The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-03-29
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

George Berner visited Chillicothe, O., last
week in search OF piece OF his skull His
singular m S ion grew out Of the fact that
some six yeafs ago neighbor used an axe in
an argument with him. piece Of Berner's
fractured Skull was marked Exhibit A. and
used as evidence in the trial Now he is try
ing to ind 1t among the court records.
Cincinnati police noticed handsomely at
tired young woman vigorously chewing gum,
carrying baby and intensely interested in
the pictures OF theatrical bill board. One
OF the officers, struck by the unusual appear
ance OF the little one, asked what allied IL. He
was informed it had been sick for some time
and that she intended taking it to a doctor
tnat night Looking closer it was discovered
eral hours
Horse power measures the rate at which
work is done, says the San Francisco Call.
One horse power is reckoned as equivalent to
raising $4,000 pounds one foot high per minute
or 09O pounds second. In measuring the
| work OF horse the estimates of the most eel
ebrated engineers differ widely from each
other. BoultOn and Watt basing thefr cal
Sulatons upon the work Of London draw
| horses working eight hours a dly, estimated
/ II at 80 90 foot pounds per minute. D'AuDis-
! son, taking the work done by horses in whims
at Freldburg, estimated the work at I6.441
! 1901 pounds working eight hours a day.
| Under similar circumstances Dessagulier's
/ estimate was 1900 Smeatons - 900 and
| Ireadgold's 1880 foot 20 lnds. Horse
actual. Normal is used by manufac-
| turers OF steam engines to express the ca
| paclty OF an engine, the element being
| confined to the dimensions Of the steam cyl
1 lnder and conventional pressure of steam
| ana speed of piston. Indicated shows the
! Iull capacity OF the cylinder in operation
| without oedl c.iOns for frictions, and actual
marks It's power as developed in operation in
| VolVlng elements OF mean pressure upon the
piston us velocity and just deduction for
| the friction OF the engines operation Iha
a
hoi Sc power. The general rule for calculating
| the morse power OF 9steam engine is to multi
| ply IogeJner the pressure in pounds on
! square men OF the piston. the area of the PTS
| ton In inches. the length of the stroke in feet
| and the number of strokes Ter minute The
| power.
1t is now more than year since the French
chemist, Henri Moissan, succeeded in making
| a white diamond, says the New York Tribune.
The jewel was exceedingly small. and its
| quality was not all that could be desired but
! 1t would scratch a ruby, burn at the right
! temperature, showed the proper structure
| uh1er microscopic scrutiny, and was practi-
| caIiy colorless and transparent. Since then
| M. Molssan has been trying to see whether he
could not gain something in the size OF his
prouuctlons, The method employed in these
| experiments, 1t will be remembered, was to
| mix carbon and iron at a high temperature
ana then let the compound cool. 1t has long
peen known that the heavier Of these two
substances VIII absorb more of the lighter
| one when heated intensely than IL can hold in
| intimate association after beng chilled The
| carDon is then deposited in little pockets in
| the iron. But the form in which such deDosits
! are usually found is graphite NJ Moissan's
| success early in 1893 was result of his icing
able TO secure, by means OF an electric
furnace, higher degree of heat than other
| eHperlmenters had found it possible TO en-
| ploy. He raised his composition to a tenn
perature OF 400 Fair, a which point his lit
| tie cruclble Of lime showed signs of soften.
| Ing. Graphite and mlnEta blaply DO
| were discovered, distri Outed in the metal ON
| coOlng, but besides these there we're tinv
Whlte crystals which met successfully the
! various tests TO which he subjected them to
| prove their identity with white diamonds, At
| meeting o. the Academy of Sciences in
Falls last month M. Moissan said that it had
| occurred TO him that the extreme smallness
| OF ms diamonds might be due to the wav in
| winch he chilled the iron. IT, when this had
| re- ONE solned, he plunged the red-hot ingot
| INTO water, him OF vapor would surround the
| metal and check radiation. The chemist there
| fore had tried the effect OF immersing the iron
IN bath OF melted tin, but thus did not work
| satisfactorily. 1t produced an alloy. With
melted lead, however, he secured better re-
| suits; and now he gets diamonds onlv half
a mlllimetre in diameter, to be sure but
| larger than any obtained before. These of
| course, have no special value; but il is in
| terestlng to know that the Frenchman is
| sun working away at the subject and is
| making little Roadway. Moreover these
| experiments suggest various possibilities as
| to the methods by which natural diamonds
! have been formed What was the matrix
| which once held Them PrOha hly NOT iron
| ana was the carbon crystalized by sudden
| cooling OF the YapOr? If So how large a mass
| OF matter was chilled at once, and what was
| the whole operation? Light on these cues
lions may be afforded by such researches as
! those OF NJ. Moissan.
The phenomenon known as lightning. fol-
lowed by a rolling, reverberating report.
| recognized as thunder, is common to q wide
| zone Of the earth, but it is not generally
| known that there are localities where the
! vivid flashes and the deafening peals are in.
cessant, says the Pittsburg Dispatch The
most notable of these continuous lightning
| districts Is on the eastern coast Of the island
| OF san Domingo, leading member Of the
| group of the West Indies. 1t is not meant
that the lightning is here continuous the wear
| round, but thai, with the commencement of
| the rainy season, comes this zig gag feature OF
! electric illumination, which Is then continuous
| day and night for weeks. The storm center is
[ not continuously local. but shifts over a CON
| siderable area, and, as thunder is seldom
| heard over greater distance than eight
| miles, and the lightning in the night will II
illuminate so as to be seen thirty miles there
| may be DAYS In some localities where The
| twinkle on the Sky Is in a continuous success
! cession while the rolling reports are absent
Then again come the DAYS and nights when
the electric artillery is piercing in its detona-
tions: and especially is this the case when
| two separate local cloud centers Join as it
| were. in an electric duel, and as sometimes
occurs tnlrd participant appears to add to
| the elemental warfare. Then there is a blaz-
| ing sky with finding vividness aud stunning
! pealS that seem to pin the listener TO the
! earth. Long before the echoes can die away
| come others. until the Huricular mechanism
! seems hammered ito chaos Inst
| how and why it is that there is here
| generated so1mmense an amount of electric
lty as to keep up such an incessant ignition
| is one OF those problems that can only be
| solved when sufficient data are at hand to
work upon. 1t is probable, that with the
! commencement of the rainy season this re-
! gton is the border of opposing air and ocean
| currents whose friction has something to do
| in the case. This would tend to bring into
| contact opposing clouds variously charged
| and as lightning is the passing of electricity
/ from ono cloud to another seeking eouilib-
| rum, or the passing Of the fluid from a cloud
Z to the earth, it is probable that. in this con
| tinued friction of currents. may be found a
! starting point to unraVel the mystery II is
/ in swirling and opposing cloud strata
! especially whore these get into
! gyratory motion, that electrical
! phenomena are most abundant
/ Just as, in an even, uniform flow of clouds,
| such disturbance is rarer and often entirely
| absent. 1t would no seem. from the rnearer
| information bearing on this matter. that the
! electrical interchange is between the clouds
| and the earth. as there is no reference made
| TO whatar termed lightning strokes-when
! the descending current strikes "a tree build
! ing or other object. or strikes the ground
directly. But it would certainly be a trying