Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1914-04-10

MATTERS OF SCIENCE

The FIRST Railroad ~ Ic~cIdRd.-Accord-
ing To a dispatch from Copenhagen. a rail
road 80 miles in length il 10 be built
in Iceland. Al present there is not IA mile
of railroad in the whole of ;hat island:
indeed ID il void even of good roads. "a
We understand the term in this country.
Such roads a. exist in the island are
mere bride paths.
Wood Spring Tircs.-An interesting *
pertinent has been made in England with
wood spring tires which have been fitted
to Il onc-tun motto truck. The cNpc rimcnt
has been satisfactory as far ss 1t has
gone. a. the wood blocks do no appear
to have been dcformed and show little
signs of wear. The Engineer states that
thpse results were obtained after a run
Of over 1000 miles
The CoaT Fields 81 me- iafarcfic.-Tro-
fcssor Edgcworth Davis. occurring before
the Royal Geographical society. stated
that he did no; believe the world ~ yet
REALIZED the scientific rs well a. the ON.
mcrcial Importance ~ the great coll
fields which Sir Ernest Shacklst0n dis.
covered AT the head of the Belrdncre Gla-
cier. and which in a small strip contain
probably a. much coal as exists ia MI
the unworkcd coal fields Of Great Britain.
Tunnels Versus BTidgcS.-Thc idea that
i tunnel can hc compared favurubly with
a bridge. in point of lis capacity for "A
given cost. in erroneous and unfortunately
il very widespread. \ bridge such "a that
proposed across the North River would
accommodate six to eight times ~ much
traffic ~ could be- sent through "A tun-
mel: in other words. the cost for = given
amount Of traffic would be very much
greater for the tunnel than for the bridge
Gaiun Loci as u Dry Dock.-Onc II the
locks Of the Panama canal IL Gaiun has
been put To the novel use a. serving a.
a dry dock for the oycrhauling of five of
the submarines. To To to, which have
been stationed al the Atlantic entrance
TO the canal since December Eth last. The
lock chambers are arranged in pairs ami
il il therefore possible 10 use one oi them
as "A dry dock without interfering with
she passage of vessels through the other.
Panama GrowS More ~Hcdiihy.-The
last report Of the Department Of SANTA
ton al Panama for the year 1915 shows
that for the lsthmian Canal Commission
and the Panama Railroad company, out
OF 56.6Jl employees there were i.i deaths
giving a rate per 1000 of SD This j. the
lowest rate recorded since the United
states took possession of the Canal Zone.
The next lowest was in the previous year
1917. when the rate per lUD was BIS.
~ I..l.-. - .ar IA fl.. Nss.sr
1906.
A TraHSjormed Tank >hip.-A sailing
tank ship. Jules Henri" of Marseillcs.
has recently been transformed into 4 mo
Tor rank snip al Nilton's shipsard> in
Rotterdam. The ship, which originally
was 81 meters long. was cut ia hall after
the masts had been removed, AMI a new
section II meters long WAS built atthc
break. Two Diesel motors each of 800
horsepower were then installed. The
transformed motor tank ship j. now y;
meters long l..5 meters wide. and has 4
capacity oi :; u tons OF oil. After a first
voyage To the Black Sea the ship will bc
employed regularly between Europe and
America.
A Ncr automobile for X-ray Tscrs.-
which j. constructed IN designs of the
French army phySiciana Major Busquet.
il very complete and represents The most
recent progress in this direction. In field
work OF the kind, il has been found diff
ficult To operate the N-ray apparatus
with good success owing 90 the various
manipulationS which must be carried out
asain a suitable dark room has To
lc provided. Another point y that an
amount Of power IL needed To operate
the electric devices if any satisfactory re- +,
suits are To be- had. A rOomy automobile |,
1. horse power motor and "A dynamo
has now been developed. the inside Of
he ear being fitted a. a laboratory ami
lark room. A folding operating table i
provided with the Nray bulbs and all
needed fittings. and a tent set up against
he side of the ear forms an operating ,
ronm.T The tent il then folded and slowed
in the ear. In time II war. Ii il claimed
hat all difficulties If operating will
Ihus H. overcome. and the ear will also /,
De- Of good service AT all times. and can /
reach the spot quickly. Aviation ccnterS f.
IAN thus have good aid. especially where
a large hospital Is not 10 be found in h
he locality. /,
Periodical Medical Examinations for ,
IrcJHbodH. a. i means Of detecting and /,
disease in its earliest stages. I
we're earnestly advocated bv Dr. Victor !
:. Vaughan IN an address on the sub I,
ust Of preventive medicine before the {