Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-09

way possible at the Bureau of Stand
ards foundry. Special appliances have
been originated for determining the
compressibility, permeability and re-
Effectiveness of molding sands.
Photography forward march by
means of improvements in lens pro-
duction has now reached stage of
excellence where a. halt may well be
called. simultaneously. the better
ment of Photographic emulsions has
been neglected relatively. Today
there is 10 times as much oppor-
tunity for producing better emufsions
as compared with developing more eff
ficient lenses. During the last -
months more than 400 patches OF
emulsion have been made and tested
here. As a result, new and eff1ca-
cious system of increasing the color
sensitivity of panchromatic emul-
sions has been effectualized without
any loss in their keeping qualities.
Industry has Furthermore been aid
ed by the inception of a new kind of
glass for use in the goggles worn by
workmen engaged in electric or acety-
lene welding or cutting. A brown
colored glass was formerly used as
protection against the invisible ultra
violet rays. This color has not proved
satisfactory. Many serious accidents
have occurred because workmen
would persist in removing their brown
goggles when they could not see
through them satisfactorily. The Blu
reau of Standards, by thorough ex-
perimentation, produced a blue glass
by the use of soft soda lime and
cerium oxide which solves this prob
lem.
Glass making Is an art which the
majority Of Washingtonians did not
even know flourished in the District.
During the last. year Uncle Sam has
made SO, 900 pounds of glass at the
Bureau of Standards. Much of this
supply Is used for experimental pur-
pose. All of the balance which is of
satisfactory quality Is delivered to the
optical shop at the Washington Navy
Yard. where it Is converted into
prisnls and lenses for binoculars.
periscopes and gun sights.
Coast Guard patrol boats are now be-
Ing fitted with special radio direction
finders which were designed and de-
vised by Bureau of Standards radio
engineers. These devices link in adj
mirably with the radio receiving sets
which these national experimenters
also perfected The radio direction
finder Is so built that only one move
ment of n hand wheel is necessary to
determine the exact position of a
vessel sending radio signals.
A new altitude testing chamber will
soon be ready for use at the bureau,
wherein aeronautical instruments of
all kinds will be tested under condi-
tons Stimulating those which obtain
to points as high as 10000 feet above
terra firma. !
The airplane instruments are used
by the pilot in a manner quite SIM
liar to the use Of the detailed map
which the Washington motorist car
ries as a guaranteed pathfinder when
he travels unfamiliar roads. 1t is
critically essential that science ascer-
tain all that there Is to know about
aeronautical instruments, such as alti-
meters, altitude compasses. barom-
eters and other scientific indicators
which are standard equipment now
adays on skyland's gasoline vehicles.
To reduce aeronautical disasters by
standardizing these aircraft instru-
ments isaene of the ranking research
projects which in the future will be
explored from every angle and ap-
proach al the test shops.