Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-11-27

w hat the Searchers Into Science Find
For the People.

A soldering fluid. composed Of a tea
spoonful of chloride Of zine dissolved
In two ounces Of aicahol will not rust
and tarnish, and has no bad smell.
Steel plates in the tire box. it is said,
can be prevented from cracking by
washing out with cold water after be-
ing blown out. Hot water will have
a contrary effect and produce a crack.
An electric spark in a dusty atmo-
sphere causes dust 10 settle, and. if the
air DE smoky, clears it. This l., prob
ably n reason why the air seems so
clear after a thunderstorm, eveniflittle
rain has fallen.
One Of the vegetable specimens at the
Colonial Exhibition in London was q
portion Of a gigantic arbor vitae grow
ing in Biitish-Columbia. The tree is
twenty-one feet in circumference and
two hundred and fifty feet in height.
following the example Of the United
States, the japanese are to adopt a sys-
TEN of standard time, beginning with
the year 1853. The time Of the merid-
ian of 1876 degrees east longitude will
be the time for the whole Of Japan.
The recent volcanic eruption in New
Zealand has not proved an unmitigated
evil. The dust which was thrown out
80 a%bundantly excrtS y most fertilizing
influence upon the soil where it fell, or
to which it has since been applied.
1t appears that there is 81 liability to
injury Of the eyes where the electric
light is used, by reason Of the illumina-
ton being too weak. This dangeris
apt to arise in rcading-rooms. 1t has
led areading society at Zurich to aban-
don the use Of electric glow lamps.
There are now more than two thou
sand species and varieties Of woody
plants in the botanical garden known
as the Arnold Arooretum. which be-
longs to Harvard University. 1t is
richer in species than any other collec-
ton Of living plants in the United
States
a story about the Bell Telephone pat
ents having been offered to Senator
Cameron at a mere nominal price, early
in the history Of the invention, has been
going the rounds of the press. 1t was
mentioned to the senator. when IN New
York, when he said: "Tbere is not d
word Of truth in it. never spoke to
Mr.. Bell in my life, and scarcely know
him by sight, although he lives near me
at Washington"
To cement wood and glass together,
mix some fnely-pulverized, well dried
zinc-white with clear copal varnish, in
such quantities rs to produce a half
liquid preparation. Spread this over
the parts to be cemented. and it will be
found that they will be jointed firmly
together. This cement has the advan-
tage over many others in that it does
not injure the most brightly-polished
oak wood and will bear the test Of wash
ing with warm water.
There has been Published, in Germ
any, the narrative OF an expedition sent
out from that country last year to ex-
plore the German territories in south
western Africa, between the Orange
River and Walish Bay. The results are
oy n1y y,cottCfactnru Tho pnrfu
were to ascertain what useful minerals,
animals and plants the country con-
tanned. The answer is, practically none.
There is no rain, and there is scarcely
any drinking water. All ideas of estab-
fishing a colony there must be aban-
doned.
Observation-Disclosures a new patent for
rendering wood incombuStible, in which
the wood is first welldried and after
ward impregnatcd with a solution Of
about four parts. by weight. of borax
and about three parts, by weight, of ep-
som salts in about twenty-parts, by
weight, Of hot water. The i%mpregnated
wood is coated with a mixture of hot
clay and a sufficient quantity of liquid
water-glass to enable the mass to be
| applied by mean OF apaint-brush. The
wood, having again become dry, is COW
| cred with paper or with woven fabric,
| the latter having likewise been impreg-
mated with the solution. Lastly, the
whole is painted over with a mixture
of from thirty to forty parts, by weight,
of sulphate of amonia. and from thirty
FIVE to forty-iive parts, by weight. Of
gypsum, diluted with q sufficient guam
tity Of water.
The following are interesting facts
about the stars: Alpha Centaurii, the
leading star in the constellation of the
Centaur, is the nearest star to the earth,
so far as known. It's distance is usually
placed at from 20.O00,OoD,0U,0O to 90
UO0,OOO.OOO,OO miles from the earth. A
star called Sixty-onc Cygni is classed as
second in distance, being put at $780,
100000 miles distance from our
globe. Most Of the stars, however, are
millions of times farther away from us
than these. Light travels about $4,000
miles in every second of time, and yet
a