The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1901-10-02

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Battleshlps Massachusetts. Alabama
and Kearsarge to be equipped for
wireless telegrapby.
A 100000 electric lighting system Is
10 be installed In the Church OF Notre
Dame I'm Paris. Heretofore the mas
sive edlfice has received its truly dim
religious light" from wax candles. IL
was feared that gas would damage
the paintings and walls.
People often wonder why q thing
that Is n success on small scale is
often n failure when tried on large
scale NJ. Nagell has recently been
weighing bacteria. and he finds that
they average about one-ten-thousand-
mllionth of milligram. The length
Of generation is fifteen to forty min.
utes and in seven days, If there were
no limits to such expansion. single
germ would produce 4770 billions.
which would weigh 1900 tons. For.
tunately the rule of reproduction does
not apply on such n large scale. for
various natural checks result in keep,
ing down the bacterial growth.
Aided by special fund presented
by n friend of the American Museum,
says Science. Professor Osborn has
sent out two expeditions especially in
fearch .Of fossil horses-one to Texas
and one to Eastern Colorado. Word
has been received at the museum that
| the very first discovery made by the\
| Texas party included n deposit OF
J skulls of the three-toed horse. Proto-
| hippus, associated with parts of the
limbs, feet and backbone. The find is
an especially important one for the
study of the evolution of the canine
species. The Protohlppus is thought
to be the immediate successor of the
| true horse.
One of the methods OF protecting
broad grasslands from fire is to burn
swath called u fire guard" around
the area to be protected. A Montana
stockman suggests that this offers a
good opportunity for inventors to del
wise a machine which, passing ove1
the ground like n horse rake. sha
burn the grass clean from a spad
about eight or ten feet in width.
ready an apparatus of this kind
been invented, using gasolene to
the grass ON fire and n train of s
brushes to extinguish II before II
spread beyond the proper limits, n
the stockman thinks that a cheaper|
machine can be made. Fire guards"
fifty miles or more in length, are de-
sirable.
The loftlest engine room in the
world Is that located In n new cold
storage warehouse In Chicago. In
stead of following the conventional
plan Of placing the boilers and en-
glnes In basement they are to occupy
space in the top story of the building
100 feet from the ground. This was
done in order to prevent the heat ris-
ing through the cold storage rooms.
The power equipment with ammonia
machines, etc, weigh over 500 tons,
which, when in full blast, would wreck
an ordinary building. Hence special
foundations were made for the struc-
ture. which rests upon 1900 piles driv.
en- sixty feet into the ground. Oil Is
used for fuel and electricity will be
the motive power.
A French writer, Henri Coupin, says
that the fact that, Notwithstanding
their simplicity. the songs of the birds
cannot be initiated with musical In
struments arises from the impossibilty
of reproducing their peculiar timbre.
The notes of birds. while correspond.
ing with our musical scale, also In.
clude vibrations occupying the inter.
walls between our notes. The duration
of birds songs is usually very short.
two or three seconds for thrushes and
chaffinches, four or five seconds for
blackcaps. but from two to five min
utes for the lark. NJ. Coupin remarks
that while one in every ten species of
European bird is tuneful. the proper
tion diminishes to only one in a thou
sand among the gorgeously clad birds
of the tropics.