The St. Johns herald., 1901-07-13
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The water of the larger Norwegian l fjords, or rock bays, though in direct communication with the sea, are so saltless as to be drinkable.
 At a high altitude, where the air is rarefied, water boils at a lower tenn perature than it does at lower place, Tea and coffee cannot be made, nor can vegetables be cooked by ordinary rules. because the water boils at such a low temperature it will not cook the food. Water must boil at the tempera- ture of PIP degrees F. to do the work.
 Prof. R. T. Fessenden, of the United States Weather Bureau, is making ex' periments with wireless telegraphy on the southern coast. Stations will be established at Capes Hatteras and Henry and at other coast points north of Cape Hatteras. It Is the Govern ment's intention to communicate storm warnings to vessels at sea off this dan- gerous locality. It is also intended to send storm signals to life-saving sta tions when the wires are disabled. II the tests are successful the entire coast will be similarly equipped
 L. B. Dudley, the United States Con sul at Vancouver, reports that expert ments are being made on the coast of British Columbia with an automatic system for warning ships of their ap- proach to dangerous rocks and shoals when the weather is so bad that neither lights nor fog horns can avail. The principle is that of wireless telegraphy, and the operation is automatic. From a metallic conductor, fixed at an ele- vation on or near the point of peril, electric waves are transmitted over B zone several miles in width. Any ship provided with a proper receiving in- strument, and coming within this zone. Is immediately warned of the proxim- ity of danger, and the direction and distance of the concealed peril are auto matically recorded.
 One of the most curious of storm phe- nomena is the formation of hail. It is known that this frozen rain falls from clouds at high levels, where the tenn perature is low enough to crystalline the water. Thus thousands of tons of hailstones may be discharged from a mass of cloud within a few minutes. On May 9, 1865, near Catelet, in France, quantity of hailstones esti- mated at twenty-one million cubic feet fell in space a mile and a quarter iong and two thousand feet broad. Such Ice crystals of extraordinary size have been observed occasionally. The larg- est hailstones on record fell in southern France in October, 1S44, one weighing eleven pounds being picked up. Doubt less, however, these exceptional hail. stones are agglomerations representing many crystals fused together.
 A well-known critic of art in France. NJ. Arsene Alexandre, studied the ex- hibit of railway locomotives at Paris last summer from new point of view, and drew some interesting conclusions. One of his most surprising differences was that the genuine art of to-day was exhibited not in the museum of paint lngs, but among the locomotives. The latter showed beauty of line and pro portion and true originality of treat ment National character was clearly marked in them. The American loco motive combined elegance, practicality, convenience and power, betokening a race which takes its ease in working. The English locomotive was more trim, snug and smaller, but without loss of power. The French was lighter and finer in line, but less powerful and effective. The other nations showed similar distinctions in their work.