SCIENCE AND INVENTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15646, 27 June 1914, Page 4 (Supplement)

SCIENCE AND INVENTIONS.

HEIGHT OF OCEAN WAVES. Regaiidino the greatest height of waves reported by different observers, Lieutenant Haiti of the Jules Henry, recently noticed waves of 66 feet in the Atlantic. But this does not appear to bo tho highest on record.' In 1863 Admiral Fitz-Roy affirmed in his Weather Book to have seen waves of 60 feet. Captain Kiddle of the Celtic observed 70 foet height, and the same figure is also reported by tho commanding officer of the Naming in the region of the' English Channel during tho tempest of last winter which prevailed on the Channel and the North Sea. It is not stated how the observers estimated the height of tho waves, so that somo latitude must be given on this account. \ POWERFUL LOCOMOTIVE. What is probably tho largest sudden increase in the size of locomotives has taken place in a now freight locomotive, built to serve as a pusher over heavy grades on the Erie Railway. The engine is of the Mallet articulated type; but its weight and power have- been greatly increased by adding a third pair of cylinders and a set of sixcoupled driving wheels, which are carried by tho frame of the tender. The boiler has 6036 square feet of heating surface, and tho steam is utilised in pno pair of high pressure cylinders and two pairs of low pressure cylinders, all of which are of 36 inchoß diameter by 32 inches stroke. Tho working pressure is 210 pounds to tho square inch, and tho drawbar pull is 80 tons. The total weight is 477£ tons, of which 376£ are upon the drivers, CURIOUS LIFE-SAVING SUIT. A German engineer has invented a very peculiar life-saving device. It' consists of a water-tight canvas suit in the shape of a bag, with sleeves, for the arms and a domeshaped top that closes over the wearer's head. The sleeves terminato in gloves, so that no water can onter the suit through them. The top is provided with a porthole, through which tho wearer may take note of his surroundings. However, a slido is provided to seal the porthole hermetically. Projecting from the top of the suit*is a pipe through which air is admitted. In order to keep the device upright, a metal can or bucket is fastened to the bottom of the suit. There are openings in tho top of the bucket, so that it will fill with water and act as a weight. Within the- suit a limited stock of provisions may be carried. Around tho lop hand ropes are secured, to which two or three persons may cling and keop themselves afloat. The occupant of the life-saving device can propel himself by using his arms as paddles. DANGEROUS CARGOES. Tho average landsman believes dynamite to be tho worst cargo a ship can carry, but the sailor knows better. Jack would tell you that carbide of calcium is a deal more dangerous than dynamite. This is the chemical from which acteylcno gas Is made and the gas is constantly given off if the carbide is exposed to air. Some little time ago the Hamburg barque Hebe was towed into Plymouth Sound in a disabled condition. Aboad her were 200 tons of carbide. All tho war vessels in the Sound were ordered to take refuge, and the Hebe forbidden to como in for repairs until -the whole of her perilous cargo had been removed by a War Department barge. Tho cargo 'carried by the burnt Volturno was of the sort calculated to make a fine bonfire. It included rags, peat moss, barrels of spirits, tar and oils, together"with drums oi various chemicals. Small wonder that water had little- effect in subduing the flames. Chemicals form a very dangerous cargo, especially acids such as nitric or sulphuric, which arc both carried in tens of thousands of tons in the course of a year. ' v THE AUTO SKIFF. From the very earliest days of boat building it was realised that the body of a vessel must be shaped to cut through tho water readily; but with tho design of vehicles on land little thought was given to air resistance until very recently, when our high-speed machines havo shown us that air resistance is an important factor. Wo are beginning to realise that fuel costs may be kept down if our automobiles are designed to plough through the air with a minimum of nead and skin friction. Automobile bodies are growing more and moro like boats. Logically, the smaller the engine the moro necessary it is to pay attention to streamlines in the car' body. Tho latest typo of small car is so boatlike that it even carries a short mast and flag at the stern. Great care has been taken to maintain tho lines of tho body undisturbed. The steps are kept wholly unencumbered. The tool chest and extra shoes and tyres are enclosed in a compartment in tho rear. With tho motor mounted directly above tho single front wheel, weight is reduced to a minimum, and the car is capablo of attaining very high speed.

. SCAVENGING IN PARIS. Quito an elaborate system is soon to bo put into operation for disposing of the great amount of household waste of the city of Paris. At present there are used 730 large waggons of 180 cubic foot capacity, 1500 horses, and 3000 men, and the annual amount is estimated at 900,000 tons, or 2600 tons per day. On the old system, Seine flats took tho material either to sea or river points, or it was transported to the. surrounding country. But a modern method is to be nrcanised which involves the uso of electric trucks and a system of five largo consuming plants in the suburbs at different points around tho city. Two of the plants are now in operation, and tho electric trucks are being introduced by degrees. At the St. Oucn consuming works all is laid out on approved ideas, and the electric trucks discharge automatically into a pit 300 ft, wide, at the bottom of which is a set of belt conveyors fur taking the material either direct to the grinding mills or to the consuming furnaces. Other conveyors take tho material and discharge it into silos above the furnaces. After combustion at about lOOOdeg. Cent, thero is left a residue resembling slag or clinker. Suitable means are provided for taking tho clinker to a mill, where it is ground and mixed with lime so as to make up bricks. Hot gaseß from the furnaces serve to heat the boilers and supply steam turbines for producing not only ' all the power needed on the premises, but a considerable amount sent outside. As much as 900 tons of waste is handled per day. , BRICKWORK STATUARY. Just as the Babylonians of old, on the Istar Gate of the Royal Castle, used to build up of glazed" bricks their wellstyled, imposing animal monuments, an attempt is being made to restore the brick to its ancient placo of honour in modern* statuary. Instead of fixing a raw block in position and hewing it with tho chisel, as is frequently done with the reliefs on English houses, thereby laying the brick open to atmospheric influences, and destroying the remarkably picturesque charm of tho vivid coloured material, the monument is moulded bodily out of tho nnburnt brick clay, cut into layers and stones and each finished up carefully. In the kiln tho moulded parts are laid on a sand bed, ensuring perfect mobility during tho baking process and excluding any risk of breaking or bonding. A perfectly uniform shrinking of 15 to 16 per oont. may be accounted for. When the monument is next erected on the snot, the insertion of a proper thickness of lime-cement mortar into tho joints between the brick layers restores it to the originally contemplated dimensions. A good example of this stylo of work is a figure intended for tho monument of an African explorer to be erected in a German sea town. The monument, 33 feet hi(?h, grojjrs out of a brickwork wall Mirronndincr its base. The explorer, find in his Moroccan burnouse, is shown astride on a camel. looking boldly out into the distance.. This monument, rising above the River Weser._ is to bo a 6ymbol of the spirit animating the seafaring population of the town wnich flius wished to commemorate the esploror.