Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-10-17
SCIENTIFIC GLEANINGS.

It is stated that since the introduction
Of natural gas five hundred shade trees
have been killed by natural gas leaks in the
parks of Allegheny city.
Ink stains are entirely removed by the
Immediate application of dry salt before
the ink has dried. When the salt becomes
EIscolored by absorbing the ink brush it off
and apply more; wet slightly. Continue
this till the ink is all removed.
A Venetian glass manufacturer is said
10 be making and selling bonnets by the
thousand, The glass cloth of which they
are made has the same simmer brill
Fancy of color as silk, and is impervious to
water
An italian engineer has experimental
with sugar as a means of preventing the
acrustation of boilers, with satisfactory
results. A boiler which used to be in
zrusted in six weeks had two kilogrammes
of sugar introduced every week for four
months, and then a film of incrustation
was found which could be easily washed
af.
Che scale on which the universe is built
becomes comprehensive in the presence of
5he fact that while the motions of the
stars carry them hundreds of millions of
miles in year, yet so tremendous is their
distance that we must watch them for
centuries before they seem to us to have
moved at all. The first results of the dis
aOvery that the fixed stars were In motion
was speculation as to the center of their
revolution. 1t was assumed that the
heavens revOlved round a common center
as the planets reVOve round the sun. Now
ihat idea is abandoned, but with the de
yeIopment of the law respecting the con-
servation of energy, still more startling
news are entertained.
Fog and its causes have been the subject
of much discussion By one writer the
celebrated London fog is attributed to the
cooling of the air by radiation from hill
sides near the city, which air, flowing
down, envelopes the city. 1t has also been
suggested that a cool northerly wind on
she west side of a storm flows into the sat
arated air on the south side and condenses
tEe fog. In Newfoundland it is thought
that fog Is produced by the flowing of a
saturated current southwark to cooler
waters, which often have ice floating In
Them In none of these cases however does
1t seem that the theories advanced have
been substantiated, and the subject offers
&n interesting field of investigation to the
scientist.
The future possibilities of electricity, as
applied to locomotive purposes, makes one
Eairly dazed with the impossibility of
grasping the subject Much has been said
and written in regard to the application
If electric power to street railways for the
transportation of passengers, and this es-
Pecial branch of electric power has already
developed into great industry, the size of
which is appreciated by few. The appli-
cation of electric power to the transporta-
tion of merchandise in our great cities is
Is yet Terra necognita, though its posi-
bilities are even greater than the street
railway service. An electric street car
Gan. under skillful management. be oper-
sted cheaper than one drawn by horses.
1t requires three times the power to pro-
pei vehicle over a stone pavement than
on rail of iron roadway. Horses cannot
draw heavy loads on iron roadways be-
cause of the difficulty of obtaining a sure
footing On an iron roadway an electric
locomotive can draw a load for less money
Ehan horses could draw the same load on
she best stone pavement. The expenditure
for carriage in the city of New York each
year reaches the enormous sum of $780,
900 600