f(Y?V(u
NEBRASKAN
UNIVERSITY OF NEMtA&CA, LINCOLN, MARCH !, iKUO.
You IV. No. 21.
Pkigk, fi Cknts
THE
HICKMIN THE X RAYS
AN INTEEMTIHG ACOOUXT
Sowtha I'henomona mar be Produoed
InitrumenUKequlrod-He.ulU of
Experiments by our Student
ginr- Roentgen's discovery of the pon-
nlWIIty of photographing through
opaque sulwtances by means of a
Crooke tube, a number of scientific
men ha' l,wn at work, some studying
dho pnns-sH. others trying to get the
same off-eta by other means. The fol
lowing .ire some of ithe processes at-
ready used and are n.m to Rive ine ue-
inul r suits.
The brush discharge which occurs ue-
tfffen tli-- two -terminals of an induc
tion coH when they are too far apart
for a iark to pass between them. Tne
brush appears as purple streamers
shooting between the terminals.
Bumevl-out, ineadescent lamps hav
ing flfcum-rA. Hubs for the anode and a
piece of 'tin-foil attached to one side of
the bull for the. cathode. An Induc
tion coll is useli to operate the tube
made.
A photographic plaite placed between
two ins.ul.ittd metallic plates which are
omneaud t the terminals of an in
duction 'il In one Instance, these
plates wt.' tabout six Inches apart.
An an- light lias also given results
Theee methods have been varied somc
hAt in details, but as final results the
photographs produced give ithe shadows
of the objects placed upon or before
the plate The supiorterjs of each par
ticular method claim that the photo
graphic effects are due to the produc
tion of x-rays, but whether the rays
are produced remains to be seen, and
(here uTe some scientists who already
duubt the similarity between the ac
lions in the mtthods mentioned and
the action In a Crookes tube.
The photographs produced Iby the
x-rays show the shadows of objectsalso
any variation In structure. .From the
fact that .the shadows of different sub
stances, the metals for 'instance, have
different Intensities, it is inaiturally sup
posed ithat some are more easily
traversed by the nays than others. E
piTimnu ithus for made seem (to indi
iuu ihui alii' more dense the substance
tii gruutiT Uie resistance to the rays.
ins. t have been used ito show this,
varjmg t'lie density by jiressurc.
The cxiMisure of a plate ito the effects
of a CiiHkes tube is a comparatively
simple pun-ess. Since glass acts as an
opaque st recti, and 'because there Is no
a of bending the rays out of their
eouiBt bj a lens or har means, a
camera Is of no service. All ithat is
done In making am exiosure I to place
tin- ohjeets ito he photographed between
tho tube and 'the plate, 'the latiter "being
held In an ordinary plate holder.
The 'ube is the tmost Important part
of ithe i' j'punatus and must be made with
care, ow mg to the high vacuum neces
sary for the production of the cathode
rays That great care Is required In pro
ducing the vacuum can be readily un
derstood when we compare the column
of meuury which is sustained by the
ordinary la'tmospherlc pressure and the
column vv hlch is .sustained by ithe pres
sure within a Crookes tube. With the
lornn i the column is about "CO milll
metoiB m height, while the pressure of
the eus wiUch remains In "tiie tube
will onli Huataln about 1-1,000 of a mll
ItiiieUi of mercury. Edison claims to
get the best results from a vacuum
vMueh is re.nresented by a pressure of
ubouii i-200 of a millimeter of mercury.
Tin tube as originally constructed by
"William Crookes, F. R. S., and Baiter by
Qthei makers, had a rather tiilck glass
wall, but by biitiBtltutdne piece of
aluminum to 3erve as a window, the
efrnt.it h produced iby ithe x-rayB were ln-er.-usfd.
Tubes aire now made with a
eij tihln glass wall and are entirely
BaUKfaotory in operation.
The cathode rays ore electrified par
ticles of the air which remains within
the exhausted tube. The direction of
vibration of theBe narticles is parallel
U the direction of ithe rays, differing
hi ithlii rasped Croon orddmasry llgh;t
whioh Is produced by vi'braitlons perpen
dicular .to the direction of the rays. A
peouliarity o? the cathode raya is that
tlU'V itwiv lu limn ml of -uieir course
by means or ia magnet held near the
ube On 'Uie outside of the glass at .the
t'ttlorescent spat there !1b mo Hlght slm
ilur to that produced by ithe cathode
rays and from the fact .that the x-raya
radiate an ail directions from Uie spot
und are not affected by a magnet, It
seems natural 'to vnioludo thait the
x-raya are not cathode rays,
A number of scientists ure Inclined to
believe that the x-tay Is some sort of
molecular action. uerhntiH of itho ether,
and thait the vibrations are longitudinal
ns in the cathode ray. The action or
the rays In opposite to that which would
be noticed hi the case of electrified
particles. It Is yet to bo determined
whether the wave length Is very short
or very long. A simple 'lost seems to
show that the nnture of tho x-rays in
similar -to that of tho ultra-violet ior
tlon of uhe spectrum and this mny ulso
show that the wave length Is very short.
A property of the x-ray Is that of
causing olllorosoenco of certain sub
stances, barium plwtlno-eyanlde being,
norhnns. the beat for this purpose. Ily
substituting u screen coated with this
comoounil for the nhotocraiihlc platf.
tho portions not protected, by hidden
objects will give itght and In this way
the exnot locution of the objects can be
seen directly by the eye. It 'Is barely
possible that the action uion a pho
tographlo plate la not due 'to any chem
leal action which these particular rays
have upon the film, but is a secondary
one due to the elllorescenoe of the salts
In Uie film and It is 'this light which
produces the chemical change. As a
support of this theory, we have the re
port of an experiment made by Kdlson
upon plates having different degrees
of quickness. He found that the slow
landscape plates were quickest for this
new process. Is it not probable, then,
that the salts 'in the slow plates give
a stronger elllorescenoe ithan thos" m
the quick or instantaneous plaites and
In tills way produce an effect opposite
to that whlc-h 4s observed with ordinary
light?
The conductors of platinum wire are
sealed into the glass wall of the tube
at some distance apart and usually at
right angles to each other. In order
to prevent excessive heating of these
conductors (due to the action within the
tube) and consequent danger of the
destruction of the vacuum, they are pro
vided at the Inner ends with knobs or
djscs of 3pme metal, preferably of alum
inum. These two terminals are known
as the "anode" or "flowlng-ln" pole, the
"cathode" or "flowlng-out" pole.
When the discharge from an induc
tion coil is jiassing through the tube,
the whole interior is dark with the ex
ception of the region of the cathode
where the caithode rays have their ori
gin and which pass from the 'terminal
to the opjtoslte Avail of the tube in
straight lines df no extern! influence
Is brought to boar uin them. Where
the cathode rays strike uikwi Uie glass
the phenomenon of efflorescence is pro
duced and 11 Is from this efflorescent
spot that the x-rays are said to have
their origin.
The josslble uses have been much
discuaseid in 'the vamlous mewspaers,
so It is unnecessary to take up space
with the long list. As to the value of
Uie process buth for scientific and for
practical uses Uiere can be no doubt,
and not a few scientific facts are looked
for as results of the exact determina
ttlon of the nature and the action of
the "X" or "unknown" ray.
A Sprengel pump has been con
structed Hn the physics department of
the university and witliin a hhort time
some experiments will be made to in
vestigate the action whloh takes place
when a Crookes tube is in oieration.
Lack of proper apparatus has prevented
unythlng definite being done during the
past few weeks.
THE SOHBRBR0 ELECTION
98 ELECTS T
JIR BOARD
A Unrmloss IMvnlry For Office There
Woro too Many Ooud Mon. Every
body is Bntisflod
The vvavo of excitement which flows
over each successive sophmore class
about thlH time In tip year struck the
class of '.IS a little airller thnn It 1ms
some of the precclinx clnsses. As
much ns four weeks ago little groups
of "sophs" might Iwyo been seen In
the lmlls and on theoampus (you could
tell them by that WHjistmanliithoworld
look that they all wjnr) and the theme
of every convorsutiloji-was "The Junior
Annual."
A Week ago Inst Friday n moeSuhiK.
which brought out i very largo repre
sentation of the clasi, was held In room
3. The number of oycers to be elected
for the annual was determined upon at
this meeting and tie date of election
set for last Friday a
Some lively caucus ing was done dur
1 o'clock.
n,o one seemed to
come out. Three
Word was received Friday by
friends In the city of itHie deaith oif Will
C. Hall, a former student of the univer
sity, and dn 1893-114 an assistant in the
zoological! department.
Mr. Hall was a close student, an ac
Isuraite observer and a genial, compan
ionable man, who seemed destined to
do a good work in life. He was com
pelled to give -up Uils school life on ac
count of the appearance of BrUght's
disease. By Hvimg in tdite open air and
bv careful aitteiuMom to ills diet Silts phy
sicians hoped to ward off fatal results,
but a few monthB ago he was ordered
to Arizona -and (told that he could not
endure a northern whiter. The tele
gram Indicates that Mr. Hall died on Uie
20tih at Teimole. Ariz. The case is ail
the sadder from .the fact that Mr. Hall's
iiatftxer is very ill wlUi rheumatism at
Hot Springs, Ark., wiille andtlher mem
ber of tthe family is recovering from a
serious Alness at 'Uie family home at
Creston, la.
The Ewing COotlhlng company ore
Bhowlng .Uie new sliapeB dn spring hats
at popular prices.
Ing that week, but
know how It woult
officers were practtoally conceded by
the leaders a being lettled. They were
McKay for one edltof-ln-ohief and Pier
son and Russell for business managers.
Tho fight was evidently to be made
on the other edlttiMn-ohief. Yot up
to the lost day everybody seemed to
ihlnk It would be aboolety man.
In fact a ticket via made out wlUi
Hoomer of the Dellajs in this place and
a very fair division it Uie board among
the fraternities, socfclies and outsiders.
It seemed probabld that this ticket
would carry with irtle opposition Ull
Friday morning. At that time Uie
members of the clis? outside of boUi
fraternities and sorleUes came to an
understanding among themselves and
Insisted that Barron, should take Boom-
et's place upon the ticket.
With this idea lnlview a new ticket
was printed with NcKay and Barron
as editors In chief i and Plerson and
Uussell as businejsWianageTS, and a
board consisting of six fraternity peo
ple, four from Uie frocietdes and four
outsiders.
These two were practically the only
Uckets that c ame up when 'the meetdng
was called at 1 o'clock.
Business managers were voted on
first. J. K. Plerson and Phdl. llussell
getting all but a few straggling votes.
For editors in chief Will U McKay
was upported by both tickets and re
ceived practically Uie unanimous vole,
while P. J. Barron was elected over
Boomer by a two-thirds majority.
As members of the board the ten
named below were elected, rerervms
pluralities In the order named: John
TutUe, George Burgert, T. D. Lunn,
Ellen Gere, Ijlsle Wilkinson, Charles
Morrison, E. A. Wiggenhorn, C. H.
True, W. Axllng, L. J. Belknap.
A staff of artists was elected con
sisUng of Jessie Uanslnr Vergil Barber,
Pearl Wycoff, Miss Lytle. C. C. Culver,
May Wilson.
Thus it was started During the past
week the business managers have re
ceived several bids for printing and In
time will be able to rejort to the ed
itors and Uie class the prospects for
Uie annual.
Regardless of the tussle for the offi
cers Uie elaet. ds a unit On its desire for
the success of the Annual and every
in urn bur will work hard for Its good.
If '98 don't have an Annual it will not
be for want of ability and push.
bag with a hickory shirt and a hymn
book und a iwipor collar and a. boot-Jack
and Bent him on to college.
'Sow. when the son had irot him Into
the olty and begun to look around him
he nearly dropped dead. His knowledge
of the deceitful and designing female
sex lmd been limited to old mahl school
teachers and cross-eyed farm girls mid
hu marvelled exceeding much at the
frat irlrls vvltlh "their Ilenrvv"VlIl. nlumes
and dotted veils ami Trilby walks and
he said unto himself, "Forsooth this
Is right in my line," and he telegraphed
home for some shekel.
And it came to jmss that the son got
the regulation four second Introduction
to one of the girls and he straightway
began to do the right thing. Moreover,
he was a young and callow youth who
did not uuderHtnnd the noble and popu
lar art of limb Jerking, so when the
girl began to throw around broad hints
about oysters and theatre tickets, he bit
even as the sucker blteth. and stood
off his board bill. Hut It eventually came
to pass that he broke the family bank
and on a contain night he spent his
last round samoleon for flowers for his
charmer and It chanced that about this
time the girl got onto the state of af
fairs and decided that she must look
for another fellow, so she nut an extra
curl on her forelock and powdered her
nose and throat and sailed out for a
new victim and sie didn't have to sail
long, either. And It came to pass that
when the farmer's son come to look for
her on the dancing floor that night he
found her in the corner with another
fellow. And behold, she had given the
other fellow one of his roses ito wear.
And the farmer boy wist not why it was
so. And he waxed exceeding wroth and
grew warm beneath the collar and he
pranced up to where the pair were
chinning each other and said: "O, faith
less maiden, is this your graUtude?
Methlnks this is a rather raw deal. You
cive this duffer the roses that 1 iaid
for and he gets your smiles and pleasant
looks. Now what forsooth do 1 get?"
And the fair maid looked up and said,
"You get nit!"
And It dawned upon the farmer ltoy
that he was getting it In the neck and
he sneaked out, and In the morning he
had to pawn the family watch to get
him a meal ticket.
THEY WILL TALK A BRACE
PERSHING RIFLES WARE UP
Will go Aftor Bomo Good Mon and Wood
out tho Poor Onos-Thoy Will
j Qlvo a IIop Boon.
i The Pershing Hides company thus far
this year ha hardly realized the ex
pectations of lnt spring. The election
of John Dixon to the captaincy was
surely a wise and valuable step. Pre
vious to Mr. Dixon a acceptance the
members of the company had lost nearly
all Interest; a few enthusiasts alone at
tended the regular drills.
Dixon saw what was needed and went
to work at once. The splendid drill on
charter tiny Is one of the results cf his
wt rk. From this drill interest has
awakened In the compnny to an intense
degree, not only In the members, but
also In the friends outside.
Thursday night very Important action
was taken toward partially reorganiz
ing the company.
It was decided that the officers and
non-commlssloned officers would remain
the same, but the roll of privates would
tie materially changed. A committee,
ctrslstlng of Parmelee, Gage, Saxton,
Kecd, Sedgwick. Pulls and Schwarz waa
selected to hunt out and bring In the
best men of the battalion, also to cull
out the poorer members of the company
In this way only the very best men
will become members and such men as
can always be depended upon.
A line of 25 cents is to be Imposed up
on all absentees. The non-payment of
which within one month Is to be con
sidered ample cause for expulsion.
Along the social line which is the pol
icy of the company the pursue, a com
mittee was selected to look Into the mat
ter of getUng up a Rifle's hop.
Already such actions as above are
having the desired effect.
Men are trying hard for the positions,
and the Pershlngs are nearer Uie centre
of Interest In the university now than
any other student organization.
FOR 1C TO 1.
About fifty free silver men met in
"Union hall Tuesday morning at chapel
time and itook steps to organize a pei
manent free silver club. C. M. Ban
was made temporary chairman and J.
II. Lien, secremiy. A committee con
sisting of R. II. Graham, O. H. Allen
and Eugene Pace was appointed to get
permission for the use of the ohupel
and obtain a speaker. The use of the
chapel has been granted, and the prob
ability Is that W. J Bryan will deliver
an address Boon. A committee was ap
pointed to draught a oonbtltutlon and
to take the proper steps 'to affect a
permanent organization.
Now this is not only a 'true story, but
a common one, and If I should tell who
1 have in mind there are half a dozen
other fellows who have been through
the same mill that would feel slighted.
H. S.
Wednesday morning between the
hours of eight and a quarter after a
man with a cadet cap and questionable
actions, bounded with three leaps in
the Co.-Oi. Ho was attired in. a. mili
tary overcoat, buckskin legglns, car
tridge belt and two horse pistols. When
he arrived at the center of the room,
braniddfehlng a pistol in one hand and the
cavalrv saber, wliich had beern strapped
across his back, in Uie other, and while
the members of the Co. Op. hastened
off to find McDowell, and while Uie
editor, In his official seat was reaching
calmly ir his six-shooter, the genUe
men burst forth with, "We will be
free!" "On to Cuba." Don't shoot till
you see the whites of their eyes," and
"If anyone attempts to pull down the
American flag spot him on the snout!!"
Corporal Hinds hearing the disturb
ance hastily called together a Bmall
volunteer company and marched with
regular steps to the rescue. Arriving
at tlie Co.-Op. the llttHe corporal com
manded by 'the "light flank march!"
and tiled hlB army into the room.
Already a few snap shots had been
exchanged between the man of such
questionable designs and Cornell. But
soon by the aid of the Hinds volunteers
the editor was ahde 'to ovenwwer tne
domon and we soon discovered what
we had done. For It was no one but
Gein, Bill Grant. P. B. D. C, calling
Uie attention to the expected and hoped
for war with Spain.
Guy Howard was visited by his father
Thursday.
Professor Swezey lectures at Exter
this. Friday, evening.
The art rooms ore becoming a popular
resort for the young men.
The baseball club is taking a lay off
until the snow leaves the ground.
Chancellor McLean addressed the stu
dents of the Peru normal Friday night
a
Dr. WTard entertained the zoological
club at his home on Wednesday e en-
ln&' . ...
Professor Card was unable to meet his
classes Monday on account of asprained
ankle.
The Kappa Alpha Pheta's give a party
Friday evening at the home of Miss
Miller.
...
S. B. Harris notices the literary maga
zine very favorably in last week's
Courier.
...
Misses Smith and Gray entertained a
few of their friends on last Saturday
evening. m ,
Ernest Waggenhorn and George
Shead will spend Sunday at then homes
in Ashland. .
Allen Sedgwick, who has been visit
ing his brother, returned 'to his home
in York this week.
...
The Phi Kappa Psl fraternity call
on Chancellor and Mrs. McLean to a
body Saturday night.
...
The Y. W. C. A. Sunday afternoon
will be led by Miss Wheeler. Subject,
"The Great Invitation."
A PARABLE.
Once upon a time there was an old
man and he had one on and it came
to nass that when the old man had
husked hlB pumpkins and harrowed his
peawh orchard .and threshed his goose
berries, he decided to Bend his promising
eon to gut an education according to
thP fashion of his people. So he hied
) him ohout and packed up the carpet
Professor in English (beoomdng an
u.r f,t thP inattention In class): "This
is an outrage. I dislike ito Insult the
literature by reading It to such a class!
It looks like a lot of Phllls'tines had
strayed in." "Then (smiling) I wish the
class would elect a Sampson.
Student (in back Beat): "I'll act pro
fessor if you will lend me your Jaw
bone." , . .
Have you Been the new model No. 2
Smith Premier typewriter? If not call
in ait 130 South Eleventh street and
examine it. C. W. Eckerman agent.
Don Cameron'B lunch
South Eleventh etreat
counter, 118
WHO?
Who is that Prof, that in the class
Makes us believe we cannot pass,
nut when by chance we hap. to meet
In some swell place, or on ithe street.
Sticks out to ub a hearty hand.
No better friend in all this land.
v
WTho 1b that Prof. Uuat In his clans
Has no regard for boyB, alae,
But on the girls eheda beaming looks
Not of the kind you read in 'hooks,
But of that sweet, most heavenly kind
Enjoyed by few and hard to find.
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