Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1900-06-19
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Cherrapunji, in Assam, northeast OF
Calcutta, has the reputation Of being
the wettest place on earth, the average
annual rainfall being 493.15 inches,
while it has the record of one month in
which 147.17 inches fell.
An English authority on dentistry,
quoted In the British Medical Journal,
condemns in strong language unwar-
wanted teeth extraction. He states that
"teeth drawing is not dentistry, and
the supply of artificial dentures should
no more be regarded as the chief aim
Of dentistry than the supplying Of
wooden legs is looked upon as the Ideal
Of surgery"
The experience of France and Spain
has proved conclusively that American
vines are the only remedy for the phyl-
loxera. But the German agrarian war
upon American agricultural products
has been carried to the point where the
Alsatian Government prefers phyllox-
era and has excluded American vines.
Perhaps the Germans will use Ameri-
can vines themselves, while permitting
the phylloxera to ravage the vineyards
of conquered province.
The public library building in Chi
cago is protected against the invasion
of fire from the outside by means of q
so-called water curtain" At the top
of the building is a system of tubes
through which water, supplied from q
tank, can be used to flow over the out
side walls. Recently the efficiency of
the water curtain was tested by the
occurrence Of fire in large spice mill
adjoining the library building. The
water being turned on, the outer walls
sheet which, as the temperature was
low, became eventually a sheet of ice.
In a recent address before the Wis
consin Academy of Sciences, Prof. G.
D. Marsh presented some generally un-
known facts about Lake Winnebago.
All lakes, he said, are temporary fea-
lures Of topography, since their outlets
are continually deepening and their in
lets are gradually filling their bottoms
with sand. Lake Winnebago Is re-
markable for its shallowness. Although
twenty eight miles long and ten or
twelve broad, it Is only twenty-five feet
deep. But its lack Of depth Is an ad-
vantage from the fisherman's point of
view. 1t contains an enormous number
of fish, and few lakes in existence can
compare with it for productiveness in
that respect. Shallow lakes are better
than deep ones for fish, because of the
greater quantity of vegetation covering
their bottoms. Vegetation cannot -four
ish in deep water.
The application of the turbine prin-
ciple to the motor machinery of ships
has achieved another triumph in the
case of the British torpedo boat de-
stroyer, Viper. At a recent meeting of
engineers at the Royal Institution in
London some interesting facts concern
ing the surprising speed of the Viper
were discussed. On her second prelim-
mary trial in February she attained 4
speed Of 35.5 knots, equal to nearly
forty-one statute miles per hour. This
is as great speed as that of many
express trains, and If it could be deyel-
oped in a great passenger ship and
maintained continuously would cut
down the time needed for crossing the
Atlantic to about three days. When
running either slowly or at top speed
the Viper experiences little vibration,
and 1t is anticipated that she will even.
tually surpass her own record.