The San Francisco call. [volume], August 23, 1896, Page 29, Image 29

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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Science's Fuel
of tke Future
One of the most important questions
now pressing for determination is that of
fuel.
As civilization progresses the wants of
man multiply. The development of tastes
born of the new conditions engages the at
tention of every inventive mind in the
endeavor to supply new wants. The pres
ent century marks the advance of the ma
terial world with a rapidity unparalleled
in history. What were considered luxu
ries are now deemed necessaries. The
raan of to-day looks with wonderment
upon the life of his ancestry, unable to
understand how it was possible that con
tentment had a place in the mode of liv
ing a hundred years ago.
As the expression of each new taste
found its material complement, the belief
in the attainment of every desire has
grown stronger, until there are but few at
the presentday who can be found to assert
that in man's capabilities there is any
thing impossible.
The most marvelous developments have
occurred in the realm of physics, and
therefore in the department of industrial
and mechanical arts. An evidence of such
progress may be found in the record of
patents Issued during the hundred years
last past by all nations. Over 1,000,000 let
ters patent have been granted for inven
tions, of which the United States has
contributed six-tenths. Besides inven
tions covered by patents, it is a conserva
tive estimate to place the non-patented
devices as exceeding the patented ones
threefold.
The production of these innumerable
mechanical appliances requires what is
known as "power," and power, except in
a few instances, is dependent upon an ex
penditure of fuel.
The cultivation of civilized man's tastes
has led to an interchange of products, re
sulting in commerce, requiring a further
expenditure of power and a consequent fur
ther expenditure of fuel.
With developed intelligence has come
the desire to personally know ail that is
possible about other localities, and
so travel has developed. But the old
methods of the ox-cart have been sup
planted by the modern ways. The modern
man is unsatisfied with all but the best
conveniences of travel. The railroad train
and the steamship are alike moving pal
aces, in which are found all the luxuries
of the age applicable to the enjoyment of
life, waking or sleeping.
To remove these huge aggregations of
mechanical comforts from place to place,
whether upon land or water, demands an
enormous expenditure of power and its
generator, fuel.
The ocean steamer requires an average
of two pounds of coal for each horse
power. It must be seen that the immense
Lattle-sbips, employing from 30,000 to 50,
--000 horsepower, are therefore practically
limited in their effectiveness by reason of
the enormous load of fuel they are com
pelled to carry. No war vessel can re
main out of port for any great length of
time because of her inability to carry the
fuel requisite for a lengthy cruise. In the
peaceful pursuit of commerce the freight
capacity of the steam vessel is largely ab
sorbed by the weight of necessary fuel,
while in the case of the, railroad using
steam power a like difficulty exists.
A very great area of our country is com
posed of treeless plains, and its settlement
has been and is to-day retarded by the
difficulty in procuring requisite fueL
Moreover, forests are diminishing. True,
coal is yet to be had in abundance, but in
very many instances has to be transported
lone distances from the mine to the place
of its application.
Electricity as a motive power will never
occupy its legitimate place until it is re
lieved from its dependence on fuel. Nat
ural water-power is capable of producing
cheap electrical energy, but the localities
where available water-power exists are ex
ceedingly few.
Meantime the population of the earth is
increasing with increasing ratio, and the
expansion of man's exactions keeps pace
with the rapid growth. The output of
coal has risen in fifty years from 5,000,000
tons in 1845 to 196,442,451 tons in 1895.
From this brief glance at existing condi
tions we may well conclude that there is
no question of greater importance than is
that of fuel.
In the olden times the alchemist held a
prominent place in the opinion of the
people. He was supposed to be the pos
sessor of occult knowledge and able to put
in practice hidden laws of nature to attain
the accomplishment of his peculiar ends.
While his reputed ability to transform the
baser metals into gold had a tendency to
throw into the shade whatever he accom
plished in the humbler operations of his
guild, yet even in his time the true value
of his profession did not fail of recognition
among those of his fellow-men whose
common-sense rose superior to their
superstition. To-day the chemist is
the conceded master spirit generally
able to shape the key to most of
the complicated locks under which are
kept the treasures of material physics.
The development from tne alchemist to
the chemist has been gradual but im
mense. The one is no longer the appealer
to shells ana incantations, and while the
chemist does not literally transmute the
copper and lead into the more precious
metal, yet he does, by his better knowl
edge of natural processes, convert to gold,
and what is far more valuable — the im
provement of human living— nearly all of
the grosser elements.
Chemistry tells us that fuel is a material
of combustion. We burn fuel to produce
heat, sometimes applying the heat to uses
of domestic nature, as in our cooking and
heating stoves, and sometimes to other
ends, as in the production of steam for
power. In either case the fuel is burned.
It undergoes combustion.
We learn from chemistry that two
things are necessary for the process of
combustion to succeed — something to
lurn and something to support the burn
ing, and that the two things best fitted
tc meet these requirements are hydrogen
ard oxygen. The one, hyarog«n, is tlio
most combustible element known, and the
second, oxygen, the best supporter of
combustion. Of course, many other
things than hydrogen, pure and simple,
will burn, «nd combustion may be carried
on in chlorine to some extent. (Advanced
chemistry is not certain that chlorine is
not an amorphous condition of oxygen.)
Yet, so universal is the presence of oxygen
in all combustion, that the term "oxi
dization" la a synonym for "burning."
From the earliest times man has used
water for the parpose of extinguishing
fire. And yet water is composed entirely
of hydrogen and oxygen. There used to
be a saying, frequently applied to a vision
ary genius whose boasted ability failed of
accomplishment,- that "he'd never set the
river on fire." Seriously speaking, we are
apparently nearing that time when to set
a river on fire will be a very ordinary
task, literally and actually. To-day a
number of appliances depend entirely
upon the ability to burn water. The na
vies of our own and foreign governments
employ a signal-buoy for life-saving pur
poses which carries a compound known
as "calcium-phosphide," a combination
of phosphorus and calcium, which, when
it comes into contact with water bursts
into flame. Quite a number of elements pro
duce combustion on coming in contact with
water — phosphorus, sodium and others.
Now, neither the phosphorus nor the
sodium burns. It is the bvdros-'en of the
water that does. The phosphorus and the
sodium nave a remarkable affinity for
oxygen, and as soon 83 they come into
contact with water the oxygen of the
water is at once appropriated and the sep
arated hydrogen makes the flame. Pure
hydrogen burns with a colorless flame,
and so in the case of the life-buoy, where a
visible signal is desired, some calcium is
added to give a white color to the burning
hydrogen.
Advantage of the wonderful richness of
water in the elements of combustion is
taken in the production of the gas now
generally used to light our cities and
dwellings. Red-hot cast iron has a great
affinity for oxygen. So in the manufacture
of water gas there is used a oast iron pipe,
having its inside roughened. This pipe is
maintained at a red heat, and while so
heated there is forced through it a stream
of superheated steam. In its passage
through the hot pipe tbe oxygen of the
steam is seized by the hot iron and ap
| propriated to purposes of oxidization,
and there issues from the other end of the
pipe nearly pure hydrogen. It now sim
ply requires that this hydrogen shall be
mixed with some carbon to render its
burning visible to fit it for illumination.
This is accomplished by causing the hy
drogen to pass over the surface of gasoline
or other hydro-carbon oil, when it is
ready to use as an llluminant. Should the
gas be required only for the purpose ot
heating the carbonising process is omitted.
What an increasing of freight capacity
would be had, what economy, if it were
possible to fit an ocean vessel with the
means of utilizing the element in which
it floats, to the production of heat and
consequent mechanical power. What a
simple solution of the question of settling
the treeless plains were the settler able to
apply the water of the spring, or the
stream, or that of the rainfall to the
needs of his domestic ends.
The process of gas-making would in
volve more cumbersome apparatus than
could be used, and that of phosphorus is
too costly. Some other means must
attain to make the ocean available as a
reservoir of fuel.
Electricity has the power to decompose
water and to separate all water into its
constituent elements, hydrogen and oxy
gen, so that they may be collected in all
their purity in separate vessels. But in
the state of our present knowledge of elec
trical energy the process of electrolysis
will not permit of its application to the
production of hydrogen for any economi
cal use in mechanical methods.
Recently the c'aim has been made by a
Swedish chemist of his ability to success
fully decompose water, economically and
with exceedingly simpie means.
To understand intelligently the claims
of the Swede we must have a knowledge
of what water is. Water is a mechanical
combination, not a chemical one. Let me
explain. If you take some oil and water
and placing them in a bottle shake the
mixture thoroughly, there will be pro
duced a milky looking result. Now set the
bottle aside for a period ; then when you
next look at it you will see that the oil
and water have separated; the oil is on
top and the water at the bottom, their re
spective positions being due to the differ
ence in their specific gravities. Now add
to the mixture some alkali, and again
thoroughly shake it. You have then^ pro
duced a saponaceous compound, a soap,
that will not again separate into its com
ponent elements, but will preserve its
soapy character. The first mixture was a
mechanical one, the last a chemical.
Water is an association of hydrogen and
oxygen held in mechanical mixture.
t Professor Olstrom's claim is that he has
discovered a means, electrical in charac
ter, whereby superheated steam may be
separated into the elements of water,
hydrogen and oxygen, available for pur
poses of complete combustion.
I am not in receipt of any sketch of the
apparatus employed and can only describe
the affair from the written text of Pro
fessor Olstrom's letter.
Should the Swedish savant's claim be
proven good and feasible — and it is within
the grounds of probability— what a revo
lution will be wrought. The length of the
battle-ship's cruise will be measured only
by the necessities of her service. The
ocean liner will be able to diminish her
time of transit, by her ability to utilize the
space and weight now sacred to
the coal-bunkers in the enlargement
of her motive power. The freighter,
instead of having to sacrifice half of her
capacity to coal fuel, will use that space
for additional cargo. The maintenance
of railroad operation will be relieved of
the enormous expense of providing im
mense stores of coal at points far distant
from the mines. The individual every
where will be independent of the forest
and the "coal baron." Then will the age
of machinery spring into its loftiest pos
sibilities. Man will simply "turn the
faucet." Nature will do the rest.
Frank M. Close, D.Sc.
Jo Support plants.
A device to support growing plants is
the invention of James Horan of Bridge
port, Conn. It consists of a series ot U-
Bhaped uprights that are each formed
from a single piece of iron rod. One end
of the rod forms a part to stick into
the ground and hold it in position.
These uprights are held together, at the
proper distance apart, by heavy wire, so
that they can be placed in rows from one
end of the bed to the other.
It is intended that this device shall be
placed over such plants as peas and beans,
so that the product will be kept off the
ground. The contrivance should certainly
be cheap to manufacture, and there is no
doubt about its labor-saving qualities
when the amount of time that is usually
consumed in procuring brush and cutting
it and placing it in position so that it will
answer the same purpose is considered.
The Horan contrivance would, of conr«,
do the wont much better and thereby add
to the quantity of the crop.
Russia's European area is 2,095,504 square
miles, and total, with its Asiatic posses
siqns, 8.644,100 square mile*. The total
population is about 115.000,000.
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 1896.
[Flammarion's unpublished view of Mars as a companion to our
planet in November of 1894.]
' : At sea on a long passage in an ocean steamer, there arrives
a period when we have become tolerably familiar with the pas
sengers and the objects on board, and when we begin to cast
longing eyes outward upon the distant sails on the horizon,
craving to pass beyond the bulwarks of our floating prison, at
least in imagination, and to make ourselves feel less alone by
conjecturing the conditions that obtain upon those other refuges
that traverse the watery waste.
"Some such period has arrived in our long passage through
infinite space, with no nearer company than other planets and
the tun. Astronomically speaking we have become familiar
with our beneficent prison, earth, and we have noted, as we
ti ink. the most of the important outward facts concerning the
immeasurable multitude of brilliant sails upon the celestial
ocean; we begin to feel lonely, as it were, and wonder what
conditions of life obtain in them, or— depressing thought— if
even those nearest to us, the moon and planets, could in truth be
void of such life as we could understand and sympathize with;
and that we poor atoms could be voyaging alone forever, gifted
only with intelligence sufficient to realize our isolation.
"At such a point then in our secular voyage we fix our
hopes chiefly upon that planet which of all that we can reach
effectively with our present optical appliances bears tbe most
resemblance to our earth; the other planets, veiled with clouds
of impenetiable density, and possibly steamy or semi-incan
descent heat, seeming unlikely, even if brought within our ken,
to contain such life as would have any fellowship with ours.
But Mars, upon which all the telescopes, spectroscopes, calori
scopes and other astronomical gauges are directed, hoping to
derive some new information at this, our nearest approach to
him, is the counterpart of our earth in some respects, and
deserves all the attention be receives as a possible link with the
life of other worlds than ours.
"Though his year is twice as long as onrs, his day is nearly
like our own ; his seasons so nearly similar that his axis, in
clined like ours, causes a very visible white cap to gather at the
end which for tbe time is turned away from the sun, and melts
it away in summer when the same pole is presented to that
glowing orb, just as does the axis of our earth; his seas and
continents, which show their well-marked outlines as he turns
upon his axis and brings these features in succession into the
sunlight and into our view; certain grlfs and lakes and connect
ing channels, which vary in outline according to the seasons
and the melting and re-forming of what we may call the polar
snows; these and other points, which will be noted further on,
mark him as a possible companion in our solitude and even a s
a communicable intelligence. True, there are important differ
ences that sometimes militate against tbe presence of forms of
life that would greatly resemble ours. Mars has only one-half
the earth's diameter, and only a tenth part of its 'mass.' That
is to say, his attractive power is so much less that a man
of 140 pounds weight here would there weigh only 52 pounds.
One can easily imagine, therefore, all the changes in the form
and structure of the body this would necessitate; not to speak
of distances upon so small a globe being so shortened that
each mile is also much more easy to accomplish. Mars' atmos
phere, too, since atmosphere there must be to produce tbe snow
we see, must be so thin — so loose in texture, as it were, owing
to its small weight — since it does not seem to be deeper than
our own, while it is ten times less under the compacting effect
of gravity— that tbe lun?s of living, organized beings, as also
those of plants, must be of a far greater abiorbing and assimilat
ing power than we are familiar with. Such differences of struc
ture and perhaps even of function in the highest order of animal
life might, however, not prove insuperable barriers to com
munication if our progress in the sciences should have so run
parallel with that in Mars as to put the two far- separated intelli
gences nearly upon a level; and here, for our encouragement,
we find that Mars, judging by the generally flat and time
worked surface and the apparently small area of water, is, if
anything, at a more advanced stage of its history than our earth.
"Since the sunlight has to penetrate the atmosphere of that
planet before reaching his surface and then to return through
that same atmosphere before being sent back to our eye we
should naturally find some evidence,, on looking through the
spectroscope, of some similar or analogous absorption. But no;
we are told that nothing can be observed but absorption-lines
due to our own atmosphere, through which the ray, however,
has to pass but ence. Therefore, it is argued, if atmosphere
there be, it must be of such rarity or lighlness as would only
be found upon the highest earthly mountains. Still there re
mains the solid fact that the polar caps of Mars could not be
formed or dissolved without a very sensible and practicable
atmosphere, and it is easier to admit a certain want of com
petence in so delicate and difficult analysis, or in the conclu
sions drawn therefrom, than to disbelieve a phenomenon so
plainly visible as the alternate snowy accumulations upon the
poles of that ruddy, earth-like orb.
"We must not forget, too, that the spectroscope has been
notably disappointing in the investigation of nearly all other
bodies shining by reflected light — the moon, to begin with—
while so admirably fulfilling its office with the sun and stars —
prime luminaries— as also nebula? and comets. Like its limited
handmaid, the polariscope, which, being directed upon the lakes
of Mars, pronounces that the light reflected from them is not
polarized, and therefore that no water exists in them. Like
that still more limited handmaid in the work of ethereal undu
tions, the thermoscope or bolometer, which has failed utterly to
discover appreciable heat in the rays from any celestial body
(though so sensitive as to measure the heat rays from a stove
half a mile away), but on being turned upon the moon by the
present Lord Rosse induced him to declare that same body to be
colder than the Arctic circle, which his celebrated predecessor
declared to be as hot as boiling water!
"Apparently we must wait for more certain and concordant
results before concluding that the condition of Mars is so very
different from that of earth; and we may yet hope that, since
other eminent observers hava seen clouds and mists, evanescent
falls of snow or hail upon the soil and other indications of
atmospheric action, air is not wholly wanting. Especially must
we take with caution the conclusions of those who, apart from
all instrumental evidence, base their calculations upon the
'kinetic' theory of gases, and roundly state that ibe attraction
of bo small a body as Mars would be insufficient to retain a
gaseous envelope about him, of which 'the outer atoms would
be ever flying off through space* to parts unknown.
"If so encouraging a conclusion could be correct then how is
it that the comets, which bave not a millionth part of Mar's
mass, manage to retain for an instant the huge and inconceiv
ably rare atmosphere which surround and follow them? Clearly
the kinetic theory of gases — admirable approximation toward
* . .
This is the invention o' a genius living In Pouthamp'on. L. j. It iv built of aluminum. The motive force is electricity. Its
inventor is c nfl !cnt ti at it can attai.i a speed o: one hu dred miles au hour.— New York Herald. j
MARS ASA
COMPANION
TO THE
EARTH
AN ELECTRIC AIRSHIP.
an underlying law— requires some moderation in its use and not
to be strained too far.
"And then there is a solid argument that we have not yet
seen advanced in favor of an atmosphere of some refractive
power at least on Mars' surface. When drawings and photo
graphs of the moon are examined carefully It Is found that in
the 'gibbous' or incomplete phases of illumination the 'ter
minator" or boundary between 1 light and darkness on the sur
face is nearer the center than it should be theoretically. It may
be here argued that the general shape of the lunar surface which
is always facing us may be such as to give the effect observed ;
it may be flatter than the regular disk would indicate; we are
not forced to conclude that there is a gaseous envelope which
refracts the sun's rays and carries them on further toward the
center of the disk— however probable such a circumstance may
be. But when W. W. Campbell of the Lick Observatory tells us
that Mars— which turns swiftly upon his axis and, therefore,
can have no such undetected irregularity of figure— exhibits the
same phenomenon, we may fairly assert that the advancement
of the 'terminator' toward the center of the disk must be an
atmospheric effect, whereby the gaseous envelope of Mars pro
longs the hours of light upon his surface just as our own air
does upon the earth.
"A fortnight or more ago Mars was in opposition— that is to
say, our earth passed between him and the sun; and we saw his
surface consequently in full illumination, just as we see the
moon at full when she is in opposition to the sun. Familiarly
speaking, in our race around the orb of day we had overtaken
Mars, which, upon his wider circle, takes twice as long to make
his revolution; and now we begin to see a little of his darkened
side. Since his daily rotation is in the same direction as his
course (as with our earth also), the 'terminator' or the incom
plete edge of the enlightened disk is (the reverse of what occurred
before opposition) a morning line; and the natural features of
Mars' surface are coming out of the darkness behind the planet
into the light or day in front.
"This, therefore, is the time when inequalities upon his sur
face can be best detected ; and therefore every favorable hour
will be eacerly utilized at the Lick and other observatories to
obtain further information as to those remarkable bright spots
that have been seen (like the mountains and crater-peaks of tbe
moon) shining out of the morning darkness at the first touch of
the advancing sunlight upon the Martian surface. Gradually
we shall know whether these are high clouds, a3 supposed by
some, or eimply mountains capped with snow or mist; as more
probably they are, from their occupying approximately the same
position at each successive appearance. This point will have
vast importance in speculations as to the conditions of Mars'
crust; as to the determination of land or water; as to atmos
phere, and finally as to habitation by life forms comparable with
ours.
"The so-called 'canals' seem gradually to be ceasing (as in
reason they should cease) to be regarded as manifest indications
of the work of intelligent beings. Their vast length and great
width oppose such an explanation; and their curious regularity
at the jame time is easily comparable with that of similar fea
tures upon the moon, familiar to those who, like tbe writer,
have studied much and long the lunar surface in an equatorial
telescope of the larger size.
" Mr, J. R. Holt, the Dublin astronomer, has recently ex
plained these angular streaks in this sense; as being fissures
occurring through contractions in the crust of Mars when half
cooled, afterward in part filled up with molten matter, and in
process of ages converted into valleys, perhaps covered with
vegetation, and in tbe center of which a wide waterway has
traced its path. This explanation would certainly reasonably
account for the changing invisibility of those curious features —
since vegetation varies in tint according to the season — and also
for the passage they seem to give to the waters on the melting
of the snow-caps. Possibly, also, it would very simply account
for the 'duplication' of these channels — a phenomenon which
has so puzzled all observers since the time of Schiaparelli, who
first noted these extensive 'double canals.' The vegetation on
each side of the wide channel, changing in color and shade with
tbe seasons of the Martian year, would sometimes harmonize
and sometimes contrast, now with the water channel, and again
with the surrounding country; and so become invisible or visi
ble, according to the circumstances. In this connection Mr.
J. R. Holt recently referred (TAstronomie, 1 p. 337, Sept. '94) to
an observation made by Schiaparelli on the 26th of December,
1879, upon a wide white streak wbich appeared in Mars and
seemed to be the track of a storm of snow or hail. With absorb
ing interest doubtless he looked to see if it crossed one of these
canals (the Nile) without interruption; for, if so, no water could
be there, of course. He found that the center only of that canal
completely absorbed the snowy streak and appeared like a thin
thread joining the broken ends of the wide course of the Nile,
thus proving apparently that water existed only in the center of
these channels, and that the bands on each side which formed
the remainder of their visible width were terra firma, capable of
receiving unmelted the passing deposit of hail or snow that was
being observed.
"Space would fail, however, to detail the many interesting
and instructive observations which have been made upon this
earthlike planet, both in America and in Europe; but sufficient
has been said to show the reasons for the extraordinary enthusi
asm manifested at all great observatories during the present
near approach of Mars.
"But why, it will be asked by some who, from want of
thought, from religious prejudices or from a too great absorp
tion in the things of this particular planet, are unwilling to
look upward and outward to other worlds in prooess of creation
like our own, why should we expect habitation and human life,
or, indeed, any life at all, upon tnose other shilling bodies in
the heavens, even supposing tnat they are constructed ma
terially like our earth?
"To this it may be frankly and promptly answered that the
improbability of our particular grain of dust in the midst of the
infinite cloud of such planetary dust around us being the only
one containing life is so great that every reflective mind must at
once reject such a supposition.
"By millions we may count the stars already, and our im
proving optical and photographic appliances add millions of
new-found suns to these; but yet it is not there any more than
upon our own flaming sun that we seek for life developed to
such a stage as we could comprehend. Each of these blazing
orbs has its planets, its dark satellites, shining only by the light
of their sun and therefore too faint'y to be seen at such vast
distances— for our own earth would be quite invisible even at a
distance such that light would take a day to traverse, while the
nearest of these nuns, Alpha Centauri, takes four years to reach
us. Well may we say: 'How wonderful are thy works, Lord
God Almighty, in wisdom. Thou hast made them all.' "
Bottles JKat You
Gar\r\ot Refill
Manufacturers of liquors, wines, sauces
and patent medicines have for years en
deavored to devise some means of protec
tion against unscrupulous people who not
alone imitate brands, but boldly substi
tute inferior articles in the original pack
ages. Thus far, however, no satisfactory
non-refilling bottle has been put on the
market, and the victimized manufacturers
have concluded that such a thing as a non
refilling bottle is an impossibility. Many
patents have been taken out with
no other result than a loss of sixty
or . more dollars to the inventor,
and still the brain - racking work
goes on, having received an impetus
through the alleged offer of a whisky firm
of $100,000 bonus to the inventor of a bot
tle which once emptied cannot be refilled.
Hundreds of people in this City have for
months past tried to solve the problem,
and every number of the Patent Office
Gazette contains one or more d&vices for
which claims are made that even aenrsory
glance proves to be defective. Some of
these contrivances are interesting because
of their absurdity and none are of any
use.
Accompanying sketches show the idea
of an Eastern inventor of how be would
prevent a bottle from being refilled. A
specially designed bottle with a valve V
closing its mouth, and over this a cap
packed partly with cement, C, and thus
fastened to the bottle, are the main fea
tures. In the cap or cover are two porta
through which the liquor may be poured,
figure 2 showing the port in circular dotted
lines. The corrugated outline of the cover
is presumably to get a grip on the bottle.
Aside from the clumsiness of the thing,
the cost of maKing and attaching the cap
to the bottle would be out of proportion
to the value of the service it would ren
der, and, worse than all, it is not a non
refillable bottle, for it would only be neces
sary to place it on its head in a filled tub
or tank and with slight manipulation the
air could be let out and the bottle would
eventually fill up.
A curious Canadian contrivance is that
shown in figure 3. It is a special bottle
with a swelling and an inside rim at
the junction of the neck and body of the
bottle. A metallic sleeve to which is at
tached a trap with a spring and a tumbling
ball valve is pushed down the neck until
the shutting-off valves rest on the raised
glass rim.
The inventor keeps to himself the secret
as to the manner of fastening and working
the spring, and in the design of the bottle,
with its two inside rims, the possibilities
of glass-blowing will be severely tried if
put to a practical test. This bottle, how
ever, like that previously described, is
doomed to disappoint its inventor, for the
probabilities are that the bottle cannot be
made as designed, the metallic cont»iv
ance will not be accepted by any liquor
firm, it is too costly and complicated to
be of commercial value, and, finally, there
is nothing to prevent the withdrawal of
the sleeve with its paraphernalia, put in
"Jersey lightning" for "Honey dew" and
replace tbe sleeve. It is not a non-filling
bottle, and the inventor has no good
claim on the $100,000 prize.
A third non-filling bottle is also a Cana-
dian patent, although the inventor is a
New Yorker. It is much less complicated
than many others. It has one serious de
fect, however, in that no means are pro
vided for keeping the metallic valve in us
piace, and even if a seat was made by a
rim the valve being of metal would pre
clude its use for liquors, sauces, medicines
or win 68.
There is an endless variety of worthless
patents in this particular line, and the
time and money wasted must be some
thing astounding.' Still the work goes on,
and a glass factory in this City has a
great assortment of especially designed
bottles made for inventors in the non
tilling bottle line. Inventors, as a rule,
speedily develop into cranks, and they are
hard to deal with. Each one asserts that
his is the only bottle that cannot be re
filled. Arguments to the contrary have no
effect, and only actual demonstration does
convince him that his invention is not
quite perfect. He usually departs in a
huff, as if some mortal wrong had been
done to him.
Now, notwithstanding the fact that
whr>le<m'f» 1 quor-d«»aler3 do not believe in
the possibility of a non-filling bottle,
still i yj :tors keep busy, and, while the
solving of the problem does seem to
be beyond reach, it is yet within the
bounds of possibility that the thing may
yet be invented and made practicable.
For the guidance of such people who
prefer to worry their brains on this subject
in preference to getting up an automatic
cook, or a device to make municipal and
other officials stand by their pledges and
promises, tbe following few brief rules
may be useful.
If the invention necessitates a special
bottle consult a practical glass-blower as
to' the practicability of the design, and
again, if the extra cost reaches a couple of
cents over that of an ordinary bottle then
do the work over again and simplify it.
No contrivance of any kind of metal is
suitable. Metal however pure has a ten
dency to cloud the liquor and make it
unsalable. A strip of pure aluminum,
selected for its apparent fitness for such
purposes as valves, etc., in a bottle, was
deposited in a vial of good rye and at the
end of a month was found to resemble a
piece ot sea weed with long streamers.
The coloring matter in the whisky had
settled on the aluminum and the least dis
turbance stirred up a cloud of discolor
ations.
Glass and porcelain are, of course, not
subject to these objections, but the frailty
of the former and the thickness of the
latter are serious drawbacks to the use of
either. The flow of the liquor must not
be contracted to any great extent, for a
non-filling bottle which only gives lorth
its contents in driplcts would find no
favor in a saloon. Then, again, the size of
cork is an important factor, and its size
cannot be increased without materially
adding to the cost of the outfit; hence the
cork should remain the usual size. Sim
plicity rather than complication should be
aimed at, for in a bottling establishment
the fraction of a minute spent in inserting
the valve system adds to the cost of the
operation.
The favorite method by most inventors
in the non-filling bottle line is to use
marble balls, known as "commons," to act
as valves. They answer the purpose very
well while the bottle is in a perpendicular
position, but when inclined or placed up
side down there is no difficulty in refilling
an emptied bottle. It may even be filled
while in its normal position by a gentle
and rotary shaking.
One inventor got up a bottle which,
when empty, would collapse. It found no
favor, however, because of the possibility
of its bursting while some liquor still re
mained. Another devised a bottle, the
neck of which would break off at a line
with the bottom of the cork. Glass, how
ever, is somewhat erratic, and while ac
cording to theory it should in stipulated
cases break off where thinnest, in practice
it does not always do so, and the poor bar
keeper would be excused for refusing to
Handle such unreliable material. It was
not claimed for this bottle that it was non
fillable, except when it broke anywhere
below the assigned line, in which case
both liquor and bottle went into the slop
bucket. The idea was to indicate that the
bottle had been opened, but there was
nothing to prevent an enterprising mix
ologist from keeping this same bottle
filled for an indefinite period.
New 1 Safety ErvVelope.
Novelties in the way of envelopes are of
constant production, but very few of them
find any permanent amount of public
favor. Ole ifl. Lee of Oelwein, lowa, is the
latest inventor in this line and his con-
Envelope Open.
trivance is simplicity itself and seems
calculated to do all that he claims for it
and will no doubt find favor with those
who fear their letter will be tampered with.
Lee's envelope is exactly the same shape
a • those in general use and can also be
made in any and all sizes. The novelty
consists in having a cord inserted between
Envelope Closed.
the layers of the paper and having two
free ends, at the flaps of the envelope.
They do not come out at the ends of the
flap but a short distance back on the in
side.
The gum on the envelope is to be mois
tened the usual way and the flap pressed
partly down. The two free ends of the
cord are then tied in a hard knot and the
ends clipped off close. The remaining
portion of the flap is then pressed down
over the knot. Thus sealed it would be
impossible to open the envelope without
in some way destroying part of it, which
would of course cause immediate deteo
tion.
NEW TODAY.
from U.S. Journal of MedUin*.
w*tf g Prof . W. H. Peeke,
; J whomakesaspecial-
■-^■'r^Jty of Epilepsy, has
I I doubt treat -
M J[ and cured more
cases than any living
Am Physician ;
/ . . _ J his success
I || WrLktm is astonish-
VlllClN hve
heard of
cases of 20 years' standing cured by
him. He publishes a valuable* work
on this disease, which he sends
with a large bottle of his absolute
cure, free to any sufferer who may
send their P.O. and Express address.
We advise anyone wishing a cure
to address
W.W.H.PEEKE.F.D.^CedarSUN.Y.
29