Scientific American

HANDLING KATERlAL IN SHIPYARDS. and the two terminal yards are, in addition, braced and head system of handling material to be "the great BY WALDON FAWOETT. trussed with heavy wire-rope tension guys. Upon each feature of the most remarkable shipyard in the The problem of handling expeditiously and economi of the crossyards is a track upon which travel cars world." cally the various classes of material entering into the which act as anchorages or supports for the great sus Another unique installation for handling shipbuild construction of the modern steel ship is one of the pension cables which are strung from mast to mast. ing material-like that at New London original in de ' most perplexing which has been presented in connec Upon these cables in turn travel the carriages which sign-was employed in the construction of the im tion with the industry, and one in the solution convey the material to any point between the masts. mense fioatiJ;lg drydock recently delivered to the United of which the American builders of metal vessels It will thus be seen that by utilizing the athwartship States·government by the Maryland Steel Company, of have expended much thought and experiment. motion of the cars on the masts and the fore-and-aft Sparrow's Point, Md. This consists of a number of The exigencies of the case are many_ The material to motion of the carriages on the cables, it is possible to derrick cranes, or "locomotive derricks," as they have 'be transported is almost invariably hea\ry and bulky; deliver material to any point within a rectangle 600 been termed. The latter. designation is undoubtedly it must be car'ried long distances in a limited space feet in length and 175 feet �n width. due to the presence of pOints of similarity between this of time, and as a rule it must be delivered at. a p'oint Virtually any number of independent trolleys that new type of derrick and the familiar locomotive crane. a considerable distance above the sur The derricks constructed by the face of the ground. Within the past Maryland Steel Company travel on year or two, however, American in stanilard-gage railroad track, and may ventors have been particularly success thus be quickly transferred from one ful in evolving devices to meet these part of the yard to another, a track . varied demands, and, in poInt of in- having been placed between every geniousness of appliances, the steel pair of building ways. The derrick shipbuilding plants in the United consists of a skeleton steel structure, States are now much better equipped from which on opposite sides project than those on the other side of the At slender steel arms to which are at lantic. tached hoisting apparatus of the ordi One of the most interesting installa nary type. By the raising and lower tions of this character has latel.y··be�n ing of these arms, for which operation made at the newly established plant power is supplied by a steam engine of the Eastern Shipbuilding Company, situated on the car-like structure at New London, Conn., where there which forms the· base of the derrick, are now under construction for the it is possible to elevate a load of ten Great Northern Railroad two of the tons or more to a height of from sixty largest and heaviest steamers ever to seventy-five' feet, placing the ship built. The ·overhead trolley principle plates or other material in the exact has been utilized, and the system con position desired on the side of the ves sists of three vertical masts, each sel under construction. about 140 feet in height, erected be Another innovation o

A Pair of OV'erhead Traveling Cranes.

H�NDLINO JlATE:&IAL IN SBIPYAlm8.

cantilever crane. By utilizing two of th'e cranes, cally in spite ot the softness of the details and the to the formation of ammonium carbonate and thus loads of ten tons may be transported with ease. outlines, the impressions produced by vapor are far causes th� browning of the aloes. The fermentation ...... Ifrom consisting of simple shadows; if the object is in of a febrile sweat, rich in urea, leads to the same n. Vlgnon'. Researches and the "Holy Shroud." strong relief, the image is energetic and well marked; result, as is already well known." At a meeting of the Paris Academy of Sciences it appears simply as if the object were seen through The extension of Dr. Russell's researches on the o on April 21, some remarkable photographs f ,brown transparent gauze, or as if it had half emerged from photographic activity of certain bodies in the dark, ish stains found on the. "Holy Shroud" kept in the a fog. contained tn the above paper communicated to the Treasure Chamber of Turin Cathedral, Paris Academy by M. Vignon, has and traditionally said to be the wind given rise to a most curious discus ing-sheet of Christ, were exhibited in sion, says Nature. connection with a paper by Dr. P. Vig There is a so-called "Holy Shroud" non. Upon reproducing these stains at Turin in which tradition states the by photography, Dr. Vignon found that body of Christ was wrapped after the he obtained a realistic picture of a Crucifixion. An article in the Times human figure, and the suggestion is thus refers to it and its connection that the picture is actually a represen with M. Vignon's work: tation of the body of Christ, produced ' "It is said to have been brought by radiographic action from the body, from the East in the fourteenth cen which, according to ancient texts, was tury, and in the following century it wrapped in a shroud impregnated with passed into the hands of the House a mixture of oil and aloes. of Savoy, and was deposited at Cham In his paper published in Comptes biiry. Finally, it was transferred in Rendus, Dr. Vignon remarked: 1578 'to its present resting-place' by "It is known from the work of M. Duke Emmanuel Philibert, who wisheq Colson, published in the Comptes Ren to spare Carlo Borromeo, the sainted dus of the ' Academy of Sciences in Archbishop of Milan, the fatigue of 1896, that freshly cleaned zinc emits a pilgrimage to its distant Savoyard vapors at the ordinary temperature shrine. The Shroud bears upon it, which are capable of affecting photo traced in hues of brown, what is al graphic plates in t�e dark. The reo leged to be a double imprecsion of searches of Russell have also shown the figure of Our Lord, the outlines that the striations of a plate of zinc both of the Iface and back of which are reproduced on a photograph have reproduced. themselves with ic plate. But it is a long step wonderfully distinct exactness. So from this to the realization of an ob seldom, however, is it exposed to view ject in relief. I have succeeded in ob that this remarkable characteristic taining images either with medals had almost been forgotten when, ir: powdered with zinc, or with bass-reliefs May, 1898, some photographs special or objects fully embossed in plaster, ly taken of it by Signor Secondo Pia, and rubbed with zinc powder. These of Turin, with the consent of its pos images are negatives, not by the inver sessor, the King of Italy, once more sion of ligh,t and shade, since they are drew attention to this strangely living formed in the dark, but by the fact likeness. Eighteen months, ago these that the reliefs give more energetic photographs came under the notice of impressions than the cavities. To in lI4. Vignon, who, recognizing their ex- terpret these it is necessary then to in- Locomotive Derrick Crane With Two Booms. ceptional importance, at once began vert photographically; positive images that inquiry {)f which the results were are then obtained in which the scale of relief is scrup "Negative images have also been obtained by act made public in a paper communicated to the Academie u r lously espected, which is far from being the case in ing with ammoniacal vapors upon cloths impregnated des Sciences:" normal photographs of the, same objects illumin'ated with a mixture of powdered aloes .and olive oil; it is In Paris, therefore, it has been generally accepted from the front. Naturally, upon images made. at a dis known that aloes contains a principle which turns that a demonstration has been given by science of the tance, the reproduction of the most minute details brown and is oxidized under the influence,of alkalies authenticity, not only of the so-called shroud, but of all could not be expected, the precision of the detail o.b in moist air. A plaster hand covered with a suede the historical events connected with it, and a much tained being less at the distance increased. The clear glove which has been moistened with a solution of closer rapprochement between science and theology is ness of the image depends upon the rapidity with which ammonium carbonate acts similarly. There is ob predicted for the future. the action diminishes when the space increases be tained in this way a sort of print of the hand, a nega Here, however, difficulties have been raised. Father tween the emissive surface arid the receiving screen. tive softened at the edges and wanting in proportion Thurston, a learned Jesuit, writes to the Times as "From a point of the active surface let a perpendicu in so far that the points where the hand is too far follows: lar be lowered onto the receiving plate; the foot of from the cloth are too faint, the points of contact of "Before we can profitably discuss ' the value' of Dr. this perpe�dicular constitutes the ,center of a circle the hand and cloth, on the other hand, being too Vignon�s scientific explanation of the marks on the which makes a more energetic impression in its centra.l strongly marked. 'The fermentation of urea, easily 'Holy Shroud' a serious difficulty of quite' .another' region than on its edges; the clearness of the image brought about by the addition of a. little urine, leads order has to be cleared up. The Abbe Ulysse Chevalier will thus be greater the smaller the claims to have proved to demonstra . surface of the circle acted upon, and tion that the linen winding-sheet ex this surface varies inversely as the hibited at Turin is a spurious relic rapidity with which the actions de manufactured in the fourteenth cen crease when the distance increases. It tury, and, as the writer believes, with is on this account that the images fraudulent intent. M. l' Abbe Chevalier correspond very nearly to those is a .scholar of distinction, and of his which would be' realized ilf the actions perfect loyalty to the Catholic Church were produced only according to the there can be no possible question. orthogonal projections of the differen,t Moreover,' his essay ('Etude Critique points of the active surface. Siu'r l'Origine du St. Suaire,' Paris, "It is a curious point that the im Picard, 1900) has been warmly wel ages converted into positives frequent comed by the more critical journals ly give rise to the impression of having devoted to hagiography. In th" been lit from above. Bollandist periodical, the Analecta "This will be the case when a plane, Bollandiana, for instance, its Jesuit such as the forehead, is seen from the editors state (vol. xix., 1900, p. 350) front and forms at the same 'time a that' the Abbe Chevalier's discussion strong relief, while a plane near it is of the subject is final, and that 'il ne rapidly shifting, such as, for example, reste plus qu'il. proclamer "a haute et the region which connec.ts the super intelligible voix," comme Ie voulait Ie ciliary arch to the eyeball. When this Pape CHiment VII.: "Halc figura plane shifts it appears to sink into a non est verum saudarium deep shadow. ,Domini Nostri JeB'll Christi.';' "The truly specificcharacter of these "They go on to state that the story negative images which arise Ifrom ac of the 'image of the 'shroud' given by tion at a' distance lies in the softness Geoffroy de Lirey to the college of the contours. The limit of the visible founded by him in 1353 is not 100;t portion is the result for the eye of the in the mist of ages, and does not ' receding of the surface. If this fall happen to present any of those ob ing back takes place at a small dis scurities by which the historian WilO tance from the receiving plane, the con wishes to impart his own laboriously- tour is still marked, though vaguely; ,acquired conviction to others must at but if this falling away is produced times find himseU baffied. We have, only at a distance greater than that for instance, the document addressed at which the vapors can act, no corres to the Pope by Bishop Peter d' Arcis, ponding effect is produced in the im in which he denounces the fraudulent age, whict. gradually weakens up to diealing of the Chapter of Lirey, who its border.l by insensible gradations Locomotive Derrick Crane With SIngle Boom of Latticed Steel COnstruction. for motivesQf avarice pretended that JULUl it lUul.ppears altogether. Practi- miracles were worked by this shroud, IUJlDLIlIG K.6.TEBIALS IN SllIPYUDB. _

. whereas, his predecessor in the see of Troyes had liters of carbureted gas As a heating agent the car· sentatives of the Amur tribes, possessing the best un· officially investigated the matter and proved it to be bureted acetylene is superior to ordinary acetylene in derstanding of decorative art, and having the largest a forgery. 'Et probatum fuit eciam per artificem, qui the proportion of about 6 to 4. It is plain that we have number of individual artists excelling all others in illum (pannum) depinxerat, ipsum humano opere here a gaseous mixture containing a high degree of en the proficiency of embroidery. The two fishskin dresselil factum, non miraculose confectum vel concessum.' " ergy. Should it turn out to be applicable to explo here pictured are the work of the women of this tribe. There is also another difficulty. It is stated that sion engines it ought to enable motors of extreme The original motives for all their designs and patterns there is at least one other iHoly Shroud in another Dower per unit of weight to be constructed. There are derived mostly from the cock and the fish. The holy place. may, of course, be practical difficulties in the way, fishskin dresses are worn exclusively by the women, ..... I''' and they have not altogether been satisfactorily got 8,nd are highly ornamented with cut-out pieces of fish QUEER CHINESE TREES. over yet in the case of acetylene gas alone, while the skin, generally colored blue. They are sewed with BY U!AAC TAYLOR HEADLAND. fact that there is a tendency for petrol vapor to separ- fishskin thread to a piece of fishskin adapted to the "Queer, aren't they?" said one of the party as they size and form of the ornament. The patterns are cut noticed the tree in the illustration. "Who's queer?" out by means of a long, sharp-pOinted knife, as they asked the little man with the short legs and large do not possess scissors. The dress is composed of three head. "The Chinese." "Why?" "Look at that tree." layers of fishskin, the undermost ,representing the The tree was of special interest to the little man, skin of the garment proper, the uppermost shOWing as he was collecting information about all kinds 01 the ornaments in the cut-out form. Between these queer growths of Chinese trees and flowers. two layers is inserted a middle layer, which serves "No, not queer, just Chinesey," he replied. as a background to the ornament proper, throwing out The tree is an ordinary evergreen. It had been distinctly the negative parts, as well as the outline of split up from the roots about six feet when a smal� the ornament. On the left dress pictured are two neat sapling, the roots having been carefully divided, and naturalistic perching cocks, with trisulcate tails and thu.s planted in front of the temple. The two halves open beaks. The bottom is occupied with a composi were placed three feet apart, each �a ving the same tion of conventionalized fishes and spirals. The gar curve to the place where they jOined, from which pOint ment. on the right presents a different scheme of orna it grew in its natural form. It, was placed directly mentation and consists of three vertical rows, the in front of the door of the temple, between the door two outer of which tally and are composed of three and the gate of the court, ten feet from the gate and single figures each, while the middle series pre�ents thirty feet from the door, as though it was designed a coherent structure. The ornamental principle of this that the worshiper would pass through the tree be· pattern is a pair of facing spirals in the middle; above fore entering the temple. and below' them are two erect 'conventionalized bi Thus far we have discovered only six of these trees. partite fishes, and the whole is surrounded by a line Four are in the north end of the Forbidden City, in correspondfng to their form. A detailed study of the front of two of the temples. The one in the illus· marvelous ornamental productions of this gifted tribe tration is before the temple in the winter palace, where of Amur artisans would yield ,the American seeker Count von Waldersee's troops were stationed, and the after fresh and original designs for decorative pur i.hird is in a similar position in the summer palace. poses Ii rich field for selection. A splendidly illus Whether this particular kind. of tree is confined to trated memoir on the "Decorative Art of the Amur , imperial grounds we cannot say, but thus far we have 'l'ribes," by Dr. Berthold La]Jfer, has just been issued seen none in other localities. by the Museum. The Chinese are fond of wrapping or braiding two, .... 1' .. three or four sprouts of a tree together, and allowing A Substitute Cor X-nays. them to grow in that form. In the campus of the Years ago Becquerel found that salts of the rare Peking UniverSity there was a species of locust, which metal uranium possessed the power of throwing off they call the Huai shu, and wbich, by the way, is the A PECULIAR TREE GROWTH. a feeble and invisible radiance that affected photo best shade tree of North China, the two sprouts of graphic plates, like the X·rays. Mme. Curie in Paris

which had been wrapped together when small, and ate out from the acetylene on cooling somewhat, may last year isolated' from the Bohemian mineral pitch e when sawed down by th Boxers they were each six give rise to additional complication, but in !l:ny case blende two other elements that behave in the same man inches in diameter. the discovery is one of high importance, and possibly ner, but are far more active. One of them she called Only a short distance from where the writer is now before long we may see it made practical use of in "polonium" and other "radium." The latter is said sitting is an apricot tree on which is' an abundance explosion motors. to be one hundred thousand times as ,intense as urani

of fruit. It consists of four sprouts which have been • • e, • um in its photographic effect. neatly formed into a braid and have continued to grow STORY OF THE FISHSKIN GARMENTS OF THE AMUR Prof. Geo. F. Parker, of the University of Pennsyl until they are each three inches in diameter. TRIBES OF EAST SIBERIA. vania, has been experimenting with all three of these A favorite decoration for lawns or courts is made BY WALTER L. BEASLEY. elements and with the mineral (pitchblende or uranite) from this locust. The top of the tree is cut off and Among the new and striking exhibits of the Jesup from which the two new elements are derived. He the root of another the same size grafted thereon. The North Pacific Expedition, just installed in the Anthro recently exhibited a series of photographic plates on roots thus become branches, which grow downward pological Hall of the American Museum of NatUral which impressions had been produced by these sub· instead, of upward, and are covered with a dense History, are a number of elaborately ornamented fish stances. His procedure has been' as follows: foliage. This species of shrub is very common and skin garments or dresses. These were collected by Dr. A photographic plate was inclosed in black paper familiar to all landscape gardeners. Berthold Laufer, who spent two years in gathering and then covered with yellow paper. After one whole A very interesting and attractive flowering shrub is material to illustrate the life and customs of the day's exposure to the sunlight no effeQt was produced. called Kan-chieh·mei. It is a species of This precaution proved the thoroughness plum, is used as a pot plant and grows of the protection. Then the various two or three feet high. Every branch metals and salts were placed outside the is bent or broken in as many ways as covering of the plate and they produced possible to bring them all close together, dark stains. so that when it blooms-which it does be In order to take photographs of objects before it leaves-it is a mass of flowers. such as a hand or a foot these objects Perhaps the most attractive specimen would be placed between the metal and of Chinese plant cultivation is the graft the plate, and the result would be similr.r ing of the chrysanthemum. They have a ' to those obtained by the X-rays. Such large, common weed called hao tze. In substances as bone show clearly through the early summer they cut the branches the flesh and surrounding tissue. A off this weed and in the place of each photograph can be taken by means of branch, as well as on the top, they graft radium in half a minute. a chrysanthemum stalk. The root of this The property of the new metal is ap weed is much stronger than the root of parently of great practical value. The re the flower, so that when they bloom th'e sults of the X-rays, now so useful in sur flowers are double as large as the or gical diagnosiS, can be duplicated by a, d dinary chrysanthemum, and in a dition method much cheaper. Radium seems to to this extra luxuriance of blossom, all suffer no diminution of energy or loss of varieties of color appear on the same weight during the process. In addition stalk. Blooming as they do in mid to 'producing an impression on the photo winter, they are very attractive. graphic plate, radium produces phosphor It goes without saying that a people ' escence and discharges electrified bodies. who thus understand the grafting of Thus it will be seen that it possesses all flowers are not ignorant of any of the TWO SIBERIAN FISHSXIN GARIIENTS. the qualities of the Roentgen rays. processes of budding, grafting or crossing Radium apparently violates one of the fruit; as a result we are able to obtain very fine speci various tribes of the Amur regions of East Siberia. fundamental laws of physics, namely, that of the con mens, especially of the peach. One of the noteworthy results of these investigations servation of energy. It does not appear to derive its • • • is the bringing to light of a tribe of highly skilled photographic power ,from the sunlight nor lose it by Carbureted Acetylene. and versatile artists, who, tliough living in a primitive expenditure. i A departure wh ch may turn out to be of some im state, being unable to read or write, and having no portance to the automobile industry, is described in a written or historical records, are yet masters of decor To Destroy V.. rlDln on Fovvls. paper read by Dr. N. Caro, of Berlin, before the Ger ative art. Several hundred specimens of their house In order to destroy the vermin with which domestic man Acetylene Verein at a meeting held at Eisen. ' ' hold effects and wearing apparel, profusely ornamented fowls are often infeste'd, a Canadian inventor, Edwin ach. It appears from Dr. Caro's contribution that with astonishing designs, display the wonderful char T. Stewart., of Ottawa, has devised a nest egg which acetylene gas, when led through petrol, becomes heav acter of their native handicraft, which is considered is hollow so that it can be filled with an insecticide. ily carbureted by it in much the same way as does an independent branch of East Asiatic art, entirely The nest egg is of such construction that by the move. ordinary atmospheric air. 100 liters of acetylene will different from that of other Siberian peoples. It was ment of the .fowl upon its nest the insecticide will be in this way take up 125 grains of petrol, yielding 150 found tbat the Gold were the most talented repre. automatically distributed.