Evening journal., 1903-10-15
FACTS IN FEW LINES

ton.
II tallow candle be placed in a gun
and shot at a door Il will 80 through |
without sustaining any injury.
Greek is perhaps the most perfect in
strument of thought ever Invented by
man, and its literature has never been
equaled In purity of style and boldness
Of expression.
In an article on "The Age Of the
World" Sir Edward Fry. the famous
English geologist. declares that 45O.-
100000 years must have elapsed since
the existence OF life O.. the globe.
Three-fourths Of the great mass OF
manufactures which enter into inter.
national commerce are composed OF
iron and steel, copper and cotton of
which We are the worlds largest pro-
ducers.
Coffee culture in Java IS on the wane.
and il is not improbable that In the
course OF time 1t win be given up en-
tirely. The reasons for this are the ok
haustion Of the soil and the compeu-
ton Of Brazilian coffee.
Siberian railway trains under new
schedule cover the distance from Mos.
cow to Port Arthur. 5.3SS miles, I'm
thirteen days. the fare, including sleep
er, being Sl34. The globe trotter can
have a special train Of three cars for
Sl.03 a mile.
Bank Superintendent Kilburn in his
last report says that there has been
no failure among trust companies In
the state of New York in eighteen
years, and, with a single exception, no
trust company has in recent years sus-
tained an impairment of capital
Manchester has celebrated the CEN
tenary OF John Daltons atomic theory.
His table of ultimate atoms. with the
atom Of hydrogen as it's unit was
formulated IN September. 1903, and
while his atomic combining weights
remain the ultimate atom" has been
exploded.
In 1850 the consumption OF distilled
spirits-brandy and whislly-in the
United States averaged about pa gal
Ions for each person. while today the
average IS about ] 1-3 gallons. In 1850
the consumption of beer was a gallon
and a half for each Individual. Now
II Is ia gallons.
The Berlin newspapers tell Of a won
derful baby giant which was recently
brought by its parents before the med
ical faculty of that city for examine
ton. He is the son OF a baker at
Drievers and. although only eighteen
months old. stands three and half
feet high. He measures thirty-six
inches around the chest
Among the great physicists Sir Oil
yer Lodge believes In telepathy and
Sir William Crookes In ghosts. Lori
Kelvin recently said that "science posi-
lively confirmed creative power" an,
Sir William Thistleton-Dyer the al
rector of Kew botanical gardens com
plains that Kelvin "wipes out by
stroke of the pen the whole position
Darwin won for US"
The greatest successes in the electri,
al transmission Of water power hav
been made in the United States. For
ty-three companies, having total ca
pacity Of 1T7300 horse power. trans
NIT power over n line distance of / .54l
miles, on an average twenty-six miles
with a voltage which ranges from 10,
600 TO 10000 volts. The maximum dis
tance over which power IS transmitted
is from Colgate to San Francisco, 22C
miles, with loss OF % per cent.
A Boston entomologist makes the ex
traordinary statement that bugs. under
which generic name he includes the
little creatures from the grasshopper
down TO the ladybug, are destroying
property in this country 70 the amount
of S25O,00OOOO a year. The grasshop-
per eats up $90.OOO.O0O worth OF vege.
tation. the Hessian fly S5OO00,00o, the
chinchbug $10,O0OO0O the potato bug
SS,0OO,OOO. Moths, ladybugs, tobacco
worms. squashbugs. beetles and nu-
merous other chronological entities
consume the remainder.
The production Of nitric acid by cleo
trO chemical methods is a new process
that promises extensive changes In our
agriculture The manufacture Of nitric
acid from the nitrogen and oxygen OF
the air in sufficient quantities for com
mercial use has been the dream and
hope OF scientists for years. At NJ
agara experiments have been conduct
ed successfully in producing CONNER
cial nitric acid by using a high tension
current In an air chamber. by which a
yield Of one pound Of nitric acid is OBJ
tanned for every seven horse power
hours.
DR.. Yamane, member Of the house
OF representatives, proclaimed in a re
cent debate that more than 10000 per
sons succumb annually TO tuberculosis
in Japan. and the number is constant
ly increasing. In regard TO leprosy hs
stated: There Is no country in tho
world ia which this disease is so preva
lent and so neglected. The home Office
returns show that there are 33,0J'
lepers in Japan, while their offsprlns
number 999.300. The authorities al
low leprous beggars to sit on the pub
lie streets and to infect the very ali
with their spittle."
The emitting Of torpedo tubes In on
recent battle ships is criticised adverse
ly by the Scientific American. The.
were not installed because in late war
several vessels have been destroyed b,
their own torpedoes. An under waite
device for launching torpedoes, having
been perfected which puts them below
the protective deck, safe from the en-
emy's shell fire. has reduced this dan
ger. All foreign nations now building
war ships are putting In torpedo tube