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The
| TECHNICAL WORLD
to [This Department is devoted to technical
ap subjects of interest. Any questions sent to to
to the Editor of the STATE COLLEGIAN or to
j"* dropped in the box at 323 Main will be an- to
to swered in subsequent issues by experts in the to
subject about which information is desired.]
J. W. Griffin of Lima, 0., was
killed in a. bath room by electricity.
He stood on a register and accident
ly touched an electric light chan
delier with his hands.
Wm. G. Summons of Kenosha,
Wis., who owns a steel tower on the
summit of Pike’s Peak, has granted
permission to the American De
Forest Wireless Telegraph Company
to use it as an experimental station.
Photographs are now easily trans
mitted over telegraph and telephone
lines in the following way:
A ray of light, passing systemati
cally over a film which con
tains a photograph, falls upon a
selenium cell. The electric resist
ance of this cell varies with the
amount of light that penetrates parts
of the film, and these varations are
transmitted to the receiving end of
the wire where the illumination of a
vacuum tube is varied by them.
This vacuum tube glides over a sen
sitized paper, thereby forming a
copy of the original photograph.
A radium clock, that will run a
thousand years without winding up,
has just been invented. It is a cur
ious thing, and the inventor describes
the principle in the following way :
“A small piece of gold leaf is
electrified by means of a very small
quantity of radium salt. This bends
away from the metal substance, and
keeps on moving under the influence
until it touches the side of the ves
sel. At the moment of contact it
loses its electrical charge, upon which
it springs back and is electrified
again. The repetition of this pro-
cess over and over again is the whole
secret.”
It has long been a question with
scientists whether real fairy races
ever existed. Some hold that to be
lieve that such things ever lived is
preposterous, while others look at
the question in an entirely different
light and set about proving it true in
a rational way.
One scientist of that group which
believes that dwarfs, elves, and pig
mies one time lived, has made a
thorough investigation of the sub
ject. He says that he found in the
British Isles and different parts of
northern Europe, small arrow-heads
which only very small people could
have used : that in Scotland, and in
the Hebrides, are found small struc
tures known as Piets’ Houses, the
apartments of which are so tiny
that nobody but a drawf could pos
sibly have inhabited them; and that
the legends about Celts and Teutons
are more or less elves which have
descended from the true.
E. E. Society.
At a meeting of the Electrical
Engineering Society last Wednesday
evening, the following officers were
elected to serve during the the pres
ent term: Krone ’O5 president;
Minick ’O5, vice president; Foltz
’O6, secretary; Seguine ’O5, treas
urer, and Goodman ’O5, marshal,
Yarnall ’O5 read a paper on ‘‘A
Third Rail System.”
Mechanical Engineering Society.
At the meeting of the Mechanical
Engineering society, Friday evening,
Jan. 13th, the society voted to adopt
the constitution submitted by the
executive committee. No other
matters were taken up at this meet
ing, but at the next meeting of the
society to be held Friday evening,
Feb. 3rd, it is expected that a paper
upon some technical subject will be
read and discussed.
Y. M. C. A Notes,
The Annual State Convention will
be held at Johnstown, February,
16-19. A partial list of speakers in
cludes the Hon. H. B. F. MacFar
land of Washington D. C., the Rev.
A. T. Pierson D.D. of Brooklyn
and Mr. C. S. Cooper, Bible Study
Secretary, among many others. A
special railroad rate of two cents a
mile will be secured and entertain
ment will be provided all credited
delegates. For other information
see .the General Secretary.
The last Sunday evening meeting
was given up to a presentation of
facts concerning the New Japan.
The following topics were presented
by members of the Association,
‘ ‘ Japan the Country; ” “ Japan
and Russia;” ‘‘The Students of
Japan;” “Association Work in
Japan. ” Some important facts
brought out with regard to the stu
dents of Japan were that the native
Japanese religions, Shintoism and
Buddhism, have lost all hold upon
the educated classes, the vast ma
jority of the students being agnostics.
Exchanges
The Case Tech is a welcome addi
tion to our list. We should like to
see several more technical college
publications.
The following advertisement ap
peared in a paper:
Wanted —A gentleman to under
take the sale of a patent medicine.
The advertiser guarantees it will be
profitable to the undertaker. ”
—Pittsburg Journal.
The Washington Jeffersonian is
not so green as it looks. The inter
ior is very bright and newsy.
You can lead your horse to water
But you cannot make him drink,
You can ride your little pony,
But you cannot make him think.