Zurich Herald, 1923-05-31, Page 3T 1.,EW. DEVICE REDUCES SURVEY COST
Automatic Time Switches for
Signal
aLamps Successfully
Inti oduced by Geodetic Survey
of Canada.
The rate at which the,.i►atilral re-
sources' of a new country are develop-
ed depends'te no inconsiderable extent
on the progressand accuraoy of its,
surveys, Whatever be the bueineseof
the pioneer lumbering; mining ranch
ling or farming—he, always proceeds
with , greater confidence and energy
when 'hefeels that his property boun-•
daries' are accurate, and the fruits' of
his labor thus secure, than when this
• mattes• is in dotibt. Canada has' one
of the finest systems 'of survey in the
world and the officers charged with; its
operation are ever ;seeking to make
the work more efficient and economi-
cal. Many new devices have been in-
troduced with this end in- vieer. and°
the recent adoption of automatic time
switches by the Geodetic Survey of.
Canada in •conection with electric' sig-
nal• lamps used by triangulation parties
has resulted in a substantial saving,
Where this apparatus can be used ef-
ficiency is so increased that the num-
ber of employees on these parties: may
be reduced by from four to seven men.
Measurements Made' at Night
The ,anguar measurements of the
triangulation of the Geodetic SurveY
are made at night as this practice
proves more eeenoi tical and accurate
than making them in the day time. In-
stead of pointing on targets, as one
may in daytime, it is necessary to
point on lights, and various. types of
lights have been used from tinie, . to
time. First railway signal' oil lamps
with condensing lenses were used;
later, acetylene lamps, - somewhat
similar to the old-style automobile
headlight but much larger.— were
. found to be 'a great improvement. Each.
damp is tended by at least one light
keeper and in some districts by two,
from 5 to 8 lamps. being necessary for
each party. As the triangulation lines'
are long --often being 40 to 100 miles—
and as haze or fog often makes it im-
possible to see the lights described
above' at these distances, it has' been
the constant aim to increase 'the
strength of the lamps, and hence in-
crease the number of nights on which
*observations can, be made.
In 1920 electric lamps were intro-
duced. Automobile headlights. were
specially mounted and proved much
stronger and more economical, both in
initial cost and In operation, then : the
acetylene lamps`; Two sizes of special
miniature bulbs are used (depending
on the length of line), while current
is provided either by , dry cells • or
storage batteries. The oldhstyle acety-
lene lamp has also been, adapted to
nes electric bulbs, and this change has
greatly .'increased its • efficiency;
Saving in 'Operation.
The latest improvements to the elec-
tric 'lamp' sakes'; possible an important
saving in operation. A time switch •ie
placed in the circuit ands when the
iampbas been properly' lined, the clock
wound and the "on" and "off" dials
set, the switch will automatically turn
the light "on and off at prearranged
hours, In this way several lightkeep-
ers may be dispensed with,. only one
lightkeeper with a light motor truck
being attached to the party to move
the lighte when necessary and to wind
the clocks. once a week.
During the eseasob. of 1922 this
equipment was used by a triangulation
party working along the 4eth parallel.
in Saskatchewan. I•t has been found
that a saving of 'approximately $20
per day ware achieved during the sea-
son. The coming season's operations
in this vicinity will shoat/ further sav-
ing as the time -switches are as ,good
as new; moreover, a lighter and more
coonomida•1-truck will be feasible.
It is "ta.be noted that this equipment
will, in general, be found feasible only
where transportation is, easy and the
triangulation stations comparatively
clone together. Its use would•be limit-
ed on. the mountains of the British
Columbia coast, for example, :on ac-
count of the time which would be lost,
moving all the lamps, but even in such
cases a saving is possible by employ-
ing. only a minimum number of light-
keepers and using the automatic
switches .where more men would be
needed occasionally.
Several other operatione of the
Geodetic Survey with which this
equipment can be economically- used
are anticipated, and it is felt that a
large step forwrcl has been made in.
the economical handling of, triangula-
tion operations.
Language of the Sea.
Itmight be thought that the word
admiral is a typical English expres-_
-Sion. ,Its origin, however, is Emir el
Bagh, which is Arabic for "Lord' of the
sea. The term captain; oames to us
direct; from the Latincant, m,eaing
hes -
The coxswain was.' originally the
man who pulled the after -oar of the
captain's boat, then known as the
"conk's boat:" Cock -boat itself is a
corruption of the word coracle, a small
round boat used for fishing. Commo-
dore is nothing more, than the Italian
Ooninmenda'tore, or commander.
Frequently we hear about, "Davy
Jones." There was, of couse;, no such
person, but should you speak of "Duffy
Jonah's Locker," you have the original
phrase. Duffyis. the West Indian
Negro term for the spirit of Jonah.
The term "dog watch" is a corrup-
tion of "dodge" water, the "dodge" be-
ing an arrangement to prevent Hien
from being on duty every day at the
same hours.
The starboard side of a ship' was at
one time the steer -board side, in mem-
ory of the. Anglo-Saxons wha used to
steer their boats by putting out an oar
on the right-hand side of the stern.
The larboard (now known as the port
side.) is a corruption of lower board,
which was always considered- inferior
to the starboard
The golf links at Banff, in Banff
National park,. Alberta, have an alti-
tude of 4,500 feet. They are owned
ands operated by the Government and
are situated at the foot of Mt. Rundle
'066 feet) just below the junction-, of.
rivers, and Spray amid sur-
roundings of unusual beauty.
Miss. Newrich—"Are you sure it isn't'
just infatuation?"
Mr. Woodbe—"Na, indeed, it's love.
I was infatuated even before I looked
up your dad's rating."
Destruction of a Century.
In his long journey from Montreal
to the mouth of the Mackeiihie river,
and again to the Pacific Ocean, made
respectively, in 1789 and 1793, Sir
Alexander Mackenzie, while faithfully
noting ;the .condition of thecountry
through which he travelled, mentions
only thirteen places where the forest
had been destroyed by fire. The past
one hundred years, with the settle-
ment, railway construction, and .in-:
creased travel it has brought, has
wrought such a change that'` anyone
who followed Mackenzie's• route across
the 'continent could hardly lose night
ofthe vast brules since created.
In a few years transport by air will
be cheaper than by rail, besides being
more rapid and more comfortable.—
Maj.-Gen.
omfortable.—Maj:Gen. Sir W. S. Brancker.
*—AND, THE WORST IS' YET TO COME
a 111ng+ov ®�.
UNLOCKING SECRETS
OF ELUSIVE c® MPASS
����
Examining Power Possibilities Canada
.
Pew realize the background of scien-
tific research, engineering study, and
Kirvey,work which must precede and
prepare for orderly, timely, and pro-
gressive development of an; Important
Canadian water -power river. The Win-
nipeg River, for instance, white le des-
tined to furnish half a million contin-
nous horsepower for use in the ICenora-_
Winnipeg district, has been proven by
engineering investigations of the De -
pertinent of the •Interior to beone of
,the most remarkable power rivers ; on
the North Anmericau continent. The
St. Lawrence river alone .rivals it as a
naturally well regulated stream. Its Winnipeg River sites, with a total ultl'
mate capacity of 200,000 continuous•
horse -power, justifying commercial
a
installation llation of 300,000000 horsepower;
,have already•
been developed; one by
two the
Winnipeg and w
the cit of Y
Y
Winnipeg Electric Railway Company:
Plans are even now being prepared for
not only a fourth, but •fifth additional,
development. If the steady increase
'in the "Winnipeg River power load that
has beet experienced in the past ten
year Is continued—and it appears cer-
tain that it will be—the entire nine
power sites must be completely
de
-
Veloped before the year 1950. BY that
tone that, will be over half a million
eontiiiuoi-s' dependable 24-hour Winne
peg' River power developed and in use. 1
VAST FIELD FOR SCIEN-
TIFIC RESEARCH.
Canadian Engineers Work to
Get the Most from Vagaries
of This Instrument.
It is unnecessary to .point out the
part the magnetic compass' plays in the
development of a new eountry, es-
pecially a country of such great dis-
tances as Canada. .Contrary to general
belief, the compass needle does not
point directly north, but more or less
to the east or west in different parts
and is forever wavering and forever
changing in its direction, though.. ever
Changing the Earth's ace
Some remarkable figlree are given
by °Dr. R. L. Sherlock in "The Geo-
graphical Journal" as to.huxnan agency
in altering the face of the earth, Many
years ago Sir A.rohibald Gentle calcu-
lated that erasion by:the elements was
denuding the surface • of the. British
Isles at the rateof 2.72 inches in 2,000
Yearn. Shelf reduction in :the height
of the land and eoneeciuent shailowing
of the seas la of vast importance in
time as reckoned by ,geologists, but is
unlikely to disturb human beings' who
Plan their future in decades. • D.
Sherlock states that the quantity of
rock removed' by man in various kinds
Of excavation in Great Britain is about
40,0000 million cubic yards, of which
appr,oximately-half 'hes been taken out
at the surface and half mined.
13y far the greater part of •this gnaw-
ing of the earth's crust has taken place
in the last .century, and if spread over
the whole area uniformly would cental
a• denudation of nearly 4 inc'hres., In
other woird% human agency inmodern
times is at least five times as active
in denudation as all natural agencies
combined. The effects, however, are
far from evenly distributed, and where
they are concentrated they are pro -
clueing rapid and sometimes serious
local changes.
Where the excavation. is . subter-
ranean it may produce subsidence on
a large scale. In the Black Country of
Staffordshire over 230,000,000 cubic
yards of waste have been dumped on
an area of twenty-two square miles—
that is to say, a mans larger than was
excavated frone.the Panama Canal, But
tide research, once the vagaries of the.
Magneticneedle are fully understood.
Romance of the Rug.
The Turks and Persians are the
most celebrated rug -makers in the
world; and many wonderful specimens
also come from India.
Formerly Persians and Turks were
nomads, and they first used the rugs
they made to hang over the openings
of their tents. Also they were used
much as we use chairs. Mohammed-
ans have special prayer rugs., and rugs'
are also used at funerals.
In parts of Turkey and Persia rug -
making is still earied on .in a very
primitive way with a loom made by
driving two poles into the ground par-
allel to each other, the distance be-
tween the two determined the width of
th--rug: Each family has its awn de-
sign, and the weaving is done by many
hands.
Oriental makers use a knife, a pair
of scissors, and a comb -like instrument
so slightly, with the passage of trnietr o batten down the pile. "Tying" is
To -day it may. point in one directionee. ti with the same' primitive clayey
at the same place ii�'r nati'efi •ger at our own time
ten years hence t. - y„ he di b n
n.will undo'ltbtedly be at`tfereee;,, : (as ix to lays .. with t YJe:
direction . i � ercenta' � ' ."
The greatest measure: oe usefulness,i ge. -omen `sitting astride, simple
a direction -finding medium, is obtalaY,„. cae,
t stretched between pegs in the_
.front it by a careful examination and grelround.
compilation of magnetic observations: The dyeing of the wool is considered
These are studied by magnetic o a fine art and the tribal dyer Is regard-
perts in practically every country ed as,a person of great importance.
the world; expeditions are sent every- The most' famous rug in the world,
where for this purpose. The seven worth about £50,000, is in the South
seas have been traversed by non -mage Kensington Museum. It is known as
netic ships that have -amassed untold the, Arbadil rug, as it 'was made in a
information with regard to the eager- little town. of that name. This wonder-
ies of the compass on the ooeans. ful carpet measures 34ft. by 17ft, and
In Canada, it has for the last forty contains thirty million knots. It took
years been studied by Dominion Land sixteen years to make. •
Surveyors in, the employ of the Topo- In rugs made with the Turkish knot
graphical Branch, working in the terri- the yarn is tied in such a way that the
tory stretching from the Pacific ocean two ends which -make the pile of the
to Hudson bay, from the International rug alternate, ,necessitating a •some=
boundary north, a territory comprising what long pile in order that they may
prairies, forests, mountains, wilder- overlap and cover the warp threads.
nesses,',and barrens. With every fa- In. Persian rugs the knot is tied so
cility for'taking observations. upon the thatbetween every strand of tine warp
magnetic needle . during the regular a strand of yarn obtrudes.
course of their work, the -surveyors
have studied it on all sides and sent it Water Clocks.
to the headoffice at Ottawa the restate.
of their observations, until now over
20,000 observations have been taken.
Charts shovring the variation of the
'compass in Western Canada and other
magnetic information are available up-
on request.
Secrets of Magnetic Needle.
be available for -the upbuilding of the
West, as soonas required and without
further handicaps or delays.
By topographical surveys, scientific.
research, engineering studies, hydro-
metric investigations, precise level-
ling, land reservations,, and cordial co-
operation between administrativ,:e of-
ficers and operating municipalities or
corporations; the Department of the
Interior has laid a firm foundation for
progressive development to meet the
power needs of the large territory tri-
butary
rl-butary to the Winnipeg River, includ-
ing the cities of Winnipeg, Brandon,
and Portage la Prairie. Three of the
axi
um recorded flow is but six
nr m
and
lir
i 'mum. flow, any
times its m ni ,
ane year
the ratio betweenOen highesthes
t and
lowest flow is very much less. , The
les
river traverses but 100 miles between
• the Manitoba boundary and Lake Win-
nipeg, and in this short distance there
are nine feasible power sites varying
in capacity and attractiveness, but all
certain to be developed within the
al,tett space of twenty-five ,years'+.:
Realizing the exceeding importance
of power in a portion of Canada where
ue1 is scarce and, expensive, the De-
triment i
pont o
f the Interior s, ,throeh, its
g
t,m
'cartons branches, taking every pre-
reautton to make certain that the power
rooftrees Of the Winnipeg River will
But the magnetic needle still has
secrets in spite of all thathas been
done, • Elusive earth currents and
stubborn static still claim the right of
highwaymen to hold up the telegraph,
the wireless, and the radio. We know
that they are related in some sort of
way -with the deriding northern lights,
with the magnetic storms that twist
and shake the magnetic needle, and
with the black cyclonic sun -spots that
try to rob usof our light and heat. But
beyond this we knave very little and
here a vast field is opened for scien-
•
•
e.
The Egyptian Government's gift_ to
the Science Museum at South Ken-
sington of casts: of two ancient Egyp-
tian water clocks, one of which. is 3,000
years old, recalls an old water clock
still in use in Canton.
This was first erected about A.D.
1324. It has a history full of incident,
and though it has been destroyed
niany times during invasions from
Without and riots from within the city,
it has always been restored. To -day, in
spite of the advances made,in mechani-
cal, methods of measuring time, the old
clock is still put to practical use. •
At intervals, during the day the (more
or less) correct time is exhibited on a
board outside the building which
houses it, and the native Cantonese
are quite content to, "pin their fate" to
this unique servant of old Father
Time.
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WHERE THE DUKE AND DUCHESS O1= YOFtK SPENT THEIR
HONEYNICON
The lovely Surrey home of Hen. Mrs. Richard Greville, where the Royal
bridal pair spent their honeymoon, it is IolesdonLacey, :nearDorking. I
t
who is an intimate:fienel of fife ween, is to
is rumored first, Mrs, rreville,
art of her Very great fortune:
make the Duke of York heir to a conideral>le p
the ground level has been ,lowered bee
cause the subsidence clue to excavation
has more than overbalanced the super*
ficial d.epositipa of :refuse:. • In other
cases the refuse rises in gigantic
mountains' of slag and Wales, eoao•pau^
able in size and appearance with vole
canto cones, or has been used to re-
trieve land train the sea, as in Liver-
pool, where what was, formerly St.
George's Dock is now hunt over,
Still "more curious is the ease of
•cities which are ;gradually rising on._.., _
their own waster the average elevation
in London beteg a foot in the century.
But there are local variations, and
when 'sewers were being taken across
the city Walh•rook was found to stand
on thirty feet of the debris .of sen.
turies. The ehanges produced in the
natural circulation of water are even .
more striking. Pumping out the brine
in the salt areas of Cheshire is causing
local disturbances, but is also oinking
large areas below the level of the sea,
and near Middlebrough, in Yorkshire,
the ,danger point 1$ -being reached:
Over the 'country generally rivers have
been diverted or deepened, marshes
and lakes drained, or floods, produced
which are turning dry sail into marsh.
land.
It is, well that there should he com•
petent geographers and geologists able
to note and record the results of the
fretting activities of man, for at press
ent, although these are subject to vari'
ous kinds; of localized legal and execu-
tive control, there is no authority to
guard the general interests affected by
local changes.
About Tapioca.
How the Indians of Brazil manufac-
ture the starchy, jelly-like globules
called tapioca is described by Mr.
Charles W. Mead in "Natural History."
The Indian woman takes a large
piece of bitter cassava root in both
hands and rubs it on a board studded
with hundreds bf sharp pebbles until
the root is reduced to.pulp. -.When she
has grated a sufficient quantity she
presses• as, much water out of it as pos-
sible.
'For that purpose she uses as a press
a long, narrow tube of basketwork
called a tipiti, with a loop at either
end, She forces the pulp into the
press, which she then hangs up -by one
of the loops.
Through the lower loop she inserts a
long, stout pole, which she runs under
some convenient object, ;which serves i
as a fulcrum. Then she sits on.the A Convert to Christianity,
free end of the pole, and her weight . The greatest convert of nit age is
stretches ` the reset and, forces ''the'
Giovanni Japini, an Italian who a few
baud through she interstices of the years ago wrote, "The Memoirs of
basketwork, f•raced to be the;
The liquid is caught in. apottery vee- God," which were:d.. 1
q gi last word in blasphemy.' Since then he
eel and is made i
--irto° eassareep, the • ; �.and has , wri'tt ,..:
fee:Clete'•cotidinientof the SouthAmeri- as been ;converted
can Indian. The wet, 'mass is taken a "Life o€Christ" which is. Thaw hailed
from the press,and spread on a large by churchmen as one of the greatest
fiat dish of pottery with a raised rim,
while under the dish a fire is built. If
stirred rapidly;: the preparation will
not cake into large masses, but will
agglomerate into small, irregular pel-
lets, which are the tapioca of cam
mere*.
Nothing Left to Heave,
Skipper Noah' --"We're approaching
land, Mr. Monk, Have you heaved the
lead?"
Mr. Monk (the Mate)—"I guess. so.
During the storm last night I heaved
everything I had."
World's Smallest Book.
What is believed to be the smallest
book in the world is preserved in an
out-of-the-way corner of the British
Museum.
This miniature volume is• not so
wide as a man's thumb; but despite its.
microsropilal dimensions, it is beauti-
fully finished, and is a wonderful
specimen of the printer's art
It consists of the 100 pages of ex-
tremely thin paper, and the engrav-
ings, highly creditable pieces of work,
are printed in colors.
The exact size of the book, taking mitting station in Berlin, it was im-
the measurement of the outside -covers, perative that the sending operators
is Vein, by ?tin: It bears the date 1839, should lcnotiv the exact time in any
and is therefore eighty-four years old.
The title of this curiosity is: "Schism's
English Bijou Almanac."
Ships Hae Style in Names.
The big steamship companies usual-
ly favora particular articular style of name, fey
their vessels, or else a
articular e
nd-
in
,
The White Star
Line,
for in-
stance, -
stance, always chases mutes ending
"is"—the
a tiC etc.
with Celtic, the M jes ,
The Cunard line is equally faithful to
,the termination "ia," and gives us the
of its kind ever written,
Telling Fortunes by Tea -
Leaves.
Telling fortunes by means of tea.,
leaves is a polite form of sorcery with
which we are all familiar.
Having drunk your tea, turn the cup
upside-down in the saucer and whirl it
around three times, Turn the • cup
again and examine the leaf -fragments
clinging to the bottom and sides.
There, say the superstitious, lies your
future!
In this magic rite we have a com-
bination of two ancient systems of`
divination, hrydromancY and cera
many.
Hydnomancy was practised in an-
cient Egypt. A bowl or cup was filled
with water and a boy gazed into 1t un-
til
ntil he became hypnotized and "saw
things," The strolling magicians of
North Africa perform the same trick
to -day by means- of a drop of ink in a
boy's hand. When Josephs sent his
messengers to find his silver cup in
Benjamin's sack, he instructed them
to say: "Is not this my lord's cup in
which my lorddrinketh and wherein
he (divineth?" Hence the mystic quali•
ties of the cup.
Ceromancy consisted of dropping
melted wax into water and divining by
the forms the wax assumed in 0000ling,
It is a very old art, but tea was only
introduced into Europe in the seven
teenth century; yet the primitiv-e mind
still subsisting in man at mice seized
upon the tea -grounds as a means oi<
foretelling the future, as that same
mind had seized upon the melted waxy
thousands of years before.
World's -Time Clock for
Radio Purposes.
At the immense new Central trance
other part of the world at a given mho.
Trent. Some form of clock was found
necessary, that would indicate day and.
night, and simultaneou's'ly indicate the
time et all other important radio sta.
tions throughout, the world. A map of
laced o
na
world was therefore
thep
circular glass dial, bn the outer • edge.
of whieh two
12 -hour scales
were
grad.
uated at 5,-nAtiute intervals. This dial,
being darkened strewed half the edges
to indicate where it is night, is moved
L sit fits: `Carntania and around by clockwork. Arrows extend
Mauretania, u a r from thre stations, on ,the map to the
So on.•edge, indicatingthe approximate time's
The ancient ]Egyptians made coffins C ;at any given moment. The device,
of cork tnovnng screw, the shadedarea, olive
inntes need for calculation by tines
Success is usually due to holding on; operator
and failure Io letting go,
Tt is estimated that nearly 70,000e-
000 wild animals are killed yearly for
the sake of their fur. grow 'bid before one's dine,
the
tie veli
ich
Courage is a
unit
'young cannot spare; to lose it is to{