El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-01-18


compressed air to the various labora-
tories Every room needing special
time service can be wired to beat sec
DAD intervals from that marvel OF pre-
cisiOn-the Riefler clock, which runs
correct to within half a second a
month. There are ice making ma
chimes, gas making machines, Ventilat-
ing systems, and remarkable sWitch-
boards where all kinds and strengths
of electric current may be sent TO any
room as easily as a telephone connec-
ton is made. In the glass working
shop, wonderful tubes are made TOT
vacuum lamps. elaborate apparatus OF
glass for regulating temperature OF
tanks Of oil TO the hundredth part OF
one degree. and many other Intricate
works Of skill Then there is the
glass worker who grinds true lenses
and flat surfaces to marvellous accu-
racy for optical research.
Respect for the Infinitesimnl
Respect for the infinitesimal is car
dinal virtue in the bureaus work no
factor is too small TO be ignored, no Ia
Dor too eXacting, no expense too great
when national standards are involved
Scientific discovery now rests upon
that refined scrutiny Of things which
marks precision measurement WIZ
more exact measurement Of the moon
distance, Newton might have announced
his discoveries many years earlier Ac-
curate Weighings of the nitrogen OF the
as Ramsay found. to five new gases
which we inhale with every breath, but
which were till then unknown. 50
with the precise manipulation OF test
ing and measuring, radium was discoE-
cred. Nearly every important sclenuIlc
discovery Of modern times has been IN
whole or in part the result OF meas
uring instruments Of remarkable re-
finement.
One OF he most impressive sights to
be seen n this Institution is It's ne"
giant testing macHne which has com
pressive power Of 100000 pounds, and
a pulling power of 100000 pounds.
This latter power is sufficient to pull
asunder a great steel shaft measuring
five inches in diameter or to break
huge structural column more than
twice as large. It is able accurately TO
register this great strain Immediate
" after exerting a pressure OF more
than 1000, 600 pounds. and registering
this degree of pressure with great accu-
racy, 1t viii crush an eggshel and reg
lister the pressure required in that oper-
alton with equal fidelity
Like Huge Hydraulic Jack.
This great machine may be 1kened
roughly to a huge hydraulic JACK VITA
a pair OF registering scales attached
II will test any piece Of material from
a few inches in length 10 80 feet Iwt
huge screws. some 40 feet long, i
inches in diameter, and with threads
five-eighths of an inch deep, are used
to apply the power. Oil IS used IN
stead of water, in great cylinders. to
furnish the power for pressure or ten
sion Only q small part Of the great
pressure which the machine eXeTts
falls upon the Weighing instrument
Great springs are distributed through
the parts OF the machine to bear the
strain and absorb any shock which Z
might result from the breaking OF the 1
material being tested Although this
great testing machine is vast IN proper I
lions and wonderful IN strength, still !
more powerful machine is in stalled in
the bureau of standards testing plant at
Pittsburg. This machine is able to ex-
ert a force OF 100000 pounds. suffi- I
cient to break the shaft Of the big
gest war vessel aflOat-
It would be a long story to describe |
the variety Of materials whose proper I
ties are measured by the bureau TO as /
certain their quality They range from I
the horseshoe nail OF the army mule to I
the steel and cement for the great 18th 4
mian canal; from the single strand Of 4
silk to steel rails, boOkmaking mate Z
rails paper, type, ink glue, cloth, struc- 4
tural materials for building skyscrap- /
ers. bridges and houses, including also /
paints. varnishes, protective cOatingss /
office supplies-such as writing paper /
sealing wax. mucilages. ink, paste I
typewriter ribbons. including even red !
tape. The permanency Of public rec ]
ords depends upon the ink and the pa
per. and until recently both were doubt /
Testing of Irvine.
In the material testing section, a j
self-acting Irvine tester unwinds the /
balls, measures the yardage and re- I
winds them while samples are tested I
for breaking strength Uncle Sans /
Irvine each year costs S25O,OOO. and must 4
be full measure of strength and length Z
The cloth in the national flags and that
used in bookbinding and other purposes {
are tested as to as many qualities as
times as to strength, but always TO Sc
lect the best, or ascertain whether I
goods are Of the quality specified The I
quality Of paper was once expert guess
work. The paper was felt with the 4
fingers and tongue, torn, crumpled, /
even chewed, and the expert was then
supposedly able to guess the quality.
Now every element IS measured by the 4
bureau-fiber. sizing, mineral; the dye.
its color and fastness are studied: while
the bursting strength weight and /
thickness, folding durability, are meas
ured on automatic machines more ac-
cura tely than the paper is uniform.
So thorough is this work that the re
cipe" by which the paper was made
can be reproduced from the tests.
Measuring Electricity.
The amazing electrical progress Of
the past half century Is due largely to /
ne wonderful Improvement IN metnOoI
Of measuring electricity and to the
single world system OF units OF electri-
cal measure The bureau OF standards
has had experts working for years to
fix the worlds electrical units and
standards Some of these researches
are Of astonishing precision and while
they can be appreciated only by the ex-
pert. everybody viii profit BY the gen
eral electrical advance made possible \
5v the greater exactness Of the stand
ards The standard cells which fix the
value Of the volt as a laboratory stand
ard are kept constantly in oil baths
regulated to a constant temperature,
not varying by so much as the hun
iredth OF degree The standard Of
voltage Is now the mean Of six stand
srd. cells selected as the best Of several
hundred The standard ohm, the unit
Of resistance, is determined by the re-
sistauce which a tube OF mercury OF
uinuteIy specified dimensions and con-
struction offers to a current Of cleo
tricity.
The bureau is investigating how cleo
tricftv corrodes iron and steel IN under
ground pipes and structures. The dan
ger IS such as seriously to imperil city
Sater and gas mains, great buildings
bridges. etc The problem is being