Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 197, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 August 1911 — Page 3

GUIDE TO ENGINEER

EXPLANATION OF SYSTEM OF RAILROAD “FIREWORKS." Torpedoes and Fusees Used as Signals to the Ear and Eye—One of the Best Protections Yet Devised. “‘Pop, pop,’ or perhaps a single •pop,’ distinct, like that of a

night as I look out of my window I see the edge of the wood or the fields lighted up by red or yellow fireworks. Why this strange llumination? “As all these queer happenings took place on the railroad a few rods from my house I made Inquiries of the railroad officials, and here are some interesting facts about the use of these curious ‘fireworks.’ General Superintendent B. R. Pollock of the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad explained as follows: ■. “‘Our rules provide for the use of detonators (commonly known as torpedoes) as audible signals and of fuses as visible signals. These, torpedoes are attached to the top of the rail on the engineer’s side of the track by two small flexible metal straps, which are easily bent around the ball of the rail and hold the topedoes securely in place until exploded by the first train passing over the track. J “ ‘The explosion of one torpedo is a signal to stop, the explosion of two to reduced speed and look out for a stop signal. The fusees are of similar con-struction-to the well known roman candle used for fireworks celebration except that they bum a steady flame without .expies tons. A. sharp icon.gpjke ■ at the bottom end will usually stick in the ground or in the crossties when thrown from the rear of a train and holds the fusee in an upright position,, where it is more plainly visible. “*A fusee must be lighted and left by the flagman whenever a train is junning on the time of another train or behind its own time and under drcircumstances which call for such protection. A fusee on or near the track burning red must not be passed. When burning yellow the train may proceed with caution when the way is seen and known to be clear.' Standard fusees bum red for three minutes, and yellow for seven minutes, and can be seen for quite a distance. “You will gather from the above explanation that the red glare of a flaming fusee on or near the track warns the approaching engineer that a preceding train has passed over his track less than three minutes ahead of him, and under no circumstances must he pass a fusee while it is burning red. When the flame turns to yellow, he may proceed with caution, only as the way is seen and knofcn to be clear, keeping in mind that when the fusee changed from red to yellow he was exactly three minutes behind a preceding train which may have stopped within a short distance, or may be proceeding at an unusually slow rate of speed.’ ’’

Preventable Killings.

The annual slaughter b/*our railroads is notorious, not only in this country, but throughout the world. Whatever percentage of this slaughter occurs while entering or leaving trains is absolutely preventable, and therefore unnecessary. Many railroad officials have Inherited their systems, of course, and they go on with the system as they found it But this is a fatal rule at all points where trains shd passengers- have greatly increased. What was safe enough thirty years or so ago is not much better than a death trap today. The explanation that it costs money to make such changes as ordinary foresight requires Is no explanation at all. It often costs money not to make them, but in either esse the money cost is wholly outside the point. The point Is that railroad station precautions should , proceed from care for the weakest and most stupid person who may wish to travel. Passengers should be assorted and handled as if they were all deaf, dumb and blind, and on top of that aged and imbecile; in short, according to the German official theory, exactly as if they were fools. It is only in this manner that railroad stations can be made safe. —Exchange.

Suction Blamed for Accident.

A queer Incident occurred a few days ago as the Empire State Express wm leaving Syracuse for Buffalo. A piece of coal suddenly hurtled through the window of a coach and the glass in the double window was shattered in thousands of pieces. One passenger had his wrist so badly cut that it took an hour to check the flow of blood. An eastbound passenger train was passing when the piece of coal crashed through the window, and it la believed that it was hurled from its tender by* the suction of the two rapidly moving trains.

Power of Fluorescein.

A few grains of fluorescein, a substance derived from coal tar, will produce a distinct fluorescence, shining with a yellowish green light when strongly Illuminated, in a hundred tons of water. To produce this result the fluorescein must be divided into countless billions of particles. ■*?'s ? J

giant firecracker, heard not only on the Fourth of July, but on every day In the year, Sundays included—what did it mean?” writes a correspondent of St Nicholas. “And on almost any

TO PREVENT TRAIN FIRES

Illuminating Gas Light la Rapidly Being Replaced by Elsetricity. / ■ In the last few years there has been a marked effort on the part of the railroads to light more trains by electricity. Explosions of Illuminating gas and fifes caused by dripping oil lamps were the direct cause of this movement toward electric lighting. The chief dangers of gas and dtt for train lighting exist In time of serious wrecks. Time and time again the old oil lamps have overturned, scattering inflammable oil about and setting the train on fire. In cases where “the cars are overturned and twisted about the gas.,tubes and pipes have broken, causing serious explosions, and the fires started by the gas lamps quickly follow the trail of leaking gas throughout the train. ju' leading western railroad has equipped all its through trains with electric lighting, sixty-seven of the best locomotives being equipped with Curtis turbo-generators. These little steam turbines, which whirl small but powerful electric generators, are mounted on top of the locomotive boiler and take up so little room that they are hardly noticeable. Each turbine gets its steam from the main boiler. As all the coaches are wired' and fitted for electric lights, all that is necessary in making up the train is to lock the cable conections between the engine ancT the first coach, an operation that takes only a sdcond or two. ' ;

ELECTRIC WAGONS FOR ROAD

Innovation Is of German Origin and Not at Present Thoroughly Understood Here. An electric train of six road wagons coupled with and preceded by its own self-propelled traveling power plant is illustrated and described in a German contemporary, although no information is given as to whether the system has actually been employed in practice by any flrm of carriers for the transport of .freight, by road. The power-generating wagon is equipped with two dynamos driven by gasoline engines, and an electric motor is provided for driving each of the two axles. The six trailing wagons have a capacity of from five to five and one-half tons each, or a total of from 80 to 38 tons,* and the speed of the train is given at from seven and one-half to nine and threequarters miles an hour. Each of these wagons has also two driving motors, one for each axle, so that all of the axles throughout the train are electrically operated. The tires of the vehicles are very broad so as to enable the train to travel over practically any kind of road, and the cost of operation is said to be very low. The train is steered from the driver’s wagon.—Popular Mechanics.

Only Woman Train Despatcher.

The unusual distinction of being the only woman to handle trains in this country belongs to Mrs. Jennie Connor of Melrose Highlands, a suburb of Boston. She is employed by the Boston and Maine and is well known to thousands of railroad employes throughout the four states in which the road operates. •?. Not only is she a good train despatcher, but she also knows the complete construction of the locomotives in use today. It is believed by the four hundred and more engineers who report to her that she knows more about the construction of the big engines than do most of the men who assisted in their construction. Mrs. Connor has charge of all the engines used on the northern division of the road, and this has led her to take up the study of the moguls, with a result that has been amazing. Mrs. Connor believes that work for women'is a great preventive for divorce* and nervous prostration.

Locomotive Blew Out the Fire.

Using a locomotive engine to extinguish the flames in a burning building is a new departure in Lindsborg, but this is what happened here. On the outskirts of the city a Mexican hut situated about thirty-five feet from the Missouri tracks caught fire, and being out of reach of the fire department it became the duty of the man nearest the blaze to at least make an attempt to put out the fire. The Missouri Pacific’s engine was standing idle on the tracks and had on plenty of steam. The engineer saw the fire and steamed up to a point opposite the burning building, turned on all his steam and blew the fire out in a few minutes. The steam smothered the fire —Lindsborg Correspondence Topeka Capital.

The Proper Countenance.

The auctioneer—morbid and forbidding. The bridge flend—wistful. The waiter —tipsy. The lumberman—bored. The glazier—with a pained 'expression. The manicure—handsome. ~ The bucketshbp manager—pale. The bride—well groomed. The police court Judge— One. The night watchman—mournful. The bootblack —with a shining countenance. The poker player—winsome. The rah-rah boy—cheerful. The marble cutter-with a stony stare. The tobacconist—puffed np. The confectioner—sweet. . The paperbanger—wall eyed. / The carpenter—chipper; you never saw one plain.—Lippincott’s Magazine.

PRESIDENT TAFT, undismayed by the war clouds that seem to be hang ng over Europe, never loses an opportunity to put in a ward for universal peace. The photograph shows him addressing the federal and confederate veterans, at the battle of Bull Run semi-centennial celebration, on the plans and hopes of the men and women who are laboring to abolish war.

NOTABLE FISH BOOK

Scientific and Literary Work of Much Magnitude. Task Begun Years Ago by Dr. C. ,H. Eigenmann, Dean of Graduate School of Indiana University, Nearing Completion. Pittsburg.—A 'scientific and literary task of much .magnitude, which x was begun several years ago by Mr. C. H. Eigenmann, curator of fishes at the graduate school of Indiana university, is nearing completion and will appear in book form in the near future. Dr. Eigenmann is known as an authority upon the fresh water fish of South America. August 28, 1908, accompanied by an assistant; he sailed from New York for British Guiana, -South America, arriving in Georgetown September 6. During the fall and winter following he explored the rivers of British Guiana and brought home nearly 40,000 specimens. Selections from every species were reserved for the Carnegie museum; The remaining duplicates were distributed in exchange for collections from different countries, the exchange being made with' the United States National museum, the Field museum of Chicago Museum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard university, the British museum in London, the Royal museum in Berlin, the Imperial museum In Vienna, the Natural museum of France, and many others. In this way, the collection of the Carnegie museum has been greatly enlarged. One important and interesting result of Professor Eigenmann’s expedition was the discovery of more than 100 species of fresh water fishes new to science. These “types” made the Carnegie musenm the possessor of about 500 species of the 2,500 known. This is a remarkable accomplishment, In view of the fact that the Carnegie museum is the youngest of the world’s great scientific institutions of this character. A type in scientific parlance is the particular specimen of an object in the natural world which Is used as a basis for the first scientific description of IL

MUSIC TO REFORM CONVICTS

Orchestra Leader Is Appointed to Make Novel Experiment In the Atlanta Federal Prison. Atlanta, Ga.—Believing that music has the power to work a reformation In the hearts of convicts, the United States department of justice l~ trying an experiment at the Atlanta federal prison. J. P. Matthlessen, of Atlanta, a director of several orchestras tn the city and a composer, has recently been appointed by Attorney-General Wickersham to take charge of the musical feature of the prison work. For some time past there has been an orchestra at the prison, but-there was no trained man to lee ' It The men were so deply interested In the work of the orchestra, however, and It seemed to give them so much pleasure, that Warden Moyer believed it would eventually aid at least In bringing them to a better kind of life.' With this end in view he asked for the appointment of an orchestra leader. ' An examination was held under civil service rules and Matthlessen got the place. Ho has found the Interest intense. He Intends to organise a band, In the near future, as well as the •orchestra. New music is being obtained every day. Warden Moyer is well pleased with the progress np to date.

Smallest Postoffice In Colorado.

Greeley. Colo.—The smallest postoffice tn Colorado consists of a tomato can spiked to a tree at Alvo, *0 miles northeast of here. It serves 00 families

TAFT ALWAYS LABORS FOR PEACE

The results of Dr. Eigenmann’s explorations are about to be published as volume five of the “Memoirs of the Carnegie Museum.” Dr. W. J. Holland, director, and Dr. Eigenmann have been busily engaged the last few weeks in arranging the manuscript and the plates. The work will appear in large quarto form and will be illustrated by 104 pictures, giving figures of nearly 800 species of the fresh water fishes-of British Guiana. The frontispiece is a photograph of the great Kaleteur falls on the Potaro river. This stream, which is as large as the Ohio at Pittsburg, leaves the upper plateau of British Guiana by a leap of 741 feet Into the deep canyon. Dr. Eigenmann ascended the Potaro, led by Indians tn canoes, until he came near the falls. Leaving his frail craft behind him, he climbed to the highlands, explored the vicinity of tbe falls, obtained new boats from the natives and continued southward along the upper reaches of the river. His aim was* to ascertain whether there existed on the broad highlands a different fauna from that found in the lowlands. To some extent he found this to be the case. The book will be an important contribution to the ichtyology of South America. . ;

GOLD DUST MAKES BLONDES

Women Do Not Dye Their Hair Golden -Nowadays, but Seek Methods of r Securing Bright Effect London. —The fashion for gold which has shown itself in the beautiful cloths of gold, especially for use at court functions, has led to a revival of the sprinkling of the hair with gold dust “GOI4 dust is now used to brighten the coiffure for-evening wear, but more extensively for occasions when fancy dress is worn,” said a wellknown Bond street hairdresser. “Women do not dye their Jjalr golden nowadays, but they seek methods of giving the natural color a bright effect Gold dust can be most effectively used for fair hair or hair of a light brown shade.”

Magistrate Says Ten Days Is Enough for Mother-in-Law. Would Be Far Better Appreciated If They Would Shorten Their Visits and Confine Themselves to Postal Cards. New York.—Magistrate McGuire, In the Flatbush court, fixed ten days as the limit for visits for mothers-ln-law. The case in point was that in which young Mrs. May Coyle had summoned her, mother-in-law, also Mrs. May Coyle, a resident of Boston, to court on a charge of disturbing her domestic peace and happiness. Harry Coyle, son of Jdrs. May Coyle of Boston, sat back in the rear of the court room and never opened his mouth. His pretty young wife did all the talking and painted her mother-in-law as a “kill joy** and a “czarina.** “She came 'down from Boston ten dayj ago,** said the younger Mrs. Coyle, “and took charge of everything. Every time I opened my mouth she squelched me. I didn't know bow to cook; I didn’t know how to wash the baby; I didn’t know how to do thia that or the other thing. She broke all our rules and make new ones; she told us how they did things In Boston, and that that was the only right way. Finally she turned my husband against me, and I had to take myself and my baby home to mother. I telephoned her to go home, but she refused.’’

Limit on Her Stay

DOG TELEPHONES FOR HELP

Locked in Store, Rover Yelps Into Instrument and Police Finally Come to His Rescue. East Orange, N. J.—Rover, a yellow dog owned by Michael Bellotti, a bootblack, of 39% Greenwood avenue, this city, called help when it found itself locked up in the shop, by knocking down the telephone, calling central, and then sending such noises over the wire, that the telephone operator sent word to the police that something was wrong in the shop. The result was that a policeman was sent there and the dog was released. Rover, in his efforts to reconcile himself to his imprisonment, had eaten most of Bellottl’s blacking. He also had reduced the shop to a condition of unprecedented disorder. One of the girls in the telephone exchange was nodding near the switchboard early when a call came from the Bellotti telephone. “Hello!” she said. There was no human response, but she heard coming over the wire a whining and snarling noise, and at Intervals, the sound of things falling. Once she thought she heard a human being pleading for mercy, and immediately afterward came a gurgling sound. The uncanny noises worked on her nerves, and she called up police headquarters. “I am sure there Is something wrong in Bellotti s,” she said. “The noises there are simply terrible." Patrolman Zink rushed to the place, forced a window and found Rover making desperate efforts to get out

Courtesy Brings $20,000.

Atlanta, Ga.—William R. O’Neal. Bainbridge, Ga., exchanged a lower' for an upper sleeping berth four years ago with J. T. Young of Oakland, Cal., who was traveling for his health. In his will Mr. Young left $20,000 to the Georgian, who is 26 years old, in return for the courtesy.

Wins In Borrowed Coat

Chicago.—After being denied admission to the probate court because he was in his shirt sleeves, James Sullivan, a 200-pound liveryman,, borrowed a coat from 100-pound assistant Judge Rainey and won his case.

Mother-In-Law Coyle said her daughter-in-law was exaggerating. "How long have you been here?” asked Magistrate McGuire. "Ten days,” replied Mrs. Coyle, Sr. "Ten dayg Is long enough for any mother-in-law to hold possession,” replied the court. “Ten days should be the limit for all mothers-in-law. While mothers-ln-law are more or less a necessary institution, it Is possible for them to become an evil through failure to use discretion. Mothers-in-law are constitutionally "bossy.* There are exceptions, I admit; but they are few. It seems to be their exquisite function to domineer and tread upon the feelings of their daughters-in-law. They seem to forget that they once were daughters-ln-law and had moth-ers-ln-law inflicted upon them. “Mothers-in-law would be far better appreciated if thejAvould shorten their visits and confine most of their intercourse with their sons and daughters* families to postal cards and note paper.” **l will use telegraph blanks hereafter," said Mrs. Coyle, Sr. "Good,” said the court, "and I would advise you to take the first train home to Boston if you have any regard for your son's future happiness.” "I will take the next and fastest train home,” said Mrs. Coyle, acidly. "I have a fine home in Boston, which is the finest city in the world. It is the home of culture and refinement" His honor bowed to Mrs. Coyle, Sr. Mrs. Coyle, Sr., Ignored the bow, swung around on her heel and aulckly marched out of the court 1

OLD TRIALS BY WATER

INNOCENT WOULD SINK WHILE 1 GUILTY WOULD FLOAT. ■ Modern Survival of the Ordeal In Dalmatia—How It Is Employed by the Tibetans. Throwing people into the water to •let it determine their innocence or guilt was widely In use in tbe seventeenth and .eighteenth centuries. A Synod of West Prussia, forbade its use in 1745. Sporadic cases, however, occurred during the whole of the nineteenth century. Fros. E. P, Evans wrote in 1895 of its use in Dalmatia, where in some districts it was still customary to throw all the women into the water on a specified day to see whether they would sink" or swim. A rope was attached to each in order to save from drowning those who proved their innocence by sinking, while those believed to be guilty because they floated were also rescued and made to promise to forsake their evil ways on pain of being stoned. A traveler has described a modern survival of the ordeal used in detecting thieves in southern Russia, says the Dietetic and Hygienic Gazette. All the servants of the household where the robbery occurred were assembled and as many balls of bread were made as there were suspected persons. A sorceress then addressed each*, one of the number, saying that the particular ball of bread which she held in her hand would sink or swim as the party addressed was guilty or Innocent. She then flung it into the water. Boiling water was used in ordeals by the Persians and It is referred to in the A vesta. It contained both the sacred elements, water and fire, suggesting the deluge past and the fiery doom of the future. In the simplest form of the hot water test the bare arm was plunged to the wrist in trivial cases, and to the elbow in more seftous trials, usually to bring out rings or coins thrown therein. In Tibet plaintiff and defendant settle their cause judicially by plunging their arms into boiling water containing a black and a white stone, when he who brings up the white, stone wins the verdict. A King of the Goths in the seventh century, with the sanction of the Council of Toledo, recommended the boiling test for crime.

Note of Discouragement.

A Philadelphia lawyer who spends his summers in the Adirondacks tells an amusing story of a country bumpkin whose friend he was. The <wtntryman was courting a girl of the countryside, but he grew discouraged over the progress of his love affair. At times, when he was certain the girl loved him, he was gay to the point of being foolish. Then, again, when he thought he detected coolness, he was sad and dejected. He confided to the lawyer one day that he had balanced accounts, and was convinced the girl didn’t want him. "And she’s breaking it gently," he said. "She has such a delicate way of telling me, sir.” "How’s that?" asked the lawyer.' "O, she’s just delicate, that’s all,” was the explanation. “We wuz settin’ in the parlor las’ night, an’ I wuzn’t sayin’ much, an’ nuther wuz she, but she says, says she, ‘Albert, did ye know that I’s a twin an’ my sister’s a twin, an’ my mother and her sister wuz twins, an’ grandmother and her sister wuz twins, an’ their mother and her sister wuz twins?’-"—Philadelphia Times.

How the Blind Tell Time.

The fingers of a blind man were skimming over the pages of a book in the reading room for the sightless In the New York public library, when he| suddenly drew fa watch from his pocket, opened the face, closed it with a snap, and then placed his book on the table, says the New York Times. “It’s 4 o’clock. I guess I’d better be going,” he said to the librarian, Miss Lucille Gothwaite, who was hovering near to attend to the wants of her readers. The tg>ok was replaced on the shelf ana the blind man rose and departed. The blind man’s telling time by a watch Impressed a visitor, who asked Miss Goldthwalte. “You will find that most blind persons carry watches, and often consult them. The watches are of the hunting case sort, but they have no crystal, and the numerals are embossed. The blind person opens the case and by pressing his fingers lightly on the face he can tell the time Instantly by the position of the bands. The watches are especially made for the sightless, the hands being made differently, so they may be distinguished at once.”

Classified.

_ "What kind of a. voice has that Mrs... Highcy, anyhow?" asked Squiggles. "I don’t know exactly,’’ said Duddlelgh. "I’m not up on voices, but I should say, judging from her pertinacity in singing ‘Cavallerla Rusticana* from 7 a. m. to 10 p. m. every day of the week, that she’s what you might call an "intermezso soprano.* ’’—Harper’s Weekly.

Spring Training.

..X"We must remember that she got a start on the other girls. Shu went south last March for preliminary prao* tlce.”—Exchange.