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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 1914)
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAIT, PORTLAND, AUGUST 2, 1914. FEWEST SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES AND REM ARK ABLE FACTS i Waves Cause Destruction of Great Many Islands SO accustomed have we become to false rumors of the disappearance of islands or the sinking of portions of a seaeoaat, at the time of earthquakes or volcanic disturbances, that we are inclined to regard all reports of such phenomena with skepticism. That cer tain Islands and headlands in Chesa peake Bay are being destroyed at a startling rate, not by any catastrophic force of nature, but by the ordinary ac tion of waves and currents. Is demon started in a short report Just pub lished by the United States Geological Survey, "Erosion and Sedimentation In Chesapeake Bay Around the Mouth of Choptank River." This report is a result of a compari son of a portion of two separate topo graphic and hydrographic surveys of Chesapeake Bay made by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, one In 1847-1848 and a second over half a century later, in 1900-1901. A third supplementary topographic survey of a part of the area studied was made In 1910 by the author of the report. J. Fred Hunter, together with C C Tates, of the Coast and Geodetic Sur vey. The results of the work are of un nsual Interest because they give ac curate quantitative data on the amount and rate of erosion and sedimentation In a representative area of the bay. The most Interesting feature of the study Is the rapid destruction of the three Islands at tht mouth of Chop tank River. Of these, Sharps IslawJ, which a generation ago was a Summer resort and a favorite hunting-ground besides supporting a number of fami lies throughout the year, is today de aerted and almost barren of life. Its 438 acres of 1848 had dwindled to 91 by 1900, while at the time of the most recent survey, in 1910, the island con tained but 53 acres. Its north shore having suffered the phenomenal loss of 110 feet a year during the period from 1900 to 1910. Calculations by Mr. Hunter indicate that the Island will be entirely effaced before 1950. James Island, which lies south of Sharps Island, decreased In size from 976 acres in 1848 to 490 acres In 1910. while to the north, Tilghman Island, which supports many prosper ous farmers and fishermen, was re duced from 2015 acres in 1S47 to 1686 acres in 1900 and is now surrendering approximately six acres each year to the seas. On Sharps Island the site of an ar tesian well has been transgressed by the waves so that It now presents the unique feature of a well located in the bay. The map of 1901 showed that the only remainder of the north end of the James Island of 1848 was a small island situated on the spot which was formerly an arm of an inlet, but which later became filled with marsh material. That the water In the midst of land In 1848 should become land in the midst of water in 1901 Is a re markable result of the greater resist ance of the marsh-built land. Practically all of the erosion has been on the west and north Bides of the Islands, which are most open to the attack of the southerly bay currents and the westerly winds and their waves. No building up of land is going on within the area studied, although farther south extensive delta deposits are being laid down. Our Muscles Laugh, Is Doctor's Discovery NOW let's have a good laugh over this apparently foolish assertion, and then, when our merriment has sub Bided, let us calmly reflect, to see If the theory Is plausible. Here goes: Dr. Leonard Keene Hlrschberg, A. B M. A NC D., of Johns Hopkins University. wh,o knows what TOWBK AT SFAJJDAU, GERMANY. ONE of the world's greatest war chests, a monster tower, at Span dau. Germany, Is the repository of S30.000.000 In gold, which the gov ernment insists must be kept inviolate for its original purpose as a fund in case war should press Germany so hard that funds elsewhere would be unavail able. The gold was obtained from France as indemnity after the Franco-Prussian war. and was placed in the tower to be held in reserve for the especial purpose of financing troops should Germany ever again be called on tD fight Recently a great corps of clerks un he Is talking about if anyone does, says It Is absolutely impossible to ap preciate wit and humor without mus cular movements. After a thorough investigation. Dr. Hlrschberg. in a recent article, de clared that the stimulus which gives rise to the emotions grouped under the names of pity and humor really causes muscular movements first. These pro duce the mental states known as pathos, wit and cuteness. Proof of this discovery, he said. Is found In the fact that persons whose facial muscles are wholly paralyzed cannot see a joke. Stolid-faced Eng lishmen, as well as persons whose cheeks and mouth muscles are seriously burned or scarred, fail to see the points of definite and open jests. On the other hand, he declared, the rough and ready muscular active move ments of slap-stick comedy acts on the vaudeville stage are even funny to paralytics and idiots, for the observer reaJly laughs at such gyrations by way of his neck, head, stomach and arm muscles. In a word, the doctor de clared, the coarser the fun the larger the muscles that laugh. Comfort for Humans Is Now Measured HUMAN comfort Is now measured and automatically regulated. A clever device in the form of a bridge placed In a room Insures comfort to the human occupants. One end of the bridge is electrically regulated to cor respond with the temperature of a person's body. When the temperature in the room corresponds to the tem perature of the occupants, the bridge is nicely balanced, with the Indicator gently oscillating. Should the temperature of the room fall below that of the occupants, the bridge is Inclined to sink at one end. This end Is attached to a heat regu lator and automatically more heat is turned on. Should the temperature rise above that of the persons in the room a reverse action is mechanically s tarted. The Indicator moves violently when the air becomes too cool and when the heat gets oppressively hot the pointer moves with a stow, monotonous regu larity that warns the human beings present. At the same time the auto matic heating device Is set in action, so that conditions are soon remedied. Russian Scientist Tries Cure by Freezing FREEZING patients to death to cure consumption sounds a great deal like the suggestion that two bullets through the head will cure almost any disease, but that is precisely the rem edy offered in all seriousness by the great Russian scientist, Bachmetieff, after experimentation with animals, in which he demonstrated his theory was workable. The Koch bacillus Is killed at 6 de grees centigrade below freezing point, so that by congealing the human body to that degree the Russian expects to kill all the tubercular germs, then he proposes to bring the subject back to life by gradual re-heatlng. He has already been highly success ful with rats and other animals by producing artificial respiration in them while the process of freezing was go ing on. Electric Range Economical. An electric range displayed recently In the windows of the electric light company at Salt Lake City, Utah, was operated continuously, both day and night, for a week at a total cost of 10 per cent. The stove contained one oven, the temperature of which was 81.18. This figure was based on energy at 4 cents per kw-hr with a discount of automatically controlled by a ther mostatic device. Electrical World. Germany Has $30,000,000 in a Tower der the watchful eyes of scores of troops counted every single coin of the vast fortune and found all intact. Not a single coin had been moved from the original place given it when the gold was stored away. Many political leaders in Germany who are convinced that the days of wars are over, or ought to be, argue that the Immense sum could be utilized with great effect in some humanitarian cause. They insist that the grim tower standing there, dedicated to warfare and wanton strife. Is a sad example to set before the nation and the world in these enlightened times, Do Aeroplanes and Submarines Make Modern Warships Useless? e"-ro(v fc1 Built ti 2SOutlX SO OOlUDWOr Photograph Showing Aeroplane Hover ing Over Dreadnoughts, With Sob marine Lurking In the Foreground. WARSHIPS are useless In time ol war. Such is the astounding con clusion reached by some of Europe's greatest students of war. The battle ship Is all right In times of peace, it is Imposing and looks fine in a naval display or parade, but it Is now obso lete as a fighting quantity. In the air above and In the waters below the huge battleship has met Its doom. Aeroplanes whir across its deck, many thousand of feet In the air, and drop bombs which, exploding, carry death to those who are manning the leviathan and carry destruction to the Instruments of war with which the big boat Is fitted. And then in the waters below the little submarines whirl about, dis charging their deadly torpedoes in the very vitals of the battleships. So, the war students argue, the bat tleship is useless, obsolete for the veuy purpose for which it was evolved. The mightiest sea monster, . costing rom 812,000.000 to 815,000,000, is helpless, vulnerable to destruction from a frail aircraft costing a few thousands Or a tiny submarine representing a total outlay of a couple of hundred thousand dollars. The exact status of the aeroplane In a big war has not yet been determined, but experiments have shown that from a height of several thousand feet, far enough to easily avoid any missiles shot upward from the comparatively slow moving battleship, bombs can be dropped with deadly accuracy to the decks of the water craft. The move ments of the battleship, too, cannot be concealed from the watchful eyes of the birdmen. Even should the bombs fail to de stroy the approaching sea monster, the enemy in the aeroplane would give warning of the approach of hostile ships, and forewarned is forearmed. Half the efficiency of a battleship's action is dependent on the suddenness of its approach. Surprise has always been a controlling factor in war and with a flotilla of airships on watch, there could be no surprise attack from a fleet of battleships. "As the motor vehicle has driven the horse from the roa'd, so has the sub marine driven the battleship from the sea," says Sir Percy Scott, admiral of IP1 ' ' . A FrZAHCF SO 0UIL.T S guiLOINQr the British navy, and recognized as a high authority on marine warfare. The highest type of submarines are known as class E. They are 176 feet long, have a submerged tonnage of 812 tons and submerged speed of ten knots. The torpedoes they hurl into a warship's vitals are fitted with the deadliest destructive apparatus. On the bow Is a revolving steel knife that will cut through the stoutest steel net a battleship may throw around Itself. The missile Is double acting. First, It cuts its, way through armor, coal bunker and double compartments into the very heart of the ship, then ex plodes a high power explosive that wrecks -the interior of the huge ship. The second or final explosion Is timed a few seconds after the first, by which the torpedo plows its way Into the bat tleship. Buried deep in the water, the sub marine sees every movement of its big enemy. Absolutely invisible. Its care ful eye is trained on the battleship through the periscope. The periscope is a thin rod sticking a few feet out of the water. It is too small to be visible more than a few hundred feet away, but its powerful lenses will carry for miles. By means pJJ tho ti it- OUit-T ,4 19 DUILT 1 6 OVt-r , I i . PuiLPiver ft 9 OuiLOWOr Jj h auiuO'VOf A A umreo STATE 21 SMT periscope, the officer in charge of the submarine computes exactly the dis tance from the enemy and is able to aim and discharge his torpedoes with deadly accuracy. The released tor pedoes fly through the water with the swiftness and sureness of an arrow through the air. The men on watch on the battleship may see the torpedo when It gets within a few hundred feet of Its mark, but before even an alarm can be given, the little projectile has found Its quarry and completed its work of de struction. Subject to attack from above and below, the battleship as an efficient fighting element is doomed. Another o-rnei-t declares the future Navy will consist of aeroplanes, submarines and a few fast cruisers, providing a place can be found to keep the cruisers safe in time of war. Bathing in Wax Is Latest Cure BATHING In paraffine wax, heated to 125 degrees Fahrenheit, is said to be efficacious in tho treatment of rheumatism, gout, sciatica and kindred affections. The method is called the Kerltherapy and its discoverer Is Dr. Barthe de Sandfort. Dr. de Sandfort had for some time used plasters of ' superheated wax on wounds, ulcers, carbuncles, etc. These not only removed all pain, but caused the places to heal with almost miracu lous rapidity. This led him to believe that wax might advantageously be ap plied to the whole body. Accordingly he went to an oil. refinery and entered a vat containing 100 gallons of boiling wax. For from being burned, he ex perienced rather a pleasant sensation and the after-effects were wonderfully exhilarating. He was so encouraged that he tried the treatment on some patients, with results far exceeding his expectation. Can Married Men Keep Secrets? Is Question CAN a married man keep a secret from his wife? Some people think not, and among them are the heads of the firm who built the wonderful racing yacht with which Sir Thomas Llpton is going to make one more attempt to recapture the American cup. There was always a deal of secrecy about the design of a new racing yacht and particularly about the shape of the keel. The keel of Shamrock IV was cast at Camper & Nicholson's yard at Gosport, on November 26 last, and not one married man was among the men employed or took part In the conatruc-ti.-:i of the hull. During all those years that Lord Kitchener was busy perfecting his plans for his swoop upon the Mahdl he would not have a Benedict upon his staff. If one of the staff wanted to get married, why, he had to find an other job that was all. As a matter of fact, there were sing ularly few desertions for this cause. The Sirdar gave his men precious little leisure for love-making. In businesses which depend for their success on secret formulas married men are sometimes refused employment. One such has for more than a cen tury past been manufacturing a cer tain popular sauce. The firm has two large factories, and employs a great number of hands. Including scores of Premonitions Are Our Sixth Sense, Says Well -Known London Psychologist I there a sixth sense? A well-known London psychologist made deductions from two strange cases for the London Times. One case was that of a woman who seemed to be endowed with a strange sub-con-Isciousness of spiders, however hidden, and collapsing when In their proximi ty. The other case concerned a sister's dream which revealed the secret site of her brother's suicide. These two cases act as theories on which the psycholo gist founded his deductions of the sixth sense. In defining the sixth sense and Its accessories the .psychologist began from the beginning: What is a sense? Is it some form of activity or merely of sensitiveness? Is It tho sensitive plant of the fly catching leaf? Or, rathtr. Is It not that manifestation of both together, which Is summed up in the vague word, "instinct" at once a recoil from danger and an effort to avert it? And are not the familiar senses only survivals of a long series vanished, or sparsely lingering as in the enhanced powers of some savage tribes, or the commoner manifestations of clairvoy ance? In a word, has not sense killed these senses which are of scant use to the mutual adjustments called clvlllza atlon? The primitive instincts no longer avail for the dwellers In cities, and thus very often the rare recur rence of them Is termed "supersti tion." Of course, It will occur to everyone that this illustration of the dream might really depend on some dormant memory. The sister might have heard the brother (who was supposed to Island Is Covered With Glass "W 1 HT! the beautiful little island has been spoilt by the fruit- growers." So said an enthusiastic lover of nature. Whoever heard a disparaging word about the lemons, oranges, vines, figs, olives and flowers that abound In Sic ily? It wouhj be considered the height of bad taste to object to those delight ful growths of the Medlterrancon Island. Then why complain of the cul tivation in Guernsey? Because it la quite different. Sicily's products grow under the canopy of heaven, but Guern sey Is practically one large glass house. Nurseries, growers and agents are the principal features of the place. The names of British fruit and flower sales men are emblazoned in prominent po sitions and conversation In Guernsey Canton, O., Man Steers Automobile With Foot STEERING with one's feet ln the Winter time, while the hands are snugly encased beneath tho blankets, is a luxury made possible to the mo torist by the Invention of a Canton, O., man. The attachment, which may be placed on the steering column, la operated by tilting tho foot backward or forward. By taking the foot off the device the control is automatically changed to the regulation steering wheel. The Human Element. In these days of scientific manage ment there is a tendency to Ignore tho human element ln humanity to create Industrial machines which shall turn out their products at maximum speed and at minimum cost. To be sure, the attempt Is made to remunerate the workers handsomely for their labor with the purpose of furnishing them the wherewithal to live more comfort ably. So far as such a process Is me chanical, however, It cannot yield the best results. Man is not a machine and he "does not live by bread alone," no matter how much of It he gets. A prime requisite for promotion to posi tions of authority should be the pos session of those distinctly human qual ities which will inspire affection as well as respect. We are all attracted to the organization in which the manager is referred to as "the chief," "the boss," "the mogul," or some such human term. Electric Railway Journal. When Next You Move. In many Instances a prospective user of electric service waits until "the last minute" before giving his order to the electric light company to have connec tion made. When such a belated order finally does arrive It Is usually without previous notice, the customer Is In variably in a great hurry, the company is required to attempt a rushed and overtime Job, and evea lotta tfee cUort women. There are plenty of marrlel men In the works, but the actual mix ing la In the hands of a few highly paid and much-trusted men, not one ot whom Is married. The plan seems to have worked well, for. In spite of many attempts at brib ery, the secret has remained Inviolate for 120 years. One might also quote the case of the well-known liqueur. Chartreuse, the formula for which remained a secret among its monkish manufacturers for mofe than 200 yeara Some industries there are In which the element of danger Is so great thai employers prefer bachelors to married men. There Is a powder factory In Keol where the posts of danger In the mix-Ing-houses are held only by unmar ried men. And In the Du Pont factory at Wil mington, which Is the oldest estab lished dynamite factory In the United States, a similar regulation Is said t be In force. The Royal Flying Corpi of Great Britain prefers to employ un married officers and men. have gone away) threaten suicide In the cellar where his body waa found. But even If this wero so. It Is only one of many of such coincidences which cannot depend upon memory. Not long ago I was assured by a careful witness, well acquainted with the facts, of such an Instance. There was a house which she knew where "haunting" took the form of what seemed to be senseless ways of invit ing attention. The occupants of cer tain rooms would feel as If water had been splashed In their faces. One of these more especially affected was a relation who seemed bidden and. In deed, urged to go to a remote church in a distant county and unearth the parish register. With the greatest difficulty, she effected the purpose and thereby was able to set a sad matter right, of which he had not hitherto had an Inkling. It la Impossible not to believe that somo sort of sixth aenae often exists, and to suspect that it la the survival of an earlier time when man was nearer the unseen than he Is now. How surely, swiftly people are tracked und scented In these early myths; as surely und certainly as tho sixth sense yet lingering among soma red Indians enables them to find both their way and their prey. Could Argus have u more watchful sight than some aborigines still exercise? And is not this very "spider aenae" In some way associated with tho tcrrlblo traditions of the vampire and the ghoul? Is the divining rod merely the result of some unascertained "law," or does it not rather presuppose some secret. If unrealized, faculty In Its wlelder. does not stray much beyond the limits of such subjects as deal directly with the cultivation and marketing of fruit and the breeding of cattle. It la all very well for the Ideallat to grumble becauae the natural beauty of the place Is Injured bv the enormous number of glass houses, but thla ia a utilitarian age and the output of thoae houses Is most acceptable to England in general and London In particular. From the 24 square miles contained In the island some of the choicest fruits, (lowers and vegetables that grace the table arc derived. Beautiful carnations, foliage plants. Including the trailing smllax, and decorative flowers of va rious kinds find their way from Guernsey to the English markets. London Telegraph. sometimes ends In temporary disap pointment for tho customer owing to the absence of lines, connections, cer tificates of Inspection, etc., necessary to complete the installation by night fall. To minlmlzo this trouble the olectric light company at Shreveport. La., aaya the Electrlcnl World, makes use of warning tags which read: "Please no tify us when service is wanted and if possible ahead of time. Do not wait until the last minute. This Is very im portant for new houses, as the connec tions may not be In and the city In spectors must issue certificates before service can be given. If you Intend to move, arrange with our office In ad vanoe for the date." Wave-Making Machine Invented. Waves made to order, whether the weather Is windy or not. Is poaalble through the use of a machine which recently has become popular In outdoor swimming pools anj indoor natatorlums as well. Ono of the best devices of the type, of which there are several makes, will produce half a dozen different kinds of waves: long rolling billows, choppy waves, white caps and other variations. The device conalsts of sev eral sets of plungers which are oper ated vertically by electricity. It la through the working of these plungera ln various combinations that the differ ent kinds of artificial ocean waves are produced. Answers the Telephone. Telephone apparatus recently pat ented refers the calling party to an other telephone number ln case therr Is "no one home" to answer the orig inal call. The ringing of the bell at the unanswered telephone station, says the Electrical World, causea a motor to lift the hook switch and to atrlke signals near the transmitter In dicating where the called party an be reached by telephone. Another r cent Invention la that of a sound truan pet which can be attached to the free phone receiver, obviating the neceaslt) of holding the receiver to the ear. Street Banks In lludaprat. creasing ln Budapest, and the bank which eatabllshed them In 1111 intends to extend the supply. The machines take coins of two val ues, and give tickets for each coin de posited, the cards bearing Intereat from the date of Issue; 110 tickets may be exchanged for a bankbook. If coun terfeit colna are deposited the num bers of the tickets tsaued for th M can be ascertained. Of the 5,000.000 people In London, more than 300.000 aro ln a chronic state of poverty. iCepttKhtTIUi, U Si ilarelai Csnaii