Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1909-01-20
81 [ply1LsAD &
1la&5GHgJE [acE5I

One OF the largest sawmills In the
world has been erected on the island
Of Hawaii by a company which has a
contract to furnish million ties q
year to an American railroad.
A Belgian inventor has secured a
patent on flying machine modelled on
the insects Of the locust species With
+ 10O-horsepower motor the machine
weighs trifie less than $40 pounds.
By burning resinous materials to the
windward Of their vineyards ut night,
the French wine growers produce dense
clouds of smoke which protect their
vines from frosts in spring and fall.
Many old workings in the Pennsyl-
yania anthracite fald. Esh:..::,..o ned years
ago for lacL2uf knowledge to work the
deeper views, are being reopened and
made productive by modern machinery.
4 vacuum cylinder, for the preserva-
ton Of food, from which tile air may
be exhausted By apparatus so simple
that any person can operate 1t, is a.
recent invention OF a German machiD-
list.
An alloy of nine parts of lead, twD
of antimony and one OF bismuth ex.
pands In cooling, therefore makes II
good combination for plugging holes in
metal, as the plug fits tightly when
cold.
That the magnetic influence of the
coast of Lapland drew his iron ship
ashore and wrecked 1t was the sworn
statement Of the captain of the British
steamer Sandal to the British board of
trade.
The increased demand for tungsten
ores and products In the United States
In 1907 led to the production of 1910
short tons Of concentrates, valued ut
$S90,048. nearly three times the output
of 1905.
By the invention Of machines to
bleach and spin it, the wild silk of
Manchuria, great quantities of which
are exported each year, threatens to
seriously compete with that grown in
more civilized lands
| Strangers are sometimes surprised by
the fear of vipers which exists in some
parts of France. These little venomous
snakes are dangerous both to man and
beast. Recently a movement has been
made to protect the vipers. on the
ground that they render valuable sery-
Ices In destroying rodents, mollusks,
and other small noxious animals, but a
writer in the Journal of Practical
Agriculture strenuously opposes this,
declaring that the services performed
by the yipers are of small account in
comparison with the accidents, fire.
quently mortal. which they cause. He
instances little neighborhood In the
| Department of Meurthe-et- Moselle,
where the vipers became verltable
plague, and where. inspired by the offer
OF a reward, two hunters destroyed
10000 of them.
The increasing employment Of re-
ducing agents of many kinds in the
manufacture of steel is primarily due
to the necessity of getting rid of blow
holes and gas bubbles. The reductora
effect this by absorbing and removing
the gases dissolved in the molten metal.
But they render another Important
service also by adding, by their pres
ence in small quantities, to the tensile
strength Of the steel. Ferrosilicium,
for instance, when employed as re.
! ductor. increases the strength Of the
steel about 10 per cent. Calcium also
has an excellent effect, and with van,
adium the strength of the steel ID
sometimes doubled. vanadium also
4 greatly increases the resistance of steel
to the effects Of vibration. and conse
i qilently vanadium-steel is largely EN-
ployed for the manufacture of automo
bile machinery.