Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-06-10
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Three electrical furnaces of 500 horse
power each have been erected at Ca
monica, in the north of Italy. where
the manufacture of pig iron by the
Stassano patent will be engaged in.
The Chinese court may appoint six
foreigners expert specialists, as au-
thorities on international law and
finance, and on military, naval, parlia-
mentary, domestic and governmental
affairs.
South Australia possesses one of
those rarely occurring sink-holes, the
bottom of which lies below the level
of the sea. An expedition, led by Pro
fessor ]. W. Gregory, has started out
to investigate this Australian depres-
sion, which is known as the Lake Eyre
Basin. One object of the explorers is
to obtain light on the unexplained ma
tive traditions concerning giant ami
mails said formerly to have inhabited
the basin.
Not long ago the perfectly preserved
body of a man was discovered in
sealed-up cave iii the French Pyrenees,
where stone was being quarried. Be
side him were some implements of
stone and drinking cup made of bark.
There were also the remains of a fire,
and some bones of animals, which fell
into dust soon after being exposed to
the air. The body was wrapped in what
Is probably the skin of a cave bear. The
man must have been large and athletic.
The Cunard Company has ordered
two new ships intended to excel any
hitherto planned in their ocean-going
speed. Twenty-Five knots, or 2S.8 miles,
per hour will be the contract speed, to
develop which engines of 47,OOO horse
power will be required. The turbine
principle may be employed instead of
engines Of the usual form, and this is
expected to afford very desirable alb
sence Of the vibration which Is SO dis
agreeable to many passengers in the
swift ships hitherto built.
Several methods of applying electrici-
ty to hasten the growth and develop
ment of vegetation have been tested in
Germany. One plan is simply to elec-
trify the air about the growing plants
by passing current through a system
OF barbed wires from the points of
which the electricity is discharged. An
other way is to submit the seeds to an
electric current before they are planted
or sowed. Both of these methods are
said to have given favorable results,
but the best plan yet tried is that of
passing a feeble current of electricity
through the soil. A market gardener
near Paterson, n. j., is said to have
trebled the productiveness of his beds
of carrots, beets and other vegeta bles
by sending through them a current de-
rived from the power cable Of a trolley
line
Hungarian chemist has discover
that some of the salt lakes in Transyl-
yania present the peculiarity of a layer
of warm or even hot salt water, be-
tween two bodies of colder water. Thus
in the Medoc Lake the surface temper
ature in summer Is about 20 degrees,
but at depth Of little more than four
feet the temperature becomes 1872 de-
grees, but declines again to 66 degrees
at the bottom. The surface water is
fresh, but the warm water beneath is
intensely saline, and the explanation of
the difference Of temperature is that,
since the specific heat of salt water is
less than that of fresh water the salt
water is more easily heated by the sun,
and having risen to higher tempera-
ture than that of the everything fresh
water. retains its heat because the
fresh water prevents its escape by
radiation. 1t is suggested that some
use might be found for these natural
or accLmula tors, of solar
heat