Show electrical and steam engines the german government is enczur aging higher speed upon its railways and to attain it has pro proposed posea a coin petition between electric and steam locomotives builders of both types have been asked to submit plans for motors which will attain velocities of miles per hour but under what conditions of load and permanent way has not been stated the capac ity of our largest and most powerful locomotives with pounds of steam pressure per square inch and a very moderate load behind the ten fler der Is limited to an average speed of from sixty to sixty five miles per hour under favorable conditions it remains to be shown what kind of a steam driven engine can be produced which will ralie the speed thirty five to forty miles more per hour electric water heating faucet it Is an easy task to beat a kettle ef of water over the electric stove but the inventor Is I 1 not satisfied with this and must needs go a step further en any ose ore to open a faucet and warms the water as it flows draw hot water from a pipe connected directly with the city water supply how this is accomplished can be seen by a little study of the drawing which shows the apparatus complete and ready for use the valve stem Is extended at the rear and connects directly with the switch which controls the electric cur rent so that when the faucet Is open ed the switch Is closed and vice versa beneath the faucet is attached a cas ing which resembles a filter but which is in reality a pair of elec arodes between which trie water must pass before it can flow to the basin or bowl beneath when the current Is turned into these electrodes they become so hot as to heat the water passing between them provided the flow is not too rapid the illustration shows a small heater tor for ordinary esq us but there Is no reason why the device cannot be enlarged to heat water for the bath ar washday where the house is already aheady fitted with electric lights it is a small task to fit up the faucets for the new water heater harry M hill of st louis mo la is the inventor paste jar with brush moistener Mol etener it if the bookkeeper bt bf a halt half century ago could look into the modern office an and have dhave explained to him all the num erous devices welch relieve the domce man of today to day of a large portion of his work the loose leaf ledger and card systems would no doubt be shown as the greatest improvement since the old timer was in his prime but there are numerous minor anven eions which also fill important tant places among these must be ranked the paste pot which would much sooner have taken its place could the paste have been prevented from molding and the brush from drying up as soon as exposed to the atmosphere for a short time two or three inventors have alrea already produced paste receptacles j has mas air tight cover and water corn com apartment part ment which answer this aroble I 1 fairly well but the idea which we snow seems to have hav special advantages in that a water compartment la Is provided tor for the immersion of the brush andallo and also an air tight cover tor for the jar itself to accomplish this latter end the open ing through which the handle of the brush projects Is lined with rubber having a resilient edge to fit cosely over ane the fastener fo foi the cover of the jar is formed of two short slots on the edge of the glass and when the hardle is slipped gh the opening and the cover pressed presed down only a short turn Is nece ne cesary scary to secure it tightly to th tha jar ar charles B gordon of boston mass is the inventor cities will own water works municipal ownership of waterworks in practically all the large cities of 0 the united states bids fair to be the rule a few years hence memphis tenn has jut acquired the plant owned tor for some years past by the artesian water company TT TI s reduces to nine the cities of the united stares states 0 over population whose wa ter works are still under private own enship the nine cities in braer ol 01 their size in ISO are san sam francis co new orleans indianapolis den ver new haven faterson paterson st joseph omaha and scranton two ot 01 these new orleans and omaha are already committed to municipal munt cipal own enship and for years there has been a strong movement in that direction at san francisco agitation to the same end was also very much in evi dance at Indana polls and denver denter a few years ago A transparent mirror mr richard wilson new york has bas recently invented a mirror which reflects images or la is transparent accord ing to the amount 0 light in the back ground that is when the background Is darkener dar keneo th tha glass Is a perfect mir reflecting objects in front of it but when the background Is lighted one can readily see objects through the glass the inventor proposes to use the mirror for illusive stage ef facts or in show windows as an adver using medium the darkened back ground ot of the show window avill will oe illuminated at intervals by anto automatic matir means acting upon an electric lamp so that shoppers shor pers who stop at the win dow to gaze at their reflection in the mirror will be be surprised to have their images suddenly ud denly disappear and see in their stead the latest thing in jn paris fashions or the ill e disappearing awnings for stores if there is any one feature of a store which detracts from its appear ance more thai than another it is the dec oration ot of the front with a dili delap p dated and faded awning this may answer all purposes as far as keeping off the sun and rail but its condition is sure to prove a detriment to the store in some measure this has been im proved upon by the permanent metal awnings bet et these must render the interior odthe of the store dark and gloomy and necessitate the use ot of artificial light on cloudy das now a corn com promise between the two ideas has made its nothing lebs than a metallic awning which can be projected over the pavement or with drawn at will in the illustration is presented a sectional view of a store stor front with the awning partly projected over the pavement showing N slides into the bu iding when not in use the manner in which it Is operated by the crank and gearing A horizontal shaft extends across the face of the building with gear chels Is at either end meshing with racks on the awn ing supports the latter pass through openings in the front of the building between the first and second stones stories with guides on the inner aids of the waits walls to elide slide the support supports nto into the space provided for them hem the guides gu ides also serve to carry the weight of the awning it is projected this being accomplished bv simply turning the crank as is done in manipulating the cloth awnings now in use friederich thorns thoms of san prances francs co cal is the inventor I 1 f dahl a tubers replace potatoes 1 the dahlia is a plant prized far for its bloom yet era all the he irish p potatoes matoes to be destroyed it t is possible t that hat this plant would to some extent rela e them roasted the dahl a bulb Is s who lecomp and makes not a bad substitute fathe tato when clr firt t introduced into eu IDU rope it was not for its flower but as a vegetable that it was valued electric furna furnace e makes steel after many laboratory experiments steel is now being produced in flee furnaces on a commercial al cale at the pro frogs works csete france it has been put on the tho market by descours cabana co ly ons science and industry Induct ry the common house spider Is harm less and renders positive service to mankind by killing flies arid and other in sects prof colisch of prague has been able to photograph the colonies of a phosphorescent by means of its AS own light the busing link from fashoda to in the telegraph line from cape a roam to cairo will be supplied by marconi wireless instruments for the manufacturing year 1901 09 our out factories produced about tons of beet sugar so recently as the years manufacture was less than 1 1000 tons the atom of hydrogen Is the small est of th ultimate atoms of the chemists but it Is 1 1870 times as large as large as the corpuscles which have recently been demonstrated as the elements of the atoms |