Amador ledger., 1907-03-01

A unique piece of engineering now
IN progress at Newcastle on Tyne
includes novel application of ferro-
concrete. The rapidly growing sub
urb of Heaton is separated by valley
from 300 to HOO feet wide and 10
feet deep, at the bottom of which
runs the OusebuIn river, and after
rejecting various plans for improving
communication the engineers have
decided to fill up the valley. A para
bolic ferrorconcrete culvert for the
stream, 81 feet wide by % feet high
and nearly half mile long. will be
covered by filling about 100 feet deep.
The steel frame work of the culvert.
with total weight of $50 tons, con-
sists of bars from SIG to IL inches
in diameter, having a maximum
separation of u inches, and, the
ferro-concerte at the crown is only 8
inches thick. With the steel strength
ening, it Is calculated that this
thickness is ample to support the
enormous weight, which will include
buildings on the made land.
In the simultaneous discharge of
eight of the ten Pinch guns of the
Dreadnaught, shock was given the
vessel of 100000 tons, more than
double that of any broadslde ever
before fired. The vessel of IS, 500
tons skldded sideways several yards,
listing many degrees. The guns are
53 feet long. and each shell OF $50
pounds is discharged by 265 pounds
of cordite, with muzzle velocity of
1000 miles an hour. 1t is calculated
THAT if the eight guns could be com
bined in one and fired at the height
of the atmosphere, the shell would
travel around the earth forever as a
miniature satellite.
More than 100 instances of the
important influence on history of
weather in war time have been col
lected by Richard Bentley, of the
Royal Meteorological Society. Wind.
fog, rain, snow, hail, thunder storms,
heat and cold have all materially
affected 1nvasions, battles, retreats
and other operations.
Recent tests of "electroIytlc medi-
cation" suggest to French enthusiasts
a revolution in medical practice. 1t
solves the problem of bringing cuIa-
tive substances into contact with the
part only, and thus it is possi
BILE to treat the liver-for Instance
without introducing powerful drugs
into the stomach, with risk of injury
to nerves. heart, and the rest of the
body. The new method depends upon
the fact that elements of a decom-
posed solution pass to the electric
poles. For example, sponge saturat-
ed with iodide of potassium may be
applied to each side of the body, and
the electric current will cause the
potassium to penetrate the tissues at
the positive pole and the iodine at
the negative. 1t is found to be easy
to excite at will either local action
on the skin or action throughout the
organism. DR.. Stephane Leduc has
locally introduced salIcylic acid in
this way, and has thus cured tic
douloureuX of the face after several
surgical operations had failed. Even
more remarkable was the case of
young soldier discharged from
military hospital with a hand made
useless by a burn. The scar was
treated electrolytically, the hand
being placed in bath of sodium
chloride serving as cathode, and two
sittlngs of thirty minutes each effect
ed complete cure.
Considerable lead has been found
in the ice cream, fruit ices, etc., sold
in Rome The 1eceptacles used In
freezing are lined with an alloy of
lead and tin, and this not Nonly dis
solves in the ice cream, but PARTICLES
are rubbed off in turning the freezer.
An Italian chemist. proving the pre-
sence of these metals with copper,
concludes that lead poisoning ae-
counts for much of the digestive
troubles of the ice cream season.
Not least among the educational
advantages of both Berlin and Vienna
is so-calIed Urania lecture theater,