NOTES AND QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3339, 13 March 1918, Page 35

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Qoaitions tor repiy in coming to»oa to be !•■ Miv*« not Uter than SATUIXDAY uiglit. Q»««Uon8 will HOT b» replied to ihrougi, tiw poet. Reader of the Witness.—(l) Postmasters are not bound to supply change. (2) Notes are declared to bo legal tender, and you therefore cannot demand as a right that vou should be paid 'in silver. It is- not always possible in country districts to ' have change convenient. Fair Pi-ay.—You must pay the exchange upon the cheque. Rawhiti, Waimate.—lf you procured a copy of the Maori-English Tutor . and Vade Mecum, published by , Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs, you ought to be able to find something suitable for your requirements, or perhaps combine words which would fittingly describe the house or its situation. Methodist. —It ia the custom of the Angll can Church that the clergyman shall receive the church offartory taken up on Easter Sunday, or some other Sunday in Lent. G-. H.—Have you tried partly melting the load so as to adhere to the wire? Perhaps heating the wire would melt eufneient to cause it to adhere. Mlotoottja, Samoa.—Mr Bland Holt never produced " Charley's Aunt" in New Zealand, nor, so far as can be ascertained, in Australia. A Subscriber. —The following is given as a simple cure for ringworm on cattle: — Powder carbide of calcium (the material tised in making acetylene gas). Cut the hair round the spots and wet'them. Apply the powder to well cover them, and leave it on for 30 seconds by the watch, then wash off. If carefully done the hair will come back. Now and then a spot may require a second application. But nine cases out of 10 are cured first time. There are many other cures for ringworm, but some a_re poisonous, and there is always a liability of the animal licking the'poison, or some other animal doing so. It is well to separate the affected anim;:l from the rest of the herd, as the" complaint is infectious. If taken in time any reliable sheep dip, anplied daily for a few days, is usually efficacious. Another useful application is made by mixing thoroughly hoz of lard with 2oz of sulphur and 4oz of oil of tar, a small quantity being smeared on the surface daily. Soap.—You will find directions for making household soap on every tin of caustic soda, which, if strictly followed, will prove a success. The following is a recipe: Six pounds washing soda, 6!b strained grease, SjUb new store lime, Jib borax, 4 gallons soft water. Put the soda, lime, and water into a large kettle; boil till all is dissolved, and s*and to settle. When quite clear pour the clear lveinto clean vessel, throwing away the lime sediment. Wnsh out the kettle, put back the clear lye, adding grease and borax; boil until the mixture becomes soapy, or about two hours (if boiling fast); then pour into shallow pans or boxes until next day, when it can be cut into square pieces and put away till dry Better.—(l) Salt should be added when the butter is in a granulated form in the churn, and should be distributed as evenly as possible throughout the whole mass. The butter should then b 3 worked until the salt has been well incorporated, after which it should be allowed to stand for two or three hours until the salt has dissolved, when it should be slightly reworked until tha colour is quite oven. The quantity of salt used may be at the rate of loji to the lb. Thoroughly clean jars with tight lids are found most suitable for keeping butter. Although not recommended, 16:j of butter preservative to every lOlh of butter is sometimes used as a procautionary measure. (2) Taylor's, 137 George street. Takatit.—To tan rabbitskins: Kail the skins out in a shady place, stretching them most at the fore part so that they may dry nearly square. On no account dry them in the sun or before a fire. "When dry

soak in water for two days, but take out and replace them /several times while m soak. After two days scrape off all fat and flesh from the pelt with a blunt knife, afterwards pulling out as squarely as possible. Make a decoction of wattle-bark, about the colour of a weak cup of tea, place the fleshed skins therein, lifting them in and out, say, three times the first day, at the end of which time it will be found that the pelts have absorbed the tan liquor, and left only dirty water. Add some stronger ten liquor and leave , the skins for two days more, lifting themin and out occasionally. On the fourth day add some very strong liquor, leaving the skins in for not less than eight days, at the end of which time wash thorn thoroughly, arid stretch them square again. When drV soften them by rubbing with the hands of with a bathbrick. on the flesh side. The fur is beat cleaned! by tumbling the skins about in sawdust. „ SußSoainEß Bill.—(1) The mixture referred. to is ' a coating, and would therefore be applied with a brush. You could experiment- with a small quantity, and so ascertain how much would be required per yard. The solution of iron sulphate could no doubt be procured from a wholesale druggist. If you have any- trouble in that respect perhaps the following waterproof . oil would serve your purpose: —Take lard oil, lOoz paraffin, loz beeswax. Heat the oil over a slow fire, and when hot add the paraffin and wax. Allow the whole to' remain over the fire until the latter articles are melted, and add a few drops of sassafras oil, or other essential oil, to preserve .it. Apply with a brash to tho material, 'which is stretched on a table. Your other queries will be replied to in the next issue. m Subscriber. —Presumably you want- to know the nature of the injury, although you do not say so. It means that the wound — probably a, bullet wound—is discharging pus. Tonic.—See reply to "Subscriber" given above. With respect to the boy s shave the hairs or pull them otit, and then paint the part affected with tincture of iodine for three or four days. Mechanic, Invercargill.—Mr H. M. Davey, consulting engineer, replies:—"Although it ia quite true that wheels, pulleys, and machinery generally that move or revolve are spoken of as making so many strokes, .or eie-a making so many revolutions, per minute, these terms are in reality very misleading,» and very often lead the inex?»erienced into all sorts of trouble in havng their machinery going too quick, or too elow, for tho best effect. In reality less should often be said about numbers of strokes and revolutions per minute, and more should be said about speeds in feet per minute. You will readily see this if you turn up any lists of tho proper speeds for turning, boring, planing, etc., which are generally given as needing so many feet per minute. For example, an article about 4in in diameter and, say, Ift in circumference, cutting a substance that should be cut. at the rate of 100 ft per minute, has to revolve 100 revolutions in that time; while another piece double the' diameter, or, say, 2ft in circumference, should travel at 50 revolutions per minute, and so on, a different speed being better, for each diameter. How much simpler would it be to say that the cutting speed should be eo and so, when the number of revolutions could easily be got at. The same way with belting, whether flat or rope. It has been, found by experiment that iip to a certain speed in .feet per minute the quicker a belt travels the better, but beyond that certain-speed-the power gets less than can be transmitted by the said belt, probably mostly or. wholly because '. of " the centrifugal action which, when travelling too quickly, tends to lift the belt right off the pulleys. ' For instance, taking a rope belt, which at a certain speed in feet per minute transmits, say, only 7 horss-power, would at the best speed transmit fully 15 horse-power; but, travelling quicker, it rapidly begins to transmit much less. And it is the same with other or flat belts from the same causes. Centrifugal force has in these days of quick spaed to be reckoned with. There was an account of a motor car race in America, of course, where the speed was said to be so . great that it was calculated the tyres would bsgin to lift off the rims of the Wheels' and go to pieces; btit they did not, and the rider who knew this said he was thankful when the race was over. However, he won it, and was not harmed that time. If you want to know anything more of this matter" write again." R. Mjj Manapouri.—Mr H. M. Davey, consulting engineer, Princes street, ieplies : " I wish you had been rathe* more explicit in your lett?r, and, as you have said so very little, I must ask you kindly to write again. All I can say is, of course, that _you can generate electricity, seeing that it can be generated by any power, and especially by any constant power, i'nd equally, of course, you could light with it. If, however, you really intend to use the power you mention, please answer the following questions:—(l) What is the speed of the current. where the pontoon would be fixed? (2) What is the dietance- (approximately) from where the pontoon would be placed to the place where the lighting is to be installed? (3) About how many lights would you expect to need, and do you want any power as well, say,' for ironing', cooking, or separating, etc.? (4) Also any other information that you think might be- useful? When these are to hand further information can be given If you have any difficulty with getting the speed of the current you might select the best place for the pontoon and place a float in the middle of the stream, and see how long it takes to float a given distance say, 100 yards, and it would be as well to give about the width and depth of th" said stream at the place selected. If you could do it, a rough pencil plan of the positions, with the distances marked on it would be an advantage."