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Show Popular Science' ii Live Wood 'Wall for Levftci. : In fnrniltiK rinhiiiikiiiuiis wln-i lic j rarth in flil'il In fnnn Kxlinn nt frnm runnlnK wntT nr let Ik 1 1 I a ninnm In plncr It It c-mimoii prm-tir- M i plant willow at :Ium IntcrvnK an thino trt'i-H ar of rapid Kinwth. ml will rca.ltly ctulHHli tln-irm ivcw tn form a II vo WNiil wall, uiul Uclr rtHitfl piTtnente the h'I tiifti t tl-jm)h tl-jm)h !((! armii.d them no tlilcUly thnt Growing Roots Prevent Wsshouls. the earth will ln more illtucult tn wash wuy In ease of nn overflow. Our 111 lint i nt lini allow a levee w.ileh la Intended In apply thin Idea on more extensive scale, to confine a river safely within tin- cinhnukmcntn. sn tlnii there h tin 1 1 lie no danger of It" liri'nkliiK thrnngh Hip walla. John Patten of Ni'W Vork t'lly him oli-tallied oli-tallied a pati'tit on thin form of cm hankmcnt, ittiil tins di-slgncd several methods of ptnntlng which arn enpa-lile enpa-lile or holding a hi'uvy limly of water In place, ttm otto shown having the trees m l lu curM'H. Willi thu earth terraced up to Hip proper height. . Another design rotiiotnptnlt'H the lor-niutlon lor-niutlon of a power rnttttl along J tho top of tho levee to a point when the fail to the iniiln boily of witter wonlil bo sufficient to run a ilyitutuo to furnish fur-nish power for npcrnllug isints anil trolley cars. It la not Intended I hut t hla leveo building shsll ho ihmo hur-rleilly, hur-rleilly, hut that thn deposits of soil carried ilown hy I ho current ahull gradually fill in arouml tho roots until thn embankment rlaea anil con-flnea con-flnea tho wnter In a narrow channel, thus affording acccas to olherwlHo tin-mvnllnhlo tin-mvnllnhlo Innil without danger of over How in Hoods. Meteoric Electricity. We now know qulto accurately the naturo of lightning nntl tho method . of production of tho iMiormoua clectrl- cal pressure exhibited hy tho llaah. V When clouda are foruiPil hy tho con !! donsation of vory mlnuto ilmps of water from tho vapor In tho air. under un-der certalu condition theao ilropa ex-tillilt ex-tillilt a email electrical chariie. Al Uio drops coalesce the capacity Increases In-creases less rapidly than the quantity of charge, for' the masou that two drops of equnl size, when thoy flow together, produce ono nf only ellght-ly ellght-ly larger dlamolor. and tho capacity is determined hy tho diameter. On , this account the drops formed hy the & flowing tuKi'ther of the small mist particles, Ionic before they atlnln such alio OA to be precipitated as tho rain, acquire an electrical charge of enormous enor-mous voltage, sulllcleut often to leap a dlatanco of a mile throiiKh tho air. This niunt cnrrHaiiotid wtlh pressures only to be Indicated by millions of Volts. Electric! Review. Steam vs. Electricity. In a paper read before tho Bocloty of Civil Engineer of Canada Mr. C. H. Duvla bus studied tho advantages cf electric tructlon and concludes: First That lu thu near future stoain railways will adopt electric traction for suburhun trallla do mat-tor mat-tor whethor the new servlco Is nioro expensive or not. Second That for lone; rilatance transport of heavy freight, Hteum will contlnuo to he tho motive force. Third For thu quick trunsMrt of passengers between great centers of population oven wiion widely separated, sep-arated, electric engines will be used, slnco they travel at much greater speeds than sleain motors, and present pre-sent certain distinct advantages of comfort. Automstlo Poultry-Feeding Devlcs. If the appurntus shown In tho accompanying ac-companying drawing arcompllalips the purjHise fur wiiich it waa do-alKtied do-alKtied It will mean a large saving In "V S Movement of the Bait Box Discharges the Grain, the amount of lahor neceaaary in tt.sj care of fowls, and possibly economize also tn the amount of grain consumed hy the flock. A hopper, or storage reservoir Is provided for holding a large quantity of grain, tho bottom being conlcul in ahnpe. to feed the grain into an opening ,1a tho centor. lleneuth tho opening Is a chulo, or-ranged or-ranged to catch the grain and prevent pre-vent a continuous otiiilow from the hopper. Suspended In close proximity to the ground Is what tho Inventor calls a "lir.lt box." having a small quantity of grain placed lu Uxod -'. . I nil's, v.hn-h nr.' eo. ln, . ... : I or line wli.i iietttii ; hi the li lii::.. ei'iirs" nf eventu thf futvls h. emu-hungry, emu-hungry, nnd ili-i-.m mm the grnlo In the -Iviit l"i." I ' .mi ,w .h.e or t.' t my mid ntteiiiiit in pn h at the cov ereil kerniila. lie w.'lu it of tile lin-l nils the swinging r'1,1 whin nupimim the tiuy. a. "I thia oKi illnlorv million slides the chine hnel, nnd rorth he Heath thn niieiilng In t!:o linppir. t n ' illaeliari'luu the r. ln to l ie itumn l. to he devniind l,y the fowls. The imintlty d. Ihercil nt one time la not grrnt, hut ns nfnn ni hunger drives the fowls lo peek at thu halt the gmln Is iiiitonitulcnlly delivered, an' na Inula will make little effort to gm f oil unless they arc hungry. It Is pnas.hle thai IVere will he a saving in the iiinntlly coilaumi'd over that which they llll;;hl he given If fed by hand, .uc iai lull Ni vera, of Santa ('run, Cnl . la the Inventor. Light on Precious Stones. II la known Hint violet light from nn electric arc Inuip excites llunres-cetice llunres-cetice In the diamond. M (Minitmet has proved Hint an Intimate connection connec-tion exists between thut property of the diamond and the luaire exhibited in other nrtlll"hil lights, cspcclnlly the light from cnndlea (In which the diamond nhowM to the grenteat ad-vauttige). ad-vauttige). The illnnionils ttiut nend out the timsi vivid raya nrc not always al-ways those which nrp the most regit-larly regit-larly cut, hut lire aiu h aa, exniulned hy violet light, s'mw greiitiwi llnores-cenrp. llnores-cenrp. While ilhtmoiids that do not tlunrcare simply shuw violet when so lllumlimtotl. thn most brilliant stonea tliiorescc strongly with a clear mt very hrllllnnt blue radiation. The teat Is of ptnclleul vnluo and tins been applied to other pri-clous stones yel low dhiinoiids. llurnieae aud Siamese rubles, etc. Safety Vslve With Multler., Every ono Is familiar with the Intensely In-tensely dlaagreenhlo sound made by a locomotive when it suddently be "Jljjsj i .. i,., , :.: t' .' '. i- ; j; 'y. .(.:, Safety Valve With Muffler. gins to "blow orr" tho excess team In its boiler through the "satety valve." Tin-so valves are invariably used on all steam boilers, so as to rodttce to a minimum the dangor of explosions, lu thu device shown In the cut, the steam as It escapea blows up through the central portion of tire valve, but Instead of blowing directly Into the air Is caught In a little semicircular semi-circular hood and deflccled downward, down-ward, tho noise being reduced to a minimum. It Is claimed that the device de-vice here stiown is used on 131 railroads. rail-roads. Octuplex Telegrsphy. Experiments have been mado by the general telegraph department of (lerninny to teat tho octuplex system of typographic telegraphy Invented by tho Into l'rof. Rowland of Johns Hop. kins University. Thn apparatus to be regularly used between Hamburg and Krankrort will shortly bo Installed It Is claimed that the octuplex system sys-tem will permit 18,oo0 words per hour to bo sent ovor a single wire by twenty operators. Ily the Hughes system now In use In llerlln only 2,200 words per hour can be dispatched. dis-patched. The sending Instrument re seiublus a typowrlter. and any lei tor can he telegraphed by depressing Its corresponding kpy. The receiving Instrument prints the message on a shoot of paper, not on a tape In con vonlent form for delivery by mall or otherwise. |