The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-11-23

4
The boys were. slow to understand.
And asked him to repeat.
lis very plain" the father said,
It's where the, sons raise meat"
Chicago Record-Herald.
Nebraska Closest State.
Nebraska can now lay claim to being
the closest state politically in the whole
Union. In the presidential election Of
1908 number Of states wavered in the
balance. Maryland was the only one to
split its electoral vote. choosing two
Republican and six Democratic electors,
| the elector with the largest vote being
a Republican. In several other states
the pluralities Tor one electoral ticket
or the other were small. Mr.. Taft car
ried Missouri by 629 votes, and Montana
by S,007. Mr.. Bryan carried Nevada by
457 votes, Colorado by S,o40. and Ne
braska by 4102 The state officers were
divided between the two parties in In
Giana, Minnesota. Missouri. Montana,
! North Dakota. Nebraska. and Ohio. In
Nebraska, for instance. the Democrat
| ic electoral ticket won by 4,102 plurality.
A Democratic governor was elected by
q plurality OF 1854, and a Democratic
railroad commissioner by plurality of
551. The Republican candidates for the
other state offices won by margins of
from 302 to 4.535.
So even a division may occur now
end then in a naturally close state, but
| it seldom repeats itself. The pendulum
moves one way or the other. In Mary
land this year Democratic candidate
| for comptroller won by about 5000 votes:
But in Nebraska there has been hardly
any disturbance of last years balance.
The Republican candidates for minor
state offices this year seem to have
been elected. but their pluralities are not
expected to exceed 1000. That is re-
| markable demonstration of political
stability. or. rather. Of the preserva-
ton of an unstable political equili-
bTium. Mr.. Bryan's state at present
outclasses all the others in the eGuali-
Zation of party forces. So long as the
Democrats and the Populists remain
united they just about offset the nor
NAL Republican vote. But that unity
is conditioned on the maintenance by
Mr.. Bryan Of his leadership OF the ma
tional Democratic party. Were he to
be displaced by any competitor. Ne
braska would again become certain
Republican state.-New York Tribune.
Another Gas Turbine.
| One of the latest attempts to COM
| bine in one machine the qualities of
the ordinary internal combustion mo-
| tor and the steam turbine is described
| by Mr.. Henry Harrison Suplee in
Casters Magazine for November. In
an engine devised by a Frenchman
named Karavodine there is thin.
small wheel on the edge of which are
buckets. Into these are forced jets of
vapor coming from adjacent cham
bers in which an explosive mixture
| of gas and air is ignited. The wheel
makes ten thousand revolutions a
minute-an extraordinary velocity, to
1 be sure, but one paralleled several
years ago by that of the so-called De
Laval turbine.
| With q consumption of 6 u quarts
of gasoline an hour, the engine de-
velops horsepower At present it is
not quite so economical in its use or
fuel as some other gas engines, but
there is a possibility of Improvement
| when M. Karavodine's plan is en-
| ployed on a larger scale. Moreover. 1t
| is necessary toa adopt suitable means,
! like gearing, to reduce the speed be-
| fore the motor can be put to prac-
teal service and Mr.. Suplee does not
say how the inventor attains, or ex-
poets to attain, that object. 1t is feas-
| ible with this engine to dispense with
| a cumbrous and heavy adjunct OF
some other gas motors, a compressor.
In the experiments SO far conducted
| too, smooth and regular running has
been secured-which is more than can
| be said OF most gas turbines.
| The chief recommendation of the
| internal combustion engine Is that II
uses much less fuel to develop a given
amount of power than does the steam
engine. Perhaps the greatest merit
of the turbine is it's simplicity. 1t fur
nishes rotary motion at the very out
set, and the reciprocating engine does
not For practically all the work done
by any kind of engine today-the
| operation of railroads the driving of
| dynamos. and the running of mill ma
| chinery, for INSTRUMENTATION is de-
| manded. Efforts to obtain both of
these advantages at once. therefore.
possess significance for many large
| industries. If all the requirements of
| the ideal gas turbine have not yet been
met, every bit Of progress in its de-
! velopment, no matter how small, is
noteworthy. because it encourages a
hope for better things.-New York
| n|rih