| OCR Text |
Show QUEER USES OF GLASS. c It would seem that in these days ,1 there Is no limit to the uses made of a ' glass. Among the most extraordinary may be cited tho following: I I The bridge spanning the Royal j t Gorge of the Arkansas river in Colo- 1 rado. This bridge mav be said to bo 1 half a mile high, for it reaches from 'fl one cliff to the other of the gorge. 1 with a deep chasm beneath it. The 5 , floor of thiB wonderful bridge is made g of plate glass one and one-half Inches . f E In thickness set in steel framework. In Lyons, France, pavements mad K of glass have been iu use for some i K time. They are constructed of ceramo ' m crystal, ceramic stone, or ddvitrified . glass, and are laid in the form of . m blocks eight Inches snuaiej each block m containing sixteen parts in the shape ' K of chequers. It is said that 'these t Rj blocks are so closely fitted together j w that water cannot pass between them. I The whole pavement presents the odd B effects of a huge 'checker board. The I m special advantages claimed fdr this j H1 style of pavement are that it, has IK' greater resistance than stone; that it is a poor conductor of cold ice, nc- MJ cordingly, not forming readily upon It, H and, finally, that It Is much more dur-1 I able than stone and much cheaper, be- sides affording no places for the lodg- ment of microbes. p In Germany they jnnnufacture glass 00m telegraph poles n,ear Frankfort. The "Sim. glass mass whereof these poles are H made Is strengthened by intcrlaqing WM and intertwining' with strong wire IB threads. It Is asserted that the glass BH P9les .show, their superiority over BBS vooden ones by reason of their re- yfcW Blstance to the ravuges of inseots In iflBl tropical countries, and against the uB climatic lnfluonce of rain, snow and 9Sm sleet In other countries. jBW The ingenious Germans have also H devised glass water pipes, haying a BBS covering of asphalt to prevent frnc- ftm ture. These are employed in many PtB parts of the empire, ahd it is claimed yJjJm that they afford thorough protection VSM against molstuvo, in the ground, RJK against' action of acids and alkalis, ti"m . and also that they cannot -be pene- 0m trated by gases. 2 B Glass cloth for dresseB is no new 5 I thing, having been placed on tho mar-m mar-m e a niimber of J'ears ago. This glass jH B qloth has the same shimmer and brll- 6 B lianco of color as that shown by silk. P Besides glass cloth there may he. lri-M lri-M E atanced manufactured gjass curtains, B carpctsyjtafilclotKs anMaTikjn-mbst S of which are results of the Ingenuity m of-European -manufacturers.- TittBits. HI oo |
