Amador ledger., 1906-11-16

Aeronautics. Propeller Driving for
Bicycles.-A New Mineral Water
1est.-Our Light from Stars. Can
Ger Increase.
The increase in the production of
metals - especially in the United
States-has been a most remarkable
feature in the industrial evolution of
the last quarter century. The output
of pig iron in the United States has
trebled in ten years, and reached "a, :
432, LOG tons in 1905, which was about
equal to the total production for
the rest of the world. The per capita
consumption of pig iron in 1905
reached $40 pounps in the United
States and was only 6s pounds in the
whole world. The production of
copper in the United States increased
from %, 900 tons in 1880 to 300
tons in 1905, or from a sixth of the
worlds output to one-haIf. The
annual yield of gold has quadrupIed
in twenty years. The output for 1905
is given by M. de Launay as 1908
millions of francs, of which the Trans
vaal furnished 524 millions, the
United States 436 millions, and
Australia 432 millions. The pro-
ductIon of aluminium has grown from
few pounds ten years ago to 5000
tons In 1905.
Illness or sudden death from enter
Ing long closed holds of ships have
been attributed to the presence of
carbon monoxide or an excess of car
bonic acid. Late experiments have
convinced G. Giemsa that lack of
oxygen is more often the cause, as
many stored substances absorb this
gas rapidly. while air containing less
than 10 per cent must soon prove
fatal. He concludes further that
such processes as the drying of floor
varnish may absorb oxygen to an
unsafe extent in closed rooms.
Fitting turbine vertically to the
keel is Otto Schlick's method of pre-
venting the violent motion of ship
at sea. Tested in an old torpedo beat
at the mouth of the Elbe in rough
weather, the roll was reduced from
nine degrees to one degree.
The "Orthoptera, of which half
sized model has been exhibited at
Brussels, is pointed out as probably
the most grotesque of the many pro-
Jected flying machines. 1t is the
invention of Capt. Marga, M. de la
Hault and M. Jansen, it belongs to
the class of machines that are slightly
heavier than the air and are to be
raised by planes, propellers or wings;
and 1t resem bles a gigantic bee or
wasp. 1t has head and six legs,
which seem to serve for balancing,
while the body is an enclosed cabin
with two windows on each side.
The action depends upon the oiled
silk wings and the aluminium pro-
pellers, and the latter are driven by
a sixty horsepower Buchet motor at
the enormous velocity of 10000 re-
volutIons per minute. The body of
the apparatus has q double skin of
cloth, with an air-space between,
while the tail is provided with three
0root oIrouchi0Do 70 Iaseor tbo ,hooI-
on descending.
To determine the effect upon
bicycle of well-designed propeller,
driven by six-power motor, has
been the purpose of the experiments
of M. Archdeacon. The motor bicycle
is provided with a propeller shaft
carried in frame supplying bear
ing just in front of the drivers seat
and another IN front of the front
wheel. Power is furnished By a two
cylinder Buchet motor. The pro-
peller has two sheet aluminium blades,
and their inner portion is perforated
and covered with gold beater's skin.
The machine weighs about l54 pounds.
Carrying the famous bicycIist Anzani,
the total weight being $50 pounds,
the bicycle glided along very smooth
Iy, and ultimately developed the fair
speed of 1927 miles an hour.
The new electrical test of d.
Negreano, a French electrician, dis
tinguishes between different mineral
waters and detects limitations. 1t
consists simply in measuring, the
electrical resistance, which proves to
be very constant for the water of any
spring at a given temperature, but
varies greatly for different springs.
Samples from the leading Continental
springs, for instance, gave resistances
per cubic centimeter ranging from
d. to 1880 ohms.
Var;o attempts have been made
to estimate the light of the Stars. In
the northern hemisphere, ArgeIander
has registered 324. 900 stars down to
the go magnitude, and with the aid of
the best photometric data, Agnes M.
CIerke's new "System of the Stars"
gives the sum of the light of these
northern stars as equivalent to LAO
of full moonlight; and the total light