MAKES ITS OWN LIGHT.
A Complete Electric Plant on a Loco
motive's Back.
Observers of modern locomotives
have probably noticed a device at
tached to the top of the boiler, as
shown in the illustration. This de
vice, which is a complete electric
plant, is usually attached between
Steam Turbine for Train Illumination.
the slack and the sand box. but -is
sometimes placed back of the sand
box. It. con Hints of a small steam
turbine, direct-connected to a very
compact two-pole generator, and has
all electrical connections and moving
parts carefully protected from tbre
weather.
This apparatus, says Popular Me
chanics, is the survival of several oth
er appliances for train illumination,
among which were storage batteries,
generators driven from the car axles,
and small reciprocating Bleam plants
in baggage cars, all of which proved
inferior to the steam turbine for effi
ciency and, reliability.
Watching the Experiment.
It is reported that the Canadian Pa
cific company has decided to await
the outcome of experiments by the
New York Central and New York,
New Haven & Hartford Railway com
panies before taking steps for the elec
trification of any part of its system.
Both the latter railways are spending
enortuous sums upon experiments, the
raormer with a direct and the latter
with a single-phase alternating cur
tent. Cheapening Electric Light Bulbs.
The blowing of electric light bulbs
at the present, time is done by hand,
and the operation is therefore slow;
but a piece of machinery to do this
work has been recently patented by a
niechinical engineers of Toledo, O.
An Electric Powderless and Soundless Gun
While but two patents have been
Issued by the 1'nited Slates patent of
fice for electro-magnetic guns, and
hese within the past two years, yet it
appears that scientific meh gave this
problem their attention a number of
years ago.
An advance sheet of consular re
ports, dated February 2". 1902, con
tains an account of an electro-magnetic
cannon in Sweden, as given in a re
port by Consul-General lloidewich, un
der date of "Christiana, January 25,
1902."
"Prof. Birkeland (who two years
ago was sent by the government to
northern Norway to study magnetism,
the aurora borealis, and cloud forma
tions) Is engaged In th; construction
of a cannon with electro-magnetism as
the motive power In place of explo
sives. A small model of the inven
tion throws projectiles weighing a
pound with great force." .
A patent was Issued to Kristen
Cirkelnnd, of Christiana, Norway, for
THE FOSTER ELECTRO-MAGNETIC GUN.
The Projectile Is Impelled by the Magnetic Action of a Solenoid, the Sec
tional Coils of Which Are Supplied With Current Through
Devices Actuated By the Projectile Itself.
the invention above referred to, i
March 15, 1904, No. 754.G37, and this
was the first patent issued by the
I'nlted States patent office for an in
vention of this class.
The application of Ilirkeiand was
llle'd January 2, 1902, and Samuel T.
Foster, Jr., a native of this country,
residing at Victoria. Tamaulipas, Mex
ico, having read the account of the
Hlrkeland Invention, as referred to in
the consular report, filed an applica
tion for letters patent December 10,
1902, but owing to the difference in
the construction of the guns disclosed
in the two co-pending applications,
no interference was declared.
The broad claims originally filed by
Mr. Foster were held to be anticipat
ed by the Journal article above re
ferred to, but a patent was finally al-.
lowed and issued to him February 6,
1906, for an electric gun, No. 811,913,
the second patent Issued in the United
States for an invention of this class.
One of the practical difficulties encoun
tered in the construction of a practical
electro-magnetic gun arises from the
fact that the modern methods of elec
trical calculation would indicate that
in order to obtain service velocities
with service projectiles an enormous
number of windings would be required,
RECHARGING DRY BATTERIES.
Results of. Some Experiments with a
Generator A Peculiar Condition.
Having heard that dry batteries
could be recharged by; sending a cur
rent through them in a direction op
posite to that given by the battery, we
ligged up a small generator and gas
engine, as shown in the sketch, and
connected the batteries in series with
the motor. After running a few min
utes we stopped the engine and dis
connected the batteries, which then
gave a fairly strong current. Think
ing to increase the charge, we con
nected the 'batteries exactly as they
were the first time, and started the en
gine in the same direction as be
fore, and let the outfit run several
hours. On returning we found the
zincs all corroded and the batteries
completely run down. Desiring to
learn the cause of this seemingly pe
culiar behavior, we connected a new
lot of batteries and proceeded as be
fore. The engine was then stopped
and the belt was removed from the
generator, thus allowing the cur
rent of the batteries to run the gen
erator as a motor. We 'expected the
generator to run in a direction oppo
site to that used in charging, but were
surprised to see it continue running in
the same direction. The explanation
is that the current from the batteries
Recharging Dry Batteries. . .
reversed the field, and also the arma
ture, thus making two reverses, which
is the same as none at all. Then
when the generator was run again by
the engine the current was reversed,
because the poles of the field had
been changed by the batteries.
We concluded from these experi
ments, says the correspondent of Pop
ular Mechanics, that in charging bat
teries in this way it1 is necessary to
either change the connections on the
batters-, or reverse the rotation of
the engine each time it is started. As
the engine was two-cycle, it was more
easily reversed than the battery con-
nections, and in this way, the bat
terles were recharged without any dif- J
Acuity. A stronger charge may be
given to batteries in which a quantity
of water has been poured in holes
drilled through the top.
thus involving the use of a barrel
whose length would be prohibitory.
Another difficulty arises from the
fact that in order to give the pro
jectile a service velocity, without an
enormous number of windings, an
abnormally heavy current thai is to
say, a current beyond the safe carry
ing capacity of the solenoid is re
quired, and hence the temperature of
the solenoid will be raised to a point
sufficient to destroy it.
Prof. Birkeland attempts to over
come these difficulties by supplying
an abnormally heavy current to a coil
and then cutting off the current from
the coil before the temperature of the
cell has reached such a point as to in
jure or destroy it, claiming that the
fate of increase of the temperature
depends upon a number of factors
other than the current.
Mr. Foster says, In the specification
of his patent:
"All projectiles used in this gun
must have magnetic properties, and
projectiles of iron or containing large
portions of iron are preferable. That
projectile having the greatest mag
netic permeability H most suitable for
this gun." The Foster gun is very
simple and comprises a barrel sur
rounded by a series of coils or helices,
a series of openings arranged along
the barrel and provided with insulated
walls, a series of connector-plugs
mounted in said openings and nor
mally adapted to be engaged by the
projectile, a series of springs mount
ed in said openings and adapted nor
mally to hold the connector-plugs in
contact with the insulated walls, and
an electric generator connected with
said helices and barrel.
In this way, explains Ored C. Bill
man in Scientific American, means are
provided for energizing and de-energizing
the coils or helices in regular
sequential order by the projectile
completing and breaking their circuits
and for automatically keeping the cen
ter of their electro-magnetic field just
ahead of the projectile until it has
reached the center of the last electro
magnetic field, means are also pro
vided for opening the battery circuit
and releasing the projectile of all fur
ther electro-magnetic action of ti
gun.
TEST STEAM VALVES
MOST PERILOUS CfF ALL RAIL
ROAD OCCUPATIONS.
Riding on the Extreme Front of the
Locomotive, These Men Have No
Chance for Escape in Case
of Accident.
Riding upon the front of an engine
going 60 miles an hour, protected from
the rush of the wind by the flimsiest
of wind shields, where the slightest
mishap or obstacle thrown up by the
cowcatcher would mean instant death,
the young men who are engaged in
the work of testing the steam valves
on locomotive cylinders may trutn
fully be said to have the most peril
ous occupation in the world.
Those of you who have ridden
about the roller coasters and the loop
the loops at the summer resorts have
sonte conception of the speed made
by one of the up-to-date overland lim
ited trains. It takes away the breath
of one who is unaccustomed to it on
his first experience. . But conceive
yourself on the front of an engine
where this rate of speed is kept up
mile after mile and you will have
some idea of the daily experience of
a locomotive valve tester.
If there is a wreck and their engine
collides with another, or perchance
goes plunging through an embank
ment or through a bridge into a river,
the young men on the front end would
be caught like rats in a trap. There
would be no escape. There would not
be one chance in 1,000 of their escap
ing alive.
. The crew engaged in this test num
bers three. These are in addition to
the regular crew of engineer and fire
man. The latter have nothing to do
with the test, and look after their
regular duties, regardless of and per
haps indifferent to the presence of the
testers. In fact, if the truth is told,
the enginemen would rather the test
ers wouid select some other engine.
The space within the cab is naturally
limited, and a third person, in the en
gineer of the test, who has charge of
the collection of records and who
keeps his position in the cab, is not
welcomed. Then, again, the engineers
are averse to the presence of the
young men on the front end, with the
constant danger of their being killed.
Nearly every big railroad employs
these valve testers, but,' like many
other vocations connected with a rail
road, they are not known to the gen
eral public. If you ever happen to no
tice a big engine flying along at a
lightning speed, with a big box .cov
ering the front just above the ' cow
catcher, you may know that the box
covers two young men who- are at
tempting " to discover whether the
valves are. working right and:to lo
cate the fault if they are not.
When the engine runs into an open
switch or collides with a box car or
some obstacle on the track, the fire
man and engineer, although their jobs
are regarded as the most perilous of
any of the members of the train crew,
have at least a fighting chance for
their lives. They can usually tell a
moment or two before anything hap
pens, which would give them time to
jump it they were so disposed. Not
so the valve testers on the front of
the engine. If anything should hap-
, pen to them they would never live to
know what it was. Having no oppor
tunity to jump or save themselves,
they would be the first to meet death.
But, although this work has been go
ing on for several years on most of
the big roads, so far as is known, no
accident of any inipoi-tance has ever
happened to the young men who daily
take their lives in their hands.
The Adam of Railway Cars.
The photograph shows what a cor
respondent believes to be the first
a'ailway carriage the very Adam of
euch cars; but whether he is accurate
in hia surmise we cannot say. The
carriage is. preserved at the old Soho
Works, Shildon, where many of the
first engines for the Stockton & Dar
lington railway were built. London
Sketch.
Tree Planting by Canadian Railway.
The Canadian Pacific Railway com
pany has begun tree planting on quite
an extensive scale along its western
lines. A contract has been let for
a small acreage of breaking near Wol
seley on which it is the intention to
experiment with tamarack for ties.
A piece of ground is also to be
planted at Medicine Hat with jack
pine and tamarack for the same pur
pose. Over 100 miles of trees are to
be plaated between Winnipeg and
Calgary, for snow breaks, and at sev
eral stations trees are to be planted
around the station grounds, and prizes
are to be offered the section foreman
who makes the best showing.
Tramway "Feeder" for Railroad.
The Midland is the first British rail
way to possess an electric tramway,
which extends from Burton to Ashby,
a distance of 11 miles, all of which
runs along the public highway with
the exception of three-quarters of a
mile. This recently inaugurated. tram
way is already proving a valuable
feeder for the Midland.
Among the most curious names of
American railway stations are Acci
dent, Kiss Me, Beef Hide, Hat Off,
V Bet, and ABC.
NEW POWER IS EMPLOYED.
"Balloon-Railway" Up Mountain Is
( . the Latest.
The "balloon-railway,", for ascend
ing precipitous mountains, is the in
vention of an Austrian engineer. The
principle of it is explained by the pic
ture. ,A large captive balloon it attached
by a stout wire cable to a steel, rail,
that, from point to point, is fastened
to the steep mountain-side right up
to the summit. The cable travels
along the rail; and, with some dozen
passengers in the car, the balloon.
by. its own lifting power, passes up
the rail to the mountain-top.
How about descending again?
At a little station on the summit is
a water-reservoir, and from this a
water-tank attached to the car is
filled with a sufficient weight of water
to bring the balloon, still guided by
the cable and rail, gently down again.
A speed regulator is provided in the
form of a brake acting upon the rail.
"Balloon-railway" , riding is de
scribed as affording a most enjoyable
sensation, and is expected to become
popular with mountain tourists.
RAILROAD'S TOLL OF DEATH.
Chinese Line Proves Fatal to Many
Who Built It.
A recent report concerning railways
in 'China says, according to the New
York Herald: "The construction of
the railway between Laoki and Yun
nanfu (the great enterprise to which
all well wishers of Yuannan look for
ward as one of the means of permit-
ting this province to take her proper
place in the markets of the world)
has been perseveringly pushed for
ward in the face of great difficulties,
both climatic and economic. The vile
climate of the Namati valley has
levied a heavy toll on those who have
dared to open up its primeval jungles
and gullies. The death rate among
the coolies imported from various
parts of the empire and put to work
in this dreaded valley may, without
exaggeration, be estimated at 5,000, or
70 per cent, of the total number em
ployed on that particular section of
the line. The company has made
praiseworthy efforts to counteract the
evils of the climate in this valley.
"Instead of attempting to carry on
the work in the Namati valley all the
year through, the work is suspended
almost entirely during the summer
rains, and the coolies are moved up to
the works on the high and healthier
plateau. This measure, while it econo
mizes the life of that most important
individual in the building of any rail
way namely, the coolie must con
siderably delay the completion of the
line, and we must, therefore, wait un
til 1910 at least for that great desidera
tum, the linking up of Yunnanfu with
Haliphong.
"The year under review marks an
important epoch in the history of
French railway enterprise in Indo
China. On Christmas day the first
locomotive reached Laokai, on the
Tonking- unnan border, and it is
hoped that the coming spring will see
the commencement of a through rail
way service between Haliphong and
Laokai."
British Railways in 1905.
A blue book Issued in London shows
that the gross receipts from passenger
and freight traffic last year on the
British railways were $625,000,000, an
increase of only 1.3 per cent. These
earnings include those of the electri
fied Metropolitan and Metropolitan
District railways of London, the Liv
erpool overhead railway and other
other lines of similar character in
other cities.
The average dividends paid by the
British railways were three and one
fourth per cent, on the common,
three .and one-half on the preferred,
and four per cent, on the guaranteed
stocks. On the loans four per cent.
was paid and three and one-half on
the debenture stock.
The number of first-class passen
gers increased by 1.1 per cent., and
third class by 0.8 per cent., while- sec
ond class decreased by 6.5 per cent.,
leaving a considerable net general de
crease.
The receipts from excess luggage,
mails, parcels, etc., show an increase
of $705,000. The total net earnings
were $213,300,000 on the $6,415,000,000
capital, or 3.39 per cent against 3.36
in 1904.
Temporary Color Blindness.
Firemen and engineers are rendered
temporarily color-blind by lookin
uito their hot fires. To them then all
lights appear white, and, according to
experts, many railway accidents are
accounted for by this fact.
R ward for "Lost" Trucks.
One of the most important of the
Italian ).ilways has offered a reward
for the recovery of each of 60 trucks,
which are laconically described as
"lost." - . .
FAMOUS PARIS BEEHIVE.
PLACE WHERE ARTISTS FIND A
CHEERFUL REFUGE. f
Home Which Was Formed and Has
Flourished Under Patronage of
Boucher, the Sculptor.
' The Paris philanstery known as the
Beehive is situated in a remote sub
urb near the gate of Versailles. There
is nothing particularly attractive
about the neighborhood; but here for
six years have lived more than 90
artists, painters, sculptors, designers
and musicians, grouped under the be
nevolent patronage of Alfred Bouch
er, a master of contemporaneous
sculpture, and the founder of the Bee
hive. '
In the insect kingdom, the bees
while busy with their own tasks are
interested in those of all the others.
They hasten to the common abode
bringing their booty, and before long
the delicious and odorous honey ap
pears to show how combined labors,
minute but continuous, are effective
in producing a solid return, useful to
all and profitable to each.
The Beehive had its foundation in
a philanthropic idea concerning artis
tic solidarity ; one of those generous
impulses which do so much to soften
the asperities of lives of struggle. Be
fore achieving celebrity Alfred Bouch
er, like other artists without fortune,
was obliged to undergo perpetual ef
fort, not only to produce the beautiful
and powerful works he was conceiv
ing, but to obtain the right to live.
After achieving success Boucher, ifl
not arrived at, fortune, had at least
attained easy circumstances, and
while others more selfish would only
have thought of enjoying a position
acquired by dint of desperately hard
work, Alfred Boucher resolved to de
vote his earnings to the erection of
a large dwelling where a number of
young artists without means could
find for a modest sum only $30 a
year! not alone a comfortable abode,
but a study hall of the most favorable
description, specially designed for
night work, with gratuitous living
models.
From five to seven p. m. the bees
work in common in the study hall.
While the model takes and keeps the
attitude on the pedestal placed ' in
the center, the painter with his can
vas, the sculptor with his mount,
each to his task, tastes art and pure
art. The fine example of union in
the work which the real bees offer
humanity is fully appreciated by the
inhabitants of the Hive. They throw
off the anxieties brought on by the
necessities of modern existence, for in
order to procure the wherewithal to
live the . Bees are obliged ttf devote
themslvs to utilitarian labors.
Some are employed as scene painters
Vast Wealth in Iron.
Billions of Dollars of Metal Under
the Crust of Old Mother Earth
in the Mesaba Range.
The greatest ore deal in the world
was that in which J. J. Hill trans
ferred the rignt to mine the Hill prop
erties in the Mesaba range to the
United States Steel corporation. Few
realized when they read the news item
announcing the transaction what was
involved.
It is believed by conservative judges
that the United States Steel corpora
tion now has in .its possession the
largest individual reserve deposit to
be found in the world. It has been
estimated that there is beneath the
relatively shallow blanket of turf cov
ering the ore on the Mesaba range
and in the Michigan beds just across
the head of Lake Superior, about
2,200,000,000 tons of ore. Of this the
steel trust controlled before it secured
the right to delve in Mr. Hill's iron
pile about 1,250,000,000 tons of ore,
an asset on the basis of one dollar a
ton, which exceeds the entire capital
stock of the trust $1,100,000,000. Now
it can draw on a total deposit of 1,750,
000,000 tons,, an asset of as many dol
lars. On this valuation it would re;
quire approximately two-thirds of the
entire money supply of the country to
pay cash for this deposit.
How big a pile of ore is it that
the trust now controls and how long
will it last? A ton of ore does not al
ways occupy the same space. Some
ore weighs more to the cubic foot
than other ore. The average con
tents of a ton are between nine and
ten cubic feet. Say nine cubic feet.
Then the trust has secured from Mr.
Hill and allied interests a pile 100
feet deep, a mile wide and a mile and
three-fifths long.
How long will this giant heap of
iron wealth keep the steel trust sup
plied with ore? Last year the trust
took away from its mines in the Lake
Superior region 19,251,872 tons. This
was 56 per cent., or a little more than
Vb
At the Reception.
Maude Mr. Huggins looks unusu
ally happy this evening.
Elsie Ye3; he proposed to me less
than an hour ago. .
Maude Ah, I see and you refused
him. Chicago News.
When He Got His.
"Does your wife lecture you when
you go to the club?"
"No; when I come from the club."
Houston Post.
at theaters, dashing off wings and drors
for fairy pieces, or touching up faded
prosceniums; others furnish designs ,
for illustrated periodicals; others i
work with manufacturers of wallpa--pers,
and others everywhere in the
domain of industrial design. The
sculptors are employed , in studios
where they advance the work of cele
brated statuaries; the engravers are
in demand for the fashionable de
signs which the great stores use so
profusely iii their illustrated cata- .
logue. All are impelled by the
cry of Cicero-: "One must live." Yes,
one must earn one's bread before he
can yield to his tastes for art and
beauty, before he can work as ,he
Entrance to the Beehive.
likes, feel himself free to give himself
up to his imagination; to realize his
hopes and satisfy his 'desires.
It Is to spare young artists of mod
est means the thousand and one dif
ficulties of the start, to assist them
to practice their art, that Boucher
thought of offering them a shelter, a
roof, or rather a "comb" where the
working bee can quietly produce his
honey of art and beauty. By its
structural form the Beehive recalls
the habitation of the diligent little
workers. With its bulbous roof,
which vaguely recalls the shape of a
big bell, the great circular pavilion,
constitutes the. principal part of the
establishment. On all . sides are
doors leading to the combs, , and all
these combs are occupied by young
persons having their dreams and their
ambitions, and with everything at
their command necessary for transla
tion on the canvas or to model in the
moist clay the theory of their co.ni
ceptions. . 1 : '
half, of the ntire , shipment of ore
from that region, it is believed that
the trust will not take less than 22,
000,000 tons this year. At the latter
rate its ore supply will last just 79
years and 6 months. It is not be
yond the range of possibility, how
ever, that other deposits than those of
which there is now knowledge will be
brought to light 4 on the property It
has leased from Mr. Hill. Ot the iron
ore produced in . the world io 1903,
which amounted to 101,785,00 tons,
more than a third was mined in the
United States, a fifth in Germany, and
13.5 per cent, in Great Britain. From
the soil of two states alone, Minne
sota and Michigan, nearly 26,000,000
tons was brought forth from the
mines, or about 6,000,000 more than
the industrious inhabitants of the
German empire took out of their part
of the earth's crust. All of this ore
came from the mines about the west
ern end of the greatest of the great
lakes. ' While iron ore was mined in
20 other states and two territories
that year, only one Alabama pro
duced over a million tons. Its product
was 3,648,960 tons. The steel trust
has reached into the future and has
assurea useii oi a supply oi me es
sential raw material sufficient to last
more than two generations.
In order to make sure of a 20 years
supply, in addition to the 50 or 61
years' stock on band, it has agreed
to pay the highest royalties ever paid
for the right to mine iron ore. The
steel trust will pay to Mr. Hill's conv
panies a royalty of 85 cents a ton
for hauling it to the upper lake piers,
with an increase of 3.4 cents a ton
each succeeding year. It has, agreed
to take out 750,000 tons in 1907, and
to increase the amount each year by
750,000 tons, until the amount reaches,
8,250,000 tons. That means that in
1917 the trust will take the maximum
amount of ore, and pay $1.19 a ton
royalty for it. Mr. Hill's road will
make about 50 cents a ton hauling
this ore.
Accounted For.
Bacon How does it happen that
your friend can afford to smoke such
expensive cigars?
Egbert Oh, he's got an economical
wife. Yonkers Statesman.
Plenty.
?'A Boston belle says, 'The marriage
bells will ring, but I do not know
when.' " " :.t , .
"There are lots of Boston girls In
her fix." Houston Post.