The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1891-04-10


10 hours.
\ bnttp thrown into the Atlantic No
vrmher "a. 1887, from the Cephalonin.
about 400 miles ont from Boston re-
emily washed ashore on IL little islet in
ine Caribbean Sea. $500 miles away.
The heat produced from the light of
Il FREELY is only one per cent Of AN equal
amount of candle light The bug,
light is produced 10y a chemical action,
us it is increased hy putting the fly in
xygen AMI diminished in an atnIos-
l'lIere Of nitrogen.
Shorthand writing by machinery is as
vet novelty in Great Britain. 1t is,
however, alleged that ii new steno-
graphic machine in Use by the Italian
parliament is capable of recording 2J0
words minute, and can be readily
manipulated by IL blind person.
German engineers are said to he
adopting new lining for bearings.
composed of compressed vegetable
parchment When fabricated with an
emulsion Of mineral oil and water the
parchment becomes impregnated with
tiIe oil, and will last for a considerable
t.m~.
If cloth can be made out of fine spun
glass, it would seem simple matter to
make it out of wood, and this is 'doae
10y boiling strips of fine grained timber,
crushing them between rolls, cardinS
the iilaments into parallel lines, aS with
ordinary textile material, and spinning
them into threads, from which cloLn
can be woven in the usual way.
PAPER Tough as wood is said now to
be made by mixing chloride of zinc
with the pulp in course of manufacture.
1t has zen found that the greater the
degree of Concentration of tht zinc so IL
ton the greater will he the tollglInrss
of the laper 1t can lie Use for max
ing gas pipes, boxes, comb, Tor rooiin :,
and even, 1t is added. for making boats.
1t is not often that a lost art is recov
cred, but it is said that the chemists
lave triumpllel III the matter of the an
cient "AIexandran blue" This blue,
the ideal of aiuters and decorators.
Was a ocular ami remarkably durable
Color. The chemistS are sad to have
achieved Il successful analysis Of the
COLO inS on the Z. m,,eian flescoes, AN.
to lave reproduced Inc pant, Identical
viii IiIe anclent colorng Iii every par
tIcutar
Juies Verne's idea of the submarine
boa. va, looked upon rs beneath sober
Cr.tlc.s.I When he first published his
"INrnty Thousand Leagues Under the
Sci. PuHcitS IDEAS of gir.s parents
III Eng gland seeing their daughter playing
tennis at CaicuGta aas hardly Thought oil
a. within measurable distance of reaiiz-
alton III the present century. And yet
both the submarine Loaf and the plioto-
telescope have pas ed INTO The realm of
aCcunI ,ilslIed tact, il not, as yet, of
commercially proti.aD.e undertakings.
About Il year ago the government of
India had recommended that whenever
blasting Selat.ie /, Stored i'll .ndla IL
should be hep. i'll water. The lids of
the toxes should Ue raised. the W alter.
proof bLs, in wliciI the geiaLIne is III.
closed should br opened, and the boxes
placed i'll tanks tillei with water. B.a5C-
lu5 EeiatinG POSSESSES the i'm! GRANT ad-
vantage over nearly all other explosives
OF no, detrrloratIng la the ie,.st W hen
nei,t under water a small quantity of
water wLl he absorbed by tile surface OF
the gelaline, and this will somewhat
alter ItS appearance, but il will not i'll
any way Interfere With Its susceptibility
To defamation. A case Is On record where
blasting seIatlne has been under water
strength or su.ceptIbiiity 10 ueLonation
hemg IN any way auccted.-t Ind AN
| Engineering
"Afr.can Bass" is the name given to
Il Lber ubtained III tile colony ul La, Us
| from the bamu0o palm. In Appearance
1t Is stiff and why, varying III Color
from dark brown TO lighL red, and de-
| pendent for its shades on duration of
soaking. 1t Is most Readily obtained i'll
lengths of from three To- ,our feet. be-
You'd winch lengtn ~ Is inconvenlent to
paci aid difficult 10 pl"cure without
! hjlry To the Lrer. in uIuliIc.cr IL varies
| from one-s.xleenLh TO VIe-Lnlrtieth of
an lnci, the latter of WHICH may be
accepted as the limit OF tineness " be
! admitted III ~ commercial sample for
the European market 1t Is said to w
USED manly III tine manufacture Of hard
brushes Tor various domestic aud manu-
/ fac,urIns purposes. TIE demand APP
pears b. DC very large, and the price ls
exceedingly satisfactory. The source vi
! its sui " IN ago, alone may We said to
be pracLicliiy .neXiaustIuie.