EDITORIAL NOTES. 



It is probable that Prof. W. I. Marshall, 

 who delivered an illustrated lecture at the 

 Opera House upon " The National Park and 

 its Great Geysers," under the auspices of the 

 Kansas City Academy of Sciences three years 

 ago, will be induced to visit the city in May 

 and give a series of entertainments illustrated 

 by stereopticon views of the wonders of 

 the Pacific Coast. If the Academy succeeds 

 in this our citizens can prepare for a rich 

 treat. 



Mr. T. Cummings, in the Scientific Ameri- 

 can claims to have discovered that the Egyp- 

 tian obelisk in Central Park is not granite, 

 as has been supposed, but simply a concrete 

 composed of crushed granite, aspha't and 

 hydraulic lime (not cement). He gives the 

 Egyptians great credit for knowing how to 

 make first-class concrete, but offers to dupli- 

 cate the obelisk in the same material for 

 $15,000. If history is correct as to the age 

 of this job, Mr. Cummings would have to em- 

 ploy a longer lived insurance company than 

 ordinary to furnish a satisfactory guaranty ol 

 the durability of this duplicate. 



The transportation car of U. S. Fish Com- 

 mission, in charge of Mr. Moore, remained 

 here a few days last week, affording quite a 

 number of our citizens an opportunity to in- 

 spect it and the manner of handling the 

 young fish. It has been discovered by ex- 

 perience that if the water containing them is 

 kept ai about 40° it is not necessary to change 

 it more than twice a week, even when there 

 are twenty or thirty fishes to the gallon. 



' A coal mine has been discovered in the 

 vicinity of Gentryville, Mo., and a company 

 is being organized to develop it. The vein 

 is about three feet thick, and the coal is said 

 to be of good qual'ty. 



A slight shock of earthquake was felt all 

 along the Pacific coast east and south of San 

 Francisco, on the 30th of March. At Wat- 

 sonville nine shocks were felt, and at Hol- 

 lister plate-glass wiadows were broken and 

 brick walls cracked. 



Mr. Keely, the inventor of the motor 

 which he claims will revolutionize all motive 

 power, proposes to make a trial trip on the 

 4th of July. The apparatus will have a ca - 

 pacity of 500-horse power. The parts of the 

 engine are massive, and are composed of 

 Austrian gun metal and the hardest of hard- 

 ened steel. 



The fourth centennial anniversary of the 

 birth of Raphael was celebrated at Rome, 

 March iSth, with great pomp, A bronze 

 bust of the great artist was unveiled at his 

 tomb. 



Dr. Lewis Swift, Director of the Warner 

 Observatory, has received from Minister 

 Morton at Paris 540 francs, the Lalande 

 prize of the Paris Academy of Science award- 

 ed each year to the astronomer most distin- 

 guished during the jear. The prize also in- 

 cludes a .'ilver medal of the Institute of Paris, 

 of which Dr. Swift becomes an honorary 

 member. 



The Annual Reports of the City Comptrol- 

 ler, City Engineer and City Physician are the 

 fullest, most complete and most satisfactory 

 of any ever made by similar officers in the 

 history of this city. We shall take occasion 

 to quote from the last named in our next. 



Senator Bryant's bill appropriating 

 $100,000 for enlarging and repairing the 

 State University of Missouri passed the Sen- 

 ate on March 23d, and has since been ap- 

 proved by the Governor. 



A new test for gold leaf was accidentally 

 discovered at the Farrell Venetian Art Glass 

 Manufacturing Company's works in Brooklyn. 

 By the Farrell process the leaf is placed on 

 the incandescent glas'^, which is then blown. 

 The expansion splits the leaf into beautiful 

 and fantastic forms, and the object is then 

 fired, covering the glass with the vitreous 

 material. In using a guaranteed 999 quality 

 of gold leaf the workmen found that the ex- 

 pansion separated the gold from a copper al- 

 loy, and the object was ornamented with gold 



