The Washington herald., 1907-11-28
MEN AND THINGS.
Destruction OF the lena.


The report Of the special committee ap-
pointed by the Senate 20 inquire into the
causes of the explosion which led TO the
destruction Of the French battle ship lena
has just been issued says the Paris
correspondent of the London Times.
II is in three parts. The first part
gives the views expressed by the COM
mittee. accompanied by plans OF the yes
sci and the conclusions Of the reporter.
N. Monis. The two other parts are de-
voted 10 the evidence taken at Toulon,
Paris. and Angouleme. The reporter urges
the necessity Of more strict surveillance
over the manufacture OF the powders en-
ployed. IN order to secure greater homo
geneity and stability both from the stand
point Of safety and from that Of their
ballistic qualities. He proposes the use Of
freezing apparatus 20 keep the temperature
OF the powder magazines under seventy
seven degrees Fahrenheit. The reporter
further dwells upon the necessity Of great
er precautions in tie handling of the differ
ent powders. suggesting that the black
powder should. If possible. be excluded
from the ships. II that be found imprac-
ticable. then II should be kept isolated and
removed from the 3 powders. which. ac-
cording to the committee Of the Senate,
were the cause Of the disaster 20 the lena.
An UncOnauered Mountain.
The mountains and peaks Of the san
Juan in southwestern Colorado present a
different appearance from any of the
northern Rockies. They are grander. more
precipitous. with sharper pinnacles and
more Jagged in outline. In height. Mounts
Massive. Ebert. and Blanca slightly out
rank those of the San Juan. but nowhere
else can be found whole groups Of noun
ta!ns rearing their heads TO and above
l4,e00 feet. Mount WilsOn-l4.250 feet-the
dominant peak. is one OF the most mass
i've in the entire Rocky Mountain range.
Just east Of this mountain IS the remark
able trachyte obelisk called Lizard
Head" The vivid Imagination Of an early
pioneer who had been seeing thirgs.' is
said To be responsible for the name. The
summit is l.46) feet above the sea. From
a pOnderous base tine pinnacle rises 30 feet.
with n diameter at the foot OF only about
sixty feet. gradually tapering 10 less than
half that al the top Lizard Head has de-
fed all attempts OF mountain climbers 10
reach its summit The foot Of the pin
nacle is easily accomplished. but thus
far the steep sides OF the 290-foot shaft
have proved insurmouutable. No doubt
the time VIII come when the venturesome
mountain climber viii find way. but
many a failure IS the record % the past
The Cold Days in May.
No satisfactory explanation has ever
been made Of the periodic. and more or
less regularly occurring. intervals OF
/ three or four cold or warm DAYS inset
in the seasons. These three or four fine
days occur in March, while there are stv-
eral cold days in May. known a. the
ice saints and the periods of 81. Luxe
summer and ST. Martins summer.
Moreover, in no country does the tem-
perature increase or decrease through 'he
year regularly and progressively There
are always anomalies. and some of these
anomalies persist and become more def
mite with increasing number Of Jbserva-
tions- Some aspects Of these abnOrmaIi-
ties are noted by a writer in the Revue
Scientihque. and he points out that the
( cold snap of May H. L. I3 Is followed
, six months later by the warm davs OF
ST Martins summer in November. Is
/ there a connection between the two. and
IS u possible that the intersection Of the
earths path with m@.eJ-ic swarm az
/ about this period could in any way aC-
count for the phenomenon? Ia the FIRST
half OF November. when the earn was
/ between these asteroids ana tn sun.
these bodies would reflect the solar lays.
In May, on the contrary. the asteroids
being between the earth Iu5 sun. would
cut of a part Of the solar radiation.