The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-11
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

"A snort ume ago uflere assembled at
Strassburg, in convention, an interna-
tional aeronautical committee, which was
appointed two years previously at the
Paris meteorological conference. The
meeting was important in marking a new
era in meteorological investigation where
by scientists are not TO be entirely depen-
dent hereafter on observations at the sur
face of the earth to secure records of the
condition of the atmosphere. The work
discussed by the committee resolved itself
into three classes; observations made by
aeronauts in balloons. unmanned balloons
carrying self-recOrding instruments to the
hight of ten miles or more, and for OBJ
servatiOns near the earth ite-balloons or
kites. il was found that in the United
States, as well as the leading countries
of Europe, much interest is being taken
in these methods of studying the atmos-
phere, and the members of the committee
read several papers of much value, show
ing the Improvement, both in instruments
and the manner of making the observa-
tons.
American it was proposed to celebrate this
year the Tooth anniversary of the discov-
cry of coal in Europe, which, 1t was claim
ed, was made near Liege, in Belgium, in
1893. DR.. f. Buttgenbach has now pub
lished a pamphlet to prove that the first
discovery was made eighty-five years ear
iier, in Ills, in the basin of the River
Worm, north of Aix-la-Chapelle. He
brings forward says the Engineering and
Mining Journal, much evidence to prove
that out crops of coal were worked in that
year and long after by the monks of Kerk-
rade, who first discovered it's qualities as
fuel and utilized the mineral or ''blacll
earth,'' as it was called. The word "l1uhl"
an old German term meaning pit was the
origin according to this statement, of the
German kohl" and the English coal"
The generally accepted legend has been
that coal was first used at Liege by a
blacksmith named Hullos, from whose
name comes the French "houile"-coal
He found that the black earth" which
Outcropped near Liege could be used in the
forge instead of charcoal Coal, however.
had been used at Sheffield in England,
some fifteen years earlier for the same
purpose.
The idea of protecting buildinge against
fire from without by means of a water cur
tain, to be made to fail all around the
structure, appears to be gaining favor. says
the New York Sun, having the indorse-
ment of some of the most experienced
professional experts in this line, and the
plan is exciting special attention in Chi
cago, where it is being applied to the
great public library building. The ar
rangement is extremely simple A seven
inch steel water main is laid around the
top of the structure, upon the broad stone
table formed by theAtop of the coping.
this pipe having connection with force
pumps situated in the basement and
through perforations properly arranged,
insures the Introduction of q substantial
sheet of water from cornice to pavement,
around the whole or any imperiled pOr-
ton of the building. The ARRANGEMENT
or "a y~efa Of mir, fe
able operating in prescribed sections; ad-
dttional relays of smaller pipe are also
placed In position above windows and
doors, in order TO complete the curtaining
of those points in the most serviceabie
manner, should the curtain in the main
be broken by wind impingement against
the building.
Before officers of~the English war and
naval offices a test of the Vickers quick
fire field-gun was recently made and re-
ports of the trial show substantial pro-
Sress in the improvement of this kind of
ordnance. While the quick-fire principle
Is readily adaptable to guns firmly mount
ed on ship or on Notifications, 1t should
be remembered that a feld-gun must be
placed in position previous to each dis
charge, and that the weight of the metal
cases of quick-ire ammunition is such as
to seriously operate against their employ
gun the recoil and subsequent return of
the gun to the firing position are operated
by a specially constructed device, fixed
under the protection of the trail, which
is arranged to allow both the gun and
mounting to recoil, and which eliminates
the jump of the carriage, but permits the
gun to be run out to the firing position
without altering the alignment. To Illus
trate the rapidity of the system, fifteen
rounds were fired in siXty-seven seconds.
the charge being 1914 ounces of ballistite,
the shell weighing 1874 pounds. In a Sc
ries of shots to show the accuracy of the
pieces 10 rounds were fired in 125 seconds.
each of which scored a bulrs-eye Metal
cartridges are used, but it is believed that
by using a certain pad in the breech they
can be dispensed with.
"Refiners of nitrate of silver for the use
! of photographers" said 4 man engaged in
this line of business in New York to a
Washington Star reporter recently, ''haVe
agents travelling constantly all over the
United States collecting the waste clip
pings of SenSitized paper that accumula te
in every Photographic gallery. They buy
all they can find and pay for it ia new
nitrate, allowing the photographers a
good round price for his waste The waste
is shipped to the refners, where the nj
trate in the paper is separated from it by
chemical processes and prepared for mar
ket again. This re-refned nitrate IS as
good as it was originally and is sold for
just as much. The refiners, of course.
make a big profit out of the waste. and
the photographer is able to get a good
supply of material for she old scraps that
would otherwise be of no use to him.
! When one thinks of the great number of
photograph galleries and studios in this
country, and the fact that the waste paper
of them all is closely gathered by the re-
finers at a price that Will average a dol
lar a pound, he may get some idea of the
proportion of the business that is utterly
unknown outside the persons directly in
| terested in the trade. Not only the scraps
of silver sensitized papers, but those of
the paper treated with the solution OF
gold are eagerly sought by the refiners,
and the photographer is always very will
ling to exchange his accumulation of, 10
him, worthless waste for a new stock of
valuable nitrate"
In the English Illustrated Magazine
Mr.. J. Holt Schooling works out some in
| tcresting results as regards the chances of
| males at aces % IN 10 "a and %