if --givc? cues IH1I GROUND. Kew System of Rapid Transit in Lon don Fifty Feet Below the Sur face of the Streets. A SPEED OF FIFTEEN HUES. Electricity Used Both for Propelling the Passenger Trains and Light ing the Interior. C05DUC10E8 WILL KOT BE HEEDED. Difficulties Ecccs&tuti is Cocstmetiig tki LragTBiaeli for the Tneki. Loxdox, November 6. fitC-CGSJ HE Prince of "Wales has just formally opened in this city a railroad that possesses several distinctlynovelfeat ures. It is an underground railroad and is called the City and South London Hallway. In respect to the depth of the line below the ground, the smallness of the tunnels, the style of the carriage and the motive power it marks quite a de parture, and may be a hint to Pittsburg of the possible developments in rapid trans it in the future. The method of working the line is to be simplified by the adoption of a uniform fare and a turnstile, which render unneces sarv the issne of tickets and the cumbrous booking office system. The whole under taking will be watched with keen interest by railroad men as well as the public gen erally, and everybody may be sure, if the experiment is successful, that the system will be extended in the English metropolis and adopted in all the great cities of both I f U;!ri fi --ht Pll.1 r' ' y THE INTEBlOB OF the old and new worlds. Mr. J. H. Great head, the engineer-in-chief, may be saif to be the creator of the line, asit hasbeenby means of his inventions that its construction has been rendered possible. Meeting that Interior c a Station. gentleman the otherday at Stockwell.where the line at present terminates, a representa- THE EXTERIOR tive of the Fall Mall Budget gathered the following inlormation as to the undertaking: I.OXG HOLE IX THE GROUXD. "Wo have been about three years en gaged on the work," said Mr. Grcathead, "but you will not be surprised at the length of time when I tell you that we have reallv hadlocreateeverything. We had nothing to guide us, for the undertaking is in every respect a novelty. The length of the line is a little over three miles. The up and down lines are in separate tunnels. "We have six stations, the city terminus being at the Monument and the other, for the present, at Stockwell, while between we have stations in the Borough, at the Elephant and Castie, New street, Kenmngton Park, and the Oval. The platforms are 50 feet from the level of the street, but the line is deeper than that at places, especially where it runs under the Thames. "We have hardly touched buildings on the way, keeping iu the main nnder the roadways. "In the construction of this line we have developed a new system ot tunneling, which is very safe and enables work of this kind to be carried out without interfering with the trafic of the streets, and without pull ing down property in the wholesale way that was done when the underground rail ways were constructed. At the same time the work can be carried out very rapidly. At one time Messrs. Walter Scott Ss Co., the contractors, were doing more than 100 feet of tunnel daily, and in one-half year did two and one- ourth miles. WOEKIXG IX COMPRESSED AIR. "Near Stockwell we came on a bed of sand and gravel we were tormerly working in clay and that caused delay, as it neces sitated the manufacture of additional plant, but when we got that, and the men became accustomed to woik under compressed air, the work went forward very steadily. We had to go through 200 yards of sand and 7 gravel, which was done without pumping the water. Uad we removed the water we might have done damage to the adjoining property, and to avoid any risk we de cided not to do so, but to work under compressed air. It was the first time tunneling was ever carried out in that way, and to show the value of the method I may say that the St. Clair tunnel has since been constructed in the same way by the Grand Trunk Bailway of Canada, and the Hudson River tunnel, which was started several years ago on another plan, is also to be executed on my method, and so will the new Glasgow subway, which will involve four tunnels under the Clyde. "Electricity is the motive power on the line. The current will be generated at Stockwell and will be taken by a main con ductor through the tunnels both up and down. Cannected with the main conductor : ' I - ' : " ; ! j ; ; ; The Electric Locomotive. at each signal box is the working conductor of steel, which is placed on the line be tween the rails. Upon the locomotive are a number of collectors or shoes, which rest upon the working conductor and collect the current as the locomotive runs along. There is a lever in the locomotive which the driver operate." and which enables him to send the current through, the electric motors on the locomotive, or cut the current off al together when he desires to slacken speed or stop. A THEEE-JIINDTE SEBYICK. "Each train will be made up of three car riages and a locomotive, weighing alto gether SO tons. A train will be capable of seating 100 passengers. We shali begin with a five-minute service, but it is our in tention to run a three-minute service, and eventually, if required, a two-minute one. For the three-minute service we shall have ten trains. Including stoppages, we expect to maintain a speed of 15 miles an hour, which is 25 per cent in excess of the speed on the Inner Circle Bailway. As the ap- A CABRIAGS. Iproach to each station is on an incline and tne departure on a decline the trains can be stormed easily and pet un sneed auicklv. The Westinghouie brake, which has been adopted, will bring the train up in five sec onds. "The passengers will enter by two plat forms between the carriages to which there are gates, which open and shut rapidly like a pair of lazytongs. There is a passage from end to end of the train, and only one class. The carriages are cushioned, and lighted by electricity, the current being obtained from the working conductor as the train passes along. At each station there are two lifts to raise and lower the passen gers. They will each hold CO persons, so that they can carry a full trainload. As the descending passengers leave one door of the lift those ascending will enter by an other, so that no time will be lost. THE HTDEAULIC ELEVATORS. "The lifts are worked by hydraulic power which is generated in the same engine-house of the electric power at Stockwell! The water passes from the accumulator through a pipe in the down tunnel extending to the city. Having done its work it returns by a pice in the up tunnel to the pumping en gines at Stockwell, and is again circulated. The pressure is about 1,200 pounds to the I square inch. The lifts are capable of rais- OP A CARRIAGE. ing five tons, but they will not have to raise morethan 3 tons. They will bring a full load to the surface in about 20 seconds. "Our proposed arrangement with respect to fares is a very democratic one. We mean to try a uniform charge of 2d., irre spective of distance. Tfiere will be no book ing of passengers; they will simply put down their coppers and pass on to the plat form through a registering turnstile. We kIi.iII in this wav be able to economize.as we shall not require booking clerks, tickets or ticket collectors. Wo expect the bulk of our traffic will be right to the city, so many of our passengers will be carried three miles for 2d. We will compete with the tram ways, omnibuses and railways, no doubt, but the growth of the traffic in the metrop olis is enormous.andit has always increased in a greater ratio when the facilities have been improved. LOTS OF PEOPLE TO CARRY. "In 18G2, when there were no under ground railways nor tramways, the London General Omnibus Company carried 40,000, 000 passengers a year. Now the two under ground lines, the tramways, and the Lon don General Omnibus Company carry 420, 000.000 passengers a year, or ten-fold the number. Tint this increase in traffic is not due to the growth of the population is shown by the fact that the addition to the popula tion has only been 38 per cent in the same period. "The traffic even now in London is small as compared with tht traffic in New York, where they have established better facilities in the shape of tramways and overhead rail ways. On the average each member of the population travels annually 220 times as compared with about half that number in London. It is notorious that the main streets in London such streets as Oxford street and the Strand are now choked with omnibus and cab traffic. There is great need for more traveling facilities in London." -W USING THE CUERENT. Two Systems of Distributing Elec tricity for Practical Wort. VERY SIMILAR TO WATER TOWER. Difference Between the Parallel and Series Distributions, LATE XLECTBICAL DEVELOPMENTS rWKITTEir TOS THE DISPATCH.! There are two great systems by means of which the electric current can be distributed for light and power. They are called the "parallel system" and the "series system." In the parallel system the main current is divided into as many separate currents as there are lamps or motors to beoperated. The pressure in this system is kept constant, but the quantity of current varies according to the lamps or motors that are in operation. In the series system the lamps or motors are connected one after the other in the main circuit so that the current passes suc cessively through each piece of electric ap paratus in the circuit. In this system the the current is a constant quantity while the pressure is a variable, according to the number of lamps or motors in the circuit To illustrate these two great systems of electrio distribution and present tha condi tions of each case more vividly to the mind of the reader it will be well to refer to water power, and thus make comparisons with a power familiar to all a power that appeals more readily to the eye, and, therefore, to the mind. A SIMPLE ILLUSTRATION. Imagine a waterfall 70 feet high and having a fall of 50 feet. If, now, we arrange seven water wheels in a row, that is, across the falls, these water wheels can be said to be "in parallel." In other words, if the water flowing over the falls is divided up into seven streams, one for each wheel.these streams will all be flowing parallel to each other, and each will have the same pressure or fall of 60 feet. Or suppose that we have a reservoir of water giving a pressure of 50 feet, and from this reservoir we conduct the water away to sevea water wheels through seven differ ent pipes, this water power is then said to be distributed under the parallel system, even though the pipes may not be actually par allel to each other. The water wheels are then said to be worked "in parallel" and under a constant pressure. It the water is turned off from one of the seven pipes the other six will still be working as before under the constant pressure of 50 feet. In the same way if seven or any other number of wires are led off from a dynamo to as many different lamps or motors, the lamps or motors are (aid to be working on the parallel system. In this case, of course, each wire must start out from one pole of the dynamo, lead to the lamp and then return to the other pole of the dynamo to complete the circuit. THE PRESSURE IS COXSTAXT. If the pressure at the dynamo is kept con stant, the lamps will all burn with a con stant brilliancy and one or more lamps may be turned off at will without disturbing the remaining ones. If all the lamps are turned off, the pressure still remains in the wires ready to force the current through any or all of the lamps the instant the current is turned on. However, in practice it is not necessary to run a separate wire from the dynamos to each lamp. There is another and simple way of working the lamps in parallel. To explain the method of parallel distri bution in practical use, let us once more re fer to the reservoir of water power. The comparison that will now be made may re quire a little stretch of the imagination on the part of the reader, for, although the comparison is a good one, few people think 'of the distribution of water power as it will now be represented. Let us imagine a large pipe, a mile long and having its end closed, leading out from a large reservoir ot water; we will thus have water pressure in the pipe but no flow, the end being closed. But if we make a suitable hole in the pipe, say a quarter of a mile away from the reservoir, water will gush out with force correspond ing " to the pressure in the reservoir. This gush of water can then be made to do work, say turn a water wheel, then after its work is done this water will be evaporated by the heat energy of the sun, and will next be seen high in the air in the shape of clouds. COMPLETIXO THR CIECUIT. Now, if we imagine that this same water, which has come lrom the reservoirs, done work and is now in the shape and condition of acloud,should turn into rain and fall into the same reservoir from which we have taken it, it will have made a "closed cir cuit," so to speak and the water will again be in a condition to do work. We can now imagine tnis water going through this same cycle process over and over again, just like a'belt going round and round, transmitting power from the driving to the driven pully. With the belt the engine is the motive power with the water the sun is the motive power. The sun is evaporating water all the time, thus changing its beat energy into enerey called water power. In this wav water i kept circulating constantly, trans mitting solar energy eacn time it goes around. We may thus speak of the water as hav ing a "closed circuit," at least it will be convenient to do so, for that expression is used with electric circuits, and the processes in each case are similar. We can now fur ther imagine that the water, after it had gushed lrom the large pipe and done its work, could, instead of flowing into the ocean and from there being eyaporated, as is actually the case, pass up a comparatively small pipe into the air above and then going into a large pipe with the one leading out from the reservoir. Then if this second large pipe be connected with the reservoir we shall have closed the circuit and ob tained the conditions existing in the electrio circuit under consideration. A CLOSER AXALOGT. The water will now flow from the reser voir through the main, out of the hole, turn the water wheel and then be sucked up, by the heat energy of the sun, through our imaginary smaller tube to the second main, or better say return main. From the return main it will pass once more into the reser voir and again be ready to do work. If we call the starting point of the water the north or positive pole and the returning point the touth or negative pole, we can say that the water flows from north to south or from the positive pole to the negative pole. Let us now punch three more holes in our first main, one a half mile away, another three-quarters of a mile from the reservoir and the last at the end of the main. At each hole let us place a water wheel and for each wheel a pipe as before leading the wa ter back to the return main and so again into the reservoir. It will now be easy to understand why the waterwheels will ' be working in parallel without having a separate pipe from the reservoir to eacn wheel. If we, plug up one of these holes we will stop its corresponding wheel, save the water and at the same time leave the others undisturbed. If we plug one hole, less wa ter will be flowing through the closed cir cuit than if they are all left open. If all the holes are closed" no water will flow and un der these circumstances, iu speaking oi electric circuits, the circuit is said to be "open," and when current is flowing the circuit is said to be "closed." IX ACTUAL PRACTICE. Now to make our comparison complete, let us imagine a good-sixed copper wire running down one Bide of a street and another similar wire on the other side of the street. Let there be a dynamo at one end of the street, having its poles connected one to one of these mains and the other to the other main, and then at convenient places on one of the mains let there be small wires attached, leading to lamps or .electric motors and from these to the other main. We shall then have the conditions de THE PITTSBURG, DISEA.TOH. scribed above in connection with the reser voir and system of pipes. An engine is supposed to drive the dynamo and its energy corresponds to the energy of the sun, which did the "work of evaporating the water. The dynamo cor responds to the reseirvoir of water. The two copper wires correspond to the two water mainu. The smaller wires leading from one copper main through the lamps or motors to the other copper main correspond to the smaller pipes con ducting the water from one water main to the other, and finally the lamps or motors correspond to the water wheels. From this comparison it will be easily nn derstood now that the electrio current Btarts from one pole of a dynamo, flows down one main and then over to the other main through any lamps or motors that may be turned on and thus back to the dynamo, completing the electric circuit. If there are no lamps turned on, no current will flow; if there are two lamps tnrned on, twice as much current will flow is when there is only one lamp turned on. THE SERIES S TSTEM. We have now described! the parallel sys tem of electrio distribution. The series is quite different. To illustrate this system with the familiar water fall and water wheels, let us imagine a very high water fall, say 1,000 feet, and under it a series of water wheels arranged so that one wheel is directly under the other. The falling water will then strike the first wheel and turn it, then strike the second wheel and turn it, and so on down, working each wheel in turn. If each wheel requires a 100-foot fall of water to turn it, then with 1,000-foot fall of water we can operate ten wheels. When the water has passed the last wheel it is evaporated by the sun into the clouds, and so passes back to the top of the falls again, thus completing the circle process, or closing the circuit as before. It is just so with the series system of electric distribution. Instead of dividing the current as in the parallel system, the cur rent is sent out from one pole of a dynamo into one main, -through each lamp in suc cession, and then back to the other pole of the dynamo through the other main. If each lamp requires 50 volts of pressure to send the needed current through it, and if there are 20 lamps in series, that is, one after the other, it will require 1,000 volts of pressure at the dynamo to force the current through all the lamps. However, in this system, if one lamp is turned out all the lamps in that series will go out, for the circuit will be open or broken unless special means are provided, so that the cur rent can skip, that is, pass around this one lamp and so continue its course. For this reason the series system is better adapted for such lamps as are intended to burn for a given length of time as for example are lamps whicn are supposed to burn all night, The parallel system is better adapted for house lighting, for then one or more lamps can be turned off and on at pleasure without in any way interrupting the remaining ones. Scire Facias. THE ELECTRIC W0BLD. New Applications of the Current for Prac tical Purposes. IPEKI'AEED FOB THE DISPATCH. In an article in Specialties the matter of domestic electric lighting is reduced to very practical shape. Details and estimates for the rcquirments of a 12-roomed villa are given, and the cost of the installation is put at about 52,100. The article then de scribes the manner in which the master of the house can be his own engineer, starting the engine, charging the accumulators, and doing all the necessary work to put the plant in condition for the night's work. Accumulators do not deteriorate rapidly, but will work well for many years upon such an installation as that described. Althongh somewhat costly in the first in stance, they possess many advantages, not the least of which is that the light is al ways available, in the sick room, or for an evening party, independently of the gas en gine, which may always be stopped on Sun day at least. The possibilities that attend on such an installation are shown in colors that are very tempting to a man that desires to become his own electrician. He may here mount his hobby to his heart's content, and may indulge in other applications of the electrio current. For in stance, he may drive the sewing machine, organ, bellows or a punkah, by means of small electric motors; he may divert him self by scientific demonstrations to his friends of the uses of electricity for welding metals, photography at night, chemical de composition, and hundreds of similar inter esting and instructive experiments. He may take the entire management of the in stallation, and perform all the duties en tailed without soiling his hands, neglecting business or curtailing his leisure. The New York Electrical Review, in com menting on the suggestion recently ad vanced by Lieutenant Fiske, and now nnder consideration, that an electrical corps be es tablished in the army and navy to take charge of electrical appliances in time of war, refers to the fact that a few months ago it advanced some ideas on the same subject. It suggested that electrical men might, profitably to themselves, enroll themselves as members of the New York naval militia, and thus in a certain degree return the obligation the electrical pro fession owes the navy, from the ranks of which many of its most distinguished workers have been recruited. The Electrical Review is inclined to think that some of the officers and men now in the service could be advantageously de tailed to such work. In case of emergency a lair supply of competent engineers could be made available, but if civilians were pressed hurriedly into action their lack of military training might prove a serious em barrassment, so that a much higher stand ard of efficiency would by attained by hav ing such a corps equipped with men skilled in the tactics of warfare. In electric street car lines the dynamo which generates the current does so by the revolution of a coil of wire near the poles of a magnet, the lorce which revolves the coil being derived from the engine. The current then passes over the wires, down the trollev which surmounts each car, to a small motor. Tbis motor has an armature con sisting of coils of wire traversed by an elec trical current, which is attracted in suc cession to the poles of the stationary coils called the field magnets, through which the current also flows, flies around and trans mits it motion, by means of cog wheels, to the axle of the car. The driver of the car, by tbe use of a lever, turns the current into the motor beneath the car or directs it to the rails at will. In the conduit system the current passes along the wire, with which connection is made, into the motor on the car, and then out through the wheels to the rails, and then back to the central dynamo. A somewhat unique musical instrnment has just been introduced for advertising purposes, consisting of a set of chimes, which are worked by electricity. They are carried through the streets on an electric tricycle, and have a keyboard attached like that of an ordinary piano, so that elaborate compositions can be played by anyone suf ficiently familiar with the piano or organ Keyboard. The system of operation isquite simple; attached to each of the 30 bells which constitute the set, and which are hung on a rack above the keyboard, is an electro magnet. When the keys are struck they make a circuit from a battery in the base to the electro-magnets at the bells, which are thus sounded. 5 The capabilities of electricity as a rem edial agent have just received a new illus tration. A man with an aggravated case of bone felon on the thnmb consulted a physi cian, and was told that several months would elapse before he could use his hand. In bis dilemma, he sought the adyice of a physician who had done some excellent work by means of electricity. The physi cian operated on the diseased member with an electric battery, and the pain, which had up to that time been intense, ceased. In four days the patient was at work-again. The operation was a pronounced Bucceu. J and a perfect enre was soon effected. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18, CEEAM IN THE MILK. Dairymen Mast Use Dippers to Treat Customers All Alike. ELECTRICITY ON THE L ROADS. A Machine for Turning the Leaves of Books for Public Uses. PKOGREBSIN THE STUDY OP E0CKS IPEEPAKED FOB THE DISPi.TCn.1 In a now antiquated number of London Punch there is a drawing which satirizes the villainous decoction which used to be served to the London dairymen's customers as milk, and in which the "cream" was manufactured, and defied the ordinary laws of the blending of liquids in a most unmis takable way. A servant girl receiving the morning can from the hands of the milk man, takes off the lid, and seeing the sus piciously blue tint of the contents, says: "But where is the cream?" "Cream," replies the unblushing milk man, "why, the cream's at the bottom, of course." Eecent investigations have shown that the "cream may be at the bottom" much more frequently than we are in the habit of imagining. A leading dairy paper recently expressed the opinion, editorially, that ped dling milk in a large city, either by dipping the amount for each customer from the top of a carrying can, or drawing it from the bottom through a faucet, should both be pro hibited by law with pains and penalties just as stringent as those that now legally apply to a deliverer of milk to a factory that has in it less than 3 per cent fat. The reason given for this opinion was that cream mounts to the surface of a body of milk with far more alacrity than many suppose, and is dipped off to the first few customers served; they get more than their share of cream, and the last served get skimmed milk, no matter how goodly may be the in tentions, or how vigorous the efforts of the distributor. The article in question con tinued: "When we were in the milk testing business, we tried it for one milk deliverer, and found there was just about half as much fat in the last drawn quart as in the first dipped off." This matter was deemed of such import ance as to be taken np by the agricultural experiment station of Cornell University. To determine just how much variation there is in tbe fat of milk served to the different patrons of a route by dipping, a member of the station staff accompanied a milkman on his rounds, and as tne milk was about to be served to various patrons took samples for analysis. The milk was the mixed milk of a herd of native and grade cows. The dipper, such as is ordinarily used by milk men, was provided with a long handle, so that it rested on the bottom of the can when not in use. The milk was not stirred ex cept by the motion of the wagon and the raising of the dipper. Twelve sam ples'were taken, and it was found that the samples in three of the cans were practically identical in quality, and that while there was much variation in the samples taken from a fourth can, much the richest one of all was taken from the bottom oi the can. A second trial served simply to confirm the results of the first, and the satisfactory con clusion arrived at was that where milk is peddled by dipping from the can with an ordinary dipper and where no stirring is done except by the motion of the wagon and the raising of the dipper, substantial justice is done all the patrons so far as the amount of fat apportioned to each is concerned. Photography Applied to Surveying. Surveyors are becoming more and more indebted to photography for tbe way in Which it facilitates and improves their work. For reconnoissance the camera offers some pleasant features. The public is al ways anxious to know what an engineer is doing with a transit, but if he has a map of the country and an aneroid in his pocket, so that, by fences or otherwise, he can tell pretty nearly where he is, he is only an amateur artist, making views of scenery, and the farmer is not snspicions that he wants to run a railroad through his corn crib. Such pictures as may thus be -secured, understanding used, may help to decide where a line will probably be best, so far as the general features of the country are concerned. Progress is the order of the day. It is not long since the engineer who used a camera .to take occasional or semi occasional records of the progress of his work was looked upon as putting on airs. Now, however, the blue print and the cam era come in very handily, so much so that it is not the engineer who uses them, but rather the one who does not who is the ex ception. The engineer is not likely to dis pense just now with his transit, but he who avails himself of such help as photography can give him, especially in suoh work as making close topographical surveys, will have a very great advantage over him who does not. A New Profession for Women. In spectroscopic astronomy, the eye has been superseded of late to a great extent by the photographic plate, which is now able to recognize fainter impressions than the eye, and to register them permanently. The in strument employed is a photographic tele scope, with a prism, or a series of prisms, in front of the object glass, the whole mounted like any large telescope and provided with an accurate driving clock. It has thus be come possible to complete in a compara tively short time, a general survey of the spectra of all the brighter stars of the northern hemisphere, and the survey is now being extended to the southern hemis phere, where it is already well advanced. Whenever the spectrum of a star, thus pho tographed on a small scale, is found to pos sess any interesting peculiarity, it is exam ined with a more powerful instrument, which photographs its spectrum on a much larger scale; and this second photograph is then enlarged again for special study. It is a notable fact that the examination of the Harvard photographs has been made almost entirely by women, who are assistants in the observatory, Turning Over Book leaves. A novel machine is about to be intro duced for automatically turning over the leaves of books, which is especially adapta ble for libraries, hotels, 'railway stations, shop windows, etc. It is claimed that the machine will work for a week or longer period, according to adjustment, without attention, and will turn over any size or weight of leaves, within reasonable limits, allowing sufficient interval for perusal be tween each operation. When a leaf has been turned over in either direction the machine automatically reverses, and so ar ranges itself as to be ready to raise the fol lowing leaf, thus giving a continuous mo tion. If tbe appliance fulfills all that is claimed for it by the inventor, it is likely to be extensively used in public museums, libraries, etc. Improvements in Diving Apparatus. Some practical improvements in diving apparatus have been effected by a French engineer. Instead of the heavy electrio hand lamp hitherto used by divers, he af fixes a light but powerful glow lamp on the top of the helmet, so that the diver's bands are both at all times free for work. The lamp is connected by a conductor with a battery either on shore or in a vessel above, as the case may be. Tbe next point is a new method of connecting the helmet with the dress without any loose parts, and this is effected by means of only one watertight joint instead of two, as in the ordinary dress. In the new method the upper part or collar of the India rubber dress is gripped in between tha lower rim of the helmet and the upper rim of the breastplate and there 1S90. held fast by gripping pieces attached to tbe breastplate. The Rapid Transit Problem. For a long while past the electricians of New York City have been casting envious eyes at the elevated railroad system, be cause they believed that if they were allowed full swing, they could there make most brilliant demonstration of their abil ities to add to the comfort and convenience of the population. Two matters tend to excite them at the present time one is the fact that Chicago and Boston are both go ing in for the elevated railroads, with the intention of operating them electrically. In Chicago, the road, which runs through the alleys, is already bnilt, and it is be lieved that at least a portion of it will be in operation electrically early next year. In Boston tbe huge West End Bailway Com pany, which owns the whole street railroad system, and is now operating several hun dred cars successfully on tbe overhead wire system, is planning an excellent elevated system, which, it is intended, will cast the New York elevated as much into the shade as the latter does figuratively and actually the street cars that run under it. Electric traction is a success beyond a doubt, economically and in other ways, and New York electricians cannot see why it is not applied in the Empire City, where the conditions are so eminently favorable, there being several roads upon anyone ot which the first work can be done, so as to make tbe change gradual in its introduction and effect. On the elevated system, they argue, cars of much higher potential power than are used on the 300 street railways of the country, could be used with the utmost propriety and safety, involving, if not a great economy over steam, at least an abolition of all the nuisances of smoke, steam, gases, oil drippings, soot and cinders that have become familiar in connection with tbe present locomotives. The other matter that has agitated the numerous body of New York electricians is the rumor that the elevated road proposes in the near future to try some system of elec tric car lighting. While the elevated com pany has been slow to admit that it proposes todo anything in this direction, it has cer tainly been making inquiries on the subject, and is even understood to have estimates in its possession. This question ot car trac tion and car lighting is not less important to other large citiesjtban it is to New York. Almost every one of the 2,600 electric cars now running in this country have put in incandescent lights, and the results have been most agreeable to the passengers. Even where tbe cars are not driven elec trically they might well be lighted elec trically, either on the streets or on the steam railroads, for the appliances, in a practical shape, are all at hand, and even if no economy were directly effected, that is hardly a point to worry the public, out of whose pockets come the dividends, and who are the more inclined to ride when they find their comfort considered. Modern Petrography. The importance of the study of micro scopical petrography as an integral part of modern geology is now widely recognized. Its progress has for a long time been im peded by the ultra-conservative element to be found in every rank or profession, whether scientific or otherwise, the element which is opposed to innovation per se, and will fight to the last ditch rather than be come reconciled to a new order of things on exactly the same principle that the aged Wellington scornfully refused his consent to the introduction of percussion mnskets in the English army, remarking that his soldiers had beaten the French with the old flint locks before, and could do it again. Another of the reasons why microscopical petrography is making little or no headway in this country is the want of teachers who are able to make this science attractive to their pupils, and to inspire them with that degree of enthusiasm for it which is requisite for a permanent attachment. In Germany there is now no university so small or so poor but it has its regular instructor oflithology, who invariably succeeds in gathering around him a number of eager disciples. A good teacher of petrography is hard to find, for no other department of modern science embraces so wide a ranee of difficult studies. Optics in its most difficult aspects, crystallography, mineralogy, chemistry, geology and micro scopy, are all brought into requisition, and these avail the lecturer bnt little if he has no teaching talent. What is needed perhaps more than any thing is a truly elementary text book or primer, a book which can be understood without difficulty bv every well educated person, and which does not presuppose more scientific knowledge than the average high school graduate is likely to possess. It should be free from technicalities and all tedious detail; indeed, its chief aim should be the popularization of petrography by en deavoring to render its study as attractive as possible. Such a work could be written in simple language without any sacrifice of scientific accuracy or precision, and al though it might be too much lacking in thoroughness and completeness to answer as a text book for the advanced student, yet it would be of incalculable value to beginners, by affording tbem an easy introduction to petrography, and smoothing the way for more serious study later on. Instruction in Railroad Management. C. Frank Allen attests the importance of the relation of railroads to the State, which is becoming more evident almost day by day, as a reason why a regular course of instruc tion in railroad management should be looked upon as a useful part of a liberal training in colleges where instruction in technical engineering finds no place. Bail, road administration furnishes abundant opportunities for a well-educated young man to exercise all the ability which nature and training have placed at his disposal, and a technical training is without doubt the best foundation upon which to bnild, in antici pation of entering the service of any of our successful railroads. In the proposed course this requirement would be fully provided for. Oil Upon Troubled Waters. A suggestion has been made that oil might with advantage be used at the most exposed light-houses to reduce the force of the waves. It is thought that this end might be attained by placing, say, a couple of small steel buoys in the most exposed direction at a distance "from the lighthouse o come 150 feet There shonld be a pulley on the buoy and a slight rope, so that the bag or appliance for distributing the oil could always be hauled in when required. The method is most Bimple, and can be tested without great expense. A Now Disinfectant. Among the latest means devised for com bating the ubiquitous microbe Is a new dis infectant, called "lysol," which appears to be very much like carbolic acid (whose repu tation is seriously on the wane) emulsified, and thereby made more active. The emul sifying agent is an ordinary fat or resin soap, but the peculiarity of .manufacture lies in the fact that the tar acid is incorpor ated with the soap at the moment ef saponi fication. AH0THEE DINIKQ S00U ST2IZE. Chicago Walters Say Their Employers mrm Undermining tha Union. Chicago, November 14. Forty white waiters, the entire night and day force, struct at noon to-day in the Boston Oyster House. The colored waiters at Milan's restaraunt are also out, having quit in a body some days ago. Tbe waiters claim an organized attempt is being made to breakup their unions in this city by the systematic introduction of non union men. This is a Progressive Age. Bangor Commercial. One of the pensioners of the War of 1813, in Maine, was not born until nearly a year after her late husband had served in that j war, SONG OF THE CANARY. Facts and Stories About a Pretty Member of the Home Circle. THE BIRDS OP ST. ANDEEASBERG. How to Teach tha Little Singers to Bepeat Catches of Opera. TflElfi FOOD AND THE1E MEDICINE The canary is one of the most common of household pets, yet few people know just how to take care of them. As p general rule, when a canary is suffering from a cold, or what is more common among these deli cate birds, overheated blood, most house wives try what may be termed tha faith enre, and leave the bird to get well of its own accord. Scalers say that a canary is jnst like a human being as regards sick ness, and that for most of its ills some remedy is necessary if the bird's life is to be saved. The canary is a delicately bred bird, and never becomes hardy. The rate of mortality among them is very high, for so many are left when sick to get along as best they can, that it takes an annual importation of 200, 000 to supply the demand in the United States. The best canaries imported in America, says the New York Bcrald, are the kind known in the trade at No. 1 German. This variety is the pick of the German product. They bring as high as 580 a dozen whole sale, and are retailed at from S10 to S12 each, though some of tbem may be had for less. The great breeding place of'the German canary is the city of Andreasburg. This place ia situated in the highest portion of the Hartz Mountains, and its population is 10,000. A TOWS FULIi OP BIBDS. It is said that every person in the town is a canary breeder, and that no other bnsiness is practiced there. Every street is lined with little shops filled with birds of all ages, and the noise of tneir singing is at times deafening. It is estimated that 150,000 birds are shipped to New York alone from this mountain city. Very few come to other ports in this country, for the trade centers there, and Pittsburg and other inland deal ers get their supplies from New York houses. The canary that is sent to America in the greatest quantities is the kind that is known, in contradistinction to the No. 1 mentioned above, as the "German." Of the first named quality the product is very small compara tively. They are picked out for their extra ordinary singing powers, and cannot be bred regularly as a separate class. The sec ond grade bird is the kind ordinarily seen in American honseholds, and its singing qualities are all that an average family de sires. Its song is at times as vociferous and satisfactory as that of the $10 bird, though this common songster can be bought for 52 23. PITTSBTJEO GETS CHEATED. The dealer bnys them for $18 a dozen, and it he is a New Yorker he is in the constant habit of playing what he considers a huge joke on the inland buyer. The local deal ers go to the wholesale house and by wait ing aronnd for an hour or two, are able to pick out all the best singers of a consign ment, and tbe man who has to send from a distance for his stock takes the leavings. A New York bird man says that in tne West the people do not know what a singer is. This, of course, is an exaggeration, but it is a fact that the New York public have the best chance to get the good vocalists. So common have become tbe complaints among outside dealers of the poor birds sent them, that some of the retailers have, drummed np a trade to whom they send their fine birds at an advance of $3 on a dozen. The German canaryis usually gray and yellow. There is a bright yellow canary on the market which is bred in Norwich, En gland. These birds are fancied by many on account of their brilliant plumage. They are not nearly so fine singers as the Ger mans as a general thing, but they bring about the same price. A BAIiDHEADED SON GSTEB. One of the curious things abont canaries is the effect certain kinds of ailments have on them. There is a strange looking bird in a Brooklyn household at the present time. Either from a cold contracted in a draughty place or from overheating of the blood this little German canary has become baldheaded. About a month or more ago two red lumps began to grow jnst above tbe bill. No special attention was paid to them at first, bnt when the feathers began to come off tbe head, back of the lnmps, it began to dawn on the lamily that some thing was wrong. In three week's time the bird was bald all the way down to his shoulders, with the exception of a tuft in tbe center of the head and a few tufts on the sides which suggested feathered side whiskers. A bird dealer attributed this phenomenon to a cold and suggested that the bird be taken from the cage and held firmly to pre vent his struggling, while a generons coat ing of vosaline was rubbed on his head. The next operation should be an application of warm water the next morning and a repe tition of the vaseline treatment. The funny looking bird soon became acenstomed to his daily greasing, but it made his head itch, and he spent hours every week rubbing his smooth and tender head against his perch to allay the irritation. His affliction has made him qnite a lion in the neighborhood, and a member of the family has named him Bill Nye. The feathers are coming in again. MEDICINE POB THE BEAUTIES. One of the most frequent complaints among canaries is asthma. This disease is easily cured if taken hold of at once. The bird dealers sell a powder that is mixed in the water the birds are given to drink, and there is also a bird tonic which is good for all the ills that bird flesh is heir to. When a bird has tbe asthma the symptoms are a heaviness of breathing at night. Canaries with this complaint have been known to breathe like human beings. The American bred canary it more sub ject to illness than the pure German. The breeding of canaries here is not a success. A gitat many people have native bred birds and do not know it. They can be identified every time by an expert by their song, so some of the dealers claim. The breeding of birds here is not a success, according to these anthorities, because the seed used is not of fine enough quality and the bird in its earlier days does not get the proper nourishment to insure future strength. They are therefore weaklings, so to speak, and a sort of brought-up-on-the-bottle product In Ger many the very finest seed is nsed by breed ers, and although this seed ia brought here it is expensive and most of the native breed ers and, in fact, most bird owners buy a cheaper variety to save expense. PBOPEB BIRD TOODS. Among bird food the summer rape seed, found in Germany, is the best kind for the -use of breeders' or bird owners. German breeders always nse this kind of rape seed and the best product of canary seed. The cheaper substitute for the first named is winter rape and karl, found in our West and in Mexico. The best grades of canary seed come from Spain and Sicily. Lettuce acts as a tonic for a bird and prevents it get ting its blood too hot. The bird ought to have it whenever it is possible to get it for him. Apples are very good for birds, too; and red pepper, if given occasionally, it good for brightening their plumage. There is no limit, scarcely, to a canary's capacity for learning new sones if a proper method of teaching is employed. A man who has tried it oiatms that a canary can be taught an opera, or at least part of one. It is necessary .hat a peculiar note or whistle of the bird shall he duplicated. If a man can imitate this he can, with care, and time, teach a canary to sing a bar of music There are whistles made which almost exactly re produce the canary's bote, and combinations 15 of notes blown on them will in time be memorized by the bird. He may notbe able to repeat them on demand, but it is very certain that he retains the song, for he will pipe it at intervals, and if not sick at any time long enough to forget his new call ha will always include it in his repertoire. ACCUBATE IK THIilB MUSIC. A New York dealer who took a fancy to a certain bird in his stock succeeded after a time in teaching it several pretty strains from operas. He brings ont his bird when customers enlarge on the singing qualities of canaries, and, as he has tanght it several airs, or fragments of them, it is pretty safe to sing at least one of them for the visitor. One air that he sang recently was slightly blemished by a flat note. When the visitor commented on this the dealer claimed that the note was correct, and whistled the strain himself to prove it. It was then seen that the fanlt was dne to the teacher's imperfect knowledge of the music, and the bird had simply reproduced it as he had always heard it. Instances of extreme affection for their owner on the part of canaries are not want ing. All of these birds soon grow to knovr the person who feeds them. and. they gener ally distrust members of the family who are not home or about the room a great deal. An instance of the affection of a canary for its mistress is related by a gentleman who owned several ot them. There was one German bird in particular who seemed to be very fond of tha lady of the house. As there were no four-legged animals about tbo premises, the bird was allowed to fly about the upstairs rooms and it would frequently follow the lady about and perch on the head board of each bed as it was made np for tha day. It would also perch on the sewing: machine when its mistress was at work and it seemed to enjoy tbe vibration exceedingly. MET LIKE THE LADIES. The training that a canary is capable of ia shown in bis performance in connection with the street fakir who asks him to pick out cards from a little rack and hand them to his master. Some of these street birds are very cute, and have little tricks of tossing the head that suggests great) intelligence! when taken in consideration with their other performance. They have also been successfully used on the stage, doing many curious things at the command of their ex hibitor, who is usually a woman. They seem to have a great deal of affection for tha fair sex nnder all circumstances, and if they havo a favored member in a household it will generally be found that it is a woman with a bleasant voice. All kinds of music appeals to them, and the notes of a woman's voice are probably a form of music that they find very agreeable. When a man talks to them he finds bnt lit tle response, unless his voice is modulited very low. Whistling softly winsthe canary over in time, and they will chirp until tha man speaks in his natural tone, when tha bird song naturally ceases or breaks ont ia a louder key, as if to drown the harsh tones they seem to dislice. TTT.T.TVTATT IS SNUBBED. The South Carolina four Hundred Say He Wears Unboiled Shirts. tSrZCIAI. TZLEQEiM TO TUX DISPATCn.1 Chablestos', S. C, November 15. Al though elected Governor of the Palmetto State by an overwhelming majority, B. B. Tillman is still out in the cold with tha "Four Hundred" of South Carolina. Tha State's Four Hundred is known as the South Carolina Club, which gave its annnal ball last night. At the meeting of the club be fore the ball, some of the members made an. effort to get the Governor-elect invited. Tha proposition was met by the adoption of a resolntion excluding Tillman. Tillman is not popular with the Four Hundred set They say he wears unboiled shirts and dispenses with collars. His friends are now talking of getting np a grand inauguration ball in hia honor in December next, and it is certain that the coming Leg islature, which is overwhelming Tillman, will pass a law forbidding the nse of tha State House by the South Carolina Club for balls in the futnre. The Matter Mended. Boston Courier. Miss Waltzer Oh, dear I oh, dear I yon stepped on my foot. Mr. Clodhopper I acknowledge the corn. Planta Beatrice WHAT IT WILL Produces a Beautiful Complexion; Whitens a Sallow Skin, Bemoves Moth and Liver Spots, Prevents Sunburn and Ta To Travelers it is Indispensable. Keeps the Skin Perfect in Any Climate, PLANTA BEATRICE, per jar II M FLESH WORM PASTE. Skin Refiner and Pimple Remover. Will reflne a Coarse, Rough, Porous Skin. A positive cure for Pimples, Eruptions; removes that disagreeable Redness with which so many are afflicted. FLESH WORM PASTE, per jar. Jl 50 Our complete Una of toilet requisites and manicure goods are absolutely pure, and can be obtained at the following representative druggists. Egger's Pharmacieo, 11 Smithfield street, 172 Ohio street, 299 Ohio street. Rankin's Pharmacy, corner Penn avenue and Sixth street. Harkell Brothers, Central Drug Store, 6219 Penn avenue. Drs. S. M. & O. 21. Goldbnrg, Si Sixth. street. Or of Sole Manufacturers, LONDON TOILET BAZAAR CO., Wholesale Offlce: 20 East Seventeenth sc S3 and 40 "West Twenty-third street. New York, Treatise on the complexion at above ad dress free, or sent to any address on receipt jylS-73-KOSa' MADAME A. RUPPERT Complexion Specialist. Mme. A. Ruppert's world-renowned faea bleach Is the only face tonic in tbe worlrl which positively removes freckles, moth patches, blackheads, pimples, birthmarks, eczema ana ail blemishes of the skin, and when applied cannot he observed by anyone. The face) bleach can only be had at my branch office, Ne. 83 Fifth avenne. Hamilton building, rooms 203 and 2CU, Pittsburg, or sent to anj address on, receipt of price. Bold at 52 per bottle, or threa bottles, usually required to clear tbe complex ion, S3. Send 4 cents postage for full particulars, ocll-sn MME. A RUPPERT. Wmk 4& SI
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers