San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1881-10-13
,ha accuracy With which they 1t offers


the accuracy with which they 1T offer
. no opportunity for any crevice INT
which tro-glycerine or any other OK
plosive fluid can be introduced. Th'
body Of the safe being also CONSTRUCTED
I of alternate plates Of iron, welded iroi
. and steel, carbonizod and decarbonizet
i. steel and crystal steel, fastened together
by bolts from the inside. effectuali!
prevents them being forced by sledg'
hammers. jimmies, jack-screws, or any
other burglarious instrument. Theil
re.proof qualities are also secured by
filing of concrete, which makes then
absolutely proof against both fires and
damp. In addition to the fire'prool
filing, the safes are furnished with i'm
proved combination locks, varied fol
each safe, many of which are supplied
with an automatic rotary movement
and consequently operated without any
arbor or spindle passing through the
door into the lock, rendering it impos-
sible to pick them by any process yet
invented.
In lS49 DR.. Gathny invented n meth
cd of transmitting power by means OF
compressed air driven through pipes.
Up to ten years ago his application for
a patent for this process from the United
States was rejected by the commission
er on the ground that it was a discovery,
and not an invention. Patents have,
however, been obtained for itin Europe
and it is by means Of this method that
the tunnel of Mount GEMS has been
worked. The process was used in the
work on the Hoosac Mountain tunnel.
The refusal to grant him a patent call
ed his attention from this valuable idea,
though it is unquestionable that by it,
in the future, power will thus be crea-
ted and distributed in cities, avoiding
the bother, expense and complication
of individuals having their own sources
of power. Like the distribution of gas
and water, this method of distributing
power is at glance so advantageous
Mat its merits are evident
| In 1879 DR.. Gatling invented and
patented steam pillow, or earth pulver-
ling machine, to be propelled by steam
and animal power combined. The failure
of his health, and the low price of grain
at that time, prevented his bringing
this invention into practical use. DIR.
Gatling has devoted his time and atten-
ton to improving the gun which bears
his name, and the success which has
attended his labors seduced him from
the more congenial field Of peaceful in
vention.
Within twenty years, since collodion
came to be a prominent chemical in
photography, there have, of course,
been thousand delicate and strictly
chemical improvements in every step of
the process. During the last ten years
the quality of the coating material has
been carefully studied, and artists have
discovered just the right combination
of gun-cotton, alcohol and either to use.
The best mode of making this film SEN
sitive, the best material for developing
the shadows when thrown upon it, the
manipulation best adapted to remove
defects in the impression, the bath that
will set the lines. and. more than all
the most approved and skillful hand
ling of the glass as type to print with,
and the various modes of toning, soft
ening, intensifying, and piercing the
pictures thrown from the glass to the
paper have been studied with persistent
enthusiasm.
Inventive talent has also been brought
to bear upon soap. Several materials
have been avowedly and openly mixed
with soaps as improvements. The use
of resin has been utilized. Slick, either
as sand or in the form of water glass"
or soluble glass (silicate of soda), is
one of the most common, and some of
the soaps made in this way are extern
sively efficient and useful. Modified
soaps for various special purposes are
now made by mixing lime water, disolv-
ed alum, etc., with soap already made.
It will he remembered that soon af-
ter the commencement of the civil war,
in 1861, congress appropriated $780,
600 for the construction of one or more
armored ships. Plans were presented
by seventeen different inventors, manu-
facturers or companies, and of these
three were accepted-the corvette Ga
lena. plated with iron three inches thick,
and hulled through and through by ten
inch shot in the attack on Fort Darling; /
the frigate New Iron sides, which, with
her battery of eleven-inch guns. proved
very effective in attack. and Ericsson's
monitor, which introduced the prin-
ciple upon which all the successive and
''iccessful ironclad batteries were built.
Several leading inventors are now en-