Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1866-10-25
Art and Science.

If continuous solid iron rail were laid
from New York city to Albany, no amount
of force applied at one end could move the
other in less than one minute and quar-
ter, the time required for mechanical force
to travel in iron that distance. ~
The employment Of steamships in the
whaling service is likely to prove a success.
The steam whaler Vigilant," cruising off
the coast of Iceland, has already taken
1000 barrels Of oil, and will probably take
500 more before the season closes.
Prof. Tomlinson, of Kings College,
points out, in letter to the Times, that the
apparent impressions of trees in miniature,
SO often observed upon the bodies of per-
sons killed by lightning while standing
under trees, are in reality produced by all
electrical discharges, whether Of lightning
or from Leyden jar, and that they have
no connection with trees. -
While taking trip across the Atlantic
in a hard gale from west-south west, Mr.
Scoresby made some Investigation in re-
gard to the height of waves, with the fol-
lowing results: H ~
Average highest altitude 43 feet
Mean distance between es.......,.......550 feet
Width from crest to crest feet
Time between each II
Velocity of waves per SO mis-
AT recent meeting of the British
Association, q paper was read upon the in
PRODUCTION of a new gunpowder for heavy
ordnance, in which nitrate of barytes is
substituted for saltpetre in composition, the
consequence being that the powder, when
ignited, consumes more slowly, and the
gases are developed less rapidly, while
the same effect is produced upon the pro-
jectile as regards its ultimate velocity.
- The undertaking of San Jose, Califor-
MIA, has now progressed SO far that extern
sive experiments are making or to be maGs
there for rendering silk productions a sta
pie industry Of the State. The experiments
already made decide that the climate is
more favorable to silk worms than that of
China, Japan, France, or Italy, which are
the silk producers of the world. California
has already added tea and coffee growing
to the list of her employments. @
"A German has brought to Paris an
inexplosible powder, which is certainly
going to makea revolution in this depart
ment Of war material This powder, in
vented by Mr.. Neumeyer, of Leipsic, does
not explode in the open air when infamed;
it explodes with more explosive force than
any other powder, in closed cavity. It is
cheaper than ordinary powder, and may be
manufactured anywhere, even on board
ship.
"A company has been formed in Califor-
MIA for the purpose of digging tunnel in
the Sierra Nevada mountains, and through
it conveying the clear waters of Lake Tahoe
to the channel of stream, and so across
the valleys to San Francisco. 1t is designed
thus to supply dozen interior towns as
well as the larger city with delicious water
Of great purity, provide the miners with
water for carrying on the work during the
dry season, and irrigate thousands of acres
Of land that are now unproductive. The
difficulty of the undertaking will be COM
pretended when it is remembered that the
lake is fifteen hundred feet higher than any
body of water on earth ever navigated by a
steamboat. Col. A. FL. Won Schmidt is the
engineer by whom the undertaking is to be
executed.
Joseph Whitworth, Of Manchester, has
patented in England what promises to be-
come an important improvement in the pro-
duction of steel castings. 1t is that of MAX
ing the models of steel or wrought iron,
strongly secured together, and then subject
ing the metal as soon as poured, and before
it is fully set, to powerful hydraulic pres
sure; no particular pressure being speei-
fed, although it may, it is stated, amount
+" to tuns upon the square inch" By pow
erful pressure at the moment before the
steel begins to set, air-bubbles are pre-
vented, and the steel, when hardened and
tempered, as described in Mr.. Whitworth's
patent, is believed to possess unusual
strength. The molds are to be made with
a close collar, to surround the ram of the
hydraulic press, the construction and appli-
cation of which are shown. Steel shot, Of
excellent quality, are, we understand, now
made under Mr.. Whitworth's patent.
AT the Industrial Exhibition in the
Agricultural Hall, Islington, London, there
is shown an ingenious invention, by which,
the action of q shower of rain is made to
close an open window. The window, when
open, stretches two India rubber springs.
These springs are prevented from drawing
the window down by means of curved
rod fixed outside the sash, the end Of which
works up and down a tubular bell-mouthed
stand on the window sill. A little piece of
loaf sugar is inserted into the mouth of the
stand, and the rod is let down gently upon
it. The sugar prevents the rod descending
into the tube, and of course keeps the win
dow sash UP. AS soon as it begins to rain,
the bell-moath of the tube collects the drops,
the sugar is melted, and no further obstacle
being presented to the action of the India
rubber springs, the sash is drawn down.
"A French artist, M. Bazin, has been
experimenting lately, with the design of
obtaining photographs ofsunken vessels, SO
chat in attempting to raise the same, positive
knowledge can be had of their relative
positions. To accomplish this NJ Bazin
descends to the necessary depth, in a strong
graphic chamber" Thick glass windows
afford every facility for making the neces-
sary preliminary observations, and the pic
ture is taken by the aid of strong eiectri-
cal light. An unpleasant feature of the
apparatus, and one which would not recon-
mend it to pleasure seekers, is, that the
operator is absolutely Theoretically sealed,
for no means are provided for supplying
air, the chamber being constructed of a
proper size to contain the quantity required
during the ten or twelve minutes occupied
in obtaining negative.
The excellent washerwomen of Holland
and Belgium, who get up F" their linen so
beautifully white, use refined borax as a
washing powder, instead of soda, in the
proportion of one large handful of powder
to about ten gallons of boiling water. They
save in soap nearly one-half. All the large
washing establishments adopt the same
mode. For laces, cambria, etc., an extra
quantity of the powder is used; for crino-
lines, required to be made, a strong solution
is necessary. Borax being neutral salt,
does not in the slightest degree injure the