The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-09-19
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.

The value of the fruits, excepting
apples and nuts, exported by our
farmers last year was 81, 1sl, 622.
Sheep breeding in Patagonia is a
profitable industry, notwithstanding
the ravages of wild animals Down in
Punta Arenas, port OIL the Terra de
Fuego islands, a French company owns
over 100000 sheep, and the manager
makes about half a dollar per head,
clear of all expenses, from the sale OF
wool alone"
Official reports show that in Ger
many up to June 20 2, 22S patients vert
treated with diphtheria serum. OF
these only 1856 died Special stress is
laid on the fact that while formerly
children under two years nearly always
died when attacked with the terrible
disease, the deaths were reduced to
47.4 per cent. where the serum was
used.
Some notion of the amount of lum-
Der being cut IN the Minnesota forests
is had from the ia ct that enc day last
week there was jam of logs in the
upper Mississippi above st. Cloud
which was estimated to contain ESQ.,
900, 900 feet of lumber; ard a little fur
ther up the river there was another
jam, which extended for almost TWEEN
!ty miles.
Venus rotates on her axis once in
about twenty-four hours, according to
Mr.. Bremen, of the Manora observa-
tory at Bombay, who has been watch
ing the planet, and says he can prove
his assertion. This agrees with Schro-
ter's statement that the time is TWEEN.
,ty-three hours tw1nty-one minutes,
and is opposed to that of Schiaparelli
and other modern observers, who say
that the time is the same as that of the
planets revolution round the sun.
DR.. Berson last year assembled
alone to perhaps the highest point ever
reached by man; certainly his bar
ometer reading 9. / inches, correspond
ing to an eleva tion of approximately
80 600 feet, is the lowest ever made
AT this height of nearly six miles the
aspirated thermometers read 81 degrees
below zero f. and one exposed to the
suns rays only II degrees below zero.
DR.. Berson inhaled oxygen at times
and suffered but little from this ex-
traordinary trip.
California fir nit of all kinds should
be plentiful in the east this year. The
season has been good for almost all
kinds Of fruit thus far, and the in
crease in the area of cultivation is
notable. No less than 421, 800 pounds
of cherries and 1000 pounds of dried
apricots and prunes were shipped east,
from the one station of San Jose dur
ing the last week of May. The cherry
crop of Santa Clara county this year
will exceed 100000 pounds, an in
crease of nearly 1000, 900 pounds over
last year Some of the lands in San
Bernardino county W hich a few years
ago were listed on the surveys as ''des-
ert land, are this year yielding from
1926 to $500 per acre in almonds.
-Water-Tight Compartments The
frequency of collisions at sea and their
fatal results have led to many investi-
cations and experiments in the line of
water-tight compartments. 1t is one
thing to build a vessel with air cham
bers that will float it, and quite an
other to have safety appliances always
in order and ready for emergencies. 1t
has been said that certain of our large
passenger steamships have, on occa-
sions, turned the water-tight compart-
ments into places for steerage passen-
gers. Their greed ran away with
their common humanity and regard
for the lives of those on board. 1t GER
tainly is waste of time and energy
TO prepare the means of safety at a
great expense when proper care is not
taken to keep them within available
reach