Scientific Notes.

Lake County Press, Issue 2390, 24 August 1911, Page 7

Scientific Notes.

4. PETROL DRIVEN TRAIN. ' The Great Western Railway Company have: entered into an arrange- L incut to experiment with a petrol elec- ' trie: rail motor-car. The car will seat ! -is passengers and will run at a maximum speed of jo miles an hour. 1 r l ELECTRIC RAT KILLER. r ( It mav bo accepted as an axiom t iiiat rats in ships from foreign climes Jbring with them plague and other di- s senses. Various methods of destruciion have been adopted, but against lumigation and the employment of gas as there is always present the danger ol damage to the cargo. An Austrian engineer, llerr von Elorentin, has ' in invention which is quite as eflica- ! ions as either gas or fumigation. It is a method of electrocution, and ' iie apparatus make- allowance for all ' wariness of the rat. He is atuae- l ted to a plate by an electric light. The plate is baited with some dainty loved by rodents, and as soon as the rat J Kets on the plate his own weight charges it with electricity, and death is ' fnstantaneous. NEW BIC GUNS. ' t LARGER AND MORE DEADLY WEAPONS. An announcement may be expected •hortlv. it is stated on good authority savs the ".Morning Post") of a new gieat gun with a i s-inch bore. It is .is vet in the experimental stage, and is known lot the present as "the 13.5 A" gun. It is designed to super- ( sede the 1 J-inch and the laiN 1 r.;. 5 1111 - mi eapit.d battleships. Another rumoured artillery development ul the ueai future is a 3-inch gun on the Maxim principle, firing ;-inch shells, which ate fed into the magazine from a band, combining extreme rapidity of lire with great ac- : ura< y. FIRST FLIGHT FROM SHORE TO SHIP. THIS MAKES WAR AEROPLANES PRACTICAL. To Mr. Kugcne Klv, an American, belongs the credit foi the first attempt to lly from shore to a warship and alight thereon. Ely's Cut'tiss biplane: alighted upon a special platliinii. and also after it had alighted and u;e. brought to rest by a. score of ropes stretched across the platform above Ihe two rails which ran it.- en lire length. These- ropes were atiched to sand bags at each end, and they were found to act as an efficient brake in checking the momentum ol lite ma< Inne. Although Ely has floats lilted beicath the lower plane on each side ol lie centre section, the, proved to be ,in unnecessary precaution. lie made , lligln ol 1 j miles to ihe "Pennsylvania," which was anchored amid the dense: shipping in S.m Francisco Bay, .11 i', minutes. In flying, he had ris-:-n to a height of jooo feet, and pass■d over the San Bruno Mountains. Soon after the start Ely was espied , the sailor-, in the lighting tops of !•'.• warship, a tiny speck above the mountains. The speck grew larger as it rapidly approached, and the surfaces of ihe biplane were outlined ir iins| the sky. As ii iii tired tlie hat hour. Ely's air craft descended rapidly, until, when he How own' the "West Virginia" and the .■.her .mailer vessels, he was only Iso 0 :.' o feel in the; air. At iust the right 1111.111 -• nl he shut oil' his motor and glided down | () ihe platform on ihe stern of the "Pennsylvania." He -. nnk ibis :.■ by 1 27 foot platform S -S feel from ils outer end. which slop- ' id dow nw ,i!,| ,j f, et in 1,,. After a reception on shipboard \;\<\ \ ■1 '.' an hour, Ely stai led from the vessel without anv dillieulty, and Hew back to the aviation field again in 1 ; mi nun . Thus was a< complished | the first round trip flighl from shore to ship.