Newspaper Page Text
i
PROGRESS OF SCIERCH.
iy
MATERIAL ADVANCES MADE IN
KNOWLEDGE DURING 1904,
Achievements That May Pave the
Way to Discoveries of Great Indue
trial and Philosophic Value—There
is No Remedy for Cancer_ Yet.
Few scientific discoveries of mater
fal advances have been recorded with
in the last twelve months which are
comparablz in interest with those an
nounced a year or two previous. The
most sensational observations regard
ing radium-—that it constantly emits
a small amount of heat, and that a va
por which it evolves , apparently
changes into helium—were made in
1903. Believing that the last men
tioncd phenomenon is a genuime trans
mutation of one elemont into another,
Sir William Ramsay has been follow
ing up his earlier experiments with
otherg, parallelling the efforts of the
mediaeval alchemisis to make gold
out of the baser metals, He has ob
tained a microscopic quantity of
something ' closely resembling lead,
from the glass of a vessel exposed to
long continued influence from radium.
"Of course, it would never pay to man
ufacture 12ad by the aid of an element
more costly than diamonds; but fhe
achievement, if repeated and fully
verified, might pave the way to other
discoveries which wouid have great
industrial or philosophic value.
Wireless telegraph has virtuaily
been at a standstill. Neo greater dis
tances have been traversed than that
between, Poldhu, England, and thos2
Cod, which was spanned nearly two
years ago. One of the recognized
methods of securing secrecy is (o
“tune” the transmitter to emit waves
of a certain frequency, say five hun
dred thousand a second, and then to
adjust the receiver to respond more
readily to that rate than to any other.
Of course, if an unauthorized person
could find out what frequency was
being employed in a “tuncd” system
he might rogulate his ¢wn receiver
80 as to steal a message. It is said
that an instrument, called a wave fre
quency meter, has becn invented,
which will enable an expert to get the
desired information in a few min”.es
The facility with which cable mes
sages can be recorded has apparently
been enhanc2d by a devicé originat
ing with Stephen Dudley Field, a ne
phew of Cyrus W. Field, and an elec
trica engineer of standing. He calls
its an “amplifior.”
In ordinary telegraphy apparatus is
now coming into use whereby the
sending operator manipulating a key
board like that of a typewriter, and
the message comes off the wire in
print. Several devices for doing such
work have been known for ‘years,
but most of them have been costly
and somewhat uncertain. One now in
service between New York and Buf
falo is less expensive, and equally or
more reliable.
In making pig iron it is usual to
mix fuel with ore in a blast furnace,
and to promote combastions and
smelting with a powerful current of
air. The moisture in the atmosphere
makes it necessary to burn more coke
than would otherwise pe required, and
variation in the humidity from day to
day ‘embarrasses the furnacemen
still further, and involves inequalities
in the excellence of the product.
James Gayley, one of tne viee presi
dents of the United States Steel Cor
poration, has shown that by robbing
the air of its moisture (by means ot
a refrigerating plant) bett€r results
can be insured. Tests 1n August last
led Mr. Gayley to think that with a
dry blast he could get a pound of iron
by burning only four pounds of coke,
whereas it had previously been neces
sary to use six. Other economies
were found to attend the new process,
which ought to cheapen iron and steel,
although fuel is not the only item of
expense, Ore and labor must not be
ignored.
A dozen or more men have at va
rious times announced the discovery
of a germ of cancer. Among them are
a Dr. Schmidt, of Germany, and a Dr.
'Doyen, of Paris. Both have attempt
ed to cultivate the parasite and make
an antitoxin from it. They also as
sert that they have effected cures
with their remedies. Each heas a few
followers in his own country, but the
iexpérts at work under the British
Cancer Research Fund a few months
ago declared that no parasite had
been found, and that no remedy had
l hean nerfected.
' The British Antarctic exploring par
ty under Captain Scott was released
from the ice in McMurdo Bay, early
in the year, and reached hcme safe in
the summer, as did also the co-oper
ating Swedish expedition, and the in
!depcndent Scoitish expedition. No
new record was made in approaching
the south pole; but much geolcgical,
biological and other information was
' obtained which, when digested, will
prove useful. Repeated efforts were
'mad= in 1904 to take food and coal to
- Mr. Fiale, who started from Norway
for Iranz Josef Land the year be
fore, with the intention of using that
base in a polar campaign the follow
ing spring. The relief ghip was un
abl> to establish communication with
him ana his fate is unknown.—James
o—— e — ee e e
' How Sleep Captures Us.
The coming of natural siumber is
fby stages. The general repose would
‘ssem to be made up of many little
‘sleeps, which are premonitions of Na
ture’s approaching contror of the
‘body. These little sleeps take each
‘gsens2 separately and obscure it
They take the physical organs cne by
one and shroud tahem slowly till all
are quiescent.
Of the five guardian zenses (hat pro
toet us from danger while awake, the
eyes are the most important.
But mortal sleep comes with dark
ness; sight is useless 1n the dark;
therefore, in sleeping, the eyes close
first of all.
Next after sight, taste is lost; then
the sense of smell. When “half
asleep” ono’s sight, taste, and smeil.
are gone. Hearing is the next-to suec
cumb, the sense of touch deserting
last of all.
The same slow approach of sleep is
noticed in the muscles and sinews.
Drowsiness begins at the feet and
spreads slowly uapwards until the
brain is reacaed.
. In waking, the process is the same,
but it 'is reversed.—Waverly Maga
A New Roosevelt Anecdote,
A personal sketch of Governor La
Follette, contributed to the current
Harper’'s Wzaekly, by Earle Hooker
Eaton, contains a new and entercain
ing anecdote of President Roosevelt,
which Mr. Eaton quotes in the Presi
dent’s own words. Mr. Roossvelt, it
seems, was present av a reception at
tended by Governor and Mrs. La Fol
lette. The President and Mrs. La
Follette were standing in ong corner
engaged in conversation and eating
jce cream. He was doing the bulk of
;the talking and she was an attentive
'and unwavering listener. -
“Suddenly I discovered,” siays the
President, “that for at least five mn
:utes I had besn pouring ice cream
down the front of her handsome even
ing gown. She had known it ail the
time, but had not indicated it by even
' the quver of an eyelash or by the
% slightest change in the smiling, inter
ested expression upon her fac?; she
ihad simply been too pelite to inter
‘rupt me by word or look or move, no
- matter what happened to thas. gown!”
‘ s A G
Uses of the Bamboo.
. An authority declares that the bam-
Eboo, 30 important a source of wealth
'in Japan and China, exists in many
- varieties, and not only supplies the
' Orientals with building materials, but
? is used for ropes, mats, kitchen uten
' sils and a host of other articles. One
| kind is even cultivated as a vegotable,
' the young roots being eaten like as.
' paragus. The plant is not confined to
the tropics, as is often supposed, but
'i{s found in Japan, where there is
heavy snow in winter. It has been
known to grow three feet in a single
day.
; Metaphor ¢f Faith
2 By G. Lowes Dickinson. e e
oveeme OST men, T think, are significant, and find and make ! e
: e Faith, in the sense in Which I am
in proportion to their faith. lifaith, o, Nt W
M using the term, is distinguished from knowledge, ‘ «
i : i oh it may easily be misled into
necessarily opposed to it, thoug ledee, the kind of
m oposition. And, being distinguished fr?m m;or”fieftfial CortaTEy.
%f{g assurance it give is not, or should not be, inteliec sston of the
wam=® () the contrary, faith would seem to be an eXD}"ebe Fhone e
Imagination angd the will, rather than of the intellect, though 1t oy o
intellect that ¥t takes its form. It is closer to music and poetry th‘%‘}. itton e
It is the operation of our passion and our desire, shaping in anticib v
forms and features of the unknown land which we are about 'tf‘J e;gs iyl
know no better metaphor for it than that—the passion in the expict ek,
dictating the vision by which he is led. Because there is a !’m,lz.?fi’ o
there is space, becaunse there is the unknown, therefore there is ta{h . 00‘11
bus had faith. Buf what he discovered was not the world of his dl'eml?: nsis:
the dream helped him to discover it. And, spiritually, we are all In 13 pos
tion. We are Golumbuses sefting forth on our voyage. We need ons I‘ezgl.‘
but we need also our compass. And the confirmation or.dlsslpa\.?on Otf the
dream hangs upon reality. But while in this sense faith rpust wait upOlil I‘lll )
it is also true, in another sense, that truth waits upon faith. For the lmpulse
to pursue truth is itscif a form of faith. We hope that truth is gbtamable, we
desire and will to attain it. we dream its attainment as we go in quest of it.
And but for that dream, and that hope, and that will, we should never start qt
all. Faith is the sense and the call of the open horizon. If we gbstract it
from the forms in which we clothe it, from the specific beliefs which are, as
it were, its projection into the intelligence, it presents itself as the spring of
our whole life, including our intellectual life. It is the impulse to grow and‘
expand; and, just because it is that it has itself no form, but may assume any
form. It is a taper burning, now bright, now dim, and changing 001?1' and
substance with every change in the stuff it consumes. The frailest tl}mg we
know, it is also the least perishable. For it is a tongue of the central fire that
burnts at the heart of the world. _ .
‘ 0 the South.
e Negro and the South.
Striking Words by One of the Most Prominent of
Southern Colored Men. .
By W. H. Councill, President of the Negro
Colleg=s at Normal, Ala.
P EEGE DO not fear Southern oppression half as much as Ido the invasion
: : of white Northern labor, which comes with its social prejudice,
£ : d which comes often pleading its color as its only mark of supe
heam| riority. The color line was never carried upon brick walls, to
the carpenter’s bench, ia all the other industries of the South,
. K until Northern white labor carried it there. The colored men of
T the North make a great mistalke in abusing the South. Let the
South alone and look to your own neglected opportunities and correct your
own wrongs. You are driven from nearly every decent wage earning position,
whipped from the hacks and the drays, shop doors shut in your faces, lab.or
unions united against you, and the friendship and sympathy of hitherto white
friends slipping away from you.
I appeal to the white men of the North to think more kindly of both black
men and white men of the South. Every honest negro heart is loyal and true
to the South. : :
We need and want the sympathy of every section of our country, but
there is a kind of unfriendly meddling which invariably increases friction and
harms the negro. We have strong men of both races in the South who are
capable, and have the righteous inclination to fairly adjust all problems grow
ing out of our new relations. There is a class of Northern whites who come
Scuth as a disturbing element. They are hypocrites, singing one tune to the
negroes and another to the whites.
There are many mistakes in our own sacial life which we as a race must
correct, and which we alone can correct. Our women and chidren are left
unprotected by fathers; mothers and sisters are deserted by sons and brothers,
who often leave home to increase the army of idlers and criminals. The great
majority of our boys are not at school, do not attend church, are growing up
idle, vicious, insolent, ignorant, or shun hard, honest toil and lock for soft jobs.
The negro woman, almost alone, is fighting one of the grandest battles in the
annals of man, with the cook pot, the washboard, sewing needle, ironing board,
scrub brush; she builds churches, supports schools, educates her daughter,
often supporting an improvident hushand or an unworthy son.
2R EF
0 o =
peauty is in Eve
Beholder, Says Arti
¢/ bßenoider, 3avs Artist
By H. Harry, Wilson Watrous, Artist and
Portrait Painter.
grwawnsrrns, HE discussion of the nature of beauty is as old as heauty itself,
| & | and we are just as far away from any definite conclusions con
? '_:; cerning it as when our prehistoric ancestors began to talk esthe
‘ ll(‘ Beauty liill‘th‘e eye. th'thewl\;“eho}fl«'fr 'sztl}'. Certainly it
‘%*r"f%’j”"m” oY) ownsse HoA JI od£) aepnopnaed sfue Ul 9] 20U s°op
ey type to be the perfect type, still you cannot maintain that a plain
blonde is more attractive than a beautiful brunette. If you as
sume-.the m'unett.-e type to be ti}o perfect type, still you cannot maintain that
a 1)1;}1‘11 brunette is more an:{trgc.twe‘tlmn a beautiful blonde. Then there is the
question oi whether you, 111‘:‘.1‘.’1'(1:1:1:_1.\'. prefer blondes or brunettes,
I"i):llll.t beauty wherever I find it. No, with me it is not a question of soul.
1 don} paint souls. I paint f’aces ‘an-:l figures. When I find a beautiful blonde
model I take as great a dehght_ In painting her as I do a beautiful brunette
model, and when I find a beautiful brunette model I take as great a delight
in painting her as in painting a beautiful blonde model, Often 1 paint neither
blond.ef; nor brunettes, but mixed types, and sometimes these are the most
beautiful of all.
: Beaut;\' is not a thing::;‘ of color, not a matter of size or regularity of feature.
It.'lS, as hmers.on says, “like doves.’ necks’ lustre—hovering and evanescent.”
We must take it wherever we find lt——unquestioningly, and be glaa.
“It’s an ill wind that Blows nobody
good.” Strong winds blow glasses
from wearers’ noses and lodge dust in
their eyes. That makes business for
the opticians.
Smokeless powder throws off a faint
;haze which is clearly discernible
through violet glasses.
- Married life on an average lasts
twenty-eight years.