(From Scientific American)

before she passed over the field. The ground mine, which, as we have said, is usually a hemispherical metal case, contains several hundred pounds of high explosive, and is held in place on the bed of the river or channel by its own weight, sometimes assisted by heavy hooks cast upon the outer shell. Anchored to the mine, and floating above it, at a depth below water that is less than the draft of the enemy's vessels, is a hollow buoyant sphere in which is placed the electric circuit closer. The upper engraving of the two herewith shown represents a section through the floating sphere, and shows the

poles, N, S, of the magnet are secured two small magnets, C, C, one end of the coil wire being connected to line and the other to a contact point, b. The armature A is secured by a spring to an insulated point, P, from which a wire passes through the firing fuse in the ground mine to earth. The other end of the armature carries a contact point which, when the buoy is struck, engages with a contact point, b, which is connected to earth through the interposed resistance of a 1,000-ohm resistance coil.

Fig. 2 shows the automatic indicator or shutter, which is placed in the firing sta

in clerical and official work, such as clerks and bankers, have a death rate of 13.5.

"Notwithstanding accidental deaths, the chances of life of the railway employes, such as trainmen and trackmen, are better than those in almost any other vocation. They are 30 per cent. better than the average of all other occupations. This low death rate is due to being out more or less in the open air, although a comparison of open air occupations shows the death rate among farmers to be 17.6. "Everything considered, the chance of escaping death by railway employes engaged in open air work was never better, the liability having materially decreased during the last ten years.

"Considering the volume and density of railway traffic in this country, the safety of passengers on steam railways has likewise improved during the last ten years.

"My conclusion is that the occupation of trainmen and other railway employes engaged in open air work offers a better chance against death than nearly all other occupations."-The Express Gazette.

The Simplification of Words.

In the Munsey of February last Brander Matthews has an article entitled "The Development of the English Language," which is far enough removed from anything pertaining to machinery and yet somehow this very interesting article by the professor of English literature in Columbia University reminds us of some of the things that machine designers and machine builders have been doing during the past twenty-five years. They have been lopping off and rooting out mere ornamentation and superfluities of one kind and another; they have been simplifying and reducing things to a strictly functional basis. This is precisely what Prof. Matthews advocates doing so far as possible with our English. He points out the fact that changes in spelling and in the meaning of words always have taken place and are now doing so, and he, believing, as he declares he does believe, that English is to become eventually the dominant language of the world, thinks we should do what we can to eliminate mere curlycues from it and to simplify it as much as possible. In doing this he points out that we need not feel called upon to be strictly consistent, but simply go ahead and simplify the spelling of certain words, leaving other perhaps analogous words to be simplified later.

There is of course a literature of the mechanic arts. Machine builders are constantly producing, in the form of catalogs, specifications and technical articles, matter that is to be read and studied by others interested in these things here and abroad. Why is it not peculiarly appropriate that machinery men, whose work in their own line shows so plainly their appreciation of simplicity and functional design, should simplify their English as much as possible, at least so far as is unequivocally indorsed by such authority as is Professor Matthews, to say nothing of others? This indorsement covers the use of such spellings as catalog, program, meter, tho and altho. He says nothing of hight in place of height nor of sulfur instead of sulphur, but we have long used the former and for some time past sulfur has been used in works in chemistry and is used by the United States Patent Office. Needless to say Professor Matthews deprecates the reintroduction of the superfluous u in labor, color, honor, etc., and he virtually throws open wide the door for reform and improvement by declaring that those who believe in avoiding the employment of useless letters should simply drop them and that the dropping of them may "afford fit occasion for explanation that there is no standard of spelling in English and that usage has always been shifting."

It seems to us peculiarly appropriate that the technical journals and technical and professional societies should take up these matters and not be the last to adopt reforms that are needed and that in the field to which they pertain are strictly analogous to the work done by engineers generally. We propose to progress a little along this line and assure those of our readers who may see the propriety of doing likewise that they will have the backing of the highest authorities.-American Machinist.

World's Fair, St. Louis, Mo., 1904.

The great Louisiana Purchase Exposition, which is by far the largest world's fair ever given, is now open in all its splendor. Travel has already begun towards the Exposition, and will increase as the days go by. The following information is taken from a bulletin issued by the Department of Press and Publicity:

A Glance at the St. Louis World's Fair.-The Louisiana Purchase Exposition is the greatest universal fair in the history of the world. Not only is its area

the most expansive ever included within exposition fences, not only is the amount of money expended the largest ever available to an exposition, but the space for exhibits is the greatest ever created under palace roofs, and the outdoor displays are greater than ever known before.

The grounds are 9,500 feet long, and 6,000 feet from north to south, comprising 1,240 acres. Fifty-one States and Territories of the Union and fifty-one foreign nations participate. The estimated cost of the fair is $50,000,000.

The magnitude of the fair can be partially indicated by a glance at some of the principal features. What is called the "main picture" of the Exposition occupies the northeastern section, and with the Festival Hall, Cascade Gardens and Colonnade of States as the key to the picture, one sees the great exhibit palaces assembled along radiating avenues laid out in the form of a lady's open fan.

From the southeastern gate, around the northeastern fronts of the several great buildings, to the western limits, the distance is nearly two and three-quarter miles.

Four great buildings, beginning with the Liberal Arts and taking the Palaces of Manufactures, Varied Industries and Transportation, have a northern frontage of three hundred feet more than a mile. The Government Building is upon a high elevation, and from its loggias and porticos many interesting views are obtained. The two large buildings nearest the Government building are the Palaces of Liberal Arts and Mines and Metallurgy. Next comes the Plazo Orleans and the Palaces of Manufactures and Education. The broad space which divides the main group into two parts is known as the Plaza St. Louis. The prominent feature of this place is the Louisiana Purchase Monument, which stands near the north end of the Grand Basin. The surroundings of this plaza form the "central picture" of the Exposition.

The Festival Hall, which is two hundred feet in diameter and two hundred feet high, with attendant colonnades on either side, and the beautiful Restaurant Pavilions terminating them, closes the view on the southwest. Upon the slopes between the Colonnades and the Grand Basin are the great Cascades and Rainbow Gardens, giving extraordinary color and life to the scene.

Behind the Festival Hall are four great buildings representing an expenditure of over a million dollars, devoted to the dis

play of fine arts. They contain a total of one hundred and thirty-five galleries, and the exhibits constitute the largest art display ever shown.

The buildings on the west side of the Plaza St. Louis are the Palace of Varied Industries and the Palace of Electricity. The Plaza St. Anthony is next west of these buildings.

The Palace of Transportation, covering fifteen acres, and the Palace of Machinery, with its many towers, are the next buildings westward. Upon the high ground, southwest of the Palace of Machinery, is the Palace of Agriculture, covering twenty acres. South of Agriculture is the Palace of Horticulture. Westward from the Palace of Agriculture is the Philippine reservation of forty acres, where twelve hundred Filipinos are at home for the Exposition.

The Palace of Nations is west of the Palace of Transportation. Among the fine buildings here are those of Belgium, Brazil, Great Britain, France, Italy, China, Sweden, Austria, Nicaragua, Cuba, Mexico, Ceylon and Canada.

The Administration Building, Ethnology Building, Hall of International Congresses and Woman's Building are near together on the high ground west of the foreign buildings. South of the Administration Building, the large structure is the Palace of Forestry, Fish and Game.

The Aeronautic Concourse, where the airship contests for $200,000 in prizes offered by the Exposition take place, is the western part of the grounds. The Physical Culture Building and the Athletic Field and the Stadium, with seating arrangements for 25,000 people, are also in the western section.

The reservation of thirty acres for the Government Indian exhibit and another reservation of six acres for a map of the United States in living plants, are west of the Palace of Fish, Forestry and Game.

Near the Palace of Agriculture is the great floral clock, 112 feet in diameter, and the lake in which the United States Life Saving Corps give daily exhibitions.

The Pike, the amusement street of the Exposition, begins in the eastern part of the grounds, with the Tyrolean Alps, which cover ten acres or more, and winds around the west end of the Transportation and Machinery Palaces to a point near the Art Buildings, ending with the reproduction of the city of Jerusalem, which covers eleven acres. In this distance of nearly two miles are seen the