The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-01-20

'H"'h ''JNNN ~ W supply hhA'ti-A
facts aud curious Information. Questions
Of personal interest only will not be
answered. No business or personal ad
dresses win be given. Questions as to the
value, etc, Of old coins and stamps will
not be answered, All correspondence
shonld be addressed to The Letter Box.
care Houston Post. aud TO receive atten.
ton must he signed by the name In full
of the party making the inquiry, as well
as that under which II s desired that the
question shall appear. Owing to the large
number OF questions received answers can
not always be given promptlyJ
Seeker q. Is Ice ever warmer or colder
thsn 20 degrees;
\. IT a Thermometer is buried In ice il
viii Indicate 81 degrees, and II piece o.
Ice is thrown into hoiiing water md lets
there until IL Is almost gone what re-
mains will stlll be at 80 degrees Ice can
never be gotten above that temperature
In winter, however. Ice Will 20 as much
below the 81 degrees mark az the weather
does. can ice man delivering ice ono zera
day In January was asked whether his Ice
was any colder than In July. He thought
not. But us matter OF fact u piece OF
summer Ice II he had had It. would have
been something OF foot warmer for him,
Is II would have been 80 degrees warmer
thnu the air OF the bottom of his wagon"
Mixing salt with tee makes 1t much cool
er The Ice in an ice cream freezer goes
down TO about zero. This Is why the point
zero on our common thermometers was
hxcd whore II is. II was supposed to be
the lowest point which could be reached
by artificial mems, Since then we have
reached about 1888 degrees below zero by
chemical processes Ice will cool down
with everything else on a cold night to
zero or below.
Render.-Q Please describe the library
at Windsor palace?
A. There are about 10000 volumes now
at Windsor. When the two libraries
formed by George II and George III went
10 the British museum the castle was for
some years without any literature ut ave
But under William " forgotten collections
we're uuenrthed at st. James palace,
Hampton court and elsewhere and brought
together at Windsor and day after d.N
/ for twenty years the prince conBurt de-
voted his leisure moments to the congo.
n'al task Of repairing the gaps lu this
new library. The Windsor library Is now
one Of tho most perfect retrents in all
England for a rainy day. II has superb
outlook across to Stoke and far away to
iarrow-on thc.IIill. and the privileged Ia.
dies and gentlemen of the court loll In ts
cosy chairs. lcathcred in brilliant scarlet,
and rest their books upon polished ebony
tables inlnid with ivory ana revel Ia the
spirits Of the past--of Anne and the
Duchess Of Elizabeth and her firing maids.
OF Charles II and Lely's beauties.
y y T.
s. K.-Q. Does the Russian battleship
Retvizan, butt at the Cramp shlp yard.
Philadelphia, carry American gunsY
A. Mo- she carries terrible battery, and
the hig guns are novel to American eyes,
for the Russians Manufacture nU their
own heavy ordnance at the Obrukorf works.
There arc four l@-lnch. twelve G.lnch aud
twenty Sinch guns In the main battery,
while the secondary group Is made up OF
twenty Il kilomcter Iiotchkss rapid-hre
cannon. Every one Of these has TO be test.
ed hero. not because the Russians fear the
/ efficiency of the guns themselves but tl
enable them to learn Just how the carriage.
aud the httings stand the straln. and also
what sort Of gun platform the vessel Is
) \
fo,tnl.--Q. Arc British mails carried by
American railways In any cn.e7
Yes. fhc capture Of the London Aus
, tralIp nail contract By Amcrlcn railway,
1 Is one N the notable incidents Of last year
and serves to call public attention to thi
j Phenomenal speed records made ny ae
railway mail trains IN this country. The
/ railroads which captured this contract dem
ousuated their ability to cut down the
GX 1
days. aud the British mail, which consists
largely Of government reports from Ans
trala, New Zealand aud Japan 10 the
, British parliament will hereafter 20 by
the United states route Instead ~ by the
SueE canal route.
Alfred ZONES, q. What IS the difference
between india rubber and cutta ptrcha aud
! now much OF the former do we import?
A. The word "gutta' signifies gam, aud
. IL used onlF IN compounds. as guttn-trap
eutta perchH, etc. Gutta percha Is a
hrownIsh red solid. which softens with
heat and is q juice Of au evergreen tree
lsomandra Of tho Malay archlpelagooe. In,
dia rubber, on the contrary, Is a soft, dcx
lbe substance, derived from the milky sap
of various tropical plants belonging to the
nettle family, dog'bape family, bread fruit
family otc. An india rubber tree is any
tree Welding cuoutchouc or india rubber
substances We import annually into the
unlted states about S20000,OO0 worth,
~
Angler-o. Is 1t possible to toll the age
OF nshes7
A, The rings on the scales OF fish are
not quite safe criterlops, and In many fish
rney are 100 small to be seen 10 any pur.
pose But according to Prof Hansen, the
rings ON the ear, or hearing stones zee.
hcrstclnel, AFFORD sure clue to the age OF
the hsh In which they are found, The car
stones are OF varied form aud sizes and
look like little bits Of china. These bones
grow with the fish, aud u now ring Is
formed each year, as in the case of trees
~
James R.-o, What products are obtal aed
from sawdust?
\, The products obtained from sawdUSt
are gas, wood alcohol acctlc acid, tar and
oils. From the tar there have been ob
! talned benzole. toluolc zymole cumole
. paraffine nnphthaiCup and hydrocarbons