Mead is the world's largest man-made lake, having a capacity of 32,359,274 acre-feet of water, and being 115 miles long and 8 miles in maximum width. In February 1941, it had filled to more than 23,400,000 acre-feet. Boulder Dam impounds in Lake Mead flood waters of the Colorado River for use in irrigation, in regulating the river, in flood control, silt control, improvement of navigation and in generating hydroelectric energy. The Imperial Valley, which lies below sea level in southern California, is dependent upon Boulder Dam for protection from overflow, water shortage, and silt accumulation. The Boulder Dam power house will have an installed capacity of 1,835,000 horsepower. The first unit was put in operation on Sept. 11, 1936. The power-house is to be equipped with 15 generating units of 115,000 and two of 55,000 horsepower capacity. A battery of 8 of the big generators, largest installed to date, and one of the smaller generators are in operation. Two additional large units are being installed and one other is being manufactured. John C. Page, Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation, reported that the sale of power at Boulder Dam for the fiscal year of 1940 amounted to $4,461,393.89. present power contracts will return the entire investment in the dam with interest at 4 per cent, and will create a surplus in fifty years, Page's report stated. The Bureau of Reclamation operates the dam, and Boulder City: Los Angeles and the Southern California Edison Co., are in charge of the power house; Lake Mead is controlled by the National Park Service, for purposes of recreation. The United States Government holds title to dam, power house, and equipment, Boulder City, and the lake. Erosion has so shortened the useful life of the water-supply reservoirs in the United States that a hundred years hence only 54 per cent will provide sufficient storage to meet present requirements. according to H. S. Bennett, chief of the Soil Conservation Service, said today. Over 20 per cent of the 12,000 or more reservoirs and dams have a useful life of fewer than fifty years and another 25 per cent will be lost in fifty to 100 years, he stated. DAM, MONTANA suction, dredge units; 4,000,000 cubic yards of gravel; and more than 1,000,000 cubic yards of rock Four tunnels, 24 feet and 8 inches in diameter bypass water releases from the reservoir through the east abutment of the dam. All tunnels are equipped with vertical-lift, tractor-type, emergency gates. Discharges through three of the tunnels are controlled by cylindrical gates installed in vertical, circular shaft, 50 feet in diameter; and the discharge through the fourth or power tunnel is controlled at the power house. A spillway with 16 vertical-lift gates, 25 feet by 40 feet, is located in the rim of the reservoir 3 miles east of the dam. A power plant, located at the outlet of one of the tunnels and designed for an ultimate installation of three 35,000-kilowatt generators with an initial installation of only two geenrators with a combined capacity of 50,000 kilowatts, is under construction at the present time. FORT PECK The Fort Peck Dam, constructed by the Army Engineers on the Missouri River in northeastern Montana, is the largest earth-fill dam in the world. Construction was started in October, 1933, and the dam was raised to its final height of 250 feet in October, 1940. The primary purpose of the dam, expressed in the authorizing acts, is for the improvement of navigation on the Missouri River, and for the production of hydroelectric power consistent with the primary demands of navigation. Releases from the Fort Peck Reservoir for navigation purposes were started in 1938. The dam has a total crest length of 4 miles. comprised of the main section across the river valley of 10,578 feet and a large dike section on the west bank 10,448 feet in length. The average width of the base of the main structure is 3,500 feet, and the top, on which a hard-surfaced road will be constructed, is 100 feet wide. The dam contains about 123,000,000 cubic yards of earth-fill material, placed almost entirely by full-electric, FOREIGN DAMS a It is expected that construction of all major features of the project will be completed in 1943 Marathon, near Athens, (water supply) (1929). Cauvery-Mettur, British India irrigation, power (1934). 214 Lloyd Barrage. Indus River, British India (1928-1932); irrigation. 190 45,000 13,000,000 5,978,750 16,000.00 73,730,000 193 *Dneiper River, Russia: power, etc.. (1932) 200 Sautet, Drac (Rhone trib.) River, French Alps, power (1936). 414 410,000 8,000,000 291,800 110,000,000 34,540 Barberine, Switzerland, Alps (1921); power. Jandula, near Andujar, Spain (1930): power. 295 Esla, near Zamora, Spain; power. 328 Don Martin, Tamaulipas, Mexico (1930); power, etc. 131 Jerry O'Connell, Bananeiras, Bahia, Brazil; power 110 118,890 5,000,000 264,200 12,000,000 359,267 8,000,000 23.1001 5,000,000 Destroyed by the Russians in August, 1941, to prevent its seizure and use by German war forces. The Cauvery-Mettur irrigation project; in BritIsh India, inaugurated in 1934, has the largest dam in the British Empire and one of the largest in the world. The dam, at Mettur, on the Cauvery River, 180 miles southwest of Madras, is 5,300 feet long, and contains 5412 million cubic feet of masonry, weighing 3,640,000 tons. It is 171 feet thick at the base and 2012 feet thick at the top; and it exerts a pressure on the ground beneath amounting to 132 tons per square foot. The reservoir behind the dam is 13 miles long, 412 miles in its extreme width; its area is 60 square miles, with 180 miles of shore line. One of the legendary sites of the Garden of Eden is watered from a dam in Iraq, put in operation in March, 1939, by King Ghazi. The dam. which was begun 16 years ago, has cost 512 million dollars. The barrage is 1,615 feet long. St. Lawrence Seaway Canal Project Source: Reports to Congress The project calls for the construction of a 27-foot channel through the St. Lawrence River from Montreal to Lake Ontario and from there through the Welland Canal and other interconnecting lake rivers and canals. The total distance from Duluth to open ocean would be 2,351 miles, and from Chicago to open ocean 2,250 miles. To make possible passage between the lakes, obstructions in the St. Marys River between Lakes Superior and Huron have to be removed. The same situation applies to the St. Claire River, Lake St. Claire, and the Detroit River between Lakes Huron and Erie. The total difference in water levels between Lake Superior and Lake Ontario would be overcome by the construction of a new lock in the St. Mary's River and by the improvement of the channels in the Welland Canal which has a total lift of 32512 feet. The most important part of the work is in the St. Lawrence River where it is necessary to construct 9 locks, several side canals in the Lachine and Soulange sections, and great dams and levees. Dams would be constructed across the river hav ing a flow of 100,000,000 gallons of water per minute and with foundations from 50 to 80 feet below water level In their report to the two governments dated November 16, 1926, the Joint Board of Engineers estimated that the total cost to both countries would be approximately $427,000,000. Of this amount, they estimated that $251,000,000 would be the United States share and $176,000,000 the Canadian cost. The The Brookings Institution, in its St. Lawrence report of 1929. estimated that $25,000,000 would have to be spent for each of 10 lake ports. engineering department of the city of Buffalo has estimated that complete improvement of that harbor would cost approximately $47,000,000, which sum would cover both private and public expense. The Department of Research of the United States Maritime Commission shows that for the calendar year of 1938 the total water-borne foreign commerce of the United States moving via the St. Lawrence route amounted to 1,900,000 tons, and that of this total 123,000 tons, a little over 6 percent, was handled in American ships. 25 Mysteries of Life and Matter A gathering of college students was told recently by Charles F. Kettering, of the research laboratories of the General Motors Corporation, that there are 25 unanswered problems relating to life on this earth. They are as follows: 1. How to cure many diseases-colds, cancer, ills of old age, etc. 2. How plants fix sun's energy. 3. What is friction? 4. What makes glass transparent, metals opaque? 5. How do fuels burn in an engine cylinder? 6. What is magnetism? 7. What is electricity? 8. What is fatigue of metals? 9. What is the nature of light and other electromagnetic waves? 10. What is the nature of the atom, molecule and the electron? 11. What are proteins, carbo-hydrates and fats? 14. How to use farm products more effectively. 16. How do catalysts work? 17. The what and why of solubility. 18. What is energy? 19. What is the photo-electric effect? 20. What can be done with chemiluminescence? Rate of Speed of a Falling Body Source: Aviation and The speed of a falling body is regulated by the force of gravitation. Theoretically, the drawingdown power of the earth is modified by the pull of the moon and the sun. The experimental department at Wright Field of the Army Air Corps has stated that a man falling from any altitude with a parachute pack attached never attains a velocity of greater than 118 miles per hour and does not lose consciousness. In the first second of its descent a body falls 16 feet; second second, 16 + 32 = 48 feet; third second, 16+64 80 feet; fourth second, 1696 112 feet; fifth second, 16+ 128 144 feet; nth second, 16 + 32 (n-1) feet. The total distance fallen by a body at Army Records the end of the nth second is given in feet by multiplying the square of the time in seconds by 16. Thus at the end of the first second it has fallen 16 feet, at the end of the second second 2 X 2 X 16 =64 feet, at the end of the third second 3 X 3 X 16 =144 feet; at the end of the fifth, 5 X 5 X 16 = 400 feet. Conversely, to find the time in seconds to fall any distance, divide the distance in feet by 16 and extract the square root; thus to fall a mile divide 5,280 by 16, which gives 330, and the square root of 330 is a little over 18, the number of seconds which is the vacuum time to fall a mile. Owing to the resistance of the air, it takes about 19 seconds for a bomb to reach the earth when dropped from an airplane a mile high. The Dionne Quintuplets The Dionne quintuplets-Emilie, Yvonne, Cecile, Marie and Annette-were born to Mr. and Mrs. Oliva Dionne (May 28, 1934) in Callander, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Allan R. Dafoe, a country doctor, delivered the babies all of whom were born within a half hour in the log farm home of their parents. The aggregate weight of the babies at birth was 13 pounds 6 ounces but they have developed in weight until they are about 30 per cent heavier than the average child of their age. Dr. Dafoe reports they have grown into normal, healthy children with all the likes and dislikes of any other child. The children enjoy good health and the only ailments to bother them have been colds. Their health improved after their tonsils and adenoids were removed by operation (1938). By act of the Ontario legislature the quintuplets are wards of the Crown. Technically, under this act, their affairs are run by a board of four guardians, including their father. The others are Percy D. Wilson, official guardian for the province of Ontario: Dr. Dafoe, and Judge J. A. Valin. In their charge are the children's regimen. living conditions, entourage, consisting of nurses, guards and servants, and the administration of the estate, estimated (1940) at $750,000. Through a business manager, Keith Munro, the guardians also negotiate the various commercial contracts which bring the children additional income varying from five to six figures in amount. Premier Hepburn informed the father (Sept. 12, 1941) that the Ontario Government had "accepted in principle" the suggestions of Dionne that the family be reunited under one roof. The quintuplets have lived apart from their parents and seven sisters and brothers since their birth. The Premier indicated that the entire family would live together again as soon as a new home could be constructed. Sound-How Far, How Fast, Does It Go? Source: Scientific Records. On a day in Dec., 1933, a dynamite explosion set off on the Arctic island of Nova Zembla was detected at Berlin, more than 2,000 miles away. Thunder, which is the loudest common noise, never has been heard unmistakably more than about 20 miles from the flash. Continual cannon fire has been heard 100 miles away and somewhat doubtfully as far as 300 miles. The landing of the great Siberian meteor, which fell on June 30, 1908, was heard 400 miles away and affected weather instruments in Europe. The world's loudest noise, the volcanic explosion of the Island of Krakatoa in 1883, was heard by human ears as far off as Bangkok, something more than 1,400 miles. At La Courtine in France, in 1924, tons of excess war munitions were exploded, under scientific control and reports obtained from listeners and instrument stations in all directions over Europe. The maximum distances unmistakably recorded in this instance were but little more than 200 miles. This distance was separated from the actual ex plosion by one of the "zones of silence" usually encountered in such experiments, a zone in which the noise is unheard although it is heard both closer to the explosion and farther away. This also explains longer distance records, such as the one from Nova Zembla. Such long-distance sound waves do not travel in the ordinary air close to the ground but in the rarer and less resistant air 50 or 60 miles up. These highlevel sound waves gradually bend downward again toward the earth, so that they travel in a vast bowshaped curve. "How far away was that flash of lightning?" is a common question. The answer is that sound travels through hot summer air (100°) at 1,266 feet a second. In zero weather sound flies through dry air at 1,088 to 1,150 feet a second. Speed of sound (feet per second) in other mediums-ice-cold vapor, 4,708; vapor at 60 degrees, 5,657; ice-cold water, 4,938; granite, 12,960; iron (hot), 15,480 to 17,390; steel, cast, 16,360; wood (oak), 12,620; brick, 11,980; glass, 16,410 to 19,690; clay rock, 11,420; gold, 5,717 to 6,890; silver, 8,658. The Apostles' Creed The English form of the Apostles' Creed, as now said in the Roman Catholic Church, is as follows: "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven; sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the Holy Catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen." Important Tunnels of the World Source: Railroad and Other Records (Figures in parentheses show length and year completed or put in operation) Taft-(8,750 ft.) In the Bitter Root Mountains. UNITED STATES Constructed in 1908-1909 for the Chicago, MilAlameda-Oakland, Calif.; vehicular, under Inner waukee & Puget Sound Railroad. under Mt. Washington, Harbor, 4,500 ft. Baltimore, Md., railroad (Baltimore & Ohio)-Pittsburgh-Vehicular, Under Howard St., over 7,000 ft., 1894; (Pennsylvania), under Hoffman St., 3,400 ft., 1871; under Wilson St. 4,960 ft., 1873; under Winchester St., 2,190 ft., 1873. Bitter Root Mountains, Mont.-Idaho, railroad, 10,100 ft. Busk-Ivanhoe, Colo.-Originally railroad, but now automobile highway, 9,600 ft., under Rocky Mts.. at Continental Divide. 5,889 ft., 1924. St. Clair-Under St. Clair River from Sarnia, Ont., to Port Huron, Mich., 2 miles; opened 1891. Southern Pacific and Central Pacific Railroad tunnels: Chatsworth Park, through Coast Range Mountains, in Los Angeles County, Cal., 1.4 miles; San Fernando, through Spur 1.32 miles; Siskiyou, on Shasta Line, 3,107.7 ft. long; began operation Oct. 5, 1887; Shasta, 3,654.6 ft. long: operation began Sept. 1, 1926; Norden, on the Ogden route, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. between Norden and Eder, built on a tangent; 10,325 feet long, opened to traffic on Oct. 15, 1925. Strawberry-Through the Wasatch Mountains. Detroit (1) railroad (Mich. Central), under De-Sutro-Drains the Comstock Lode in Nevada, 411⁄2 miles; opened 1879. troit River to Windsor, Can., 2,668 ft. excl. approaches, 1910; (2) vehicular, under Detroit River, to Windsor, Can., 2,200 ft. excl. approaches, 1930. Cascade, Wash.-Railroad (Great Northern), under Cascade Mts., 41,152 ft. (7.79 miles), straight as a rifle bore, 1929. Cumberland, Tenn.-Under Cumberland Mts. 8,000 ft. Gallitzin Railroad (Pennsylvania), under Alle- Moffat, Colo.-Railroad (6.1 miles) (Denver & Salt Mt. Roberts, Juneau, Alaska-11⁄2 miles. New York City-Railroad, 3 (6 tubes) under Hud- Shandaken tunnel of the Catskill water supply system carries the water of Schoharie creek under the Catskill mountains from the northerly side to the southerly side. It is 18 miles long, was driven from 1 portal and from 8 shafts from 260 to 647 feet deep. The maximum depth of the tunnel below the surface is about 2,200 feet. Put in service in 1924. At the other end of the Catskill system, deep under the Boroughs of The Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn, there are two distributing tunnels (called City Tunnels), which now distribute Catskill water and will distribute Delaware water to the different parts of the City. City Tunnel No. 1 is 18 miles long and from 15 feet to 11 feet in diameter. It was driven from 25 shafts and is from 200 feet to 750 feet deep. Connections to street mains are made through 22 shafts. Put in service in 1917. City Tunnel No. 2 is 20 miles long. generally 17 feet in diameter, driven from 18 shafts and is generally 520 feet to 750 feet deep. Connections to street mains are made through 15 shafts. Put in service March 31, 1936. Franklin-Railroad, A. T. & S. F.. (5600 ft.) New & Ohio, (4211 ft.) In Allegheny Mountains, W. Va. Constructed in 1910. Kingswood-Railroad, Baltimore Kennerdell Railroad, Pennsylvania (3500 ft.), in CANADA Connaught-Through Selkirk Mountains, under Spiral-The tunnels on the Canadian Pacific Rail- ENGLAND Liverpool-Birkenhead Vehicular-Under the River CONTINENTAL EUROPE Col des Montets-On the electric railway from Mont Cenis-Italy to France, under the Col de Nice-Cuneo-Under the Alps; opened for rail St. Gothard-Through the Alps, connects Gosche- Simplon-Through the Alps, 64,971 feet: opened U. S. Fastest Scheduled Trains in the World Source: The Railway Gazette, London, England. Figures are based on runs in Europe through 1938, and in United States through Summer of 1940. DIESEL TRACTION (over 72 m.p.h.) STEAM TRACTION (over 68 m.p.h.) FD 21 FOREIGN Chelt'ham Flyer. Silver Jubilee. Ostend Quay.. UNITED STATES Sparta... Brussels Midi.). Berlin (Lehrter). Paddington. Darlington King's Cross Detroit Arrow. Pennsylvania. Detroit Arrow.. Portage. N. Y. Central.. 20th Cent. Ltd.. Elkhart.. New Lisbon, Portage 58 43.1 33 78.4 81.0 37.9 30 75.8 Watertown 46.9 38 74.1 |