The gazette-times., May 14, 1914, HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION, Page 11, Image 19

11
Marvels of Everyday Science
Competent Scientists Apply Their Skill to Problems of Agriculture, Houskeeping, Schools, Business and Governmental Activities.
HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION.
AN ITALIAN has invented an elec
trically operated machine for pro
pelling distinctive odors by which
he purposes to produce in a Milan the-,
ater a "Symphony of Odors." The in
ventor insists that a degree of harmony
may be sensed through the olfactory
nerve not unlike that sensation we term
music when sensed through the audi
tory nerves. Instead of a "Polonaise
in E Flat," he would give a "Fantasie
ia Violets," or a "Nocturne in Apple
Blossoms." By combining a number of
these instruments, be declares he is able
to produce arpeggios of perfume, har
monics of fragrance and haunting
nuances of scent which will rival, if not
surpass, the crashing chords and melodi
ous phrases of master musicians.
One Mora Victory for Science.
Until the aid of science was invoked
the work of unloading ears loaded with
Coal in winter in Philadelphia proved
to be a heavy task, for it often hap
pened that whole trainloads arrived
with the coal frozen into a solid mass.
Science built a concrete and nearly air
tight house at Greenwich Point, into
which 21 loaded coal ears may be backed
at one time like so many pies in an
oven. Here, in a temperature of 150 or
more degrees, the solid contents of a
car is thawed loose from the sides. In
40 minutes or so, the cooking process
being complete, the cars are taken from
the oven and hoisted over the ship,
when the coal runs out easily. That hot
air can do to 21 ears in 40 minutes what
it took 100 men a day to accomplish.
Shock Absorber for Wheelbarrow.
A gold medal was recently given in
France for a shock-absorbing attach'
ment for the common or garden variety
of wheelbarrow; The shock absorber
consists of two uprights, one on each
side of the wheel, at the bottom of
which the axle is inserted so as to bear
against vertically supported springs.
The device is intended not only to save
any fragile load carried on the wheel'
barrow, should an obstruction be struck
fired from a revolver were taken while
the bullet was passing through a space
of 10 inches. This bullet was fired
through a thin piece of wood, and the
film showed a curious situation. The
wood did not show any effect from the
impact of the bullet until the bullet
had passed completely through it Then
splinters began to form, the stick split,
and finally fell to pieces. No camera
shutters can be used with this appara
tus. A series of electric sparks are
flashed at the rate of 100,000 a second
and a picture is made with each flash.
The film is carried on a wheel 3 feet
in diameter that makes 9,000 revolutions
a minute.
Handy Fire Escape.
An effective and convenient form of
fire escape has been designed by a
Canadian. It is small, light and com
pact and can be kept in the top of a
closet in hotel or house room, but is
quite strong enough to bear the heavi
est person in safety. The escape con
sists of a rope ladder with a hook
on the road, but also to lessen the jar
on the hands of the laborer when nan
dling heavy loads on uneven ground.
Curing Hay Artificalljr.
Experiments extending over five
years have demonstrated that hay cured
by steam heat is preferred by stock to
the sun-dried article, and chemical an
alysis confirms this practical test by
showing that the percentage of protein
is higher in artifically cured hay. The
method calls for a complete steam plant,
where steam heat is secured from the
exhaust of the engine. The freshly
mown hay is drawn under a shed and
pitched onto conveyor belts which carry
it to the top of the building used in
steam drying. The hay is carried back
and forth over steam coils underneath
the conveyors seven times. An even
heat of 240 degrees F. is maintained,
and the hay remains on the conveyor
from, 20 to 40 minutes. When it is dis
charged it is well cured, of better color,
and the leaves are preserved in better
shape than hay cured in the fields in
the ordinary way. The method lends
itself to co-operative action among
farmers.
Iron Fence Potts. '
Iron fence posts are coming into gen
eral use. The points claimed for them
are that they make the fence lightning
proof, that they are easy to set and that
they will last and hold the fence in shape
longer and better than any other. Will
' they be able to make good!
Film Pictures of Flying Bullet
An apparatus capable of making film
pictures at the rate of 100,000 a secpnd
has been invented, and with it some re
markable pictures have been made. In
which is detach ably whem connected
to the ladder. The hook engages the
inside of the window sill, and the eas
ing lies along the sill. In this casing
is a compression spring, and fastened
to the string are jaws which engage
the top of the ladder. It takes only a
few seconds to whisk this device from
the top of a closet or corner of a room,
fasten it to the window sill and throw
it out Then 'the clumsiest of persons
can descend it, the spring support mat
ing the descent much easier than it
would otherwise be. This form of fire
escape is a big improvement over the
single rope device formerly used in
small hotels and homes.
Mattress as Lifeboat
A mattress stuffed with ten pounds
of kapok will support in the water a
200-pound man lying on it. Kapok,
says the Scientific American, is a fib
rous, silky material which grows ixi
the seed pods of a tropical tree. The
trees grow in the East Indies, India,
West Indies and other tropical lands,
but it is only that which comes from
the Island of Java that has this re
markable property of buoyancy. The
mass of fibers keeps the water out be-
cause its own surface tension restrains
it from penetrating the interstices of
the mass. Java kapok will support
in water twenty times its own weight,
and if the kapok is in a leather casing
it will continually support this weight
for two months or more before the
water does finally penetrate the mass
sufficiently tmake it sink.
Health and Sanitation
BT A PHYSICIAN.
IMPBOPEB conditions of the nose
and throat are not only dangerous
to health, but stunt the physical
and mental development of the child.
Colds in the head, catarrh, adenoids
and enlarged tonsils are the most fre
quent of these improper conditions
found in little enuaren.
Adenoids are small masses of soft
tissue normally found in every child's
nasal passages between the back of
the nose and the throat, which through
catarrh or other causes may become
nlarged and block up the air passages,
interfering with breathing through the
nose and forcing the child to breatne
through the mouth, preventing proper
inflation of the lungs and stunting the
development of the chest. They keep
up a constant catarrhal condition near
the ventilating tube leading xrom tne
throat to the ear and in this way im
pair the hearing of the child.
Another common throat disease is
nlarged tonsils. The tonsils are small,
almond shaped bodies situated on each
side of the throat They have a cer
tain purpose, and I do not believe in
the indiscriminate removal of all en
larged tonsils. In fact, I condemn what
I unhesitatingly call the "massacre of
the tonsils" so often chosen as the
treatment of enlarged tonsils. The
cause is in many eases not in the ton
sils, but in the general condition of
the patient Proper medicine and hy
gienic treatment will cure many cases
without an operation. Only when the
tonsils are enlarged, hard and fibrous,
seriously interfering with speech and
swallowing, should they be removed.
Prevention is better than a cure. If
a child catches a cold, do not let the
cold "wear itself away." Treat it at
once or it may lay the foundation for
adenoids and enlarged tonsils.
tEEASE in a sink is a very prolific
U cause of disease. It cannot but
accumulate from dishes and utensils,
and when small bits of vegetable mat
ter adhere to it a shelter is given to
mischievous bacteria. Besides, grease
will clog the drain and become a men-
ace and an inconvenience. Tne surest
and simplest cleansing agent is a strong
solution of washing soda and boiling
water. The sink should first be scrub
bed with soapsuds and the hot solution
then dashed down the drain. This
cleaning should be done at least once
a week.
flR. EMEBSON, the Superintendent
" of Public Instruction of Buffalo,
N. Y., approves of the activities of
medical school inspectors and nurses.
He says, "In this way many chil
dren have received medical and eurgi-
cal attention who otherwise might still
be suffering in body and retarded in
their progress through the schools,
Medical supervision of this kind facili
tates the advancement of pupils from
grade to grade and reduces the num
ber of repeaters in our schools, thus
lowering the per capita cost of instruc
tion. It raises the general average of
efficiency both for pupils and for
teachers, and is therefore a measure of
the wisest economy."
The school nurses have rendered in
valuable service; he continues to say
that they "have supplemented the
work of doctors by treating many con
ditions that would otherwise have re
mained uncared for in the families of
the poorest .children, and by visiting
the homes of those who were neglect
ed."
LABOE corporations, lumber com
panies, railroad companies, etc.,
are always endeavoring to comply with
rules and regulations of health and
sanitation. They are now beginning to
protect the health of their employes
by taking up actively and systematical
ly the prevention of disease among their
number. These companies will soon de
mand trained sanitarians.
THE Panama Canal zoos ia a shining
example of what propel sanitary
measures will accomplish. It cost the
U. S. Government $2.43 per capita. It
is money well spent, however, when you
consider that the death rate has been
reduced from 240 to 11 per thousand
per annum.
I should never sow clover without a
nurse crop. Sowing it into oats about
the middle or last of March has shown
good results.
Do not feed moldy silage to horses.
It'saPLEASURE
Powder so genuinely
pure and so sure in re
suits as
"Crescent"
especially at such a rea
sonable price.
Crescent Mfg. Co.,
Seattle, Wn.
GET IT FROM
TOUR GROCER
25c Per lb.
Fish Spits; Kills Flies.
A novel recruit to the swat the fly
campaign is the fly shooter, a fish
called Toxotes jaeulator, round, prettily
striped, with a wide mouth and a pro
jecting lower i jaw. It is able to squirt
a jet of water with enough force and
accuracy to knock a fly down at the
distance of two or three feet. When
Mr. Fly strikes the water he is prompt
ly eaten.
Unfortunately these valuable fishes
belong only to the fresh waters of
Japan and the Asiatic coast, so that
tbey cannot be relied upon to extermi
nate our outdoor insect population, but
they may be kept in an aquarium with
the goldfish, when they will help to
protect our houses from flies and at
the same time afford amusement by the
accuracy of their shooting.
50,000 ACRES
Level Valley Land For Salt In Harney Val
ley, Hirni; County, Oregon, at Filets
Bulging From $20.00 to 130.00 Fir Aon.
Terme, ten per cent oath and the balance
in nine equal annual payment!, parable on
or before maturity, with interest at iix per
cent. Deep and productive soil, no rock, no
gravel. Yields magnificent crops of wheat,
barley, rye, oata, flax, field peat, field rooti,
alfalfa, meadow grasses, fruita and garden
truck. Excellent and abundant water at from
ten to fifteen feet.
An unsurpassed opportunity, for those
looking for a home.. Lack of railroad trans
portation hat up to the preaent time kept
tnis great valley from being largely brought
under cultivation; however, the Oregon
eastern itauway Uompany la now engaged
In constructing a line Into the valley, and
the road will be completed In the very near
future.
For booklet containlnt further Information.
addreii
Oregon & Western Coloni
zation Co.
268 Stark St., Portland, Ore.
We will be Pleased
to correspond with you in relation to
any condition pertaining to dental work.
Twenty years' practice in Oregon.
DR. M. A. JONES
245 Washington St., Portland, Oregon