The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1889-10-31
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.


"A travelling electric light plant has
proved quite successful in Germany.
The whole outfit complete for service
Is carried in one vehicle.
-Cotton-Seed oil is becoming stu.
pendous industry in the South. In 1880
there were lorty mills, with capital
of So, 500,0 ,000 Now there are 213 mills
with $40, 100000 taL-Topeka Cap.
ital.
Trade statistics in France show
that the export of French kid to this
country is falling of. The French kid
gloves are nearly all made of rat skins
tanned. rats being more plentiful than
kids in La Belle, France.
AT a recent test of search lights
for the purpose of discovering an APP
preaching enemy dressed in uniforms
of various colors, it was found that the
red uniforms were very distinct, blue
being the least conspicuous.
DR.. Foster, director of the Uniyers-
ity Ophthalmic Clinique at Breslau, be-
lieves that common cause of short
sightedness in the young is restriction
of the circulation produced by the
wearing of tight-ftting collars.
A French paper reports a case in
which tuberculosis was transmitted by
the earrings of girl who died of con-
sumption to another girl. Shortly after
the second girl commenced to wear the
earrings, an ulcer containing tubercle
bacilli formed on the left ear, and she
subsequently developed pulmonary con-
sumption.
A Swiss inventor has perfected a
method of making artificial boards, and
is advocating their use in building.
They are made of mixture of plaster
of paris and reeds pressed into shape
by hydraulic process. The material
has the advantage of incombustibility
and lightness, and will resist the warp
ing action of atmospheric changes.
Sand is considered the best mate
rial for forming molds, as the hot
metal has no chemical action upon it;
it behaves well as a conducting medium
for the air expelled from the space by
the metal, and for the gases generated
in the mold; it possesses considerable
adhesiveness when rammed together;
and is made to conform very accurately
tothe surface of the pattern. Molding-
sand is always mixed with about one
part of coal or charcoal dust to from
ten to fifteen parts Of sand.
"A company has been formed under
the laws of New York State to develop
large deposits of ozokerite, natural
paraffine wax existing in the Wasatch
Mountains of Utah Territory. about one
hundred and thirteen miles east of Salt
Lake CiJy. These mines are said to
contain the only deposits of this min
eral known to exist outside of Galicia,
Austria. whence the entire worlds sup
ply of this product has until recently
been obtained.
In response to an invitation sent
out two years ago by the Council of the
Meteorological Society of Great Britain,
more than hundred photographs Of
lightning flashes have been received
by the society, showing knotted light
ming, ribbon lightning, and flashes
which appear like lace curtain sus-
pended in the air. The photograph of
a celebrated dark flash, about the
meaning of which there has been con
siderable discussion, has also been re.
ceived.
During the last twelve months,
says the Revue des Cuirs, a paper leather
| to initiate calfskin, has made its ap-
/ pearance and seems likely to play an
| important part in the manufacture of
portfolios and albums. It can be used
for variety of purposes, for toilet arti-
cles, bookbinding, etc. Real calf is ex-
pensive, but of great durability. This
imitation calf is cheap, although it can
hardly be expected to wear well.
Professor Angel, of Michigan Uni
versity, furnishes the following as a
test of the purity of water for drinking:
dissolve about half teaspoonful Of
the purest white sugar in pint bottle
completely full of the water to be
tested, and tightly stopped; expose it
to daylight and temperature up to
700 Fahr. After day or two exam
inc, holding the bottle against some
thing black, for whitish floating specks,
which will betray the presence Of
organic matter in considerable propor-
tion.'
The Wedding Prelude.