Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1902-09-03

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Two great Minneapolis flour mills
will soon be burning Texas oil instead
of coal A greet railway company
operating in that city, as well as ST.
| Panl, is also conducting experiments
| with oil for the same purpose.
Corn oil, made from the germ, forms
the basis of a substitute for rubber
when vulcanized. This substitute COM
pounded with sixty per cent. of COM
| mercial rubber is used in the manufac.
ture of rubber boots, lnoleum, wheel
tires, rubber blankets and many other
articles.
A new explosive, which is said TO be
more powerful than dynamite, maxi
mite or lyddite, and yet which may be
handled with absolute safety. has been
invented by Professor G. NJ. Hath
away. 1t is named hathamite, after
its inventor, and at a recent public
test Professor Hathaway demonstrated
its safety by pounding the explosive
upon an anvil, throwing it into fire
| and firing rife bullets through it at a
speed of 1850 feet second. In order
to fire the new explosive it is necessary
to use strong detonating cap.
About 160 photographs of Nova Per.
sci were taken during the year at the
| Greenwich Observatory. The results
of determinations of its parallaX from
study of these photographs were
negative, the parallactic shift being
| apparently insensible, probably not
more than one-twentieth of a second.
| This would imply distance from the
| earth of at least sixty years of light
| passage, and possibly much more, so
| that there is really nothing impossible
in Professor Kapteyn's hypothesis that
the apparent expansion of the nebula
was simply due to the outward pas.
sage of the light from the nova, il.
| Eliminating In succession more and
more distant regions of nebulosity
The distance required by this hypo.
thesis is 290 light years, so that the
outburst We witnessed last year might
have taken place in the reign of James
l., and the star itself actually ceased
to exist many years ago.
Drs. Sante de Sancts and II. Neyro2,
of Rome, have invented an instrument
which they call Griessbach ethesi-
ometer, and with which they have re.
Gently been conducting experiments
to determine how much eXcitation is
necessary before sleeping people begin
to move, and how much it requires to
wake them. The sleepers are prodded
with this instrument until the desired
data are obtained. "It may be used
with either Il sharp or a blunt point"
The practical or scientific value of the
information to be derived from this
investigation is any thing but obvious,
and the necessity of special instru-
ment for securing it is even less so.
There are so many factors entering into
'sleepiness" - muscular, mental, IA
tigue, the condition of the stomach,
the temperature, pathological condi-
lions, temperament, etc-that the bare
determination of the stimulus neces-
almost no psychological value.
A house of artificial stone blocks,
two-thirds of which are material and
the rest hollow, will soon be built at
New Orleans. The mold in which the
blocks are built is simple contriv-
ance 1t consists of foundation pro-
vided with three rectangular columns,
that may be elevated, whose dimen-
sions are those of the cavities in the
blocks; to the foundation of the mold
are hinged its ends and sides, which
LET down. When the ends and sides
of the mould are in position, it is mere
ly box; plate is let down upon the
bottom of the mould; then the columns
at the bottom of The mould are eie-
waited through openings in the plate.
The mould is then in readiness to re-
ceive the mixture of sand and Port
land cement, which is shovelled into
the mould, filling the entire space sur
rounding the elevated columns. 1t is
tamped with great force. After the
| tamping process, the sides and ends of
the mould are let down, the columns
are depressed, and the plate OH which
the materials were poured is lifted
out, with the manufactured block rest
ing upon it. The blocks are put out in
the air. and in the course of week
they are ready to be used for building.
They should not be subjected to too
great heat from the sun, and it is neces
sary to moisten them each day. The
great simplicity of the process lies in
the fact that sand is absolutely incom-
pressible, and tamping secures as COM
plete results as are obtained from the
pressing of clay in making the finer
qualities of bricks, and with very much
smaller expenditure of labor. The
sand and cement are moistened while
being mixed.
Gall and Grit.
Gall, in the present use of the term,
ie Jofarr, In n Hon 10 do