Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-23
AMERICAN INVENTIONS.
With Various Fields.
invention of the photograph. that instru-
By FREDERIC ]. TiASKIN.

invention of the photograph, that instru-
ment in turn
Invention Of Moving led him to the
,p;o<rr. Mooh;r. moving picture
Ass"AS SA"~'e' machine While
he was trying to bring out the speaking
qualities Of the monograph, it occurred
to him that it would be a good idea to
see the speaker as we'll as to hear him.
He built a special camera, using a strip
of celluloid as a carrier for his film. The
pictures were an inch wide, with a row
OF perforations above and below them on
the ceiIuloid. These perforations occurred
at regular intervals, so that teeth could
engage them and hold the film steady be-
fore the lens for nine-tenths of the forty
sixth part of second. Then it was re-
leased and jerked forward an inch in the
remaining tenth OF the forty-sixth of a
second, ready for the next exposure. This
permitted fOrty-six pictures a second or
. 60 minute.
The planning and the laying of the first
submarine cable represents one of the
most persistent efforts ever made by an
inventor to achieve success. Cyrus w.
Field was equal to the difficulties that
beset his path, however. First he tried
swallow water, and proved it would work.
Inen ne organized q company. and in
1901 the first cable was manufactured.
The American and English governments
loaned their two finest battleshfps for
laying the cable, but q sudden strain on
the paying-out machine caused the cable
TO break. A year later it was tried again,
and this time 1t was successful. However,
only t2S messages were sent over ii.
Inen 1t went out Of commission forever;
not, however, until the British govern
ment had saved a quarter Of a million
dollars by countermanding the order for
the removal Of troops in Canada
In 1855 the Great Eastern was commits
stoned to lay another cable. Again 1t
parted before the job was done. For nine
days they grappled with it. three times
almost succeeding In getting the end up;
but they were doomed to failure A
buoy was anchored where they left it
and the Great Eastern returned to port
Another company was organized and the
next year final success crowned the eff
fort.
The submarine cable is made up of five
layers. The inner one is rope of cop
per wire, made tC
Five Layers in conduct the cleo
Submarine Cable. ~ s'o ,n ou,ten. Inns
a layer Of gutta percha quarter of an
inch thick, and the electric impulse finds
1t easier to travel through thousands OF
miles Of wire than through a quarter Of
an inch Of gutta percha. Outside of the
gutta percha Is a layer Of twisted jute,
and the fourth layer is made of the steel
wires which keep the cable from break
ing. Outside Of this is heavy tarred
covering that protects it from the sea
water. The cable is made by a single
process. Hazel Hill, in eastern
Canada, may be called the news center of
the world. Fifteen thousand miles of
ocean cable center there, and the news
service OF the whole world depends in a
measure upon the work of the great
plants located there.
4
Time alone will be able to tell how vast
is the debt of humanity to the men who
m a s e e the
First Use OF principles of an
Laughing Cas-" nbrey D.vr in
179S suggested that Laughing gas might
be used in slight surgical operations, but it
was not until Horace Wells, an enterpris-
ing dentist Of Hartford, Conn.,, attended a
lecture on Laughing gas" that the idea
Of using it in dentistry or surgery was
conceived. Wells persuaded the lecturer,
a Mr.. Cotton. to administer the gas to
him, and had his friend, DR.. Riggs, pull a
tooth for him. 1t worked perfectly. Wells
then went to Boston to demonstrate the
use of the gas before a medical conven-
ton. His gas bag exploded and the ex-
pertinent ended in failure.
Sulphuric ether was we'll known before
it's anesthetic properties were understood,
and boys in laboratories often would have
what they termed "ether frolics," getting
drunk by inhaling 1t. In 1889 young
South Carolinian named White caught a
negro boy and forcibly made him party
ciates held a saturated cloth over the ne
Kro's nose until he was insensible. When
they tried to arouse him they could not,
and concluded he was dying. Medical aid
was summoned, and the negro was re-
stored to consciousness none the worse
for his experience.
Later White became a pupil of DR..
Crawford Long of Georgia. and when a
man came to have a tumor removed from
his neck they persuaded him to take
ether. He did so, and from that day for
ward anesthesia has been used in surgery
the world over. 1t is true that others
have claimed the credit. but Longs work
took place in 1912, which is conceded to
be the first operation ever performed with
anesthesia.
INVENTIONS.
vIII.-SCIENTIFIC APPARATUS.