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An artificial Niagara at St. Louis
466
Notes a n d Comme,zts.
[J. F. I.,
Lord Kelvin that this would come from the store of energy lost out of a gram of radium in IO,OOOhours. It seemed, therefore, absolutely certain that the energy must somehow be supplied from without. He suggested that ethereal waves m i g h t in some way supply energy to radium, while it was emittiDg heat to matter around it. Lord Kelvin illustrated his t h e o r y by t h e following comparison: Suppose a p i e c e o f white and a piece of black cloth, hermetically sealed in similar glass cases, were submerged in similar glass vessels of water and exposed to the sun. The water in t h e vessel containing the black cloth would be kept very sensibly warmer than that containing the white cloth. Here the thermal energy was communicated to the black cloth by waves of sunlight, and was given out as thermometric heat to the water in the glass around it. Thus through the water there was actually an energy traveling inward in virtue of the waves of light and outward t h r o u g h the same space in virtue of thermal conduction. Lord Kelvin suggested that e x p e r i m e n t s be made comparing the heat emission from radium wholly surrounded with thick lead with that found in the surroundings heretofore used." AN A R T I F I C I A L NIAGARA AT ST. LOUIS. An immense artificial cascade has been d e t e r m i n e d upon by the authorities of the St. Louis Universal Exposition as the center piece of the semi-circular lay-out of the principal buildings. The cascade itself will be divided into three p a r t s - - a large middle cascade, with a smaller one at each side, the water flowing directly into the h e a d of the Grand Basin. In all, about 90,000 gallons of water per minute will be supplied at a head of 159 feet, forming the greatest artificial water effect ever attempted. The water will be taken from the Grand Basin itself, and will be raised to the top of the cascade by a p u m p i n g station located under Festival Hall. The p u m p i n g machinery will consist of three 36-inch single-stage turbine centrifugal pumps, purchased from H e n r y R. Worthington, of New York City, each driven by a 2,000 horse-power Westinghouse alternating current motor. The total horse-power utilized will thus be 6,000, m a k i n g this the largest electric p u m p i n g station in the world. The pumps and other pieces of machinery for this plant are now being installed at St. Louis.--Iran Age. DOUBLE CARBIDE OF C H R O M I U M AND T U N G S I ' E N . Moissan and Kouznetzsw. The authors have obtained this new double carbide by heating in the electric furnace, in the carbon crucible, a mixture of loo grams sesquioxide of chromium, 45 grams of tungstic acid and 3° grams of petroleum coke or sugar carbon. The current must not be of too great intensity, 400 amperes at 75 volts for five minutes being sufficient. Another method of obtaining the double-carbide consists in fusing in the electric furnace a mixture of metallic chromium, tungsten and a small quantity of Sugar carbon in the presence of a large excess of copper, always avoiding as m u c h as possible the carbon vapor of the arc. This mass is melted rapidly in a carbon crucible and the copper is maintained in ebullition for one or two minutes. After pulverizing and treating the regulus thus obtained with variOus solvents, smaller crystalline clusters of the double-carbide are o b t a i n e d . - L'Eclairage Elec., August 22d.
Notes a n d Comme,zts.
[J. F. I.,
Lord Kelvin that this would come from the store of energy lost out of a gram of radium in IO,OOOhours. It seemed, therefore, absolutely certain that the energy must somehow be supplied from without. He suggested that ethereal waves m i g h t in some way supply energy to radium, while it was emittiDg heat to matter around it. Lord Kelvin illustrated his t h e o r y by t h e following comparison: Suppose a p i e c e o f white and a piece of black cloth, hermetically sealed in similar glass cases, were submerged in similar glass vessels of water and exposed to the sun. The water in t h e vessel containing the black cloth would be kept very sensibly warmer than that containing the white cloth. Here the thermal energy was communicated to the black cloth by waves of sunlight, and was given out as thermometric heat to the water in the glass around it. Thus through the water there was actually an energy traveling inward in virtue of the waves of light and outward t h r o u g h the same space in virtue of thermal conduction. Lord Kelvin suggested that e x p e r i m e n t s be made comparing the heat emission from radium wholly surrounded with thick lead with that found in the surroundings heretofore used." AN A R T I F I C I A L NIAGARA AT ST. LOUIS. An immense artificial cascade has been d e t e r m i n e d upon by the authorities of the St. Louis Universal Exposition as the center piece of the semi-circular lay-out of the principal buildings. The cascade itself will be divided into three p a r t s - - a large middle cascade, with a smaller one at each side, the water flowing directly into the h e a d of the Grand Basin. In all, about 90,000 gallons of water per minute will be supplied at a head of 159 feet, forming the greatest artificial water effect ever attempted. The water will be taken from the Grand Basin itself, and will be raised to the top of the cascade by a p u m p i n g station located under Festival Hall. The p u m p i n g machinery will consist of three 36-inch single-stage turbine centrifugal pumps, purchased from H e n r y R. Worthington, of New York City, each driven by a 2,000 horse-power Westinghouse alternating current motor. The total horse-power utilized will thus be 6,000, m a k i n g this the largest electric p u m p i n g station in the world. The pumps and other pieces of machinery for this plant are now being installed at St. Louis.--Iran Age. DOUBLE CARBIDE OF C H R O M I U M AND T U N G S I ' E N . Moissan and Kouznetzsw. The authors have obtained this new double carbide by heating in the electric furnace, in the carbon crucible, a mixture of loo grams sesquioxide of chromium, 45 grams of tungstic acid and 3° grams of petroleum coke or sugar carbon. The current must not be of too great intensity, 400 amperes at 75 volts for five minutes being sufficient. Another method of obtaining the double-carbide consists in fusing in the electric furnace a mixture of metallic chromium, tungsten and a small quantity of Sugar carbon in the presence of a large excess of copper, always avoiding as m u c h as possible the carbon vapor of the arc. This mass is melted rapidly in a carbon crucible and the copper is maintained in ebullition for one or two minutes. After pulverizing and treating the regulus thus obtained with variOus solvents, smaller crystalline clusters of the double-carbide are o b t a i n e d . - L'Eclairage Elec., August 22d.