Evening star., 1896-12-21
WORLD OF SCIENCE
Proposed Electric Road to the Top of
the Jungfrau.
THE GREATEST DEPTH OF THE Sea
Experiments to Determine the Point
of Coolest Cold.
W ATER IN TIL + SAH ARA
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star.
Thomas Commerford Martin the we'll
| known electrical authority. during his
cent trip abroad. made a special Journey
to Switzerland for the purpose of inspect
| ing some of the electric railways in the
| Alps and has brought back some hitherto
| unpublished data concerning the new road
| to the summit of the jung frau. He says
| concerning it:
| THE building of the new electric road to
the top of the JuEgtrau will be- | think
one of the greatest engineering feats of
! the century 1 have witnessed the begin
| ming of the work and have heen over most
! of the route to be traversed by the electric
| cars. and 1 must confess to a feeling of
awe when brought face to face with the
| difficulties to be overcome. One gets but
| poor idea from the published accounts
| that have reached this country. Think of
! cutting h1ough the center of some of the
| highest mour tsins in the world and con-
structing street car route up an altitude
| nearly fourteen thousand feet above sea
| level! This new electric road will revolu-
| tionize Alpine travel. Invaids can be
| placed aboard the cars and in an hour and
| forty minutes be set up on a mountain
| peak which no one but an experienced
| mountain climber has attained. Even the
| Alpine Clubs approve of 1t. In the future
he may climb the mountain and descend
on the cars or vice versa. or II a climbing
party be overtaken by severe storm the
| members can find safety and civilization
via the nearest station. Alpine casualties
Will decrease
THE difference in level between the ter
minal stations Of the road will be seven
| thousand feet. The length of the road will
be twelve kilometers, seven and half
miles. The fare for the round trip will be
nine dollars In frop
with prcportionate reductions for passen-
gers going only part Of the way. At least
ten kilometers of the road length will be
In tunnels, with openings at frequent inter-
vals from which the tourist may obtain
momentary views Of the surrounding seem
cry. TIE maximum speed of the cars on
grades above 10 per cent will be five miles
an hour: on lesser grades it will be slightly
increased.
Harvesting the Water Falls.
THE motive power for operating the road
will be obtained from the glaciers them
selves. The water falls and streams will be
| harnessed and made to operate turbines,
which In their turn will be transmitted
along the length of the road. The cars
will be lighted and heated by electricity
The last is most necessary. as it is esti-
| mated that the temperature of the tunnels
Will range from two to ten degrees cent?
grade below zero as the summit Is ap-
preached.
The great difference in temeprature OF
the air at the opposite ends of the tunnel
it is believed. viii be ample to set up
circulation Of air sufficient for yenttlating
| purposes. In fact. it Is feared, as 1 have
pointed out the currents may be 50 strong
! that 1t may be necessary to close the Dor
| tails In order to control them properly and
| to avoid the entrance of warm moist air
from below, which will cause the deposit
OF moisture on the inside of the tunnel. and
| coat II with hOar frost.
| The first section of the road will be
| ready for traffic by next August The whole
line Will be completed in five years. The
| rack rail type of road will be employed
| The track gauge will be one meter and a
| minimum curve of 100 meters will be adopt-
| ed. A maximum grade of % per cent Will
be the limit and all down grades will be
| avoided whenever possible. The heaviest
! down grade 90 per cent? will be between
| the Monchjock and the Jungfraujock. But
| these considerations of engineering detail
| will not affect the tourist. Even the sci
| enlist must be impressed with the aesthetic
| side of the case. To travel to such an alti-
tude in street car: to be conveyed into
| the clouds by means Of the very force which
| emanates from them, and to stand with the
| Alpine world at your feet will give an i'm
| pressive idea of what modern engineers can
do"
Depth of the Sen.
One Of the most interesting discoveries in
the domain Of oceanic physics that have
been made during the past twelvemonth Is
ceeds by nearly three thousand feet that
which had hitherto been assumed to be the
greatest depression of the oceanic trough.
A sounding made by H. NJ. S. Penguin
Capt. Balfour. commander, in south Iati-
tude % degrees 44 minutes. west longitude
1I6 degrees minutes brought up the bot
tom from a depth Of 30.Ss2 feet, which is
1880 feet more than the greatest elevation
on the earths surface-Mt Everest, in
the Himalaya mountains. 29.002 feet
rfa1 ha6 hcen do t,,, ~,
same locality. but In recovering the sound
fng wire in the usual way by steam power
1t broke owing to the excessive strain oc-
casioned by the sudden rising of the ship
in the sea-way, notwithstanding. as We are
Informed by the Journal Of the Royal Geo.
graphical Society of Australia, that the
most modern contrivances had been avail
ed of to diminish this strain, by passing the
wire through a block attached to an ac-
cumulator which. with it's rubber springs.
had formerly proved quite sufficient for its
purpose. In the successful sounding the
wire was hauled in by hand. the operation
lasting two and three-quarter hours.
The Coldest Cold.
In recent physics there is nothing more
interesting than the remarkable expert
ments carried by Prof Olszewski of
Cracow, attempting to reduce the new ele-
ment. helium, to a liquid solid form,
that is. freeze it. The object of Prof. Ols-
zewski's attempt was to gain further light
upon the question which has SO long inter
ested physicists to what is absolute zero
the coolest cold In the universe If heat
be simply the rapidity of the motion of the
atoms and molecules which constitute mat
ter. 1t follows that the temperature is
reduced this rapidity of motion becomes
slower and slower, so that there is a theo-
retical point at which 1t would cease a
temperature where all matter is dead"
1t Is an observed fact that gases increase
or diminish in volume with every degree of
temperature, Centigrade. added or taken
away, and the inference from this was that
the numerical expression of absolute zero
was therefore-273 degrees c. For long
time this was accepted as correct.
Several years ago, Professor John Dewar
of London succeeded, in a series Of very in
senious experiments. first in lfquifying oxy
! gen and then the air itself, and finally of
/ freezing the air. the latter, by the way.
makes a beautiful crystal. The boiling
point Of liquid air at atmospheric pressure
L.