The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1880-01-23
SCIENCE AND PROGRESS

III "a
have more orders than they can I'll.
They are paying dividends Of % per
cent.
ONE hundred thousand needles are
and bored in day of 10 hours |
by new machine just perfected in
Westphalia, Conn.
The American demand for British iron
has diminished recently. One year ago
PSI furnaces in America were in opera
ton; now S37 are running.
ST. LOUIS zinc interests are advanc-
ing, and the demands for the metal are
greater than the capacity of the mills.
which are running night and day.
OVER 1900 persons are employed in
chair-making in the town of Gardner,
Mass, yielding over q, 0O0. 900 worth of
stock annually. They required 65 new
houses last year.
OVER $1,000 men in the Lehigh Valley
are employed at the furnaces, of which
there are 81, with an annual capacity OF
1000 tons. These furnaces produce
one-fftho of thepigiron madeinthe United
States, and consume 100000 tons OF
iron ore annually. 'D.
READING employs over 1900 persons
in hat-making, who turn out !, 70O dozen
hats daily. To produce these hats over
1000, 600 pounds of secured wool are
required, most of which is grown in
Texas and California. All the manu-
factories are running on full time.
Mr.. ED1soN's last invention is q
tuning-fork which makes the sounds
very audible. To make one, take a
thick bell-metal tube and saw it across
almost to the bottom, which must be
closed. This divides the tube, and
gives two vibrating prongs. To bring
the prongs in unison with the column
of air between them, the tube is put in
lathe and turned thinner, until unison
is attained, whereupon the sound is
powerfully reinforced.
THoMPsoN's FLAT, on the Feather
River, in Butte County, California,
seems in fair way of becoming ia.
NOUS. Mr.. Edison's agents have, it il
said, discovered platinum there in pay
ing quantities. Heretofore the great
platinum mines in Russia have beer
controlled by two large firms, one II
England and the other in France. These
firms have been accustomed to regulate
the price Of the material to suit them
selves, and have always taken care thai
the demand should exceed the supply
in order that the price might be
kept up. f
In the course of q recent lecture OF
electricity, Professor Nipher of Wash
ington University, St. Louis, advanced
what will be to most people decided.
novel theory to account for the varia
tons of the needle at different points il
Missouri. He holds that the needle il
affected by the water-courses and has
strong tendency to turn at right angle
with them. The deduction is that tn
water-courses possess peculiar magnet
principles, and that the great magneti
!, currents which pass around the cart
find for themselves the best conductor
in rivers and the adjacent moist grounds
} PROF. KLEBs of Prague announce
/ that the benzoate of soda is the bes
r antiseptic in all infectious diseases.
t acts, as the experiments of the autho
} show, very powerfully. 1t is elaine
8 that daily dose of from thirty to hit
r grammes to full-grown man will rel
g der the poison of diphtheria imperative
!, The benzoate is prepared by dissolvin
: crystallized benzoic acid in water, mel
J, tralizing at slight heat with solutlo
u of caustic soda, drying, and then ALLOW
: ing the solution to crystalline ov'
}, sulphuric acid under bell glass. Lare
r doses do not appear to be absolutel
# necessary. Good results may be o.
) tanned by the daily administration
II about twelve grammes.
7 SOME few years ago it was discovere
u in Natal, South Africa, that knives ust
e in cutting down plants belonging to Il
a natural order Euphorbiace@ were pr
;. tected from rusting by the gum whit
adhered to them. This led to furth
% experiments being made with view
n utilizing the gum as preservative m
IS terial. Iron plates were coated with
J and subjected to immersion in t
!, waters of South Africa, which are stat
a to be proverbial for their foulness, al