Amador ledger., 1909-09-03

The site of a vanished mountain
range in India was curiously revealed
by the pendulum some years ago. late
observations having confirmed the dis
Covery. The pendulum, as is well
known, is DETECTED from the vertical by
mountains, and in 1902 Col Burrard,
travelling southward, found that the
northward deviation gradually diminish
ed, then was followed by a deviation
southward, that increased, reached
a maximum, diminished, and was at
last succeeded by a new DETECTION to
the north. These observations, on the
vast plain Of northern India, could be
explained only by assuming the pre-
Sence of dense rocks where had once
been a mountain range parallel to the
Hinalayas and 250 to $50 miles farther
south. Since 1904 the pendulum has
been taken along two lines perpen-
dicular to the axis of the Himalayas-
extending from Chatra to Sandakphu
and Amritsar to Multan-and these
observations show that the detection
| 250 miles south of the Himalayas may
be due to a buried range, although some
effect must be attributed to the deep
depression between this place and the
Himalayas
Balloon soundings have been gradual
l. ktO ~. ..,to t.t-a ,4,~
pheres. The lower, up to eight or ten
miles, grows colder with height is
the region of clouds and weather dis
turbances contains twO-thrds or three
fourths of the oxygen and nitrogen, still
more of the carbonic acid gas, and
practically all of the water vapor. The
upper layer, dry and calm, floating
on the lower much like oil on water,
has temperature that is fairly uniform
or rises with increase in height from
the earth.
Electric smelling has made such pro
gress in Sweden that ton of pig iron
produced by electric energy from natural
water power is estimated to cost about
three-htfhs as much as the charcoal for
ton in the ordinary Swedish furnace.
| The life of the electric oven is longer
than that of the blast furnace, and the
iron produced is of excellent quality.
The new sucton-gas tugboat that has
been tried this season promises relief
from the smoke nuisance along the
Rhine. Between Mayence and Cologne
the dense clouds from continually spas-
sing tugboatS have been a source of
great annoyance, and have been running
fine residences and valuable vineyards
along the banks of the river. The
Knipscheer II, 1.-THE first of the new
type of boats, has successfully stemmed
the strong current with cargoes of $50
tons in tow, proving very economical as
well as smokeless. The Ignite or
brown coal used is mined in the Rhine
provinces and supplied at very low cost,
and is fed into the producers by a
simple automatic arrangement, with a
great saving in labor The cost of fuel
for the gas engines is found to be from
80 to 70 per cent less than that for the
steam tugs now used.
To determine the possible contami
nation of foods by aluminium kitchen
utensils, a German chemist has boiled
aluminium of foil in fresh and sour
milk, wines, mineral waters and ten per
cent solutions of salts in common use.
The boiling continued half an hour, and
the foil showed no appreciable loss of
weight from the action of sweet milk,
red and white wine, sodium chloride,
sodium nitrate, pota 'sium iodide, potaS-
SUM sulphate and calcium nitrate. The
sour milk produced some loss of metal.
The mineral waters, however, attacked
the aluminium energetically, and the
sodium bicarbonatec calcium sulphate
and magnesium sulphate solutions also
had strong action.
A little more than century ago, 25,-
900, 600 acres in the Landes, France,
were shifting sand dunes and disease
breeding marshes. The planting of
pines has changed this to one of the
most productive and healthful in France.
Great forests have taken the place of
the sand dunes and marshes, and the
wood, charcoal, turpentine, rosin and
other industries have brought prosperity
to what was the most desolate region in
the country. Forests now cover Is per
cent of France, or %, 800 600 acres
The state FORESTS, 600, 600 acres-,ost
annaully 95 cents an acre, and syield
yearly income of $1,000, 600.