The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-06-09
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

ITS appearance III OHiCdSO, iil-Y 10 INC
American electric carnival and gondola
| company, which is seeking a right of
way for a line Of electric boats on the
Chicago RIVER and drainage canal.
The first white lead mill to be driven
entirely by electricity is at Port Rich
mond. N. Y. II has capacity of 5000 tons
of white lead FER annum, and is said to
be a model of compactness and conven-
ience.
in charging storage battery one
loses about, 20 per cent. of the energy
supplied to it; in operating a motor with
this current there is LOST 10 per cent OF
what mains; in converting the mechan-
ical energy CT the motor into electricity
for charging the battery again would be
lest another 10 per cent Of the energy.
In general, loss of electrical power may
be assumed at per Ce1t. in the genera
tors. 10 Ter cent. in the line, and Z per
cent In the motors.
The Bell Telephone Company of To-
ionic, Ont, made an application last year
to the Dominion GOV rnment to be allowed
to inc ease its rates from the S25 and $45
fixed in 1891. Permi sion was refused, and
tn company forthwith pr cd to ra
its rates charging in scme cases as high
as $65. When complaint has been made,
the company has refused to give service
claiming that ii cannot be compelled to
extend its lines, The government will be
called upon TO iatsrfere and force the
company to ob.y the laws.
The. FL Dorado (Kan) Republican tells
| Of the finding, near that place of a large
land tortoise which bore on its back thes
inscription ~. NJ. p. 1906" The letters"
says The Republican, probably stand for
Zebulon NJ. Pike, the man for whom Pixies
| ali ic oy1aa1 h.,f mn
FORE be at least ninety-four years old.
Where he came from or how he got here
is beyond conjecture. The old Cherokee
trail crosses the river mile below town.
and the tortoise was probably marked by
Pike or some of his associates when they
crossed the plains from Louisiana to the
mountains that year"
The aging of timber, which formerly
required long storage, is now completed
ty electricity in f W hours. In the No
don-Bretonneau process the timber is
piled on a lead frame in a large wooden
vat, is nearly immersed in a chemical
preparation, and is covered over by shall
low vessels of water having porous bot
tens of felt and linen. The positive pole
Of a dynamo is connected to the lead
frame and the negative pole TO the water
vessels On the passage of the current,
the sap Is dri;en to one side of the wood
and expelled, and the chemical liquid
enters the pores and takes its place. At
ter drying the wcod is ready for use.
The old cherry tree under which Ed
gar Allen Poe used to sit and in the shade
of which he is known to have written at
least part of THE Raven" is to be cut
down. 1t stands In that suburb of New
York called Fordham, near the little house
In which Poe lived. and which is known as
the Poe Cottage" There are to be street
improvements made in the neighbour God,
and the cherry tree is in the way. Wood
choppers have the contract for cutting it
down. and it will soon be laid low. DR.. Z.
J. Chauvet is the owner of the tree, ana
he may have it preserved in the form of
| many relics, or move it bodily to some
other spot. The tree has been dead for
years.
The Ohio Board of Public Works has
granted a thirty years franchise for an
electric tow-line along the Miami and
Erie canal, which runs from the water
| front of TOLEDO through Hamilton, Day
ton, Piqua and other towns, into Cincin-
natl, and Is pa miles long. The plan of ths
! legs es is to bui,d an electrician line on
t the banks OF the canal and have motor
] cars supplart no SEES and mules for draw
! ing canal-boats. 1t is said that a success
/ full test has been made of short section
| OF track, ard that the line will be built
] at u cost OF Sz,iUOUU. ne company Will
/ be able to construct its line cheaply
/ because no right OF way has to be ac-
quired. and there will be no grading TO
! tie done.
An illuminated cascade without the
use OF water has been devised f-r the
Paris Exposition. Above a large basin
with base inclined toward the center is
| placed a powerful electric ventilatiug fan,
I nj n lie a trih a 90 MI afr,cr nsiz
and dimensions to the desired fountain.
| The ordinary arc lamp sends fecieI
light rays at right angles thro Ish e
transparent tube. The electric lamp de
not light up drops of water, but pre-
determined quantity of rice grains mix d
with mica and particles of tins y. This
mixture Is blown through the tube ty
the fan, and finally falls splrhl ng into
the basin, to be again taken up by tie
current OF air, and 50 on ever again. A
disk containing glass OF various co'ors IS
placed above the tube, and is turned ly
an electric motor. which impregnates tire
moving rejecting particles with light ard
causes great variety Of light effects.
| The result is indeed very surprising, ard
natural results are well initiated; this is
the way an Illuminated fountain can be
built without using any LIQUID.
For a number of years Prof. NJ l.
Pupin of the department OF mechanics OF
Columbia University, says the New York
Sun, has carried on a series of exPe:i-
ments dealing with elect ical waves OF
considerable length. and has asc9r.aine
from these studies that by meas q
cables and long-disjance air-lines con
structed in a peculiar manner, Il is p5ss-
bic 10 increase TO a marked degree the
limits over which telephony can he con-
Quoted besides adding greatly 10 the e.
fulness Of submarine cables by m liking
/ them available for many more messa ges.
| The final results of Prof. Puplns inve ii-
/ cations were announced at the annual
meeting of the American Institute Of Z &C.
/ trical Engineers in Philade'pha rec ntly.
/ by the use of this conductcr, Prof. Pupin
| believes that far higher rate Ct sp ed
as well as multipleXing could be secure
/ in an open ocean cable, and it wlud tend
/ grealy to increase use and cheaper the
| rate for messages. 1t also seems p o a9'e
that the present llmi, for speaking ~
! aerial metallic circuit wires, now at s..
| Louis, at 1850 miles frcm New York ami
1 barely satisfactory, Will be exceeded by
the use of this new system, ard the great
expense Of the copper conduc Iors will be
| appreclably lessened.
OF the future of wireless biography
! Nikoa T sla saws IN the Gu ent Century:
Station airy waves in the earth mean some