Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1908-01-22
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The hummlng bird in Aus..ralia, no
less than man, protects Its habitation
With a lightning rod. The hummins
bird, before devastating thunder
storm bursts, prudently covers the out
Side of Its little nest with cobweb,
SILK is a non-conductor Of electricity,
and since cobweb is silk the humming
birds nest is thereby rendered light
ning-proof.
In recent article in the Street Rail-
way Journal on Transportation Fa-
cilities In South America" 1t is stated
that transportation is SO difficult over
the mountains that the coal imported
into Bolivia for the railways own use
costs about $50 per ton. At La Paz
abundant timber grows within fifty
miles from the mountains, but trans
portation is SO difficult that trolley
poles and lumber for building opera
lions are brought from Oregon, dis
lance Of thousands Of miles.
A sanitary garbage wagon used In
Berlin, says Popular Mechanics, is COM
pletely covered by large hood of sheet
metal, with a sort Of chute or funnel,
which elongated upon the roof Of the
hood curves downward Mt the back end,
where 1t is open to receive the refuse.
The garbage is placed upon movable
platform under the mouth Of the chute
and raised by chains into the interior.
A trap door opens by the turning of a
lever and the box diverts its contents
into the body Of the wagon, odor and
all.
The British Admiralty has instruct
ed the commanders of all ships Of war
furnished with wireless telegraph an
paratus to telegraph to meteorological
stations with which they may be In
communication full details concerning
the weather Mt sea. This new branch
of the English meteorological service
has already proved valuable, and It is
believed that Its Importance will con-
tfnually increase. Weather information
from the sea is of special value in the
British Isles, because the great storms
generally approach across the ocean,
and not, as in the eastern half Of
the United States, across a broad con-
tlnent Melted with telegraphs.
By crossing and selection, new va
riety Of cattle, known as the Bordelaise
race, has been developed in Southwest
ern France. The two parent varieties
are the Holland and the Breton cattle,
the one famous for the abundance Of
their milk, the other for their pro-
vision OF butter. The Bordeluise race,
whose first herd book appeared in 1880,
Is said to combine the excellences of
Its two progenftors. Its most charac-
terlstic external mark is the black-and-
white tiger pattern covering the body.
In the pure breed the head Is entirely
black. The name comes from the city
Of Bordeaux, the metropolis of the re-
gion where the new race is bred.
1t is matter of common observation
that grass does not grow SO we'll close
to trees as in the open. The same is
true of grains. Experiments in Eng
land and in this country have shown
that the deleterlous effects of the near
neighborhood Of grass and trees are
mutual. The trees suffer as well as
the grass and grain. This is especially
true of fruit trees The cause is as
cribed to the excretion by the trees,
on the one hand, of substances poison
GUS to the grass, and by the grass, on
the other hand, Of substances poison
GUS to the trees. 1t thus appears that
the failure of grass to grow well near
trees should not be ascribed to too
much shade, nor to the exhaustion by
the tree roots of the food supply need.
ed by the grass.