Evening Star Newspaper, June 25, 1922, Page 59

BY KARL K. KITCHEN. OUGLAS FAIRBANKS at the present moment finds him- self in very much the same position as the boy in the fable who cricd “Wolf!" so many times that whea the wolf really ap- peared no one would believe him. For Fairbanks is making the big- mest and most expensive photoplay ever attempted, but his press agent :as written so many times about Doug's “massive and costly” produc- tions, especially about “The Three Musketeers,” that few people are im- pressed by the stories that emanate from his press department. However. what is set forth here is In no way related to press agentry. The writer will merely describe what he saw with his own eyves. The reader may draw his own couclusions. On the Fairbanks “lot"—as the open-air part of the new Douglas Fairbanks' studio s called—there is rapldly nearing completion a huge walled city of plaster, 620 feet long by 260 feet wide. Its exterlor walls, which are sixty feet hizu, give it the | appearance of a great castle, but within these walls—which, of course, are the merest shell of button lath and coating plaster—is a huge cathe- dral with an interior measuring 168 by 300 feet. a collection of forty or | fifty medieval houses and the nar- row streets such as would be en- countered in an ancient walled town. * ok K * ] WILL not bore you with the num- ber of carloads of lumber, tons of coating plaster and nails. to say nothing of the thousands of feet of button lath that have been used to erect this set. Suffice to say that be- tween 400 and 500 men have been at work for several months building the biggest set ever erected in the history of the movies. Even the enormous set bullt by D. W. Griffith for “Intol- erance” is topped by this new plaster city. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Fairbanks studio, which s lo- cated on Santa Monica boulevard, be. vond La Brea avenue, is the busies spot In Hollywood. During the da_vl it is almost impossible to reach it because of -the congestion of motor cars, for nearly every one of the 400-0dd workmen drives to the studio in his own car. And when it is known | that their wages range from $6 to $12.50 a day this is not to be won- dered at. The majority of workmen f o “THERE IS A LARGE TOURNAMENT FIELD WITH STANDS AND PAVILIONS AT THE GATE OF THE CASTLE.” 1 in and about Los Angeles not only | Musketeers” cost $710,000 there is own their own homes but their own |much to bear out his assertions. It “tin lizzies.” | must be remembered that there has At night the “lot” is also a scene of | never been a “million-dollar” picture, seaseless activity. It is illuminated | despite all advertising claims to the by huge searchlights. and in the |contrary. However, whether this new workshop a hundred plasterers, who | picture costs’ half a million or two stamp out the walls in sections, like | million is important only to Fair- waffles, work in three shifts. | banks. The threater-going public is The enormous amount of button |interested in only one thing—will it iath required for these sets has actu- be a good picture? ally caused a button lath shortage| Certainly everything humanly pos- in Los Angeles, and many bullding operations are at a standstill as a result of it. | [ * % k ¥ | N addition to this construction work on the lot. a score of workrooms | scattered around TLos Angeles are turning out the thousands of cos- | tumes and other properties that will be used In this production. In some of the big scenes there will be 2,500 extras, and their costumes. armor. wigs, etc, require an enormous amoynt of preparation. As T said before, no one would be- lieve the actual figures, so there is no ogcasion of giving them. Suffice i/ o, say that I saw $25,000 worth o wigs that have been made for thi Jroduction. “T'he studio, together with the stor rooms, dressing rooms for extia efc., covers almost as much grou: ‘a$’ the exterior sets. And in additic ithere is a - large tournament fic! with stands and pavilions, at the ga #F the castle, which, of course, has ‘moat and drawbridge, not only to b historically correct, but to give Fair- banks an opportunity to display his acrobatic prowess. Although the walls of this plaster castle are sixty feet high, they will appear more than twice that height in the picture. This effect will be obtained by a double exposure process, the extra height being merely a wash drawing of the walls, which will be photographed after the lower part of the film, showing the action before the actual walls is completed. This will give a Maxfleld Parrish ef- fect to some of the scenes, for Fair- banks is striving for artistic as well as realistic effect. * k % X ~[HIS trick of double exposure Is one of the oldest in the so-called art of movie making, but it has never been employed to obtain huge back- grounds as it will be in this new picture. All these preparations are being gun. Fairbanks expects to spend at least four months making the picture, and he plans to show it in New York shortly after Labor day. For the first time in his career, Douglas Fairbanks will wear a beard as part of his make-up as Robin Hood, the merry Sherwood forest robber. TUnlike his d'Artagnan mus- tache, however, it will not be a real one. And he will only wear it in some of the earlier scenes. It may Lo “FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS CAREER, DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS WILN made for Fairbanks’ next picture—a ‘WEAR A BEARD.” saper-movie, built around the char- acter of Robin Hood, which, of course, will be played by himself. . The name of the author of this new production \ sible i{s being done to make it the finest picture In Fairbanks' career. not be of momertous interest, but he has decided to retain his mustache'in is not announced, but it is no secret that Fairbanks wrote most of it him- self. He has not contented himself with the ordinary Robin Hood legend, hut has included the advemtures of the famous outlaw with Richard the Lion Hearted in one of the crusades. However, much of the action will take place in “Merrie England,” and 2 medieval city, with its castle anq cathedral, has been built for its back- ground. No name, even, has been chosen for proposed super-plcture, which, Fairbanks says, will cost considerably more than a million dollars before it 32 released. As he says “The Three “Technical and research experts” are checking up every detail of the story, %0 that everything shown in the pic- ture will be historically. correct. Maurice Hewlett, who is an authority on this period of English history, has| Naturally, the famous: star ls put- been called in as a consulting expert. | ting his whole heart in this picture, And no less famous director than!for hey wants it to surpass “The Allen Dwan will supervise the actual ; Three Musketeers.” He is practicing making of the film. daily with the long bow, as well as P the lance and broadsword, and .if there is nothirg else in the picture HE cast, with Mfss Enid Bennett|thers will be 2 lot of realistic in fhe role of Maid Marion and fighting. : Paul Dickey as Guy of Gisborne, the “Aren’t you. risking too much by arch-villain, has long since been se- : putting so much money in this pro- lected, and the actual “shooting” of | duction?” I esked him as he escorted some of the Interlor sci s has be- me over the lot. % order to use it in his next picture, *The Virginian.” And, girls, he is golng to wear a wig In’ this new. plc- ture, for, sad to relate, his own hair is getting thin. A ° ’ ® el e - g ° 1 g i Making the World’s Biggest Movie HOW " . Great Castle and Cathedral of Plas- r Rising on “Fairbanks Lot,” Where obin Hood’s Adventures Are to Be Enacted—Demand for Material Pro- dyces Button Lath Shortage in Los Angeles—Visitor Is Shown $25,000 Worth of Wigs Which Have Been Made for Production—Double Ex- posure Process to Make Pictures More Impressive—Working at Night Under Searchlight Glare. “Perhaps,” he replied. “But this will be my answer to the critics of the film Industry, The public has been fed with such a lot of poor pic- tures that it is not surprising that the Industry is In disrepute. Th plctures of late have been too awful for words. That is why I am going to try to make something worth . while. I may fail. The public may not like the story. Theatergoers may not be Interested in me or my acting, but I will give them the best of everything that can be combined in the making of a plctur “And If you fail?” I asked. “Then I'll have to go out and bor- row money for my next picture.” So there you are. Fighting Ice With Air. ONE is apt to overlook the fact that ice has a co-efficient of expan- sion which is quite considerable, This shows itself where there is a sudden thaw. which may raise the tempera- ture of the ice many degrees. If the arex of ice is large the expansion will result in upheavals along the shore line. The dam across the Mississippi at Keokuk has had more or less trou- ble with ice. One year, following a cold snap, in which the thermometer rested at eighteen degrees below zero for five days, there was a sudden rise of temperature. The water in the lake behind the dam expanded and exerted a tremendous pressure against the structure. The rounded piers at first broke up the ice which bore against them, allowing the entire thrust of the ice fields to come against the gates. It was estimated that the pres. sure amounted to 3.7 tons per linear foot. To overcome this condition, the engineers attempted to thaw away the ice from the gates. By means of a steam jet, a line of clear water three inches wide was provided back of each gate, but this was a slow process which required the work of six men operating for thirty-six hours, as there were 119 gates to be treated. Obviously the operation was ex- pensive, and some simpler method must be devised. Then the exper:- ment was tried of introducing com- pressed air back of the gates, the purpose of which was to keep the water in motion. It was found that less than two cubic feet of free air per minute would keep clear an area of twenty feet in diameter. The air was introduced at a depth of eight- een feet below the surface, and it carried the warmer water from below to the top, maintaining a continuous circulation which prevented the ice from forming. Disinfecting Books. ’I‘HE danger of contagion from books that have been in the hands of persons suffering from various diseases has led to the invention of methods of disinfecting, of which none appears to be more effective than that devised by a member of the municipal council of Paris. This process consists of two fea- tures. are placed in a “beater,” where a strong current of air opens every leaf, and an aspirator sucks out the dust and deposits it in aseptic water. Then they are suspended in a dis-| infector. the ‘covers being bent back and held by clips, so that the leaves are widely opened, and placed over a heater, which for a long time sub- Jécts them to a temperature of 167 defrees Fahrenheit. The paper Is not damaged, and the efficiency of the | process strated. is sald to be well demon- Stone Ships. ABOUT twenty years ago an ltalian engineer made a boat of artifi- cial stone, or cement, which excited much interest. boat and s yet in use. The frame- work of light iron rods %as covered with a metallic trellis and then coats of cement were applied inside and out to form the hull. It proved sur- prisingly resistant to shocks. Since then the same engineer has con- structed many more “stone” boats of various forms, and among them a barge about fifty-four feet long and between seventeen and eighteen feet broad, which for some years has beén employed for carrying codl in the harbor of Genoa. He also makes pontoons of the same materiai, which have been used to replace wooden pontoons on the Po. The ma- terial lasts better even than iron and is not attacked by sea water. Violin Making. TOLIN making s an ancient art, yet new things may be learned about ft. Two makers of musical in- struments, one in Brussels, the other in Boston, have announced their be- lief that the material of an instru- ment has nothing to do with its tone. One of them made experiments only with wind Instruments, but the other tried innovations in violins and vio- loncellos, substituting tin and alumi- num for post and bridge, with an actual improvement In tone, so it Is reported. It is his belief that distri- bution of mass is far more important to good tone than the material used. This theory is contrary to all pre- vious opinions on the subject, and it true, will wipe out much of the ro- mance of the search for and treasur- ing of old violin timber. Mushroom Quarries. | SOUTH of the city of Paris the coun- try is honeycombed with aban- doned quarries, some of whigh are of enormous extent, resembling the shafts of great mines, from.300 yards to half a mile in length, and lying from thirty to fifty feet beneath the surface of the ground. In these old quarries are grown nearly all the mushrooms consumed in the French capital. The mush- rooms flourish in these caverns at all seasons and ghey have, in Parls, the reputation of being superior in flavor to those grown elsewhere. The worst enemy of the mushroom growers is ‘a species of fly that swarms through the dark passages in such numbers a8 some times to extinguish the can- dles of the workimen. The larvae of this fiy destroy the beds before the shoots have emerged from the groand. Vegetable Leather. The Japanese are producing from the inner bark of the mitsumata plant a good grade of vegetable leather, which Is said to be almost as tough as the so-called French. kid. In the first place, the books ; jcity. It was an excellent! BY PROSPER BURANELLI. lllustrated by Charles Sarka. N the recent police history of the country no class of komicides has been so clouded in doubt and ro- mance as the BSicillan vendetta crimes that have claimed a thousand victims, first and last. The words Black Hand, Camorra and Mafla have brough their dread Insinuations into the lan- guage within the generation and sur- prised our northern populations. We have not understood the motives and the minds of these Latin tribesmen,’ who kill each other at a word .of com- mand, forgetting all ties of blood and friendship, slaylng the near and the dear with the stranger and the enemy, for reasons beyond the Nordic com- prehension. The police were long unable to cope with the Sicillan situation and It was only after men of their own blood had been taken into the detec- tive forces that much progress was made In the repression of these frat- ricidal assassinations. In this article the present head of the Italian police in New York tells of the solving of several of these strange. .pussies of ldeath. He tells intimately how and why men were killed by these out- land and outlandish slayers and how they were traced and brought to pun- ishment. On December 26, 1917, Patrolman Richards of Akron, Ohio, while on post was shot and killed by unknown person or persons. . On January 10, 1918, Patrolman Norris of Akron, Ohio, while on post, was shot and killed by unknown per- son or persons. On February 15, 1918, Patrolmen Costigan and Hunt, while on' post. were shot and killed by unknown person or persons. . ‘This ters ugly memorandum chronicles one of the most extraordi- nary . murder mysteries eof ‘recent years. * k% % 'BEHL\'D his desk at New York police headquarters Detective Sergeant Michael Fiaschetti, head of the Italian squad and direct successor to the legendary Petrosino, smoked a black cigar and related strange sto- ries of erime. He told of the running down of the band that had begun a massacre of the police force of the large and wealthy “rubber city” of Akron. It he whe caught the criminals: “It was the toughest case I have ever been on,” he sald, “but in the end we had the murderers. “Here was all the information available,” he continued, pointing to a brief memorandum pasted In the scrapbook. “Each of the policemen had been killed in a bad section of ithe town, and in each case the mur- derer stole up behind his victim, placed a magazine pistol against his iback and fired. No dercription of the criminal was to be had. I have never encountered a case so perfectly de- |vold of any clue. We of the New York police were given the meager reports of the killings and kept on the lookout for any word about the affair that might be available in this Pretty soon I got some infor- mation about a fellow in town who knew something about some killings |nut in Akron.” This “information” that Flaschetti |got was the vital clue of the case. How he got the “information” he dis- creetly refrained from explaining. In detective stories the deciding clue is idiscovered in some striking, spectac- ular fashion. In actual police cases the detectives almost always “got some information.” The police have secret springs of knowledge that are hidden from the eyes of the multi- tude. At any rate, Sergt. Fiaschetti got a bit of information about a fel- low in New York who knew some- |lh|nl about killings in Akron. * x k * here is his picture—he was one of those who went to the chair.” Fiaschetti pointed to one of six bad looking faces pasted rogues-gallery- wise in the scrapbook. “Manfred!, he continued, “was hanging out over on the East Side, having come from Akron a few days before. 1 was pret- ty sure that he was one of the gang that had done the killings. so I picked him up in a saloon and brought him to headquarters. He, of course, de- nied any connection with the crime. We were in a bit of a quardary about him. We had no evidence whatever against him, and we wouldn't be able to extradite him to Ohlo-if we started formal proceedings. At the same time he wasn't the type you could bully into a confession. But he was an ignorant, foolish sort of thug. and I thought 1 could manage him. ‘Manfredi,’ I said, ‘I don’t want to be nasty with you, but I want you tb come over to Akron with me. Will you go peacefully.” 7 «All right, he sald. ' If he had known arything or had had sense enough to see a lawyer, he would have~refused to go, and we would have been against a wall agdi. But he was very ignorant. “We got on a train and started for Akron. When T had him on the scene, what then? His manner indicated that he had no fear of our uncover- ing anything in Akron. I decided that T would try to lopse his tongue ! ,notgun siugs discharged py getting him into a good humor.{pack as cause of death. ¢HE tellow was Tony Manfredi—, Crime Mysteries nished Foundation Associated—Vain L ife. “NO DESCRIPTION WAS TO BE HAD OF THE MURDERERS. THEY HAD STOLEN UP BEHIND THEIR VICTIM, PLACED A MAGAZINE GUN AGAINST HIS BACK AND FIRED.” an outbreak of vice. Evll resorts sprang up in the poorer quarters of the town coincident with the influx of an army of criminal hangers-on | Conditions got so bad that finally there was a public scandal and a re- form wave. Now. during this period. there lived in Akron a Sicilian who | bore the rather significant name of | Rosano Borgia. { This man kept a disreputable house | in the slums of Akron. He made much | money. Then one day the police raided his place. Borgia was indig- nant. Another raid followed. and several others. Borgia's anger reached a pitch of mad fury against | the police. In this state of mind he concelved a project worthy of his name. The project was nothing less than the extermination of the Akron police force. He offered a reward of $150 to any one who killed a police- man! . * * ¥ * This proclamation was not. of | course. published in the public prints, but circulated among the gunmen of the underworld. A band of six § cilian desperadoes resolved to win the reward. They killed four men, duly collected the blood money from Bor- gia, and were bent on continuing to earn such money indefinitely. The man who had acted as lookout, Tony Manfredi, had gone to New York to feast on his share of the takings, and had blabbed too freely among his own kind. The tale of his babbling had | reached Fiaschetti. | “After Manfredi had given me a!l| of these facts,” Fiaschetti continued, | “the next task was to bring in the rest of the murderers. None of them was in Akron. They made it a point to keep out of town. I had a long chase, but finally got them all—six. including the leader and instigator, Rosano Borgia. Three were electro- | cuted and three went to prison for life or long terms.” * %k x % TASCHETTI rated this gang as perhaps the most desperate with which his Italian squad has had to deal. Next to it came & Camorrist crowd with a record of seventy-five murders. The hunting down of this group shows certain resemblances to the Akron case. Again we find” the mysterious source of information and likewise the element of cajoling the criminal into confession. “Several months ago,” Fiaschetti said, “ a man’s body was fished out of the Shrewsbury river near Asbury Park. Weighted down with two stones, the corpse had been in the water for nine days. It was that of a middle-aged Italian, and showed into the There was 1 by treating him well and telllng him | nothing to identify the man, or give what a fine fellow he was, any clus to his murderers. In a little “Manfredi and I-had a great time|ypjje I got some information that a on the tral Fiaschetti said. “We | fellow named Bartolo Fontana knew played cards all the time and I g0t|g omething about the Asbury Park him drinks. and boastful. He became, very friendly | murder. By the time we were|¢,ok him to headquarters. After talk- I picked Fontana up nndl halfway #o Akron ‘he informed mel g to him for a few minutes I de—' confidentially that he could tell me a ot of things that I would be.inter- ested to know. I continued jollying cided that I could get the facts out of him. I didn’t put him in a cell, but took him around with me. We DETECTIVE FIASCHETTI _ “GOT SOME INFORMATION” Solved by Head of Italian Squad in New York Police De- partment—Vendetta Puzzles Have Fur- for Clever Work by Expert and His Aides—Probing the Ak- ron Police Murders—Slayer Sometimes Fears Those With Whom He Has Been Plea for Prisoner’s you. Before you put me in th Tombs let me see my wife and chil dren.’ “*All right.” 1 said. and in a couph of hours we were on a train for New York. “1 took Casalino to his wife ani children. then to headquarters. Hy was completely subdued and readi® repeated what he had confessed W 1 can’l promise vou anyihing. Casa- . 1 said, ‘bui 1 will do what | car “All six of the men were sentenced to death after trials out on Long Isiand. Time went on and appeal were refused, and the day for (asa- lino’s execution approuched. 1 wen) to the district attorney who had con. victed the men, “‘Chief’ 1 said. ‘Casalino <amq clean in tiat case. and 1 told him 1 would do what 1 could for him, Can't get him a commutation te {life imprisonment 7 we It has aiways been customary in cases like that to show a u@ndemned man cle upon recommendation of the police and the district attor- | nex | Right. said the district attorney, we'll go sce Gov. Miller and fix it up! o went 1o the governor and pul the i8¢ before him He refused io e interfe I begged for salino's Gaezzo to dinner. They renewed old times. For a week they went around together. Then Fontana asked Gaezzo to go hunting with him down in New Jersey. Gaezzo went. He hadn't been in the country long enough to know life on my knees. The fellow was | not bad and 1 had grown to like him. We had been friends, and 1 sald to mysell 41l the time that | was not sending him to the chair 1 had never [dreamed that the governor would not that there is not much hunting in|accept our recommendation. and I New Jersey. Fontans took him to|had promised Casalino to do what I Asbury Park and they wandered up|could to save him. the Shrewsbury river. When they| ~Gov. Miller refused and refused came to a deserted spot, Fontana|again. | begged harder than 1 have stepped behind Gaezzo, put his shot- | ever begged before, and the district | Bun to his unsuspecting friend’s back | attorney seconded me. But it was no {and pulled the trigger. He tied stones | yge - to the body and threw it into the| <here was grief in Fiaschetti's Tiver face as he said: “The reason why Carmillo Gaezzo | e L L had to be killed was that years { months ago." his grandfather. in the town of| Castellamare. in the province of Tra- | S pani in Sicily, killed a member of ! A Industry this same gang.” Science y. o ok % T is said that whenever a car wheel M[UCH of the criminality of the breaks on a certain great truzk lie M fialians in America can be the frazments are taken to the com- traced to the importation of ancient feud organizations from Sicily. The activities of the band to which Bar- tolo Fontana belonged enty-five murders in New York. Fontana. under the blandishments of Fiaschetti. revealed the secrets of the organization. The rounding up of the gang is still in progress. Fontana himself has already been sentenced to life imprisonment. The most moving story which Fias- chetti told is that of Michael Casa- lino. The reader may still remember the shocking murder on January 20, 1919, of Joseph and Helen Holback in their hotel at South Ozone Park, L. L The old couple had been shot to death in the course of a hoid-up. Six men late at night had waited till the last customer had left the restaurant and | then had held guns on the old man. He had fought. His wife had come running to aid him. A fusillade, and the old couple lay on the floor dying. The bandits fled in fright without taking anything. 2 “I got some information,” said Fias- cheiti, “that Michael Casalino was one of the six that committed the murders. He had ieft the city, and I started out’ after him. I followed him through several states. When 1 would come to a town 1 would find that he had just left. It was a har job, but finally I located my man o a farm up at Fairport, Wayne cousnl N. Y., ten miles this side of Rochext> He was working as a laborer in U fleld. His employer was one Saprito. a Sicilian. T knew Casalino to be & tough lad to handle. I would have to work carefully Wwith him. So 1 got a job a8 a farmhand on Saprito’s place and managed to become Casa- him on, and pretty soon he sald that|¢y)ked, had a few drinks, played |lino’s roommate. through him—if he were so disposed —I could solve the mystery of the Akron killings and make a big repu- tation for myself. - Finally, as'we &p- proached Akron, he was. conflding"to me that I was a good fellow, and he was going to give me a chance to cards, and then I took him to & hotel for the might. At first he said that he' knew mnothing ‘about the man found in the Shrewsbury river. but kept arguing pieasantly with him, urging him to come clean, and pretty soon he did. He was rather easy. got & lot of credit. No, hé hadn't|,fier a man has done a couple of killed any-of those policemen in AK-|yillings for those desperate gangs ron, but he knew every detail of the | snov gre apt to kill him to keep his crimes, because hadn't he acted a8}, u¢h shut, and Fontana belonged to I “We became fast friends in several days. -After a week I mentioned that I was 2 bit mervous, as I was wanted for a Rilling down In New York. “ “The cops are lookimg for me, too,’ Casalino confided in return. ‘I have just, got word that that —— Fia chetti Is out trying to trail me’ “Don't worry,’ I replied, ‘Fiaschetti is nothing but a big bluft.” * %k % included sev- | lookout while other membere of the gang did the shooting? He dldi't know that, as a lookout, he was &s guilty as the others. By the time the train had pulled into Akron Ne had| yers of the gang had come to him |the Holbacks. told me every fact of the case.” Then Fiaschettl related the story of the astounding Akron murders. ** k3 et *"BE oity of Akron grew marvel- Iously during the war.. It is the center of the rubber: industry, which doubled and redoubled, with a conse- quent multiplication - of employes. The organisation of the city was strairsd by the great Increase In population. For one thing there was one from which he knew what to ex- pect in the normal course of things. He told me this story: “gome time before, one of the and sayd “Fontana, do.you know Carmille Gaesso?” _“‘Sure,’ sald Fontana, ‘we came from the same town. We are old friends. His father was a friend of my fathe “rWell,’ said the other, ‘you've got to kill Carmillo Gaesso.’ “What could Fontana do? He had to obey orders or he would have died {right away. He invited his friend g e «T RECOUNTED the details of my Imaginary crime. Casalino re- lated the history of the murder of He and his mates, greenhorns at banditry, had lost their heads and began to shoot. I worked slowly with him, but after two week I had every detail of the case. Then one day I said to Casalmo: “Do you know who I really am? “He looked at me, surprised. “Well, L'm Fiaschette, I said, showing him my shield. “ My God, I'm done for” He almost collapsed. Then he begged: ““There’s only one thing 1 ask of pany’ and carefully stud ed, =0 that when the next order for car o structural weak- dent. It may be arded against. All the purchases by ad of iron, steel. oil, lumber \t not are tested by the chemists emplovs and they draw up the re- | quirements to which persons who seil the road supplies must conform. Thin is not an isolated instance It illustrates the practicality of applied science, and | the reliance of acute business men upon the expert opinion that insures them | against wasting materials, time and wl dlass graduated from one of our | largest technological schools num- bered #lmost two hundred young men and women. Eleven of them took up special studies in this institution or others. All but forty of the rest found employment within a year. They engaged in the service of elec- wric companies, railroads, cotion and per mills, mines, livon and steel foundries and others of our most important industrial enter- prises. ! The Dianemologo. “THIS singular name is given by the inventor. Eduardo Torres y Que- vedo, @ Spaniard, to an apparatus in- tended to take the place of stenog- raphy in reporting speeches. The ap- paratus, which consists simply of a series of little bells, requires the co- operation of eight or tem writers. Each writer takes a single phrase from the speaker's muu.- At the tinkle of & bell on his left he begins to write what he hears. The bell on his right arrests him and sets his | neighbor at work. By the time the circuit is made, the first writer js ready for another phrase. Afterward the phrases, which are numbered in their order of taking, are reunited to form the entire report. Tried at the Athenee In Madrid, the dianemologo is said to have given satisfactory re- sults.. Helium From Beryl A DISTINGUISHED English physi- cist, Prof Strutt of Cambridge, ihas discovercd a motable quantity of helium in beryl sent to him from Vew Hampshire. A remarkable fact in this relation is-that the mineral appears to be absolutely without radio-activity. As is now generally known, helium is a product of radio- active minerals. Prof. Strutt, sur- prised by the result obtained, states that it seems likely that herg is case of rayless change of atomic con-~ stitution, and it may lead to further unexpected discoveries.