53SB 
Simple Science 
By Dr. F. D. Crane 
See the local 
Coloring Glass 
I low can I color some small panes of 
glass of an antique lamp? w. n. c. 
Kingston, Mass. 
It) sonic of the larger towns there are 
glass dealers who carry colored glass, aud 
if you can find such, it is by far your bet¬ 
ter plan to get the bits you want. To 
really color glass, you must paint on the 
proper pigment, and then burn it iu, a 
job quite beyond the amateur. If you 
merely wish to stain the surface, either 
a shellac, or, better, shellac-dammar var¬ 
nish, colored with an aniline dye (it must 
be a spirit soluble aniline |, will give fair 
satisfaction for a considerable time, but 
will, finally, fade. Another varnish is 
collodion, also colored with an aniline 
which is soluble in it, which can only be 
told by I rial, as the collodion does not al¬ 
ways have the same solvent. Of course, 
the collodion is slightly inflammable, but 
so little is there when dry that it is not 
likely to cause trouble. 
cloud and the earth. It will Jae far bet¬ 
ter to charge up the thunderstorms to the 
quantities of gasoline exploded by those 
who are employing their daylight saving 
time in taking nice long rides in the coun¬ 
try. 
Sneaking more seriously, we do not yet 
know why thunderstorms originate, but it 
is pretty certain that the energy which 
we see as a flash of lightning is really de¬ 
rived from the sun heat which evaporates 
water and warms the water vapor so 
that, it rises. As the vapor again con¬ 
denses to a cloud a part of the energy 
expresses itself in the form we call elec¬ 
tricity, and if it accumulates rapidly iu 
this form there is a flash as the energy is 
exchanged between the clouds, or the 
earth and the clouds. This flash is im¬ 
mensely greater in amount, but the same 
in quality as that which, dischai*ged be¬ 
tween fixed terminals, sends the electric 
kick out into the wires which, in its turn, 
causes the tremor in space itself (the air 
has nothing to do with it), which is the 
wireless wave. 
Consequently the thunderstorm puts all 
wireless for many miles “on the blink” as 
the small boys so tersely express it. That 
is. the space tremors from the lightning 
are so immensely larger that they drown 
out everything else and, at the same time, 
are of such infinite variety of wave 
lengths that there is no chance of selec¬ 
tive tuning. So the wireless chaps sim¬ 
ply have to ground their aerials and wait 
till the clouds roll by. 
Lightning Damage to Trees 
I have seen several trees struck by 
lightning. In some cases the tree is but 
slightly rent, and in other a strong ex¬ 
plosive force is shown. Recently a pine 
15 in. in diameter was struck 20 ft. from 
the ground, and about a third of the 
trunk torn oil sideways and slivered into 
pieces from the size- of a bean pole to a 
lead pencil, and some of the largest thrown 
25 ft. away. What causes the difference 
in action? Is it a higher voltage that, 
does the explosive work, or a different Sweetening Cistern Water 
kind of juice? n. ii. — . , ... 
New York. Do 5,011 know °f anything to sweeten 
cistern water that smell stagnated? Our 
The only safe answer is, we don’t cistern hold around 300 barrels of water, 
know. One thing seems pretty dear, and and was cleaned thoroughly last Sep- 
that is that the amount of water in the temher, It is now unfit for use since that 
wood has considerable to do with the ex- hot spell. c. E. 
plosive action. If there is not much wa- Chester Depot, Vt. 
ter there cannot be much steam. On the . ,, T 
other band, the discharge seems, at hM cotild 1 put in my cistern to pur- 
times, to remain wholly on the surface. 115 , ir .' V ' ,a y 1 ' rainwater; I have char- 
In theory it should remain altogether on °P a111 lf > ‘ IUI that does not seem to take 
the surface, but at times it certainly pen- the din taste out of it. mrs. v. h. 
etrates. There is, so far as we know, but Kast Nortliport, N. \ 
one sort, of electricity, which expresses 00 * ll ‘ sl thing to. do is to make sure 
itself in two forms, which we call posi- ™ af some small animal has not turned 
five and negative, for no other reason ? om ’ cisterns into septic tanks. If such 
than that the earlv experimenters named 18 thp oaso ’ V 11 ’ 1 '” ls nothing to do but 
them that way. When these two forms I’ 11 ™I* rhem d'T and pray for raiu. If 
are exactly equal, we detect no electrici- - vou want to trust to "chemicals,” which 
ty; probably we have matter or substance nre an exceedingly vain thing for safety, 
of some kind. Now when we have the sprinkle m one-fourth pound of permnn- 
eondition we call "electrically charged” pnate of potash and stir for at least an 
fve may have either electrical pressure or hour with a pail so nailpd on a pole that 
Jlectrieal volume, or both. So a flash of 5 ' 0U ran .'- v 3 P !lil foil of air with 
lightning may be of great pressure and yvery stir Tf, after you have stirred at 
little volume, or of great pressure and mast an hour, there is not still a faint 
great volume* and* as the product of add an ounce or so more of the per- 
'‘pressure” and "volume" is "work," manganate and stir another hour. An 
there may be very mild flashes of light- excess cannot possibly harm you and will 
aing and very strong flashes. But to soon go.. But be very certain there is no 
iive a flash at all you have to have a very dead animal present. 
jyjADE of ALPHA CEMENT 
^ • U A these improvements last for 
^ all time—free from upkeep expense, 
such as repairs and painting. Easy 
to keep clean, fire-resisting. 
Just ask your local ALPHA CEMENT dealer for 
J\\\/ the new, 104-page, illustrated Handbook, ALPHA 
CEMENT — How to Use It. Photographs and 
y sketches of numerous permanent improvements abound 
in this book, as well as valuable suggestions on how to 
proportion, mix and place concrete, 
how to build forms, how to make 
cement construction water-tight, etc. 
Your local dealer can also give you the /f\. 
ALPHA Bulletins and Service Sheets dealing P LV* 
helpfully with scores of permanent cement / \\\\ 
improvements, and will 
tell you why he 
likes to supply you ALPHA CEMENT. 
Alpha Portland Cement Co. 
EASTON. PA. 
140 S. Dearborn St„ CHICAGO, ILL. 
New York Boston Philadelphia Pittsburgh 
Baltimore Battle Creek, Mich. Ironton, Ohio 
Plants at: Cementon, N.Y. Jamesville, N.Y. Alpha, 
N.J. Manheim, W. Va. Martins Creek, Pa. 
La Salle, Ill. Ironton, Ohio. Bellevue, Mich. 
ri'HE GUARANTEE^ 
PORTLAND 
MARK." REGISTER- 20 
Miller-Drip-Edge Your Roof 
Solvent for Gum Camphor 
With what can I dissolve gum camphor 
without alcohol? s. d. k. 
Leighton, Pa.. 
Nearly all the organic solvents and 
many oils dissolve more or less camphor. 
Try benzine, carbon tetrachloride, ether, 
or any other of the “organic solvents" 
and see which one works best. Had yon 
told us what you wanted to use the so¬ 
lution for. we could have suggested the 
hotter solvent for the purpose. 
A deadly spray 
POOrING OR FIRST LAYcr*’ 1 
OF COMPOSITION SHINGLE? 
•and it costs only two cents 
a gallon to spray with 
Hall's Nicotine Sulphate. 
Cleaning Discolored Tent 
One of our readers had occasion to bor¬ 
row a large tent in which the family 
spent a good share of the Summer. They 
tried to take the best care of the tent, 
but found a few mildew spots in the can¬ 
vas. An oil stove was used, and in some 
way the lower part of tin* tent has burned 
black. 11 color which refuses to wash out 
with ordinary scrubbing. It makes a 
very unfortunate circumstance, aud there 
is a call fur some method of cleaning this 
mildewed canvas. The chances are that 
the germs of mildew were iu the cloth, 
and the wet or muggy weather, with the 
heat of the oil stove, brought it out fully, 
and thus changed the color. About all 
that can he done is jo scrub and bleach 
as best you can with* the ordinary meth¬ 
ods. To prevent the spread of these mil¬ 
dew germs in the cloth, what is known as 
a 5 per cent solution of salicylic acid 
painted on the canvas will help. This 
will be probably as safe a germ killer as 
could be used. As for the spots already 
blackened, it will he very difficult to get 
rid of them. The use of chloride of lime 
and vinegar in the hot sun. anil a thor¬ 
ough washing thereafter, may help, but it 
will be a very difficult thing to clean up 
this black color. 
CROSS' 1 
.SECTION ' 
or HAVE ^ DRIP EDGE 
Miller Drip Edge, n Galvanized Strip, Neatly Cape 
Eave amt Gable Edges of Composition Shindies and 
Roofing Forms StifT. Sturdy, Projecting Edges that 
Properly Handles the Water. Withstands Wind and 
Ladders. Permits Bare Troughs Essentia! to Good 
Buildings. Easily applied Saves Nalls Peed by 
Hundreds. II Tour Roofing Dealer is Unable to 
Supplr We Ship Parcel Post, Delivered at 3*. Per 
Linear Foot, Satisfaction Guaranteed. 
MILLER & GLEASON. Div. I - OLEAN. N. V. 
Made tor ALL cars. Send for estimate. 
State Name and Year of ear. j-y ra 
This Ford Top and back curtain *,3U 
COMFORT AUTO TOP CO.. Dept J 
1621 Germantown Ave., Phila., Petipa. 
Waterproof Canvas Covers K VK5. 1 s 
^ zee proportionate price. 
Write fur sample. W.W STANLEY. SO Church St N Y,0. 
HOPE FARM NOTES 
H allTobacco Chemical Co, 
3965 Park A'Vt. , St. Louis , Mo. 
There have been many 
requests for Hope 
Farm Notes in book 
form. Here it is—234 
pages of the best ofthe 
Hope Fa run Man's phil¬ 
osophy, humor, pathos 
and sympathetic in¬ 
sight into every-day 
life. Well printed and 
neatly bound in cloth. 
Radios and Thunderstorms 
Is (ho increase in radio outfits in any 
way responsible for the number of elec¬ 
tric storms this season ? How do storms 
affect radio service? F. t. It, 
New York. 
No, the radio outfits have absolutely 
nothing to do with the amount or distri¬ 
bution of the electric storms. All the 
radio service in the country, added to¬ 
gether and discharged at once, would not 
have a fraction of the energy of a "flash 
of lightning”; that is, of the electric dis¬ 
charge between two clouds or between a 
MILLERBEAn 
rveSTERS 
HAVE LED ALL IMITATORS. 
Write Le Roy Plow Co., Le Roy, N. Y. 
For sale- by 
r Rural 
New-Yorker 
333W. 30th Street. 
NEW YORK CITY 
POTASH and WOOD ASHES 
Uiileaohed ; guaranteed t< of Potash. $18 per ton in 
bugs. Special car lot price, w. H. LHIDY, Sw.rtluuor., P». 
