davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27
Switzerland Speeding Up

\ report issued by the Basic Bank of
Commerce, reprinted in The Chris
tian Science Monitor indicates some
thing of the extraordinary progress in
the electrical industry during the war.
1t says, in part:
an Switzerland the activity of existing
electrical enterprises and the foundation ne
new factories III consequence of decreased
exports and Increased demands for indus
trial products for export, added to the
scarcity OF coal, have strained the capacity
or the electrical works to the utmost With
the development of our immense resources
OF water power stands or falls the pros
perlty of our country. The message of the
Bundesrat over electrification of the Swiss
railways is in this sense. It calls for the
creation of 10000 O-horsepower electrical
energy, the work to be spread over period
OF thirty years. The Swiss federal rail
ways have already obtained concessions
Tor loo,ooo-horsepower; the rest will be-
OBTAINED from new concessions or by lcas-
ing currents from existing companies.
neither for heating, lighting or indus
trial purposes, the consumption of cleo
I1lcity IN all public and private centres in
Switzerland has steadily increased in the
last years In 1913 the Basic Electrical
Works produced 32,40o,00O klowatt hours,
and IN 1917 the quantity had increased bv
more than one-third, to 43, 100000 kilowatt
hours. The revenue from private con-
sumers rose in the same period from Q.
100000 francs to 100000 francs. The
greatest increase in demand came from the
enlargement of existing works and the
erection of new factories
The carrying out of the plans for the
electrifcation of the Swiss RAILWAYS admits
of no further postponement. The present
conditions favor the Fastening of the work
Instead of becoming any better, the diff
cultles of the labor question and the oh
tanning of materials, machines. electric
locomotives, etc, threaten to grow worse
Inc prices for manufactured articles and
constructive work are steadily rising. as
may be seen from the report of tha
bundesrat on the railway question In
TINS 1t is pointed out that the growing
scarcity of coal and the enormous rise in
us cost render the rapid electri.ication of
the railways absolutely necessary and i'm
perative, while on the other hand prices
OF material and labor are ADVANCING al
such rate as to make the future eco
nomlcal working of electric railways . verv
grave question:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27

gen to feed the soil. The peanuts are
then taken to peanut factories. In these
buildings the peanuts are cleaned and
sorted. The largest are saved and put
through "rumblcr." which polishes the
shells. These arc sold in the shells.
Other first grades are sheled and sold
for sailing, and one big packing com
pany buys only first grades for peanut
butter.
If the plants are pulled roots and all
the peanuts are dried out by stocking on
poles, then pulled off and Sold Broken
peanuts are pressed and the oil extracted.
Much of this oil is sold as pure olive
oil. In fact, it is quite as rich and nutri-
tious as olive oil. The refuse is pressed
into cakes and sold as oil cakes for feed
ing stock and especially dairy cows
st. Nicholas.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27

these operations have always some definite
object i'll view, such the demolition of a
gun emplacement, the destruction of com
munication trench the Illustration of
operations being carried on By the enemy.
The main galleries are always a matter
for preservation where possible, and conse-
quenty when conspicuous noises reach the
Of the listener smaller galleres-dis-
respectfully dubbed by Tommy rabbit
holes'-are hurried forward in the direction
of the sounds. A stanch trade unionist
might wonder at the rapidity with which
this smallest gallery is pushed forward
When at last the moment arrives when
it is deemed expedient to charge is,
to lay the explosive and fire the mine
the excitement begins, for it is usually
when the enemy's workings are SO close
that they sound if they were going to
break through at any moment.
The golden rule of these operations from
beginning to end is that in so far as it IS
humanity possible, absolute silence must be
mainta ned, and in this matter it may be
said that the Briton is vastly superior TO
his foes.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27
Substitute for Glass

EoLLo"lNG experiments with lenses
- for air pilots glasses the Medical Re-
search Board of the Division of Military
Aeronautlcs announces that it has been
able to effect the casting of certain sub
stances in thin sheets which, while not
glass; can be used as such and may afford
practical substitute for it in goggles
ms substance has been on the market fox
some time, but the company which makes
1t mas not up TO the present been able to
cast in it the right strength and thickness
suitable for goggles.
Under the direction of the Medical Re-
search Board thin sheets of the ms+sr;.,
nave been produced which not only are Of
lhe proper texture and thickness. but can
be ground and polished The substance :.
hard and non-inAammable and insures prac-
'ically non shatterablc tense for the nro-
lection OF the pilots eyes.-From RI.
army aud Macy Register.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27
If There's Something to Do He Does It

over the British; and | know of many
in which the enemy has been out
wittcd in this game beneath the earth.
Many of the tunnellers are old service
men who have since as probably in their
earlier years. been miners; and, of course,
there are, too, many who never came under
military discipline at all before they joined
the colors for this war.
Rough men, strong in Will and in body,
men who for years have earned their daily
bread by occupation always surrounded
by risks, they are among the most intrepid
and daring of his majesty's forces
Grouse? Yes, we all do. But if there is
something to do, they do it, and you hear
no whine and see never sign of fear
To learn what the enemy is doing under
ground can only be done by listening for
sounds carried by the strata; and as all the
various forms of strata carry sound in diff
ferent degrees of intensity this must be
done by practised ear, for it is one of the
most difficult and important matters in con-
nection with the tunnellers' work.
Many deyices have been introduced to aid
the listener in his work, but have not yet
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27

found one better than the naked ear unless
OF course, one wants to hear noises at
very great distance, and even then con-
fusion is apt to arise between surface and
underground sounds when heard through
one of the appliances.
The tunnclers usually work in eight-hour
shifts. They are taken to and from the
trenches in motor lorries, in which they
carry their implements and supplies. Their
blllets are generally about three miles or
so from the firing line, and, it is hoped, not
always too far from a field company's stores
or Royal Engineers park.
Tunncling is carried on in practically
only those places where the trenches are
near together, and in the cases of those
operations upon which I have been engaged
the distance has varied from so or 100 yards
or so apart.
Shafts are sunk to the depth agreed upon,
and then the tunnels are driven toward the
enemys lines, connections being made where
possible with other shafts to assist the ven
tilation and allow at the same time of two
or more means of ingress and egress
1t need hardly be said think, that
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27
Paper Cities

GERMAN camoufagc has been brought to
~ state of artistic perfection that is
amazing, according to officer who has seen
much recent service on the Western front
The most expert and highly experienced
armen are often deceived even when av
ing low. AS a first step the German mill
tary authorities sought suggestions from
the most distinguished artists in color. As
a next step every available man was uti
llzed to carry out the artists ideas.
Miles of canvas painted to look like
roads were constructed, under which
regiments could march without being seen.
Paper cncampments were improvised, aero
dromcs, woods, villages and factories. all
made to distract the observation, were set
by night for the purpose of covering the
movements of troops and guns
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27
A Plastering Kink

THE electrician Is frequently required,
\ in the installation Of wires in finished
buildings, to cut holes here and there
through the plastered walls or ceilings. Be-
fore these holes can be replastered some
sort Of backing must be put in which will
take the place Of the lath. The majority
of men make use of old rags or paper for
this purpose.
The writer, in replastering holes. uses a
backing Of ordinary wire screen. The wire
should be cut about one quarterback larger
than the hole to be filed, and when pressed
into it will be found to make a good. stiff
backing, as the edges hold it firmly in
place. Far less plaster will be necessary
with this backing than with the others,
which will cover the cost of the wire screen.
and q more workmanlike and durable lob
is obtained.-W. F. Perry, in The Electric
World
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27

use on the Belgian front, according to
The Electrical EXperimcnter," which
thus explains the mortar's action:
at can be used in close quarters where
there is not ample time for loading into
the mortar, by grasping the shell by the
wire and swinging it over the head, then
throwing 1t into the enemy trench. When
put to the latter it functions the same
as when fired from the trench mortar The
pin is pulled when the shell is lifted and
swung by the wire; the action is explained
by the accompanying diagram.
"The shell shown here is one Of the units
that is placed into metallic containcr and
fired with its rear end forward. 1t is aimed
at the barbed wire Enclosure, and when fired
it turns while in midair, thus leaving the
wire, B, to trail behind and catch in the
barbed wire. When caught the sub-shen,
A, is pulled from the large shell containing
the other sub-shells, and sudden pull
causes to pull out until collar D pre-
vents further outward notion The spring
loaded bellows, E, wherein + is the spring
is now released from its compressed posi-
ton and slowly moves toward contact CO,
guided by rail, M. The speed of the opening
of the bellows is regulated by tho air inlet
valve, L, and takes about two seconds to
nashlight batteries, and when contact by
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27

the same time holding Just IS we'll over.
mighty It Is all matter Of damper adjust-
naent. Then, too. coke can be stored out
IN the open better than any other fuel, and
handled without depreciation. It Is clean,
for there are no clinkers.
"a coke fire must be checked to keep
down the heat; hard coal fire must be
poked into activity. A great deal depends
on how the fire is kindled, but once the
fire is started, coke burns hotter and
faster than coal does. Care should be ex-
erci9ed in regulating the draft, for a be-
ginner often blows out his fire before it
is we'll started.
"To start the fire, kindlc it as you would
hard coal, but, as fast as flames appear,
cover them with smaller pieces of coke,
thus closing in the heat and deepening
the bed of Goals. This is important. Coke
kndles best from its own heat
"When the fire is once started shut off
all drafts, especially chimney draft, to keep
the heat from going up the chimney.
DO not shake OR poke coke fire half
as much as you would coal fire.
keep the bed of the fire Deep with
coke we'll piled up.
Remember that large body of coke,
burning with a gentle glow, will give
moro heat than a small quantity burning
ferccly.
"Use nut size for ranges, egg or stove
size for furnaces or heaters, pea coke for
sclf-feeders
Coke, being lighter in bulk and of porous
body, thus admitting air readily, must be
fired in larger mass than hard coal, and it
has been found best to use as small
size as will readily stay on the CRATES,
stove, nut and pea being the favorite sizes.
"Remember that coke takes more space
than its fuel equivalent in coal and ar
range your bins accordingly.'
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27

the bellows is made the fiamcnt or very
thin wire, j, is made incandescent and the
powder charge, X, ignited. violent ex-
ploslon occurs, due to the charge, B, being
under heavy pressure by packing I, and
the barbed wire is broken and supporting
The same operation follows the pulling
OF the wire when it is desired to use the
shell as hand grenade, and it proves to
be very effective two-in one article
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27
Flotation of Sulphur

u ECovERY of native sulphur from
rock mixtures with which it occurs
in several Western regions is one Of the
problems calling for solution because of
and the consequent attempts to operate
deposits of native sulphur in Western
Texas, Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada. The
Equation method, which has been prac-
tised solely heretofore, involves rela
lively costly installation; the operation is
expensive under the usually prevailing
fuel conditions, and the recovery Of sui
phur has been low. Liquaton plants
have been operated in Wyoming and Ne
vada, and recently two were installed in
the Western Texas sulphur district.
About a year ago the engineers for the
Minerals Separation Company made tests
for the purpose of demonstrating that
the fotation method was applicable to
the separation of native sulphur, and at
about the same time Kirby Thomas, of
New York, conducted a series of expert
ments which indicated that the recovery
OF sulphur by fotaton methods was COM
mercially feasible and presented advan-
tages over the Equation operation. The
data were subsequently presented to the
Bureau of Mines, at Washington, and the
bureau arranged with James A. Hyde, of
San Francisco, to make a complete and
adequate series of tests. This work is
now hplnu GOna orH tho rnCJ1ltc
ported to be satisfactory.
The aotation process permits of the
treatment of fines and of sulphur bearing
material not adaptable to the Equation
method. The West Texas Sulphur Com
pany, of Culbertson County, Texas, is
planning to install flotation equipment
as soon as the results of the government
tests arc made available. engineering
md Mining journal.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27
When a Nut Isn't

THE peanut isn't nut at all, but a
member of the pea, bean and clover
family. 1t is legume and gathers
nitrogen from the air. Peanuts do not
grow from roots, but on shoots which
grow out from the plant above ground,
year little sterile yellow blossom and
'nen shoot directly into the ground,
"here they peg-that is, where peanuts
oegn to grow on them.
Inc peanuts are pulled from the vines
OF roots, and the roots are then ploughed
oack into the ground to allow the nitro
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27

which tractor can be profit
ably employed, there is no question
about the utility of the motor truck and no
farm is too small to use one Of these TO
advantage. In order to satisfy the demand
Of those engaged in general farming, even
on a moderate scale, the combination Of
truck and tractor has been devised by an
American motor truck manufacturer that
seems to fill the need of a combination 1aa-
chine in an adequate manner It is pro
vided with steel wheels, and while it fol-
lows motor truck practice in most essen
tials, the wheels are Of larger diameter
than the usual truck wheels and also have
wide steel rims. A large wagon bed makes
it possible to haul supplies or produce over
soft roads through the field, as consid-
erably more support is provided by the wide
steel rims than would be the case if the
conventional double rubber tires we're en-
ploycd. . $50. The driving wheels are
provided with traction Tugs in order to pro-
vide the requisite drawbar pull when used
for ploughing or disking. These Jugs are
removable when it Is desired to run the
machine over the roads.--From The Scicr-
tito American.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27
The Surgeons
Reconstruct
tive Work
w TRITING in 1.-THE illustrated
NV London News" of the wonders
of modern surgery, which
dates from the introduction of


anasthetics, E. F. Osborn says:
at is not easy nowadays to realize the
horrors of hospital practice when every
movement OF the surgeons knife severed
the patients soul as we'll as his body. Pro-
fessor George Wilson, the second patient on
whom the famous Syme performed his op-
Grafton of amputation at the ankle Joint
first carried out in 1922, has left on record
his emotions during the ordeal. During
the operation,' wrote Wilson, 4 watched all
the surgeons did with fascinated curiosity.
Of the agony 1t occasioned l will say moth
ing Suffering great as / underwent can
not be expressed in words, and thus, fort
unately, cannot be recalled. The particular
pangs are now forgotten; but the black
whirlwind of emotion. the horror of great
darkness, and the sense Of desertion by
God and man, bordering close on despair,
which swept through my mind and over
whelmed my heart, can never forget, how
ever gladly would do So Time was tor
ture then. and the long, deliberate opera
tons Of to-day were impracticable.
To-day the surgeon can carry out the
most complicated example Of RECONSTRUCT
tive surgery with the deliberate careful
ness OF chess player, and he can be sure
that the wounds will heal healthly without
matter forming to destroy his artistic handi-
work. And the present war has so vastly
increased his opportunities and experience
that he can now accomplish feats of physi-
hat
dreamed of in peace time. Nobody who
knows the progress made by surgery on
every scientific front in the last four years
is likely to challenge the saying of a IA
nous military surgeon: There is something
to be said for great war, after all. A CEN
fury of peace time practice could hardly
have told us what we now know-and our
rev knowledge may in the end enable US
10 save more lives than the war has cost us.
The transplanting Of skin, flesh and bone
often contributed by others-is the new
nethod which most amazes the lay mind. In
military hospital there is q patient
whose defects have been made good by bone
borrowed from three comrades. The repair
of shattered and dchumanized faces is an
other crowd compelling wonder. But the
making of new Joints, the replacing and re-
education of nerves, and, above all, the new
idea of useful stump, though less easily
explained, are even more wonderful. The
last named advance, which is mainly due to
the Italian surgeons, is nothing less than
revolution in amputaton. 1t is no longer
question of preserving mere stump-cvery
bit of muscle and sinew which can be kept
IS now utilized motive power for the
movable parts of wonderfully designed
tlficial limbs. As wounded soldier told me
the other day: Why, I can feel and think
down this new leg of mine!'"
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27
Biology and War

TN MATURE" an English magazine,
appears the following comment on
lecture by Professor Raymond Pearl on
the biological philosophy of war:
"Thc primary implements are not mech
anisms but biological entities The
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27
The Mortar That's Fash
lOnable in BeIeium

\ N ELECTRIC french mortar which
l. a. will clear the barbcd wire cntanglc-
ments in the line Of advance is now in
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27

THE heat-producing qualities of coke
surpass those Of hard coal A ton of coke
can go further than ton of hard coal
because 1t is pure fuel contains less waste,
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27

TNROSE sections Of the country that
were hard hit by the cold wave
and the coal shortage last VIM
ter have proffted by their tern.
porary discomfort to che extent Of de-
wishing ways and means to conserve coal
or to make the most Of what they have
should similar emergency present it.
self this year. Coal substitutes are an
important factor in the solution of the
problem, but it appears, after thorough
experimentation, that there is only one
fuel that can successfully take the place
of hard coal, and that is coke. At least,
that is the conviction of a writer in
Popular Mechanics Magazine" B. Kaye,
who presents some suggestions for its
most advantageous usage. He explains
first that he refers not to the ordinary
gashouse coke that has so often been
used, unscreened and unprepared in any
way, but domestic coke, made by
special byproduct process, screened and
assorted in sizes like hard coal, and
continues:
Cooke is the coal that is condensed by a
special process to a form approaching as
nearly possible pure carbon, and that
is further made moro combustible by it's
light and porous structure. 1t is the solid
part Of the coal left after the volatile
matter has been driven Off
an drilling by the retort oven method
coal is placed in a closed chamber heated
by the combustion of gas in 1ucs, arranged
in the wall Of the chamber. In such a
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27

To the Germans must be given the credit
or blame) of having been the first to prac-
tise this method of warfare, even as they
were the first to use gas and incendiary
shells and liquid fire.
The War Office speedily recognized that
this new warfare came outside the pale and
knowledge of the Royal Engineers, and i'm
mediately called to the aid Of that corps
the professional men who understood the
work. And they went further and engaged
the cooperation of the miners themselves,
so that at the present time the tunnelling
companies of the Royal Engineers are COM
prscd almost solely of men who have made
mining their life's work and study.
The Germans, because they commenced
the operations, had great advantage, but
it may be said that now there is not an
instance in which they can claim superiority
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27

chamber the highest grade of coke posi-
bic is produced, and all the byproducts
that rise in the form of vapors are re-
covered.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27

less incombustblc material and about one
third as much ashes.
"A coke fire will come up more quickly
IN the morning than a hard coal fire. at
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27
By Lieut.. J. II. Rosccamp. r. f.

ALL the work in connection with
the war, perhaps none is more in
tcrcsting than that Of the tun-
ncllcrs.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-27
aRazza& The Great Workshop of Science IL
Use a Motor
Tractor on
Your Farm

7 HIL1 there seems to be consider
~ able difference Of opinion as to
the minimum size Of farm on
Connecticut western news. [volume] (Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn.) 1871-1970, 1918-05-30
THE JUDAS FLOWER

During the early spring we have
heard of farmers remarking of what
they would or wouldn't do for the
country as whole and the commun-
ity in particular unless certain things
were done to their advantage. To
every farmer who thinks the gov
eminent owes him anything because
he is planting some vegetables or
grains which are so Necessary to feed
the people of this nation and our
allies, we recommend reading the
Judas Flower, which appeared in the
Country Gentleman.
We are not taking this method to
advertise other publications, nor are
we taking advantage of an opportun-
ity to ssknock" the farmer, but mere
ly to point out very timely article
which is sure to bring many an in
dividual to his or her senses. The
moral Of the article is not to take ad.