Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1901-03-30

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s e. e Ilventior?.


After nearly thirty years of constant
effort and great expenditure, it is ascer-
tanned that the earths diameter
through the equator is 1926 miles; its
height from pole TO pole, 1889 miles.
In Germany a furnace has been in
vented Intended for burning low-class
fuels, such as Ignite and peat, and in
which the combustion is intensified by
turning into the fire the gaseous mix
ture obtained by the evaporation Of
liquid air. The nitrogen is first set free
and the residue containing at least 30
per cent of oxygen, is sent into the fur
mace.
Recently a new light system has been
introduced into the village of Simnoz-
helm in Wurtemberg. From a large cen
trail petroleum reservoir the oil from
which the light Is produced is distrib-
uted to the different lamps through
copper tubes; the petroleum is then va
porized by special apparatus and burn
er. y large lighting plant of this system
is to be pat in the railroad shops at
Stuttgart.
In this era of world empires" inter-
est i'll the suns empire is hardly sur
prising. An English inquirer seeks to
learn its size, and points out that three
well-knoWn comets of snort period have
orbits extending beyond that of Nep-
tune, while one comet of long period
Donatis-has a period of nearly two
thousand years. If this last named
comet really moves about the sum- it is
calculated that the diameter of the
solar system must be nearly 60,000,00O,-
900 miles.
Prof. BOutan has succeeded in making
snapshot photographs of fish in the sea
at depth of about nine feet. His plan
Is to let down into the water white
sheet, and then attract the fish In front
of it by a judicious distribution Of
toothsome bait. The object of the pro-
ceeding is to increase our knowledge Of
the movements of fish when not con-
strained by artificial surroundings or
confinement. 1t has been proposed to
lower cameras two or three miles in the
sea and make photographs there by
fiash-light, but the enormous pressure
at such depths would, it is objected,
crush the apparatus.
1t has been averred that but for the
saltpeter furnished by the Mammoth
Cave Of Kentucky and by some smaller
limestone caverns the United States
would have been unable successfully to
wage the war of 1912. Even during the
Civil War these cave supplies of salt
peter were largely utilized for making
Gunpowder. Recently the question of
the origin of cave saltpeter has been
discussed anew in the Journal of Geol-
ogy, and w. II. Hess, dissenting from
the view that the saltpeter deposits are
due to the formation of guano by bats,
holds that they have originated from
the evaporation of water which, as it
percolated through the roof of the cav
ern, absorbed nitrates from the soil.
Russia authorities are displaying re-
markable energy in connection with the
utilization of Popoffs wireless tele-
graphic system. All the lighthouses in
the Black Sea are to be provided with
this apparatus, and several stations are
to be erected on the shore, so that com
munication may be maintained between
the shore, lighthouses and the war
ships within the radius of the electric
waves. Two hundred complete installa-
tons Of the apparatus were recently
dispatched to Vladivostok and Port
Arthur, and the work of fitting out the
Russian warships in the Pacific is to
be carried on with all possible celebrity.
The two ports are also to be connected
by the establishment of intermediate
stations along the Korean coast.