meal awaiting them, which they took with great gusto, afterwards setting about their work with redoubled liveliness and energy. In order to further encourage these lads to greater efforts, the management decided upon consideration that a certain number of dozen bottles per day would be considered a comprehensive day's work. The result has been that these lads vied with each other, having made it a matter of the keenest rivalry who should first finish their allotted number of bottles. Although the closing hour is 6 o'clock, in many cases some of the gangs-they are all arranged in separate gangs-have actually concluded their day's work by 4.30. The consequence is that there is a healthy competition among the different squads, and when 4.30 or some such hour arrives the first gang is finished, and others hurry up to be equal with them, the next hour or so being spent in relaxation with the concurrence of their employers. Then they get away home refreshed and unwearied with excessive labor, and are eager to turn out sharp and punctual in the morning. More than that, the company offered a premium to their boys who kept good time in the morning, and it turns out that the coffee and rolls and premium combined have had such an effect that the firm has benefited to an extent it never dreamed of when the idea originated.

ONE OF THE difficulties.

Interviewed the other day on the subject of premiums by a Dispatch representative, a member of a big engineering firm in Edinburgh said: "On the whole it would be an undoubted advantage, but not of such a nature that everyone would be likely to adopt it. One of the difficulties of the system would be to define when the benefit of increased output was created by the workman, and when it was the result of improvements introduced at the expense of the employer. In large establishments improved machinery is constantly being introduced, and it often happens that a great deal of the decreased time in completing a given piece of work arises not from the workman's exertions, but from improvements at the master's cost. Far more improvements in this direction emanate from the management." Asked what he thought of the one-break system, this gentleman replied: There is no doubt about it; the one-break system is a very much better arrangement."

VIEWS FROM GLASGOW AND THE WEST.

With the motor-car boom, these new industrial methods have gained a footing in Glasgow. Several of the large motor-car-manufacturing firms, including the Mo-Car Syndicate at Paisley, have adopted the premium-paying system, by which the men are encouraged to do more than the minimum expected of them by sharing in the extra profit accruing. Other firms are more conservative in their methods; but the advantages of the American system are recognized by their managers, although they hesitate at the moment of upheaval that would be entailed in upsetting present customs. The manager of the largest cycle works in Glasgow, in conversation with a representative of the Dispatch, was ready to admit that one feature of American engineering would be distinctly advantageous-a working-day with only one break for dinner, involving the abolition of the breakfast hour and the starting of the works an hour or two later than 6 o'clock, the orthodox starting hour for engineers. There is always a certain amount of leakage in stopping and restarting the men and the machinery, which would thus be saved, and in the case of large works employing several hundred hands the saving would be considerable. Even Glasgow employers, however, place a great deal of faith in the policy of hastening slowly.

In another quarter the American system of bonus paying has been receiving some attention. An attempt was made recently at Kilmarnock to introduce the progressive premium system, as it is called, into the iron works, but it met with

opposition on the part of the employees. In the case of one Dundee engineering firm the proposals have taken practical shape and are undergoing consideration on the part of the workmen. Some attention has also been given to the subject in Glasgow. A representative of the iron molders, in the course of a conversation on the subject, stated that the men were not at all averse to employers adopting this system where there was a large amount of capital sunk in plant, it being to the employers' advantage, of course, to get the best return possible from their expensive machinery, where the oncost charges are heavy and wages do not practically form the sole item in the cost of production.

WHAT THE IRON MOLDERS THINK.

66

In the case of iron molders, however, it is different. Their point of view is expressed in a recent report of their association, in which the premium system is discussed. It states that the premium system, 'as we understand it, means that any workman who may require, say, nine hours to produce or make a piece of work is to be asked to do it if he can in seven hours, and he will receive an hour's pay as bonus-i. e., be paid for eight hours; or, if a workman takes forty hours to complete a job, if he can do it in thirty-five hours or less he gets the one-half as a bonus. This mode of working would apply to time workers. The foreman and manager will consult over any pattern and consider how many hours this should be cast in, and also the time noted when it is taken out of mold, and sand restored to a working condition ready for another job. The workman gets a card from the foreman when he gets his pattern. At the top of the card is the number of hours allotted to begin and fully complete that job. Should he take four or five hours longer, he will be paid certainly, but an inquiry will be held and a satisfactory reason for such delay is expected. This system of work may do for some trades, but in molding unforeseen obstacles, which can not always be provided for, continually face the workman, and in our opinion should this plan become general the middling and poor workman will fare badly. It is said by the advocates for such a system that no honest employer will reduce a time once given for a job, should any workman make a good premium, but to our mind this premium system would be worse and morally debasing to any other system we presently know of."

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, July 20, 1903.

RUFUS FLEMING,

Consul.

NEW OIL ENGINE.

In a type of oil engine which has attracted much favorable notice the oil is vaporized and ignited without the use of any external source of heat. The main drawback has been that the engine would not run indefinitely with light loads, owing to the explosions not occurring with sufficient frequency to keep the igniting portion at a sufficiently high temperature. A modification of this type of motor just brought out by the Britannia Company, of Colchester, England, is claimed to be free from this drawback. The vaporizer is

arranged, as usual, at the back of the cylinder. On the suction stroke a vapor valve is opened by the cam shaft, and through this valve air is drawn into the cylinder through the vaporizer, into

which at the same time a little oil is sucked through an automatic valve. This mixture of air and oil is in itself too rich to be explosive and the main supply of air is drawn through a separate air valve into the cylinder. Two passages connect the vapor valve with the cylinder. One of these is large and straight, while the other is narrow and u shaped. The lower portion of the U contains the ignitera piece of metal having ribs, which enable it to absorb heat readily when the explosion takes place. This piece therefore becomes and remains red hot, while the rest of the vaporizer is only at a black heat. The vapor which is drawn through this igniter on the suction stroke is far too rich to burn, but on the compression stroke air is forced back into the igniting piece and provides the necessary oxygen for the vapor already there to ignite. None of the exhaust passes through the igniter, which is consequently not cooled down in the case of a missed explosion. The proportion of oil and gas used is regulated by throttling the air supply. As already stated, part of this air is drawn through the vaporizer and the rest through the air valve. If the admission to the latter is throttled a greater proportion of the air used will be taken through the vaporizer and will carry with it a proportionately greater amount of oil. The makers claim that, once started, the engine will run absolutely without attention for several hours.

COBURG, GERMANY, July 24, 1903.

OLIVER J. D. HUGHES,

Consul-General.

NEW CURE FOR CANCER.

At the clinic of Prof. Dr. Ernst von Leyden, of the faculty of the Friedrich-Wilhelm University in Berlin, there are now in progress tests with a preparation for the treatment of persons afflicted with cancerous disease. The preparation was invented by Dr. Julius Gnezda, a scientist who has made various contributions to physiological chemistry, and who read, among other papers, a thesis at the International Medical Congress, held at Washington in 1887, on the subject of cobra poison.

The facts which led Dr. Gnezda to prepare the substance in question were:

1. The beneficial effect of Fowler's solution on patients with cancer of the stomach, already observed and recorded by other physicians.

2. The retention of chlorine in the tissues of said patients.

3. The good results which Dr. Gnezda obtained when he treated patients with albuminous matter that contained phosphorus in an organically combined form.

Consequently, Dr. Gnezda went on to prepare a compound which contained the underlying principles of the therapeutical actions described, the process of the manufacture being substantially given in the application for the patent. The preparation which is being tested at present is made from the white of egg-200 grams of white of egg were treated with 40 grams of phosphoric acid anhydride in successive portions. The product was allowed to stand until cool, and there was then added 20 grams of trichloride of arsenic under digestion. After the addition of water, the precipitate was washed out until the wash water gave neither a reaction for arsenic nor for phosphoric acid. Later, the precipitate was washed with alcohol, dried, and pulverized.

The powder called "akarkine" (from the Greek Alpha privativum, not or against, and karkinos, cancer) is insoluble in water and weak mineral acids, but is soluble in alkalies. What is more important, akarkine is acted upon by the pancreatic juice and readily digested by it.

The chemical analysis of akarkine shows a proportion of 4.23 milligrams of arsenic in 1 gram, a fact which tends to prove that one atom of arsenic entered one molecule of albumin, the molecular weight of albumin generally being considered as 14,000 to 15,000.

Akarkine is administered in the clinic of Professor Leyden at the beginning in doses of half a gram three times a day before meals. The doses are increased successively to 4 grams a day and more. No untoward effects were observed and especially no rising of the temperature, irritation of the stomach, or weakening of the heart action.

In special regard to persons with cancer of the stomach, it has been observed that vomiting ceased and that the pains in the abdomen disappeared.

On the question whether and how far akarkine is likely to have a direct local influence on the cancerous growth itself as far as concerns the living growth, Dr. Gnezda does not wish to declare definitely at present, but experiments on growths taken from postmortems have shown that there actually existed an interaction between the constituents of the growth and akarkine.

Further researches on the subject are now in progress.
FRANK H. MASON,

BERLIN, GERMANY, July 27, 1903.

Consul-General.

NEW IRON-HARDENING PROCESS.

Phosphorus, as is well known, has the property of imparting a certain degree of surface hardening to iron, but not without producing brittleness. The iron is made to assume a coarse structure, in which the crystals are comparatively loosely bound together. This effect of phosphorus of loosening the coherence of the molecules of the iron greatly facilitates the absorption of carbon by the iron. The carbon rapidly penetrates the iron to a considerable depth, imparting great toughness to the core and nullifying the comparatively slight defect constituted by the inconsiderable brittleness of the surface. Two Prussian inventors apply this principle in their process for hardening iron by heating the same in a tempering powder consisting of organic nitrogenous substances containing a high percentage of fusible ash and employing phosphorus as the medium for the introduction of carbon into the iron. Without prejudicially affecting the welding properties of the iron, it imparts such a degree of hardness thereto that it can neither be cut nor chipped by the best steel used. In order to harden the surface of about 200 kilograms (441 pounds) of iron to a depth of 1 millimeter (0.0394 inch) by means of this process, the pieces should be embedded in a retort, muffle, or the like, in bone dust, to which is added a mixture of 300 grains of yellow prussiate, 250 grains of cyanide of potassium, and 400 grains of phosphorus. The receptacle is well closed, luted with clay, etc., and raised to a clear red or white heat, whereupon the material treated is immersed in a glowing condition in a water or other bath.

COBURG, GERMANY, July 17, 1903.

OLIVER J. D. HUGHES,
Consul-General.

NEW CROSS-CHANNEL TURBINE STEAMER.

Perhaps the oldest ferry in the world is the cross-channel service from Calais to Dover. It has been in existence for more than twenty centuries, and the vessels which have been engaged in it include every variety of shipping, from Cæsar's high-peaked galleys, propelled by banks of oars, to the new turbine steamer The Queen, which has been in service since June 27, 1903.

During the first century there is no doubt that a cross-channel service of a more or less regular character was established as part of the system of posts maintained throughout the Roman Empire, and