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Lake County Press, Issue 2669, 15 February 1917, Page 7

the early history of the Rand repeats itself. To-day the man who has developed this industry bids fair rapidly to become a millionaire, for French chalk is a commodity that is used in enormous quantities in a multitude of diverse industries, and the only limitation to the demand for the South African product will bo the difficulty of securing the tonnage. South Africa and the Motherland will bo the richer for what, but for the times, would rightly be regarded as a sensational discovery of unusual magnitude.

GERMAN CHEMICAL INDUSTRY.

■ The chemical manufactures of Germany dominate the world. They do not rank amongst the wealthiest in the country, being carried on by about 300 big and little firms, with a capital of £34,000,000. paying dividends of nearly 14 per cent., but they had both the home prosperity of the nation and the textile trade of the world absolutely in their grip. Germany is exceptionally fortunate in possessing, at present, the largest potash mines in the world, and the invaluable salt and other deposits at Stassfurt. She uses herself in her agriculture, more than 6,000,000 metric tons of fertilisers, of which only 340.000 tons are imported nitrates and 400,0 CX) tons aro Thomas phosphate flour (our basic slag). But it was the introduction into German practice of the coal tar analysis of the late Professor Perkins, giving the whole series of aniline dyes and invaluable other by-products, which laid the sure foundation of Germa i supremacy. By her swiftness to realise the dominating importance of chemistry, by her courage in venturing large sums of capital on research, and by the patient training of numbers of skilled workers, she has j gained a start of fen years over every j other country in the world. This | supremacy she will make every eftort , to keep. Already during the war, news comes that the three leading dye manu- ; facturing firms are combining in a trust, i ■with a capital of £12,000,000, in order j to concentrate their forces and secure ! greater efficiency.

AN ICE MINE

Unbelieveable as it may seem, there exists at Coudersport, Pennsylvania, an ice mine. It was discovered some 18 years ago by a farmer who, noting a peculiar coldness—even in the warmest weather—of a certain portion of his farm, was led to dig there in the belief that he would find a deposit of silver. The mine or cave which he unearthed proved to ho 40ft deep and from 10 to 12 feet in diameter. At present it is entered by means of a ladder, since it is situated on the side of a hill. Geologists aro not able to explain why the mine happens to he where it is, nor why the ice should form, in seeming opposition to the laws of nature, in summer and molt in winter, as it docs in this instance. The ice is formed from a peculiar cold mist which conics through the openings found all the way from the top to the bottom of the 40ft shaft. As soon as warm weather arrives, frost appears on the walls of the shaft, and soon tiny icicles form rapidly, until in the warmest weather huge icicles, often 2ft thick, reach from the platform, at the top. to_ the bottom of tlie mine. The ice begins forming in May, and in October the thaw sets in. A shelter was erected over the mine some time ago; but it had to be removed, as the ice melted when Hie sun’s rays were kept from tho mine. The mine has been used as a cold storage plant by the wife of the farmer, and she claims that eggs have, been kept seven months in the natural refrigerator, and at the end of that period found to be in perfect condition. During the summer tho temperature of tho mine ranges from 23 to 30 degrees above zero. This mine, notwithstanding the fact that it is open at the top, is warm enough on the coldest winter’s day to keep vegetables without freezing. Why is a. naughty boy like a penny stamp?— He requires licking.

BULLET-WOUNDS.

Medical observation is exercised over the facts that in all bullet-wounds it has been found that tho aperture which the bullet has made increases in proportion to the length of range of fire, and that when the bullet goes right through body or limb the aperture at the exit is considerably larger than at the entrance. A bullet at 200 to 400 yards makes a passage smaller than itself. Over 1,000 yards it exceeds the diameter of tho bullet, and when the bullet is nearly at the end of its range the wound is very large. The explanation is ouite simple. The spiral rifling in the barrel causes the bullet to spin, and tho spin is maintained throughout its course. But the resistance of the air pressing on the point of the bullet in front tends to slow it, whilst the momentum of the back part of the projectile pushes it forward. This causes a wobble in the bullet, the point of which soon begins to describe a small circle hi the air. At short range there is little time for this aberration to develop appreciably, hence the bullet only makes way for its own cross section, but at long range the aperture has to be wide enough to accommodate the bullet and its irregular motion.