Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-03-13
flowed into the plains where 1t now lies,

and there dried.
IT is claimed that it will take eight or ten
/ centuries TO dig away the solid mass of
nitrate of soda along the Peruvian coast It
/ is four or five feet thick, and is broken up
! by crowbars and then ground A solution
/ from it is run into watts Of sea-water, and
| crystalization is caused. The highest
! grade goes to the powder-mills; the next, to
| the chemical works; and the third, to the
fertilizer factories.
| A PROCESS of engraving On glass and
( crystal by electricity has been communi-
/ Gated to the French Academy of Sciences
! by NJ. Plante. The plate to be engraved is
covered with q concentrated solution Of
nitrate of potash and put in connection
with one OF the poles in the battery, and the
design is traced out with fine platinum
point connected to the other pole. The re-
suits are said to be Of marvellous delicacy.
THE question of carrying on mason work
in freezing weather has excited good d9al
of attention among architects since the
publication Of an official report to the Brit
ish Government by one Of its agents IN
Copenhagen, from which it appears that
brick walls are laid in that city in winter
with perfect success, the only precaution
taken being to use freshly Stacked lime in
the mortar, so that IT may warm when put
on.
ACCORDING to German scientific journal,
they are using electricity in India to pre-
vent snakes going into dwellings. Before
all the doors and around the house two
wires are laid, isolated from one another
and connected with an induction ap
paratus. When the snake attempts to
enter the house or go under it, he COM
pleteS the circuit as he crawlS over the two
wires, and if the shock he gets doesn't
kill him it is likely to brighten him SO that
HE goes away from there as soon as he can.
REPRESENTATIVES Of company Of st.
Louis and Cincinnati capitalists have been
visiting several places in Colorado with a
view to asceFtainfng good location for
the erection Of a shot-tower. Coal is cheap
there, and lead is 50 much more plentiful
than in any other section of the country,
that those interested believe it would pay
handsomely to establish plant In the midst
of a country that produces lead ores in vast
quantities. Denver, Trinidad and Pueblo are
mentioned as good localities.
ELECTRICITY cut up some queer capers
with tree down in New Orleans A guy cable
was attached to the tree from an electric
light. In some unaccountable way the cable
became crossed with q live wire, and on
wet days electricity ran down the former
Several times it set the tree aire, and
eventually started blaze which destroyed
that part of the tree above the wire. The
trunk was examined, and it's heart was
found to have been entirely eaten out by
the electricity, leaving mere shell.
SAYS a weather observer: "When you
wish to know what the weatheris going to be,
go out and select the smallest cloud you see
Keep your eye on it, and if it decreases and
disappears, it shows a state of the air that
is sure TO be followed by fine weather; but
if it increases, take your overcoat with you
if you're going away from home, for falling
weather is not far off" The reason is this:
When the air is becoming charged with
electricity you will see every cloud attract
ing all lesser ones toward it until it gathers
into a shower, and, on the contrary, when
the fluid is passing of, or diffusing itself,
then large cloud will be seen breaking
into pieces and dissolving.
SENIOR PIEDRAHITA an electrician Of b.
gotta, has patented telegraphic instrument
which he claims will revolutionize teleg-
raphy, as it works without batteries The
government appointed a committee Of ex-
perts to examine into the merits of the ma
chine. In their report they say: ''On the
9TH of October we proceeded outside the
city and placed the new apparatus in con-
nootion with the telegraph to the city, and
without O battery we communicated with
the main Office. On October 16 we practiced
another test, and sent messages over a
wire six hundred meters long, which was
hung on posts without insulators, and
some portions Of which were allowed to
trail along the ground. Once our machine /
was in order we sent messages over this
wire in Spanish, French and English, and
they were received without difficulty. |
The strength of the current received from |
US was tested, and it showed density of |
four hundred ohms, equal to distance OF /
seven and ono-half leagues, and over this |
range we could have communicated had /
our wires stretched that distance" !