The evening times., 1902-05-31

Immigration figures have been follow
ing meat prices lately According to d,
late report from the Bureau of ImmigTa-
ton bout 10000 immigrants landed this
week at Ellis Island Nine steamers
reached the port of New York from ital-
ian ports. At the rate maintained since
January 500. coo viii have come TO this
country before the year Is out The
great influx Of foreigners is ascribed 10
tie heavy demand for Uushiled labor on
the many big building enterprises.
Examiner Pond. Of the civil engineer
ing division Of the Patent Office has
his force very busy on several aPpl;ca-
tions for patents on important trans
portation devices. One Of the most i'm
Dortant is the work Of a Cleveland in
ventor. He has invented a cylindrical
cradle designed 10 unload coal or ore
from the cars into the hold Jf q boat
The device Is called tiDDle- and n
England is often called a tippleT,
name somewhat suggestive Of the os-
cIIIating motion OF q man who has been
out.
Another very important invention Is
that OF apparatus TO control the hoist
ing Of elevators and to remove the ever
present danger of fall. The invention
is intended to obviate the factor of the
gravity OF the elevator and to have it
propelled by positive force
Examiner Pond believes that the time
for absolutely fTepToof buildings, 50 far
as the structural work is copceTned, has
come. Late inventions are sheet metal
window and door facings and metal
floors and light sheet metal partitions.
F-r1
wood viii cease to be a factor in the
construction OF the large business
houses
An agent of the National Museum has
been giving some experiences in Central
Australia. One Of the most curious
things. he noted was the habit the green
frogs have of demoraIizing the telegraph
service, The frogs climb the dToppeTs
and rOost on the insuiatoTs- They stretch
out a leg and touch the iron pole That
is about all from 1he frog bu. his re
mains stay there ard continue to divert
the current One result is a paragraph
like this in the papers: In consequence
OF an interruption TO the lines probably
caused by a cyclone disturbance in the
interior. We are unable TO present our
readers with the usual cables from Eng
iandi''
Mr.. William A Countryman, of Con
Eecticut, a clerk IN the Census Bureau,
has contributed TO Bulletin 173 an in
teresting table relative to the manufac-
ture Of watches in the United States.
The first watches made by machinery
were made in Hartford in 1898 In one
factory in Waltham, Mass, there are
8 600 employees, and the firm turns out
250 watches q year per workman There
are forty-thTee matchmaking establish
meuts in the country About Il O0G peO-
pie are employed n the watch and clock
factories The value Of the products is
1896, 81. The producing power per
man has been nearly doubled in twenty
years.
All Patent Office records are being
ecIiased this year March. april. May,
and Juae are the busiest months in the
patent line, and IL one week lately there
were 200 issues Of patents. This breaks
the record
In Geological Survey circles there has
been great revival Of interest in the
subject Of earthquakes. Director Wal
eott and his assistants have been get
ting up statistics. The earthquake at
Charleston is vividly remembered. for
It killed forty-one people and destroy
ed $. .C0G. 900 worth Of property. But
that was not The only destructive shock
this country has experienced. There
have been others in historic times. one
near the head Of the Mississippi delta
IN 1S11-12, and one in the Inyo Valley,
California, IL 1872 The former, known
as the New Madrid earthquake. was re-
marEabIc for the length Of time which
its phenomena covered There were
several shocks at short intervals for
several months, and the whole series Of
shocks !asted about Two years. The
country was sDarsely settled. and no
scientific records Of the disturbance
we're made. but il is related that the
aiuviaI land o. the river bottoms was
traversed By visible waves. which rock
ed the trees 10 and fro and uprooted
many. Huge assures were opened, and
lakes were drained by the escape Of
their waters into them. The largest
suuECu area is said to have been sixty
or eighty miles long and nearly half as
bread. The InyO Valley earthquake
Was caused by q renewed movement
along the great fault plain al the east
ern base Cf the Sierra Nevada. The
chief shock lasted only a few minutes
but others OF less violence continued for
two or three months. s tremendous fis-
sure was formed along the base Of the