, and their
number, together with other
facts which might be of
interest to any one buying
the eggs.
In order to get the material
for this information,
without which a set of eggs
is practically worthless, the
collector carries a field
notebook, in which, as he
takes each set from the
nest, he notes down the
conditions he wdshes to
preserve, together wdth the
set mark he puts on the set
taken from the nest. These
notebooks are preserved by
the best class of collectors
and they form the basis of
practically all the knowledge
we have of many rare
birds,thus adding not alone
to oology, but to the great study of natural
history as well as to the science of
biology.
Many books have been published devoted
to nothing but birds' nests, their
eggs and how to find them. The dates
between wdiich the eggs of the different
species of birds may be found are known
to almost all collectors, and with this information
they sally forth at the most
propitious time for finding tbe oological
treasures they seek.
They are also informed as to the localities
in which certain birds may be
found during the breeding season. For
NEST AND EGGS OF CALIFORNIA CLAPPER RAIL.
This nest is built on top of practically floating vegetation
in the midst of a bog.

NEST AND EGGS OF TURTLE OR MOURNING DOVF.
These eggs have a low market value, fetching but two
cents each.
instance, all shore birds—such as snipe,
plover, sandpipers—nest on the ground,
some of them near the sea, others far
from it; some in the far north, others
along our own beaches, lakes and rivers.
Most ducks lay their eggs in nests lined
with down from their own bodies and
placed on the ground, but there are at
least two species, the wood duck and the
golden-eye, wdiich nest in holes in trees,
taking their young to the water as soon
as they are hatched.
Some birds, such as the meadowdark
and the bob-white, wdiich lay their eggs
in ground nests, build arched roofs over
their homes with the grasses which bend
above. Such an arched nest is shown in
that of the California clapper rail, a photograph
of which is published herewith.
Other birds, like the orioles and the
vireos, weave hanging nests from fine
grass blades, horsehair, string and like
flexible materials. The former of these
two species places its cradle on the
slenderest limb of the tallest tree it can
find, while the vireos select low branches,
often not more than three feet above the
ground. Thus the collector must know
where to look for each of these, and
as all such small birds are the most clever
of nest hiders, he must pit his skill at
finding a thing, for which he does not
know within fifty feet of where to look,
against the skill of the bird in hiding
its home.
Birds of the wren family and the
nuthatches and chickadees, all familiar
$1600 FOR A BIRD'S EGG 621
birds, make their homes in holes in trees,
as do the woodpeckers. For these the
collector carries a little hatchet, with
wdiich he chojis tbem out of house and
home, to get at the eggs.
And some of the collections which
these hard-working men build uji in the
far corners of the world are immensely
valuable. When they change bands it is
at figures of thousands and they contain
thousands of eggs. ( >ne collection recently
sold near the city of Philadelphia
contained as many as ninety sets of golden
eagle eggs, several eggs of the rare
California vulture and hundreds of sets
in series of hummingbirds, ducks, and
other such desiderata in an oological line.
In all these collections the object in
securing such large series of the eggs
of one species is to show the wonderful
variations in markings and coloration,
which in itself is a riddle yet unsolved,
and one wdiich, expert oologists tell us,
may never be answered. Eggs of all
the hawks are colored ; those of all the
owls are pure wdiite. This destroys the
validity of tbe theory that flesh food
makes the eggs more highly colored.
The eggs of all the woodpeckers, which
nest in holes in trees, as do the owds,
NEST AND EGGS OF BLACK BRANT.
These eggs are valued at from four to six dollars each.
are pure white, but those of the wrens
and nuthatches, laid under precisely the
same conditions as the woodpeckers' and
in similar localities, are variously and
beautifully colored. The study is endlessly
interesting.

HYDRAULIC DREDGE STARTING A SAND CUT NEAR LAKE ONEIDA, N. Y.
REBUILDING A GREAT CANAL
By LINDON BATES, JR.
millions HEN the have average been citizen saved on the prelim­
learns that one single
machine, employing but
fifty men, dug in November,
1 ( '06, nearly
one-third the amount
of the whole Panama
excavation for that
site of tbe new Erie
falls to thinking. He
mi mtli,
Barge
on il]
cana
lias interest enough then to read, perhaps,
in the annual message of Governor
Hughes that, of the one hundred and
one million dollars voted by referendum
in 1903 for the improvement of the four
Iiundred and forty-two miles, comprising
the Erie, ' )swego and Champlain canals,
fifteen millions have been allotted in
eighteen contracts and all of them today
are in the full swing of advanced execution,
lie learns that tbe work has
been let at a price so much below the
state engineer's figures, tbat despite the
increased cost of labor and material, two
inary estimate; that the canal locks,
owing to this economy are to be enlarged
to admit barges of two tliousand two
hundred tons, instead of the one thousand
ton carriers originally contemplated.
And when he has digested the significance
of these facts he begins to appreciate
the quiet, unheralded but selfevidencing
progress on the great waterway
of the Empire state. For measured
by the standard of results, the progress
already achieved on the New Barge
canal, renders it one of the most notable
of public undertakings.
Water transportation from the Great
Lakes to the Hudson has from the earliest
days, been tbe key to the commerce
of the North. But the call of empire.
even more than the seekings of trade
brought into being the old Erie canal
route, whose influence is stamped so
deeply into our national life, and of
which this greater canal now under way

is the successor. Politically the canal
project was a main reliance for the consolidation
of the isolated AVest. Commercially,
the waterway then, as now,
was the reflection of a desire to bring to
the port of New York, the products from
the great central granary.
The first really significant step towards
modernizing the canal came in 18 (1 7. An
act was passed by the national congress
providing for the appointment of a board
of engineers, "to make surveys and examinations
of deep waterways and the
routes thereof between the Great Lakes
and the Atlantic tide waters." The board
was directed to submit in detail a report
on a ship canal. The estimates were
laid before the house—$200,000,000 for a
thirty foot depth,$153,000,000 for a twenty-one
toot depth. Under the system of
distributive appropriations which builds
ten millions dollar jetties for lonely Port
Arthur and leaves the Ambrose channel
to New York undug for ten years, this
was indisputably "too much appropriation
for one state."
The report of the board was ordered
printed and the project was buried in
REBUILDING A GREAT CANAL 623
the archives with so many other engineering
ideals that have gone up before
the nation's congress. Again, the state
itself rallied to tbe task, wdien national
support failed. The project for a 1,000
ton Barge canal, to cost $101,000,000
was brought up in the assembly, hotly
debated, and was finally offered to the
people at a referendum in the election of
1903 and carried through by a large vote,
particularly heavy in New York City and
Buffalo.
To ascertain with reasonable accuracy
the probable actual cost rd the Barge
canal improvement, the state engineers
PROGRESS MADE BY DREDGE IN MONTH'S TIME.
Compare with illustration on opposite page.
selected eight sections, each typical of a
certain class of work, and proposals on
these were asked from contractors. The
improvement of the Champlain canal
from Northumberland to Fort Edward
was one typical section. Here it was
necessary to dig out the channel of the
Hudson river, to execute a land cut where
the channel left the river and to construct
a dam, lock and guard gate. Soft
rock and earth excavations in the dry and
under water, concrete construction in
lock, dam and bridge abutments and tim-

624 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
ERECTING ONE OF THE DREDGES NEAR LAKE ONEIDA
ber work in docks and cribs were involved.
These vital items were to be put
to the ultimate test of all estimates, namely—for
wdiat sum would responsible contractors
undertake the work. The test
was satisfactorily met. The contract was
awarded at a price substantially below the
state engineer's estimate and it is now
well under way. A main structure, the
Crocker's Reef dam is built and a large
part of the excavation is already accomplished.
A second trial section included locks
Nos. 2 and 3 of the Erie canal and the
prism from the Hudson river about one
mile westward. A great quantity of
earth and rock excavation and the construction
in concrete of two of the highest-lift
locks in the world were included.
The result here has been that on this lock
nearly $150,000 has been
saved of the state's estimate.
Five miles of canal, extending
east from (meida
lake mostly through fine
sand and affording an opportunity
for using hydraulic
dredges made up
the next typical stretch.
Several steel bridges and a
breakwater extending into
the lake and for protection
to navigation were involved
in its construction.
This contract was taken at
a price some $86,000 under
the official figures. Six
miles of canal across the
Montezuma marshes, in
wdiich silt, marl and sand
are encountered make up another contract
on which $40,000 was saved. In
four miles of channel between Rochester
and South Greece, excavation amounting
to nearly a million and a half cubic yards
of hard stratified limestone was taken at a
saving of $375,000 on state estimates.
Thus from these bids and those on other
contracts subsequently let, there has been
afforded a gauge for reasonably estimating
the ultimate total cost of the work. On
these substantive grounds it is guaranteed
that the Barge canal will be a success.
Beyond this financial aspect, there is a
most significant executive feature in connection
with the Barge canal, whose importance
is scarcely yet generally comprehended—the
development of new and in
some cases revolutionary devices in machinery.
Not one, but half a dozen novel
THE NEW ERIE BARGE CANAL, SHOWING LOCKS AND DAMS.

mechanisms of the greatest import to future
canal construction have already been
evolved for and by this great undertaking.
First of the new devices may be noted
a suction dredge at Lake Oneida. This
machine is now accomplishing with a
REBUILDING A GREAT CANAL 625
power in the ordinary design, requires a
hull one hundred and fifty by forty feet.
Dredges of such high power usually have
engines in size and make like those of
ocean steamships. To build one with a
hull but ninety-seven feet long and with
an extreme beam of seventeen feet six
ROCK CUTTER ON CHAMPLAIN DIVISION OF CANAL.
This machine takes the place of the drill and dynamite system for attacking rock under water. A cigar shaped chisel
of steel is let fall to crush the submeiged rock.
crew of forty-five men and a six thousand
dollar pay roll nearly one-third as
much work as the whole government
force at Panama with thirty-six thousand
men and a million dollar monthly
pay roll. A dredge of one thousand horse
inches, so that it could clear the locks
of the old Erie canal and be transportable
might seem venturesome indeed, but
this is what has been done with this machine.
The two black stacks are so large
as to seem out of all proportion. The

626 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
reason is apparent in -the enormous engine
jiower that must be developed, for
the most powerful of machinery is compressed
into the constricting confines of
its steel hull.
In the engine room not a superfluous
inch of room exists beyond the narrow
alleys for gaining access to machinery.
Everv hand-rail, oil cup, piston clearance
and gear wdieel has its space figured to
tbe smallest possible margin. The result
is in very small compass a wonderfully
BUILDING THE FOUNDATION FOR A DREDGE.
effective mechanism for digging through
the soft material that occurs along certain
parts of the line. While these excavators
have hardly yet developed their full gait,
their capacity in actual practice has
shown itself to be upwards of 200,000
cubic yards per month. The dredge lets
down her suction pipe, on which are arranged
cutters that rotate and break up
the ground. The spoil is sucked into a
great centrifugal pump, of which the
screw that produces the suction is six
feet in diameter.
The stream of sand and water entering
this pump from the suction is discharged
through a pipe twenty-six inches
in diameter which passes over a line of
pontoons and spouts the material ashore.
Day and night the engines
throb and the pump revolves,
for such a tool must
not remain idle. As tbe
race track is prepared for
the horses, the preliminary
arrangements are made for
its coming. Stakes to mark
the sides of the course are
driven. The ground is
cleared and the dredge advances
at a rate of one
hundred and seventeen feet
of canal—almost half a
block—per day wdth a
depth of nine and one-half
feet and a width of one
hundred and fifty feet.
The operator stands in
the pilot house which overlooks
the cut. Before him
are fourteen levers that
lift the great arms, swdng
the machine to and fro on
the spud pivots astern and
control the engines. Eight
gages face him and three
telegraph appliances connect
with the various engine
rooms. In the night
shift, since all light must
be thrown on the cut ahead,
he swdngs his levers in
black darkness, from time
to time switching on a tiny
lamp to inspect the gages
and see that the pipe does
not clog or the steam of the
pump slacken. Then darkness again and
the swing of the dredge back and forth
across the melting edge of the cut, wdiich
the suction is eating into and undermining.
>
To meet the needs of another special

task, that of throwdng up an embankment
of material taken simultaneously from a
shallow cut,, there has been installed a
unique device just patented in Germany.
A trench made with this mechanism
seven feet deep and twenty feet wide
with an embankment built beside it, has
been carried no less than nine miles in
four months. Seen from a distance, the
machine looks like a huge bird or bat.
One wing revolves a series of buckets
which eat into the ground below, as a
buzz-saw eats into a plank. The spoil is
then dropped on to a set of rollers
which carry it to the tip of the other wing
from which it falls to make an embankment.
The "Lubecker"—so named because
it was made in the old Free City,
will become a new acquisition to the art
of excavating and "Lubecking" will be
adopted as a new word in the engineering
dictionaries.
On a section of the Barge canal near
Rochester, an electrical grab-bucket machine,
adapted from those used for the
unloading of ore along the Great Lakes,
has been installed for the first time as
REBUILDING A GREAT CANAL 627
an excavating implement. With a crew
of but three men, a superintendeht, motor
operator, and oiler, it does the work of
eight hundred, taking out from twentyfour
to thirty-two hundred cubic yards
of earth and rock in an eight hour day.
This grab-machine resembles tbe span of
a bridge resting on two supports. Under
On the left is the levee over which it pumps; in the center the line of sheet piling keeps the sand from sloughing in; on
the right is the line of the future canal, cleared of all timber, stumps and boulders.
wdiat corresponds to the floor of the
bridge is the motor house. The bridge is
428 feet in length, of which 286 feet are
on the side where rock is deposited and
142 feet on that where earth is dropped.
It rises to a height of eighty feet over all
and weighs several hundred tons, the
dipper alone weighing fifteen tons. The
latter is built much like that of a clamshell
dredge, with jaws of eighty foot
spread, wdiich bite into the ground and
close automatically. The dipper is then
raised and carried to either side, according
to the spoil it bears and the jaws are
opened when it reaches the jioint at
which the load is to be dropped. This
excavator makes a round trip in a little
more than a minute, averaging fifty loads
per hour. The towers at each end of the

628 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
bridge are mounted upon wheels and
move along jiarallel tracks as the digging
progresses.
Where rock or hard pan in the dry is
to lie removed, the steam shovel is generally
employed. Before it, like skirmishers
to a regiment, goes a line of drills
making the blasting holes at four to eight
foot intervals. After these follows the
lone powder man wdth his basket of dynamite.
Why this important functionary
should always and everywhere be an old
Irishman will continue to be an engineering
mystery. Once only along the Barge
canal has a jiowder man of other blood
been encountered and even then the
swarthy Sicilian has bowed to tradition
sufficiently to adojit the name of Tommy
Ryan. The son of' Erin, natural or
adojited, rams gingerly the tubes of dynamite
into the drill holes, inserts the
fuses and retires with his batteries safe
to cover, while his assistant waves a red
flag and the workmen from the adjacent
cut scramble out of range.
Then comes the dull boom, the balloonshaped
column of smoke, and the rattling
shower of stones. Tbe workmen return
to their jilaces, and the steam shovel is
moved along its tracks to gouge up the
scattered masses. The shovel dips into
the broken mass ahead, takes up two or
three yards and swings out over the dump
cars, which are filled usually in two
loads; the cars are pulled by puffing
donkey-engines to the spoil bank, where
they tilt off their burden and then return.
By each of the steam shovels hard shales
and limestones are being excavated at the
rate of about 50,000 cubic yards a month.
But the efficiency of steam shovels is very
dependent upon the operator. One of the
best organized as well as the best managed
unions, guarantees the ability of its
members and includes most of the operators
in the country. The demand for
them is always greater than the supply,
and $150.00 a month, higher by $25.00
than the union scale, is common. The
ability or inability to secure expert and
experienced operators may mean a difference
of a hundred per cent, in the
month's output, and profit or ruin for
the employer.
AA'hat the steam shovel effects in excavating
rock and gravel cuts in the dry,
the dipper dredge does for similar materials
under water. The latter lowers,
scoops up a load, lifts and drops the spoil
into scows alongside. AVith rock under
PREPARING FOUNDATIONS OF CONCRETE FOR A HIGHWAY BRIDGE ACROSS THE N

THE MATERIAL PUMPED BY THE HYDRAULIC MACHINES IS USED TO RECLAIM SWAMP LANDS.
water, the great problem is that of breaking
it up. To drill and dynamite is a most
difficult and expensive operation. Most
engineers reckon on a cost seven times
for the wet that obtaining in the dry. To
"meet this difficulty one engineer has
brought forward a new rock-shattering
machine, used wdth great success on the
Alanchester canal in England. It is now
receiving its great practical test in this
country. In appearance the "Rock Cutter"
is like a floating pile driver, in which,
instead of the hammer, there is what appears
like the shell of a huge cannon.
This cigar shaped projectile, weighing
twenty tons, has a manganese steel point.
It is hoisted to the top of the steel frame
and then let fall. It strikes the river bottom
with terrific momentum and the imjiact
shatters the rock for a radius of several
feet. A dozen blows only are required
to so break up the bottom that
the dipper dredge has but to pick up the
pieces.
To return to the broader aspect of the
canal enterprise, when will the waterway
be completed and what will be its results?
Since the trial contracts have made their
demonstration and the digging is well
under way, there should be no difficulty
in opening the entire lengtii in 1917, nine
years from now, and long sections of it,
of great service to commerce should be
available in six or seven years. What its
commercial benefits may ultimately attain,
it would be hard to forecast, but he
would be a rash man who underestimated
its usefulness. AAdien the old Erie canal
was first opened, Thomas Jefferson declared
that it was one hundred years
ahead of its time. Yet within ten years
it was being enlarged to keep pace with
the crowding traffic. Even the present
channel with its constricted 120 ton mule
drawn barges carried a freight amounting
last year to 3,540,907 tons, twice the
amount received on the Manchester, England's,
great ship canal. It is now of very
real service to shijipers and the congestion
of rail facilities is making it more
so every day. The larger and cheaper
units of transportation, 2,200 ton barges,
will not in the new canal be fettered by
transfer dependence upon the Buffalo
elevator pool.
Furthermore the old canal has been by
«•?.•)

HYDRAULIC DREDGE, IMPORTED FROM GERMANY, ON BARGE CANAL.
its potentiality of competition as well by
its actual volume of freight carriage, a
great balance wheel to railroad rates.
Their increase of tariff when navigation
closes and the lower rates wdiere the canal
radius reaches is evidence enough of this.
The competition of the new Barge canal,
so much keener than tbe jiresent waterway,
will effect reductions wherever the
canal parallels the direction of the land
routes. Four leading commodities—
grain, iron ore, lumber and coal, form
ninety per cent of the total freight of the
Great Lakes. In the transport of these
main jiroducts a canal is intrinsically almost
as useful as a railroad,since the time
element which dominates the carriage of
perishable goods is not overweighing.
The situation thus reduces itself in final
analysis to rates and rate cutting. It is
the judgment of a number of authorities
—a number convincingly large—that the
Barge canal will materially and significantly
lower tariffs to the great benefit
of the Empire state anil the city of New
A'ork.

RUINING A STATE
By GEORGE C. CALHOUN
I HE ruin of a state or
the destruction of a
T \ \ j » world industry on ac-
^k» count of their very
Jgf magnitude seem remote.
The average
person can hardly conceive
of either as jiossible
in this age of scientific and commercial
advance. But today, in the LJnited
States of America, both are not only possible
but even imminent. L T Comparatively a short time ago the
great bulk of Florida's natural resources
was absolutely untouched, and among
these one of the most important was her
virgin forests of pine, wdiich covered the
entire peninsula and constituted the repository
of uncounted millions. Side by
side two great industries developed in
Florida—lumber and naval stores. Today
they rank with the greatest branches
of trade, but today hardly an acre of
nless the timber land in Florida remains untouched
forests of Florida can be preserved from by the axe.
the destruction which theatens them a It is not, however, the lumberman who
few vears will see the state an arid waste menaces the forests with destruction.
and the great naval stores industry a AAdiile his ravages take away much of the
thing of the past.
picturesqueness and grandeur of the
PINE FOREST TREES "BOXED" FOR TURPENTINE.
Boxing consists in cutting the trees, the cuts often extending nearly all the way around. These incisions are enlarged
periodically to inciease the flow of sap.
cn

c:a
THE EDGE OF A VIRGIN FOREST.
These trees average two feet in diameter and one hundred feet in height.

woods, they are not fatal, for only the
largest trees are taken. The smaller ones
are left until they have attained a size
wdiich makes them valuable for lumber,
the land is only cut over at intervals of
several years, and in the meanwhile tbe
process of propagation continues and the
forests are preserved.
Unfortunately the naval stores operator
is not constrained by the same necessity.
No tree is too small to yield its
quota to stores ; large and
small alike feel the stroke
of the tapper's axe, and
millions of pines are destroyed
every year. At the
present rate of consumption
no very great time will
elapse before the peninsula
will be denuded of timber.
Scattered throughout
Florida and the timber
lands of Georgia are thousands
of turpentine stills,
wdiere the crude juices of
the pine are collected from
the trees and prepared for
shipment. In these stills
whole armies of workmen
are emjiloyed, and from
them millions of barrels of
spirits and rosin are shipped
yearly to the naval
stores markets of the world. In his
mode of procedure, the turpentine
king displays a defiant recklessness and
carelessness of consequence which would
do credit to an Oriental nabob. Fired
with the twentieth century spirit of com­
mercial greed, resolved to swell his immediate
profits at whatever cost, he cares
nothing for the fact that he is exhausting
the source of his wealth and destroying
the great industry in which he is en­
gaged.
To secure the valuable juices of
pine, deep crescent shaped incisions
made in the tree near the base of
trunk. These are contrived in such a
manner that the sap which drips from the
upper surface of the cut trickles down
into a cup shaped depression below, from
which the accumulations are collected at
regular intervals and taken to the still.
Here the spirits of turpentine is separated
from the rosin, and the two products are
RUINING A STATE 633
then prepared for shipment to the market.
The tapping process is not necessarily
destructive. In fact, if each tree were
tapped according to its strength and thus
permitted to grow it would yield a steady
supply of rosin for year.s and would
eventually become valuable for lumber.
This would, however, make it necessary
in order to supply the demand for naval
stores, to operate over considerably
GROVE OF YOUNG TREES.
The policy of tl ie lumberman, in this particular instance, of taking only the
lar ge trees, has left a constantly reproducing and
inexhaustible supply of timber.
the
are
the
greater areas, hauling distances would be
increased, and the profits of the trade
would be slightly lessened. To avoid this
great calamity, the operator restricts his
territory. The demand continues the
same. To meet it, every tree, every sapling
is drained to the last drop. Instead
of moderately deep incisions great cuts
are made and the tree is almost girdled.
AAdien the flow of rosin grows less the
workmen are again sent out and the cut
is made deeper. This process is repeated
until every tree in that portion of the
forest has been completely drained, and
the destroying army of workmen seek
new fields for their pernicious activity.
The trees which they leave behind them
either wither away and die, or stand until
the first hurricane strikes them. Their
weakened trunks are unable to stand the
fearful strain of the wind and they crash
down, carrying others with them in their
fall. After every violent storm thousands

634 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
of trees may be seen which have thus part of the state has given the cold wdnds
been destroyed. AAdien it is taken into from the northwest access to the fruit
consideration that the operations des­ growing regions. The climate has becribed
result in the destruction of nearly come considerably colder. Valuable
every tree, both large and small, the ir­ orange groves jiroducing millions of dolreparable
nature of the damage can be lars annually have been destroyed, and
comprehended.
citrus fruit culture is being gradually
There are now in Florida and Southern more and more restricted. Unless a very
Georgia large tracts of country wdiere the considerable part of Florida's timber is
pines have been destroyed by turpentine preserved the entire state will be con­
operators. In nearly every case the land verted into an arid waste, useless for
has been rendered worse than useless, as cultivation and almost uninhabitable. In­
the pines are at once supplanted by a dustries which jiromise to bring wdth
dense growth of scrub oaks and the no their development wealth and prosperity
less troublesome jialmetto. Moisture to the state will be destroyed, and Flori­
seems to leave the soil, grass is choked da will be utterly ruined.
out by the thick scrub, and all animals If the operators care nothing for the
leave excejit those which are able to eke future of a state—and that seems to be
out an existence from the tough and dry a trivial incident to men who possess mill­
vegetation. The areas which have been ions-—it would seem that they would be
reduced to this arid condition are enor­ influenced by considerations of their own
mous, and are increasing every year. interest. ddieir present methods can
Different naval stores companies, reputed have but one result—tbe absolute blotting
to be controlled by a huge combine and out of tbe gigantic industry by which they
backed by inexhaustible cajiital, are buy­ have made their fortunes. AVith the pine
ing up entire counties throughout the forests of Florida laid waste, the great
state. Already the greater part of the source of supply for the naval stores
timber lands are under their control, and market of the world will be cut off, and
it is only a matter of time until all will this great branch of commerce, involv­
be devastated.
ing millions of capital, employing an
ddie consequences to tbe industry and army of workers and a fleet of vessels,
to tbe state at large can be foreseen from and selling its products in the farthest
what has already occurred, ddie cutting , corners of the globe, will be utterly des­
down of the thick forests in the northern
troyed.

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DR. WILLIAM GRAY, OF THE ARMY MEDICAL MUSEUM, IDENTIFYING VARIOUS
SPECIMENS OF DISEASE GERMS.
HOW MONEY CARRIES POISON
By RICHARD BENTON
The reckless carelessness of all laws of health and cleanliness often noticeable in the handling of money is so
serious a menace to the general welfare that the facts contained in this article should be carefully read and remembered.
It is fairly horrifying to contemplate the possibilities involved in some customs commonly practiced.
50TWITH STAN IXing
the strong popular
prejudice against
tainted money, it is
noticed that most persons
accept it when it
is offered, rather than
seem rude. It is the
same way with greenbacks and coin
which are' objectionable by reason of un­
pleasantnesses—wdiy not say frankly,
dirt ?—acquired through long service.
Cash in such a condition, whether paper
or mental, may be obviously filthy, and
even disagreeable to the sense of smell,
but it is never refused.
Once I heard a man say, "I will take
all the microbes that come with a dollar
bill, no matter how many." This is undoubtedly
the way most folks feel about
the matter. But undeniably the microbes
in question are frequently legion. And,
obviously, the older a banknote or treasury
certificate happens to be, the greater
the number of germs it carries.
Neither paper nor any kind of metal is
food for microbes. Thus it may be considered
that a note fresh from the treasury
or a coin new from the mint, is jiractically
sterile—that is cO say, germ-free.
But, as soon as money of either kind begins
to pass from hand to hand, it acquires
dirt and thus becomes a breeding
groursa for a great variety of germs,
some of which are liable to be those of
disease.

ft*'
SPECIMENS OF CULTURE GERMS OF VIRULENT DISEASES.

The butcher or the butter man has
more or. less grease on his fingers. He
transfers some of it to the dollar bill you
give him, and later on he pays out the
bill to somebody else. It finds its way,
perhaps, into the leather wallet of a car
conductor whose hands are not overclean,
and thereafter, as it passes along
from hand to hand, it becomes steadily
more begrimed and smeary, harboring a
progressively increasing population of
bacteria.
Did you ever notice what an agreeable
odor is that of a new piece of paper
money ? It is a particularly clean smell.
But make the same experiment wdth the
same bill after it has been in service for
a few months, and its "bouquet" will be
found to be most unpleasant. The perfume
of soiled notes, indeed, is something
quite unlike that of anything else in the
world. To call it a "bouquet" is not
inapt, inasmuch as it is a wdiole nosegay
of minor stinks indescribably
blended.
If it were merely a matter of smell,
nobody need care very much, but it signifies
unhealthfulness as well. In the handling
of dirty bills some of the microbes
are pretty sure to be transferred to the
fingers, and the latter are constantly being
brought into contact with the tongue
and lips. Thus germs of typhoid may
easily find their way into the system. To
avoid just such accidents, bank clerks,
who are constantly engaged in counting
money, are careful to moisten their finger-tips
only with a wet sponge, kept on
the counter for the purpose.
An exact study of this subject has been
made recently by the Director of the Research
Laboratory of New York, who,
summing up his conclusions in a report,
states that, as shown by microscopic examination,
an average piece of paper
money, moderately clean, carries 22,500
bacteria. On an average dirty bill there
will be about 73,000 bacteria. Most bacteria,
it should be understood, are harmless,
but many species are the germs of
dangerous diseases.
Women, particularly those of the
lower classes, frequently make a habit
of keeping their money in their stockings,
next to the skin. It is a method likely
to promote contagion, if the bills hap­
HOW MONEY CARRIES POISON 637
pen to contain germs of any skin disease;
and, incidentally, the paper, becoming
saturated with perspiration, is rendered
thereby a better "culture medium" for
microbes. This is not a pleasant idea;
but still less agreeable is knowdedge of
the fact that immigrants, wdio have not
washed for many years jierhaps, often
hide money on their persons for long
periods, eventually, of course, putting if
into circulation.
In such ways scarlet fever or tuberculosis
may easily be conveyed. Perhaps
some of the money passes into the hands
of the butcher and grocer with whom
you yourself deal. By these tradesmen it
is handled with fingers wdiich are transferred
directly to the meat or other food
bought for your table. Diphtheria, a few
days later, attacks the children. Its origin
is a mystery. But you would not be
one bit consoled if you could know the
fact that the mischief-making germ came
from a dollar bill which had been in the
possession of a slum dweller who spent it
to buy medicine for a child since dead of
the disease.
In-an effort to keep the paper money
of the country fairly clean, the United
States government redeems everv year
about $600,000,000 worth of it, replacing
the old bills with new ones. But even
thus the average dollar bill is obliged to
do duty for about twenty months, wdiile
$5 notes remain in circulation for nearly
three years, and those of higher denominations
considerably longer. It is urged
that the stream of new money ought to
be made to flow out of the treasury more
rapidly, and that, with this end in view,
Section 3932 of the Revised Statutes
ought to be amended so as to permit
holders of worn and defaced currency
to forward it by registered mail, without
charge, to Washington for redemption.
The paper money is kept too long in
circulation. There is a perpetual shortage
of notes of small denomination, and
the banks are reluctant to send them in
for redemption, because they need them
in their business. Hence, it is obvious
that there should be more small bills. As
for coins, they ought to be ^thoroughly
cleaned and sterilized after reaching the
treasury, before being thrown out again
into the arteries of commerce.

638 TECHNICAL AVORLD MAGAZINE
When little Willie gets a penny, the
first thing he does with is usually, is to
put it into his mouth. A result, perhaps,
is erysipelas, attributable to a tramp who
spent the coin for beer a few days earlier.
It is surpriiing how much grease
and other kinds of dirt, with incidental
microbes, will collect on tbe surface of
jiieces of metal money. The Director of
the Research Laboratory, above men-
INSPECTING A DISEASE MICROEE.
tioned, found by microscopic examination
that an average dirty copper cent
affords a home to many living bacteria.
( )f the smaller silver coins alone the
treasury redeems about $40,000,000
worth every year, ddiese pieces of metal
money, as well as all other kinds of
coins, are mostly sent in by the banks,
and, in the jirocess of counting them
over, all counterfeits and pieces badly
worn are rejected—to be later consigned
to the melting pot and minted again. But
the rest go back into circulation. Nobody
seems to have thought that it might be
a good idea to clean them first, though
this might be accomplished, with incidental
washing in a sterilizing bath, at
small expense.
Once in a wdiile a large business firm
advertises that it will pay out to its customers,
in change, nothing but brandnew
money. This always proves a drawing
card. People like new money, and
highly appreciate it, w.hen they are able
to get it. Not long ago a concern, in
Boston adopted for a while the practice
of putting all coins that passed through
its hands into a sterilizing bath, polishing
them afterwards on a buffing machine.
The process attracted not a little
attention, and people wdio came to
the store stood around in crowds to
watch it.
Elevated railroads, surface roads, ferries,
and business concerns in certain
lines of trade, such as the five and ten
cent stores, take in immense quantities of
small coin. It would not be much trouble
to put each day's accumulation of such
metal money through a sterilizing bath,
afterwards polishing the jiieces by placing
them for a few minutes in revolving
cylinders filled with basswood sawdust.
If this were done, when a patron of the
transportation company, or a shopping
customer, handed out a bill, he would get
his change in bright coins, looking and
feeling as if they were just from tbe
mint.
Children at school ought to be carefully
taught never to put coins into their
mouths. And it has been suggested that
Clean Money Clubs ought to be established
in every town, whose members
would be pledged to wash in some germicidal
solution every piece of metal
money that came into their hands, before
spending it. A weak solution of carbolic
acid, or of peroxide, would serve
the purpose. This seems like taking a
good deal of pains, but it would surely be
worth while, considering it merely as a
precaution against the distribution of diseases.
A sanitary currency, both of paper
and metal, is badly needed, and the people
at large, as well as the government,
should be willing to help in securing it.

•—ST** ,.,
TYPE OF MILKING-MACHINE, WHICH OPERATES BY TEAT-DILATION AND NOT BY SUCTION
NEW MILKING-MACHINE
By OBED C. BILLMAN
IILKING - MACHINES
of the "vacuum or
pneumatic type," are
well known, but inventors
have been striving
for years to eliminate
certain well known objectionable
features and
reduce to a thoroughly practical form.
AVith a view to producing a generallyimproved
cow-milking-machine, Clarence
C. Parsons, of Oberlin, Ohio, after making
a thorough study of the anatomy of
the teat and udder of the cow, determined
to strike out from the trodden paths so
unsuccessfully pursued by inventors, and
after numerous and long continued experiments
with various forms of "teat-
dilators," has produced a thoroughly
practical machine.
The primary or basic principle of construction
of the Parson's machine comprises
a plurality of teat-dilators adapted
to be inserted in the several teat-openings,
or ducts, and means for positioning
and simultaneously manipulating the
same with reference to the several teats
of the udder or bag of the cow.
When the teat-openings or ducts have
been dilated by means of the dilators to
form artificial openings, the milk flows
freely and automatically from the openings
thus formed in a much more expeditious
and natural manner than by the use
of the ordinary suction milking-machine.
In a recently witnessed test of the ma-
639

640 TECHNICAL AVORLD MAGAZINE
chine, fourteen quarts of milk were
drawn from the cow shown in the accompanying
illustration, the machine being
applied, operated, and removed in a
period of time of but six and one-half
minutes. In the first illustration, the supporting
strap is lengthened, dropping the
machine several inches below its natural
position for the purpose of clearer illustration
of the principal working parts,
wdiile in tbe second, the pail is shown
detached from the frame of the machine,
COMPLETE APPARATUS FOR MILKING A COW.
Note the small teat dilators on free ends of adjusting arms
and strainer-cover removed. It will be
observed that the upwardly-extending
teat dilators, carried on the outer or free
ends of adjusting arms, are very small.
Each dilator comprises a stationary
dilator shank, preferably formed integral
with a teat-cup at the base, and a movable
dilator member pivotallv mounted in tbe
teat-cup, opposite said dilator shank. The
dilator shank and movable member are
of concavo-convex shape, in cross section,
and when in their normal or closed position,
form an upwardly tapering tubular
teat opener or dilator, the stationary
shank being pointed at its upper extrem­
ity and provided with an off-set notch
or recess forming a seat or pocket for
the reception of the upper end of the
movable member, and of a depth corresponding
with the thickness thereof, so
that the movable member will normally
rest flush wdth the sides of the stationary
dilator shank.
The several dilators are adapted to be
moved or positioned simultaneously to
correspond with the relative position of
the teats, by means of a slidably mounted
operating bar, extending
forwardly on the supporting
frame of the machine,
and carrying one end of
the adjusting bars. When
the parts have been properly
positioned, the operating
bar may be locked in position.
As a means for simultaneously
moving the movable
dilator members, to
open or dilate the respective
teats to form an artificial
opening or duct to
permit a free flow of milk,
the movable members are
provided at their lower
ends with connecting bars
secured to the under side
of a second or teat dilator
operating bar, slidably
mounted beneath the operating bar, for
positioning the several dilators with respect
to the teats. The bar may be
fastened in any position desired holding
the movable members of the dilators
open, the milk flowing freely through the
artificial openings or ducts thus formed
and being conducted by the strainercover
into the pail below.
By moving the teat dilator operating
bar to its initial position, the movable dilator
members are caused to assume their
closed or normal position, and the teat
dilators may be readily removed from the
ducts of the teats.

MOTOR OMNIBUSES IN SERVICE
By H. W. PERRY
The [TOUCH innovation of became European popular at
life has been given to once desjiite the ten-cent fare on a route
AAJj/// New A'ork and Phila- that is less than five miles long. Summer
Wl delphia during the past visitors to the metropolis have been quick
^2j summer by tbe intro­ to take advantage of this means of seeduction
of a new ing the sights along Fifth avenue from
means of public pas­ AA'ashington square to Central jiark and
senger transportation at the same time enjoying the experience
—the motor omnibus. Beginning about of riding in a motor omnibus—one of
the middle of July, fifteen new 'buses the first lot introduced into the United
like those shown in one of the accom­ States. Almost every pleasant afternoon
panying illustrations, were put in service all of the seats on all of the 'buses are
on Fifth avenue to take the place of the filled on each trip, and when the seats
venerable horse stages that have been a are all occupied no more passengers are
feature of New York's fashionable thor­ taken aboard, wherein the new service
oughfare from the time of the Civil war.
differs essentially and most agreeably
ENGLISH RAILROAD MOTOR OMNIBUS.
Luggage is stored in forward end of vehicle
641

642 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
from the notorious elevated
and subway railroad systems
of the city, ddie motor
'buses seat thirty-four
passengers, sixteen inside
and eighteen on the upper
deck. They run smoothly
and quietly, on solid rubber
tires, and average ten miles
an hour, including stops to
take on and discharge passengers.
They are operated
on a regular schedule
calling for a round trip in
one hour, with a five-minute
lay-over at either end
of the route, wdiile the
schedule for the old horse
stages allowed an hour and
a half for the round trip—
and the new jiower vehicles
easily keep to the schedule
whereas the horse stages usually exceeded
their time. AVith fifteen 'buses
running on the one-hour schedule, there
is only a five-minute interval between
vehicles anywhere along the line. The
'buses start running at 7 o'clock in the
morning and make the last trip at 11
o'clock at night, each niachine making
from fourteen to sixteen trips and being
operated by two crews consisting of
driver and conductor, who make seven
or eight round trips a day.
LONDON TYPE OF MOTOR 'Bus.
There are nearly l.OUO of these vehicles in use in London
ONE OF THE FIFTEEN NEW MOTOR OMNIBUSES ON FIFTH AVENUE,
NEW YORK.
They run at five-minute intervals.
All of the Fifth avenue 'buses were
imported from London, having been purchased
from the English agents of a
factory in France, where they were built.
Only the running gear and machinery
were imported. The bodies were built
in Philadelphia after the patterns of the
foreign bodies. The steel frames,
twenty-four horse-power, four-cylinder
gasoline engines mounted vertically over
the front axles under metal bonnets ; the
sliding gear, change-speed mechanisms
and the side chain drive
system, all follow the general
lines of accepted practice
in touring car design.
That the undertaking to
run motor 'buses in New
York is not of an experimental
or temporary nature
is conclusively indicated
by two significant
facts—the sale at auction
early in August of the entire
two hundred head of
horses and forty-five old
stages that comprised the
former equijiment of the
company, and the placing
of contracts for ten additional
motor omnibuses of
a new type to be built in the
United States to specifica-

MOTOR OMNIBUSES IN SERVICE 643
tions furnished by the engineers of the
company. This clearly marks the final
passing of a form of transportation that
dates back seventy-five years, even antedating
the horse-drawn street cars wdiose
last lingering relics are today one of the
remarkable sights in our city of greatest
contrasts. AAdien the ten additional
buses have been comjileted and delivered
the route on which they will run
will be greatly extended.
Almost simultaneously wdth the introduction
of New York's motor omnibus
service, a similar line was established in
Philadelphia where fourteen vehicles
THE MOTOR 'BUS IN THE STRAND, LONDON.
were put in operation on Broad street in
July, and about a fortnight later, twelve
more were put on. These run on a fourminute
headway and a fare of five cents
is charged. In'body design the Philadelphia
'buses are practically the same as
the New York vehicles, and have the
same seating capacity, but they are entirelv
of domestic manufacture, the run-
ning gear and machinery being made in
Philadelphia by a big motor-truck building
concern. Instead of being driven by
gasoline engines, like the great majority
of foreign Omnibuses, their motive force
is electricitv, derived from a storage battery
carried under the middle of the
body. The current is utilized in four
electric motors of two and one-half
horsejiower, each driving direct to one
of the four road wheels—a unique form
of construction. ddie manufacturing
companv is rushing work on the remainder
of a lot of fifty of these 'buses intended
for the Philadelphia service,
wdiich are to be operated on supplemental
routes.
The Broad street service is maintained
by a company, wdiich sought for a
year tc obtain a franchise and only succeeded
in getting the ordinance through
council this last summer with tbe support
of the business interests of the city.
The difficulties met wdth resembled very

closely those of the old Broad Street
(Jmnibus and Sleigh Company, which
had to work for an equal lengtii of time
to secUre the privilege of starting its
horse stages running in 1870. That comjiany
had an equipment in those clays of
one hundred and fifty head of horses and
forty-six coaches, with a capitalization
of $60,000. The same arguments against
the running of its stages were advanced
thirty-seven years ago as were brought
forward in opposition to the franchise of
the motor omnibus company, wdiich illustrates
very forcibly how slowly we make
progress.
Nearly 1,000 omnibuses are now operated
in London by a score of different
comjianies. A few of them are propelled
by steam, but the great majority are of
the internal combustion engine type
utilizing gasoline or kerosene. They are
making heavy inroads on the patronage
of the steam and electric railroads, more
than 184,000,000 passengers having been
carried last year by the 800 motor 'buses
644
SCENE ON BROAD STREET, PHILADELPHIA.
Twenty-five electric 'buses are operated at a five-cent fare.
then in use, representing an excess of
4,000,000 passengers over the total number
transported by the tram system of
the British capital during the same
period.
It is reasonable to believe that we are
now on the eve of a radical change in
the matter of urban and interurban transportation
that will be brought about by
the perfection of the motor vehicle. One
needs but to see the new motor omnibus
rolling rapidly and quietly along the
asphalted street, turning out for slowmoving
vehicles or broken down carts
wdthout slackening speed, and compare
them wdth the noisy trolley cars with their
enormously expensive tracks and conduits,
for the laying and repairing of
which the streets have to be torn up
every year, and then think of the gigantic
central power houses, to make up his
mind that the trackless vehicle with its
own independent power plant has enough
in its favor to insure it a permanent place
in twentieth century civilization.

SLEEP CAUSED BY ELECTRICITY
AUSING sleep by the
use of electricity has
C Y 4 been successfully ac-
11 complished at the
yj School of Aledicine at
Nantes, France, by Professor
Stephen Leduc,
a thing said to be of
great importance in surgical operations.
The accompanying illustration shows
the electrical equipment and method of
application by this French scientist as
emploved in his experiments with rabbits
and dogs, similar results having been
recorded for persons undergoing opera­
By FRAMPTON PEMBROKE
RABBIT PUT TO SLEEP BY ELECTRICITY.
tions, and successful experiments having
been made upon Professor Leduc himself.
It is stated that the discovery proceeded
from study of the effects of
intermittent currents and from the
knowdedge that the skull and brain offer
but little resistance to the currents. With
periods of only one one-hundreclth of a
second, the. current intensity is ajiplied
on for one-tenth of the period, and off
nine-tenths of the period, the interruption
being timed by a commutator or
electric motor-driven interrupter. It is
stated that for a human being a current
of thirty-five volts and four milliamperes
645

646 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
is applied intermittently for the minutest
fractions of a second.
ddiere are two electrodes ajiplied to the
skull in a sjiecial manner, the jioints of
application being first carefully shaven.
In experiments wdth rabbits the electrodes
are from one and one-eighth
inches to one and one-half inches in
diameter and for dogs two inches
to two and one-fourth inches in
diameter. It is stated that scores of
trials have been made on these animals
with wonderful success, the application
of the current not being in any way
dangerous and no ill effects have been
noted, even when the experiment has
lasted for hours.
The current from the dynamo or storage
battery as a source is conducted
through an adjustable rheostat or resistance,
shunt circuits being taken from this
resistance ajijiaratus, various voltages being
determined 1 y the adjustable contact.
The shunt current is conducted through
the interrupters, a milliamperemeter and
electrodes to the subject under treatment,
a volt meter indicating the pressure
used.
It is maintained that electric sleep is
better than anaesthesia by chloroform,
morphine or ether, wdiich are not only
disagreeable but always dangerous and
often fatal, while the awakening is usually
painful. It is stateel that during
electric sleep the patient is perfectly quiet
and as soon as the electrodes are withdrawn
the awakening occurs as one
arousing from sleep wdthout pain or
discomfort of any kind.
It is also held that the sensations are
quite agreeable after the operation, the
mind working more rapidlv and more
clearly while it is also claimed that there
is a sense of increased physical vigor.
For mental and nervous exhaustion, and
even for ordinary fatigue the. brain electrification
of this French scientist has
shown wonderful results.
NEW BUOY FOR HUGE SHIPS
By d. B. VAN BRUSSEL
WING to the great sizes
and weight of the
0 \ V Lusitania and her sisrf
ter ship the Maure-
/*. lania, it has been found
necessary to design
sjiecial moorings for
their accommodation in
the River Mersey, at Liverpool. As the
buoy for the moorings is tbe largest that
ever has been made, no doubt a description
of it will be of interest to readers of
the TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE.
The buoy is sixteen feet in diameter
over the plating by fourteen feet deep
and is constructed of Siemens-Martin
mild steel, having an ultimate tensile
strength of twenty-eight tons per square
inch, ddie illustration gives a very good
idea of its size as it lay in the makers'
yard, ready to be put into service.
Tbe plates are three-eighths inch thick,
and riveted. Complete with all fit­
tings, it weighs sixteen and threefourths
tons, and has attached to it
sixteen fathoms of four and one-fourth
inch stud-link cable chain. When coupled
to the moorings it has a displacement of
865 cubic feet.
The spindle was forged from a solid
ingot and, wdth the mooring shackles
attached, weighs three tons. The joint
between the spindle and the buoy at the
bottom end is of special construction, as
the steamship comjiany specified that it
must be made water-tight.
A cast-steel rubbing-plate is riveted
to the bottom of the buoy. Tbe collar
at the bottom end of the spindle is
screwed, and a tight fitting ring nut is
threaded on to this, and screwed hard
clown on the face of the rubbing-plate ;
a brass channel-ring containing a rubberring
being placed between the two. The
joint between the spindle and the buoy
at the top is made like that between two

BUOY ESPECIALLY CONSTRUCTED AS AN ANCHORAGE FOR THE LUSITANIA AND MAURETANIA
AT LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND.
pipe flanges. The lantern wdiich the buoy
carries is one of a special type and has a
four inch dioptric lens, fitted on a specially
designed superstructure, which can be
disconnected and removed in a few minutes
when it is necessary for the ship to
make fast. The lamp is supplied wdth
gas from cylinders contained within the
buoy, and the cylinders are easily
charged wdth gas through the filling
valve. The latter is contained in a
pressed-steel pocket, all the joints being
made tight, so that no water can enter
the buoy. There are two gas cylinders,
each nine feet long and thirty inches in
diameter. ' They are cajiable of supplying
gas for a period of one month. The
gas passes from the cylinders through
the regulator and along a flexible tube
to the lamp. When the superstructure
must be removed, a cock shuts off the gas
and the flexible tube is disconnected.
647

hSCIENCE AND ITMVENTION-I
MOTOR CAR FOR POLAR REGIONS
PHE motor car illustrated herewith has
just been supplied to Lieut. Shackleton
of the English Army for use during
his proposed Antarctic expedition, an account
of which was given in TECHNICAL
WORLD MAGAZINE for December, 1907.
It has a 12-15 horse-power four-cylinder
air-cooled engine, water-cooling, of
course, being out of the question, even
were air-cooling not perfectly adequate
at the atmospheric temperatures to be
encountered. There is no protection
shown for the occupants, excejit the low
(US
wind-screen on the dash-board, but the
exhaust from the engine is used to heat
a foot-warmer for them. The exhaust
pipe also passes through a small tank
wherein snow can be melted for various
uses. The back wheels have wooden tires
shod wdth strikes of "half-round iron, into
wdiich pegs can be screwed if necessary,
so that driving power is assured over
slippery places. The front wdieels have
solid rubber tires, but are also mounted
on ski-like runners. Suitable attachments
are fitted to the car for hauling
loaded sledges. The directive power of
LIEUTENANT SHACKLETON'S NOVEL AUTOMOBILE FOR USE IN ANTARCTIC REGIONS.

LOS ANGELES RESIDENCE STREET COMMERCIALIZED BY LUST FOR WEALTH.
the arrangement does not appear great,
but presumably little traffic will have to
be encountered.
OIL WELLS IN FRONT YARDS
TN the state of California petroleum has
been found in some very strange
places. While much of it is obtained
from beneath the desert, the oil, as the
picture shows, also lies beneath some of
the towns. This photograph was taken
in Los Angeles. The street where the
scene is laid is in one of the best parts
of the city. It was lined wdth dwellings
and beautified with shade trees and
shrubbery. By accident a bed of petroleum
beneath the street was discovered
and this neighborhood was literally made
into an oil field, with every lot containing
a derrick for pumping oil.
METAL TIES
A SERIOUS problem with which the
managements of the numerous railroads
is confronted, is the procuring of
satisfactory wood cross-ties. This is due
to the constantly growdng scarcity of
suitable timber from which a good tie
can be cut. In fact, wdth the rapidly
increasing mileage a dearth in tie material
is bound to occur.
To meet the inevitable condition, a
number of plans are in course of development.
The Pennsylvania System of railways
has planted immense forests in
various sections of the country along its
lines, but this timber will not mature in
time to meet the early demands of the
road. Practically all of the roads are
treating with solutions new ties laid for
the purpose of prolonging the life of the
wood. While this process is beneficial
and profitable, the results will not be
enough to solve the problem. A composition
tie has been tried which gives
promise of jiractical utility, but its actual
value cannot be determined except by
tests covering several years.
. There is now being tried both a cast
metal and a steel tie. A first objection
to either of these ties is the primary cost,
'
643

650 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
PAINTING THE MAST OF AN ATLANTIC STEAMER.
"SLUSHING" THE MAST
O N E of the most dangerous parts of
the work of a sailor is greasing the
masts. He is frequently obliged to go
far above the top of the rope ladder
wdiich reaches from the deck to the mast,
and wdien he does so, he hauls himself
to the top of the mast by a rope and
pulley, or sometimes "shins" up the mast,
carrying his pot of grease wdth him.
This photograph shows a sailor engaged
in "slushing" the mast of a steamship
at a height of over one hundred feet
from the deck.
SAVING OF THE EGRET
TT HE vanity of woman and the cruelty
"• of man almost wrought the extinction
of those graceful and beautiful birds
of the heron family known as the American
and the snowy egret. These birds
breed along the Atlantic coast as far
north as New England, and during the
breeding season they grow wdiat is known
to the millinery trade as aigrettes, wdiich
but those who advocate them contend that
in the end they will be cheaper than the
wooden tie, for the reason that they will
be practically everlasting.
A large steel and iron manufacturing
company after experimenting for several
years is now in the market to supply a tie
which it believes will be satisfactory.
This tie is a modified "I" beam with a
depth of Sy'r inches, a width on the lower
flange of 46 inches, on the upper flange
of 8 inches, and a weight to the foot of
about 20 pounds. The broad lower
flange with its flat surface is to give uniform
bearing on the roadbed and can be
tamped with as good results as the wooden
tie. It is contended tbat by reason of
the uniformity of spacing it will permit
of uniform deflection in tbe rail, which
THE SNOWY EGRET.
condition makes a perfect riding track caused them to be hunted and killed in
and with but little wear on the rail or the large numbers until they became almost
rolling stock. If the company has extinct, when the law intervened and
achieved what it believes it has one of the afforded them protection. Now that the
many pressing timber problems will have slaughter has ceased they are slowly
been solved.
multiplying.

HOLDING THE WORLD'S LARGEST DIAMOND.
WORLD'S LARGEST DIAMOND
YY7HEN King Edward tbe Seventh
opened with much ceremonial, in
London, an exhibition devoted to the
products of the five British colonies in
South Africa the fine display of fruit
and agricultural produce attracted considerable
attention; and the exhibits in
the d'ransvaal and Natal sections were
especially admired. The chief feature of
the former was an imposing pile of gold
blocks representing the output from the
Transvaal gold mines—5,800,000 ounces
—for a single year, each single block
representing 100,000 ounces. Another
attractive feature of the Transvaal section
was the model of the famous Cullinan
diamond, the largest in the world,
the discovery of which a couple of years
ago caused such a sensation. An effort
was made to secure the original diamond,
but the difficulties in the way proved insuperable.
The original stone is herewith
shown resting in the hand of one
of the Premier diamond mine officials,
taken on the day it was found in the
mine by Mr. Wells. In the Natal section,
next to the fine fruit display in point of
attractiveness, was a unique collection of
specimens of native carvings, many of
them of quaint design and very curious.
SCIENCE AND INVENTION 651
NEW NAVAL BINOCULAR
A NEW and improved prismatic binoc-
• rA ular will shortly be adojited by the
navy dejiartment for the use of officers
in the naw.
These glasses are ten-power, are of
extra strong construction, and are somewhat
longer and heavier than the ordinary
prismatic binoculars. They are
fitted with rubber eye-guards, which
make it possible to hold them firmly
against the forehead, ddie object glasses
and the exit jiujiils are of the proper sizes
to make the glasses excellent for night
work. The prisms are mounted in housings,
and do not require to be dismounted
to be cleaned. As the adjustments may
be clamped it is unnecessary to focus or
adjust the glasses every time they are
used.
In technical terms tbe new binocular
is described as follows: magnifying
power, 10; field, 3° 42'; diameter of object
glass, 1.75 inch ; diameter emerging
ray, .16 inch; material, aluminum alloy;
weight, two pounds. It is adjustable for
pupillary distance from 2.3 inches to 2.8
inches, and each eye can be focused independently.
The new glass is a success.
NEW GLASS FOR THE NAVY.

: • :
t^m7^^^-'Ay..
j> ' *••**• • •
&•" ' Mm.
"'- . ~- -1' ; - Wm'
MAIN TROOP OF WORKMEN TRANSFERRING TRACK.
PRISONERS BUILD RAILROAD
By ALBERT GRANDE
HE Germans are at present
most actively engaged in
opening up their African
Colony to commerce and
e*^* trade. In fact, colonial
s»3«2_Sr«aii problems are now assuming
an exceptional importance in that
countrv. In this connection it will be
interesting to state that the longest railroad
of German Colonies has been inaugurated
a few months ago in Southwest
Africa. The Otavi Raihvay, 360
miles in length, runs practically in parallel
to the Governmental Raihvay from
Swakopmund to Roessing, after which it
turns to the northwest.
Special difficulty was experienced in
constructing this railway, part of wdiich
traverses desert tracks, so that drinking
water had to be supplied on ox-carts.
652
As shortly after commencing the construction
of the railway in November,
1903, the Herero uprising broke out, European
workmen had to be employed in
the place of the natives. As, however,
the work had to be pushed more actively
with a view r to afford some railway connections
for use wdth strategical operation,
500 Ovambo workmen and 750
Italians were employed with rather unsatisfactory
results. In fact, the labor
question was not solved satisfactorily
until in the spring of 1905, some Hereros
were induced to give themselves up as
prisoners and undertake work with the
railway.
The section terminating at Omaruru
was then completed in September, 1905,
while the other half of the railway could
be constructed in half that time, owing to

654 TECHNICAL AVORLD MAGAZINE
the better supply of workmen and less
difficult conditions of the ground, ddie
Otavi Railway passes over one hundred
iron bridges.
Though the railway has been in opera­
under
other
tion only such a short time it has already
exerted a favorable influence on the economical
development of the country,
flourishing villages having sprung up
alongside its path.
AMERICA'S NEW NAVAL AUXILIARY
By F. N. HOLLINGSWORTH
HE Everett, built for
carrying coal between
T f f i Boston and southern
\\ ports is an important
A7 addition to the American
merchant marine,
as her equal in ships of
her class docs not exist
the American flag. There are two
ships of the same size and type
building at Fore river. One, the Madden,
was launched on Sejitember 10; the
other, the Melrose, is nearly ready for
launching. These three colliers will work
a great change in the tide water coal
carrying trade of the North Atlantic seaboard.
She is jiarticularly suited for deadweight
cargoes, wdiich can be loaded by
means of shutes and discharged by me-
THE EVERETT IN DOCK AT QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS.
There are no scuppers or projections of any sort to Bet in the way when she is lying in dock, or alongside another vessel

chaiiical grabs. There are ten exceptionally
large hatchways each twenty-eight
feet wide and fourteen feet long, with
two hatches to each of the five cargo
holds, which latter are each forty-eight
feet long. She is four hundred feet in
lengtii with an extreme breadth of fiftythree
feet, a depth of thirty-two feet, and
a gross tonnage of 5,107 tons. The special
feature in her construction is known
as the self-trimming system.
She is of the single deck type, with
single screw and triple expansion surface
condensing engine and four single ended
Scotch boilers constructed for a working
pressure of one hundred and eighty
pounds. All the machinery is located
aft. She has a crew of thirty-five men
all told. Exceptionally powerful pumps
enable the vessel to discharge all water
ballast tanks in six hours.
An inspection of the ship will open the
eyes of seafaring men, for there was never
such equipment and appointments in a
collier. The quarters of the deck offi­
THE PASSING OF ARTHUR 655
The Passing of Arthur
I am going a long way
With these thou seest—if indeed I go
(For all my mind is clouded with a doubt) —
To the island-valley of Avilion,
Where falls not hail or rain or any snow,
Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies
Deep-meadow'd, happy fair with orchard lawns
cers and engineers are finer than in many
jiassenger shijis. ddie pilot house and
bridge are particularly handsome structures,
being finished in natural teak.
There are bath rooms, toilet rooms, electric
lights, telephones and all such conveniences.
On the flying bridge is a
powerful electric searchlight. ()ne of the
ship's boats is equipped with a gasoline
engine which can be used in going ashore
and for many other purposes. ddie
quarters of officers and men are heated
by steam. The vessel is very handsomely
painted ; her railings in aluminum, her
name in gold leaf. She has towing bitts
and towing rail aft. She has two metal
life boats, a gig and a dinghy. Tenders
were made by her owners to carry coal
for the war fleet on its trip around Cape
Horn and across the Pacific. The price
asked for the vessel's services, however,
was regarded as being too high. She is
available in war time as a naval auxiliarv,
and is a most valuable addition to
our reserve fleet.
And bowery hollows crown'd with summer sea,
Where I will heal me of my grievous wound.
—TENNYSON.

Geographical Reply
It was during the dessert course. He had
been sitting next to her for the last hour and
a half and was deeply conscious of the beautiful
contour of her arms and shoulders.
"Do you know," she said suddenly, "I've
been in misery for a week. Sometimes I could
almost scream with pain."
"Why, what's tlie matter?" he exclaimed
sympathetically.
"1 was vaccinated last week and it has taken
dreadfully."
His eyes fell and his gaze was curious. But
he saw no scar. "Why. where were you vaccinated
?" he asked impetuously.
She raised her eyebrows and smiled sweetly.
"In New York," she replied.
A Perverse Child
GENTLEMAN (meeting lady with screaming
little boy)—"What a bad tempered boy to cry
so. What is the matter that he screams like
that ?"
MOTHER—"Do not speak of it. For two
hours I have been slapping him to make him
stop crying, and the more I slap the more he
cries!"—La Caricatur'ista.
***
Solid Food
An old South Carolina darky was sent to
the city hospital.
Upon his arrival he was placed in the ward
and one of the nurses put a thermometer in
his mouth to take his temperature. Presently,
when the doctor made the rounds, he said:
|'Well, my man, how do you feel?"
"I feels right tol'lile, sar."
"Have you had anything to eat?"
"Yassar."
"What did you have?"
"A lady done gimme a piece of glass ter
suck, sar."— The Reader Magazine.
656
mmm
Truthful Johnny
GUEST—Ah, Mrs. Blank, I seldom get as
good a dinner as this.
LITTLE JOHNNY—Neither do we.
The Scientific Spirit
ANDREW CARNEGIE admires the scientific
spirit—his generous gifts to science are a proof
of that. Nevertheless to his keen humor this
spirit offers itself as a good prey, and Mr.
Carnegie often rails wittily at scientists and
their peculiar ways.
"The late—the late—but I won't mention the
poor fellow's name," said Mr. Carnegie at a
scientists' supper. "The late Blank, as he lay
on his deathbed, was greeted very joyously
one morning by his physician.
"Poor Blank's eyes lit up with hope at sight
of the physician's beaming face. There had
been a consultation on his case the day before.
Perhaps, at last, the remedy to cure him had
been found.
" 'My dear Mr. Blank,' said the physician, 'I
congratulate you.'
"Blank smiled.
" 'I shall recover?' he asked, in a weak voice
tremulous with hope.
" 'Well—er—not exactly,' said the physician.
'But we believe your disease to be entirely new,
and if the autopsy demonstrates this to be
true we have decided to name the malady after
you.' "—New York Tribune.
Looking Ahead
HUSBAND—"I say, my dear, such luck. I've
engaged two maids for you today."
WIFE—"Whatever did you get two for? We
only want one."
HUSBAND—"Ah, that just it. One is coming
tomorrow and the other in a week's time."—
Simplicissimus.

Hair Raising Narrative
MISTRESS (opening the drawing-room door
during a chat with her friend)—"You were
listening, Johann !
SERVANT (frightened) — "Certainly not,
madam !"
MISTRESS (severely)—"Do not deny it. Your
hair is standing on end!"—The Reader.
Pounds and Quires
"Judging from Miss Thumperton's treatment
of the organ," sarcastically remarked the
choirmaster, who objected to the new organist
engaged by the rector, "you prefer to buy your
music by the pound."
"Well," replied the rector, quietly, "It isn't
abvays supplied by the choir."—The Catholic
te.ndard and Times.
Hubby's Dreary Prospect
"Your husband will be all right now," said
an English doctor to a woman whose husband
was dangerously ill.
"What do you mean?" demanded the wife.
"You told me he couldn't live a fortnight."
^*
"Well, I'm going to cure him, after all,"
said the doctor. "Surely you are dad?"
The woman wrinkled her brows.
"Puts me in a bit of an 'ole," she said. "I've
bin an' sold all his clothes to pay for
funeral!"—Telegraph.
his
A Misunderstanding
WILBUR J. CARR, of the State Department,
had occasion to call at the house of a neighbor
late at night. He rang the door bell.
After a long wait a head was poked out of a
second-floor window.
"Who's there?" asked a voice.
"Mr. Carr," was the reply.
"Well," said the voice as the window banged
shut, "what do I care if you missed a car?
Why don't you walk and not wake up people
t" tell them about it ?" New York World.
Only Respectable
LITTLE Prince Edward of Wales, who is
eleven years old, has been studying English
history and he was being examined recently
on the' period of Henry the Seventh "Who
was Perkin Warbeck?" he was asked. Perkin
Warbeck," replied the prince, "was a pretender
He pretended to be the son of a king,
but he wasn't. He was the son of respectable
parents."—Scissors.
WAIFS OF WIT 657
And a Few Ruffles
REGGIE—"Weally now, don't you think I'd
make a good full-back ?"
CAPTAIN—"A straight front would be more
in your line, my boy."—Chicago News.
His Leaders
The city boarder was attracted by a sign
on the only store in the village.
"The Six Best Sellers Within."
It read:
"H'm !" murmured the city boarder. "Here
is a chance to buy some current literature.
Guess I'll go in."
Entering, he found the old storekeeper sitting
on a herring keg puffing a corncob.
"Where
boarder.
are your books?" asked the city
"What books, stranger?" drawled the
storekeeper.
"Why, the 'six best sellers.' "
"Ha, ha! Them ain't books, mister."
"Not books?"
"No, sir. My 'six best sellers' are soap,
sugar, suspenders, salt, socks and shoes. What
can I wrap you up of each ?"—Chicago Nezvs.
His By Right of Discovery
A London cabby, on looking into his cab to
see that all was in perfect order, discovered a
dead cat on one of the seats. In his anger and
rage he was about to throw the carcass into
the street, when he espied a police-constable,
and the following dialogue took place:
CONSTABLE—"What are you up to, there?"
CABBY (holding up the carcass)—"This is
how I am insulted. What am I to do with it" J "
CONSTABLE—"Surely you know what to do
with it. Take it straight to Scotland Yard,
and if it is not claimed within three months
it becomes your property."—Til-Bits.

AN HOUR'S WORK IN A MINUTE
By HOWARD BANH
(MONSTER hydraulic
crane has recently been
erected on the jetty of Elswick,
England, for puttingheavy
loads such as guns,
armor, engines, boilers,
etc., on board ships that are
being fitted out. It is capable of dealing
with weights up to one hundred and fifty
tons at a radius of ninety-nine feet, and
with lighter loads up to twenty-five tons
at a radius of one hundred and seventeen
A ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY TON CRANE AT ELSWICK, ENGLAND.
65S
feet, ddie range in lifting is through a
height of one hundred feet, and the range
in turning is unlimited. The crane, which
is carried on piles, is mounted on a steel
pedestal with an archway through it, so
tbat tbe traffic on the jetty is uninterrupted.
The crane revolves on a roller
path nn the pedestal and is of the jib
pattern, with hydraulic luffing machinery,
this type of crane being convenient for
use in fitting out vessels, as the luffing
gear enables the heavy loads to be put
on board without risk of
fouling rigging, etc. The
main lifting purchase is
worked by two sets of two
hydraulic cylinders so arranged
that each set can be
worked independently of
the other, each set giving
a lifting- power of seventyfive
tons, or, working together,
giving a lilting
power of one hundred and
fifty tons, as stated. An independent
purchase is also
jirovided for light loads up
to twenty-five tons. The
buffer motion of the jib is
obtaineel from an hydraulic
cylinder placed in an inclined
position at the upper
part of the post and at the
back. This cylinder acts
on a cross-head, coupling
the inner ends of the tierods,
and forces it downwards
along inclined slides,
thus raising the end of the
jib. The crane was put
into service by lifting the
mounting of a twelve-inch
gun for the new English
battleship Lord Kelson, on
board of a vessel lying
alongside, the ceremony
being witnessed by a large

number of spectators. In the photograph
the gunhouse is shown suspended
above the river ready to be lowered.
It is curious to notice how small and
insignificant the gunhouse looks in the
grasp of the crane, yet it is a huge
[J^A^^S^§!^NMO\\" does steam run a
\W "T T w/ This was the ques-
\JM | 1 W^) tion asked recently by
S^K A. X a^ an intelligent man who
'____—fe||> is doubtless better in-
>?S§^^8

660 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
"crown" covers one of the ports, while
the other port is outside the brim and
therefore open to access for the steam in
the steam-chest, which surrounds the
whole valve at all times. This allows the
steam from the boiler to rush in through
the rear port and against the rear side
of the piston. At the same moment the
other port, under the "crown" of our
ton back and forth and each time exhausting
the used steam immediately
after it has accomplished its purpose
and so getting it out of the way. The
movement of the piston moves the connecting-rod
which, attached to a crank
on tbe drive-wheels, turns them and so
moves the engine on the rails.
The action of the slide-valve which
DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING VARIOUS PARTS OF A LOCOMOTIVE.
hat-like valve—which has an ojiening
connected direct with the smoke-stack of
tbe engine and thence with the open air
—allows the steam which has been used
on the forward side of the jiiston to escape,
ddie escape of the used steam
through the port under the "crown" of
our "hat-valve" is called the exhaust, and
it is this which causes the hoarse belching
of a locomotive, so noticeable when
it first starts to draw a heavy load. It
is directed through the smoke-stack for
the jiurpose of creating an artificial draft
for the fire below, so that it may be kept
at its hottest.
As the valve slides back, the rear port
is first covered by the rear "brim" and
then goes under the "crown" of the
"hat," and thus first, that end of the
cylinder is shut off from the boiler steam
and then its used, steam is exhausted
into the stack. Simultaneously, of
course, the forward brim of the hat-valve
slides back across the forward port, first
covering it, then uncovering it to the
flow of the boiler steam. In this manner
the sliding valve sends steam alternately
through the two ports, pushing the pis-
governs the steam supply and exhaust in
the cylinder is itself controlled by a
valve-steam or rod, which is worked, in
turn, by the upper part of a rocker, as
it is called. This rocker is a steel rod
hung on a pivot at its center and oscillating
thereon like a teeter-board on a
stump, except that the motion is forward
and back instead of up and down. The
lower part of this rocker is influenced by
what are styled eccentrics. An eccentric
is nothing' more nor less than a crank
of odd form. A disk of steel is bored
at a point one side of its center and fastened
at this bore upon the axle inside of
the front drive-wheels. A ring or strap
of steel surrounds this disk and to this
ring is attached the rod wdiich influences
the rocker. As the axle turns, tbe disk
revolves around it and carries the ring
with it, thus acting exactly like a crank
on the rocker-rod.
Two eccentrics, one for forward movement
and the other for backward movement
of the engine, influence each rocker,
and, in order that the forward and backward
movements may be under control
of the engineer, the rocker rods are not

made fast to the lower end of the rocker
itself, but to the upper and lower ends
of a link made to slide up and down on
a pivot placed at the bottom of the
rocker. This link is raised or lowered
by means of the reverse-lever in the cab.
When it is lowered, only the forwardmotion
eccentric influences the cylindervalve
and when it is raised the backward-motion
eccentric alone is operative.
Whichever end of the link is left free
from the pin at the end of the rocker
simply runs free without effect upon the
cylinder valve.
By raising part way the link which
governs the rocker, the engineer accomplishes
what he terms "shortening the
stroke," when the engine is to run at
high speed. This is done to economize
steam for it makes the valve-stroke
shorter and so opens the ports for
shorter periods. Less steam is thus admitted
to the cylinders and, of course, it
exerts full pressure on tbe piston only
at the beginning of the stroke, its pressure
diminishing as the piston recedes
THE SPIRIT OF NEW ENGLAND 661
The Spirit of New England
I sing New England, as she lights her fire
In every Prairie's midst; when the bright
before it but being sufficient to sustain
the speed gained.
A diagram is jirinted herewith in
which the various jiarts of the locomotive
mentioned above are indicated. A slight
study of the drawing will jirobably be
necessary to a perfect understanding of
the description.
It should be said tbat every ordinary
locomotive is, in reality, two engines, one
on each side of the machine. They are
so arranged that they do in it act upon
the driving-wheels simultaneously, however,
but when the crank on one siele is
at the extremity of the stroke, that on
the other side is on the quarter, either
immediately above or below the axle, so
that power will be exerted by one' or
other engine at all times and so that the
two cannot, by any possibility, lie stopped
"on the dead center," or exactly at the
ends of their stroke, when the cranks are
opposite the axle. If the engine was
built so that this could occur, there
would be times when it could not be
started from the position described without
application of outside force.
Enchanting stars shine pure through Southern night,
She still is there, the guardian on the tower,
To open for the world a purer hour.
—CHANNING.

CONSULTING
DEPARTMENT
Are yell puzzled by any question in Engineering or the Mechanic Arts? Put tlie question into writing and mail it
to the Consulting Dciartment. TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE. We have made arrangements to have all such
Questions an sic ered by a staff of consulting engineers and other experts whose sort'ices have been s feci ally enlisted .t
purpose. If the question asked is ol general interest, ihe answer will be published in the magazine. It of only personal
interest, the answer -...ill be sent by mail, provided a stamped and addressed envelope is enclosed with the question.
quests tor in formation as to where desired articles can be purchased will also be cheerfully answered.
Meaning of Trainsmen's Code
What is the meaning of the hand signals
used by trainmen ?—Traveler.
A flag or lamp swung across the
tracks, a hat or any object waved violently
by any person on the tracks, signifies
danger and is a signal to stop. The
hand or lamp raiseel and lowered vertically
is the signal to move, as in a.
The hand or lamp swung across the
track is a signal to stop, as in b.
The hand or lamp swung vertically in a
circle across the track when the train is
standing is the signal to move back, as
in c. The hand or lamp swung vertically
in a circle at arm's length across the
track when the train is running is the signal
that the train has parted, as in d.
Producer-Gas Plant Regulations
What are the regulations of the National
Board of Underwriters concerning producergas
plants ?—//. L. B.
Pressure Systems.—All pressure systems
must be located in a sjiecial build-
662
SIGNAL (SED BY TRAINMEN.
ing or buildings approved for the purpose
and at such distance from other buildings
as not to constitute an exposure thereto.
2. Suction Systems.— (a) A suction
gas-producer of approved make, having
a maximum capacity not exceeding 250
horse-power, may be located inside the
building, provided the apparatus for producing
and preparing the gas is installed
in a separate, enclosed, well ventilated,
fire-proof room, with standard doors at
all communicating openings.
Tbe installation of gas-producers in
cellars, basements, or any other place
where artificial light will be necessary
for their operation, is considered hazardous,
and will not be permitted except by
special permission of the underwriters
having jurisdiction.
(b) ddie smoke and vent-pipe shall,
where practicable, be carried above the
roof of the building in which the apparatus
is contained, and adjoining buildings,
and when buildings are too high to
make this practicable, the pipe shall end
at least ten feet from any
wall. Such smoke or ventpipes
shall not pass
through floors, roofs, or
partitions, nor shall they,
under any circumstances,
be entered into chimneys or
flues.
(c) The platforms used
in connection with generators
must be of metal.
Metal cans must be used
for ashes.

(d) The producer and apparatus connected
therewith shall be safely set on a
solidly built foundation of brick, stone,
or cement.
(e) Wdiile the plant is not in ojieration
the connection between the generator
and scrubber must be closed, and the connection
between the producer and ventpipe
opened, so that the products of combustion
can be carried into the open air.
This must be accomplished bv means of a
mechanical arrangement which will prevent
one operation without the other.
(f) The producer must have sufficient
mechanical strength successfullv to resist
all strains to which it will be subject in
practice.
(g) Wire gauze, not larger than sixty
mesh or its equivalent, must be used in
the test-pipe outlet in the engine-room.
(h) If illuminating or other pressure
gas is used as an alternative sujijily, the
connections must be so arranged as to
make the mixing of the two gases, or tbe
use of both at the same time, impossible.
(i) Before making repairs which involve
opening the gas passages to the air,
the producer-fire must be drawn and
quenched, and all combustible gas blown
out of the apparatus through the ventpipe.
(j) The opening for admitting fuel
shall be provided with some charging device
so that no considerable quantity of
air can be admitted while charging.
(k) The apparatus must have nameplate
giving the name of the device,
capacity, and name of maker.
T*»
Why Electric Lamp Will Not Work
Kindly tell me why 110 volt lamps will not
work with the wiring shown in the enclosed
sketch. Half of them light when the switch is
thrown as shown. 1 should think that by
throwing the switch the other way, they would
all burn with one-half the candle power, but
they do not even glow.—B. R.
^^33^zA=^
How LAMPS THAT WILL NOT WORK ARE WIRED.
CONSULTING DEPARTMENT 663
These lights are wired so that the
ujiper lights are in parallel when the
switch is thrown up, and the two lights
in series across 110 volts when tbe
switch is thrown clown. Thus in the
first case, ynu will get 110 volts across
each lamp and it will give it full
candle power. In the second case the
lamps will give only 55 volts. It is a
mistake to suppose that the lamjis will
give one-half of their light cm one-half
voltage, because below about 90 volts,
thev give no light.
Tf
To Connect Up a Compound-Wound
Dynamo
How do you connect up a compound-wound
dynamo?—t". W. D.
The connection between a dynamo and
its outside circuit should always be made
through a double-pole switch which cuts
DIAGRAM SHOWING CONNECTIONS FOR COMPOUND-WOUND
DYNAMO.
both terminals from the circuit. A diagram
of the necessary connections and
wiring of a compound-wound dynamo is
shown in the figure. The leads from the
external circuit are first connected to the
fuses, F, in order to protect the dynamo
from large or dangerous currents. If a
current greater than a safe one for the
clynamo passes through these fuses they
melt and so break the circuit. From the
fuses leads connect with the main switch,
S, and from this to the brushes through
the series coils. The rheostat, R, is connected
in series with the shunt coils for
the purpose of regulating the field
strength and hence the voltage of the
machine. By moving the arm of the
rheostat, the current in the field coils is
varied.

664 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
Why Water Tube Boiler is Best Heater
They say that a water tube boiler heats
butler than a tire tube boiler. Why?—R. S. E.
ddie loss of heat will evidently be reduced
to a minimum if the heating surfaces
are such that the heat readily
' ' ' ' V
capable of measuring two inches of
DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING WHY WATER TUBE BOILER IS
BEST HEATER.
passes through to the water. The small
diameter of the water tubes (2 to 4
inches) allows the use of thin metal
which does not hinder the transmission
of beat. The rapid circulation in the
water-tube boiler prevents the accumulation
of sediment, which is a
poor conductor of heat. Still further,
dust and dirt do not readily collect on
the convex surface of water tubes, but
the inside of fire tubes soon become
choked with soot unless cleaned frequently.
See accompanying figure.
To Measure Draft in Chimney
How can you measure the draft in a chimney?
We are using natural draft.—N. A. E.
The draft in a chimney is caused by
the difference In weight between the hot
gases inside and the air outside. The
force, or intensity of the draft is equal
to the difference of these weights, and
is measured by a draft gauge. One form
of the instrument is a tube bent in the
form of the letter U. The tube is partially
filled with water, one leg being
How TO MEASURE DRAFT IN CHIMNEY.
connected to the interior of the chimney
and the other open to the external air.
The difference of the water levels in
the two legs indicates the difference of
pressure and the amount of draft.
On account of the slight movement of
the fluid and the error caused by the
water being attracted to the dry tube, the
differential draft gauge is used. The form
is shown by the accompanying figure. The
fluid used is a special non-drying and
non-evaporating oil of known specific
•gravity. The incline and diameter of the
tube are so proportioned that the reading
represents distilled water in hundredths
of an inch. The instrument is
water pressure.
V»
Boiler Problems
1. How can I tell what size boiler to select
for house heating?—T. H. F.
1. It is advisable always to check the
catalogue ratings of boilers, when selecting
one for a given service, as follows:
Suppose the direct radiating surface,
including piping, is 3,000 square feet.
One square foot, it may be assumed, will
give off about 250 heat units in one hour
—a heat unit being the amount of heat
necessary to raise the temperature of one
pound of water, 1 degree Fahrenheit. A
pound of coal may safely be counted on
to give off to the water in the boiler 8,000
heat units. Now, 3,000 square feet times
250 heat units divided by 8,000 heat
units, gives the amount of coal burned
per hour; and this, divided by the square
feet of grate, gives the rate of combustion
per square foot per hour. Suppose in
this case, the grate has an area of fifteen
square feet;
3000x250
8000x15 ~ b '^
the pounds coal burned per square foot of
grate surface per hour. This is not a
high rate for boilers of this size, though
for ordinary house-heating
boilers the rate should not
exceed five pounds; and
for small heaters having
two to four square feet of
grate, the rate should be as
low as three to four
pounds per square foot of
grate, per hour.

A VICTIM OF ARTERIOSCLEROSIS, SCIENTIFICALLY TREATED
HEALING PREMATURE SENILITY
By DR. ALFRED GRADENWITZ
(^JHE vent a craving premature of human­ death. The same prob­
ity for retarding the
T O T advent of senility and
ypty thus prolonging life is
g^Y embodied in the popular
myth of the Eountain
of Youth. Similar
ideas have been
more recently discussed by the partisans
of what is called "Simple Life," according
to whose opinion the natural lifetime
of man, like that of certain related mammalia,
would correspond to the 5 or 6fold
time required for the conclusion of
growth, that is, would be about 100 to
120 years, and according to whose doctrines
humanity, by adapting life to the
laws of nature, would be at liberty to pre-
lem has finally been dealt with of late
years by scientists, such as Metschnikoff,
according to whose opinion senility is
nothing else but a disease accessible to
medical treatment. Neither the simple
life theories nor the investigations of
medical science have however, so far succeeded
in suggesting any method of actually
prolonging life.
The phenomena characteristic of old
age, and which manifesting themselves
by all kinds of trouble, after a slow decay,
result in the final dissolution of life,
as is well known, are due to an increasing
rigidity of the arteries. These
phenomena called arteriosclerosis, so far
from attending exclusively old age, un-
665

666 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
fi irtunately occur prematurely, as a consequence
of either heredity or superalimentation.
.Medical science was so far
unable to find a remedy for these morbid
phenomena and bad to be content with
certain advices by following which patients
could retard the inevitable evolution
of the disease. Now a French
physicist, M. d'Arsonval, recently macle
an interesting discovery, which has been
utilized for developing the first efficient
cure of arteriosclerosis.
In health}- subjects the blood pressure
in the arteries is about 15-16 cm. mercury.
In patients affected with the
disease in question—owing to the augmenting
narrowness of the blood vessels—it
however increases as far as 18-25
cm. ddiis symptom, wdiich is readily ascertained
by means of an apjiaratus
called sphygmometer, is quite characteristic
of the disease and affords a measure
of its jirogress.
Now d'Arsonval observed that electric
HOW NEURASTHENIA IS TREATED.
high frequency currents—that is currents
of rapidly alternating direction—will instantaneously
reduce the blooel pressure
of dogs. The practical utilization of this
fact for an effective treatment of patients
suffering from arteriosclerosis is due to
Dr. Moutier who first observed a similar
behavior in patients affected by a superpressure
in the blood-vessels.
The excellent results obtained in this
connection soon induced Dr. Moutier to
carry out tbe same treatment on a large
scale in one of the hospitals of the city
of Paris. Patients are seated on a chair
located in the center of a large solenoid
or spiral traversed by the high frequency
currents. In a glass box situated beside
the patient there is arranged an induction
coil converting direct current into
alternating current, the latter being
thrown into condensers connected with
a spark gap with ball electrodes. The
outside armatures of these condensers in
turn communicate with the solenoid from

HEALING PREMATURE SENILITY 667
the terminals of which are branched off
the wires supplying the electric current.
After an electrification lasting only five
minutes the blood pressure of the patient
is seen to drop, decreasing readily from
say 24 to 18 cm. In connection with a
second seance performed a few clays
afterwards, the blooel jiressure
of the same patient
—after again rising in the
meantime to about 20 em.—
will fall to 17 cm. within a
few minutes. After a certain
number of applications
of the same method the
normal blood pressure of
15 cm. is e v e n t u a 11 y
reached.
According to Dr. Moutier's
experience the extraordinary
rapidity w i t h
which the blood pressure is
reduced, is out of proportion
to and independent of
the magnitude of the superpressure,
seriousness of
lesions wrought by the disease
and the age of the latter,
but seems to be influenced
by the patient's diet.
The duration of the treatment obviously
varies according to patients ; while a
few seances are generally found sufficient,
electrification has sometimes to be continued
for weeks. In all cases—and
this is the essential point of the cure—
the normal blood pressure after being
once attained will continue permanently,
and by thus causing the excess in
blood pressure to disappear, the evolution
of arteriosclerosis obviously is
definitely arrested. According to Moutier's
experience such troubles as are
caused by the increasing rigidity of
arterial tissues are found to cease at the
same time.
A similar treatment can be used for
improving the condition of patients suf
fering from gout or rheumatism. Instead
of being enclosed in a solenoid cage, the
latter, while undergoing the treatment,
may be lying comfortably on a sofa,
keeping in their hand the electrodes sujiplying
the current.
Similar successes have finally been obtained
by Moutier in connection with the
TREATMENT OF RHEUMATISM AND GOUT.
treatment of patients affected with
neurasthenia, whose blooel pressure will
be below the normal figure, dropping as
far down as 11-12 cm. In these jiatients
high frequency currents thus fulfill the
reverse task of augmenting the blood
pressure. They are then used in the
shape of glow discharges, applied alongside
the spinal column, ddie patient being
seated on an insulating stool, the
physician carries alongside his spinal
column a metal conductor provided with
several brushes.
The electrical equipment in this case
comprises a resonator operated with direct
current at 110 volts, a Ruhmkorff
coil, a rheostat and a switchboard containing
an ammeter, voltmeter, current
interrupter and switchout.

WHERE CLOTHES GROW ON TREES
By W. G. FITZ-GERALD
EOPLE in civilized lands
who read of the insuperable
difficulties experienced
by traders and explorers
in Africa in the
matter of getting adequate
lab ir house-building and transport
are apt to marvel why these savages will
not work, ddie truth is Nature is too
kin 1 to tbem. Their houses grow of
THE F
668
ATHFR OF ~ FAMILY IN UGANDA GOES FORTH TO PLUCK Ctomi.r
FOR His CHILDREN FROM THE BARK-CLOTH TREES CLOTHING
their own accord in the shape of reeds
and rushes ; the ants provide mortar out
of the earth from their giant hills; a
trap set in a moment for an antelope will
provide meat for a week; while such
fruit and vegetables as may be needed
grow wild in reckless profusion, foremost
among them being the plantain.
As to their clothing, in Uganda at any
rate this grows upon trees. The barkcloth
tree of East Central
Africa has from time immemorial
provided these
people with garments of
soft, flexible, natural cloth,
sewn together by the women.
It is extremely light,
porous and durable, nearly
white.in color, and readilv
stripped from the tree like
cork.
Unfortunately since the
construction of the Uganda
railway—one of the chain
of lines that penetrate the
African continent from
Cape Town almost to the
Pyramids—the women and
girls of Uganda are beginning
to ask for white and
colored cottons of civilized
make. For the people are
fast amassing wealth
through the opening up of
the country.
The child King of Uganda,
Daudi Chwa, however,
still keeps the bark-cloth
for his regal robes, though
it is hard for the youngster
to be dignified as he sits at
his lessons in a missionary
school in Mengo, the Uganda
capital. His father
was the dreaded Mwanga,
who tortured and burned to
death progressive subjects.

NEW BRIDGE OVER CHARLES RIVER
BOSTON and Cambridge jointly, recently
comjileted one of the finest examples
of bridge engineering and architecture
in the country, across the Charles
river, from West Boston to Cambridge.
It cost $3,000,000 and, including the approaches,
is 3,700 feet long. The width
is 105 feet between the rails, and the
bridge proper is 1,700 feet long. The
center sjian. with its four massive towers
of granite, is a new departure in bridge
building. As there is no draw, these
towers mark the channel for vessels, and
at night lights will be jilaced in them
for a guide to the channel. Each tower
is 100 feet high. Each of these seals cost
$6,000. Exclusive of the approaches, over
25,000 piles were driven; more than
1,500,000 feet of coffer dam work was
built during the construction work, while
about 85,000 cubic yards of screened
gravel and broken stone were used, and
150,000 barrels of cement. In the sujierstructure
it is estimated that over 14,-
500,000 pounds of steel have been used
in the graceful, sweeping Robin Hood's
bow arches. The arch of the bridge is
divided into eleven sjians, varying in
length. The large center span, through
which all vessels pass, has a headway of
twenty-six feet at high tide for a space
fifty feet in width, thus allowing tugs,
barges and vessels with telescope masts
to pass through easily. It is considered
the best lighted bridge in the country.
The elevated roacl jiasses through the
center, on a roadbed specially built in
with the bridge. Beside these, on each
of the outside roadways run the surface
tracks. Overhead branching arms from
hollow steel poles carry tbe trolley wires.
The cost is divided between Boston and
Cambridge and the elevated road.
E BETWEEN BOSTON AND CAMBRIDGE CONSTRUCTED AT A COST

670 TECHNICAL WORLD MAGAZINE
NEW GASOLINE AND ALCOHOL
ENGINE
D ECENTLY a most remarkable gaso-
*• *• line and alcohol engine of 100 horse
jiower, consisting of sixteen cylinders,
was constructed at Suresnes on the
Seine, Prance. It is a powerful high
POWERFUL MOTOR THAT A MAN CAN LIFT.
speed motor weighing only 220} 7 pounds
and can easily be lifted by a man of
ordinary strength. The motor Antoinette
shown in tbe accomjianying view
was built for use on aeroplanes and dirigible
balloons.
ddie cylinders are six inches in diameter
with a stroke of six inches and a
normal speed of one thousand revolutions
jier minute, ddie engine is onlv
twenty-eight and one-eighth inches high
and thirty-eight and one-half inches
wide, with a total length of onh- fortyone
and one-half inches. It is stated that
the fuel consumption is from two and
three-quarters to three pints per horse
power per hour.
WHEEL-MOUNTED DRILL.
IN many German and English work
shojis jiortable electric drills are
mounted on wheels so as to be easily
moved from one portion of the shop to
another or to any part of large work
under construction.
The English portable electric drilling
machine shown in tbe accompanying illustration
comprises a motor-carriage,
and sliding shaft with a universal movement
drillhead. ddie motor is series
wound, this being found to be preferable
to the shunt winding, as the power ab­
sorbed is in proportion to the work
done.
ft will be noted that the motor is
mounted on two horizontal centers by a
frame which may be moved in a complete
circle, the whole being mounted on
a carriage furnished with handles and
wheels to permit of easy movement.
When desired the motor may be easily
removed from the carriage and suspended
from a stirrup or bow.
A bracket is mounted on the top of
the motor carrying a hollow shaft fitted
at one end with a spur wheel which is
driven from a pinion on the armature
shaft. Through this hollow shaft runs
a long shaft, one end of which is connected
to the drill head. The long sliding
shaft is slotted for nearly its whole
length and this fits a key on the inside
of the hollow shaft. In this manner the
motor drives the hollow shaft and by
means of the key and slot the motion is
transmitted to the drill head.
The gearing is entirely covered, thus
protecting tbe workman against accident.
All of the terminals are also protected.
USING PORTABLE ELECTRIC DRILL.

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