The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1901-07-24
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A large hospital is being built in the
Vosges Mountains for the isolation
and treatment of lepers. In case
whole families are attacked small
dwellings are provided for them.
The longest cold season is found In
the Rocky Mountain region, where 1t
exceeds the warm by about ten days.
The warm season In Texas and the
Lower Missouri Valley opens about
ten days earlier than in the region
near the Middle Atlantic coast, and
from twenty to twenty-five days ear.
lier than on the southern coast of Cal
ifornia. In the Northwest the warm
season opens from twenty to twenty
five days earlier than in the lake re-
gion, and from fifteen to twenty days
earlier than in the North Pacific coast
region.
General Brialmont, famous for the
defence plans of Antwerp. has lately
devised new uses for cement i'm the
walls of fortresses. Masonry walls,
or walls of ordinary cement, are quic,:-
ly demolished by modern high-pow-
cred cannon, but General Brialmont
has succeeded in mixing fragments of
granite throughout cement mass,
so that the resulting mass has extra
ordinary resistance. Iron cables i'm
bedded in the mass join its parts to-
gether so that it holds firmly even
when deeply assured. A wall of the
sort will resist the heaviest artillery
when its thickness is ten feet.
Ichthyologists are much interested
In the capture by North Shields fish.
ing boat of the extremely rare opah.
or king-fish. Its appearance Off the
coasts of England is very rare. Its
chief glory Is its beautiful coloring-
blue, green and yellow, and bright
vermIlion - and its scimitarlike fins
on the upper part of the back. The
sides are green above, and beneath the
lateral lines are n number of yellowish
white spots from which the fish de-
rives its name of luna. In Japan 1t is
termed tai, and is regarded as an en-
blem of happiness, because 1t Is sacred
to Neptune while by other observers
its SNOWY colors have caused it to be
likened to one of the sea gods.
1t is a matter of common knowledge
that the vault of the sky has lat least
to the eyes of some persons) an ap-
parently flattened form, the horizon
appearing to be more distant than the
zenith. Professor w. G. Brenlse, of
has made an attempt to determine ex-
perlmentally the amount of the ap-
parent 1attening, by means of "a Sc
ries of estimates of the angular dis
tances of stars by class of junior en-
gineering students, all of whom
were somewhat familiar with
the estimation of angles The result
untechnical way, is that an object
the moon. for instance-appears to be
about three-fourths as distant from
us when in the zenith as when on the
horizon.
On the coast of Africa, opposite the
mouth of the River Congo and con-
tinuous with the course of that river
lies a submerged valley, the existence
and shape of which have been ascer-
tanned by means of soundings made
by the British Admiralty. This val
ley, through which the Congo proba-
bly, flowed at time when the western
coast of Africa was more elevated
than it is at present, is 122 miles In
length, extending to the edge of the
platform of submerged land which
borders the continent. Its sides are
steep, precipitous and well defined,
indicating that they are formed Of
solid rocks. Other submerged river
valleys are found on the western coast
of Europe, and similar phenomena
exist in various parts Of the world
where the edges of continents have
sunk.