The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-06-24
NOTES OF ELECTRICAL PROGRESS.

have been made. The main dlniculty has been y
perfect a selector system. whereby one Of a numbcf
OF stations within one another's range OF
influence might signal to a particular receiving point
without affecting the others. So far II seems n have
been impossible to do this, though a number 1
earnest and pailent ex perrin nte r. have labored with
the problem a new solution Is suggested now.
which Is exceedingly ing NOUS and promises well.
The sending stations are provided with apparatus
capabl OF sending out electric waves at regular Inter.
walls. different wave intervals corresponding 10 dr.
ferent receiving stations: as for example. to call
station A the sending Instrument would be adjusted
for ten waves second, for station b fifteen waves .
second, station c twenty waves, and so on. At each
receiving station an apparatus Is provided. so con-
structed that every electric wave which strikes II lib
crates a small dUpuf mercury, The temper second
signals. Of course, liberate ten d,Ops In a second. the
fifteen perSerond hit'en drops, &c. Below The points
from w,ich the drops fall and they all fall with a per.
fectly dctnite velocity at the proper distance 70 al
electrical contact which Is closed by the falling drop
for an exceedingly blief instant. Ii .iis contA"' a. pc
at such a point that Just one fifteenth Of a second II
required for the drop to reach IT, then when the send
ing station Is sending out waves at the fifteen. per SEQ
ond rate oc drop VIII always he at the contact and
one Just ready u fail at the same instant, A simple
electrical ci cult through lhr twh makes this receiving
station responsive only TO waves timed at the proper
interval; to those coming a, other intervals The re-
celver Is silent. because the successive mercury drops
are not at the proper distance apart The sy stem V
said TO have worked well on trial
When DR.. Roentgen made his famous discovery d
the penerative power Of the rays given on BY .
vacuum tube under certain conditions he started .
large number Of investigators to work In Q new and
fertile held OF physical research. OF the many
strange facts brought TO light so u far none Is more In
~terestlng or ~pu,zling than the phenomenon, dis.
covered by N. BecQuerel. Of the continual radiation Of
an influence closely resembling X-rays from certain
rare ores and metals. This extraordinary action was
htst noticed in the case Of pltch-blende a black.
pitchy substance found In Colorado ami Saxony, and
consisting. for the most part, Of compounds OF tho
rare metal uranium. This substance seems con-
stantly to exhale a radiation similar to light. though
, invisible. which p~eneIates black paper. or wood. or
even hin metals. and impresscs a Photographic plate
In much the same way a. the Roenteen rays. The
metal uranium, whrn very highly puHned. did
not exhibit this property. so II was evident
that the radiation came from an impurity In Il
The impurit was sought for and ,Soothcr substances
were ( und- both seemingly metals and new elements.
One OF them, named by lis dhscovcrer polonium. 10
inert, but the other possesses the my steriOus power OF
radiation In a high degree, and hence was called
radium. The intenS sc interest exh Inhibited by phySicistsin
the So discoveries is due to the fact that unsatisfactory
suggestion has yet been made as TO the source Of tho
energy constantly poured out In these rays. Nothing
seems to be consumed, yet radium and It's compounds
keep giving N radiatons which require some form OF
energy to maintain them The whole action Is an APP
parent contradiction Of the fundamental creed Of
science-the law OF the conservation OF energy. To
show the amazing accuracy Of present day science II
may be stated that in an investigation oil thSe
rays It was determined that the energy involved could
he accounted for by the consumption Of one grain Of
the matter In about hlteen hundred thousand million
years
Electric power has not been used TO any great ex-
tent in agriculture so far, though II seems well
dapted W IT, In BAY aria, however. an experiments
being made on a large scale By an association OF
farm rs who are building a large power station for
the supply OF electric power TO the farms near the VII
lage of Schaftr helm. The power station Is 81 tho
mixed type, both water wheels and steam engines
being used In II Tor generating electric currents. The
motors arc made very compact and simple. and, oil
course, enclosed so that the inquirlng farmland
may not break them or get his nngers nipped In
them Other associations IN other parts Of Germany
! are awaiting the success Of the experiment with
view b adopting similar sy"trms. u Is eSilmnrd
that the power thus distributed will be far more
economical than steam OF animal power on tie Vail
Gus farms, and far more satisfactory.
The telegraph was FIRST established In Japan In
1860, when the japanese Government engaged some
English engineers 10 build a line between Yokohama
and Toxic, which are only a few mi rs apart. This
line was In so little demand that 1t was, 10 all intents
and purposes, a failure. In 1873 the Government
! Telegraph Department was reorganized A ltue
later the uprising known as the Satsuma war Weakened
! the Government To a realization OF The Importance Of
the telegraph. In 1870 The Empire Joined the Inter-
rational Telegraphic Union. and begun the extension
Of IL lines inland, an extension greatly furthered by
the war with China in 1894. There are now l,267
ofNces in Japan proper and liz In Formosa. while
there are l44.57O miles Of line in service, During
1899 these lines carried 224. 900 foreign or interna-
tional messages and l5.27o. o23 domestic messages
an admirable record for a country In which the tio-
graph was practically unknown twenty years ago.
Along the French Riviera the conflict between
trolley car lines and the telephone companies. which
once waxed so hot In the United States Is being
fought again. The telephones In Cannes II seems.
were Of the grounded pattern. whereby the cost OF one
wire to each subscriber is saved by using the earth a.
a common return circuit for all the telephones When
the trolley road was pu, IN It naturally p~aralyzcd the
Telephone service. The railway company was COM
PEELED 10 lay under ground wires TO remedy the trouble
at a cost Of SlS. 900, When a similar case, iamousin
legal annals. wa, tried In Troy. N. ". In 1888 or
1889, the complaining telephone company was told
BY the Court that It had no exclusive nights In the use
O, the earth AS an electrical conductor. and the rail-
way company was not moleSted
new electrical process for tanning hides has ju1
been patented in Ger many. The hides are nrst OF all
soaked 10 a solution Of acetate OF lead and then trans
fsrred To one OF lead chloride. which Is deposited on
the nbrous tissue. After a thorough washing tho
hides are hung up In a tanning solution OF the usual
kind and connected TO the positive pole OF a very low
tension dynamo machine. The other pole OF the dy-
pamo Is connected with a cathode plate, composed
either of an alloy which Is not attacked by the chem
icals in solution or generated. or VI some OF the
cheaper metals pistinired or polished with plumbago
Only a very moderate current is EN- ployed, from about
80 to 100 ampetes for each square yard OF hide
under a tension Of three volts. The process 10
completed by finishing the leather In the usual way.
1t is said to show a large gain In time over the old tan
pit method.
In Utica. N Y, a block n new partner houses has
nus, been furnished with complete Installation a
electric cooking uten sis In each nat The electrical
kitchen furniture consists OF three round platers %
.s,oves." an oven and a broiler 1t Is declared, APP
parrntly witt reason. that meats broiled on the
electric gridlron are much more ~palatable than those
chorred and seorched In the ordinary way over hos
coal, The most remarkable feature OF these electri.
cal Kitchens Is that the stoves, &c. are simply placed
an an ordinary kitchen table. and when the cooking
4, completed can be slowed away in q convenient
closet, leaving the kitchen free OF even a trace OF
cookery. Space Is thus saved, and the kitchen can
he as small as the conscience Of the architect viii
permi, because Of hs saving, and also because the
electrical utensils give On no heat AL OF the heat u
used In the cooking and not In warming aud Whaling