The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 27, 1896, Page 16

16 THE SAN FRANCISCC (,m;—b'&f DAY, DECEMBER 27, 1896. A Revolution in The Kite Becomes a Means of Jransmitting the Human Voice The kite has becomes u means to the | rans ion of the human voice from one warship to another while the fleet ¢ service. Itis the strangest ad telephone has vet enjoyed, but it is | none the less valuable. Just what can be done has been demonstrated by Com- | nder B, G. 0. Tupper of the Royal Portsmouth, England. te used in this experiment was of lation sort, except that it was + tail. It was six feet long and 1 wide at the broadest point. In | place of the tail the kite carried two lines, lich retained on board the | ructional torpedo- boat from wh the experiments cted. No le was expected | ult of this experiment, but the | demonstrated were nevertheless very ) of a surprise. With the wind be- tween the two lines referred to it was found | that the kite was so easily managed that | was no trick at all todrop letters or even er into another ship and in this | tablisk ¢ | g this came one | th a wire, The end of the wire which | the kite bore away from the ship was | dropped u e deck of H. M. S. Daunt- | ess, wher secured by the electri- | p and attached to a tele- | ‘The other | aboard the | ee fee ng. remained g, was also attacted to a telephone, as soon as this task was comvleted | wo ships were in perfect communica- The kite remained suspended, se- | ed by the two lines, for more than four ring which time communication e Daring and the Daunt! rrupted. When the kite was 1t was not because there was | for it, but for the reason | ed to disconnect the in- d take in the wire, evement is only evidence of | ricians of the navy, of both and and the United States, have long d to be possible. They have declared t there was no reason why communi- of this sort should not be estab- between ships a few hundred feet | experiment that was made by the | of the Daring aud Dauntless had anotier valuable ult. Itshowed that ble to arrange for a new s Is from sbip to another twould be greatly superior to any flag system which could be conceived. If ihel telephone wire can be arranged in this r there is no reason why telegraphic unication cannot be made in a simi- The licers o lar ta In this ca shibp cc se an operator aboard the flag- 1d carry a conversation with his | operator aboard one of the fleet | THE NAPOLEO! without difficulty. The admiral's orders could pe easily transmitied from time to time and often avoid what is now consid- ered necessary boat ce. It might be thought that the fly of a kite under these circumstances wouid be a matter of extreme dithiculty, but kite-fiying under’ | | the latest methods has become a science. What d to be a schoolboy’s sport has now become a subject of study by profes- al men, and it seems quite likel before very long even greater results will be gained than has been the case at Ports. mouth, ° As a means of signaling, the kite is believed by not navai officers, | those of the army, to be fraught with great importance when the future is con- | sidered. 1tis, of course, very much easier | for a signal to be seen that is elevated to a | considerable height than one which may | float zt the top of a mainmast or be waved | from the summit of a hili. Add to these facts this latest develop- ment, the kite has a telephone wire car- rier, and the indications of a Limitless future are plain. 1f these experiments are continued and result as it seems quite likely they will, it is more than possible before very many weeks Admiral Bunce may sit in his cosy quarters aboard the great cruiser New York, and talk over fleet manuvers with Captain Robley E. Evans, sitting in bis cabin aboard the bat- | tle-ship Indiana, as both lie anchored down in Hampton Roads. It migh:t seem at first thought as if the | ideas thisexperiment has suggested—ideas which are already regarded as facts by well-posted men—were wholly chimerical. Not at all.* Not only are they entirely practical in every way, but it is very likely—so far as the British navy is con- cerned a certainty—that kite-flying will hereafter be considered a part of the naval officer’s education. It will be just as necessary for the Annapolis graduate to understand the science of air currents and their effect upon the kite as it will be for him to know exactly what he ought to do when the call sounds through the big cruiser, “*All hands to action.” | The recent experiments with kites at Governors Island in New York harbor | have conclusively proven that it is pos- sible t8 send up a camera from inside the lines of one army—the camera being at- tached to a kite—and take an accurate view of the entrenchments or position of the enemy thereby, and to learn in fairly accurate fashion of their number. On several occasions this year in New York photographs have been taken of parades in this fashion and with the very best pos- sibie resuits. To suggest that this coula be done fifteen montbs ago would have provoked derision. There is just as much reason for not regarding the telephonic kite-flying experiment with credulity as | the heart. Naval Signaling’ there woula have been for decryinz the other. The results of the English experiment, even though they have just become known, have already created no little taik in naval circles. In fact, it is more than probable that the naval officers of the United States will see what they can doin the matter. Secretary Herbert of the Naval Department believes strongly in being thoroughly up to date. The English experiments have already been called to bis attention, and he now has the result of them under consideration. Kite-flying may be in its infancy as is often stated. Certainly if that is true it is an exceedingly healthy infant. GURIOUS TRIFLES. A Pin in the Heart. The old-time idea that the s'ightest touch of a foreign substance on the heart means certain death was shattered years ago. One of the most remarkable cases ever heard of, however, was that described in a paper read before the Association of American Physicians some years ago by Dr. Peabody. It was of a case where a pin was found 1n a human heart, after having been there for an indefinite period. The point of the pin was distant about rive millimeters from the external surface of The pin seemed eroded, and was brokea by the scissors in dissection, without becoming displaced. There was no evidence of recent local inflammation, but that part of the heart in the neighbor- hood of the protruding head of the pin was greatly thickened and snow white and irmiy adherent to the edge of the head. The Greatest Dish in Siam, | The favorite dish of the Siamese epicure is called kapick. It is made in this way: They catch about a bushel of fish and prawns, and pile them up in some spot where the sun shines. There they remain for about ten days, the heat drying out the oil, but at the same time converting the fish into a liquid, maggoty mess, sorank in odor that it 1s much as the European can do to approach it. During all the time the sun is at work the mass is constantly stirred up until it is of the consistency of molasses. This is strained of bounes and the kapick is ready for use. It is the greatest of Siamesedelicacies, and is found in both thie palaces of the rich and hovels of the poor. The Origin of *Good August.” The American, when he meets an ac- quaintance, usually greets him with ‘“‘sood morning” or “good evening.” The Ro- man usually wishes his friend a ‘“‘good August.” The origin of the custom comes tbrough the unhealthfulness of the Roman August. Itis a month in which the Ro- man fever prevails. The victim is seized with achill, then comes the fever. If he perspires freely he will get well. If he does not he has that kind of Roman fever N CYPRESSES. called the “perniciosa,’”’ and will die in a few lours usually. If the Roman escapes the fever during Angust he is likely to en- joy fairly good bpalth during the balance ofthe year. *~ | A Wonderful Needle, Among the many treasures owned by Queen Victoria is a wonderful needle made for her in Buckinghamshire. The needie 13 a mimature of the Roman column of Trojan, but instead of the exploits of the | Roman emperors scenes out of the life of | England’s Queen are depicted. One shows Victoria wken a young girl at Tunbrnidge Wells, another scene is the coronation of | Westminster, while a third shows the mar- risge of the queen and Prince Consort. The figures in all these scenes can only be made out plainly by the aid of a magnify- ing glass. The needle can also be opened and it contains several others all oi the same form, and all are adorned with mini- ature figures in relief. “SHERIDAN'S '§ dusty road from Winchester occupies the center, with the figure of Sberidan on horsebeck the commanding feature of the picture. Ambulance and hospital wagons of the BF\ retreating Union army are massed on either side. On every hand are depicted the woeful results of the surprise attack of the morning of October 19, 1864. when, during Sheri- dan’s absence on an important mission to Washington, his forces were set upon by rebel cavairy under Early. On either side of Mulvanv’s picture is shown the electrical effect of | Yesteraay she told a Sun reporter the his- | with an American clipper ship, and hy THE NEW INTER-WARSHIP TELEPHONIC KITE JUST SUCCESSFULLY TESTED. The Famous Bonaparte Cypresses The Khedive's Gift to the Emperor Gives Shade Now to In 1814 the Khedive of Ezypt sent to Napcleon Bonaparte as imperial tribute 400 African cypress trees that were to be | pianted in the gardens of the Tuileries. | Twenty-four of those cypress trees stand | in the segment of a circle about the north- | east corner of St. Nicholas svenue and | One Hundred and Fifty-ninth street, says the New York Sun. The aiter- noon sun throws their shadow across the back yards of a row of flat houses. About their roots are the ash | heaps, the weeds, the battered tin cans | and the other sordid debris of a city vacant lot. Twenty-four of them stand there; the rest at one tin:e or anotherin the last two generations have been cut | down and dragged away to make fuel for | the squatters of Washington Heights. The few that remain will follow all (oo} soon unless private citizeus or the proper | city officials exert themselves to preserve these relics of the former historic glory of the Harlem Heights. The land where the trees stand was for- merly part of the Jumel estate. Their| history was told by Mme. Jumel to her niece’s daughter, who is now Mrs. Julius H. Caryl. Mrs. Caryl lives at Caryl sta- tion, on the New York and Northern Rail- road, in a house filled with relics of colo- nial New York and of Napoleonic France. tory of the trees as Mme. Jumel had told it to her. In 1815 Stephen Jumel was a merchant prince of New York. He owned a fleet of clipper ships that were kept busy bringing to this port the silks and brandies of France. When Navoleon surrenderea himself to the English, after Waterlco, M. | Jumel was filled with indignation. It be- came his highest ambition to go to Havre bribes or by force to take Napoleon away from the guards the Allies had placed about him; then to trust tothe Yankee chipper and Yankee sailors to make sure that no vessels the Allies could send in - RIDE the New a Debris Pile pursuit should ever overtake the august fugitive. Out of his trading fleet M. Jumel se- lected the Eliza as the one most to be relied upon for speed and as most fitted to become the temporary home of him who had been Emperor. The Eliza took M. Jumel to Havre. He communicated with Napoleon, who, to the surprise and grief of the merchant, declined to enter into the scheme. Itdid not consort, he said, with the dignity of Napoleon I 1o run away in a Yankee clipper from the consequences of his defeat. It does not appear from the traditions of the guard kept over Napoleon on the one hand, or from Mrs. Caryl’s narrative on the other, just how the escape was to be brought about. Itis just possible that certainty of failure had much to do with the great captive’s concern for his dignity. At any rate, the few friends who elung about him after the abdication were greatly touched by M. Jumel’s regard for him who had been their master. One of hisaids gave to the merchant the great cylindrical iron trunk that the Emperor had carried with him through all his campaign. Napo- leon’s carriage of state was also given to M. Jumel. In his pride and pleasure in these evidences of the esteem in which he was held by one whom bhe so deeply revered, Sterhen Jumel became indis- creet. He rode abroad 1n the chariot of the Bonapartes. The French Government descended upen him in its re-enforced might, confiscated carriage and trunk and placed the merchant himself under ar- rest rs. Caryl did not care to dwell upon this unpleasant episode in the career of her grand uncle. “It suflices,” she said, “'to say that his love for the Emperor caused him to be put under arrest, and that he had to call upon the American Minister for aid before he was released.” He got the trunk back, but not the car- riage. The trunk was sent to America in the Eliza, and is now the most notable A~ ainting by Mulvany %{Jouh MULVANEY’S painting of “Sheridan’s Ride from Winchester,”” which was unveiled in Philadelphia a few days ago with public ceremony, is said to be a masterpiece. The relic among Mrs. Caryl's memorabilia. M. | Jumel remained in Paris for several months, and in the course of time heard | of the 400 young cypress trees thatjhad | been sent to Napoleon by the Khedive. | He heard that they were piled upin the | gardens of the Tuileries; they had not | even been unpacked from the bales in | which they were gathered, the roots of cach tree encased in clumps of the soil from which they bad been lifted. The moment attention was called to their existence there arose a great clamor for their destruction, along with all else that tended to remind France of the degradation which Napoleon had brought upon her. Louis XVIII himself became | interested in their disposition. The some- time Comte de Provence, in his newly as- sumed royal dignity, evolved the scheme of building a great bonfire of the cypress saplings. It was to be a bonfire symbolic of the end of Irance’s effort to stretch her rule over all the three continents. M. Jumel suggested that he was willing to pay for them. In a very short time the impoverished Government gave over 1ts plan for a symbolic bonfire, and the cypress trees were sold to M. Jumel. They were brought to this country and safely planted near the gateway of the great Jumel place. They were arranged as a hedge about a round fishpond. The pond itself had to be filled up after it had existed for only a year, because it was found to breed malaria. The trees were planted very close together, and many of them died for want of room in which to grow. When the city streets were cut through a great many of the cypresses were destroyed. Mrs. Caryl said that at the time when Central Park was first laid out a futile effort was made to transplant some of the trees in the new pleasure ground. Ferdi- nand P. Earle, who now lives in the old Jumel honse, advocates another attempt | to move the trees to the park, or at least an effort to obtain rooted slips from them. The few trees that are left are growing | sturdily in their present home. Every summer they put on a thick dark dress of firlike needles, and do their somber best to impress beholders with the glory of | that which once was theirs. Noteven Louis XVIII could have planned & more humiii- ating end for them. The branches grow straight out far enough to clear those above them and then upward. Many critics believe that the African cvpress is the gopher wood or cedar of the Scrip- tures. Sheridan's appearance on the ground, the enthusiasm of the wounded and previously disheartened men over his arrival, and the first evidences of the transformation that was quickly wrought in the shattered ranks of the Union forces by the return of their gallant commender. The painting is twenty feet long and eleven ieet higb, and spiritedly portrays the eveats described in Buchanan Read’s famous poem, The Artificial Eye That Sees. Science Gonstructs One Which Behold! Lights Invisi Science has constructed an ‘eye which + s wonderful lights that are invisible to . It is the strangest production of scientific genius of the country. - The in- genuity exhibited in ats construction is remarkable, and the trouble entailed in the elaboration of this additional organ of sense very great indeed. The strangest part of it all that tbis eye looks into is a mystery which a slight defect in human vision has prevented mankind gaining the privilege of seeing. Experiments showed, vears ago, that the world floated in what was known as ether. It has now been discovered tkat in this ether there are invisible lichts and waves. These lights are produced by the elec- tric waves in the ether, and they are pos- sessed of wonderful power. No substance is to them opaque. Not only can they venetrate the atmosphere and other trans- parent creations, but granite, iron doors and mounds of earth, not to mention bones, are to it as glass. An odd fact, too, is that in passing through these sub- stances, the mysterious waves lose none of their active properties. All these things are vouched for by a scientist who is becoming a power in Eu- ropesan circles—Professor Jagadis Chunder Bose, professor of physical science at the Presidency College at Calcutta. Professor Bose is a Hindoo and a native of Bengal, but he is easily at the head of Indian scientists, and that in a land where scien- tific lore dates back far beyond the inspira- tion of the Koran is a fact which carries exceeding weight. Professor Bose has just laid his discov- | eries betore the British Association of | Science, a body of men who are so practi- cal that theory is always at a discount | among them. The announcement by the Indian scientist of his aiscoveries and his consequent belief created the greatest sen- sation which that dogmatic body of sa- vants has known in many a long day. Professor Bose’s paper was on electric waves, and the story it told of strangeand almost thrilling revelations gained in the domain of modern sciences, uncer almost insuperable difficulties, seerns more like the tale of a sensational novel than a pro- saic story of fact. The scientist who has suddenly emerged from comparative obscurity into the broad light of fame is the son of an Indian scholar, Bhagaban Chunder Bose, who was famed in his own land for his knowl. edge of Indian scientific faets. This knowledge the son has acquired through his father, and upon such a basis has erected the siructure of thought which row contains a number of the secrets that have heretofore been invisible to hu- manity. One of the greatest difficulties which Protfessor Bose found in his investigation was the defection of the invisible light. After a series of experiments it was found to be absolutely necessary to contrive some sort of artificial vision, and the work PROFESSOR JAGADIS CHUNDER BOSE AND HIS was begun. The result of it all is the electric eye, by means of which the in- visible can be seen. In the construction of the artificial eye these essential points are necessar sensitiye surface, known as the retina, on which the image of the external object is focuse¢ by the eye lens; a conductive | strand, knolwn as the ontical nerve, which carries the visual impulse to the brain. The twitcking produced in the brain by this impulse gives rise to the sensation of light. Despite the fact that it is artificial in every way and savors not at all of the human, yet it really works on principles similar to the eyes through which we look. In the first place there is the sensi- tive layer, and the invisible light falling on this results in an electric impulse. This impulse, carried by a conducting wire, produces a twitching motion in that part of the mechanism just back of the eye that correspunds to the human brain, and the fact of sight is made apparent by the magnitied motion of the svot of light which is reflected from the moving part. A strange fact 1n connection with this is that this so-called electric eye becomes tired, jast as our eyes do, and as when that fatigue produces an 1tching sensation in the human eye we rub 1t, so it is neces- sary to rub the electric eye. The effect in both cases is similar. It seems to, produce rest. There 1s this advantage which the electrical eye has over the human eye, when one specimen becomes tired out and temporarily useless another can be substi- tuted. Thus given a full opportunity to recover its wonted vigor it only takes the electric eye a comparatively short time to pecome us fresh and as keen as ever. Now, while this strange orb of science is very wonderful in its way, what it re- veals to us is far more strarge than the eye or the principle upon which it is con- structed. Think of a machine that conld be set up on the Vice-President’s desk in the Senate chamber at Washington by a simple movement of which a wave of ether or electrical wave could be started that would penetrate through all sorts of substances and people to the Librarian’s desk in the Congressional library and signal, by means ot a bell or otherwise, to Mr. Spofford that the head of the august body of lawmakers required his presence. This, too, without the aid of an electric wire or any other means of communica- tion than the electric wave afforded in itself. Sound is produced by the vibration ot matter, Light is due to the vibration of ether. There are sounds that are in-| audible, queer as that may seem. Just| 80, there are lights that are invisible. Theidea of the penetration of ether waves may be gained by casting a stone intoa pond or any body of water whose surfuce ble to Man. is reasonably smooth. When the stone strikes the water a circle is instantly formed, or rather a series of circles, and these circles constantly widen until they are apparently lost in the ripples of the main suriace. Again, if the string of a violin be struck, the quivering wire gives up its motion to the air, which carries it to our ear, and the motion thus communicated to the brain produces the sensation of sound. The machine which Professor Bose has invented is a perfect instrument, by which the electric waves in the ether are readily produced and their proverties detected and examined. These waves fallinz on a suitable receiver produce the marvelous signal referred to and make it possible to signal from one room to another or from one place to another without che slightest apparent means of communication. With the possible exception of metallic plates of ordinary thickness, there is no known substance which offers material opposition to the passage of these rays. To them pitch, coaltar and even the human body itself, flesh or blood, are as transparent as glass itself to this wondrous light. Itis the general supposition that the essence of our consciousness is continuity of thought. Professor Bose, however, takes an entirely opposite view. In dis- cussing the matter, he said: “The most curious thing which science has demonstrated is the fact that there are great gaps in our consciousness. We first begin to be aware of a sound mft when the air is guivering at about fhe rate of sixteen vibrations a second. When the vibrating string which gives rise to sound is shortened bhigher and higher notes are given out. In this way we pass from lower to higher octaves, and when the vibration reacles the rate of 32,000 beats in a second the limit of audibility is reached. “As we near this limit the notes be- come more shrill and continuous, and, finally, when the note is raised stiil higher, or, in other words, the rate of vibration exceeds 32,000 beats to a seeond, the ear fails to respond. Very low pitched or very high pitcned notes are beyond our power of hearing. To detect these in- audible sounds scientists construct an artificial ear, which consists of a slender jet of burning gas, known as the sensitive flame, which responds to sound by flutter- ing. “Just as vibration 1s produced in air by mechanical disturbance, so may the im- palpable etber be thrown into vibration by an electric disturbance. There may thus be produced ethereal notes, few of which are detected by our sensation of touch as warmth, and a few others by the eye as light. Blower or quicker vibrations than these we cannot perceive. It must not be understood ihat this ap- paratus produces in the human being the power to see at any and all times these electric light waves that are invisible INVENTION. under ordinary circumstances. The ac- companying illustration shows the instru- ment which produces the wonderiul re- sults. By means of this instrument the human eye, placed at the rear of the elec- tric eye, is able to detect flashes of light, the electric waves that can by means of this same instrument be transmitted an indefinite distance and produce signals at a given point, which is altogether invisi- bie to the manipulator of the invention. The First Cinderella. The charming child’s story of *‘Cinder- ella, or the Glass Slipper,” is probably of Egyptian origin. The hieroglyphies tell of Pti, a captive Persian princess who one day was surprised on the banks of the Nile by the approach of a youth as beau- tiful as the Sun God. The youth would have caught the princess buithe lovely Pti was swift of foot and made her escape. However, she left bebind her a tiny glass slipper, whicn the handsome youth treas- ured and set about finding an owner for. As the youth avas no other than a prince of the blood roval, Rameses II, the orig- inal of the great statue of Memnon, the singing statue on the banks of the Nile, the Princess Pti fled no more when her princely lover found her. It may be said that Rameses’ quest was a comparatively easy one, as the Persians alone made shoes of glassin those days. ————————— Peculiarities of Authors. Thackeray’s penmanship was marvel- ously neat, but so small that it couid not always be read with comfort by any but microscopic eyes. Charles Dickens’ writ- ing was much less beautiful, but almost equally minute, and hiz habit of writing with blue ink on blue paper, with frequent interlineations and cross lines, made his copy a burden alike to compositor and proofreader. Duglass Jerrold jotted down his jokes upon little slips of biue paper in letter smaller than the type 10 which they were to be set. Cap:ain Mar- ryat’s handwriting was so fine that when- ever the copyist rested from bis labors he was obiized to stick a pin where he left off, in order to find the place again. Char- lotte Bronte's handwriting appeared to have been traced with a necdle. — They Are All Prime Helnrichs. It will soon be time for the little state- let of Reuss-Schleiz in Germany to recom- mence numbering its princes. A pecu- liarity of the law requires that every male member of the reicning family be called Heinrich. To disunguish one from the other, each prince is solemnly numbered immaediately alter he is born.” Every cer. tury these umbers are solem: !v wound up and wiitten off in the family bible, and with the commencement of the new century the Heinriens begin at number one again. We do not know how many Heinriohs there have been in this century, but one prince who died about 20 years ago nt a vipe old age, and who was born in 1789, was known as Prince Heinrich LXVIL y