212 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIII. No. 320 



for exportation, the fruit is pressed flat between two cylinders cov- 

 ered with India-rubber, and then paclced into cases by a special 

 machine, called a " packer." Many dealers still perform this opera- 

 tion in the primitive manner of foot-pressure. Bordeaux is the 

 principal centre of their industry, which is yearly increasing. 



Besides the large amount of prunes exported to European coun- 

 tries by rail, there are, says- Consul Roosevelt, about one hundred 

 vessels annually leaving the port of Bordeaux loaded with this 

 produce. In the beginning of the prune-industry, many devices 

 were employed for their proper conservation. The first ovens were 

 very primitive, and the work of preparing the fruit for market labo- 

 rious. At present there are many different kinds of ovens in use, 

 possessing more or less distinct features, but almost the same in 

 general principles. The most generally used are the Bournel and 



We also give a view taken from a photo of the Asheville, N.C., 

 Electric Railway. 



Asheville is a flourishing mountain town, noted throughout this 

 country as a health-resort ; and it is characteristic of such a town 

 and its enterprise that it now has an electric railway, first-class in 

 all particulars, which gives the people perfect and comfortable 

 means of transit to the depots and hotels, and replaces the old 

 springless hacks and primitive omnibuses. 



The picture shown is from a photo taken shortly after the open- 

 ing of the road, and represents three of the Sprague electric cars 

 turning a corner into the main street of Asheville, N.C.; and it is 

 an interesting feature to notice that it is difficult to discern'^the 

 overhead system at all, on account of the smallness of the wires. 



Besides an equipment of passenger street-cars, this electric rail- 



ELECTKIC : 



.ILROAD-BRIDOE. 



the Marletean ovens. The only ovens in use are of French manu- 

 facture. 



SOME NEW ELECTRIC RAILWAYS. 



The accompanying engraving is from a photograph representing 

 one of the Sprague electric cars in operation at Steubenville, O., 

 passing under a railroad-bridge on the route of the road. The 

 picture gives a very good idea of the wide range of movement of 

 the trolley-arm, which can reach from 12 to 14 feet above the car, 

 to less than i foot, when the location of overhead wire demands 

 such a wide change. The kind of trolley-pole used upon this road 

 is light and unobtrusive, consisting of a light, hollow iron rod car- 

 ried on top of the car, and supported from the car by a stout steel 

 spring, which allows it to move in every direction necessary. 



The equipment of this road includes the regular Sprague system 

 of overhead wiring, with main and working conductor running par- 

 allel, connected at intervals of every 100 to 200 feet. The road 

 has been a success from the start, and has been visited by many 

 street-railway managers from Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and 

 western Pennsylvania. 



way also possesses several freight-cars, also operated by electric 

 motors of the Sprague type ; and, as this road connects the depot 

 of the North Carolina Railroad with the city of Asheville, these 

 freight-cars have proved a convenience and a source of income. 



THE SUBMARINE BOAT " GYMNOTE." 



We have already given some details of the " Gymnote ; " but the 

 following, taken from Indiistrzes, gives some additional informa- 

 tion as to her construction. After the first trials of the " Gym- 

 note," it was found that various details required modification, but 

 on the whole the trials were satisfactory ; and^ now that the im- 

 provements which the first trials indicated to be necessary have 

 been made, the French Government have accepted the "Gymnote " 

 as the standard type of submarine vessel for offensive purposes. 

 The hull is spindle-shaped, 6 feet in diameter by 56 feet long, pro- 

 vided with horizontal and vertical rudders, and with a cylindrical 

 conning-tower of somewhat novel design. The conning-tower 

 consists of a fixed tube, withm which slides a second tube, carry- 

 ing at its upper end a mirror inclined at an angle of forty-five de- 



