THE OREGON 1 SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 25, 1915.
rjcess-:
you May, Not Know I Is Heredity or Environment Most Powerful Factor for Success?
Some New Facts
STEEL books carried on a revolving drum
pulverize the ttoil to a considerable depth
below a gasoline-driven plow that has been
invented In France.
GOVERNMENT veterinarians In the
Philippines have found that cattle can
be immunized against rinderpest with a loss
of leas than 1 per cent of the animals.
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MOTION pictures of a bullet passing
through wood show that it penetrated
completely and was well on Its way before
the wood began to splinter and fall apart.
PROMISING results with the cure of
cancer have been obtained in Germany
by using dead cultures of a species of fungus
grown in malignant tumors of certain ani
mals. TO ENABLE two persons to ride on a
motorcycle seated side by side a New
York man has invented a double seat and
supports tnat enaoie tnem to maintain their
balance.
ALONG and high English railroad bridge
Is equipped with automatic wind gauges,
which set danger signals against trains
should the wind blow at a dangerous ve
locity. FOR the convenience of men there has
been-invented a chair the back of which
is formed to hold a coat and vest, while a
shoe polishing outfit is contained in the seat.
Gold Not Most
Jrrecious Metal
GOLD is generally looked upon as the
last word in costliness, but, as a matter
of fact, there are more metals dearer than
gold than there are cheaper. There are
over seventy.
Iridium, for instance, of which a big find
was made recently in Austria, is three times-'
as expensive as gold. Gold is worth nearly
$20 an ounce. Iridium is worth some $62,
though the price will probably come down
now.
Osmium is another metal that Is worth
$50 an ounce. It is by far the heaviest of
all known substances, being more than
twenty times as heavy as water. If pennies
were made of osmium it would tax one's
strength to carry the change of half a dollar.
This metal has the peculiar property of
being able to stand the most intense heat
known without melting.
There's Nothing
THAT there Is "nothing new under the
Bun" might especially be" said about
toys. Nothing with which man has had
to do In the progress and development of
the human race has changed as little as
the playthings of children.
Infantile Egypt, ages and ages ago,
,played with dolls, boats, balls, dishes,
wagons, miniature horses and other ani
mals. Much the same playthings amused
the little Greeks and Romans, but in addi-
Now You May
See by Phone
SEEING as maay miles as you phone is
soon to be a tangible reality. Dr.
George RIgnoux, a French Inventor, has
been engaged In this experiment of tele
vision at La Rochelle for many months.
"I have already succeeded In making
rudimentary transmission of the picture
exposed to a 3,000 candle power light. I
have also succeeded in throwing letters
of the alphabet on a screen of two yards
of intervening space. I am now at work
trying to transmit faces or complicated
pictures," says the Inventor.
The principle of the apparatus is the
utilization of a metal called selenium.
This Is a wonderful conductor of elec
tricity. The apparatus is a large metal
plate coated with sixty-four selenium cells.
The Inventor hopes to make a plate large
enough to bear thousands of cells, which
will help to transmit large and compli
cated pictures.
Fish Suffer From Homesickness
IT IS hard to think that anybody suf
fers from homesickness but young boys
and romantic girls. Recent experiments
with fish, however, show that they have
Environment May
By MRS. PATRICK CAMPBELL.
WHETHER environment means more
than heredity in the life of individ
uals is a question that has occupied much
time and thought of scientists interested in
biology and philosophy.
It is such a large question that it would
be audacious for the actor to consider it at
all, were it not that the question presents
itself In one of Shaw's recent plays.
I suppose most scientists contend that
heredity counts for more with most indi
viduals than environment. But I am of the
opinion that usually environment means
New in Toyland
tion they possessed a rattle, kindly In
vented by a wise Grecian gentleman.
We know this from early writings,
from sculpture and excavations. In the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
there is a fascinating terra cotta boat,
complete in the smallest detail. It was
found in the tomb of an Egyptian boy of
4.000 years ago. The early Egyptians
made dolls of earthenware, metal or stone.
Sometimes arms or legs were made solid
with the body, sometimes separate and at
tached with a string.
The prehistoric Peruvians have pieces
of home wrapped in cloth, a male, doll
being identified by the blanket over his
shoulders, the female by a petticoat.
THE value of Pennsylvania's mineral pro
duction last year, according to recent
government figures, equaled the combined
production of "West Virginia. Illinois, Ohio
and California, the states next In order.
PORTABLE wireless apparatus adopted
by the United States army and carried
on an automobile of special design has a
sending radius of 800 miles and has received
messages from- points 2,500 miles away.
Women Who Daily Face
YOU no doubt are very well acquaiuted
with army nurses the part they play
in the battle and -hospitals of war but
do you know that women also are engaged
the same malady. When taken some dis
tance from home they fall sick and die.
in spite of the fact that they have been
placed in the same kind of water.
This is especially true of fish that are
used to basking- in the sun of the mid-tropU-s.
Such an experiment was tried
recently and with dire results. Four hun
dred fish were taken from the waters of
the tropics and sent to a northern climate.
The fish were given plenty of water and
of the same temperature they had lived
in. sunlight and room in which to swim
about. The tanks in which these fish
were placed contained from ten to fifty
gallons of water, which was kept at a con
stant temperature throughout the voyage.
In spite of these precautions the fewest
got accustomed to their new environment.
Point a Straight Path for Success, but
more than heredity. We have many bril
liant examples of this in history and in
everyday life where men and women have
commenced life in the meanest and humblest
conditions and, through a fortunate change
of environment, have developed their pow
ers and gained real culture.
Lady Hamilton is one of these brilliant ex
amples ; her life began under the most un
fortunate and dire surroundings. Through
her beauty and tact she won notice and at
tention ; by the time she became acquainted
with Lord Nelson she was recognized every
where for her cultivation and lovely man
ners, as well as for her splendid beauty.
The question of how "to turn a person in
side out" is not always easy. I think cor
rect speech is one of the gauges that marks
or should mark social classes, and should
distinguish a cultivated man and woman
from those lacking culture.
Why Should You
W
E OFTEN hear the remark. "That
man (or woman) is a bundle or
nerves."
Suppose they are; what difference does
it make as long as they have their nerves
under good control? It is the big bundle
of nerves within the skull and the smaller
set of nerves In the spine that are the
real motive power of the human body.
There are thousands of millions of nerve
cells and many thousands of nerve
branches. It Is these that give man con
sciousness and power of purposeful action.
All he organs vital to life are managed
by the nerves and by a most complicated
network of nerve cells and nerve fibers.
Though the lungs, the heart and the
digestive organs are all needed in the
human body, it is the will that commands,
and a whole army of nerves sets the
muscles In action. Although we are not
conscious of the set of muscles that con
trol a certain act, the nerve cells do.
actively in the manufacture of deadly tar
frets? Such is the case in this country.
Much of the important work in the govern
ment arsenal at Frankford, where millions
of cartridges are turned out weekly, is
in the hands of women.
For instance, there is the fuse shop.
Dangerous work is undertaken here, and
women are In such demand that two shifts
are necessary. Tbe first contingent re
ports for work at 7 o'clock in the morning,
leaving at 3, and those who relieve them
are employed until 11 o'clock at night.
True, there, have been accidents and ex
plosions, buV it has been years since any
serious ones bjive occured at Frankford.
It is a question if one defective car
tridge passes the scrutiny of the feminine
inspectors. Most of the work done by
women is regarded as skilled labor. And
why. not? Theirs are simple .enough
jobs, but they would certainly have to be
IN a gate opener, to be operated from a
distance, that has been brought out In
England electricity Is used to release a
spring that does the real work, dosing
the gate rewinding, the spring.
Hereditary Instincts May Lead as
Of course this must be the standard set
by the country or the section in which you
live; for English spoken In England Is dif
ferent from English spoken in this country
no less than is English spoken in different
sections of your own country
Manners is another great divide. And
here arises the important question of
what constitutes good manners. Shaw
thinks It is not so much a question of hav
ing good or bad manners, but having the
same manners for everybody. I prefer to
take the standard that it is treating every
body with that self-respect one demands.
In short, not to treat a flower girl as a
duchess, but treat a duchess as you do
the flower girl. '
The question still remains. Is it wise
to take men and women who are happy
in one social class and put them in an
other, In a reckless fashion? I think it is
Fear 'Nerves'?
The intricacy and complexity of the
nervous and muscular systems are so
beautifully adjusted as to be beyond our
"conception.
When Paderewski plays or Pavlova
dances there are millions of cells at work
and millions of messages are flashing be
tween nerve centers in. the brain and the
body. In general arrangement our nervous
systems are wonderfully alike. The great
difference in skill is due to the variation
of the nervous system.
These are differences in sensitiveness
or "affectability," as it is called ; differences
in force, and differences in precision of
purposive action.
AH great men seem to have abnormal
"affectability," but the will has the nerve
centers so well in hand that-they can hold
in their ebullient energy. Though they
deplete their nerve force rapidly a little
rest restores the nerve cells to their
original vigor.
Death in Horrible Form
skilled to carefully inspect 31,500 car
tridges a day, the average amount accom
plished by each woman.
The average pay is $10 a week. Some
of the more efficient receive more, while
others make less. In a few of the shops
the pay is $1.0 a day. An eight-hour day
basis is held throughout the plant
None of the women can afford to handle
their work carelessly, for 10 per cent of It
is reinspected by government officials
every day, and one day a month the en
tire stock is given a second inspection.
This work is kept very secret, and the
women never know what particular day's
labor has passed into hands as expert as
their own.
Those who are employed on the gaging
machines are especially expert, and many
have been at the arsenal a number of
years. There are three girls toi a machine,
and few realize how much depends on the
BELIEVING that the customary 'white
color used In the operating rooms
shocks patients and affects the vision of ,
surgeons, a San Francisco doctor has de
signed a room .finished in green and buff,,
Inevitably to Failure.
most unwise. It may be well to test this
principle theoretically and even use cer
tain Instances for laboratory experiments.
Still, in real life we should be very care
ful. Many men and women may be happy
and leading useful lives where they are.
By transplanting them to another environ
ment we may make them very miserable.
Because they were useful where they
began and were made useless by being
transplanted Into social conditions where
they felt they have little in common with
those about them. It is not so much a
question of having culture or lacking cul
ture as It Is to be happy and useful.
How to Recognize Fresh Eggs
H
OW can I be sure that the eggs I buy
are fresh? v
This question, frequently asked by the
housewife. Is answered in an egg candling
chart issued' by the bureau of chemistry
of the United States Department of Agri
culture. Eggs are carefully examined in the
wholesale marts, but retail dealers do not
always have facilities for examining eggs,
and, therefore, are often innocent victims
themselves.
But to explain how to determine a stale
egg:
Eggs may be held before a candle, gas
or electric light with no other apparatus,
but it would assist greatly In determining
the quality of the eggs If a piece of heavy
cardboard were taken and a hole cut In It
similar to the shape of an egg and slightly
smaller.
Hold this cardboard below the light
OF French Invention is a boat pro
peller with the blades extending far
forward and back of the hub and so
shaped that tbe water is churned and no
vacuum is caused around the hub.
efficiency of their work. The slightest de
fect, one not even to be detected by the In
experienced eye. might mean a premature
explosion and the loss of an eye, limb or
life to the soldier.
Sunshine Not Essential to Health
THE doctrine that sunshine Is neces
sarily . helpful and beneficial to, tbe
health is ' not always true.' The Turkish
men and women upset this theory com
pletely. Across every window In a Turk
ish home are lattices to keep out curiosity
and sunlight . Tbe Turkish women get as
little sunlight outside of their homes as
they do inside.
At the age of 12 the Moslem woman
takes the veil and she is never seen with
out it ; The only chance she gets to let
the wind blow on her face is when she
i seated in the courtyard and within tbe
walls ot ber own home.
In spite of the fact that the men and
women get so little exercise and fresh
air they are strapping big and hardy peo-
FROM the speed at which earthquake
waves travel through the earth an Eng
lish scientist has constructed a theory that
the world has a dense central core, which
may be measured in time.
AN ILLINOIS woman bus patented a
screw hook that is made of a single
piece of wire and so shaped as to serve both
as a shade roller bracket and a curtain pole
holder at the same time.
NUMEROUS are the uses of a Missouri
Inventor's door and window guard that
consists of upright pickets, connected by
short parallel bars that permit it to be ex
tended to various widths.
THE shelves of a New Jersey inventor's
bookcase hold two rows of books, one
behind the other, the front portions of the
shelves dropping down on slides wheu
pulled out.
EXTENSIVE investigation of smoke pre
vention by the United States geological
survey has led to the conclusion that it Is
mechanically possible and that tbe best re
sults have been attained by the use of me
chanical stokers.
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THE government Js encouraging experi
ments in France with a device to protect
against hall, essentially a large ligbtnlug
rod of pure copper, which Is said to so affect
atmospheric electricity that hailstones can
not form.
Real Sanitation
in Air-Towel
AN "AIR-TOWEL" used in the large
public lavatory in the District Building
at Washington, D. C, is the invention of J.
M. Ward, superintendent of the District
Building. In appearance it resembles a rec
tangular box eleven inches by three, set In a
sanitary base having twelve-Inch legs, with
an opening in the top of the case in which
the wet hands are held while being dried.
The device consists of a blower that forces
air through an electric heating element to
ducts and deflectors suitably placed for dis
tributing tbe warmed air to all parts of the
hands at the same time, and is oirated by
a foot lever or pedal, which In turn operates
a quick-acting switch, thereby setting the
blower in motion. By removing the foot (he
device is put out of operation. The hands
come in contact with no part of the device,
thus assuring a perfectly sanitary oieratIon.
and place the egg before tbe hole. If It
is slightly stale it will show a red spot at
the top. An egg that is stale will look
settled at the bottom. Tbe yolk adhering
to the shell is another indication that it is
stale. When a blood rintr shows you may
be certain the egg Is stale. An absolutely
bad egg is cracked and red, with a black
mold.
How to Create
A Vacuum
IF YOU have ever worked in a physical
laboratory you probably have seen a
vacuum receiver and learned how difficult
it Is to create a perfect vacuum even with
this Instrument
1 A vacuum can be created in a simple
way by using two drinking glasses, a small
candle end and a piece of blotting paper.
The glasses must be the same size and of
the thin glass kind. The candle end Is
lighted and put into one glass, the blotting
paper Is well dampened and placed on top
of the glass, tbe other glass Inverted and
Its rim placed exactly over tbe lower one
and pressed down tightly. Tbe candle
will burn up all the oxygen in tbe glass
and go out.
Tbe air in tbe glass being heated will
expand and some of It will be forced out
from under the moist paper; then as tbe
portion remaining cools it will contract
and draw tbe upper glass on the paper
and create an air-tight Joint. .The upper
glass can be taken up and tbe lower will
cling to It
pie. Few Americans can match them in
physique or powers uf endurance,