Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-05-11
INDUSTRIAL, STATISTICAL AND
TECHNICAL.

Bo0T and shoe manufacturing has been
carried on in Rochester, n. Y, for about
forty years, but has increased greatly for
ten years past, and now there are about
twenty-five firms whose aggregate product
is fully $3,500,0O0 yearly.
BoTANIsTs assert that Europe cannot
claim to have done everything for America
gratis, when the latter gave her the sun
flower, tobacco, potatoes, jalap, red pep
per, tomatoes, quinine, guano and corn,
not to mention cotton, petroleum and
other things.
THE MGn5hg Journal says that one of
the great objections raised against the
Channel Tunnel scheme is the length of
time it will take to execute; but, if we
are to believe the LG6e1te, this objection
has now disappeared. In fact, according
TO that paper, the tunnel can be completed
In less than six months! 1t tells us that
a machine has just been invented by
which fifty meters of ground may be
pierced through per diem, and it calcu-
lates if both the English and the French
begin piercing at the same time the tun-
mel can be cut out in IA days.
THE statistical office of the German rail
way lines has published the returns of the
accidents which happened during the
year 1875 on all German railways except
the Bavarian lines There were 755 run
nings-0tf the rails and collisions of trains
on the outside, and 1916 runnings-otf the
rails and collisions inside the stations and
1850 accidents Of divers natures by which
the regular service was interrupted These
accidents have caused the loss of the lives
OF 800 persons; /, 545 persons were hurt.
The proportion Of accidents to the num-
Der OF passenger trains was one to ). 1874,
and to that Of freight trains one to 1890.
SCIENTIFIC experimenters appear conf
dent Of the practicabiIity and value Of the
expansion of liquids as motor. It is
we'll known that with gases the expansion
is found to be equal to several hundred
times the liquid, but the elasticity Of the
gas is also great, while, with the LIQUID
itself, the expansion is small, but the de-
vcloped forces enormous. In London, oil
rs expanded by heat, and a slowly NOV
ing pressure OF ten thousand pounds to
the square inch obtained without danger
of explosion. Printing presses and rivet-
ing and punching machines have already
been successfully run by this process.
Rapid steam pressure by gearing can be
converted into slow high pressure; and
now, to complement the advantages of this
achievement, it IS suggested that invention
ought to transpose the operation and trans
form slow high pressure into rapid mo-
ton and less force.
Mr.. T. s. HUNT, Of Boston, has com
piled some statistics concerning the min
eral wealth Of the country which are
really interesting. He divides tie country
by north and south line at the eastern
base Of the Rocky Mountains, upon the
Atlantic side Of which are coal, iron, cop
per, lead salt and petroleum, and upon
the Pacific side the more precious miner
ais. The grand total Of coal for 1873 he
finds TO be about $4,000, 600 tons. In
1872 iron reached its highest figures Of
production, the total being 6, $50, 07O tons.
In 1914 the Lake Superior mines alone
turned out IT, tons of copper. The
product Of petroleum rose from SOC, 900
barrels in 1859 to 10,867 $50 barrels in
1874. West Of the Rocky Mountains the
official figures show that California, Ne
Vada, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Colorado,
Oregon, Washington and New Mexico
yielded Of the precious metals, ST., 428, 2O5
in 1874, and in 1915 $50, SS9, O37.