SCIENCE AND INVENTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13781, 20 June 1908, Page 4 (Supplement)

SCIENCE AND INVENTIONS.

WORLD'S LARGEST SUBMARINE. Tub Paris newspapers announce that the largest submarine yet built will shortly be launched at Cherbourg. The vessel will be of 64 metres long, with 625 tons displacement, and she will develop a mean speed of 15 knots. She will probably have a crew equal in strength to that of a destroyer. PAN WITH FOLDING HANDLE. A frying pan which shouftl be particularly useful tor campers, prospectors, and the like, has recently been invented. It is so arranged that the handle may be swung across the pan when the pan is not in use, and when turned to an extended or operative position it will automatically click in place. The pan is formed with a short stub, to which the handle is attached. The folding handle enables the pan to be easily, packed away. SULPHUR IN THE STARS. Sir Norman Lockyer has recently announced the discovery ,of the strongest spark lines of sulphur in the spectrum of tho bright star Rigel. These lines have not previously been traced in the spectrum of any celestial body. Certain sulphur lines which behave in" an abnormal manner in spark and vacuum tube spectra are not found in the spectrum of Rigel, but they do occur in stars of the type of BeUatrix and Epsilon Orionie, which represent higher stages of temperature than do stars of the type of Rigel.ETHEREAL TELEGRAPHY. A possible vision of the future, when tall towers near great cities may indicate the I location of wireless telegraph stations, is I sugggested by a. project now on foot to | connect New York and Philadelphia in that ! manner. Plans have been filed for a tower 200 ft high, and 30ft broad' at the base, to bo erected on Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, as a sending and receiving station for the serial messages. A similar tower is to be built in the environs of New York. The plan is to distribute messages from the stations by telephone. THE AIR WE BREATHE. Have you ever realised the amount of air you inhale in a period of 24 hours? One inhales and exhales with a blissful indifference, knowing the supply to be fully equal to the demands of the most vigorous; but, supposing one had to lay in a stock of this necessary commodity for the day's use as we do with food, it is pretty certain we should require considerably more room than, is afforded by the average dwelling. _ The ' quantity of fresh air an adult uses in 24 hours is equal to 78 hogsheads, the contents of which would weigh 531b. A CHEMICAL SCARECROW, :', According to recent experiments by Stadlas Tetard, a widely-known French agriculturist, wheat and other cereals can be protected against the ravages of crows, which are particularly fond of the grain when its sprouts are just pushing above the ground, by treating the seeds before they are sown with a mixture of coal tar, petroleum, and phonic acid. This treatment, which delays the growth of the seed for a day or two, but causes no damage, imparts an odour which is insufferable to the crows, but : which disappears after the sprouts have at- ; tabled a larger growth, when they are no ; longer subject to attack. ANOTHER GREAT STEAMER. There was launched recently at Belfast one of the largest steamers which has yet been built. It is the new Holland-Amerika liner, Rotterdam, the first of over 20,000 tons to be put under the Dutch flag. The gross tonnage is about 24,000. It is worth notice that the new steamer has quadruple expansion engines, but the speed aimed at is of 17 knots, so that whilst it approaches in sizo to the great Cunarders, it does not aim at anything like their speed. The passenger accommodation is for about 520 firstcabin, 530 second-cabin, and 2400 thirdclass, so that, apart from the crew, about 3450 persons are to be accommodated in this latest addition to the steamers for the Atlantic trade. ■', . NEW RAILWAY SHUNTING-POLE. The dangers attending the coupling*and uncoupling of railway trucks in the 'marshalling and shunting yards are well known, since it is in this particular phase of work that the greatest number of injuries and fatalities among ' railway servants occurs. The hazardous nature of the work is especially increased at night. To overcome these' dangers a new type of shunting.pole, which only weighs one pound more than that now in use, has been devised, the feature of which is that it carries a small electric-lighting device to assist the shunter in his work, and at the same time enables him to dispense with the hand-lamp ho usually carries. This light, which is of the flash type, is carried in the extremity of the couplinghook, the latter being recessed for the purpose. Consequently, at the moment of coupling or uncoupling the trucks, the man has the light thrown directly upon his work. BLEACHING LINEN YARN. An important invention which' is of great interest to the textile industry has recently been patented by an Irish inventor. This relates to the bleaching of linen yarn in hank, a process which is already being widely adopted for both dry and wet spun yarns. In this process large quanti- ( ties of one or more numbers, up to 22cwt, are immersed, after boiling, in a large tank, and treated with the usual chemical sour soap and size, then washed and thoroughly dried, without any handling whatever. The result of this system is that work which formerly occupied several weeks can now be accomplished in a few day 6, and without broken ends. The material winds easily and with better weight after bleaching, the colour throughout being uniform and free from spots. Not only is the process a rapid and safe one, involving a great economy of labour, with a greatly reduced risk of damage, but it can be carried out without any stoppage of the works owing to frost. Under these circumstances tho method should be extensively adopted, the experience in tho Irish mills, where it is in operation, hav« ing emphasised its valuo.

CHEAP ELECTRICITY FOR LONDON.

Three Bills in Parliament relating*to the supply of electrical power on a large scale for London or parts of London came before a House of Lords Select Committee recently, of which Earl Cromer is chairman. The whole of the sitting was taken up by MV. Fitzgerald, K.C., in opening for the London and District Electric Supply Bill, which, he said, was to incorporate a company to construct, a large generating station on the bank of the Thames at Bark'ing, and from there to supply electricity to a large area, comprising the whole County of London, besides adjacent parts of Essex, Middlesex, Kent, and Surrey. Of the urgency of such a Bill thero could be no doubt, and this was an attempt to.settle the problem on business lines. London was at present parcelled out between 13 companies and 16' local authorities, each of which supplied electricity in its own area. As the London County Council had no Bill now before Parliament on, this question, the way was clear for the private pro. moter to bring forward a scheme to supply electricity for power purposes and in bulk. In the area under review there were 66 generating stations, 29 different systems of j generating, and 18 different systems of sup. ! ply, in which circumstances a cheap supply of electricity was out of the question. Many of the'existing generating stations were badly situated in respect of getting a supply of cheap coal and in respect of .water, and, again, in many the plant was obsolete. As against an average capital cost of £40.85 per kilowatt in the ease of the present undertakings, the station proposed to be erected under this bill would cost from £10 to £12 per kilowatt. The proposed capital was £4,500,000, in addition to which borrowing powers to the extent of £1,500,000 were taken under the Bill. There were j 70 petitions against the Bill, but only 14 i,}vere, represented by .counsel, v,