The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-04-28

| into the skull, and to insert a broad strip
of silver gently into one of the openings
and work it along between the brain ana
| the skull until it protrudes from the ne1t
| hole, thus forming shield between the
brain and the skull, which obv1ates al
! danger of accident from the slipping OF the
! instrument by which the portion OF the Skull
| is to be excised. A minute circular saw,
| operated by electricity, is then brought
| into use. A cut is then made from one
| trephined hole to the other, and second
| cut is made about one-eighth OF an men
| from the first. The intervening bone Is re-
moved and the brain is exposed. Two
more cuts are made between the other ire
| pinned holes, the bone removed, the silver
| strips withdrawn, the flaps OF scalp drawn
back and stitched and the requisite Dand-
| ages applied. Ordinarily, the operation
i lasts about twenty five minutes. The great
| success which has attended these opera
| tions is attributed by DR.. Powell almost en-
| tirely to the great delicacy OF treatment
rendered possible by the electric saw. He
| thinks the operation has come to stay. 1t
| is not claimed that it will change IDIOTS
| into persons of much mental capacity, but
| beyond question they can be improved so
much in mind and brain that they will not
| be burdens to their friends and relatives,
as idiots but too often are. The electric
saw used weighs less than an ounce, and 1T
can be operated aa delicately as scalpel.
WHAT GOVERNMENT TELEGRAPH SERVICE
COULD Do.-Patrick B. Delany, veteran
telegrapher, thinks that the Government
could do the work now covered by the
postal service vastly better by means of
the telegraph. OF course radical changes
will have to take place. At present it costs
the telegraph companies cents to bring
message from a customer to the office and
L % - \ = @lNfo 10
is based on an average of twenty words
per minute with hand transmission and
sixty words per minute with the quadru-
pick wor King it is easy to understand that
the companies cannot telegraph for less
than existing rates But hand working
and great numbers of cheap wires will soon
DE things of the past. Automatic systems
and a few big copper wires reaching out to
the principal cities will have vastly in
creased capacity, and will before long be
employed to carry quantities of CORE
spondence which at present we do not
dream of. There are about 10000 letters
exchanged between New York and Chicago
daily. Assuming that they average fifty
words each, all could be telegraphed over
two copper wires the size of a lead pencil.
1t has been demonstrated that with the
automatic chemical method 1000 words
per minute can be recorded perfectly be-
tween New York and Chicago over a 1ohm
per mile wire. Messages can be perforated
at the rate of twenty-five words per min
ute, and typewriters can print from the re-
ceived tape at the same speed. On this
basis, letters of fifty words could be perfora-
ted, transmitted, printed and delivered
through the mails at d cost OF about
cents.
PRESERVING TELEGRAPH PoLEs.-The per-
fecting of the creosoting of wood process
has proved a godsend to telegraph compa-
MES. Telegraph poles intended for the
tropics are invariably creosoted. The tim
Der is run into cylinders. which are then
Theoretically sealed with immense iron
heads Steam is then admitted into the
cylinder and surrounds the timber. The
temperature is raised by passing super
heated steam through coils within the cyl
inder, until the timber is heated all
through at temperature just high enough
not TO iniure the woody fibers. The
vacuum pumps are put to work and all the
sap and moisture in the cylinder is ex-
hausted, heat being still maintained in the
coils to prevent the vapor from condensing
and remaining in the timber. After this
the oil is admitted into the cylinders while
they are under vacuum and heavy pres
sure Is maintained until the requisite
amount of oil, which is determined by
gauges and thermometers. has been forced
into the timber. The oil arrests decay for
an indefinite period, but to have every
part of the timber saturated is expensive
and unnecessary Provided that the tim
Der is treated by the heat and vacuum pro-
cess if the crevices and pores are sealed up
with the oil to sufficient depth the
timber is as good as if the heart has been
thoroughly permeated.
INCANDEscENT LAMP CLEANER.-Many
people blame the central station for the
poor light from their incandescent lamps,
when the fault is really their own; they al
low their lamp to be dirty. 1t has been
shown that one days accumulation OF dust
on incandescent bulbs cuts off per cent of
the light, so the result of few days
neglect can easily be guessed. As means
of removing, to a great extent, the fire.
quent complaints of pOorness OF hight GEN.
trail station recommends the use of lamp
cleaner which greatly facilitates the process
of busting the bulbs. To a three-foot
handle is attached a strong wire frame
work, which carries number of felt nit
tens By forcing the frame over each lamp
and giving the handle few turns the dust
on the glass is removed, leaving the bulb
as clean as when it left the factory. Each
cleaner is provided with set of rubber
friction pads that will, when suitably placed
on the mittens, remove and replace burned |
out lamps The handle can be extended so
fr ro.nb 10 N, ne of anu distance This do