NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2978, 12 April 1911, Page 51

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Questions for reply in coming issue to bo received not" later than SATURDAY night. Anxious, Pahia.—The specimen you forwarded was submitted to Professor P. Marshall, of the Ottigo School of Mines. He reports that it is the internal bone of a cuttle-fish. Light, Portobello —"We regret we cannot supply'the details you ask for concerning the wages, food, privileges, holidays, .and length of service at one station of lightkeepers in the Commonwealth, Great Britain, America, and France. The in- ' formation might be in the possession of the Marine Department. 'Fleas, Clinton.—Absolute cleanliness and the removal of all dirt is the first word " in getting rid of, a plague of fleas. Some insecticide preparations are found effective. Cold and light perfumea, such as camphor, frequently diminish them. A Yankee farmer is said to have provided a man with leggings smeared with some .sticky mixture. The man moved about where the fleas were plentiful, and it ' is said'that many were captured by jumping on to the leggings. Committeeman.—(l) The allowances made by Education Boards to School Committees for incidental expenses vary considerably. A return laid before Parliament shows that boards paid to committees, exclusive of the item special capitation of 9d on average attendance, the following! amount per unit of average attendance in. 1909:—Auckland, £.276; Taranaki, £.253; Wanganui, £.228; "Wellington, £.204; Hawke's Bay. £.314; Marlborough, £.226; Nelson, £.176; Grey, £.171; Westland, £.194; North Canterbury, £.340; South Canterbury, £.255; Otago, £.238; Southland, £.265. Taking a school Grade I the • allowances by the boards were: —Auckland, £4 6s to £6; Taranaki, £3 7s 6d to £5 12s 6d; Wanganui, £3 to £5; Wellington. £8; Hawke's Bav, £4 10s to £7 10s; Marlborough, £4~los to £7 10s; Nelson, "'£3 5s to £4 2s; Grey,. £1 10s to £2; Westland, £3; North Canterbury, £8 10s to £ll 10s; South Canterbury, £4 10s to £7 10s; Otago. £B. (2) The special grant of 9d has been this yeaar restored -by the Government.. " New Chum, Kyeburn, asks-. how to make .an asphalt path.—Gas 'tar is boiled, in a cauldron for a. time, ranging from four to six hours, or until the more volatile oils are so far evaporated that it hardens on cooling to a tough viscid The coarse metal (2Jin gauge)' is steeped, while the tar is hot, in this, and stacked. The quarter-inch gauge screenings are treated in the same manner. Preparing ground: The earth on the space to be coated is taken out .to the depth of the thickness of the coat designed to be laid, and the surface rolled. A layer of coarse tarred metal is then laid 2Jin in thickness, and .then rolled. When this is consolidated, a layer of ljin gauge stuff is laid so as to fill all interstices, and to cover completely the coarser stones to the depth of lin, and well rolled and dressed neatly at the building line . and kerb with a light, flat-bottomed iron rammer. . The smooth dressing of fine screenings is then carefully spread, rolled solidly (having just been dusted with dry ecreenings), and neatly dressed with the same rammer. To prevent the metal from sticking to the roller, a wet sack is trailed over it by the man pushing the roller. Puzzled.—H. M. Davey replies:—No wonder you are puzzled, for unless the questions are put plainer than you have written them, it would be scarcely too much to say that they were meant to puzzle. "What is the splay? You say l|in to every foot, and there are sft; -but is that ljin the whole, or is it ljin on each side. or 3in altogether of splay per foot? Then, again, in a sum that needs so fine an answer, is the length of the side sft, or is there sft depth measuring perpendicularly? If the sides are ljin to the foot of splay, the diameter of the too seems to be about 16ft 2in; but I am not sure that that is the right splay. H. B.—Mr H. M. Davey, consulting engineer, Prinpes street, replies:—l am now able to tell you more about the substance von mention, through the courtesy of Mr Wm. Wilson, engineer and tool maker, etc. (of tlu firm of "Wilson and Wilson. St. Andrew street), who has kindly lent me some special books on the subject. Tungsten steel is well adapted for the new high-speed steel tools, and also for magnet

steels. The property that tungsten imparts to steel is that of hardening in the air after forging and without recourse to the usual methods of tempering, such as dipping in oil, water, or some special solution. As the cutting edge is not affected by a very considerable rise in temperature, this is specially adapted for high-speed work. Its special use in permanent magnets is that the magnetism is more permanent in this variety of steel then perhaps in any other. The ease with which this high-speed steel can be forged, shaped, and hardened makes it specially valuable for dies and cutting tools. The trouble seems to be this: —There are at present, • and perhaps among others, the following: —Manganese steel, nickel steel, chromium steel, harveyised steel, molybdenum steel, vanadium steel, and titaniumi steel, besides the tungsten above noted; and some of these are mixed up with others in being described, most being termed high-speed steels. Then there? is the steel, either alone or in one or other of the above, or still other combinations, that is subjected while hot to the most excessive pressure it is possible to give it; so till these have been better classified there is often some misunderstanding, the qualities of one sort, with either its advantages or disadvantages, being applied to another sort. It is becoming very necessary to understand the exact steer mest suitable for your requirements, as . when this is not done you may get a steel suitable for other work, but not :pr the work you may require it for. ff there is any other information needed, please write again, and very probably it can be furnished. I believe that the pressed steel is the one that subsequent heat has the least effect on, and also the one that is most difficult to work otherwise than by the emery wheel "or grindstone. Ignoramus.—R. supplies the following for your information : The town of Balclutha. is in lat. 46.14 S., long. 169.43' E.; Gore is lat. 46.5 S., long 169 E.; Dunedin is lat. 45.52 S., long. 170.32 E. Inquirer, Berwick.—You do riot state what is expected of the expert. If it is a case of comparing writing, a teller or some other officer in any of the banks would ti» acoepted ajs an expert. Aqua.—H M. Dayey, consulting engineer, 91a Princes street, replies:—Your conditions seem favourable, and you should get about a- pint. a minute. The trouble may be to get a ram small enough. But there" is another way if so, and that would be to store the water and drive a few hours per' day. Water-can be elevated to; say, 25 times the fall, but your proportion is certainly a better one thaJn, that. The best means of separating the Clean spring from the flood' water would be a concrete, wall, but your plan may do ; and will probably be' cheaper. Try it anyhow first. Messrs A. and T. Burt and Messrs Nimimo and' Blair, both of Dunedin, keep these. Arborist writes: —" There are some trees which I do rot wish to cut down or ringbark, but wish to kill and finally remove or burn Could you tell me what to do? Some suggest boring a hole and! pouring in something to destroy the tree. But what would do that? Also what time of year?" —lf 'an auger hole is bored slanting downward and filled with kerosene, which might be renewed as it was absorbed, it would probably kill the tree. A poisonous sheep dip would probably do as well. The operation could be carried out now, and another dose given early in the spring.'. Matai, Abau.r.a.—H. M. Dayey, consulting engineer, replies: —All sorts or quantities could and would go through a hole 20in by 2in, depending on the head or pressure behind. For measuring" a head, which is one cubic foot, or 6J gallons per second, you make a trough 12ft long and -20 in wide inside. The sides are made of 12ia stuff, Sind are llin high, so when finished so far the trough is 12ft long, 20in wide, and llin deep; inside measurements, open .at both ends. Now, a little way, say about 4in, from one end nail •a- batten to the bottom, 2in by lin on edge, so it stands ' up from the bottom 2in, and is -an inch thick. Now prepare another piece for continuing- the end. _.2oin long, sin wide, and lin thick, and nail it to the sides, but exactly 2iri above .the top of the loweir batten, and it will be just 2in b&olw the top edges of the sides, thus obtaining a 2Din by 2in slot for the water to pass through. Now this is set level, 'and water is passed through it, just, as much that though some passes through the slot, there is a, constant level ut> to the top of the sin end piece, neither more nor less, so that the water passes through the slot under a, constant sin head. (2) Do ypu not mean two saws., as a saw about 7ft in diameter -would be rather inconvenient, so we will suppose two. ©awis. These are listed to need 8 h.p; each or 16 in all, so' at least 42ft of fall would be necessary for tho '-■ easiest, and say about 45ft fall for the hardest of the woods, with your water. (3) This question is not quite plain, but if you ask the cheaper power, water is, of course. ■■ seeing that it is. simpler, # the plant is cheaper generally, not. requiring so much-.attention, and the whole is available at any time, unless the water fails. You do not give any distances from water to farm, so nothing can be advised. (4) 13in pipes might do. but 15in are the right size. (5) The power is given above. Write again if you need to Sawmiller writes: —"I have a horse suffering from greasy heels, and all the treatment he has received for the last 13 months has not done him a great deal of good. . Could you through the inquiry column of your valuable paper give me a remedy?"—lt is almost impossible to draw a line of demarcation between cracked heels and greasy heels. The great predisposing cause is the senseless practice of washing the feet and insanitary stables. If it is imperative to wash the feet, they should be carefully dried and some suitable lubricant, such as lanoline, sweet oil, or fat, should be rubbed in. In treating for greasy heels Dr Armstrong, of the Indian Civil Service, has obtained very good results from enveloping the part in hot, dry bran. Gerluck advises creosote and spirit (1 to 6), or carbolic acid 1 part, camphor 2J parts. If grupes or scar tissue tumours be present, carefully disinfect (a good wash is 10 grains corrosive sublimate and 10 drops of hydrochloric acid, in a pint of water) the part; remove the excresences with the scissors or knife; apply iodoform, or some other suitable antiseptic to the wound; cover ever with antiseptic cotton wool and guttapercha tissue; and apply a bandage with evenly-distributed pressure, so that the wound may heal in the best and quickest possible manner. Strenuously try to obtain a dry condition of the affected skin by one or other of the applications mentioned, by evenly-dis-tributed pressure arid by the dry, hot bran poultice. Sxooker, Win ton.—According to "Hoyle's Games modernised." !>ublished in 1907: (1) The pink ball (6 points) is placed on the

billiard spot, '.tin? '<ncLe.(s points) on tho middle spot, the brown (4 points) on tho

right hand spot in baulk, the green (3 points) on the centre spot in baulk, and the yellow (2 points) on the left hand 1 spot in baulk. (2) The value of the pool ball is counted to the plays*. (This rule, however, is not generally observed in New Zealand, and in some rooms the value of the pool ball goes to the striker's opponents. According to HoylejJ the player gets the full value of his stroke.) (3) No; ; the ball is dead.