Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-06-11
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT is DOING

I mics Of the insects. Persons working
therefore warned that tho use Of fishes
and other living creatures that eat the
| larvae can only be supplemental to
mechanical means. It is considered
these supplemental agencies, and the
bureau Of fisheries is offering to all
persons interested specific directions
for Identifying acknowledgements
transporting them to the pools which
1t is desired to eliminate as mosquito
breeding places.
Not many months pass without a new
invention being added to the long list
of useful devices
Deadly Mine conceived by the
governments en-
uas Uetector. ployes in the course
Of their especial duties. Many OF these
are of great value not only in the work
Of the government but in the work OF
thousands Of its citizens and may DC
the means Of saving money, time ana
human lives.
An invention that will be sure to
qualify on all three Of these counts rs
the first really accurate indicator OF
the proportion of inflammable gases
present in the air that has ever peeI
produced. 1t has recently been evolVe9
by George A. Burrell of the bureau OF
mines, primarily for the purpose OF
measuring the amount of the hlshIy
tnfiammable and dangerous nre camp
present in mines and to which is que
many of the terrible underground eA
niosions that bring about tremendous
losses of life in the mining INDUSTRY
each year.
| In the early days Of mining the miner
literally carried his life in his hanos
passageways and rooms with an open
flame lamp. In 1915. however. 1t was
discovered that when the flame was
completely Enclosed by fine wire gauze
less gases outside the gauze. This
was the birth Of the miners safety
lamp, on which the development OF
mining for nearly century has
largely rested.
Besides furnishing illumination to the
worker with little danger to his Ire.
the safety lamp has furnished the only
way hitherto known for approximating
the amount of gas present. the vary
ing proportions being indicated roughly
by lengthening of the gauze-inclosed
flame and its final extinguishment in
very gaseous air. Use of the lamps
in this way. however. has been attended
with great danger. for il there were
flame would flash out to the surround
ing gas and cause an explosion. Elec-
trio battery lights have largely come
to be used by miners in place OF flame
lamps, but the need for an indicator of
the presence Of gas is as great as ever,
not only to protect workmen from ex-
plosions in case of broken globes: out
also to protect them from the i'll ef-
fects of inhaling the fire damp.
The strong points in favor of the
newly invented indicator are that abso-
lutely no danger attends its use; 1t is
rugged, simple, easily carried, and is
twenty or thirty times more accurate
than safety lamps. measuring even SO
damp as one tenth of per cent. Though
simple, the apparatus involved physics,
chemistry and electrical engineering in
its production. Stripped of its metal
castings and projections, the device con-
sists of a U-tube of glass, one branch
Of which is open at the end. while the
other IL surmounted by small cham
Der closed by a valve. In this chamber
Is a tiny coil of platinum wire which
may be brought to white heat by an
electric battery. The U-tube is filled
with water until its rests at zero in the
open tube. The operator then gently
blows into the open tube, forcing the
water into the chamber and so freeing
the latter of air.
The exposed tube being closed, the
device is then held at the place to be
tested for gas. and the tube is again
opened. The water rises to it's old posi-
ton. sucking a sample of air into the
chamber. The chamber valve is then
closed and the electric current turned
on. burning out the inflammable por-
ton of the sample. This lessons the
volume of the sample and the water in
the exposed tube therefore falls. The
proportion OF gas can be read on a
graduated scale.
Though of tremendous value in mines,
the usefulness of the new instrument
does not stop there. BY merely slipping
in another graduated scale based on
chemical volume reactions. 1t may be
used to measure gasoline vapor about
storage tanks, illuminating gas in
buildings and subways; hydrogen in
submarines and around storage battery
installations in other places.
The device Is being patented by the
bureau of mines. which will license
manufacturers to place it on the mar
ket on condition that they insure the
quality Of the completed apparatus and
agree to take only reasonable profit.
Tiny gophers play havoc with the
ditch systems of the big irrigation
projects that Uncle Sam
Fighting has spent so many mil
lions of dollars on in the
0oPAe1S. west, and keep the recla-
nation engineers and the specialists Of
the biological survey busy devising
means for doing away with them. The
trouble caused by the little burrowing
rodents is in the puncturing of the
sides of the earth bitches, making in
Vulnerable breaks requiring costly re-
pairs. besides bringing about large
losses Of water, and in many cases in
juriously flooding fields.
Vast numbers of the gophers have
been killed by poisoned grain and
traps under the direction of the bio
logical survey and the project en-
gineers. Many of the rodents refuse
the grain or escape the traps, however,
and even where they are practically
wiped out others soon come into the
moist soil to take their places Where
concrete lining Is used for the water
ways gopher troubles are of course
unknown. but in thousands of miles
Of bitches where the new farmers have
been unable yet to meet the heavy ex-
pense Of concreting the tiny gophers
loom UP as big obstacles in the way of
achieving profits.
Spurred on by necessity and the
gophers' apparent loss of appetite for
poisoned grain. engineers on two of the
projects have recently evolved novel
means for thwarting the design Of the
oil nj Tn nfl he