Cherry County independent. (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 18??-1896, March 12, 1896, Image 3
4 A i T A x- FT lu J M t ROENTGENS WONDERFUL XRAYS REVIEW OF THE GREAT PHOTOGRAPHIC DISCOVERY 0 3Q0 experiments follow ed as they have been by the efforts of other savants along the same lines together with wide newspaper dis cussion have given popular thought and common conversation a tendency toward rhe scientific and the abstruse Roentgen rays X rays cathode rays ultra violet jags ipiif imiof POEXTGEX rays the words are as familiar to the ear us the alphabet Stated briefly Prof Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen has found a jieans whereby articles behind opaque substances or contained therein may be photographed and their position accurate ly defined The pictures thus obtained are light often shadows only on the plate Their character is determined by the rela tive density of the inclosing matter If the envelope present slight obstruction to the X rays the impression of the object whose photograph is sought is proportion ately distinct It is easy to see that this discovery may be put to great practical use and it has for that reason excited an interest almost universal It is difficult to describe the Roentgen discovery and mode of procedure in such terms as may be popularly understood To photograph any object of course tliere must be light In the Roentgen method this is furnished by what are called Crookes tubes In brief they may be described as glass cylinders from which the air lias been partially exhausted In each end of each tube is placed a disk one of which conveys an electric current to the interior of the tube and the other carries it away making the return wire a battery It is believed that the glass r sorbs 95 per cent of the light so that it is a great point in their manufacture to have - lis TYPES nvwcfijrjtr s w WILT TAM CROOKES Famous inventor of the Crookes tube in diameter and is placed on an angle as if intended to act as a reflector The generation of the light says Mr Edison takes place when the proper flu orescence is obtained within the tube and it is caused by the action of the electric fluid in disturbing the molecules of rare fied air The cathode disk does not make the light but propels it with great force against and through the glass of its prison and anvthing else that may intervene be tween it and the sensitive plate which is to register its rays With the Crookes tube at hand and with a battery containing enough elec tricity to last during the experiments the scientist now devotes his attention to the securing of a sensitive plate which will register an image of the object to be pho tographed So far the ordinary dry plates used by an amateur or professional have foeen used with success The unex posed plate is put in a dry plate holder This furnishes protection from the day light Any article which it is desired to secure an image of is procured All tee light is shut out from the laboratory or wherever the experiment is to be made The proper wire connections are made with the battery and tubes Directly un der the glass is placed the dry plate still in the holder It is unnecessary to draw the slide for the X rays will penetrate wood or Eteel as readily as they will pass through a piece of glass Between the glass and the dry plate is placed the ob ject to be photographed It is laid on the slide of the holder Lenses or reflectors are unnecessary as will be explained later When everything has been placed carefully and all is ready the electric current is flashed on For a moment it creeps along the tube and flares up Soon it becomes steady and its rays spread out upon the image Down through the envelope the rays fall They cut their way through every fiber straight down until they fall upon the sensitive plate and register their passage If an object such as a bone or piece of metal stands in the way then and only then do they pause and their interruption is shown by the delicate plate being unaffected If a bullet is imbedded in the flesh and here is where the first practical benefit to sur gery has been found by the new art the impression is left The time of exposure varies When it has been sufficiently ex posed the current is shut off and the plate taken to the developing room There the process used by any amateur is carried out The plate is first developed in the ruby light and it is then fixed with hyposulphite of soda It can then be ex posed to daylight without any fear of be ing changed The negative if the experi ment has been a success will show a thin outline of the enveloping medium and a lighter shade for the article whose photo graph or shadow is desired It will be understood that in the developed work the conditions of the negative are reversed the inclosing substance is represented in the lighter shade the interposed denser object in the darker Prof Roentgen when lie ascertained the effects producible by the X the un- HOEXTGEX SILHOUETTE Horn handled razor in its case of cloth covered cardboard Photographed by A A Swinton through a piece of hlack vulcanised liber 0212 inch thick known rays was pursuing a line of in quiry in continuation of a series of experi ments by Geissler Gassioit Ilittorf and Grookes He progressed from the points at which they had stopped and in later laboratory work in Europe and America Km I w f N2 tfW SA OF CROOKES TUBES I Imported Crookes Tube II Tube for Experiments in Vacuum in Tube frith Which Edison Will Make the Brain Photograph IV Edisons Ordinary them as thin as possible Tliomas A Edi son makes very thin ones and he claims that is a point of superiority lie applies the term fluorescent tubes to those of his own manufacture In his experiments he uses two alum inum disks one representing the anode or positive pole and the other the cathode or negative pole The positive or anode disk or electrode is suspended by a small wire close to the mouth or top of the bulb The cathode or negative disk is fixed in the center of the bulb It is half an inch it is found that the results obtained by Roentgen have been improved upon The earlier explorers in this field regarded the rays as proceeding directly from the cathode Roentgen holds otherwise He confesses himself at somewhat of a loss to describe these rays and their full prop erties but is confident that they do not proceed directly from the cathode but issue only from that part of the Crookes tube where the cathode rays strike the glass wall It is as if the true cathode rays were decomposed and those which Prof Roentgen denominates the X rays pass on while the other components of the cathode rays are exhausted or ab sorbed in the glass In the earlier experi ments early is used in a relative sense only as all this Roentgen information measures its existence by weeks in the first attempts at the new photography it was necessary to expose the plates for a long time more than an hour in some in stances Before any results were produc ed The perfection of the appliances kept pace with the interest of The subject and Prof Wittman of the high school at Buda Pesth has reduced the time neces sary to obtain a well defined Roentgen photograph to three minutes under ordi nary circumstances and thirty seconds under perfect conditions No substance is impervious to this new form of radiant energy Matter against which ordinary light rays beat helplessly and from which they are thrown with a power apparently greater Lhan their strik ing force are as open gates for the X rays On this point Roentgen the pioneer says The most strikiug feature of this phenom enon is that an Inlluence capable of exciting brilliant fluorescence is able to pass through the black cardboard cover which transmits none of the ultra violet rays of the sun or of the electric arc and one immediately in quires whether other bodies possess this property It is soon discovered that all bodies are transparent to this influence but in very different degrees A few examples will suffice Taper is very transparent The fluorescent screen held behind a bound vol ume of 1000 pages still lighted up brightly the printers ink offered no perceptible ob stacle Fluorescence was also noted behind two packs of cards a few cards held be tween apparatus aud screen made no per ceptible difference A single sheet of tin PHOTOGRAPH OP SHOT IS RATS BODY foil Is scarcely noticeable only after several layers have been laid on top of each other Is a shadow clearly visible on the screen Thick blocks of wood are also transparent fir planks two or three centimeters thick are but slightly opaque A film of aluminum about fifteen nillimcters thick weakens the Effect very considerably Jouch It does not entirely destroy the fluorescence Several centimeters of vulcanized India rubber let the rays through Glass plates of the same thickness behave in a different way accord ing as they contain lead flint glass or not the former are much less transparent than the latter If the hand is held between the discharge tube and the screen the dark shadow of the bones is visible within the slightly dark shadow of the hand Water Sir H ilk wH A COIX AX AXI A OIIISET Photo by Dr Miller Toronto bisulphide of carbon and various other liquids behave in this respect as if they were very transparent I was not able to deter mine whether water was more transparent than air ISehind plates of copper silver lead gold platinum fluorescence is still clearly visible but only when the plates are not too thick Platinum OJ millimeters thick is transparent silver and copper sheets may be decidedly thicker Lead lH millimeters thick is as good as opaque and was on this account rften made use of A wooden rod of 120x20 millimeters cross sec tion painted white with lead paint on one side behaves in a peculiar manner When it is interposed between apparatus and screen it has almost no effect when the X rays go through the rod parallel to the painted side but it throws a dark shadow if the rays have to traverse the paint Very similar to the metals themselves are their salts whether solid or in solution The reports of Prof Roentgens ex periments produced a great activity among students everywhere Newspa pers and scientific journals were filled with reports of the labors and new discov eries made Tliere is not an institution of learning or a laboratory worthy the name in America where the Roentgen method of photography has not been put to practical test One remarkable dis covery was made incidental to some ex periments in New York Prof Max Os tenberg of Columbia College desiring to photograph the framework of a mouse drowned the creature in a bucket of water The animal remained under water fifteen minutes after it had ceased to struggle It had been effectually dead more than an hour when the apparatus was finally ar ranged It was laid upon the plate and subjected to the powerful rays from the Crookes tubes and after an hour of ex posurerevived sufficiently to struggle to its feet and crawl about the plate Nat urally this phenomenon excited much in terest as a new quality of the Roentgen rays was disclosed The possibilities of benefit to humanity in case the rays are found upon further examination to pos sess the revivifying power are vast Edison the wizard has plunged enthu siastically into the new study and has largely invented his own apparatus The Crookes tubes he thought dissipated too much of the new energy and he made some for himself They are thinner and give better results Prof A W Wright of Yale is one of the siost hard working scientists who has entered into the new de partment of research and has strikingly confirmed all of Roentgens experiments Prof Wrights experiments were made witfli a great variety of substances and it was found that strong impressions were obtained upon a photographic plate even when it was inclosed in an opaque wrap ping of black paper and covered with a pine board half an inch thick Prof Ilenry A Bunstead of the Shef field School at Yale has also ardently pursued the investigation of X rays along with Prof Wright Mr Bunstead has ex perimented on several animals lie first took a mouse and the photograph shows the skull quite clearly but the bones are PRACTICAL TEST OF THE X RAY riiotogrfph taken by Professor Cox of Mon treal showing where a bullet was lodged which has been extracted from the leg of a man who was shot on Christmas Day not at all well brought out With a fish and a frog Mr Bunstead also obtained good results The backbone of the fish is easily distinguishable as is also the bladder In the frog the leg bones are clearly visible Mr Bunstead obtained good photographs of coins in a heavy leather case The coins were mixed in with a lot of visiting cards and the case was placed beneath a pine board an inch thick He also obtained a good photo graph of a pair of eyeglasses placed be neath a board and of the kernels of Eng lish walnuts All these experiments were made in broad daylight and the exposure of the negative lasted about an hour in each instance Prof Rike and Dr Miller of Toronto together with others have made careful experiments They have photographs clearly defining the ibony structure of ttie frog and another showing the ease with which X rays penetrate wood A coin a bradawl and a chisel were exposed The tang of the awl where it enters the wood can be traced easily The wood is in half shadow Prof Eugene Haanel of the jt fwemm 5tf vXBZ2yBZ V Syracuse University had marked succesB in photographing the interior of a frog Prof Haanel and other scientists of de gree predict that Edisons attempt to jihptograph the brain will never prove suc cessful They think he may get the in terior line of the skull but the brain be ing less dense will not furnish a suffi cient resistance to the rays What of Roentgen and how did ne make his great discovery He has a chair in the department of physics in the Wurz burg University A short time ago he was unknown except to his fellow inquir ers into the phenomena and laws of nat ural philosophy This discovery was brought about by pure accident Prof Roentgen while experimenting in a dark room with a Grookes tube through which an inductive electric current was passed was greatly astonished to find that a pho tographic plate inclosed in wooden slides which had been lying in the same room revealed some strange impressions which could not possibly be attributed to the in fluence of ordinary light from without Struck with the curiousuess of this phe nomenon for which no possible reasons seemed to exist Prof Roentgen experi mented again under exactly the same conditions and found that the photo graphic plate could have been reached only by a light which was capable of penetrating wood -a substance which hith erto has always been considered opaque Further trials showed not only that such light existed and was generated in a Crookes tube but that it possessed the faculty of penetrating many other sub stances such as organic tissues paper etc while certain metals and bone sub stances calcium phosphate did not lose their opacity Prof Roentgen further succeeded in obtaining photographic im pressions of- metallic objects which had n CROOKES TUBE IX POSITION been inclosed in a wooden box and also of the skeleton of a living hand Then he gave his findings to the world WHY HE TOOK THE SEAT A Touching Scene Witnessed on a New York Car A pathetic incident occurred in a BroadAvay cable car one evening re cently Two men boarded the car at Chambers street They were broad shouldered athletic looking men and one familiar with professional ath letes would have recognized in one a ball player well known in the Na tional League and the other a well known prize fighter The men were chatting and did not pay much atten tion to the way they were jostled as the car filled up rapidly It was early in the evening and the theater crowd was moving At 14th street the ear stopped and two young women got on They were handsomely dressed and had a general look that would cause one to take them for actresses They were at once recognized by the men mentioned The two men sprang to their feet and greet ed the young women warmly The car was filled and many were stand ing Just as the pugilist got on his feet a man who was standing pushed a friend gently into the seat just va cated The pugilist turned angrily and laid a strong hand upon the man who had just seated himself and said in a firm voice Excuse me sir I meant that seat for this lady It looked ominous to those who saw the gleam in the eye of the pugilist The man addressed said hastily I beg your pardon Excuse me Even as he spoke he was trying to rise but as he did he felt in front of him in uncertain manner The pugilist looked searehingly into his face and then caught him by the shoulder firm ly but gently and pushed him back into the seat saying Thats all right old man you keep the seat Then he turned to the young woman and said quietly Youll have to stand Blanche the poor chaps blind New York Trib une Clean Stables Start into the winter with clean sta ples and keep them in that condition We always hear that stock of all kinds are more liable to contract disease in winter than summer and no doubt many ills that stock contract in winter may be traced to filthy stables and bad ventilation Clean stalls and good bed ding make stock healthy The North Kingdom Norway is more properly Norea meaning North Isle It is called by the natives The North Kingdom Mrs Wickwire You dont know what a grief it is to have a husband who thinks he is funny Mrs Watts What is the trouble dear I asked him last evening to bring home some good up-to-date literature and he brought a bundle of almanacs Indianapolis Journal Mr McCann I am building a house and am only using lumber from the zero forests of Michigan FriendWhy so Mr McCann Because trees that can stand zero all winter ought to make a warm house so they ought Truth should older people be corn JPny led to be childish and play with dctyls at Christmas OF A 1REAT STATE J4EWS FROM ALL PARTS OF NEBRASKA The Siate Auditor Reports a De crease of Over 9000000 in Mort gaged Indebtedness fjr 1S05 Farmers Getting Out of Debt Mortgaged for Millions State Auditor Moore has completed the record of the mortgage indebtedness of Nebraska for the year ending December 51 I8d5 The total farm town and city ind chattel mortgages filed for that year how a decrease of 91S89770i from that t the yen- of 18Jl To offset this how jver there is a corresponding decrease in he total amount of satisfactions the sat sfactions of farm town and city and chattel mortgages for 1805 being 9289 57742 less than for the same period in 1891 The total decrease of farm mort gages is 411802275 total decrease of shattel mortgages 323728752 In town and city mortgages for 1895 there is a de arease of nearly 2000000 and a corre sponding decrease in the amount of satis factions The number of sheriffs deeds and other deeds in foreclosure are about the same for the two years HEAVY FALL OP SNOW Two Inches Reported in Many Sec tions of the State Irvington Feb 29 Two inches of snow have fallen since last evening with indications of more Ground in fine con dition to receive it La Platte Feb 29 Sarpy County was treated to a snowfall of two inches today The moisture was needed Fremont Feb 29 Nearly two inches of snow fell here last night and this morn ing It was very damp Bennington Feb 29 Fully three inches of snow fell here last night and to day it being the first snow of any conse quence this winter Wahoo Feb 29 About two inches o snow fell here this morning and indica tions are that more will fall to night Dunbar Feb 39 Snow commenced falling here about 4 oclock and continued ill forenoon with prospects of lasting all day Old Feb 29 All day yesterday a fu rious storm of wind was raging from the northwest and to day there are indications of snow Norlh Bend Feb 29 The first snow in this vicinity since December 1 commenced this morning Weston Feb 29 A fine shower fell last night followed by a fall of six inches of snow This moisture was much needed as the ground was very dry and dusty Some of the farmers in this local ity have finished sowing wheat and the rain and snow last night puts the soil in a most favorable condition Peru Feb 29 Snow to the depth of four inches fell here last night and it is still snowing Plattsmouth Feb 29 A heavy snow commenced falling at an early hour here this morning and continued steadily until noon when the snow slacked up and a Ueavy mist set in Winter wheat has a jtand never heard of here before The ground seems in splendid condition the moisture extending down as deep as eight sen inches The creeks through this 20unty that have been dry all summer and fall have for some unknown cause began sending a clear current of water along their dusty banks Fort Calhoun Feb 29 Snow fell lasf night in this vicinity to the depth of about two inches no wind accompanying Selling Fire Water to Indians On complaint of United States Indian Agent Clements of Santee Agency Dep uty United States Marshal Tomlinson arrested Adam Farester proprietor of the brewery at Niobrara on the charge of selling beer to Indians He bad his hear ing before the United States Commissioner who bound him over to the United States district court in the sum of S300 whicn he secured There has been for the past two years a reckless liquor traffic going on with the Indians the claim having been that the Indians having had their lands allotted to them and are voters are free So drink if they see fit A te3t case is ialked of this point never having been Tully settled There is considerable un pleasantness about it since the fines have been but nominal and the bootleg ging and liquor traffic have continued for - quarter of a centnry without any let up Buildings Burned at Arapaho l At Arapaho fire destroyed the Bennett block the Reynolds block and a small one story frame building The fire orig inated in Deans drug store in the Bennett block His loss on stock is about 3000 to 4000 with 2000 insurance A Mr Hills family who lived up stairs lost its entire house furnishings including all wearing apparel Tliere was no insurance on the Reynolds building Tliere was a slight loss on the drug stock with 500 insurance on the building On the Bennett block there was no insurance Two Girls Collide with a Car Misses Shickley and Mills young un married women residing at Lincoln had a narrow escape from death on the street car track In company with another young woman from Grand Island they tried to cross the track in front of an ap proaching car Misses Shickley and Mills lost their heads ran back and forth and were struck and knocked down by the car They both suffered severe scalp wound and bruises about the body but recover Misrepresenting Nehraska Frequent reports are received from the eastern and middle states that persons are soliciting aid for Nebraska sufferers and making deplorable statements about ex isting want and destitution The repre sentations are untrue and the solicitors are almost without an exception impos tors and areacting without proper author ity The secretary of the State Board of Agriculture has made exhaustive in inquiries throughout the state and ascer tained that no relief is needed Abolish Terminal Charges The first step of the railways toward satisfying Nebraska cattle shippers was taken when the Missouri Pacific withdrew all terminal charges at the Omaha stock yards This has been a great source of trouble as shippers thought it unjust The Bock Island also abolishes terminal charges Given Membership in A R A The Cass County Agricultural Society has been given membership in the Ameri can Racing Association and is making great preparations lor the races to be held at Plaltsmouth in September Terrible Trip of a Woman A few days ago as Mr and Mrs Philip Gleich who live near Doniphan were re turning home their team became fright ened and upset the buggy Mr Gleich was thrown out on his head and shoulders and sustained a few slight bruises but Mrs G eich was less fortunate Her foot and knee became entangled in the wheel an I she was dragged for a distance of one and one half mile3 and crossing seven bridges over the hard rough oak planks Every particle of clothing was torn from her body and her entire body is covered with bruises Both limbs and abdo men were lacerated and bruised but Im possible as it may seem no bones wore broken The worst injuries are internal During the entire trip she remained con scious The team after iumiing this dis tance ran into a barbed wire fence throwing one of the horse3 and holding him fast This was near the residence of a Mr Gallagher lie hearing the struggling horses went out to investigate She wa3 then unconscious and was carried into tho house and a physician called Stamford Citizens Indignant The citizens of Stamford aud vicinity have become very indignant over the mat ter of some parties living near that place who are continually writing to Iowa and Illinois for aid claiming that their fam ilies are destitute and in a starving con dition It is said these parties are known and if they do not desist sending such libelous and misleading letters to other states for the sake of personal gain they will be prosecuted That part of Nebras ka has plenty to spare this year without soliciting aid Litigation Over a Wrecked Mill At a special sessiou of the district court atBIoommgton the most important mat ter to come up is the Franklin mill case Last spring during the high water the dam was washed out and the mill fell in to the river Nothing was done toward getting it out until a month ago when the judge appointed a receiver The property was sold at auction and now the numerous judgments and mortgagors come into court all claiming first right Norfolk Gets the Trophy The Governors Cup which created so much trouble in state militia circles the last encampment has been made the sub ject of a general order by Gen Barry Under the order the cup is to be delivered to the Moore rifles at Norfolk in accord ance with the award made at Hastings The rifles are in good shape to retain the trophy and as soon as their new armory is built will have the very best faoilities for drilling Seeding Well Advanced A little over three inches of snow has fallen in the vicinity of Holdredge the past week The ground there was in good condition before and this wet it down so that small grain will sprout and grow without any moisture for some time Quite a good deal of seeding has been done already the ground in all instances being in a very fine condition in fact it is in the best condition that it has been smco 1892 Awful Death of a Farmer While Peter Stonberg a farmer living nine miles west of Stromsburg was out ting corn stalks the horses he was driv ing became unmanageable and in the runaway Stonburg fell in front of the cutter aud became entangled in the knives and was horribly mangled When the horses were stopped by neighbors it re quired some fifteen minutes to extrioate the body from the machine He lived but a few minutes after being released r Omaha Canal Knocked Out The supreme court has disposed of what is known as the Omaha canal case By the terms of the opinion the act of the r legislature of last winter under which it was sought to submit a proposition for the voting of bonds i3 declared null and void The opinion wa3 written by Commissioner Ryan concurred in by Justice Norval and Harrison Commissioner Irvine not sit ting and Chief Justice Post dissenting Frozen to Death While Injured Coroner Holyoke of Lincoln held an in quest over E G Johnson near Martel whose body was found in the public road The investigation disclosed the fact that he was moving his household goods and was thrown from his wagon He was stunned by the fall and expired from the cold Pupils Given a Scare While the chemistry class was experi menting in the Bloomington high school laboratory with acid a scholar applied a match to one of the tubes and an explosion followed Prof Bowers was badly cut in the face and considerable damage done to the laboratory Death Sentence Commuted Gov Ilolcomb has commuted the deatn sentence of John B Walker the Dawson County murderer to imprisonment for life Nehraska News Notes J F Bradshaw has succeeded J T Miller as postmaster of Superior Tramps burned a Union Pacific box car at Central City Gustav Anderson of Bellevue was fined 10 and costs for whipping his aged mother A young Cass County farmer lost 400 in the gambling joints of South Omaha recently Fred Worfel of Hastings has been aa judged insane and sent to the asylum at Lincoln Lake Quinnebaug near Tekamah is threatened with annihilationby the Mis souri Eiver Thousands of dollars worth of hay was destroyed by the overflow of the Platte Eiver caused by the ice gorge at Schuy ler Samuel Sanders who owns a large farm west of Plattsmouth marketed two pork ers the combin ed weight of which was 136572 Central City people object because the Union Pacific fast mail passes through their town at the rate of fifty miles an hour Albert and Norteii Askerman young boys of Council Bluffs were arrested Sun day at Ashland charged with burning a house in Iowa H F Hubbard a commercial man oj New York City died suddenly in a Ne braska City hotel A tin box filled with gold dust valued at 300 was uncovered by William Austin while digging a foundation for his home near Plaltsmouth William Grim who mysteriously disaj peared from Bellevue last summer and who it was thought had committed sui cide has turned up in Chicago Yeteran soldiers of Holt Brown Eock Keya Paha and Boyd Comities will hold a reunion at a date to be fixed at the meet ing of a committee at Lnnrr TMno n i June 3