The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-12

AlInOuSn several IlOHlllo hsiNc U'~fSo- since the adjournment of the Internation- al Congress of Refrigeration at Vienne' which had the pleasure of attending as n delegate. I am encouraged to believe that the broad scope of the congress ana the fact that the third session is to pc held in the United States in 1915 Will JUS rify the publication of these tardy notes
 'International" is a word of reach and significance. but I think universal is the description which the congress de- serves. not only because virtually all countries in civilization and the borders thereof were represented in it, but be- cause refrigeration as science has the whole world for a field. Defined as the application of cold or the removal of heat, artficialy, it is one of those great servants of humanity for which new uses are continually being found. Its actiyi- ties sxtend far beyond the making Of ice and the preservation of meats, fruits and vegetables and their transportation by land and sea. It is today employed by the biologist, the surgeon. the hygienist 9nd the chemist, and not only in the preserva ton of life, but in making life more bearable, especially in tropical countries. The builder uses it to sink his foundations through qucksand and to lower the temperature of his theatres and other public structures in the heated term It dries air for the blast furnace and thereby increases productive capacf- ty. It helps the horticuturist to retard the growth of his plants and keeps fresh. the delicate wares of the florist and -,an- dymaker.. It is the invaluable assistant of the dairyman, the brewer, tie per- Iumer, the textile worker, the manufac- turer of pharmaceutical products-and even of the undertaken. This brief sum- mary omits much of what it Is already doing and cannot forecast all it's future rotentialites. It is safe to predict there will soon be few forms of industry and material endeavor in which refrigeration will not have some part, great or small.
 The inference from the foregoing that the International Congress of Refrtgera- ton is a complex body is correct. It is wonderfully complex as an organization, but as wonderfully simple in its work ing efficiency Governments, scientific bodies, railways, commercial and indus trial organizations, all have representa- tion in it, and each it's function. Many Of the European governments give it financial support, but the powers that be in the western hemisphere are not 50 Tree with their money. Wherefore tho 5ar- castle note in the report of the secretary of the general ssociation-unconstiou so, perhaps, but sarcastic all the salne- that while the two Americas cont; ibute about 55 per cent of the total mernuer- ship. the European countries and their colonies supply about 92 per cent of the subsidies granted to it. Fancy, if you1 can, a representative in the Congress of the United States arising with asresolu- tion making an appropriation for this world congress. How the eagle would scream Let the stars and stripes be strangers on the high seas if our iner- chant marine cannot work out it's own salvation, but America will ever be the land of the free and the home If the brave. " fyW ; Lst csEA V
 Pardon the Aggression. This second ses- sion of the international 4 congress-7the first was held in Paris in 1909 assembled in Vienna on October 6 and was in session five days. Twelve hundred delegates from B3 countries answered roll call, the total attendance, inclusive of visitors, being about 15O0. The only times the congress- met as a. body were when it was .on- cened and when it was dismissed. The work had been mapped out by tn, gen eral association, whose permanent offices are in Paris, and divided among six com missions Each fof these commissions was allotted a separate room in the great parliament house of the Austrian. capi- tai and confined itself to it's individual programme. Commission No. 1 was com posed of the savants, the scientists of re- frigeration Commission No. 2 had the construction, operation and testing of re- frigerating machinery and industrial ma terial to consider Commission No 3. the application of refrigeration in the food Industries. Commission Mo- f. industrial refrigeration. Commission No. 5, t'ans- portatior Commission No G. legislation. printed in English, German and French. these languages.
 Thus was this world congress of science snd industry conducted in the three great languages of the world with almost as much smoothness as if an universal lan- euage had been the vehicle The Amer ican delegates were impressed by the fact that many of the European dele gates, notably those from Germany, Aus tria, Russia and France, spoke English as fuently as their own languages. Indeed, the possession of dual gift of tongues seemed to be common to all delegates ex- cept those from the United States :, The F'renchnaen spoke German or English. the Japanese English or German, or Freach,' and so on through the list of nationali- ties While we had some iinguists in our delegation, we could not help feeling our disparity in this respect. It gave IL. some unpalatable food for thought when we learned that the teaching of English is compulsory in the common schools of