Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1894-01-11
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.
.,o,,nEss OF THE USEFUL Arts
P's"'' 1NEvlvDD. .s3

I a.
..,.,nrss or THE USEFUL ARTS
1yEvIvED.
,vs., Bnglish scientists HAYS 20 say
Wa~. ~. Drinking.-A New Artiii-
Auo s.onc.-A New SmOkeaesa Pow.
der. 4
Tho latest aspect Of the tea crusade
:, Encland is calculated to bring into
strong light the inconsistency OF
m,nv so-called tetotallers. It Is alto
n 'a,ner new and discomforting expert
.o. FIR those, who, while forMdding
w. the laboring man his pint Of beer,
~, accustomed to solace themselves
a.. m three times daily, in many cases
.S ston W with their own sfavorite tipple,
70 he confronted with tile question that
tho English papers are asking: Are we
q nation Of ten drunkardsY There
soems excellent cause for believing
lint this question admits only OF an AZ
arnotiy,, answer. The whole English
n,t,on consumes about 5 IL pounds of
the leaf per head annually, which,
". hon made into beverage, produces
ahomt thirty-seven gallons OF tea. 1t Is
"ssertei that not only Is the nation
"ialling with all the weakness OF the
;rchrlate to the diseases Of aerve and
.tomoch which result from excessive
tea.drinking, but it is developing that
indifference to quality which is the
rr0wninc mark of mere indulgence,
the noint of severance between the
command and the connoisseur. In, sup
mort of this the fact is recalled that q
short time since when an eminent Lon
don musician condemned the use OF In
dim tens as likely to emphasize the
worst effects Of tea-tipplng, there was
n brief reaction in favor OF the Chinese
leaf But the. China tea proved too
delicate in flavor for the palates vitiat-
ed by the coarser product of Assam,
and in week or two was no longer
asked for, the consumers returning to
their old familiar blends This argues
the existence of most serious social
evil, While alcohol acts on the animal
nervous system, them acts on the high
or or Intellectual system, as we'll as ON
the nerves controlling digestion, and
both are stimulants and sedatives.
While the effects of the former are
quickly evidenced, those Of the latter
are more subtle. To unduly excite the
nervous system continuously must re-
suit in exhausting that system, more
especially IL it is not naturally strong;
a counterbalancing nervous depression
results, continually deadening the ac-
ton of the food ferments, and perma-
nently impairing their action. If,
therefore, the nerves which control the
digestive function are continually over
excited. as in tea-tippling, while at the
same time the digestive ferments are
having their activity deadened, is 1T to
be wondered at that the whole function
Of digestion becomes impaired. and
that Indigestion is the result? Non-al-
cotol food beverages do not cause us
to break the written and unwritten
laws of society, yet it is a grave mat
ter of doubt whether they should not
come under the same degree of con-
demnation as alcoholics. Alcoholic bev-
eragese certainly fill our jails. but there
there is no doubt that tea-tippling has
great deal to do with filling our luna
tic asylums, besides causing vast mis-
ery and expense in various ways.
New Artificial Stone.
A new artificial stone is being made
in Germany, which appears to be Inn
measurably superior to many kindred
materials now in use. The sand en-
ployed, which is we'll dried and screened
before being used, contains from to
3 per cent of clay. 1t is placed with a
certain proportion Of ground lime into
an iron drum with diagonal lodges in
the interior, which is then closed and
slowly revolved by steam SO as to Sc
cure thorough incorporation OF the
materials with each other. The mixture
is taken out and conveyed to an ap.
paratus consisting Of frame OF
wrought iron, having a fiat bed, on
which molds are built up. When the
frame Is filed covers are placed on the
molds. everything is wedscd up tightly
and the frame and molds are run on
rails into 4 cylinder. When the cylln-
der is closed water and steam are ad-
mitted. The matter must cover the
molds, and the steam is admitted at
a pressure Of As pounds or 90 pounds
per square inch. The steam forces the
water between the crevices of the
molds, the water stakes the lime. caus-
ing it to expand in volume, and as the
molds resist the outward expansion
the lime Is forced into the sand and
cements it into hard stone. The steam
pressure is kept up for three days:
The frame is then withdrawn, and
twelve hours are allowed for cooling be-
fore the taking to pieces of the molds
and the removal of the stone. Differ
ent tints can be given to the stone by
mixing small percentage of colored
earth with the lime and sand in the
cylinder. In some experiments made
In England to ascertain the resistance
to thrusting stress Of six 6-inch cubes
of this artificial sandstone, three Of
them, of buff color, crushed at an aver
age of 1866 tons per square foot, While
the remaining three, Which were gray,
went ut 1776 tons per square foot.
A New Smokelcss Powder.
The current competition for furnish
ing 10000 pounds of smokeless powder
to the United States army gives addi-
tional interest to the announcement
A. r. I,~<