Amador ledger., 1910-05-13

OF Germany, prepared from the records
of the direction and force of the winds
kept at 40 well-dstributed stations for
an average of nearly 2l years. 1t fur
nishes the aeronaut with an aid cores
ponding to the pilot charts of the ocean
navigator. For each season and each
station, it shows how often, on the
average, the wind blows from each of
eight directions, and the average fire.
quency of the various degrees of wind
between a calm and hurricane. 1t in
dicates the best places and times for
making ascents, with the direction air.
ships without high power will probably
drift More than this, it suggests the
best location for airship sheds and
ports, and gives evidence that not only
are places near the coast unsuitable,
but that many inland stations are un-
comfortably stormy. Friedrichshafen,
chosen by count Zeppelin for his great
sheds, is an unfavorable place for hand
ling the huge airships. The records
show that it has an average of "a stormy
days year, while Celle. has only %
such days, Berlin and Cassel only 4,
and seven other stations less than TO-
The fast growing list of industrial
diseases" is likely to add two
mysterious malades of South Wales.
Tin. plate workers have pains in the
chest, difficulty OF breathing, and vast
ing, and are often obliged to 60 home
when the wind blows from certain
directions. flux used is suspected Of
containing some unknown poison. In
the fuel factories, ''pitch warts are
very prevalent, at first causing little
rain or anxiety, but rapidly developing
into cancerous growths. The pitch is
believed to contain some harmful sub
stance that was not present ten years
ago.
A map to show the ether conductivity
for HertZiaI waves in different latitudes
is new German idea. Sunshine les
sens the conductivty, and wireless
telegraph station OF large range in the
north would cover only much smaller
radius in the tropics
The conversion of potatoes into dry
concentrated meal, successfully accom-
plished by Prussan process described
by Consul T. H. Norton, not only pre-
sents loss from decay but reduces the
cost of transportation. In Germany
potatoes are much used for feeding do
mestic animals, and the loss from decay
amounts to about II per cent, equivalent
to value of S28 500, 900 annually. The
new process is claimed to be simpler
and mere effective than numerous ear
lier ones brought out by an offer of
Sc, 600 in prizes. The potatoes are
washed in large vat, passed into a
MASKING machine, pumped into reser-
voir, and then fed between two hollow
cylinders, of perforated plate covered
with linen tiltering cloth, the interior
of each cylinder being connected with
an air exhaust. The pressure of the
cylinders and the air suction remove
most of the water. The residual mass
isstaken by helical conveyor to small
cars, which pass through hydraulic
press, removing more liquid, and is
then transferred to revolving drum,
heated at one end by steam pipes and
cooled at the other by water. Stirred
by prongs in the drum, the dried potato
emerges as coarse meal This has a
quarter of the original weight I the
tubers and occupies an eighth Of the
space, it smells and tastes like fresh
bread, and analysis shows it to contain
80, 50 per cert of carbohydrates, ll.50 OF
water, 3.73 OF protein, 2,06 of ash, III
of fiber, and LOS of fat. If desired the
meal can be compressed into compact
cakes. The residual liquid contains
sugar and dissolved salts, and first yield
ing about 2 per cent Of albumen, is used
for irriPating farming land.
Remarkable transformation of a cats
fur by temperature has been reported BY
Prof. A. C. Geddes, of the Dublin
Royal College of Surgeons. An all
black cat was accidentally shut up in the
refrigerating chamber of a small steamer
in Sydney harbor, and was not dis
covered until about 81 days later, when
the ship was Off Alden. The cat was
hardly recognizable, the fur having be-
come long and thick, changing nearly to
white on the back. Brought out into
the intense heat of the Red sea, the