HERE AND THERE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11659, 14 June 1912, Page 6

HERE AND THERE.

WIRELESS RAILWAY SIGNALLING. Wireless telegraphy is being Used for 'tr'aiii signalling purposes 011 the Peiinsvlvania railroad. During the stormy weather of February and March the wireless messages suffered less interference tlin 11 those received by the existing circuits. ELECTRIC. GUIDES. . Subnliiriiies. airships, and the like can be steered along the path of a previously laid electric cable in the. following way:—On the vessel are two wire toils placed' at right angles. In the coil circuit are telephones or relays, aiid the cable carries a high frequency current. Bv comparing the sound' in the two. coils the vessel can be steered, so .as to keep it along the line of the cable and thus avoid submarine mines or other liidden dangers. Signals can also lie sent between shore and the. vessel 011 the induction principle.. For aeroplanes the c-aWjp- is laid along the uround, the method being the same. In this way the aeroplane may be guided along a sale course at night or in- foggj weather.

A NEW FODDEK. s The directors of the agricultural experiment station at Posen, Germany, announce, that- cocoa-shells arc an excellent and comparatively cheap fodder lor cattle and horses. 111. respect to nutritive value t-hey occupy an intermediate position between good meadow hay and bran.- The new food appears to agree with them, and when fed 011 it tliey iattmi more quickly than oil the ordinary diet. For a. long time small quantities of the shells have been nsed for feeding deer and game in German parks -and estates, and the results ha ve been good : nevertheless, the cocoa, manufacturers have had a market- for only an. inconsiderable portion of the shells they have, produced. If the new fodder proves to bo all that is expected of it, -and can sold at a reasonable price, the arrangement should prove advantageous both to the cocoa industry and to agriculture. THE STEAM SHOVEL AT PANAMA. When the Panama Canal was taken over by the Americans in May, 1904, ;a great deal of mechanical development, which has since proved of great service had already taken place in a quiet wnv. The impulse of this development is to be- found in the enormous aggregate of con struct ion work which bad; been going 011 during tlie previous years —especially in the United States. Oil. the other iiand, the needs of tlie canal have stimulated invention, go that tlie world will be the richer because of the: great work going on upon the isthmus. All example of a piece or mechanism taken hold of and utilised by the builders of the canal, which had nevertheless received its .. development independently, is the steam shovel. Perhaps the canal coukl be excavated without it: if so, the proposition would have; been a wonderfnib-different one. The steam shovel is excavating the Culebra Cut at the rate of-about- 54,000 cubic yards per day. It is no wonder then that the greatest piece of dry digging ever undertaken by mail is being accomplished with great certainty and despatch.

TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT. Many sanguine aviators assert that crossing, the Atlantic Ocean by aeroplane is by no means impossible," and some predict that the feat will be accomplished within two years. James \. Martin, writing in the. Scientific American, says that the trip could be made, by a. biplane of large surface and medium speed, propelled by five 50 horsepower Gnome engines driving two forward propellers. "The aeroplane would be fitted with all enclosed cabin and pontoons or floats. Tt would 1 caTry •two operators and- a- mechanician, and over. 7000!b of weight. Mr Martin declares that such a machine could bo driven at a speed, of 50 miles an hour. This would enable it to cover_ the ISOO miles between. St. John's, Newfoundland. and England, in about 36 hours. The airship woiild.fly at -in altitude ol oOOOft, in order to take advantage of the westerly wind that in summer blows almost constantly at that altitude. From such an elevation, too, the operators would have an 87-mile horizon.

; HAVE BEES HEARING? The question.' whether bees liave the power of hearing is a moot point among naturalists. Sir John Luddoek tried experiments with his bees in order to elucidate the matter.. He played the violin close to his bees, he tried a dog whistle, a shrill pipe, a. tuning-fork, aiid-shouting, hut no noise seemed to disturb them in the least. Nevertheless, this curious occurrence actually took place. A regiment was returning down the Long Walk in 'Windsor from a lield day, when a swarm of bees attracted by the music, followed the regiment into ths barracks, flying about over the heads of the band formed up to play the regiment into 1 ' barracks; the bees followed their example, forming up also and settling on a branch of a tree over the heads of the bandsmen. They were at once taken prisoners by the corporal of the guard, and were hived in the barrack yard. It is a common practice in the country to collect- bees by means of rattling a tin can, and the idea that bees will follow sounds is as old as Virgil.