Union gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1899-1900, 1899-10-27
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Prof. ]. Is. Johnson. Of Washington
University. st. Louis, has made some
interesting tests of the behavior Of
iron or steel stirrups, as used for hang
Ing foor beams from brick walls, when
exposed to fire, and finds that, under
such circumstances, they soon become
red-hot, and then burn their way rap
idly through the end of the beam.
while at the same time they soften and
bend down. the result being that the
beam drops out Of its bearing in fifteen
or twenty minutes after the fire reach
es 1t. Most architects arc careful to
see that such supporting members are
fireproofed with wire lath and plaster;
but it may be well to call attention
again to the imperative necessity for
doing SO.
At the London Alhambra recently
was shown u remarkable exhibition of
staying power under water, in the Der.
son of Fraulein Elsie Wallenda, who
remained below water In a tank for
considerably over four minutes. Her
highest record is 4 minutes 4515 Sec
onds. Tho next record to this-4 min
This marvellous power suggests sever
al interesting physiological considera-
tions. Is there any possibility, for ex-
ample, that the necessary aeration Of
the blood goes on to an extent unprece-
dented in ordinary breathing, and that
the supply Of reserve air in the lung,
not employed in ordinary respiration,
may aid the experimenter?
DIR. Francis II. Williams. of Boston,
says that when 1t becomes customary
to examine the chest with the X-rays,
deaths from heart failure without pre-
vious warning will be less common.
The rays not only enable the physi-
clan to determine the size of the heart,
but with their aid he can also follow
its movements in health and disease,
which has not before been possible.
Such examinations are also useful in
cases Of incipient consumption. With
proper precautions taken no harm need
be feared from X-ray examination.
The trains of the trans Siberian rail-
road are to be ferried across Lake Bal
kal on a steamboat, which, 1t is said,
will possess the most powerful engines
employed In any vessel af1oat. They
are of 10000 horse power, and large
share of their immense energy will be
required to break way for the boat
through the thick Ice which covers the
lake in the winter. The engines of the
great steamship Kaiser Wilhelm der
Crosse, are of only 2S,0O0 horse power.
The best lighted city in the world is
Eammerfest, in Norway, which Is also
the most northerly town in the world.
Even the smallest cabin has its elec-
trio light, and during the polar night
from the middle of November to Feb.
1, the town is all aglow. The power is
derived from three rivers, so rapid
that they do not freeze in midwinter,
and SO near the city that the light can
be furnished at very little cost.
A Russian chemist is said to have
an anaesthetic several thou
sand times more powerful than chlo-
roform. 1t volatizes most readily and
acts, when freely mixed with air, at
great distances. Experiments the be-
ing made to see If it can not be in
closed in bombs, which would have the
effect of anaestheticiz-
ing instead of wounding an enemy.
Heretofore perfumery has been de-
tached from flowers by soaking them
in lard. A Partisan has now found a
way Of gathering the fragrance by
simply soaking the flowers in water,
a process which can be repeated sew
eral times without destroying the flow
ers.
Measurements have shown the thick
ness of the human hair to vary from
the 25Oth to the 600th part of an inch.
Blonde hair is the finest and red hair
the coarsest.