The Butler weekly times., 1917-08-09

Scotch along their rock bound west
ern coast gathered this weed, burned
it on the shore and eked out an ex-
istence from the sale of the potash.
But the United States is going into
the business on more extensive
scale. The Department of Agricul-
ture is now experimenting to find the
best method of extraction.
But these innovations of the last
three years are only few of the
dozens and dozens of marvels of the
chemists. The engineers have not
been less active The methods OF
building rock walled and timber cell
inged trenches have entirely altered
old tactics of warfare. The way
Germany has systematized its rail-
roads within the last three years
makes it possible for it to institute
a massive assault on the east front
and when it is barely over to use the
same men for new campaign on the
western front. 1t will be revela-
ton, no doubt, for other nations
when peace comes, to learn of the
strides Germany has made in rail-
road methods.
The necessity for rapid trench
making HAS produced caterpillar
machine with a long, projecting arm
over which run bucket after bucket
each coughing out the earth and car
rying it back to the machine, where it
is disposed of. This excavator trav-
els along so rapidly it does the work
of one hundred men, and likely will
be an every day sight in ditch dig
ging operations after the war.
From the old court house cannon
has come the present siege howitzer,
as a result of the war These mons
ter guns now weigh as much as one
hundred tons, and from their muz-
zles, seventeen inches in diameter,
they hurl 2y8oo-pound shells dis
tance OF. twenty-four miles. One OF
these projectles can pass through
more than two feet of armor plate
and then through twenty feet OF
solid oak and then through twenty
one feet of concrete masonry.
Other kinds of engineers have Civ
en- us airplanes, like the captured
German Albatross, that have speed
of l87 miles an hour on the horizon
tai. The dirigibles have improved al
most as much. And the submarine,
that was an unwieldly contrivance
at the beginning of the war; has at
tanned a perfection that enable it to
make Transatlantic voyages With
the addition of stabilizer which is
said to be nearing perfection. we may
expect the airplane to rival the motor
car in popularity after the war, and
the submarine has become so eff
cient that when the factories have
time to turn them out for private in
dividuais we may expect to see them
engaging in, the business of carrying
pleasure seekers:
Physicists, since the war began
have made it possible, by improved
methods in the use of the X-ray ma
chine, to watch the action of internal
organs of the body. Hunger pang:
may thus be noted by watching ths
spasmodic contractions pass in wave.
along the length of the stomach.
Surgeons have evolved processes
for treatment of great burned patch
es. so no hideous scars remain. They
have discovered that large pieces OF
flesh blown away will renew them
selves under a certain method OF
treatment in which the wound is
kept covered from the air by gela-
tinous compound. They have
wormed out the cause of typhus few
er, great scourge of armies in all
ages. They have found that the
body louse is responsible, just as
certain mosquito was found to cause
the spread of malaria some years
ago.
When we consider the scientific
developments of the last three years
which have scarcely been touched up
on here, we are apt to view the more
spectacular ones, like the giant guns
the speedy airplanes that climb ter
thousand feet in ten minutes and
fight their duels nearly four miles
above the earth, and the underses
boats that sting while the world sits
aghast. But when the thousands ot
peaceful years come after the few
years of war, it will be the less no
ticeable scientific achievements o.
these war days which will receive the
praise.