Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-15

bed and equipment Of the lines are ex-
cellent and 1t will compare favorably with
any road in the state in all particulars
Scattered through the state of Pennsyl-
vania there are to be found in several
places the remains Of the incline railways
which were once part OF the transporta-
ton system connecting the eastern and
western ends of the state. These have all
been long abandoned, but one of the in
clines was recently made use OF I'm a
novel manner to rescue a locomotive which
mad fallen over an embankment II had
dropped SO far that 1T was out OF the
reach of ordinary methods. but a tempo
rary road was made by which IL was
moved along the side Of the mountain a
short distance to the foot of one OF these
inclines. Although the incline is at an
angle OF about 40 degrees, and Is $50 feet
long, a temporary track was laid up il
to the main line. and the locomotive
hauled up 1t on its own wheels by means
OF the two ffty-ton wrecking cranes. A
heavy steel cable in five sections was
run independently from each crane to the
locomotive to permit either Of the cranes
to hold 1t on the incline in case of acct
dent to the other.
A telephone instrument incased in pIass
has been manufactured by the general
manager Of western telephone company
Tor the purpose Of showing the skill of the
workmen and the methods of installing
parts and demonstrate the simplicity OF
construction and accessibility Of parts OF
the instrument. All parts are plainly Wis
ibie without opening the case. The sides
and front of the cabinet are made of bev-
eled French plate glass. fastened by
means Of machine screws to the nickel
plated framework. The desk or shelf is
also made Of plate glass.
The greater portion Of the telegraph and
telephone poles Of this country come from
the northern peninsula of Michigan. There
-
state where these poles are carried I'm
stock In great quantities and various
sizes. The larger firms in the business
handle from 100. 600 UP to as high as 100
OO poles annually. equivalent to from 800
to 1.6OO carloads. the railroad ties fence
posts and cedar logs produced with the
poles amounting to twice as much more.
A yard which will accommodate all the
provide pile frontage of not less than
1880 feet, with depth varying from 80 to
40 feet.
catalogue of the library of Charles
Darwin now at the Botany School at
Cambridge. England. has been recently
compiled and an introduction has been
prepared for the catalogue by Francis
Darwin. the son Of the great scientist, in
which there are many interesting facts
regarding the work OF the elder Darwin
which have never before been published
Darwin hardly ever had a book bound.
gree its original ragged appearance. The
general characteristic Of the library is IN
completeness, hardly any set of periodi-
calls being perfect; The CHEZ interest OF
the Darwin books lies IN Tile pencil notes
scrubbed on their pages or written on
scraps Of paper and pinned to the last
page. Books are also to be found marked
with CIPHER.
The Austrian government is about to
assume charge of some medicinal springs
about twenty miles from Carlsbad which
have attracted attention lately. Not far
from this point are the imperial uranium
works. which have become famous during
the last few years on account OF the ra-
dunn found in the uranium stone. There
is also a government factory at st. Joach-
imstal where chemical colors are made
from the uranium and shipped to all parts
of the country. About two years ago the
managers Of the uranium mines made a
report to the government authorities that
the water OF the mine was found to con-
tain radium. and medical experts have
since declared that these waters are OF
high medical value in certain diseases
The government has become convinced OF
the value of the water from this mine and
II Is proposed to build the proper houses
for making use of the water and also no.
tells for the accommodation OF patients
This treatment has heretofore been at
tended with considerable expense. and II
is now designed to place 1t within the
reach of all.