Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-05-24
POPULAR SCIENCE.
HAVE WE PHOSPHATE CHALkS
IN TExAS2
A Rich Find in England-The March OK
ScieEce-Mind Reading Clouded-Long
Telephone Lines-House Teiephon-
ing-When to and Not to Eat.

Quite an interest has lately been reused
| in England over the discovery of rich phos-
phate chalks at Taplow. OF course chalks
have long been known TO exist there but
till of late no one thought of them as par
| ticularly phosphate. On learning OF the
discovery Mr.. Strahan was sent out by the
director-general of the geological survey to
investigate. He reports that farmers OF
that region have long been spreading
chalks upon their lands, finding them highly
beneficial, though they had no kind of idea
why they were beneficial. He found the
chalks very rich in phosphates-fuliy as
rich, we infer, as are our best phosphate
rocks of South Carolina.
We have very large chalk area in Texas.
As yet our chalks nave never been ex-
amined with any particular thought of
phosphate character. Who can now say
that we have not immense beds of rich
phosphate chalks here? A remark once
made to US by Professor Robert z. Hill
leads US to rather suspect it. We were IN
a deep railroad cut where the chalk strata
We're well exposed, and pointing to the
thin earthly deposits between the chalk
strata, he stated that they were really very
rich maris. -
Phosphate chalks are not new to the
world by any means, but this discovery Is
something entirely new for England Had
the English biologists have been looking
after the phosphate character of the chalks
it is entirely more than probable that this
discovery would have been made long ago.
Just SO it has been in our case-our geole-
gists studying the cretaceous of Texas have
not been looking for phosphates. One can
not be surprised at anything that turns up
in Texas. With our immense chalk area
there would be no very good grounds for
supposing that we may not have in it rich
phosphate deposits of sufficient magnitude
to enable US to supply all agricultural
America with phosphoric acid. The thing
is certainly worthy of especial search at the
hands of our scientists.
-.
Professor Stubs of Louisiana SAYS
science has made rapid strides within the
past fifty years. Its progress is onward.
With undaunted mein it boldly invades the
great arcana of life, and seeks, without If
reverence, to learn those principles by
which plants grow and produce food for
man and beast. In spite of ignorance and
prejudice its efforts have been partially
successful. and its devotes, trusting to a
continuance of the progress Of human dis
covery, lose none of their energies in at
tanning this great aim
We have many people who believe that
there is such a thing as mind reading-one
person takes hold of another persons hand
and thereupon is able TO read everything
passing through the mind of the person
whose hand is held. After long and care
full investigation of the matter DR.. Charles
Gatchen writes through the Forum for
April that the whole thing is a humbug-
the work of self-styled conjurers and trua
mountebanks. -
A telephone line is now in successful
operation between London and Paris, Z
distance of 297 miles, twenty-three miles OF
which is by cable, laid under the British
Channel. The only trouble about the lind
lies in its want of capacity to accommodate
all the patronage offered. The people man.
aging the concern say they could keep ten
similar lines constantly at work. Thepres.
ent charge is 81 for talk of three minutes.
~
Everything would seem to indicate thai
long telephone lines are soon TO come into
quite general use. The Scientific American
reports the successful working Of an exc
pertinent between New York and Cleve-
land, Ohio, distance of $50 miles. This
advantage of the telephone over the telS