GENERAL ITEMS.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 657, 9 August 1921, Page 3

GENERAL ITEMS.

£ CUP THAT KEEPS TEA OR f COFFEE HOT. * * A popular novelty recently introduced in France is a cup so made as , to keep tea or coffee hot while the user is reading the morning paper be- j ! tween sips. This' is accomplished by j providing the cup with a double bottom into which a slip of heated metal can be placed. The liquid is kept hot for a period of about twenty minutes. NEW RADIUM PREPARATION MAKES METALS LUMIN- < OIJJB.' | A German chemist has succeeded in producing a radium .preparation making visible certain rays emitted by radium which hitherto have been incapable* of being seen. This preparation can be fixed upon gold, silver, ana even upon glass, wood, and silk, which thereupon become luminous in the dark, giving out green, red, violet or yellow light of varying 1 tints. These colours, the inventor deer’ares, will remain luminous for .20 years. ARTIFICIAL COLORING OF FISH. It:, has been discovered that fishes may b.e so colored as to suit the human fancy. In Sicily, it is reported, by the introduction into the water of chalk, iron, and a quantity -of peat, colors may be imparted to the carp. After treatment in a hath of these concomitants for a' .couple of weeks the fish is given another chemically prepared bath into winch there are introduced iron and tan. By increasing or diminishing Yhc qtomtit ,-s the colour can he cither accentuated or diminished. The process is said to be somewhat hazardous, but produces ornamental fish. CLOTH FROM PAPER. The most successful results yet attained in various attempts, that have been made to produce a wearable cloth from paper are said to be those produced by a. patented process employed in Saxony. Narrow strips of paper are spun into yarn, which may be woven to form cloth. Better results’ arc had by spinning paper and cotton together, and still better cloth is made by a combination of paper and woollen yarns. The fabrics do not of course, possess the strength and durability of ordinary cloth; but useful clothing is made of them at a low price, and they may be washed without injury. A NOVEL EXPERIMENT IN MEASURING. To estimate the ' width of a river without tli? use of surveying instruments a simple plan has been in vogue for centuries., Choose a section of the river bank where the ground r&as back level and, standing at the water’s edge, fix your eyes- <on the opposite bank. Now move your hat down over . your brow until the edge of the bnm is exactly on a line with the water line on the other side. This will give you a visual angle that may be used on any level surface, and, if, as has been suggested, the ground on your side of the river is flat, you may mark a corresponding distance on it. To do this you have only to hold your head perfectly steady, after getting the angle with your hat brim, and turn slowly around until your back is towards tEe liver. Now take careful note of wlier© your hat brim cuts the level surface of the ground as yon look out over the latter, and from where you stand to that point will bo 'the width of the river, a distance that may be measured by stepping. If you are careful in all these details you cun conic within a few feet of the river’s width.