The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1904-09-15
SCIENTIFIC NOTES.

The worlds greatest geyser seems to be
that Of Rotorua, in New Zealand. A re-
cent visitor, J. A. Warnock, states that it
plays about u times each month, the
shots" often reaching a height Of 800
to 200 feet, and the basin covers about
loose stones fall into the neck of the tun-
mel filed with hot water, closing the pas
sage until the rising steam pressure for
chilly elects them.
A queer development Of the potato bug
pest is reported from Massachusetts,,
where the bugs have stalled the cars on
the Old Colony Street Railway. Since
the setting in Of cool weather the warmth
Of the rails have attracted the bugs, so
that they swarm over the neighboring
fields in such quantities that, when
crushed under the wheels of the cars.
they grease the track so badly as to pre-
vent the cars running.
Everybody who rides on trolley car has
noticed the crank which the motorman
works so necessarily, and most people
think that il must connect with a compli
Gated set Of machinery in the iron box be-
low. This is q mistake: the crank-or
controller, as it is technically named-is
connected with spindle upon which are
disks that form connection with Is wires
which furnish the motive power. The mo-
tormanmoving the controller has been lik-
ened to the opening Of q spigOt Of a wa
ter pipe, when he wants little power he
turns it very little. and this brings a pair
OF the disks into connection. When he
wants more he turns it forward until all
Ii wires connect to give the full power of
the current. There are preyentives for
any excessive force Of the current. When
an excess strikes the controller it explodes
fuse" and instantly the connection is
broken. This startling event is not dam
gerous to anyone if they keep their seats
About the worst that can happen is that
the mOtorman's clothes may be burned.
1t has been noted that vessels may float
down stream faster than the water. The
explanation is that both the water and the
floating object are being pulled down hill
by gravity, but the water is much more
retarded by friction.
From the latest earthquake data. it is
inferred that the crust of the earth is not
nucleus is more uniform in chemical and
physical conditions than is usually sup
posed.
The United States Geological Survey is
perfecting plans to have reports and
records Of well-boring in all parts Of the
country, to add to our geological knowl-
edge. 1t desires all well-drillers and own
ers to send their addresses, samples, and
records to the Survey at Washington, D.
u. 1t Will send them bags In which they
may transmit samples through the mail
without the payment of postage, and also
memorandum book for noting their Dor
ings. A report of the operations, with
names, will be given at the end of each
year.
The gypsum industry is growing rapidly
in this country, and the product for 1908
was 1.O41.7O7 short tons. valued at 3d.
792,943. The gypsum industry is carried
on commercially in % States and Terri
tories, which. named in the order of their
importance as producers, are Michigan,
New York. Iowa, Texas, Ohio, Oklahoma,
Kansas. Wyoming. Colorado. Utah, Vir-
GINA. California, South Dakota. Nevada,
Montana, Oregon, and New Mexico.
OF late years there has been a great
deal of discrediting lightning rods, both by
scientific and practical men, and the gen.
eral trend of opinion has been against
them as a means of protection. Now the
gets q boom from a commit
tee of the National Fire Protection Asso-
citation, which had been studying the mat
ter for some time, and has come to the con-
clusion that lightnings-rods installed prop
erly are worth far more than their cost.
1t is strongly stated that this does not
mean by any means the lightning rods put
up by the travelling fakirs who are out for
the farmers money. Out of an average
Of III ,469 fires in a year 1851 were
caused by lightning. and they involved
81 1853, 400, which the committee thinks
might have been avoided if proper light
ning-rods had been installed.