Disinfectants

The American Public Health association recominends officially the following disinfectants: Water containing 5 per cent. of pure carbolic acid is one; a solution of six ounces of chloride of lime in a gallon of water is another. One of these solutions is to be drenched plentifully upon places requiring to be purified. For woolen garments and stuffed furniture, thorough steaming is the best. A room which has contained a case of contagious disease is cleansed by fumigation. Sprinkle a quantity of powdered sulphur over some live coals in an iron pan. Carry this into the room, shut all the doors and windows, and let the sulphur fumes fill it thoroughly. This fumigation will purify the w&lls of a room, but is not sufficient for carpets and bedding. And it is to be remembered ahvays that no purifying agent is better than boiling water. In some of the cities of Europe the plan has been tried of laying steel rails along the streets for the wheels of heavy trucks and hauling wagons. The model rail is broad and flat, being a foot wide and three-f ourths of an inch thick. Shallow grooves run along its length. These rails save the terrible wear of street paving that is caused by heavy laden wagons. They are a great relief to horses. By them a team which draws only eight tons isenabled to convey thirty-two tons. The rails are flat with the street, and can be easily crossed. With such a track as this the roar and thunder of lumbering street wagons would subside. The estimated cost for this country is $10,000 a mile for two tracks. Only districts in which the heaviest hauling is done would require the rails. If you want to play the ghost or appear as a materialized spirit with a shining countenance, it is very easy by means of certain luminous powders that are now sold at many drug stores. A 6heet and the powder are the outfit. A phosphorescent powder is also obtained by heating together till tliey become a calcined mass a mixture of sulphur and pure carbonate of Urne. The heatiug must be done in a closely covered vessei After the substance that remains from the heating is powdered finely, it will produce, when rubbed upon anytliing, the phosphorescence of the glowworm or firefly. The old homestead which President Lincoln occupied at Springfield is fasi going toruin. Robert Lincoln presented it to the state of Illinois several years ago, but it has not been taken care of, and unless sometlüng is done speedily it will have vanished from the earth. It was cheaply built in the beginning, and its timbers are rotting away. Many articles of f urniture and kitchen ware are in the house just as Lincoln left it in 1861, never to return. The Hamburg-American Steamship oompany are building two more sister 6hips to the flying steamer Augusta Victoria. When they are finished this line will have four new powerful twin screw steamers, 520 feet long, 57$ feet wide and 41 feet deep. I A new non-ruetallic rifle cartridge has been tried in France, and has f ound great favor. It is emokeless, and can be fitted to any military rifle. It costs70 percent less than the cartridge now in use. In England, a country more religious than America, the telephone is used ta enable invalida, doctors, druggists and others to hear sermona that they cannot go to church for.