North Carolina Newspapers

Synthetic Rocks Produced in Day laboratory Reproductions Equal Earth’s Finest Work—Use Nature’s Processes. Washington.—What is claimed to be the latest wonder of modern science Is the man-made reproduction of syn thetic minerals, to be followed in a few months by synthetic rocks. The reproductions tire said to equal mot iter earth’s linest workmanship and to re quire less than a millionth part of the estimated time needed by her. They are the fruits of years of pa tient research and laborious hours in the laboratory; of hazardous experi ments with powerful machines capable of exerting pressure of 200,000 pounds to the square inch—till curried to their present stage of success ut the geo physical laboratory of the Carnegie in stitute of Washington. T»» manufacture minerals and rocks science is simply duplicating nature’s processes, but Is accomplishing the same results, on a much smaller scale,, of course, in u single working day. Na ture took bewildering ages and smelt ed her wonders in the vast forges of the earth; science Is fabricating its copies in a few highly polished and in nocent-looking little steel “bombs.” Same Minerals Used. Mother earth manufactured her minerals and rocks, science has learned, by means of extreme heat and extreme pressure. First the minerals known to be contained In the mineral under experiment are poured Into a tiny tube made of pure platinum, one end of which Is sealed by solid gold. The opposite end is then sealed und lids container placed in the “bomb.” The bomb is made of the tlnest steel obtainable. Its aperture is small and its walls extremely tldck in compari son. all making it capnble of with standing the terrific test it is about to undergo. A small electric furnace made of the same, although impure, constituents of rubies, is placed in the “bomb” and the apparatus sealed. Then it is ready for the ordeal of sear ing heat and gigantic pressures. Both are applied gradually, the bent sometimes being permitted to register as high as 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit and the pressure as much us 60,000. pounds to the square inch. Gradually the gauges creep up, and up and up. Suddenly they relax and the pressure drops. The watchful attendants know "something" has happened Inside the bomb and the heat and pressure are quickly turned off. When the platinum container is cut open mineral particles or rocks, whichever the case may l>e, are found inside. Rocks That Will Bend. . Not only are these minerals the rep M liens *f nature's own products, but In many Instances purer—completely free from the discoloring impurities tlmt are found in the natural originals. For instance the jadeite made at the geo physical laboratory of the Carnegie in stitute is light yellow in color. Nat ural jade is green. The green color ing, however, is supplied by an im purity, and the synthetic jade readily •could he made the same shade by in cluding the Impurity in its constitu ents. Science has gone nature one better in its experiments, it has discovered that by injecting more water Into the rocks it can make them susceptible to bending—gelatin-like. If still more water is forced into them under beat and pressure they are quite readily re duced to liquid—liquid rock, in fact. Hut when the uninitluted visitor to the laboratory opens bis eyes in wonder at such spectacles, the scientists simply laugh and quite learnedly say: “Why, there’s nothing so remarkable about that.” Able to Compress Water. Tests with high pressure have also disproved some old theories. The first is that water cannot be compressed. Science has discovered that water can not only be compressed, but that under a pressure of 130,000 pounds to the square inch it freezes into u cuke of ire so thickly condensed that it sinks like rock in water. Mercury, too—the "unfreezabie” mineral used in ther mometers—cun be frozen under u pres sure of 170,000 pounds to the square inch. Science has yet to learn, however, to duplicate the wonders of nature at the same cost before it can compete with her in the commercial world. Mother earth can do her work so vastly cheap er in that respect. For instance, if you were determined to have a syn thetic tombstone, science could prob ably make you u granite one—but It would cost something like a billion dollars. Fortunes spent in research and past experiments must of course be figured in "cost production.” The Important fact, however. Is that man can now make granite. Of far greater value for the present | are the laboratory’s contributions to the study of seismology. Its experi ments have resulted in scientists be ing able to determine accurately the flexibility of the various kinds of rocks and hence the speed with which earthquake waves pass through each kind. Thus, by timing the passage of an earthquake wave at different sta tions it is now possible for the experts to say with assurance of accuracy just what kind of rocks lie buried far be yond the reach of man In the respec tive areas. U. S. Savants Win Calendar Row Earliest Date in the New World History Is August 6, 613 B. C. Cambridge, Mass. — The earliest dates In New World history are Au gust 6, 613 B. C„ and December 10, 580 B. C„ by the present system of marking time, the Peabody Museum of Harvard university announced in making public the final solution of the chronology of Mayan dates. This solution, made possible by the studies of Dr. II. J. Shlnden of the museum, is hailed ns a distinct vic tory for the American school of re search in the records of the ancient inhabitants of Central America, since it follows the lines of approach laid down by several scientists of the United States in contradistinction to the basic theories of the German, P'rench and Spanish savants. -These positive and perfectly de fined points In chronology probnbly fell within the working years of one of the world’s first scientists, the un known mathematical and astronomical genius who Invented the Central Amer ican calendar and established the Mayan era." the museum’s announce ment says. Spaniards Destroyed Books. “Actually the numerous dates on the monuments of the great Mayan civilization in Yucatan and adjacent territory are counted from a beginning day which corresponds to October 14, 3373 B. C.. but this beginning day was reached by putting seven cycles of 144,000 days each for the past of the world before the historical .first day of the numerical count. “This historical first day was Au gust 6. 613 B. G. At this time a numerical record of elapsed days was begun, und in the years that followed various astronomlcnl events were put down fis they happened, a procedure which soon gave a picture of time adequate for the perfection of a cal endarical machine. Fights Railroads and Routs a Mayor ; mum. i I Ij. jiuiBp^M-—m | jnjfiNcmE^MASONcrnr Miss Helen Schultz, twenty-tour* of Mason City, Iowa, who operates 24 hus lines, is lighting single-handed the efforts of four powerful rallrouds to have her license revoked. In an altercation with the mayor of Cedar Falls. Iowa, over a local permit, she called the latter an "old fool," and then obtained a $1,500 judgment against him for false arrest. HUNDREDS DIED HERE Remains of a 12-story tower in ft Tokyo amusement park which qflft lapsed in the earthquake, killing about 700 persons. j Civil War Vet Has 77 Great-Grandchildren Syracuse.—Perry Soles Cobb, of Ly sitnder, Onondaga county, celebrated his ninety-sixth birthday at his home at Adams recently, at a party given by his daughter to his 151 descendants. Mr. Cobb, the oldest Civil war veteran living in Jefferson county, boasts of 11 children, G3 grandchildren, 71 great grandchildren and six great-great grandchildren. “On the second date (December 10. 580 R. C.), the perfected calendar of the Mayas was formally Inaugurated, according tp an inscription at the ruined Mayan city of Copan in west ern Honduras. This perfected calen dar functioned without the loss of a single day for 2,000 years only to break down and pass out of use when Mayan books were destroyed by the Spanish inquisition in Yucatan in A. D. 1561." Discovery of the key to the ancient calendar of the Central American In dians reveals that surprising intellect ual power existed in the western world before the coming of Columbus, the re port declares, and ndds: Doctor Spinden Solved Mystery. '* “The inauguration of the perfected Mayan calendar on December 10, 580 B. C., means the invention before this date of a symbol for zero—or comple tion. according to the Maya mind—as well as figures for entire numbers. It means place value notation in the writing of numbers. “Now place value notation was un known to the Greeks and the Romans, nnd Its introduction Into western Eu rope was accomplished by the Arabs. This was the Arabic decimal system upon which modern mathematics de pend. “The Mayan system was arranged on a modified base of twenty and there fore does not exactly parallel the Ara bic system. The inauguration of the Mayan calendar at this early time means that the hieroglyphs of the twenty days of the month, the eight een months of the year, etc., had al ready taken form.” Doctor Spinden, who Is given credit for the solution of a mystery that puzzled scientists for many years, worked out a day-for-day correlation of the Mayan and Gregorian calendars and corroborated his findings by using dates on monuments in ancient cities such as Copan, Tikal and Pulenque, In connection with absolute astronomical events. Tables have been formed whereby Mayan dates can be trans ferred easily into Christian dates and vice versa. Told Farmer What to Do. "The most dramatic proof is the dis covery that a series of monuments at Copan deal with an ancient congress of astronomy in 503 A. D.,” the report says. “It appeurs that in 392 A. D., two monuments were set up on hills on either side of the valley of Copan, the western one showing clearly on the skyline. “These monuments are between four and five miles apart and a person standing before the eastern one, or at some spot in the city on the line con necting the two monuments, would see the sun set directly behind th"> west ern monument two times in the course of the year, namely, April 9 and Sep tember 2 in the average Gregorian year. “Both of these dates are recorded at Copan on various, monuments and they appear prominently at o her cities. They are connected with cal culations leading directly to the days of the equinoxes and solstices The astronomical congress at Copan cele brated a common acceptance of cer tain features of the calendar and a shift In the base line which involved a concept of relativity too complicated for easy explanation. “The Mayan year was of 365 days, and, while the Mayas did not inter polate leap year days, they knew just how many to allow for the accumulat ing differences for any given number of years." Cathedral in Cologne Draws British Soldiers Cologne.—British offlcers and sol dler3 of the forces occupying this city never tire - of visiting Its majestic cathedral. A life slae mouse of solid gold under an inverted crystal bowl set upon u marble tnble In one of the chapels Invurlnhly tauses much curloslly and Inquiries as to the cause of the little gtilSfu rodent's presence ure frequent. It Is told that some huudrcds of yea re ago the cathedral was Infested with mice which were responsible for much damage to the paintings, sacer dotal costumes and other costly silk ornaments. All efforts to rid, the ca thedral of the plugue had proved fail ures until some one suggested that Uie presence of a mouse of gold as a permanent fixture would prove effec tive In frightening the live ones away. The legend says that the remedy was successful. “Do you really believe such was the case?" a ranking British officer asked of the old sexton the other day. With a sad smile the latter replied; “Hardly; otherwise, 1 am certain we should have enough of the precious metal In Germuny to set up a gold statue of a British soldier somewhere lo Cologne." Self-adjusting electrodes are a fea ture of a new electric furnace. Her Presence of Mind ****** By CLARISSA MACKIE USP. 11024, by iicCluie Newspaper Syndicate.» The chimneys of the old Lange house were visible between the towering trees that shaded the place. For many years no one of that distinguished name had occupied the place. An thony’s purents were dead, his sisters had married and moved away, and the homestead, left to the only son, An thony, had been closed for ten years while the owner linished his medical studies in Europe. The war had in terrupted, and he had brought new : honors to the family name, but had remained overseas long after peace had been declared. Rumor had it that young Doctor Lange was coining home, so each day when Mary Ilell flew past in her tidy little sport car she stretched her pretty neck to see If S smoke came from the ancestral chim neys of her old playmate—Tony Lange. "As If any sensible man would build ; a fire on a midsummer day!” she scoffed again ns she slowed down and looked through the open gate. “The gate is open—don’t get excited, Mary Bell—it is probably nobody but Amos While raking the lawn—but there is a man around the shrubbery and 1 don't see Amos mowing grass! It must be a trump or a burglar.” If Mary’s heart skipped a beat one would not have guessed it, for she ab ruptly turned the tidy car into the frowning gateway of Lange Mouse and crept up the leaf-strewn avenue. Pres ently she turned on to the unkempt lawn that Amos White labored in vain to keep in order. The car had almost reached the side door of the house when Mary had a good look at a roughly-dressed form bent over some task at the door. Mary correctly guessed that he was trying to enter the house by force. She whipped out a small revolver from Its case at the side of her seat. “Hold up your hands, please,” she said politely. The man whirled about nnd stared at her. He was a very dlrty-looking man, with a villainous scowl under the visor of an old cap. “Hands up!” repeated the pretty maid in the car. “Nothing doing, madam," said the interloper curtly. “Then I shall shoot.” “What for? Is this your house?" “It Is the house of one of my friends.” “That’s funny,” he said, throwing off his cap nnd coming to sit rn the steps of the porch. He smiled In a most appealing manner. But Mary Bell did not waver. She still held the weapon, for which she had a tremendous respect, aimed at the intruder, and was rather wishing he would throw up his hands In the orthodox manner of Wild West motion picture villains and hack timidly out of the vicinity. This villain did nothing of the sort. He simply bent his head nnd rumpled his dark hair with blackened hands. Mary knew he was laughing at her. Such impertinence! The little car backed indignantly on to the lawn. The “burglar” came down the steps with a very sheepish air and bowed humbly. “Do you need any help, ma’am?” he Inquired. Mary grew pink. “I am going after help," she snld distinctly. “I am go ing after the constable.” “Why—” “Because you are trying to break into that house—you are, aren’t you?” “Yes, it’s my—” but his words were drowned in an impertinent little screech from the horn us the car tore its way across the tangled gruss and weeds. The would-be burglar stared after her a moment, then slapped his knee, laughed softly, nnd went back to the door which he soon opened with the aid of a crowbar he had found in the woodshed. Once within the little entry he closed the door softly and stood for a mo ment listening. He would listen In vain, for never again would the voices of dead and gone Langes echo through the house. Standing for a moment with bent head he pressed the back of his hand to his eyes and then with a quick straightening of his shoulders he opened a door In front of him that led Into the dining room. Here he lingered, looking at the pic tures and furniture, peering through the closed shutters where sunshine tried to pierce the gloom. S tftly he tiptoed from room to room, mounted the stairs and repeated the same ex amination of every room in the house. At last he found a room where a ward robe disclosed some clothing—he rum maged drawers and closets. Then he entered the bathroom and turned on the shower. Half an hour later the little car of Mary Bell whirled up to the front door. Deside her sat the constable. Ids official star gleaming with menac ing power. He looked truculently around. “Where is he?" he wanted to know. “I left him at the side steps—he was jimifiyiiig the door." Mary Dell looked pale, but determined. Once more she had exerted what she called presence of mind, hut which her small brother paraphrased into “absence of sense." “I klnda wish you hadn't told him you was going after me,” objected Constable Smith peevishly. “Of course, the scump’s run away by this time.” "He didn’t look like the kind who run for a woman," objected Mary. "Some hard character, I reckon," chuckled the constable us he tramped toward the side door. In the stillness that followed Mary Dell could hear the beating of her own brave heart. Suppose the man, des perate, hidden perhaps Inside the house, should shoot at her for bet ray ing his whereabouts to the constable. “I am not afraid!" she said aloud, and just then the front door opened noiselessly and the object of her thoughts appeared—or rather perhaps it was because the newcomer was so different from the soiled and desper ate burglar she had encountered. They stared at each other. The man was young and handsome, | with a very pleasant smile and a very determined look about his mouth at the same time—that was what Mary Bell was thinking. His nice hair was damp as if newly washed, and his clean-shaved face was that of her old playmate, Tony Lange, grown older— and somehow nicer! Then, too, he wns wearing tennis clothes of snowy white from head to foot. Mary Bell saw this all at a glance and In the same instant she cried out Involun tarily : ‘‘Oh! I thought It was the burglar!" “Thanks for the compliment, Mary Bell, but that’s scarcely a welcome home to an old friend!" "Tony—or, Anthony Lange!” she cried. “Tony Lange—or nothing at all— evermore," he said gayly us he shook hands with her. “Oh, well, then Tony—we are so glad to see you—and so proud of all the glory you gained In the war—and are you going to stay home and doctor ail the folks hereabouts?" she asked | in a breath. “Perhaps," he promised guardedly. “How is your mother and the rest of the family?” “Very well, indeed—and who Is this?” he asked curiously as the con stable ambled around the house to find Mary Bell in friendly conversation with an immaculately dressed young man in tennis flannels. Constable Smith smiled sourly. “I been all through the house. Miss Mary, and that feller's got clean away!” “Who’s got away?" demanded Doctor Lange. “The burglar Miss Mary caught— I jest wish that young squirt wTould come home and take care of his house!” “He’s here now. and much obliged to you, constable," grinned Anthony. "Wall, I’ll be swinged! I'd never known you, Tony Lange, or is it doc?" asked the man curiously. “Oh, it’s doc to my old friends,” said the war hero as he shook hands, leav ing something in the official’s palm that turned his rancor into joy. “Thank you for taking care of ray house.” “ ’Twu’n’t me—’twas Mary Bell’s presence of mind,” twittered the con stable as he wralked down the drive. “I’m sorry about the burglar—I hope he didn’t steal anything—but he was desperate looking,” apologized Mary Bell. For reply Doctor Lange raised his hands above his head. He twisted hia face into a villainous scowl. Mary Bell rocked with laughter. “So It was you?" "Of course. I had been under my car away down the road and ruined all my clothes. I found the old cap In the garage when I arrived, lost my key through a crack In the floor of the porch, groveled for It, gave it up, thought you were a lady bandit at first, then recognized you for—never mind what—and broke Into the house, found my old room, got Into some out of-date clothes, had a tub first, of course, and here I am, and welcome to the home of the Langes.” "Thank you, Tony,” she said sweet ly. "And now you are coming home with me to dinner—and everything!” As the friendly little car took the doctor Into Its embrace It started ofT with a gentle little purring sound, and afterward when the Lange place was restored, It was the same little car that took them honeymooning. And no one save Mary Bell and her husband ever knew whut became of that burglar! Got ’Em Trained. Mrs. A.—“And you have had the same girl for two years?” Mrs. B.— "Ytjs; she says she doesn’t believe In changing after she has gone to the trouble of teaching a family her ways.”—Boston Transcript. HOLD HIGH REGARD FOR BEARDS Turks and Arabs Still Like Them Be cause the Prophet Mahomet Wore One. The Turks and Arabs still regard their beards highly because the prophet Mahomet wore one. Before combing his beard a Turk spreads a cloth to catch any heirs that may fall. After the hairs aro collected they are han dled carefully and used as a solemn offering to the. dead. The Moor’s strongest feeling is expressed when he promises “by his beard.” He means that he will keep his word. Peter the Great of Russia dlda't like beards, so he placed a tax on them. Many of his subjects were too poor to pay the tax and had to shave their beards off. But they saved the hair and had it burled with them. A,t one time only kings and nobles were allowed to wear beards. Th® common people and the servants bad to shave, to show that they were sub ject to the king and those above them. Ill the Middle ages, when three halrtj from the beard of a monarch were used to seal a document, It was sup posed to Indicate that such document was very Important.—Detroit News. Starboard. The word starboard Is probably de rived from steer board, and became Identified with the side of the ship to the right of a person at the steer board and facing the bow. The word larboard was used to designate the side to the left. This term has been superseded by the word port. In or der to avoid the confusion caused by the similarity of names. College Boat Races. The first college boat raccv held were between boats owned by Yale students in Boston harbor In 1844. the contestants being an eight-oared gig and a dugout canoe. The first Inter collegiate race was rowed by Yale and Harvard crews in eight-oared barges over a two-mlle course on Lake Wia nlpesaukee In 1852. ROUND WORLD IN AN AUTOMOBILE The American Captain Wanderweu, his secretary and two chauffeurs, are making a trip around the world in two autos. The trip began qn Sept. 22, 3919, from Atlanta, Ga. Captain Wanderwell, who has been through 23 lands, is now in Berlin. He Ls said to have made a huge bet In America that he would go all round the world without taking a penny of money with him or having any sent from home. He also does not accept any money from any auto manufacturers. He, with his companions, is to work his way round the globe. SOME CAUSES FOR STARTERTROUBLE In Case of Failure Battery Is First Thing to Suspect Test Acid Solution. (By ERWIN GREER, President Greer College of Automotive Engineering. Chicago.) To every motorist sooner or later there comes the unpleasant experi ence of stepping on the starter button and instead of the merry whirr of turning gears, being greeted by stony silence. It is scarcely remarkable that this occurs, indeed the wonder is that the starter holds up as well as it does under the abuse that it receives at the hands of the average car owner. The starter system embodies the fol lowing units: A storage battery, the cables that connect the battery with the rest of the system, a switch for bringing the starter Into action and, as a general thing, the frame of the car, which is used to return the cur rent to the battery after it has turned over the engine. Suspect Battery First. In cases of starter failure the first thing to suspect is the battery, which supplies the current that operates the starter. Once a week during the ac tive running season the battery must be filled to level with distilled water. The acid solution should be tested at these times with a hydrometer, show ing the specific gravity of the solu tion. If this has fallen below 1,200 the battery is away below charge and must be recharged without delay. If the battery is permited to become dry or to fall so low in charge that it can not turn over the starter the cause of the failure is at once revealed. The next things to suspect are the cables that connect the battery with the starter by way of the switch. While the trouble here is not so fre quent, nevertheless insulation may wear through, setting up shorts that drain the battery and prevent the starter from doing its work. Occa sionally, also, the switch goes out of business, but if the battery is proved to have adequate current and the cables are all right, examine the ! switch. Lack of Lubrication. Sometimes the stnrter motor itself goes out of business through mechan ical failure or lack of lubrication. The starting motor is generally lu bricated from the engine on one end and by a small oil hole in the other. The engine lubrication is automatic, but the oil hole requires a drop of oil every 500 miles of running. The brushes and commutator of the starting motor do not need oil; In fact, If oil gets on these parts it is likely to stop the motor from operating. In | this case the oil may be cleaned off by holding a small piece of fine sand paper against the commutator while the motor is running. From all this the car owner will get the obvious lesson that troubles in the starting system are best cured by rea sonable care beforehand. Keep the battery up to its work, watch the cables for broken insulation. Give the starting motor the drop of oil it needs, and the starter will continue to whirr | obediently to your foot pressure While the crank rusts in idleness under the back seat. STEERING ARMS CAUSE WEAR One Reason Is That Wheels Are Not True, Especially When the Car Is Turned. One reason for unusual wear on front tires, due to the wheels not be ing true, especially when the car Is turned, is because the steering arms, extending from knuckle to tie rod, have been bent from a hard struin ex erted on them by the wheels hitting a rut, bump or flaw In the road diag onally, or by some object striking the arms themselves. Naturally, the wheels will not both head in the same direction when one or both of these arms are sprung. SOME KNOW DETAILS OF CARING FOR CAR “Do It Yourself’ Knowledge Lags Because of Stations. How about tracing out trouble In the electrical circuits in your car, or correcting the timing of the motor, or grinding the valves? Could you do these things if either were necessary in an emergency? Most garage men, and they are in position to know, believe that you are to be congratulated on your knowl edge if you are one of the old-fash ioned few who can do any of these things. The long and short of It seems to be that the substantial construction of the car and its parts and the fre quency of service stations makes all this “do it yourself” knowledge superfluous. The up-to-date driver, in stead of loading up his memory with a mass of details, remembers only a few items of routine care—things that he must do to keep the car running smoothly and continuously. It Is this sort of information that the industry has made popular. Hardly a day goes by in any garage or service station without their noting the effect of the educational work that has been done by the accessory manu facturers and car builders during the past few years. The storage battery in particular has received an unusual amount of attention. There can be little doubt that the car owner owes a good deal of his satisfaction to the efforts of the manu facturer and his representatives, who have taught him what to do to keep each part of his car In prime condi tion. GETTING AUTO OUT OF MUD Device Made of Plank Four Feet Long and One Foot Wide Is Useful in Emergency. The Farm Journal In Illustrating and describing a device to get a car out of mud hole, the invention of Robert H. Neill of Ohio, says: “A device for getting the car out of the mud under its own power can Getting Car Out of Mud Hole. be made from a plank about four feet long, one foot wide and two Inches thick. A chain is fastened at two corners of plank, and when laid in front of the sunken wheel the chain is passed around one of the spokes as shown in diagram. By this means the car will climb up onto the plank and out of the mud hole. ‘This device is not bulky and should be carried along as one of the most useful tools.” TROUBLE LAMP OF ODD TYPE So Constructed That It Can Be Made to Adhere to Any Iron Part of Automobile. No automobilist likes to be without a trouble lamp, and often when he has one he finds it difficult to place it where it will afford illumination at the seat of the trouble while his hands are occupied with tools. The newest type of trouble lamp has an electro-magnet In the base, W’hich is energized when the lamp is lighted, making it possible to stick it to any of the iron parts of the car. Starting Made Easier. Throw out the clutch when starting. Motor has to turn over the clutch and countershaft gears, besides the engine Itself. It is a heavy strain on the battery. MJTOMKSXSOLE KSEW3 _jSsw£fc> Avoid ruts and save the side walls. • • * • Apply chains properly and use them only when necessary. • • • The Kansas City speedway has been pronounced the fastest in the world hy great uutoinoblle racers. Don’t allow your car to be washed by inexperienced or unscrupulous washers, who use coal oil, gasoline or lye soaps in the operation. • • * In order to reduce the wear on the coil vibrator points with battery Ig nition, reverse the direction of flow of current occasionally. • • M Don’t qdjust the carburetor until the engine has wahned up^Jty .that time you will be near a rDwflr shop where the work can be done nrooerly.