Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-04-07
EVERYDAY SCIENCE.
EVERIUAI DUIENUE.
Matters of Interest to Manufacturer,
Mechanic and Inventor.
ANEW LABOR-SAVING POOL TABLE
Pretty Ballet Girls as Aids to the Study Of
Chemistry.
THE ADVANCE In ELECTRIC LIGHTIEG.
NEW LABOR-SAYING POOL TABLE
'HE ADVANCE In ELECTRIC LIGHTTEG
WRITTEN FOR TIE prspArcH.I

WRITTEN FOR THE prsPArcH.I
Readers of The DISPATCH who desire
information on subjects relating to indus
trial development and progress in mechan-
lcal, civil and electrical engineering and
the sciences can have their queries answered
through this column, which will be q per-
manent feature of the paper.
THE indications point to the general use Of
petroleum as fuel for many power stations.
The advantages over coal are obvious, for out
SIDE OF It's economy, even at market prices, and
the undeveloped state of the art of utilizing
It SO as to secure best results, the entire
absence Of dirt and the steady, smokeless fame
absolutely under control, have provoked care
ful inquiry into this subject. The large num-
Der OF new oil fields recently discovered, and
the fact that the Standard Oil Trust have
millions of barrels on hand which must be
thrown on the market, but serves to Stimulate
in. power producers the hope that cheaper fuel
may pc provided, and shareholders as well IS
the public benefited thereby. The export trade
in oil is threatened with extinction on account
of the construction of pipe lines and refineries
by Nobel Brothers at Baku, Russia. Colonel
Ransom says that 'it gives one an impressive
idea of the magnitude of the commerce Of
this country to reflect that probably nine
tenths of the vast Quantities Of oil sold in this
country, and upon which such vast fortunes
have been made, has been and still is used
simply in kerosene lamps and stoves"
AT the conclusion of the congress of German
naturalists and physicians in Cologne, last
month. DR.. Hoffman addressed his professional
brethren, expatiating upon the difficulties ex-
perienced by students of chemistry in under
standing the constitution of organic COM
pounds. Then suddenly before the bewildered
men of science. there foated upon the stage a
gorgeous ballet, each beautiful dancer in a
naturalists and physicians were at first in
clined to believe that an opera troupe had gone
astray, but DIR. Hoffman put their minds at
rest. He explained that this ballet was an IN
vention Of his own for the purpose of making
the study of organic chemistry more easy. Each
ballet girl, he said, represented an atom.
at his command the lovely atoms grouped
themselves in various figures, and the delighted
medical men realized that they were observing,
by DR.. Hoffman's felicitous method the con-
struction and chemical constitution of various
compounds and their reactions. The record Of
the congress declares that ''the composition of
benziline, and the formation of aniline and its
derlVations. were particularly applauded."
THE gas companies are fast getting to realize
that antagonism by them to the electric light
is inimical to their own best interests, and
there is steady increase in the number of
electric lighting plants which have been in
stalled by them. They have nearly doubled in
the past six months and it is pretty con-
elusive that it pays a gas supply company to
furnish electric light also to such patrons as
may want it. Gas companies in this country are
now supplying total of over 2l 900 arc and
5000 incandescent lights to their patrons, in
addition to the commodity they were origin
ally organized to supply.
Two obstacles now stand in the way of the
universal use Of the incandescent hight. One
q n economical eff af
battery and the other the want of an inc3n-
descent lamp possessing longer life, freedom
from blackening Of globes and increased eff
cheney of power. When these obstacles are
surmounted the electric light will be furnished
much cheaper than gas. Over 80 per cent Of
the initial power supplied in incandescent
sought for-the ideal Lights such as that
given by the glow worm-a light without heat.
This is the electricians philosophers stone"
All modern public edifices (as well as many
private residences) are now equipped with the
incandescent light Unless, however, the
dynamo be run both day and night, gas or other
tlluminants must be used. When the dynamo
is shut down the lights go out. Besides. the en-
gine and dynamo must be run for one light as
well as many hundreds. We see therefore, as
a consequence, in nearly all cases provision
perfected storage battery will dispense with
gas entirely and the batteries will be charged
during the day for use at night or whenever
desired. The modern storage battery consists
lutte sulphuric acid, the action during the
charging" process being electro-chemical.
The great difficulty. so far, has been to make
the peroxide adhere to the plates. Attempts
have been made to secure other peroxides las
of copper) for this use, but no chemical has
been discovered which is as efficient for this
purpose.
Al SO called "dry battery in which the chem
icals are OF a gelatInDus consistency is being
introduced in Germany, but the most promising
battery is one in which the current forms
minute gas globules on the plates.
The electrodes consist of finely divided or
lead, each atom OF which is COM
pletely covered with spongy copp4. Oxida-
tion does not therefore take place under the
action of the changing current, and the mate
rial is not chemically attacked, as IN all other
forms of storage batteries. A strong and in
fuential company has been organized to handle
this style of cell.
A NEW design Of pool table is being shown,
whereby the balls as ''pocketed" run down to
a common receptacle, thus avoiding walking
around the table from pocket to pocket as each
player finishes. The balls roll into gravity
groves which are, of course, hidden from
sight.
APAssENGER coach now being built by the.
New York, Providence and Boston Railroad
possesses the novel feature of an arched roof
or 'carlines." as master car builders call them
being made OF iron
A CHEMIST gives the following recipe Of the
the solution used in the hand grenade fire ex-
tinguishers: 'Take % grains of common salt
and 10 pounds of salammoniac and dissolve i'm
gallons of water. When fully dissolved it can
be bottled, and in use should be thrown forci-
bly, at the fire. so as to break the glass and
scatter the solution.
A PROCESS Of engraving on glass and crystal
by electricity has been communicated to the
French Academy of Sciences by M. Plante.
The plate to be engraved is covered with con-
centrated solution OF nitrate of potash and put
terry, and the design is traced out with fne
platinum point connected TO the other pole
The results are said to be of marvellous deli
cacy.'
A VERY good and simple way to remove the
glare of incandescent lights IS to coat the globe
with a thin film of collodion. The coating
should be of course of uniform thickness. The
collodion can be easily washed of with water
and IL softens the light and absorbs but a small
many, recommends solution of salt. the crys-
.als producing very attractive diffusion of the
light. A solution Of salts of lead and tin Is
used in Berlin.
IN order to secure the traction necessary to
propel trains up the steep grades in the mount
ainous districts of the Eastern and Western
States, it is necessary to employ very large and
heavy engines-ln many cases two and more
sntailing thereby very heavy expense. A me-
chanical engineer Of Albany, N. Y, has in
rented device which has been practically
to secure the fractional effort
necessary without the use of additional or
'heavyweight' engines. A third rail is laid in
The center of the track Of the standard size and
weight. Affixed under the locomotive are two
wheels in nearly horizontal position which
run along the sides Of the top of the rail, and
IN action grip it more or less tightly.
The recent decision of the Commissioner Of
Patents, Mr.. Benton ]. Han. which effectually
clears the title Of Alexander Graham Bell as
he first inventor Of the telephone in what Is
technically termed broad" sense, not only
yiVes stability to all enterprises based upon
'atent rights, but had 1t been otherwise de-
,ided, would have created new telephone
monopoly for further period OF IL years. It
8 interesting to note that Commissi oner Hail
Itates that the Examiner of Interferences, the
and his predecessor In ONCE
lave held that a telephone constructed upon
he make and break principle will not transmit
lrticulate speech, and he dismlsses the multi