1 May, 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 4038 
General Notes. 
CONTROLLING DOORS OF FARM BUILDINGS. 
The following sketch from the American Agriculturist shows how a door 
may be conveniently kept ajar as widely as required for ventilation or other- 
‘wise :-— 
A blacksmith can fashion the ironwork in half-an-hour, and we are sure 
it will be money well spent. The rod can be attached either to the inside or 
outside of the doorway. The use of §-inch round iron is recommended, and 
the staples should be attached to door and post sufficiently high to allow a 
person to walk under the rod when it is in use. 
A PETRIFIED FOREST IN THE TRIPOLI DESERT. 
That great desert in the forbidden hinterland of Tripoli, N orthern 
Africa, which has not been visited by Europeans for fifty years, has now been 
explored by Mr. Edward Dodson, a young Englishman who went out last 
March. The members of the expedition experienced much difficulty with the 
authorities; at one place they were put under arrest, and on two occasions 
threatened by Arabs, who prepared to ambush them. 
One of the most notable things on the journey to Murzuk was the great 
petrified forest. For ten hours they travelled across an area of petrified trees 
varying in circumference from 7 feet to a few inches. Every branch of this 
forest was, of course, lying prone, and this together with the presence of marine 
shells showed that this part of the Great Sahara had at one time been sub- 
rged. 
a row night they were surrounded by thunderstorms. No less than five 
distinct storms were in progress all round, and the guns and spears of the party 
became surrounded by a halo of phosphorescent light, which greatly alarmed. 
the superstitious attendants, who regarded this as a further Judgment upon 
them for travelling with “unbelievers.” —Reuter, Daily Mail. 
