The evening times., 1899-11-01
NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dynamite used in large quantities in the ex-
tensivc mining industries Of the Trsnsvsa was
imported to the value 81 10000. II is exclusively
imported by the government
The heaviest rainfalls so far observed with
scientific accuracy occur in India. At Cherra-
punj, in the Khasi hills, in Assam, the mean
annual precipitation is 80 feet inches, at De-
bundja 80 feet 10 inches, and at BibundI 81 feet
4 inches. Both the latter stations are on the
sea coast, and at a much lower level than Cher
rspunji.
London is having trouble with that remarkable
Tower Bridge. which to allow ships to pass.
like a drs~bridge but without interrupting land
traffic Instead Of swinging to one side, the
draw goes far up into the air, and while il is
UP you can either Climb the stairs or take the
elevator and But the elevators built at
a cost to the public OF 800 900, not WORKING.
ridieuousiy inadequate and pedestrians strongly
object to climbing POI steps. crossing oriG,-,
snd coming down the number of steps. 50
as a matter Of fact there is great cIlierence
from an ordinary drawbridge except that the
service Is less prompt, perhaps because prompt
n0ss IL deemed less necessary The baSculeS
not supposed TO remain up more than seven min
utes, but complaint IS made that tratre is In
terrupted for twenty minutes more, while
seven OF eight ships pass in succession.
The Navy Department has issued order 10
place metal furniture the .cruiser krianta.
The placing Ct metal furniture a United States
cruiser is experiment which grows out Of the
experience of the navy during the Spanish-Ameri-
can war. IL was found that the presence of the
wooden furniture aboard the wsrship during the
late most serious menace TO the men.
More injury done by the flying splinters than
done directly by the shells of the enemy.
Admiral Dewey had thorough appreciation Of
the danger from this source, and before ordering
his squadron into the battle of Manila Bay he
had every piece of wooden furniture the vessels
east overheard. The recommendation to put
metal furniture aboard the warships TO take the
place of wooden furniture was made by Construc-
tor Bowies. The trial will be made on the At
lanta. and If the experiment proves success
metal furniture will supplant the wooden furni-
ture on all the American warships-
One of the greatest novelties at the Paris Ex-
position, says the .'BostIn Herald,'' will be the
giant swing that will be erected in the Champs
Ey>ee the Eifel Tower. Beside it the tower
will receive quite a setback, for the supports OF
the great swing will oyertop it by nearly 800
feet. their exacA height being LILO feet. The
structural work Will all be or iron, riveted to-
gether 10 insure the greatest strength Tnere will
be no element Of Gznger whatever in the huge
skeleton. The tops Of the two supp rts will De
bolted together. From them huge penduiuIns
will hand. each supporting car. These will
swing at a height Of 400 feet from the ground
from a point nearly go feet away from one side
Of the huge supports TO point equally distant
beyond the supports In other words, the total
distance covered in the swinging viii be nearly
quarter Of a mile. The cars derive their speed
from huge motors beneath the structure, ana arc
stopped at intervals of three minutes to permit
loading and unloading. Each car Will carry
forty people
As a result Of the epidemic of rabies which be-
gan in Erie county early last summer. the State,
Legislature Of New York will be petitioned by
the board Of aldermen of Buffalo TO appropriate
money-possibly s5,0oo-for the payment Of the
expenses OF the dog bitten patients sent to the
Pasteur Institute for treatment. One of them died
there, and there are no les than six cases
on the hands of the health department and the
superintendent Of the poor. tive will be sent
to the Pasteur Institute at the expense of the
county, for the supervisors committee on the
poor becoming tired of the dilltory methods OF
the aldermen IN failing TO provide for the muz-
zling OF dogs gave the superintendent Of the
poor full authority TO act The supervisors are
appalled, At the rapdity with which the cases OF
persons bitten by Tabid dogs collecting. Al
ready the six people sent to the Pasteur Insti-
tute have cost Erie county about Sl,10)- A the
supervisors understand the situation, there is no
question of the county's liability, and they will
petition the legislature In hope of getting even
At the Devon Great Consols mine. in the south
Of England. copper mining has been abandoned
many years because it proved Improbable, but
now tie ore. mundic copper pyrites, is being
treated for the extraction of the arsenic it con-
tains- After crushing, the is washed and then
put in roasting furnaces where ii is heated up to
about so degrees Fahrenheit. The heat causes
chemical decomposition, setting free the deuSe
fumes Of aTsenious acid These fumes pass Through
q series OF long fues before reaching the stack,
and almost completely deposited As arsenic
SCOT At certain intervals this Is scraped OF the
interior Of the fiues and again roasted and when
this deposits Its NapOrs IN the ttues there Il
found snow-whte. crystalline substance, which
Is refined arsenic. Ii Is ground in a mill, and
conveyed through leather hoaepipe TO barrels, IN
which il Is shipped for sale An immense quanti-
" of refuse from the former DAYS Of copper work
ing at this mine is also being treated in
the manner described above, and it is said will
yield at least $1,000 refined arsenic, which
now commands about SIS ton
The Pail Mall Gazette approves the American
system OF naming ships of better than
the English The magnificent class, for instance,
contains not only Majestic and 4 Victorious.
but al>o Caesar and Hannibal. The Gazette
therefore advocates copying method of CIV
ing the name of a state TO a battlesiip. the
name OF 4 large city TO frst-ci1ss cruiser. 4
\ smaller city to a sec0Bd-ciass cruiser and OF
a naval hero 4 torpedo boat. This method
reveals by the name Of the class to winch any
ship belongs. The great divisions of the British
empire, Asia, Africa, America, India, e,c-, would
furnish the names for the largest battlesnips.
Then there might be an Irish class-the Ire
land. Donegal, Limerick, ConnIUght, Ulster,
Munster, Tyrone, and 50 Next would come
the names Of the counties of England and We
should hear of the Northumberland, Lancashire.
Yorkshire, Sussex, Kent and Others. And how hne
called after the great cities of the empire
London. Liverpool Edinburgh, Melbourne, singa-
pore, and Calcutta.
Since the recent PRONUNCIATION of the Imperial
lkase forbidding further convict transportation
10 Siberia, the penal department has been casting
about for a new field for criminal colonization in
order to obviate an undesirable congestion in the
great central prisons and penitentiaries of Eu-
ropean Russia. without at the same time over
crowding the far eastern penal Island of Sag
ialien. Ii has now been practically decided, sub
ect, of coure. to the Imperial exequatur, TO con-
rert the remote district of Okhotss- ksmischat~a
INTO new penal province. The ministerial de-
points out that this region possesses
no indigenous population worth speaking of 10
De corrupted by the deportees, and il has the ad-
santage of being disiantly situated and rigidiy
isolated from European Russia that the escape OF
sonvicts, common from Siberian settlements.
will be wel-ngh impossible. okhotsk- -kamtschsi
IA is further recommen ended a penal colony b.
the fact that rich god deposits have lately been
discovered there, and they will be worked
tirely by convict labor thus enabling the gov
aInnent TO reduce considerably the annual ex-
rhequer credit of IA, 900 600 roubles for penal
penses.
Under date of July % Consul Monaghan of
Chemnitz sends the following: .Anifcial paving
stones being successfully produced in this EN-
pire. The demand in large cities Is great and
the expense attached TO their production under
former methods is so large that any improvement =
on the older systems, whether saving money
in producing a better stone. will be welcomed
by almost all countries. The newest Ir3cess her.
IS to mix coal tar with sulphur and thor