Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-08-12

contrivance is a huge trumpet with bell
shaped mouth pointed out to sea- 1t was
tation Of an instrument designed s BY a
Frenchman, Cagniard de la Tour, for re-
cording the vibrations Of musical notes.
1eeting a powerful Jet Of steam through a
tube which is partly obstructed by q re-
,hs Wheel Nth Sits The
the pitch Of the shrek uttered BY the ma
chine. No other contrivance Of human
manufacture is capable Of emitting 30 loud
and far-reaching a noise.
Freaks of sound.
The Tfl1amook siren has two trunopets
and two steel boilers as big as those Of q
locomotive. They utter blasts Of ave Sec
onds' duration, at intervals Of one and q
half minutes, when there Is fog and they
consume 100 gallons OF water Der hour.
Their agonfzing cries can be heard at
distance Of thirty miles under favorable
circumstances Nevertheless 1t sometimes
happens that while in full operation they
cannot be heard at all at a distance Of two
miles AT the same time they will be aud
iole at seven miles, wholly inaudible at
twelve miles and audible again at q greater
distance. from the rock. This curious phe-
nomenon is due to the refraction Of sound
waves by wind 1t has been found that
such signal, when not heard at all on
the deck Of vessel. will sometimes be loud
ana clear TO the ear Of a person ascending
to the masthead. Sometimes 1t IL audible
with great volume In one spot and COM
pletely inaudible aoo yards away. Eighty
nave been established by the government
at cost of $500 900. and are maintained
AT yearly expense Of 100000
A light house which It would be most de-
siraoie to connect by telegraph with the
main land is situated on one Of the Farai-
Pacific from San Francisco. The situate
Is the most desolate imaginable. A power
ful light, 800 feet above the sea, Is supple
mented by q fog whistle blown by the rush
through a
age opening into the ocean. One Of the
many caves worn by the surf on the shore
ShanSed ~, to have hole In its top through
PEELED the air carried before them. The
mouth-piece OF great trumpet was fixed
@ no 5ns aperture and now the wave. blow
which is only silent for an hour and a half
each day. In various other parts Of the
n mora are sf signals made by utilizing such
How advantageous it would be II some
means of communication could be estab-
hshed between the main land and the Mi
not's Ledge light house, near Boston, which
stands on rock that Is under water at low
tide In winter its keepers are shut Of for
world Several Of them have gone insane
from sheer loneliness. An occasional mes
sage from the shore would relieve the sense
OF hopeless isolation which weighs them
down. 1t is said that persons who are
naturally most cheerful become. under such
conditions. morbid and morose. Several
light houses on the Florida reefs are equally
solitary.
A Marine Telephone.
Two important devices for communicating
ideas by sound across wide spaces Of water
have recently been experimental with. One
Of them is an invention Of an electrician
named Cox. 1t is a trumpet for telephoning
at sea. Echoed sounds carry great dis
tances, and speaking trumpets. IL made to
give the same note, will produce the phe-
nomenon known IN acoustics as sym
pathy." From these two discoveries the
theory of this instrument springs. With its
aid conversation can be carried on in an
ordinary tone Of voice between speakers
five miles apart. The other invention, by
Thos. A. Edison, Is a system by which ships
are to be enabled to exchange Intelligence
by electricity through water. without wires
1t has not progressed beyond the expert
mental stage thus far.
Ships constantly find trouble in deciding
on the direction from which q fog signal
comes and many a wreck has occurred on
that account. IL Is usually hard to locate
the source of q sound. The child returning
from school, on entering the house. calls,
Mamma The mother replies "Yesr'
The next question Is Where are your
The child cannot tell from what room or
floor the answer has come, but has to be
informed. Other animals cannot determine
the source of sound any better than man.
But 1t IS expected that before long mechani-
cal contrivances will be devised for over
coming this difficulty on the water, SO as
to prevent collisions between ships in dark
ness of fog. RENE BACHE.