GENERAL NEWS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1184, 30 September 1885, Page 5

GENERAL NEWS.

In the system of electric illumination of trains, recently adopted on the Eastern Railway of France, there is a Gramme machine (driven by the locomotive) and accumulators. M. Tommasi haa introduced an "automatic interrupter," the action of which is to break all communication between the Gramme machine and the ascumulators, when the speed of the train descends below the normal. Further, if the lamps are lit at such a time, or when stoppage occurs, the automatic apparatus substitutes the accumulators for the machine, or reciprocally ; the moment of change is not perceptible. When the train is running without the lamps being lit, the Gramme machine charges the accumulators exclusively ; when the train is lit, the machine feeds both the lamps and the accumulators. It is only when the illuminated train slackens speed or stops, that the accumulators supply the current required by the lamps, and this is restored when the train has resumed its normal speed. Thus the accumulators are not so cumbrous as if they had sufficient capacity to feed the lamps during the whole journey. There is a Swan lamp in each compartment. The train is lit by the guard on entering a tunnel. The cost for an ordinary train of 36 lamps is about 12 francs a day, whereas the lighting with oil cost 36 francs and was very imperfect. An Arizona paper states that a new tanning agent, likely to be of great value, has been discovered, and one which also has the property of adding weight to the leather. The plant is an annual, and grows upon desert and dry upland soil. It is known by the Mexicans and Indians as "Gonagra." The discoverer is a Mr Edwards. The report states that the plant has a root somewhat longer and more scraggy than the cultivated beet, though resembling it in appearance. Practical use demonstrated that its tanning properties were three times as great as the common oak bark, and that in all essentials it was superior to the bark in the manufacture of leather. Ever since his fortunate discovery, Mr Edwards has used this root in the manufacture of leather, it being delivered to him by the Indians for about 8 dollars per ton, while oak bark cost 20 dollars a ton in San Francisco, and freight to be added.

Great Britain has 46 effective ironclads, 21 obsolete ironclads, and 181 unarmored vessels. Russia haa 14 effective ironclads, 27 obsolete ironclads, and 48 unarmored vessels. It will be seen from the foregoing that Great Britain's navy is numerically much stronger than that of Russia. At the present time Great Britain has only two sea-going torpedo vessels of the "scout" class under construction, and the Admiralty propose to supplement them by ten smaller ones and 30 first-class boats ; a totally inadequate provision when the activity of other maritime atatea in this direction is taken into account. At the begining of this year it was calculated that England might have 24 firstclass and 53 second-class torpedo boats. Two of each clas3 are at Malta and Hongkong, and two of the first-class at Gibraltar. Russia possesses nominally from 100 to 120 torpedo vessels of various kinds, most of them unserviceable, especially the 50 submarine boats of the Chetvetski system.

Some remarkable photographs of a pistol bullet in its flight, under the illumination of an electric spark, have been secured by Professor E. Mach, of Prague. He has also photc graphed the air streams which one may see over a Bunsen burner placed in sunshine, and has even obtained pictures of wave 3of sound, these last being made visible by a method in which advantage is taken of the irregular refraction of light by the waves set in vibration by sound. Although these experiments may not have any practical value, they are interesting as showing the great degree of perfection to which the photographic, art has been carried.