NEW AND STRANGE.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 11998, 21 February 1903, Page 3 (Supplement)

NEW AND STRANGE.

An Abo-it Somo of tke Latest laveations aad Discoveries. tPearsQiiS Weekly.) A novelty recently made in Germany «a« a square inch of radium; it shines like an incandescent lamp, cost £m , :md reqt|ired several tons of barium salts, to produce it An aerial hurdle race is the proposition of an enthusiastic airship inventor'in Montana. and he has challenged Santos Dumont to compete m it. Ropes would be stretched across the course, and the airships are to vault over or duck under them in accordance with regulations. The latest form of electric tram is that in wfuch the car is drawn., along by magnets along tne road and just- under the lines The magnets affect an armature placed iu the floor of the tram, and as the car reaches each magnet the current from the ma-net is automatically broken, so that the next magnet can pull the tram a!on<' Electric sticks for drovers are the latest device for getting cattle to the slaughter house. Two insulated wires are carried along a has two brass knobs at the end. The cattle are touched with.the {mncner and receive a shock of 125 volt* which is just sufficient to give the beasts'a sharp sting and siaie them hurry up There is no brutality about thw method, as with the ordinary stick or goad, and the flesfc is not bruised

A tumbler cleaner is an apparatus for use S^ T tf ' h ' teh - When n^n « Presents the appearance of a sponge (shaped fl^i tma^ ler l P rotradi "=' on aril f r P om " a small water tank. To use it. vou the glass over the sponge and prjss do™! war**; the rod sinks into the water, turning round as it descends, until the -lass is submerged. The rotating movement of the sponge cleans the inside, while submersion and subsequent wiping do the tame for the outside.

Three machines connected with one an•ttendant, make the bags for holding tea, 'Mffee .and powdered foods generally; pack those foods in the bags, fold them up and teltver them ready for sale at the rate of cr - T "fr ? er m -* ute - The fcst m^hiM -cakes the bags and passes them on : the «ond shakes the tea into the desired .iuanttties, and turns these separated quantities into moulds m which the bags have alr«tdy been placed. The filled" bags are shaken m order to "settle" the contents, then folded at the mouth, 3 nd made into arm packets.

A French inventor has devised a combination horn and bell for evcles. The bell » placed near the muWbber air bulb for the horn, and, the cyclist can s oueeze it with his hand while the thumb of the same hand moves the bell clapper. i + n / Ko ,** Developing Machine the latest novelty of the Kodak Companv ge.3 over the difficulty of the dark room tor it dispenses with it entireiv. It £II I able* the amateur to develop" his spools comfortably m any room and in davli^ht The latest novelty in tops is "one that whisks and nngs as it SOtfs round. In the hollow upper portion are a pair of metal discs anu a hammer, while round the side are several holes leading into che hollow The air is sacked into the hollow chamber tnrough an opening at the crown of this new toy, and is driven through the opening in tne side, causing a whistle. The hammer strikes the discs and so produces the ring-

a filter that wfll purify the water as it runs from the water tap and at the sam» time prevent the splashing that results wnea water is turned on into any receptacle is hkely to t be of considerable utility The filter is attached to the tap, and acts somewhatafter the manner of the strainer which you bang on the spont of the teapot. The water passes through.a gauze and into an outer shell, from which it runs as smoothly as oil The outer shell can Easily be removed for cleaning. Eyre's lever copying 'press is a handv apparatus that will be found useful by clergymen, doctors, secretaries, as well as for general office purposes. It can be placed'on a light table, and does not' require the fixing necessary in the case of the ordinary copying presses, as it works by a lever instead 01 a screw. It needs no effort to work it, and forms an ornament rather tian an eyesore in. the study, as often happens with a similar apparatus of the ordinary kind.

A novel contrivance for feeding poultrv is now in use on the Continent. It looks like a big washing tab on a stool; from the bottom hangs a rod, and at the end of this rod is ai cup with some grain in it, bub covered with wire, so that the fowls cannot get at it. They naturally peck at the wire in their efforts to get the food, and this makes the rod swing. The effect is to open a small door in the "bottom of the tub and shut it again at each, oscillation, and as the door opens a certain quantity of grain falls out. If tie tub ia filled it lasts for two or three days, and there is no need for an attendant to feed the poultry at staced times.

Ballooning is the .latest cure for consumption. The patient has to make ascent? at stated intervals, increasing or decreasing thejittitude in accordance with hi* condition. New kinds of living butterflies can be produced from easting forms by greatly incrßLtsing or decreasing the temperature of the place where the butterflies are kept. A difference in colouring and even in form has thus been obtained by Professor Fischer ir. recent experiments.

What may be termed a musical typewriter is a*, instrument to be attached to a piano for the purpose of writing down in musical characters all the notes of the tunes played on it. This new instrument is adapted for the use of compose:* and those who have to arrange music for bands. Fresh air tablets are a preparation dis•overed by a, French scientist. It was while investigating acetylene that he discovered that ha could combine certain chemicals into a tablet which, on being dropped into water, dissolved, and gave forth pure oxygen. These tablets will be exceedingly aseiol in a closed carriage, a. submarine boat, a mine, or anywhere else where the air has become vitiated.

Refrax glass seems to be the kind of thing needed during gloomy weather. The id-v. is to use prisms instuad of the ordinary window panes ; prisms deflect the light from its ordinary course, and mak= it go where you want it, - and ky this new glass 7on get as much light as it is possible to extract from the sky. The difference in the smonnt of illnminarion in a room with windows of Befrax glass and that in a room vita ordinary panes - is vary striking.