The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-02
yorrs ON soIrxor AVID INDUSTRY.

The method or giving to projoctilcs Of steel.
or steel alloys, n special hardness at certain
places. and at other portions and In the interior
q special tenncity, Is now declared to DO accom-
| plishcd. according to explanations given in an
article on tho subject by Louis Grombow OF
Berlin. This method consists In tho articles
being heated, ut the places to DO specially
hardened, TO a bright red, corresponding TO the
hardness desired, tho other parts being heated
99nIy to such q degree Oh rebseoSont ~ prTS,gae
process. This treatment, 1t is further. re-
marked. may be proceeded oy s 4 hiSati N OF the
hardening nni a tcmpering of the. whole article
in order 10 make 1t tough hroughout,o both
ttFbs n SSopt may ,nEyg,, be pfSS sas,ee S until 4 n the eTystS q
line structure disappears ana men tempering all
over afterward. In the operation OF partial
hardening, the article can be subjected to the
different Temperatures in q furnace, covering
the parts to Sc least heated with sand or clay
or heated gas currents can DO used for heating
the single parts, the flames playing through
open spaces in a flask containing the proJectle.
Tho textile industry ot.Russia is reportee by
the United States Consul-General at st. Peters
burg to be of far greater Importance than IL
| generally supposed. Thus the silk manufao-
turo consumes annually moro than 10000, 900
francs worth Of silk, imported from Europe
| and the extreme East. This occupation is almost
| exclusively concentrated in the district OF Mos.
COW, where, since 1855, there have been built
nearly 1.5OO factories, containing not far from
1900 looms-producing goods exceeding 7,O00,-
| 600 roubles in value-also soventy.two estab-
sinner Of lesser Importance. In the manu-
fSStSre a of iTae6 Ssosnt great TsaT,, p siI tSe ri hSs G fsSi
tories being in or near Moscow, their annual
production amounting to over 500, 600 roubles.
the district Of vladimir Tver and St. Peters.
burg, have an outcome Of produots worth nearly
260, 900. 900 roubles. First nation In Europe In
the wool interest, Russia has sixty-eight spin
ming mills in the districts of Moscow and st.
p Pot ase %TE. While Wills E ES C0S anI Russls counts near
Astronomical investigation of the satellites
Of Uranus was for a long time directed to the
peculiar fact that such satellites move back.
ward, q popularity apparently overthrowing
Laplace's celebrated cosmogonio theory. In
explanation, however. of this retrograde motion.
scientific men assume that certain disturbing
| causes, to which Uranus must have been ex-
posed for a longer time than any planet within
his orbit, probably carried the inclination Of tho
planes Of the satellites orbits to the equatorial
the retrosrade motion in reality becomes a
Of io1! q, to, The ,%eoliptic:, Severtheiess,
established fact Of all the, planets, ali tho
numerous asteroids, and, with this exception Of
direction, is a we'll nigh overwhelming proof of
Laplace's theory in its essential features.
With reference to tho growing demand in
somo of tho European cities that higher flash
tests for mineral oil BIO established. In order
that 1t may be legally sold in those cities for
Illuminating or other purposes. q scientific ex-
pert, writing in tho Boston Advertiser, ex-
presses the opinion that the distillation Of pc
troleum is likely to be conducted on o greater
scale than formerly, and this very circum-
stance may lead to the more general adoption of
a smokeless fuel, which IL already coming into
use abroad. This Is the new fuel known as
ton of raw petroleum, also manufactured from
certain grades Of cheap bituminous coal. On
It was found that ordinary furnaces could not
answer the necessary requirements; Then
came the well-known experiment, In which the
masut was blown by steam into a furnace spe-
cially constructed, and by this means it was
found that such fuel answered all ordinary pur-
f huSI' that The fuel in question is from 40 to 50
per cent. cheaper than coal, and its efficiency In
the generation of heat some 20 per cent. greater
than In the case Of ordinary coal
At the Stratford works of the Great Eastern
Railway, according to an English paper. o loco.
motive was recently built in ten hour. II
was o main line goods engine with tender. Be.
fore the actual. construction commenced the
various component parts were placed close at
hand, ready for fitting together. The workmen
began early in tho morning and continued
briskly until the breakfast bell sounded: and
after half an hours rest the workmen returned
to their task and laborcd steadily until the
dinner hour, and thus the great work r proceed.
the exception, Of a coat of paint. The latter
was quickly, laid on by means Of a spraying
fectly dry. Immediately after this the loco.
motive was sent on, a. trial journey. a few
miles LEI on sst the w ipe; a and 5%p al pr9 fraIn 50 sa Psfsrboryy'
1t has been in active service ever since, and ia
Justly regarded as O marvel OF engineering
quickness.
In regard to the future possibilities of acety.
lene, including its assumed capacity for driv.
ing out every other known form OF illumina.
ton, the astute editor Of the Progressive Age
emphatically repudiates the idea that 1t will
ever successfully displace coal gas. water gas,
natural gas, or electricity. though 1t will find q
place for itself first, perhaps. in isolated
lighting, in the illumination Of factories and the
like now using individual electric lighting plants
or oil gas machines. Extensive experiments,
he states, are now in progress which will prob.
ably result in providing acetylene lamps for
vehicles and cars within the next few months,
and in the putting Of q practical house lamp on
the market; It will also, undoubtedly, find a
place for lighting railway and surface cars. The
use OF pure acetylene charged into the ordinary
Pintsch gas apparatus, such as is universally
used for car lighting by oil gas. Is being prac-
ticed in Franco without disastrous res~ults-used.
Ill uCls hhJ Mo- u"y ~ y
One drawback IL mentioned, however. in con-
nection with these European mechanisnls-which
hns been overcome in u great measure in tho
Americanyarticle-a and this Is that tho burners
employed become SO choked up with carbon as
to necessitate their being cleaned every three or
four hours.
The simultaneous peculiar behavior of mag
nets at widely scattered observatories has
lately suggested to scientists the possibil.
ity that tho earth Is immersed In a mag.
netio field, 30 termed, In which there
are variations of intensity, and which
may proceed from tho sun. variations
which show q tendency to fall into a typical
curve; in March and September this curve stays
right side up. but at the ~solstices it Is upside
down. In order to show that this reversal ap.
parently depends on the carth's position In its
path around the sun, u special watch was ZONE
time since made in Munich for Prot. +. II.
Bigelow. A small magnet was suspended on
the balance wheel, and was 30 slningly affected
by the aforementioned changes in the intensity
OF the magnetic influence coming In from outer
space; that Is, on some days the watch would
gain 100 seconds or even 200 seconds, while on
| 0fhprS n would 1Oaa aa Inurh. III -eemph tn fell