Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-05-06
GREAT EXPECTATIONS"

suspension; and that subterranesn wires,
like submarine cables, transmit with
reduced rapidity. Again, while wires
suspended at feeble height are known
to transmit signals at q velocity of some
1900 miles per second, those that are
Suspended higher give velocity of from
10 900 to $4,000 miles. Whea.stone's
claims to 28s, 900 miles in his experiments
appears never to have been confirmed.
A new torpedo boat of the "second
class" has been completed by Messrs
Yarrow. 1t is sc feet long by 8 feet 8
inches beam, with displacement of 10
tons light and IA tons when loaded; and
speed OF Is knots. Her armament is
the same as in the first bost-aamely, the
swivel torpedo tube aud q couple Of small
Nordenfelt guns, sill on deck. The object
of the government in ordering this boat
was that it might compare her perform.
ances and Ell ;iercy with those Of the
larger craft, In order to deter
mine which Ct the two should be the p.t-
tern for future boats of TIE class. A
boat on the Thames, the naval represent
ing on board.-[E English Mechanic.
A true art is claimed as q development
Of the familiar diversion of making
rude figures by the shadow of the HANDS
on the wall. Trewey, French artist, has
added great variety TO these shadow pic
lures, and his fast increasing list al
ready numbers more than 800 new forms.
BY patient exercise he has given his
hands great suppleness, enabling him not
only to represent the most diverse figures
upon q screen but to give them motion
end lie. The swan smoothing It's olum-
sge, the bird taking fight, the cat max
tcg its toilet, the tight-ropa dsncer, who.
after salutiDg the public, rIbs chalk op
her feet before walking on the rope, are
amopg the silhouettes produced of such
wonderful accuracy that one can scarcely
believe they are shadows OF the hands
alone.
Alloys, caused by melting two or more
metals together, present some very in
teresting characteristics. One of the
most curious is the fact that the melting
point OF the alloy is usually lower than
t. at Of any Of its components. Woods
alloy, Tor instance, which consists Of lead,
tin, cadmium and bismuth, melts 81
above l50' F, while the lowest melting
point Of any of the metals separately is
that Of tip, 4460. 1t hiss always been sup
posed that this alloy could only be formed
at comparatively high temperature, but
Mr.. William HalIock has recently shown
that when the several metals are mixed
together In filings, and exposed for
twenty-four hours to the heat Of an Or
binary water bath (2l20), the alloy is
produced, and the macs becomes fluid,
and that the previous fusion Of either
constituent Is unnecessary.
The bridge ACROSS the classic Oxus, on
the line Of the Russian Transcsspisn
Railway, is 1000 feet longer thsn he
Brooklyn bridge. The entire railroad is
remarkable piece of engineering. 1t
was considered impossible to maintain
railroad through the shifting sands
Of the Kars-Kum desert. But Gen.
eral Anuepioff, by covering parts
Of his advay with clay, by placing
in his embaI kments LAYERS OF the branches
Of desert shrub aad by cultivating along
parts OF the route many thousands of
desert plants, the roots of which retain
the sand, has thus far maintained his
rosd-bed without dsteriorstion. The
problem Of water supply WAS solved by
bringing water IN pipes from the noun
tains that skirt 200 miles of the route,
also by canals from the Murghsb, while
srtesian wells are the source of supply
between Merv and the Oxus. In region
that Is destitute of fuel and where the
cold is at times intense petroleum has
been utilized to drive the locomotive an
to heat the sixty railroad stations along
the way.
A German journal gives Ithe following
process for making blotting paper able to
give copies OF letters: Soak four psrts
OF the best clear glue in Q mixture of five
parts of pure water and three parts OF
ammonia liquor until the glue is thorough
ly sof ened. Warm 1t till the glue is dis
solved, and add three parts of granulsted
sugar and eight parts Of glycerine, stir
ring the whole well, and letting 1t come
to the boiling point. While the mixture
Ia hot paint 1t with broad brush on
clean white blotting paper until the latter
is thoroughly soaked and q thin coating
remains on the surface. Let it dry for
two or three days, and It will
be ready for use. The writing or
sketch to be copied is done with the usual
aniline ink on writing paper. Before
transferring 1t to blottipg paper wet the
latter with q sponge or brush AID clean
water, and allow it to stand for one or
two minutes. Plsce the written side on
the blottiDg paper and press out the air
bubbles. After few moments of gentle
pressure remove the written matter. A
Of copies can then be made sitter
the manner Of the "grsph" processes from
the blotting paper. When the impress
sions grow faint dampen the surface of
the plotting psper agsin.-CCasseIl's
Mho6Zjne