The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1895-01-10
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY

Prof. Hazen. Of. the weather nu-
rsau. expresses the opinion that all sno
ooncussion experiments to produce ram
have been failures. and that those con
ducted in Connecticut last summer
seemed to prolong the drought ~ Iaas
section while there was plenty OF rain
in all the region roundabout.
French journals are criticisln2 the
attitude of United States delegates TO
the sanitary convention at Paris. Ihc
Americans have opposed every measure
tending to make quarantine less rigid
Their object is to make the regulations
SO close that quarantine measures can
he nsad to restrict immigration.
The annual report of the Texas "a
cjfc for 1895 shows gross earnings
81 452, oss: net, 50, oSo,5ss; surplus over
interest charges, s659,916. The Chr
caco ST Paul. Minneapolis & Omaha
renorts for the year 1898 gross earn
inrs. ss.32s, 92S; net, 81, 4s5, 800, and sur
nlns over charges and Z per cent. dlvl-
dends On preferred stock, Sl77. ioo'
Trade returns Of the Dominion OF
Canada for 1895 show the total OF for
eion trade to be Sc, 270, 600 in excess OF
that of 1892, the highest on record.
The value of the imports into Canada
last wear was 1920, OLA, 26S, and that OF
exnorts Sis 564, 35a The trade with
the United States in 1898 amounted 10
Sos, 9s4, 97S in value, as compared Win
s1o2, 957, 064 in the year 1892.
-Mulhall states that one woman IN
twenty, one man in thirty, are barren
that is 4 per cent Of population. 1t IS
found that one marriage in twenty Is
barren, say per cent. Among the
nobility of England, ri per cent. have
no children, owing to intermarriage OF
cousins no less than ~ per cent. OF
the present nobility being married TO
cousins.
M Louis Boutan has succeeded IN
taking some beautiful photographs OF
the bottom of the sea by the aid Of
newly-invented lamp for burning mag
,nesium powder under the water. dc
first descends to the bottom and selects
his views, next has his apparatus low
cred to him. then arranges the same
for several flashes, enabling him to
take as many successive pictures.
Late photographs of the moon de-
veloped by the astronomer photo
grapher of the Pesth academy, it is
said, exhibit some unaccountable Pc
culiarities. The plate shows hundreds
of walls or embanllments seemingly
about two hundred feet high and from
1875 to 200 yards in width on top. They
run parallel to each other and appear
to be from 1000 to 1900 yards apart.
"A collection of tools used by work
men in building the pyramids OF Egypt
are on exhibition by famous Egyptol-
ogist These indicate that many tools
credited to modern ingenuity were in
use when Moses was troubling the
Pharoahs. 1t is also announced that
furnace has been unearthed somewhere
along the Nile, in which the hot blast
was used centuries before the modern
Nelson formulated the same idea
Age of Steel.
New plans for the long proposed
bridge across the Straits of Dover, to
connect France and England, have just
been deposited with the French and
English governments. NJ. Renaud,
noted marine engineer, has just COM
pleted an exhaustive series of sound
ings, and the plans based on his report
contemplate bridge from Cape
Blanche-Nez to South Foreland. 1t
would have only seventy-two piers, as
against 11S piers in the old plans.
The United States will undoubt-
edly retain the first position as gold
producer during 1894 and probably dur
ing 1895, after which date, unless con-
ditions not now apparent should inter-
fe,e, it seems probable that South
Africa will take the first place. 1t is
possible, however. that the present
active search for gold in this country
may discover or develop such extensive
deposits as will enable us to retain for
some time longer the pre-eminence so
long held by us as the worlds chief
producer Of the yellow metal.-En-
gineering and Mining Journal.
The early Egyptians divided the
DAY ana nlEnI each lHCO tWClVc uOuiS,
q custom adopted by the Jews or
Greeks probably from the Babylonians
The day is said to have first been di-
vided into hours from Z. C. 293, when
sun dial was erected in the temple Of
Quirinus, at Rome. Previous to the
invention of water clocks 3. c. 1853, the
time was called at Rome by public
criers. In early England one expedient
for measuring time was By wax candles,
three inches burning an hour. The
first perfect mechanical clock was not
made until about A. D. 1850 Day be-
gan at sunrise among most of the
northern nations, at sunset among the
Atheniahs and Jews, and at midnight
among the Romans as with us.
HOW HE FIXED HIM.
Tho Silent 1Ian Had Way of 0uietlng
Smart Fellows.
The silent man was part of o group