OLLA PODRIDA.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 674, 30 January 1885, Page 5

OLLA PODRIDA.

INTERESTING DISCOVERY. A large Indian meund near the town of Gastersville (U.S ) has recently been opened and examined by a committee of scientists sent out from the Smithsonian Institute. At some depth from the surface a kind of vault was found in which was discovered the skeleton of a giant measuring 7 feet 2 inches. His hair was coarse and jet black, and hung to the waist, the brow being adorned with a copper crown. The skeleton was remarkably well preserved. Near it were also found the bodies of several children of various sizes, the remains being covered with beads made of bone of some kind. Upon removing these the bodies were seen to be enclosed in a network of straw or reeds, and beneath this was a covering or skin of some animal. On the stones which covered the vault were carved iuscriptions, and these when deciphered, says a contemporary, will doubtless lift the veil that now shrouds the history of a race of giants that at one time undoubtedly inhabited the American continent. The relics have been carefully packed and forwarded to the Smithsonian Institute, and they are said to be the most interesting collection ever found in the United States. The explorers are now at work on another in Bartow county, Pennsylvania.

COBALT BRONZE. Under the above name we have a new alloy which has just been introduced to our notice by Messrs Henry Wiggin and Son, of Birmingham, whose other new alloy, silveroid, we noticed about four months since. Cobalt Bronze, which is the invention of Messrs Wiggin, is a whiter but slightly more expensive metal than silveroid. It is, perhaps, the more interesting of the two, because there is introduced into its composition small quantities of the metal cobalt. The malleability of cobalt in a pure metallic form has long been understood, but we believe it was not until a few years ago that it might be rolled into sheets, and wrought like other metals into articles of utility. Its high price, however, interfered with its production,, and,, militated against its use. This fact induced Messrs Wiggin to endeavor to compound an alloy, in which the sterling qualities of this valuable metal could be fully represented, and which at little more than the ordinary cost of German silver, might possess in a large degree all the attributes of the pure metal itself. Possessing, as it is said to do, many of the qualities and every appearance of metallic cobalt, it is manufactured in several qualities, the higher grades being preferable, on account of their suitability for casting purposes, their close, steel-like surface, their susceptibility of a high polish, as well as their hardness, toughness, and great tensile strength.— Iron.

THE AMERICAN BUFFALO. Several attempts have been made within the last few years to perpetuate the blood of the American buffalo by crossing it with bovine blood. Careful and studied experiments have been made by fancy breeders in this line, but all efforts to improve the stock either on the one side or the other have proved futile. Cross breeding has resulted in an ill-shaped, ungainly specimen of quadruped which has proved neither useful nor desirable for domestic or sporting purposes. Although the bison belongs zoologically to the herbiverous genus of the ox and its kindred, it is so far removed by physically peculiarities from the common bovine tribe as to make the successful amalgamation of the two bloods highly improbable. Then, again, from an economic standpoint such a mixture is not desirable. The meat of the ox is far more desirable for all purposes than the meat of the buffalo. The former has become an important item of commercial traffic, and the latter can never rise above a limited sentimental demand for it as game. The incidental products of the beef (including hides, tallow, horns, bones, and hoofs) are all worked up into useful articles of domestic use, far superior to the similar products from the buffalo. Then, again, the most important difference manifests itself in the articles of milk, butter, and cheese. Here the buffalo is completely outdone. His family could never be trained or improved to take the place of the farmer’s cow. Viewed, therefore from the standpoint of the rationalist and optimist, the buffalo must rapidly disappear before the rapid march of the ox and cow, just as the Indian disappears before the march of his superior, the Caucasian. His bleached bones and mouldering hornswhichnow rot in the prairies will go to fertilise the soil over which he -was wont to roam in times of old, and he will go to dwell for ever with the mastodon as one of the extinct species of an ancient and honorable race.

A FEAT IN BUILDING FREIGHT CARS. The feat of building 100 freight cars in nine hours was performed in the freight car shops of Pullman’s Palace Car Company, at Pullman, Illinois, on August 18. The cars were what are known in American railway parlance as “flats,” and formed part of an order for the Vicksburg. Shreveport, and Pacific Railroad Company, which desired to have them delivered as soon as possible. The task was accomplished without any special extra preparation. The work was laid out as usual on Saturday—that is, five sets of wheels and axles were placed on each of the seven tracks used in the work, and the materials for each of the cars were placed along the tracks in the usual'manner. When the whistle sounded at 7 a.m. the men began their work. Of the twenty-nine gangs, twenty-eight consisted of four men each, but the best gang was one hand short, because of sickness. The three men preferred to do the work themselves rather than take on a fourth hand. The first completed car was turned at 9.15 a.m. and the first lot of twelve completed cars was pulled out of the shop at 10.40 a.m. The hearty interest felt by all the men in this splendid contest was shown, says the correspondent, by the cheers which rang along the lines when the first-finished lot began to move out of the shop. The writer reached the scene at about 4 p.m., and found the floors being laid on the last two or three of the 100 cars. It

is within bounds to say that the whole number was finished by 5 p.m., and by 6 p.m. twenty-four of them were lettered and ready to ship. The remaining seventy-six were lettered and shipped during the next day.—lron.

A FAST LOCOMOTIVE. . There has just been completed in a railway engine shop at Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, a locomotive which, itisanticipated, will be able to pull a train on the New York division of the Lehigh road at a rate of eighty miles an hour. The engine, we are informed, weighs nearly 100,0001b5., and the tender, when filled with coal and water, 70,0001b5. The engine, it is stated, will develop from 1400 to 1500 horse-power. The great speed expected with this engine is said to be attained by constructing the cylinders with the steam and exhaust entirely independent. This is done by using fewer plain slide valves (known as gridiron valves) on each cylinder. The valves are worked by a peculiar arrangement of valve gear, in which the motion is taken from the con-necting-rod, and working entirely on true centres ; there being no sliding surfaces, the steam valves being independent of the exhaust, and vice vers&, and the point of cutoff or expansion can be obtained without the corresponding back pressure and over compression, as in the link motion. The point of compression can also be changed without altering the point of cut-off or expansion, so that the same-sized cylinder will give much more power at a given pressure than can be obtained by the link. To get the full benefit of this, the engine carries 1601bs boiler pressure, the boiler being constructed of steel, especially for the purpose. It has butt-joints, double rivetted, with 54 inches for its smallest diameter. The fire-box is 11 feet with 236 two inch tubes, the total heating surface being 1,378 square feet. The grate area is 37 square feet. The engine is also fitted with an independent steam-pump and heater for feeding the boiler, so as to put in water at nearly the boiling-point, the heater being under the boiler. The pump, being independent, can be run when the engine is standing. The arrester is so arranged that all the sparks are thrown down into a box, forward'of the smoke arch, and are there carried to the end of the run, and dumped the same as the ashes. The spark arrester has been in use for some time, and has proved satisfactory.— Iron,

BURSTING OF A GUN. A serious accident, but one fortunately unattended with any personal injury, occurred on board the' corvette Active recently while a trial of her guns was being made at the back of the Isle of Wight. The Active has just completed a very extensive refit to her hull and machinery, during which her old armament of muzzle-loading guns was replaced by 6-inch breechloaders of the latest construction. The guns, which weigh 81 cwt., are mounted upon Vavasseur carriages, and as the gear is of a somewhat complex character the Admiralty have insisted that it shall be practically tested for endurance under fire at sea previous to the ships which have been fitted with it being transferred to the steam teserves. The Active accordingly proceeded out of Portsmouth Harbor for the trial to be made under the supervision of gunnery officers from the Excellent and dockyard officials. The firing was commenced from the aftermost gun on the starboard side, the test in this ease proving satisfactory. Preparations were then made to test the mountings on the adjoining gun on the same side. The full charge consists of 34 lbs. of P.2 powder, the projectile weighing 100 lbs., but it is stated that for the first round a reduced charge was used. When this was fired the whole of that part of the chase which protruded from the port, about 5 feet in length, was blown bodily away, and carried to such a height that it seemed to actually hang in the air before falling into the sea. Had the fracture occurred nearer the breech several of the men serving the gun must have been killed or wounded. Some small fragments rebounded against the shot-catchers in the rear, while a large piece struck the breech mechanism of the gun which had been previously fired and seriously damaged it. Some Other damage was caused to the port and hammock, berthing, but of little importance. The ship at once returned into harbor, and a sentry was placed in charge of the wrecked gun, which will form the subject of inquiry. No satisfactory explanation of the accident has been assigned. The manufacture of the piece is said to be faultless, and the general opinion seems to be that there was some obstruction in the rifling, and that in running over it the extra strain produced by the projectile at the weakest part caused the fracture. This assumption is made all the more probable by the fact that the gun burst on the first round.

THE VOICE OF THE SLUGGARD. Have you got my boots, Jemima ? Leave them at my chamber door. Does the water boil, Jemima ? Place it also

on the floor. Eight o’clock already, is it ? How’s the weather—pretty fine ? Eight is tolerably early ; I can get away by

nine. Still I feel a little sleepy, though I came to

bed at one. Put the bacon on, Jemima ; see the eggs are nicely done ! I’ll be down in twenty minutes—or, if possible, in less ; I shall not be long, Jemima, when I once begin to dress. She is gone, the brisk Jemima ; she is gone,

and litte thinks How the sluggard yearns to capture yet another forty winks, Since the bard is human only—not an early

village cock — Why should he salute the morning at the

hour of eight o’clock ? Stifled be the voice of Duty ; Prudence, prythee, cease to chide, While I turn me softly, gently, round upon my other side. Sleep, resume thy downy empire ; reassert thy sable reign ! Morpheus ,why desert a fellow ? Bring those poppies here again ! What’s the matter now, Jemima? Nine o’clock ? It cannot be !

Hast prepared the eggs, the bacon, and the matutinal tea ? 1 Take away the jug, Jemima. Go, replenish it anon ; Since the charm caloric must be very nearly gone. She has left me. Let me linger till she reappears again, Let my lazy thoughts meander in a free and easy vein. After Sleep s profounder solace, nought refreshes like the doze. Should I tumble off, no matter, she will wake me, I suppose. Bless me, is it you, Jemima ? Mercy on us, what a knock ? Can it be—l can’t believe it—actually ten o’clock ? I will out of bed and shave me. Fetch me warmer water up ! Let the tea be strong, Jemima. I shall only want a cup ! Stop a minute ! I remember some appointment by the way, ; ’Twould have brought me mints of money ; ’twas for ten o’clock to-day, Let me drown my disappointment, Slumber, in thy seventh heaven 1 You may go away, Jemima. Come and call me at eleven !

* Leeds Mercury! ’

A NEW SUBMARINE TORPEDO BOAT. The ‘Peacemaker’ about as inappropriate a designation as could well have been invented —is the name given to a new submarine torpedo boat constructed from the designs of Professor J. H. Lock, of New York. The boat is an insidious weapon of naval warfare. She is 30 feet long, built of iron, and costs 16,000 dols, to build. Under ordinary circumstances the top of the boat is not much above the surface of the water, and she can be driven entirely under water by inverting ‘ fins,’ the motive power being electricity. The boat may be sunk to any depth by expelling air from and letting in water into reservoirs. In the interior of the vessel, which is lighted by electricity and supplied with compressed air, are placed the ‘ crew 5 of the boat, consisting of the electrician and the Engineer, the latter of whom attends to the air pump. The captain, who is also steersman, is placed in a most peculiar position, a kind of well on the deck of the boat. He is ~ clad in diver’s dress, and surrounded by water. From his place he signals to the electrician to manage the boat and discharge the torpedoes. The latter, charged with dynamite, are made buoyant with cork, When an offensive movement is intended the boat, driven by electricity from storage batteries, runs up under the bottom of the ' ■ vessel to be attacked, when the captain places a torpedo on either side of the keel, the torpedoes being jmade to adhere by electric magnets. The torpedo boat then runs off, and when at a safe distance, the torpedoes are exploded. According to Professor Tuck, who is said to have been twenty-five years perfecting his invention, the torpedoes may be attached to vessels going at a speed of 10 knots an hour. When lying at anchor the Peacemaker looks something like a huge shark, with a hole—the captain’s well—in its back.

CANADA’S FOOD PRODUCTS. Canada’s position as an important food producing country is not sufficiently appreciated by the English public at large, although much has been done by the combined action of the Press, of late years, to dispel the popular ignorance that existed of the resources of that colony. In addition to the provision for her home consumption, Canada in 1883, exported food products to the value of 59,537,377 dols., subdivided as follows : Agricultural producto, 21,165,418 dols. ; animals and their products, 29,515,033 dols. ; produce of fisheries, 8,146,925 dols. A glance at the details of some of the more important articles exported will not be without interest and instruction. Wheat and barley, ll,ooo,oooand 9,000,000 bushels respectively; flour, 500,000 barrels ; live stock —67,000 cattle, 312,000 sheep ; dairy produce—--63,340,938 lbs. cheese, 5,162,729 lbs. butter. Under fisheries the more noteworthy are lobsters, 15,000,000 cans ; cod, 760,000 cwt.; herring, 5,000 tons and 123,000 barrels ; salmon, 11,000,000 cans and 5,000 tons. This, for a country of barely 5,000,000 inhabitants, speaks well for the productiveness of the soil and the industry and enterprise of its people.

PLATINUM IN RUSSIA. The platinum mines in Russia, discovered in 1724, are near Bogoslowsk, Miask, Newjunsk, and Nischnei Tagilsk, in the Ural Mountains. At six places in IS6B, 1869, and IS7O, from 474,000, 367,000, and 263,000 tons of sand, 6,675, 7,770 and 6,445 pounds of raw platinum were obtained respectively. The metal always contains some other substances ; thus Le Play found, in a sample from Nischnei Tagilsk, 75‘1 platinum, I*l palladium, 3'5 rhodium, 2’6 iridium, o‘6 osmiridium, 23 osmium, o'4 gold, 1 copper,and S'l iron. The raw metal is almost entirely sold, at about £l4 per pound of pure metal, to England and Paris, where it is refined before it can be worked up into manufactured articles.

In a paper read before the Vaudois Society of Natural Sciences, M. Schnetzler explained the results of his studies on the colour of flowers. He argues that only one colouring substance exists in plants, and that the various colours of flowers are only due to the modifications made in this substance by the acids or alkalis contained in the plants themselves.

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