Amador ledger. (Jackson, Amador County, Calif.) 1875-19??, 1909-04-02

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duce substitutes. Artificial indigo
and artificial camphor are ong the
great successes of modern chemistry,
and artificial rubber seems to he
near at hand, as the production of
caoutchouo by aynthesls has been al
ready annouoned by Mr. Allsebrook
and DIR. Docherty of Burton on
Trent. England. A process yielding
an adequate supply would take rank
as one of the greatest of chemical
achievements. Substitutes for rubber
find some uses. and one of the most
promising recent ones seems to be a
patented German composition con-
tanning glue, glycerine, chrome,
salts. LEAD plaster, ~ vegetable fbers
parchmented by acids, gum traga-
canth, vegetable balsams, and water
glass. A process of making rubber
for naphtha is said to be under test
on large scale in the Caucasus.
In the Ideal town of the future, as
pictured by Sir Oliver Lodge. the
houses will have gas for heating by
open fires and for cooking, and cleo
tricity for lighting The gas produced
from the coal at the mine, will be
sent long distances through pipes, as
water is now distributed. 1t is hoped
that the experiment will be tried
soon, the burning of crude coal in
town heing absolutely forbidden, and
at least two English towns are already
considering the plan. The puritica-
tion of the air is one of the greatest
needs in the improvement of the
conditions of city life.
new German horseshoe. designed
to prevent slipping on asphalt and
wood block pavements, has counter
sunk groove, ia which is inserted
piece of hemp rope. The rope can
be readily replaced, and as 1T alone
comes into contact with the slippery
pavement the horse secures a very
sure footing. Consul General X. 2.
Skinner reports that the shoe is max
ing considerable Roadway in Ham
burg.
Ii airships are to come into COM
mon use. one of the first oonsidera-
lions must be to provide suitable
shelter for them when not in use and
in storms, for their fragility and
large size make them especially liable
to damage by the wind. A German
author suggests simple earth harbor
as the most practicable refuge. This.
would be an excavation in the earth,
somewhat larger than the airship in
length, breadth and DEPTH aud by
possible to haul the vessel from the
air down into it even In storm, for
there would be no dangerous narrow
passage to traverse as IN entering
the iron shed now used by Count
Zeppelin on Lake Constance. A
light, fiat roof, easily moved on
wheels along rails, would close the
pit. For occasional use in danger,
trench with earth walls held up by
growing vegetation would suffice; but
for regular use as a station there
should be walls of masonry or cement,
with stairs. elevators, electric light
and power, searchilght, and strong
roof of iron and glass, moved by an
electric motor. The earth harbor
aud station will cost many times less
than any structure above ground.
Stimulating the appetite is one of
the strangest uses to which artificial
lightning is put. At the London
Geological Gardens, small birds are
called to breakfast two hours ahead
of their usual time by the turning on
of the electric lights, and quails are
fattened for the London market in
underground cellars, which are light
ed up many times day to induce
the birds to feed often and abundant
ly. At the Berlin Geological Gardens
a similar plan is adopted to make
certain bears hibernate. For several
weeks in fall their dens are brightly
illuminated. they have plentiful
supply of their favorite food, and
they eat and grow very fat. so that,
when winter comes and their dens
are barricaded, they quietly go to
sleep for two or three months, just
as in their native haunts. In spring
they awaken, lean, hungry and
healthy.
In a telephone receiver having no
diaphragm. the poles of permanent