The Washington times., 1901-08-05
WITH THE SCIENTISTS.

VIII HE SClkN IlSlS.
The airship or dirigible balloon. so
called. of NJ Santos-Dumont seems to
differ but iittls In type and principle OF
propulsion from many others which have
| preceded IT. some Of them many years
ago. When the fair of the American In
stitute was held in Castle Garden. New
York. some fortyyears ago. n man named
| Robjohn exhibited 2 small cigar-shaped
balloon about twenty feet long. and pos
sibly twenty inches in diameter. Driven by
air propeIlers moved by a small steam en-
CINE, IL circled slowly around the Garden. 1t
was nothing but a model but IL exhibited
as many-in fact. the same-possibiiities
as the Santos-Dumont machine which IL
far from solving the problem of aerial
fight as has been asserted. Even II
machines of this type were wholly man.
ageable in even moderate winds. the ex-
pense of imitation would prevent their
use. for Vi. Dumont says that 1t costs him
$500 for one ascent. People who wish to
go or are ordered off the earth for a little
while will not be willing to pay the price.
1t seems anomalous that gasoline and
naphtha launches should be exempt from
inspection when the agent used for power
| or fuel is much more dangerous than
either steam or gunpowder- Within GER
tain limits. gasoline Is safe enough. but
| those in charge OF it do not know or
, understand how narrow the limits are
Gunpowder will only explode by actual
contact with fire. but gasoline, in evapo-
ration or exposed. renders the air itself
infiammabie for many yards around, and
| needs only the presence of fire to explode
violently. Within few days, launch
was taken to the oil works for supply
of naphtha; those in charge of the opera
ton filled the tank too fun, and, as a
consequence, naphtha ran all over the
bottom of the boat. Regardless of this,
some one in the boat lighted a match.
when the usual result. followed. and the
man will probably die, the vessel itself
being destroyed. Yacht owners should
not take everyone who presents himself,
pretending to know the nature of these
volatile fluids; men say they understand
that they must use great care, without In
the least comprehending the nature OF
the care. That naphtha-flooded yacht was
not fit to use for many hours. or until
every vestige of the naphtha had been
removed.
Recent adverse criticisms from England
upon the performances of American loco
motives in that country have aroused con-
siderable feeling here by reason of their
manifest injustice. As a matter of fact.
the engines alluded to are not American.
except in type; they were built to English
specifications. and are not at all such
engines would be used in this country
for the same work. Aside from that the
drivers and locomotive superiutendents
are exceedingly hostile to foreign ma
chimes, and do not give them fair treat
ment or trial. Moreover the railway sys-
TENS of management in England are far
different frf.Dl hax
facilities for making up heavy trains.
and haul light loads frequently. so that
an engine capable of hauling treble the
number of cars is sent out to do about one
third the work it is able to upon the same
consumption of stores generally. Under
such circumstances they are not econom-
icai. but this is not the fault of the
American locomotive. but is owing to the
way in which il is used.
There have recently been built twenty
two locomotives for the New York Cen
trail Railway, which in point of speed
and hauling capacity far exceed any
others in present use. One of them took
train of ten heavy coaches on a Canada
railway from St. Thomas to Windsor, op-
posite Detroit, a distance of Ill miles,
in 109 minutes. Another train, weighing
about 500 tons, was driven at contin-
upuS Speeu SlXty-tIlret miles per nOur.
A freight train on the New York Central.
consisting OF ninety-four loaded freight
cars. over two-thirds of a mile in length.
was drawn at speeds varying from fifteen
to thirty-five miles per hour, the weight
of the train being 400 net tons. This Is
not the limit of capacity, either but 1t
Is about all that the couplings Will stand.
These engines are of the American type
in every respect. differing only in detail,
particularly in the amount of heating sur
face in the boilers. and they will haul
trains of more than four times the weight
of those in foreign service.
locomotive on the New Jersey Central
Railroad was recently tested with train
of nine coaches, and made over three
miles at the rate of eighty-two miles per
hour, and these performances can be re-
peated regularly. This is not to say. how
ever. that the average rate of speed of
American locomotives is over eighty miles
per hour, for it is very much less but Ii
shows that they have a force in reserve
which can be called on In emergencies to
make up lost time. The only accurate
data for comparing the performances of
locomotives are what are technically called
tra1n-SheetS: these are official records
compiled for the officers of the roads, in
which nothing is extenuated or aught set
down in malice" and they show that
compared with foreign locomotives our
own are far ahead in all that constitutes
efficiency. speed. and economy.
The modern student of anthropology is.
his work than were the enquirers of old,
whose travellers tales" became at one
time byword, not always because they
were lacking in truth. but because there
were no means of corroborating them,
says Chambers Journal Prof Bald
win Spencer of Melbourne, who is pene-
trating the interior of Australia for the
purpose of living among the aborigines
and studying their manners and customs.
takes with him as secretaries cinemato-
graph and a phonograph. by which he
hopes to illustrate their war dances and
their ceremonies, and to bring home
records of their speech The Australian
natives are rapidly becoming extinct. and
such records should prove of peculiar
of some anxiety to this venturesome ex-
plorer To note whether the Australian ma
tive Will regard the latest wonders of
science with respect or antagonism.
Much attention is being given in Eng
land to road engines for general trans
portation cf merchandise. These engines
differ from traction engines, so called,
which have been in use for many years.
in that they are lighter. faster, and carry
more freight than the older type. They
are very easily handled, less cumbrous in
every way. ard en tirely manageable under
conditions of city traffic, going into the
most crowded thoroughfares among all
other vehicles without disaster They
carry, on an average. about five tons of
freight, and have both steam and oil mo-
different classes. of course. The
engines are carried under the freight plat
boilers tya yrh