The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-09-03
ODDITIES OF SCIENCE.


sleeping persons without awakening them
| To obtain satisfactory results great skill and
| expertnesss are required.
During seasons when typhoid il epidemic
in tho country the source Of water Supply
should be disinfected by lime or potassium
permaneanate, and no surface water be al
lowed 10 flow in. Enough permanganats
should be used to render water pure foi
twelve hours, the required quantity varying
from one and half to eight ounces TO each
we'll
Between the trusses OF the new East river
bridge, Now York, will be six elevated rail
road and trolley tracks. and on the outside of
each truss roadway, Tor which traffic will
be- provided. Inside the trusses and above the
trolley trasSs will be two walks for pedestri-
ans. The total width of the floor will be IFS
feet. There Will be four foundations for the
bridge two under each tower. -.=
The master mechanic of ,ho Santa Fo road
Is quoted as saying that with stationary
machine riveting by compressed Pir three
men can drive 1000 rivots per day OF ten
hours, at IA cost Of AIS, as compared with 20O
rivets por day, at "a cost of ST. by hand labor.
This method insures every rivet hole being
entirely filed, while large percentage Of
hand-driven rivets in mud rings leak.
An electrical rat trap Is said 20 have cap
tured I2J rats in one night i'm New York
restaurant. The trap is baited with chickens
An irresistible attraction 10 rats. As soon
"a rodent Is inside his return is electrically
cut off, and he passes, by doors and passage
ways TO compartment in which are meat
and vegetables, but no chickens The rats
outside hear expressions of enjoyment of his
lunch and hasten to Join him.
Ordinary coal gas owes its poisonous proper
ties, when respired, 10 4 to s per cent OF car
bon monoxide which IL contains. I'm water
gas will DO found from 40 10 Is per cent OF
this gas. When mixed with coal gas the per.
centage OF carbon monoxide in the compo-
sition is not less than Is or 20 per cent Hence
IL is three timees as poisonous rs ordinary
gas. "A person might be fatally poisoned
even by n small proportion las small as 0.5
per cent? of gas in the air which was respired
some slime" IL may causes diseases by
chronic poisoning.
More people over 100 years old are found
in mild climates than in the higher latitudcs
According 10 the last sensus Of the German
empire, Of IA population OF 5000, O0O only
seventy eight have passed the hundredth
year. France. with population of 10000, 0OO
has 2l3 oentenarans. In England there are
JAG, Ireland SIS and in Scotland 4G Sweden
has ten and Norway %; Belgium five, Dem
mark two, Switzerland none. Spain, with n
population OF lS,00o,000, has iOl people over
100 years of age. OF the 9, ,250, 900 inhabitants
OF Servia 515 people have passed the century
mark. II is said that the oldest person living
whose age has been proven X Bruno Cotrim.
81 4
Metro. He is $50 years old. coachman in
Moscow has lived 40 years.
The United States department Of agricul-
ture proposes TO lay in the center of country
roads two fiat steel tracks Of sufficient width
for ordinary farm wagon traffic. These tracks
are 10 DO seven-si xteenths of an inch thick.
and will be bedded in gravel laid in trenches
and fastened together at the joints and in tie
center. On the hills they will be corrugated
To enable horses 10 obtain firm foothold.
Such road IL expected TO be durable and to
reduce tractive resistance from 40 pounds per
ton on mscadam surface TO eight pounds
per ton on the steel tracks. ON "A short road,
the cost for tracks and fittings would be $500
per mile. A line several miles in length could
be built for $1,000 per mile This Is for track
weighing 100 tons per mile a track for
lighter trafllc and weighing less could be built
cheaper.
Concerning the origin Of some popular sea
side resorts, Arthur Hollick states that Block
Island, Long Island Marthas Vineyard and
Nantucket ''manifestly represent remnants
of the former coastal plan, which consisted
Of cretaceous and tertiary sands gravels
CLAWS and marls." These strata, by glacial
actions. were pushed upward and forward in
a sories Of contorted folds with the detritus
Of the moraino on top. With the gradual sink
ing of the coast and action Of the ocean the
less elevated portions of this continuous ridge
have succumbei, and only the highest parts
remain above water. Should the phenomena
of submergence and erosion, still i'm active
operation continue, it appears probable that
Block Island and the islands TO the eastward
will disappear and eventually form part Of
the shoal which now connect and surround
them. "Montauk Point will continue to re-
cede. and, by the submorgence of the low,
narrow strip of land in the vicinity Of Canoe
place, a new island will be formed from
what remains of the point"