The Swansea Gazette and Daily Shipping Register

tbt Swansea Gazer" And Daily Sblpplna Register Swansea, February 10, 1909.

Swansea Harbour Trust. Weekly Trade Report. Officially Communicated, The improvement in the trade of the port displayed in the previous week, although the figures fall short of the corresponding week of last year by 5,500 tons was main- tained. There was more or less activity in each department, the general trade in par- ticular, being larger than for sometime past Tonnage was in better supply, and ship- ments of patent fuel were satisfactory. The import trade was moderatly brisk. The shipments of coal and patent fuel were 84,097 tons. Imports include—France 800 tons iron ore, Holland and Belgium 1105 tons gen, Italy 2260 tons calamine, Greece 840 tons calamine and 312 tons arsenical refuse, Ar- gentine Republic 2692 tons wheat. Imports 14,104 tons, exports 96,447 tons and total trade 109,551 ton3 compared with 109.885 tons the previous week and 114,096 tons the corresponding week last year. Shipments of coal were- Russia 150 tons. Denmark 840 tons, Gemany 5930 tons, Holland and Belgium 1120 tons, France 29,485 tons, Spain 8880 tons, Italy 16,945 tons, Alg eria 560 tops, Cape of Good Hope 1850 tons, Brazil 8258 tons, New York 500 tons, Straits Settlements 900 tons Home portl4689 tons, total, 69,957 tons. Patent fuel—Holland and Belgium 250 tons, France 2290 tons Spain LOO tons, Italy 1700 tons Algeria 4700 tons, Brazil 6100 tons, total, 14,140 tonsl Tinplates and general goods 11,850 tons, the latter for Russia, Germany, Denmark, Holland and Belgium, France, Cape of Good Hope Ita'y, Straits Settlement and home ports. Shipments of tinplate 96.728 boxes, and receipts from works 86,927 boxes. Stocks in the dock warehouses and vans 208,821 boxes compared with 218,117 boxes this day week and 148,986 boxes at this date last year To loai—Juno for Amsterdam, Hero for Antwerp City of Cadiz for Hamburg, Mer- cury for Bordeaux, Amasio and Demetian for Mediterranean ports. Solis for Spanish ports, Bavarian for Italy. Seriphos for Batoum and Odessa. Chicago City for New York, Woodfield for Rio de Janerio, Camma for Villa Real. Vessels in dock-Steam 47 sail 40 tot 1 87.

Local Chartering. I Bayonne, 5.50, Vivienne, E W Cook & Co Jersey, 5/ Mindful, Cwmaman Co Palermo and Trapania, 8/- Name not known Cleeves and Co Ronen, 5/6, Eleanor, Ed. T. Agius Rouen, 5/8, Bass Rock, Wms & Behenna Rouen, 5/8, Volpone, Monsieur Depeanx St Malo, 4/ Speedwell, L Gueret

Mf the wintry weather, in Swede* Monrnj IKmi of straw and hay are tied to the lamp-part* fcr the benefit of the birds. Tn hottest springe In Europe are the Italfaa laths of Nero, where the water is 182deg. ttt r# at Bath are 215deg.

Tint WOMBN or INDIA. Many of the women of India, and especially those of Oashmere, are beautiful. In a typical Ilndu beauty the gkin is just dark enough to giwc a rich, soft appearance to the complexion. The features are regular, the eyes mild and black, and shad.ed by long, silken lashes, the hands and feet are small and well formed, the demeanour Is toodest, the manner is gentle, the voice low and tweet. There are fine-looking women among the laiddle-class Hindus, as well as among the upper wn, and evmn among the lower class the faces are often very pleasing. Many a Hindu woman whf has, perhaps, little pretensions to beauty of fact, has, nevertheless, the step and carriage of a princess, and if one is not too fastidious about vrfection of eyes and mouth md nose, her figure as she walks down the street with her load flu her ..s. is truly a beautiful sight.

SunntsTiTioNs AKOUT BABIBS. There are many superlltitions with regard fct tobies which mothers are,, careful to observe. In Germany, for instance, as in some parts at England, the infant must be carried upstairs before It goes down. If it happens to be born in an attiJi the nurse overcomes the difficulty by mounting a chair with the babe in tyir arms. Scottish mothers believe their babies will 1M 'Gclr:y if they handle thtir spoons with their left lands, and prosperity in later life in, supposed tie follow many tumbles in the first year. 1 new-born Yorkshire infant is placed In the arms of a maiden before being touched by anyone else, in order to secure good luck. In the Isle of 'Man it is said that it aBToae walk <«nnd, or step over a baby, it will be awarfttf m vixenod. Binding die baby's right hand is supposed III mparts of England to secure It ',r.' Recife

Phosphorescent; bacteria. At a meeting of the Academy of Sciences el Vienna, Professor Molisch, of Prague;, communi- sated a paper upon phosphorescent bacteria. Be has been able to photograph the colonielS of a' phosphorescent micrococcus by means of its owl tight. By inoculating large glass flasks of 1-2 ttres capacity containing a suitable culture medium With the organisms, a "bacterial lamp" is obtained with which it is quite possible for an observer at a distance on one to two metres to read a thermometer or to see the time of a watch. On a dark night the "bacterial lamp" is visible at a distance of more than sixty paces. It is suggested that such cultures ig phosphorescent bacteria might be employed is powder magazines, or for attracting fish, as the task might be sealed up and lowered into the water. Under suitable conditions the phosphorescent properties of the cultures last for two of thift weeks.

Micro-Photography and Armour Plate. The application of micro-photography to m.ialat tad its revelations of the changes of metallic Otraeturo produced by various methods of work- log, have resulted in very striking improvements 8Dd discoveries in hardening steel. One of tht most remasftable is the" Holzer-Frith" process-iii Which the alteration in the texture of the metal is produced by rearranging its molecular 'structure. Heat and electricity are utilised as exciting agent# on the crystals of which the metal is composed, and are employed while the metal is surrounded by Biercury in a hermetically-sealed vessel. No great alteration in the metal is perceptible to the unaided eye; but when examined under the microscope it is teen that the crystalline structure is very muck more regular and uniform than before. This mean* greater toughness, greater elasticity; the metal, a# W* Horological Journal points out, will withstand Greater, more sudden, and more continuous strains thMUghouc Its mass.

Diamonds and X-Ray*. A diamond when exposed to the violet rays ot light becomes fluorescent, the most brilliant diamonds giving out a clear blue fluorescence sai less brilliant ones becoming violet. A yellow diamond submitted by Sir William Crookes to these lays gave out a red light, and rather to the diitnay Df its owners subsequently turned a dingy brows When exposed to daylight. The brownishnea proved, fortunately, only a temporary effect. Thess experiments have suggested to Mr. Fuchs, o< Chicago, the treatment of diamonds with X-rays, and he says that he is able to bleach brownish and yellow diamonds by such means. This does not 8baust his claims regarding the possibilities of the If-ra-y4 By directing them through various metalf and chemicals before they penetrate the diamo; he believes that colour can be permanently Imparted to the stone and that it will be possible to reproduce thus the famous blue of the Hope diamond or the brown of a well-known diamond in the British regalia. In view of the other experi. ments which have been mentioned, the JllvstraUi trience JVews i* extremely doubtful, however, el the permanency of Mr, Fuchs's methods

The Mystery of the Echo ttte science of acoustics is, as yet, in its .nfanepf and men have much to learn before they can solve the mystery of the echo or predict her fleeting Moods, writes Miss Gertrude Bacon in Good Words Belated in general terms the explanation of echoes j$9 simple and easy to understand. Sound, as we know, is conveyed to us by vibrations of the air, Which spread around from the source of sound uaotly as waves of "iter spread in ever widening «ngs when a pebble is thrown into a still lake. ery frequently it happens that these waves ol aoond, in their outward course, strike against soma Surface of such a nature that they are, by it, 00seted back again without being broken and flattered. And when it occurs that these www On returnea at "uch an angle as to strike the ear •ff a listener, we have what we call,an echo. Often tMte than one reflection goes to tobtl making up ot On echo, the sound-waves being thrown from OM omgbft to another in their* passage to the ear-just so a billiard ball will rebound from cushion V •ashloa on its way round the table. This, ronghlj fti the car.se of the phenomenon. But so ending MM the variations of circumstances and environ- Bent, and the effects they produce so far-reaching tttd hard to foresee, that we are continually being token anawares. Sometimes tile echo returns M ■sickly that it eannot be distinguished fross tiw Irtgtnal sound; and yet its undetected pre*- nee is enough to affect seriously the penetratioa tf a roice in a church or theatre Sometimes 8M sound will produce several echoes in differeat directions, which return and return again at different time intervals, to the great distraction wt the hewers. Again the surface of the releethtf has a great deal to do with the nature « the echo returned. Certain substances seess to have a tendency to absorb the sound-waves, aad Silisn to efiect them more readily. Another curious property of sound-waves, exemplified in many waiU gse»a buildings, is the tendency 1 4 the waves te no round a eurvsd apse or gallerr, much as a Wars ol the sea, striking aslant oa a shallow bay, ■III ran round the shave. This is tha exniaaaitap ghjggy familiar aroostis caxioeitia^ notafefy