The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-06
NOTES or ELECTRICAL PROGRESS.

Several yeais ago a telegraph cable was laid In the
bed Of the Amazon River 10 connect the various towns
along that stream with Para. II was soon found that
the rapid current Of the river and the vas, quantities OF
driftwood, &c, brought down by the stream. broke
and ~intsrfered with the workings OF the cable To such
an extent that It has been In USE only abou, one
month In twelve during is existence. A company
has been formed. aided by the Para Government, to
construct a land line Of Telegraph wires along the
river, and, 80 FAR, $50 miles have been built. The
%dinnculiy Of building a Telegraph line through the
Amazon forests Is enormous, and It will probably
cause this To he the most expensive telegraph line in
the world when II is completed,
a company has been formed In Brussels with a
capital Of $500, 900 to construct a modern high speed
electric railway between Brussels and Antwerp,
The distance is tw enty. eight miles. and II Is pro
posed IN NAL Ike the running time Of trains thirty Ave
minutes between the two cities. The new line will
connect with the trolley systems In both cities
The flashing electric sign-the kind that winks-is
decidedly unpo pular In London. The County Council
has lust madc a reg ulation providing a hne OF SIS for
the exhibition Of such signs In the streets
Aluminium is the electriclan's metal. I, was dis
covered, or ra ther nrst isolated from the minerals u
which 1t lisa component. seventy two years ago by
Wohler, In Germany. Aslately as ten years ago II
was so rare tha, 1t was Justly classed as a precious
metal Then the electrical processes for its manufac
,ure came into use, and today It Is cheaper than any
OF the other metals except only iron. lead and zinc.
The method Of It's production Is As sim pie as II, Is In.
teres,ing. Two minerals. cryolite and bauAiie, are
used In the process, both OF them compounds Of alumi.
mum. The former is found only In Greenland. Curi
ously enough It Is green, a roughly Crystalline
substance, which melts easily at a low
red heat n IL. chemically Snsaking. alumni
mum nuorde. Bsuxite, which is named after
the town Of BauX in France. near which
large beds OF II have been found. is a white or yellow
ish clayey substance, consisting almost wholly Of
alumina, or aluminium oxide. In the modern process
the cryolite ~ nrst melted In cas-, iron tanks about
the size and shape OF an ordinary bathtub, gas nres
being sod to supply the heat. Into the molten mass
is stirred the bau1ite, witch has previously been
cleaned and pulverized. Ateach end Of each tank Is
an electrode consisting OF a heavy carbon plate, and
between these a very powerful current OF electricity Is
passed The CURRENTS sunicentto keep the contents
Of the tank heated 10 the melting point. and In a few
, minutes the metallic aluminium begins to collect at
one OF the carbon plates. The temperature Of the
bath being high enough to keep the metal melted, IL
/, collects In drops and flows to the bottom Of the tank
from which it is drawn from tim. TO time by removing
a plug from a conveniently situated hole. The metal
4 is rapidly taking the place Of brass and copper In
many industries, notably az a conductor OF electricity
For long distance power transmission lines It has
: many advantages. While It Is more costly. pound
for pound, than copper, yet II Is 50 much lighter and
4 com p~arstively so GOOD a conductor OF electricity that
a line built OF It. for TIE sam effective current
carrying power, weighs only half As much aud costs
5 10 per cent less.
French electrician. NJ. c. TlsSoL has made an In
~teresting innovation In The receiving apparatus used
in wireless biography. As nearly every one knows,
the sensitive element Of the receiving end OF a wireless
. telegraph system Is a small glass tube full Of metallic
nltngs and having terminal wires so that It can be pu,
into a circuit with a battery and e telegraph relay
c when electric wave, impinge upon this apparatus,
wnich Is called a coherer. the grains OF metallic
!, powder IN the TUBE seem 10 Join hands and
form conducting chain, 50 that current passes
from the battery and affects the relay To
break thes. chains and pre- pare the cohrrerfor another
sigma It has been usual 10 employ some variety Of
mechanical Taper 10 strike the tube gently and
loosenits contained powder causing ito de cOhete -
NJ. Tl~sol has found out that II the metallic powder in
the tube be Of ron or steel, placing the whole appar
! aius IN the reid OF a com paratively weak magnet
: causes the nlIugs automatically to de- couerc, thus re
e moving the Necessity Tor the Taper with It's delicate
and unttuStw orthy adjustments
A II has long been desired to construct a hhvSer oil
i cable for towing vessels that should be able to act
also as an electrical conductor between the two boats
SO that signals and messages might easily he inter
changed. As such a cable must possess very great
A strength and Ella >iiciiy to withstand the h"avy strain
/ u which II ~ subjected, and At the same time be
c higLt flexible. tn" problem presented in the design
Of ii Suitable electrical circuit FOR Incorporation Win
II has been most dificut II f. said to have been
SOLVED with great success BY Two beig ian eugluerTN.
Their method IS extremely simple. Two ca0les u
, conductors are formed Of me copper wire wound in
-, spiral form around cOrs> q m The cores are about
Otetighih iucn in dlamrsr, and the wire SpiIalS sur.
round them much in the same way that the wire is
a wound on a guitar string. These conductors are
l sswed with hemp and insulated with a yielding rubber
. tape, the two together with other strands ~ hemp or
F wire forming the middle lay" ~ the hawSer. II the
! towing cab. thus formed stretches a little under
/ heavy strains the spi'alled wires simply open on, with
{ out breaking. Ills stated that, after Il test con insisting
: OF one hundred stretchInss Of such a cable under a
: pull OF 500 pounds, the electrical qualities Of It's wire
circuits were unchanged,
/ Their. are l 200. 900 miles OF copper Wiz. used in
i, calls are received daily In the telephone exchanges OF
!. the country, The wire would grid" the Earth at N,
equator forty eight times. or reach from he Earth I,
the moon I'VE times.
In some ,xperm.nts recently mad. at Coffin gen
Herr Il. T. Simon discovered that electric sparks b.
tween terminals follow independent ,lgzag paths
n when the interval between them Is more than about
= one foIr hundredth Of a second. WHEN the sparks fol
d low zach other a, more rapid intervals they pass over
the sam m track.
Il The new electric power plant At tn" Armour pack
II ing houses in Chicago replaces 10 steam boilers. ~
;. engines and ~ refrgeratirg machines rd,v-Iop,
4,ooO horse power. and feeds 10000 incandescen'
lamps, 500 arc lamps and l2O power motors, scattered
= over an area Of more than 90 acres.
y patent was issued last week Tor 4 motor driver
car for use In warf' r.. which. n IT'S ever built. vii
: he a 'eariully destructive engine ~ devastation. 4
is nothing more than a bat,rShip on wheels. or AZ
, atmored automobile full NJ guns and other terrifying
weapons. and also adapted n be so charged w.t.
, electricity that rash Storm'ng parties attempting e
y board Il will instantly he elsc,rocuted.
Electrical methods have been used with great sue
cess In Germany for the bleaching ~ wood pulp ~
the manufacture OF paper. The apparatus used f.
very simple, consisting Of = wooden boz conialnlng
y electrodes NJ sheet platinum. \ strong hrur mad,
OF sea salti used in this, and upon the passage NJ
the cIrr,nt through It the powerful bleaching agent
/, chlorine gas. is given. Ills said that a current repre-
y Sentlng - horse power will bleach 1880 pounds o
pulp per day,