The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-05-29
THROUGH INCH BOARD
Prof. Lucien Blake Made Pic.
lures Last Night.
By Means Of the Wonderful
R0entgen Rays.
An Interesting Series Of Experiments
Which Were Witnessed by a
Large Number of Persons.

Z
has been written in seriousness and
about which so many very poor jokes
have been perpetrated, the ROentgen
cathode or ssX'7 ray
Prof Lucien J. Blake of the Kansas
State university was the demOnstratOr
and something over 500 persons wit
I messed the experiments at Hamilton
hall.
1t was not the usual amusement au-
dience. but was composed OF thinking
men and women of Topeka who were
there to see and learn and wonder
Among the we'll known people pres
ent were T.. j. Dallas, Edward VIII
der DR. Mitchell Eugene Ware, j. @.
Lowe, Frank Flenniken, S. 3. Isenharts
DR. H. w. ROby r. u. Gemmeu, z.
ID. Coburn, G. p. Bolmar. Judge w. Q.
Webb L.. NJ. COckreu, g. @. Clemens
City Engineer Barnes, John MacDon-
aid, Tom DOran, c. C. Baker, General
Caldwell DR.. L. NJ Powell, Fred Well
house, City Superinte dent Davidson,
Dr. Il. B Packer of Ottawa and Dr.
McCandless of EOltOn.
There were also electricians and stu
dents and many ladies'
Prof. Blake is q very young man to
have attained the eminence he has as
an electrician, and when he came for
ward and was introduced by T. A Nc
Neal last night with a few humorous
remarks people We're surprised to see
so young man. Ie IS scarcely ~,
with jet black hair and mOustache and
dark eyes. He is a Boston man, re
ceived his education in Berlin, and
came to Kansas six years ago to a
scientific chair in the Kansas State uni
Versity.
Prof. Blake is the discoverer or in
ventor of what he calls the sea tele-
phone with which he is able to tele-
phone from one ship to another or
from a ship to land without the use OF
wires. using the water to conduct the
electricity the only stipulation being
that the points of converse must be
within six miles of each other The
operator uses an instrument much like
the telephone of land and a signal bell
rings and the communication comes by
word of mouth, SO that anyone can
use it. The United States and Ger
man governments are using them now
mo earlier than November last"
said Prof Blake "a man in Germany
was experimenting in dark room
with a Crookes tube, when he
noticed q glow that he had never no
ticed before and with which he began
experimenting Immediately The man
was Prof. Roentgen and the glow was
what has since become known as the
* ray the x standing for an unknown
quantity for the reason that ROentgen
has never yet been able to determine
exactly what it is. and no one else has
yet been able to do so"
on a table before Prof. Blake were,
on one end of a CrOOkes tube attached
to an air pump, several Leyden storage
Jars, and ON the other END the ap-
paratus he used i'm producing the rays
for Photographic purposes The coils
for intensifyIng the current taken from
the electric light wires were in wooden
boxes and We're covered with boiled
linseed oil which he explained ne had
found to be the best insulator. Dur
ing the experiments the oil boiled
Prof. Blake began his lecture with
some b1ackboards explanations.
''The atmosphere he said, is niled
with molecules so small that not even
the most powerful microscope can de
tect them but which under the infiu-
ence of electricity bump rapidly against
each other producing sparks 1t is
these billions of sparks that make the
electric light. If the atmosphere is
reduced the sparks are reduced the
number of these charged molecules is
reduced so that their vibrations are
stronger and reach further producing
more heat and a greater light
"A CrOOkes tube is simply an enclos-
ure from which has been extracted at
mosphere until it is about one millionth
of its usual density any space in that
( atmospheric condition is Crookes
tube"
The assistant proceeded with his up
right tube and his air pump to produce
a CrOOkes tube. the lights in the room
being eXtinguished that the audience
might see the sparks and flashes Of
light
This experiment over, Professor
/ Blake asked for subjects for photo
graphy and Mrs G. r. Chamberlain
presented her hand
A Crookes tube was attached to the
projection from the big box filed with
nnseed oil.
Beneath it was placed a common
pEDtOgrap hic negative enclosed in its
box. Mrs. Chamberlain's hand was then
placed on the box beneath the CrOohes
tube, several articles were borrowed
from the audience, a purse with a
coin in it, a lead pencil, a real and a
bogus diamond, a coin in a memoranda
/ book, and placed on the negative box
also.
over all of this was placed an inch
board and the rays turned on
For fully six minutes the audience
sat in the glow of the x rays and lis
/ tened to the rusty-saw noise, the
rapidly alternating currents of cleo
I tricity produced.
The only other skiagraph negative
made was that of c. p BOlmar's left
arm which he explained to the audi
Z ence was broken by fail i'm 1889 in
such q. manner that the bone prOtrud-
ed through the flesh and clothing. Tt
was again broken at the wrist in a cy-
/ clone some years later
This required an exposure of ten min
I utes and would have been extended to
Is had not the oil threatened to boil
over
While the photographer was out de-
veloping the negatives Prof. Blake ac-
I cOmplished his much talked of feat
I taking through his own body and that
/ of his assistant 100000 volts of electric
/ ity. Five hundred volts are enough to
xiii 900 men.
This experiment is done only with
/ an alternating current" explained the
1 professor.
The same current was used that
made the rays and the professor,
/ grasping the copper knob of his appa-
ratus. allowed the current to pass
\ through his own body to that Of his as
sistant who in his other hand held an
] electric lamp that burned brightly,
making Of the two men a human cleo
4 trio light wire.
/ When The NEGATIVES cama back de-