The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-09-11
POPULAR SCIENCE.

CoaLcutting machines are now run by
electricity.
The average depth of all the oceans Is
from 1000 to $500 fathoms.
Thenew city of Tiai-pei FUN Formosa
is lighted electrically, the plant being ID
charge of native workmen.
The French Government, when it takes
possession of the telephones in France,
proposes furnishing the service to the
public at cost.
At the next military maneuvres in
France new application of telegraphy
will be made. which innovation it is
thought will be of the greatest utility in
time of war.
Electric lighting is said to be one Of
The hardest kinds of work for a steam
engine, the continuous running and the
work being thrown on and off instantane-
ously, causing immense strain.
An Easton Penn.) paper says Charles
Zinc has an amorphophallus plant, the
only one of the kind in that section.
The odor of the flower is that of stale
raw meat, but its color is beautiful.
Concerning the great British naval re-
view-every armor plate In that fleet Is
fastened with the late Sir William Pallis-
er's patent screw bolts, and the Govern
ment has never paid for one of them yet.
Discussions on the economic size Of
line wire brings out the fact that the di-
ameter of the wire depends on the price
of copper, cost of power and quantity OF
current, and is entirely independent of
the length of the current.
Ten men with drills operated by elec-
tricity can take out as much ore'and tun-
mel as far as 100 men with picks, shovels
and blasting material, besides which the
buildings can be lighted and great saw.
ing on insurance and oil made thereby.
One paper mill in England, in Setting
bourne, manufactures enough paper every
year to put belt around the world some
1O0inches in width. One of the constituents
of this paper is esparto grass, which is
brought in great bales from Algeria.
A test has leen made in France to see
whether the color of a horse had any,
thing to do with his characteristics. It
has been demonstrated that any such
idea is all nonsense. Pedigree and early
training have all to do with it, and color
nothing whatever. .
At the sham battle tough at Spandaut
by the German troops for the amusement
of Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria
one division used a new "smokeless"
powder, the effect being that no smoke
was visible at distance of 300 yards,
and no sound was heard beyond a slight
tapping.
From recent study of the bones Of
anthropoid apes it appears that the goril-
Ia and chimpanzee approach nearest to
man, but in different degrees, the orang-
outang holding the third place. But
great differences exist between the pro-
portions of the human frame and those Of
all the apes.
DR.. Nasen estimates that the ice of
Greenland's interior must be 5000 feet
thick in places, even the tops of the
mountains probably being covered with
hundreds of feet of glaciers. he believes
that the wind has much to do with main
tanning the ice level, and that the quanti-
ty of snow does not vary much from year
to year. =,
There are in Nevada several deposits
of mineral soap, one of which has been
worked for some years, the soap being
formed by natural combinations of soda,
borax and mineral oils, the process in
some localities being assisted by hot
springs; some of these natural soaps are
cut up and sold as found, but they are Of
tener used in combination with other
soaps.
The latest use of photography is to
make cannon ball take picture of its
own wabblings. An arrangement some
thing like camera is to be placed in the
forward end of the projectile, and when
it is fired directly at the sun the light
traces lines upon the plate, from the di-
rection of which it can be told whether
the projectile has kept in one position OF
has wavered to and fro during its fight.