The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-30
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

of the twentieth century by an interna-
tional exhibition to be held at Glasgow,
Scotland. The guarantee fund for this
purpose now amounts 10 100000, and ef-
forts are being made to increase it to
$3.50 coo. At the same time the British
Association will visit Glasgow for its an
nual meeting, and the local scientific So
cieties are now engaged in preparing elab-
crate hand-books dealing with the various
scientific and technical features of the
city and vicinity.
The increased use of aluminium in the
arts is being recorded constantly in the
technical press, and possibly its most re-
cent application is for printers type. A
company 10 manufacture aluminium type
has lately been formed at Frankfort, and
the projectors seem confident of the sue
cess Of their process, which is, of course,
covered by numerous patents In France
the metal is being tried for the fittings Of
railway carriages, and it is stated that a
car 50 constructed would weigh consider
aDle over a ton less than one built where
iron, copper and brass were employed.
"A military device which has lately been
tried by the British army is Lord Dun
donald's galloping gun-carriage on which
a rapid-fre gun may be mounted. The
new carriage is designed to be drawn by
one horse, and is to accompany cavalry
wherever they go, being so light as to be
readily lifted over a fence or ditch weigh
ing less than 400 pounds with it's gun. 1t
can be drawn by one horse, even at a
gallop and enjoys the advantage that the
horse can almost instantly START off at full
speed in case of necessity. A hollow steel
rod connects the trail of the gun with light
shafts, in which the horse is harnessed
by the ordinary arrangements
When the British forces were march
ing on Picking in 1850, after the taking of
the Taku forts, they came to a river so
swollen by recent rain as 10 be unford-
abe Now Chinese collins are very much
larger and more substantially built than
European ones. They are also air-tight.
and are generally ordered years in sd
vance, and kept in their future occupants
house. The British officers being aware
OF TINS, sent round to the nsighboring viii
lagos and collected all the coffin they could
lay hands on. They got enough to make
with the aid of some empty casks a pom
loon bridge strong enough for the artillery
and infantry to march over, while the
cavalry forded the river in the usual way.
If the 100000 in gold trans ferred TO
the sub-treasury on Saturday by the New
York banks had been 100000 in silver.
coined ut the ratio of Is to l. it would have
weighed 26o tons and would have made not
less than 1870 two horse truck loads. says
the New York Sun. Being in god, weigh
ed less than seventeen tons, and made only
about eight loads. The specific gravity of
silver coin. or its weight in proportion to
its bulk, being, also, less than two-thirds
that of gold coin, the $1,000 coo in silver
would have occupied more than one-haIf
more room IN the treasury vaults in pro-
portion. to its value 50 that twenty-four
tunes the space occupied by the 100000
in gold, would have been required for 5000
Goo in silver. The superior convenience of
sold coin for settling money balances, thus
demonstrated, cannot be successfully dis
puted.
The newest use of aluminium is the
making of drums of it-that is to say. so
far as the metallic part of the drum is
concerned. Ninety-siX of these new drums
have been issued on trial to various French
infantry regiments, and the experts APP
pointed to report on them are unanimous
as TO the superiority of aluminium over
copper for the purpose. The new drums
are Just az strong and sonorous as The
others, aud much lighter. Various expert
ments have been made as to the best way
OF cleaning the aluminium of the drums,
and instructions have been issued that
soap is to be avoided and that the metal
is 10 be rubbed with damp cloth sprink-
led with trpoi without any other liquid
than water being used and that the rub
bling is 10 be always in direction at right
angles to the drumhead. The trials are
to be continued until the end of the pres
ent year and in the meantime no more
copper drums viii be built for the army.
The question is sometimes asked why
locomotives cannot be made to act as con-
densing engines similar TO stationary and
marine engines, and has generally been an
swered by the statement that it is mpos-
sble for a locomotive 10 carry a sufficient
amount OF water for condensers. Then it
has been suggested that recourse could be
had to air condensers by the use of
large number of tubes surrounded by air
through which the exhaust steam could
pass and be condensed. M Carcanagues,
locomotive superintendent on the Paris Ly-
ons and Mediterranean Railway, has con-
sidered the question from the latter stand
point and, after Il number Of experiments,
as well as elaborate calculations, states
that So many difficulties are 10 be encoun-
tered that the solution is practically i'm
possible, as in no way could anything be
gained. Not only would a large number of
tubes of considerable weight be required
but also machinery to force air through
them at the rate of over 1900 cubic feet
per second. In fact the application of an
air condenser would require between thirty
and forty tons additional weight and would
entail d loss of power between II and Is
per cent
"A writer in the Providence journal tells
of a conversation he once had with
wealthy and educated Central American
coffee planter: His estate upon which
more than half of his time was spent, was
twenty miles from town and postoffice and
reached only by a bride path. All of his
coffee had to be sent TO shipping points by
pack mule. and household stores taken
home in the same way. l asked him IL a
carriage road could not easily be built
10 the district where he lived Certainly
he replied, but what would be the use?
What better way is there to travel than by
horseback? We all love it, and when we
want to ride in carriages we go to Europe
or the States But 1 said, your coffee
could then be hauled IN wagons, and much
expense and inconvenience be saved And
l suppose YOU would want a postoffice
nearer home and more frequent mails
He laughed heartily. I assure you, my
dear sir he said, chat we get our mail
quite often enough. l always dread the
day on which it arrives II means work,
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