The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1903-02-12
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An invention which all railroad trav-
elers will appreciate is to be tested on
the new trains of the Berlin-Zossen ex-
perimental railway. 1t is a device for
carrying the smoke from the locomo-
tive to the rear end Of the train
through closed conduit running along
the top Of the carriages.
The inertia of two thousand-pound
automobile at seventy-6ve miles an
hour is calculated by e. Hospitalier to
De the same as would be given by fall
of 1876 feet. The retarding power de-
veloped by the brakes on the frail tires
must average about sixty-horse power,
though the maximum strain may be
nearly twice as great.
Casks Of corkwoOd, the recent inven-
ton of resident of Algeria, are claim
ed to have important advantages. Cork
being bad conductor Of heat, liquids
are protected from freezing on expos
ure to cold, and perishable substances
are preserved from heat in warm eli
mates. AS interior coating keeps the
contents from contact with the cork.
The slaves do not warp, and an eleven
gallon cask weighed only thirty pounds
instead of the eighty pounds that
would have been it's weight in Ordi-
nary wood.
Investigation about a year ago show
ed that the balata tree grows in album
dance along thousands Of miles of the
Amazon and it's tributaries, but that
the Brazilians were rapidly cutting the
trees for firewood and building mate
rial. Since then the production Of gutta
percha from this source has been be-
gun. Each tree yields an average Of
31a pounds, and competent bleeder
can prepare forty to fifty pounds per
day, one mans work producing as
much sap as twenty men can get from
rubber trees. The gum is ready for
shipment after being fermented and
then dried.
One of the so-called "lost arts" ap-
pears to have been rediscovered, par
tally, at least, by Louis Kauffield Of
Matthews, Ind. 1t is process of max
ing glass of extraordinary toughness,
so that it will withstand rough usage
and violent changes of temperature
without breaking. The composition of
the new glass is the secret of the in
ventor. The product is said to be
quite as transparent as ordinary glass,
and perhaps even little clearer. Tests
that prove the surprising toughness
of this glass are: Boiling water in a
lamp chimney made of it, and using
such a chimney to drive nails. If the
chimney is first cooled in ice water and
then suddenly held in fame it does
not crack.
Prof. g. Frederick Wright, who re-
Gently made trip across Asia for sci
entific study, says one of the surprises
of Siberia is it's abundance of public
museums in which special attention is
devoted to anthropology. Since Asia
has been regarded by. many as the orig
inal cradle of mankind, this preference
for anthropological study is particular
ly interesting. Prof Wright mentions
a dozen cities Of Asiatic Russia, in
GLIDING Vladivostok, Irkutsk, Minus
insk, Tomsk, Tashkend and Tifiis,
which contain excellent museums, and
he SAYS there is scarcely town Of TO-
600 inhabitants in all Siberia which is
not thus provided with an educational
factor bearing particularly OH the
study of the human race, which may
we'll provoke our emulation.