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Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2251, 11 December 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

A New Material fob Railroad Ties.— A foreigu technical paper, with an unpronounceable name, says that a new and important application of ozokerite has been recently discovered in Russia. It is now used for making ties on the Transcaspian railroad, which has already passed Oschabat and nearly reached Merv. The process of manufacture is very eiinple and inexpensive. Kyra, the local name for o/okente, is fouud there in thin layers of seven-inch thickness. In its primitive slate, it contains a certain percentage of decayed matter. To remove this, the ozokerite is melted in large cauldrons, the refuse sinks to the bottom, and the pure o/okeiite collects at the top. This purified ozokerite, melted aud mixed with 7o per cent, ot limestone and '2o per cent, of hue gravel, gives a very good asphalt, which is pressed in boxes shaped like railroad ties. Notwithstandiug the high temperature, which reaches 4S degrees R. (140 degrees Fahr.), the ties retain their shape and hardness, These asphalt ties are used all along the road, except at th<» ends and center of every rail, w here as yet w ooden ties are employed. In this way about §800 a mile is economised. — Engineering and Mining Journal. Spirit Extrvctld from Sw crt I\»tatoks. — Satisfactory results having been obtained from trials made in the A/ores, on the failure of the orange crop, to utrliso sweet potatoes for the production of flour and spirit, a French chemist, connected with the French Antilles, M. Ralu, has lately taken out patents for improvements in these t\To new industries. Tho latter seems likely to obtain largo proportious, The sweet potatu of M^urti- {

niquo yioh)i 15 litres of alcohol at 100 degrees per 100 kilos weight of roots, aud it is probable that the produce of other islands and of the Southern continent of America will yield about the snmo quart* tity. Ordinary potatoe* only jield about 3 to 4 litre-'. —Public; Opinion. Boilkh Corrosion. — MM. Klein and Berg have communicated to the Soci»st6 Chimique de Par's a note in which they Mtate that the internal corrociou of steam boilers is gre.itly increased by the presence of organic matters in the waters employed. This is not exactly new* ; but organic matters are frequently placed in boilers to prevent incrustation, and it is nece.s-ary to discriminate between those which are injurious and those which are harmless. M.M. Klein and Berg have discovered that hugar« of all kinds intensify the action (they do that in ships), while glycerine and mannite have no effect. — English Mechanic. CiifcAP iVritino Paper.— Paper of a very good qualify can be cheaply made of Heaweed. The weed is boiled with carbonate of bodu, and the filtered solution its treated with sulphuric acid, yielding a Hubstancc that has more viscosity than starch or even gum arable, and that can be profitably employed in textile fabrics.