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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 27, 1921)
6 M sc i e: n TELLS US Cwarriaki. 1UU. to fukuc Lmin C THE BEE: OMAHA, SUNDAY. NOVEMBER 27. 1921. M 1 i mr T ' A XL. L I c 1 i -a. 1 Deserts Becoming Playgrounds of Motorists THE automobile has opened a new playground to the people of the United States. It is the region of bare desert that forms a great triangle, the base of which is the Mexican border from the Pen insular mountains (in southern Cal ifornia) to the mouth of the Pecos river, and its apex in north central Oregon. Covering about half a million square miles, it represents nearly one-sixth of the total area of the United States. The motor car, combining the cpeed of a locomotive with the ready convenience of a family car riage, has made this region easily accessible. With its pure air, vast distances and weirdly interesting scenery, it offers attractions which are nowhere else to be found. Water, of course, is scarce. Tour 1 ists must depend on wells, spring or natural tanks, often separated by a hard day'a journey with team and wagon. Here the motor car's speed gives an important advantage. But it is necessary to know where the, water holes are located. Unly tue other day, in the Mohave desert, an automobile got lost, and a whole family perished of thirst within five minutes of a plentiful water supply. For the purpose of safeguarding tourists and other travelers signs pointing to the nearest water are being put up all along the principal roads that run through the desert. This work was first undertaken in the dryest and hottest part of it, em bracing 60,000 square miles In south ern California and southwest Ari zona. The United States Geological Sur vey has undertaken the task in co operation with the state of Califor- ' nia and automobile associations. It was next extended to the Mohave desert, south and west of the area above mentioned. The Mohave has long held an un enviable reputation as one of the most horrible deserts in the world. It has only two important streams, which, when they emerge from the mountains, spread out fanwise and disappear In the sands. Scattered over it are 50-odd closed basins, from half a mile to 10 miles in diam- eter, in the bottoms of which arc "playas," or dry lakes, soft and mushy and sometimes covered with , alkali. There are waters that are death to drink heavily laden with so dium sulphate (which is Glauber salt), magnesium sulphate (Epsom salt), carbonate of soda (which gives a soapy taste and burns the mouth) or common salt. Nevertheless, in the mountains there are many springs of good drinking water, if one knows where to find them. Signs along the roads now point them out and new and accurate tourists' maps indicate then location. Sea Tragedy of the : Wild Orang-Outangs (Continued From Pae Four.) are a tailless breed of monkey, rather rare and extremely difficult to catch. Once captured, they become affectionate pets and they command a good price for that reason. They have soft, downy, light brown, silver gray or yellow hair, black faces and large, ound, expressive eyes. The work of trapping and snaring went along steadily during the 10 days I spent with Omar. By the time the orang-outangs were ready to travel we had three gibbons, four baby orang-outangs, one proboscis monkey, 10 black monkeys, 18 long tailed monkeys, 28 pigtailed mon keys, three pythons, which averaged eight feet in length, two sambur deer, one sun bear, three wildcats, four civet cats, four porcupines, one ant eater and two armadillos. We slipped the bars over the open ends of the cages in which the big fellows were to travel, and lashed them securely with rattan ropes. Since the boats at the kampong were too small, I had two large rafts made of bamboo and I placed all the cages on them. When everything was ready we boarded the boats .and rafts and started down the river. The people lined the banks, shouting and wish ing us a safe journey; others fol lowed 'us in boats. At each village the natives swarmed out to see the animals and wish us luck. I can still hear them calting: "Tuan, bila balik? Salaniat jalan! (Sir, when will you come back? Safe journey 1 ) We stopped at Mahommed Mun shee's village, and then at Sintang. I found that Dr. Van Erman had gone down to Pontianak. Another swarm of natives met us when we arrived there, and I had to station my men around the rafts to keep them from coming aboard. Leaving Ali in charge of the ani mals, I went ashore and found that a steamer was sailing for Singapore the next morning. I made arrangements for shipping, and then went to the resident's house to pay my respects. Dr. Van Erman was there and, after luncheon, I took the resident and the doctor out to see my catch. The resident was profuse in his congratu lations and he confirmed my belief that the orang-outangs were the largest ever captured in Borneo. Omar and Munshee assisted in the work of loading the crates on the steamer, because they felt that their obligation to me did not end until we had the animals clear of Borneo. I felt, of course, that I was under obli gation to them for all the fine work they and their people had done for me, and I wanted them to accept some money for their services. They refused at first, but finally gave in. This Powerful Compressed Air Motor Utilizes Enormous Energy of Waves THE problem of getting utilizable power from the tides or the waves of the sea is bound to be solved aooner or later, and, with this expectation in view, the in ventors are attacking it with ob stinate persistence. Most of them nowadays have the idea of employing this energy of na- ture to compress air in big tanks or reservoirs. Qnce stowd under pres sure the air is available for the pro duction of power, which may be con verted into electricity and turned to account for any useful purpose. Modern Warriors WHEN body armor "came back" during the late war, our mili tary authorities sought hints from the great collection of medieval armor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and con sulted specialists in that branch of archeology. -" So admirable was the craftsman ship of the old-time armorers that improvement on their work was ob viously out of the question. But the modern war experts were quick to see that they had at their command two very noteworthy advantages. One of these was steel made extra ordinarily hard with alloys of tungs From their point pf view, they had made sufficient profit, merely in pres tige, both with their own people and with the resident. I made them my agents in their districts and took them with me to the offices of the steamship company while I arranged to have any animals they brought to Pontianak shipped to me at Singa pore. When we sailed the next day, they were in their boats' alongside, waving and yelling. There was great excitement in Singapore when the story of the orang-outangs got about. Hordes of people came to see them unloaded. I called upon the police to keep the crowd back, for I was afraid the ex "citement might be too much for the beasts. At my animal house, I put them in a quiet spot and left Ali in charge with strict orders against letting too many people come to see them. Then I went to the cable office and sent to the Antwerp Zoological Gardens news of the capture. - There was no question in my mind CV(.IMOIB B"SI5 """ V I J tni too wm'cm IiJj--HflNSf e&fc. 11 II Umtrr tvrr,,' sgggil ' S'QPtP IN tanks jl jlf-glijL. li'Vh' gjgpgg-g!g lMMIVUBW INSIOL THE CYLINDIQ mTOJ? v5fSfffgS4rrgfc is anothcb which R,S AN TAILS WITH GROVE'S MUSIC SIMPMFIER. Lesson No 3. (Copyright, 1920, by W. Scott Grove, -Scrantou, Pa.) The third lesson in this series of twenty-four lessons of the modern method of Instruction for the piano or organ takes up the key of G. It is proposed to give in the complete series all of the fundamental chords used In musical compost- V tiling '' t i i The newest contrivance In this line is original with Charles N. Hare of Lima, O. It provides for an open cage of steel set in a cement base and containing a pair of cylinders placed vertically, the lower cylinder entering the upper one piston fash- ion. The top of the cage is secured to the end of a pier that runs out into the ocean. The cement base of the cage is anchored in the ocean bed so that it shall be slightly submerged at low tide. The upper cylinder is fixed in position and stationary, but the Protected by Improved Body Armor ten, nickel or vanadium. The other was machinery. An old-fashioned suit of armor may have required the labor of a year or more for a skilled hand in its production. Modern machinery can chop out the requisite parts from sheets of steel by thousands at small cost. It is not required that the metal clothing shall be decorative, but merely that it shall be bullet proof. In the war good alloy steel hard ly thicker than ordinary blotting paper proved an effective protection against pistol bullets, the light weight of modern armor being one as to what the answer to my cable gram would be, and, before it ar rived, I made all the arrangements for shipping. Antwerp offered $10,- 000 for each of the animals delivered. 1 knew that I tould get offers of $25,000 or more in the United States, but that the orangs would not be able to stand the voyage. I sent an other message to Antwerp, saying that I was sailing and requesting that arrangements be made for shipping by rail from Marseilles. A few days later the cages were swung aboard and we started east ward. AH accompanied me to care for the animals. ' From the moment the steamer headed out to sea, the orang-outangs began to fail. They became deathly seasick, especially the female, and re fused food. Ali and I were with them constantly, tempting their appe tites with choice bits of food and doing everything possible to make them comfortable. The male - grew better, but the female lost strength rapidly. Finally she slumped down to, the floor of the cage, unable to sit up; she paid no attention to us when we reached into the cage and touched her. One morning she curled up on the floor, buried her face in her arms and died. Through her death I lost Twenty-Four Lessons in tion. There will before this twenty-four lesson course In music is completed. The pupil is expected to learn these chords, so they can be played almost Intui tively. This means - diligent practice. When this lesson has been mastered the student will be fully qualified to take up the study of the fourth lesson, which will be next presented. INSTRUCTION Place the chart upon the keyboard of the piano or organ so that the small letter D with the dash above It at the bottom of the chart is directly over the key of D on the I i n lower cylinder rises and falls with the waves. As It rises it compresses the air inside the tipper cylinder and forces it through a pipe into a huge tank on the pier. . As the lower cylinder descends with eacls retreating wave, valves open to admit air into the upper cylinder, for compression when the next wave pushes the lower one up again. The operation of the device is thus wholly automatic. It requires no at tendant or caretaker to keep it run ning, and thereby expense is re duced to the mere cost of wear and tear on the apparatus.. The air compressed in the storage tank is used to drive an air engine which is connected to a motor for producing electrical energy. of its most notable advantages as compared with the old style. French hospital records proved that 70 to 80 per cent of the wounded were in jured by missiles or shell fragments which steel of this small thickness would have stopped.- . Steel alloyed with manganese -was found best adapted for helmets, of which 7,000,000 were ordered and 2,700,000 delivered for the American troops before the war's end. To pre vent the- helmets - from reflecting light, they were painted, and while the paint was wet a coat of sawdust was bestowed upon them with a blower. a great deal of money, but I could not help feeling relieved. She had been so abjectly miserable and she had seemed so human 'in her suffer ing! I have often wondered if the male had any idea that she was dead. He ceased to improve in health and he became morose. Many days of anxiety followed; every minute I expected the message that the poor fellow was dying. "V The ship's carpenter built a vat, and we "pickled" the body of the Mother Reunited With "Baby" Whom for Twenty Years She Had Believed Dead Joplin, Mo., Nov. 26. Robert William Davis Rohlfing, 21, voca tional student at Washington univer sity, St. Louis, a world war veteran, who was twice gassed and once wounded in action in France, has been reunited with his mother, Mrs. Lucy Davis Simpson, of Joplin, after nearly 20 years, during whichc time she thought him dead. By accident, Rohlfing learned two years ago that he had been adopted from a children's home in St. Louis by Mr. and Mrs. John Rohlfing of Berger, Mo., whom he supposed be twenty-one more lessons Key of G Ever Eat "Angels Hair?" Product of Gourds IN SPAIN and the Canary Islands has long been grown a kind of gourd, the size of a small water melon, greed blotched with white, which is very good to eat. It is called "pantaina," and - until recently botanists have supposed that it came from the far east, another name for it being "Siam gourd.' It turns out, however, that this gourd is of American origin, and was eaten by the people of Mexico long before the days of Cortex and Monte runia, being known to them as "chilacayote." The Spaniards took tt o Europe and introduced it in their own country. A curious thing about it is that ts white flesh, when the gourd is eooked, resolves itself into long fila ments resembling vermicelli. Cut in quarters and boiled forty-five min utes, the vegetable is then trans ferred to cold water, whereupon, with a little stirring, the pulp detaches itself from the rind and takes the orm of slender threads, which may be served with soup, with milk, "au gratin" with cheese, or in various other ways. In the Canary Islands the vermicelli-like filaments are converted into a delicious candy by putting them into boiling sirup and cooking until the sirup cracks in cold water. The candy thus made is pretty, trans parent, light yellow in color, and is called "angels' hair." "Wireless" Auto THAT newest invention, the au tomobile steered and controlled by "wireless,"- has yet to be adopted to practical and worthwhile uses. One suggestion made is that application of the idea to the trac tor might enable the farmer to plow a field from his porch and even to put the machine away without taking the trouble to go to the garage. The contrivance has no masts or aerials of any kind. It can be steer ed from as far away as the eye can see it for guidance. Its controls work . instantaneously, and the ad justment is so delicate that the radio car can be directed with a variation almost unbelievably small, whether in a straight line or along an irregu lar course. Our military authorities are in clined to believe that the device will prove of great value in warfare, par ticularly for destroying machine-gun nests." Carrying a big charge of high explosive and armored ' " heavily .enough to render it proof against rifle fire, it could be steered by radio to any point desired and then, by the same means, blown up, wiping out every living thing in its near neigh borhood. The seventh international fair of aerial locomotion is being held in Paris. female in salt water. I knew that some natural history museum would be glad to have such a specimen for mounting. We steamed into the harbor at Marseilles with the male still alive, and I thought that there was an even chance of getting him to Antwerp if the people there had followed my instructions and ar ranged transportation. An agent met me at the dock. Everything was prepared for us, and we lost no time in getting the beast to the train. were his parents. An extensive search, he said today, disclosed the fact that while an infant, 16 months old, he had been mistaken for an other baby that died in the chil dren's home, and authorities of the institution, had so told his mother. Further investigation, , Rohlfinj? said, revealed the fact that he had been born in Jopl n and that his mother's name was Davis. This caus ed him to send a letter to a local newspaper from St. Louis, with the request that it be published. Publi cation of the notice brought a prompt answer from his mother and a re union. Piano Playing keyboard. The white and black spaces will then correspond to the white and black keys. Each of the three horizontal series of letters represent a chord. Beginning with the upper row, play the white letter with the left hand and then play the three black letters in unison with the right ,hand, making the first chord. Then, In the same way play the notes indicated In the second horizontal series, then those in the third and then back to the first, forming a comple ment of chords in G Major. The first things necessary to become a good One 5harp, every Fmade Sharps New Type of Invented by ANEW kind of washing machine is the invention of Clifford G. Sweet of San Diego, Cal. It is supported by a wooden "horse" and an attach ment known technically as a "dog" controls the revolution of a large horizontal ratchet-wheel on which is a circular board that supports the washtub. An extension of the "horse" provides a seat for the operator, who (as shown in the picture) yanks back and forth one of two pivoted levers. Each lever carries a pounder. As the operator does the yanking the tub slowly revolves, together with the board beneath it and the ratchet wheel. At the same time rollers beneath the ratchet-wheel give the tub a tilting motion back and forth. Thus the pounders, descending alternately, attack the clothes in all parts of the tub, while they and the suds in which they are immersed slosh about in a way that gets results. Oil Dumped in Harbors Kills Fish; Proposals Made to Skim It Off Water OIL cast upon troubled and un troubled waters is making a lot of mischief. It has become a nuis ance in many ways, so much of it being thus disposed of that a pro posal has been made to skim it off some harbors and by treatment render it utilizable. It is death to fishes. It suffocates them and poisons their blood. Oil that finds its way into rivers pre vents many finny species from run ning up the streams to spawn. Along the seashore it drives awajr the mi grating schools when they approach the coast, depriving the fisherman of his prey. It sickens or kills oysters, and destroys the floating eggs and swimming larvae of shellfish. A small quantity of oil will form a film over a wide surface. It pre vents the normal aeration of the water, and fishes die for lack of oxygen. The mischief is particularly serious in harbors, where, because of gas plants, oil-burning ships and automobiles, the discharge of waste oil is . greatest. These harbors are When we reached Antwerp, I felt like standing on the platform and whooping. My job was finished. The men from the Gardens took charge and rushed the orang-outang out to the cage that had been built to receive him. We ran the trans portation cage up to the door and cut away the bars. The orang-outang came out slowly, like a tired and sick old man. He was not in terested in his new surroundings and he pushed away the food that we put before him. Veterinarians could do nothing for him. Ten days later he died. - Ali and I remained in Antwerp for several weeks. It was Ali's first trip to Europe, and not a very en joyable one. He was bewildered and puzzled; he could not understand such a country. Only once did he venture out of the hotel without me, arid then he did not go out of sight. He slept in my room on the floor he would have nothing to do with a fced and he would touch no food that was not vouched for by me. When we boarded the boat that was to take us back to the far east, Ali's face brightened. He had had a wonderful experience, but he said: "Oh, tuan, I am happy to go home. I would not live here." (Copyright. 1921, by Asia Magazine.) Printed by arrangement with Metro politan Newspaper Service, New York. . - Third Lesson: player are patience and practice. During the time before the next lesson the chord shown should be played over, and over again until you memorize it and can play it without the chart. Memorize the letters also. You will find that before long you will be able to play simple accompaniments in this key to any melodies you or your friends may sing. If you wish to go further fn studying, learn the fingering: of the scales shown on the staff in this chart, upper note being played with the IS C A Hand Washer Californian the gateways through which shad and other fishes must pass to reach their breeding grounds. Vast oil patches are often seen at sea, suggesting an obvious danger to marine fish life. The eggs of the cod and other ocean fishes float on the waves until hatched. After hatching, the young "fry" float likewise. Fish eggs cannot hatch or the young de velop in oil. Sea birds have recently been found dead and dying by hundreds off the British coast, their feathers saturated with oil. The worst offenders are gas plants and petroleum distilleries, which find it convenient to drain their waste into the nearest stream or other body of water. Study is being directed to means of prevention especially in relation to the dumping of oil from ships in harbors, in the neighborhood of spawning grounds, or near fishing banks at sea. Also, it is hoped to en courage an increased use of wastes for by-products derivable from them. Keeping 37,960, Trains a 1 Year on Right Tracks (Continued From Page One.) and purple lights, which shine forth in the night. These signals shift from horizontal to vertical when it is time for the engineer to pull the lever." This exposition no doubt shat ters the belief of the general trav eling public that it's the conduc tor's "A-U a-bo-ard!" that causes the train to start. It s,eems this dwarf signal also is controlled by the aforementioned signal towerman; that until the switch movement for the outgoing train is complete and safe the pigmy signal to the right of the engineer's cab remains placid and calm, a small but effective barrier to any premature starting of the train. . Track Is Clear. And when the little signal arm does move and the engineer pulls a lever which starts the giant drive wheels he is positive his route through the maze of tracks is clear G Major 9 D mi Way to Make Gems Shine in Dark Patented HOW desirable it would be if diamonds and other gem stones could be made to shine in darkncssl Charles G. Smith of Cambridge, Mass., hat recently pat entcd certain meant for accomplish ing this result. He proposes that they shall be applied to artificial as well as to natural gems; and an ad ditional and important advantage claimed is that the stones will bo rendered far more brilliant in the, daytime. Take a glass diamond and cut In the bottom part of it a recess to contain a tiny sealed transparent tube containing a gas under pres sure, together with a minute quan tity of radium. The radium will make the yas luminous! and, if the gas be hydrogen, it will emit red rays. If it be helium, it will "color the crystal with golden yellow rays. The same method of treatment applied to a real diamond will vast ly augment its brilliancy, and the stone as would be the case with the glass imitation will shine in the dark. Another idea is to drill1 one or more holes in the bottom of a real or imitation gem and coat them In side with luminous radium paint. Yet another is to make imitation diamonds of glass through which fine particles of gold are distributed. They would not shine in the dark, but would (the inventor claims) have a greatly increased brilliancy in the daytime. Beating the Bandits NOTHING seems to be easier in these days than for a bandit to hold up a bank messenger and rob him. Intimidated by a pistol, the messenger does not even at tempt to make an outcry. The robber goes off with the loot. But suppose that, a few seconds later, a loud alarm starts inside the stolen bag, a gong ringing and continuing to ring, so as to attract attention? To the bandit, nothing could be more embarrassing. The chances are that in sheer panic he will drop the bag and get as far away from it as possible. This is the idea of a new inven tion which provides for an electric ally actuated gong alarm inside of a money-carrying case. In the handle are a couple of triggers. The mes senger, if held up, can start the gong instantly by touching one of them. Or, if, while covered by the rob ber's pistol, he deems that unsafe, he pulls the other trigger, causing the alarm to start a few seconds later. By that time the bandit will be making his getaway; but he can not have gone more than a few steps before the thing begins to make a noise, and it will keep on ringing for six hours. and safe, be it the darkest of nights. The next time you board a Pull ' man car at night and glance in the direction your train is to go, you'll see, far up by the engine, the purple and green lights of the dwarf signal. Still farther away you may be able to discern the sig nal bridge, with its many signal arms. . Thus assured, that your depar ture from the station is made safe , by mechanical perfection, you may crawl between the sheets of your berth without misgivings. But as you drowsily listen to the clank-clank of the car wheels hit ting the numerous switches don't forget that alert and skillful termi nal men, as well as perfect mechan ism, is making your departure safe. There's always a clear track ahead, but these are the men who keep it clear. If a lamp is placed to as to re flect properly a mirror will light up a dark corner. right hand and the lower with the left hand. Every triad in black letter is marked 1, 3, $. Always read it so, no matter in what vertical order the notes may be written. Note that the small letter D with a dash above it must not be played. Never play small white letter D with dash above it NEXT LESSON E Minor, which is the rela tive key of G Major, having the same signature, one sharp. 5 G I WW m