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A SCIENTIFIC FAMILY
Three Becquerels Achieve Distinction
in Physical Science
The recent death of Antoino Henri
Becquerel the French physicist at the
age of 56 recalls the Interesting fact
that he Is the third of his name in di
rect succession to achieve eminence in
physical science and that he leaves a
son who is also a physicist Still more
Interesting Is the fact that In certain
lines each one of the family has con
tinued and extended the work of those
hefore him Especially is this the case
with the obscure subjects of phosphor
escence and fluorescence which Henri
Becquerel cleared up so greatly by his
discovery of the phenomena now gen
erally classed together under the name
ttENBl BZCQUEREL
HENRI BECQUEREL
The Third of a Brilliant Line of
French Physicists He Leaves a Son
Who Seems Ready to Continue
This Fine Tradition
of radioactivity and which led direct
ly to the sensational discovery of
radium by Prof and Mme Curie In
La Nature Paris appears a sketch of
this remarkable family and especially
of its latest member by L de Launay
Says this writer
For three generations son has fol
lowed father as a member of the In
stitute Antoine Cesar 178S 187S Ed
mond who died in 1891 and Henri
and a fourth seems ready to continue
this fine tradition Long ago the
first of the Becquerels Antoine to
whom we owe the beginnings of elec
trochemisty the electric thermometer
the electromagnetic balance etc hit
incidentally upon one of those compli
cated subjects voluntarily neglected
by the too methodical and precise in
vestigators who wish to proceed sure
ly and arrive on a fixed day prob
lems whose very obscurity promises
sooner or later when their phenomena
shall have reached maturity sensa
tional and suggestive discoveries He
attacked the question of phosphores
cence which he explained from the
outset electrically In this dynasty of
scientists investigations have been
handed down from father to son who
have used the same substances
served in the same laboratory Later
IMPROVED PIPE WRENCH
With It Firm Grip Can Be Secured on
Round Surfaces
The wrench illustrated herewith Is
formed with a slldable jaw which ena
Sep
bles It to grip
round surfaces
No retaining pins
or other detacha
ble retaining de
vices are - used
and an efficient
pipe wrench Is
thus provided
with few loose
parts Formed on
the main body A
of the wrench Is
a fixed jaw B
Dovetailed into
opposite sides of
the body are a
pair of detachable racks C which are
adapted to mesh with the thread of
the nut D This nut is fitted in a
frame E which in turn is mounted to
slide along the body or shank of the
wrench The frame E is extended at
one side and In the inclined upper
face of this extension an undercut
guideway is formed adapted to receive
the slidable jaw F A spring pressed
pin In the jaw bears against the shank
A and holds the jaw In its outermost
position In use the nut D is adjusted
to close the jaws onto the work and
then when the wrench Is operated the
sliding jaw moves inward jamming
the work against the upper jaw Mr
Harvey N Rothweiler of Seattle
Wash says the Scientific American is
the inventor of this Improved wrench
pipe
HUGE LENS ON MOUNTAIN TOP
Most Powerful Telescope in the World
Ready for Service in December
The huge 2000 pound lens for the
Carnegie Solar observatory is at last
on top of Mount Wilson after one of
the most tedious and nerve racking
tasks of the kind ever undertaken
The first stage of the undertaking
which was the feat of transporting the
immense casting from a little village
near Paris to Pasadena was concluded
three years ago when the cast was
turned over to an expert optician to
be ground and polished into a state of
perfection
After three years of incessant grind-
ing and polishing which ended in
August the finished lens was turned
over to the chief astronomer of the
observatory and the third and final
stage of the undertaking was entered
into
This was to lift the dead weight of
a ton which the touch of a hand might
mar to the height of a mile up a steep
rough mountain side Mingled with
the anticipation which scientific men
felt at the outset of the triumphant
ascension was a feeling of anxiety lest
the ponderous yet delicate problem
should fail There were innumerable
chances that disaster would overtake
the expedition If the len3 had been
broken or cracked or had the slight
est accident caused a flaw to appear
upon its surface though microscopical
ly minute the undertaking would have
been a failure Such a failure would
not have been measured in dollars
alone indeed the money cost would
be classed as trivial compared with
the all important element of time as
five years of incessant labor would be
required to replace it
The old trail up Mount Wilson was
out of the question For several miles
it is only three feet wide It was nec
essary therefore to construct a new
trail and a large force of men were
put to work on a route which seemed
to promise the surest means of trans
portation The trail was completed at
his son Edmond Becquerel who we a great cost the lens was securely
may recall by the way discovered the
first method of color photography
continued the study of the phosphoro
genic rays and thought that he had
been able to show their Identity with
light rays At the same time with
Niepce de St Victor he began
the examination of the whole series
of substances such as the alkaline
earthy sulfates the diamond fluorin
and aragonite that become luminous
under the action of th solar rays
and studying fluorescence in the same
connection he considered it as pro
duced by the ultraviolet radiations
In 1S83 Henri Becquerel took up this
question of phosphorescence and stud
ied the absorption of light by the com
ponents of uranium
The work of Becquerel Curie etc
has made us acquainted with new
forms of substance that transform
part of the energy that they receive
into chemical reactions We enter
here into the vast field of the un
known which is so attractive and the
name of Henri Becquerel will remain
connected with one of the chief steps
accomplished in the nineteenth cen
tury toward the acquisition of this do
main
Remains of a Mammoth
The remains of a prehistoric ele
phant of mammoth proportions were
unearthed recently in the bed of a
small creek in Puddingstone canyon
half a mile north of San Dimas by
Prof A J Cook head of the depart
ment of biology of Pomona college
Cal and Edward P Terry a student
The bone frame which is in a fair
state of preservation measures 26
feet in length and 16 feet in height
and what remains of each of the enor
mous tusks is ten feet long The
parts of the huge skeleton that could
besafely handled were removed care
fully to Claremont and are to be
placed in the museum of Pomona col
lege The discovery was accidental
The skeleton lay diagonally across the
stream with only six inches of ground
over it
buried in soft packing material and
after an entire day of most tedious
work was at last deposited in the ob
servatory
The finished lens is GO inches across
S inches thick at the point of its ex
treme fullness and weighs an even
2000 pounds It is so much more pow
erful than any other lens that it is
claimed it will make visible 200000
000 more stars than can be seen with
the most efficient instrument now in
place The atmosphere at the moun
tain top is particularly suited to as
tronomical observations and the in
strument will have the further advan
tages of the most complete and mod
ern supplemental equipment
HOW TO MAKE A HYGROMETER
Little Instrument Will Tell You the
Amount of Moisture in Atmosphere
Mount a wire on a board which is
used for a base and which should be
three eighths by four by eight inches
as shown in the sketch A piece of
g t
-
rAiliA
Simple Hygrometer
catgut a string used on a violin will
do is suspended from the bent end
of the wire A hand or pointer is cut
from a piece of tin and secured to the
catgut string about one half inch from
the base A small piece of wood and
some glue will fasten the pointer to
the string The scale is marked on a
piece of cardboard which Is fastened
to the base and protected with a
piece of glass
Fish packed in a Danish vegetable
paper were in much better condition
after 16 days than those packed In ice
BrcAPGm
THfflBAL
St Johns cathedral being erected
by the Episcopalians at New York has
been considered the most magnificent
attempt at church architecture in
America but within the next six years
the Catholic cathedral now building
at St Louis bids fair to rival in
grandeur and beauty even that tern
pie The construction of this new
Catholic cathedral is being watched
with ever increasing interest The
laying of Hhe corner stone a short
time ago was the occasion of the most
splendid ceremonies in which distin
guished visitors from afar a special
representative of the pope and 40000
Catholics took part
According to Archbishop Glennon
the Cathedral will be completed with
in six years The cost of the exterior
will be 1500000 and of the interior
when completed another million The
cost of the site at Lindell boulevard
and Newstead avenue was 300000
The structure will be larger than
several of the famous old world ca
thedrals Modeled after St Sophias
at Constantinople it will overtop the
latter 50 feet in height- and will be
111 feet longer It will be two feet
higher than Notre Dame at Paris and
46 feet wider It will surpass in both
height and width Westminster aobey
in London
The St Louis cathedral will be 350
feet in length 216 feet in width and
225 feet in altitude at the dome Its
seating capacity will be 4500 of whom
2300 can sit in unobstructed view of
the altar and 3000 in full view of the
offlciating priest The floors of the
auditorium aisles and perambulatories
will be paved with marble mosaic in
harmony with the general color
scheme of the interior
There will be four separate chapels
each as large as the ordinary church
in St Louis and costing 100000 each
A perambulatory supported by great
columns will surround the entire audi
torium
The Byzantine style of architecture
was adopted because of its superior
economy over the ornate and elabo
rate Gothic It is declared that Gothic
buildings cost three times as much as
those in the Byzantine style
This Byzantine warmth and variety
of color will mark the interior of the
St Louis cathedral with its countless
columns in rare and beautifully col
ored marble its spandrels band
courses architraves and balustrades
of rich mosaic and its splendid mural
decorations on canvas Indeed it is
the purpose of the designers to make
the interior a veritable palace of re
ligious art The historian in his com
ments on St Sophia goes on to say
that the memory of past calamities in
spired Justinian with wise resolution
that no wood except for doors be ad
mitted to the edifice The structure
iwas of brick faced with marble and
the finishings of the interior were of
marble tile and mosaic The St Louis
cathedral will be even more nearly
fireproof bronze taking the place of
wood for the doors and solid stone for
the walls with massive foundations
of concrete The splendid dome will
be covered with green mission tile
and the heating ventilation and arti
ficial cooling of the sanctuary and
chapels during the summer will be in
accordance with the most modern
methods Everything for beauty com
fort and safety has been provided
making the building perfect in all its
details The marbles for the interior
are to be of old convent Sienna Alps
green rose Numidian and Pavannazzo
and the mosaics and mural decora
tions will be wrought by the best
craftsmen and artists in the country
As far as possible the work will be
of American preferably St Louis ori
gin
One of the loveliest features of the
great central body of the church will
be the altar of exquisite white mar
ble overhung by a baldachin not of
silk or tapestry of which this canopy
is usually matte but of solid silver
filagree supported on four pillars of
mr
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WHBtBi AJT rROfiT OF MW CATHZORAL
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THC OLD CATHZORAL
delicate tinted onyx Another beauti
ful feature will be the entrance to the
crypt approached by a broad stairway
of white marble
For financing the great building an
initial fund of 250000 was left by the
late Archbishop Kain 71000 has been
subscribed by the clergy and 430000
more by individual contributors The
archdiocese is engaged in raising an
other half million for the completion
of the superstructure
With the finishing of the building
the archdiocese will have an official
capitol The old cathedral at Second
j and Walnut streets has been little
more tnan a parish church since
Archbishop Kain ten years ago
planned a new cathedral at Jefferson
avenue and Locust street a site which
he afterwards abandoned The old
cathedral was dedicated 74 years ago
and was regarded for decades as a no
table structure
The ceremony incident to the laying
of the corner stone for the old cathe
dral for which Bishop Rosati toiled
so long and against so many discour
agements was the greatest thing of
its nature that the young St Louis
had experienced It took place on the
1st of August 1831 and in less than
three years the church was completed
and almost paid for Even in its pres
ent grimy condition lost among the
time eaten buildings of the river sec
tion of the city it is still a wonderful
structure with its stately doric col
umns and its air of quiet grandeur
Long ago it was abondoned by th6
archbishop for whom the small
chapel at Newstead and Maryland ave
nues was erected on the corner of the
spacious lot purchased for the grand
new cathedral but the part it played
in the early religious life of the city
will never be forgotten cannot be un
derestimated
Long before even this early church
was called into being there was a
great Catholic church in St Louis
great because of its Importance In the
community It was the little struc
ture built of upright posts which occu
pied the middle of the block between
Main and Second streets and sur
rounded by the best of the early
French families that settled St Louis
Here Father Bernard de Limpoch fol
lowing the work of Father Valentin
began the struggle for the erection of
a church compatible with the wealth
and population of St Louis The re
sult was the little wooden building
that was dedicated in 177C and re
mained standing until 1820 That
same struggle was taken up by Bishop
Rosati when the city had outgrown all
its churches and again by his grace
Archbishop Glennon when he realized
that St Louis ought to be the seat
of a really magnificent cathedral
That the city will ever outgrow this
superb building that is about to come
into being it is difficult to believe For
centuries to come it will moe than
likely remain a unique and wonderful
example of eccelsiastical architecture
of which any city might well be proud
WATER SUPPLY AND POWER
Great
Hydro Electric Project
Torreon in Mexico
Near
Following the report of government
engineers who have been making sur
veys and estimates of a projected dam
across the Nazas river near Torreon
the federal government of Mexico has
agreed to give financial support to the
proposition and the contract for its
construction has been awarded Ac
cording to the estimates of the engi
neers the dam will cost about 6000
000 and will form one of the largest
water storage reservoirs on the conti
nent affording a water supply to the
whole Nazas river cotton growing dis
trict for a period of three years with
out replenishing
In connection with this dam it is
also planned to install a hydro electric
plant to supply all of the towns within
a radius of 150 miles There are many
large industrial plants in the Nazas
valley which will be provided with
cheap power from the proposed plant
and it is expected that the establish
ment of manufacturing enterprises
will be greatly stimulated
The principal cotton growing region
of Mexico lies in this valley but ow
ing to the uncertainty of rains In the
mountains the river cannot be depend
ed upon to give an adequate water
supply for irrigation purposes when
most needed By storing the water
this difficulty will be overcome The
site of the proposed dam Is in the San
Fernandez canyon
There Isnt Any
Misery loves company but who ever
heard of any company that liked mis
ery Detroit Free Press
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JMlb
THE PUBLIC EYE
In a little more we came to an open
space very thronged
The Public Eye shouted the mega
phone man of our party
There were some curious people
within the space but even more curi
ous were those just outside
Of these latter we thought certain
women especially interesting they
were busily neglecting ttyelr families
In order to get Into the Public Eye
A pathos attached to another group
of women who bad been in the Pub
lic Eye and could never be happy out
of it though they couldnt in the least
tell why
Positively funny were a few men
who kept trying by a variety of droll
devices to break into the Public
Eye Vice presidential candidates
our megaphone man explained Puck
About the Size of It
Preachers are about the only men
who can give better satisfaction by
doing less work remarked the
thoughtful thinker
How do you figure that out
queried the innocent bystander
Short sermons always please ex
plained the tt Chicago Daily News
In the Right Spirit
I am 17 How long should I wear
my dresses wrote a fair lass to the
editor of the query department of a
leading magazine
From your first appearance In the
morning until you retire at night re
plied the editor Judge
A MEAN MANS EXULTATION
Prosperity has come to us hooray
Im so elated I can scarcely speak
Last night the cook got mad and went
away
We had to pay her seven plunks a
week
S E Kiser in Chicago Record Herald
Improvement
It is sad said the man who uses
slang to see politicians so busy
knocking one another
Well answered Senator Sorghum
even that program represents an im
provement Its a little more humane
to go after a man with a hammer than
with an ax Washington Star
Discreet Prophecy
Why do you invariably predict the
coldest winter we have had in years
Well answered Prof Blatherton
if it comes true people necessarily
give me credit for great wisdom And
if it doesnt come true they are too
thankful to hold any grudge Wash
ington Stai
A DOUBLE BREAK
Wife I saw Mr Chacer this after
noon and he looks pretty bad Whats
the matter with him do you know
Hubby Compound fracture
Wife What sort of compound frac
ture
Hubby Hes broke and Miss
Doughbag discovering that fact broke
her engagement
His Business to Be
The insurance man with literary-
ambitions you took on the staff of the
magazine is very much dissatisfied at
being one of the subordinate authors
I dont see why he should be j
Wasnt he always an underwriter
Baltimore American
Rural Habits
Smith Hello Jones do you still
live out at Ojster Bay
Jones No Im in Brooklyn now
How is it that you Long Island
lage to village Life
9HQ0JI
The Cause of Vernal Verdancy
The kindergarten teacher had been
telling her pupils about the seasons
and the colors that were characteristic
of each
Now said she If you were try
ing to represent spring which of tha
colored chalks would you use
Green responded little - Pat
promptly
Why ho was asked i
Cause St Patricks day comes in
spring
TOO BAD
HI fdHmi rv
Hp4 IhB M KiI I ll 7 m iv
Adolphus I say deah boy they tell
me Cholly caught quite a cold don
cherknow
Augustus Yes he went without his
chrysanthemum one day last week
Combination
Complaining Customer Say this fly
paper is full of holes
The Grocer Yes madam I know
it is It is the new combination
fly paper and is made with the holes
so that it can be used for porous plas
ters after the fly season is over
Judge
One Sign
Said He Young Smythe and Miss
Brown are evidently in love with
each other
Said She Judging by the way they
look at each other
Said He No judging by the way
they dont look at anybody else Chi
cago Daily News
Individual Application
I hope you were in favor of
the
loans
f
Always in favor of loans dear boy
Say can you spare a V Baltimore
American
A MISTAKE SOMEWHERE
yQ sfRra asks g4H2
bMM llE Hi
Myrtle Whats the score
Evelyn Eight to four
Myrtle You must be mistaken Im
sure I havent seen more than three
men carried off the field
The Way She Does It
Mrs Clymer is a model housewife
in one way
What is that
By dint of giving her dinners teas
and receptions to the reporters she
manages always to keep her house in
print Baltimore American
Never Sees It
Ida Why havent you been to see
me
Emily Just look at the weather
weve had
Ida I cant We live in a shaft
apartment Judge
STRIKING A BARGAIN
S
3-
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The Big One Ill give you a nice
apple if youll stop crying
The Small One H how big is the
a apple an how 1 long have I got
to stop fer New York Herald
