The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1880-01-09
seIRNT1FIc NOTES

Prepare expressly Tor the EAPOklA NEWS. /
The new Mexican inier-oceanic rail |
way across the Isthmus of Tehuantepcc |
is to pass through the state of ChIapas, |
which probably contains the only popu |
lation in the world which possesses no
iron, nor anything of the nature of an
iron industry, even of the crudest form.
For the distance of eighty miles around
Palenque, the capital, not single black
smith can be found, and the onty arti-
cles of iron are axes and machetas, i'm
ported from the United States. Nails
are unknown, all the woodwork being
held together by cords or the tendrils of
| vines and even the their tortilla or corn
cake, is prepared by grinding the maize
between stones. The new railway
through this territory has clearly Il we'll
defined educational, as well rs CONNER
cial, development To undertake.
y German experimenter has proved
that, in hardening, steel undergoes an in
crease in volume. The thicker the bar
is the less the increase of mass, and the
less il is hardened. BY annealing the
volume is decreased again, until, at
the gray tint, it is about the same rs in
the raw state.
One of the hottest localities on the
globe is along the Persian gulf, where
rain seldom or never falls. At Bahrin
the arid shore has no fresh water, yet a
considerable population contrives to
exist there, thanks to the cOpious springs
of fresh water which issue from the bot
tom of the sea. The fresh water is Sc
cured by divers, and brought to the sur
face in large goat skin bags. The source
of these submarine springs is thought to
be in the green hills of Osman, some
five or six hundred miles distant.
A phosphorescent powder has been
produced which becomes very strongly
luminous under the influence of electrici-
ty. The inventors propose applying it
to the lighting of buoys. The phos-
phorescent substance will be placed in a
current produced by the action of sea
water on zinc and copper plates.
The stenographer of the Italian senate
has devised an instrument which is
claimed to produce speech in ordinary
printed characters as rapidly as it is
spoken, word of several syllables be
ing recorded by single touch of the
keys.
The mysterious power, electricity, is
undergoing every kind of manipulation
by enthusiastic scientists in endeavors &c
adapt it to the performance of mans
work, and its many applications attest
its inestimable value. 4 new sugges
ton, and a striking one, is the use OF
electricity as a means of executing the
death penalty. a German writer impOs.
ingly describes the plan of execution
"In dark room, draped with black, and
which is lighted only bya single torch
the chamber of eXecution-there shall
stand an iron image of justice, with heI
scales and sword. Stern justice is popu
larly supposed to have no bowels, but
the German goddess will carry power
full battery in her inside, and this bat
terry Will be connected with an arm
chair-the seat of death. In front of tho
, chair shall stand the judges tribunal
and only the judge, jury and other Off
GERS shall be present with the crimina
n during the ceremony of execution. Thii
will consist in the judges reading tn,
story of the crime committed by thu
prisoner, who will be rigidly manacleC
to the aforesaid arm chair, and when thi
is done, the judge will break his rod o
Office and toss il into one of the scale
pans of justice, at the same time eXtin
gushing the solitary torch. The descen
of the scale-pan will complete the cleo
trio circuit, and shock the wretch int
the next world.
The metric system has now bee
e adopted by twenty-eight different nj
tions, including majority of the civi
l. lied world. In eleven countries il is i
h exclusive use, while in several, as Gel
a many and France, there are penalties 70
): using any other measure.
Prof Proctor expresses considerabl
confidence in the success of Edison
h. electric light. He thinks it not improl
is able that the heat of the sun may be
il some time utilized in driving the electrl
n generators.
lie An English chemist claims to hay
is succeeded in crystalizing carbon. Spe'
lie linens of the crystals are said to hay
ar been shown to Prof. Tyndall, who pr
e. nounces them undoubtedly diamonds.
es a man was lately killed in Kansas
= the fall of an aerOlite-a very unusual o
currence, notwithstanding the large nun
Der of meteors which annually reach Il
- earth's surface.