310
me two miles west of Gap Rock. The course was altered at noon on the 7th inst. with the object of steering two miles west of Gap Rock.
Commander Ramsey-You consider that two miles west of Gap Rock is a safe course ?.
Witness-Yes!
Proceeding, witness said that the look-out man was on the look-out bridge forward He was not engaged in heaving the lead. Witness was expecting the fog signal from Gap Reck.
Commander Rumsey-lid you mention to anyone the fact that you had not heard the sigoal?
Witness-Only to the second officer. It was owing to the fact that we had not heard the signal that we went on deck till such time as we should see the light or hear the signal. I did not make any special remark about the fact.
Commander Rumsey-According to the speed you have given, the ship for some little time must have been within a radius of a mile and a balf of Gap Rock.
Witness-Yes. We were going dead slow. Commander Rumsey--Were you blowing your Whistle?
Witness-No.
In answer to Captain Payne witness said he expected to bear the fog signal.
}
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
appointed fog sigual at that station was not heard until almost immediately before she struck. That if the Gap Rock fog signal had ben heard the casualty would probably not have oc- curred.
The telegraphic fog report which is usually made from the Gap Rock to the Harbour Master was put before the Court; from this it adduces that the firing of the fog signal began at 4.20 a.. and was continued till 11 a.m. and the correctness of this information being assumed the attention of the Court is directed to the re. marks of the United States Hydrographio Office on the subject of the Uncertainty of Audibility of Fog Signals," published in their Pilot Chat of the North Pacific Ocean for November, 1894. and the Court concludes that these remarks have been exemplified in the present case.
The Court therefore absolves the master from blame and his certificate is returned to him.
LECTURE ON ARGON.
A meeting of the Odd Volumes Society was held on Friday, at 5.30 p.m., to hear a lecture on argon, the recently discovered constituent of the atmosphere, by Mr. Frank Browne, F.C.S., Assistant Government Analyst. The Hon. J. H. Stewart Lockhart presided.
W. E. Renell, second officer, said-I had the 12 to 4 watch on 8th April. At four o'clock the weather was bright and clear. The captain or. dred me to take the casts, and I found 26
Tho lecturer first pointed out that unlike recent discoveries, in which elements had been found fathoms. I asked the captain if I should stay ou deck, and he said Yes." The captain ordered in but small amounts, the present investigation another cast, and I got 23 fathoms. A1 5 o'clock of Lord Raleigh and Professor Ramsay had dis- I took another cast, and I had not measured the closed the presence of a new gas, which was gauge when the ship took the bottom. I was present to a very large extent in the atmosphere. coming along the flying bridge with the tube Seeing that the weight of the atmosphere is from the last sonnding when I heard the Gap estimated to be about 11 trillions of pounds, Rock fog signal, and the ship took the ground and as argon forins about one per cent. of this almost immediately after. I heard the tele-weight, it is surprising that this new substance graph ring, and I knew by the vibration should have hitherto escaped detection. Having that it meant "action." When I took the pointed out and experimentally shown in ordin sounding at five o'clock 1 consider the ship ary air the presence and separation of carbonic was not going more than 2 knots. There acid gas and oxygen, thus leaving a mixture of
lecturer argon, the was no light on land to be seen up to the time of nitrogen and taking the cast, and it was not until the ship related step by step the successive portions which the authors bad tonched that I saw anything at all. It must of the research, by have been less than two minutes between the claimed to have added to the number of the time I felt the shock of tonching the ground elements! It appears that Lord Raleigh no- sud the time I felt the vibration of going astern. ticed that "atmospherio" nitrogen was always For the first two custs I was assisted by a quar. slightly heavier than chemical nitrogen (that termaster named Richards, and for the third by is, nitrogen obtained from chemical compounds.
• quartermaster named Kabb. The look out as ammonia, urea, nitrous oxide, nitric oxide. man on the forward bridge was not called to and ammonium nitrite). Professor Ramsay then assist in heaving the line. I expected to hear the suggested that experiments should be made in the previously Gap Rock signal, but we did not hear it order to until just before we struck.
so-called nitrogen might not contain some other unknown gas, which being heavier than
Robert Anderson, said-I am second eugi-
whether ascertaiu
then
[April 25, 1895.
nitrogen spectrum To Olszewski had been en. trusted the determination of the gas' behaviour at low temperatures; at 128.6 deg. C ander a pressure of 38 atmospheres argon was condensed to a liquid, and at 189.6 deg. C the gas was solidified. The principle of ascertaining the capacity for heat in gases was then explained; in the case of the new substance advantage had been taken of the relation which the velocity of sound in a gas bears to its capacity for heat, in order to determine its specific heat, which is 1.63. The gas will not noite at present with say other element or compound, whence the name argon." The lecture concluded by Mr. Browne pointing out that more than ten years had been expended on this research, a period chiefly devoted to weary weighings, which had to be effected under considerable difficulty. Nevertheless the result bad well repaid the t ouble taken, and although still much time and care were requisite in order to de- cide whether argon was a simple or com- pound substance, the results now attained on titled the discovery to be considered the most important that has been announced to the scien tific world for many years. A discussion fol- lowed, after which votes of thanks to the obair- mau and lecturer closed the meeting.
HONGKONG SKY MACE MEETING.
If those people who attended the Hongkong Sky Races on Saturday afternoon had been asked at noon whether they intended to go to the races the questioner would no doubt have been laughed at for putting such an absurd query. During the forenoon the possibility of there being any races at all appeared to be very remote, for dark clouds, a thunderstorm, and heavy rains at one time threatened the postpone- ment of the meeting. But fortunately the weather behaved itself properly; the rain cleared off in good time, and the course was in capital condition. There was a very good attendance of spectators, amongst whom were His Excel- lency the Governor, Lieutenant-General Barker, Major-General Black, and Admiral Fremantle, and the sport was thoroughly enjoyable. The fields were large, but as a rule the finishes were not very exciting, although this fact did not les sen the interest in the afternoon's proceedings. At the conclusion of the races the cups were pre- The following were the sented by Mrs. Barker. officers-
Committee: -Capt. H. F. E. Goold Adams, R.A., Lieut. R. Alexander, R.P., Lient-Colonel Barrow, H.K R., Lord C. Conyngham, R.B., Mr. W. A. Cruickshank, Capt. L. A. Ú. Gorden,
neer, and on the 8th inst. I had 4 to 8 o'clock nitrogen| might account for the discrepan R, A., Mr. G. C. C. Master, Mr. F. H. May, Capt.
watch. Shortly after 6 o'clock the second officer came down and said that we might be going slow or stopping, and so I was to be ready. Witness then spoke of the various reductions in the speed between 4 o'clock and the time the vessel struck.
An able seaman named Smith said he was on the look-out between 4 and 6 o'clock on the 8th inst. He was not specially warned to listen for fog siga ls. The ürst time be heard the fog signal was just before the ship struck.
The Court then adjourned.
On resuming the Court delivered the ing finding:
We find that the British steamship. Poly phemus, official number 97,818, of which Wil ham Thomas Chubb was Master (certificate No. 010,481 of Liverpool), left singapore ou the 1st April, 1895, for Hongkong with general
cargo.
noted. (in an examination of Cavendish's experiments, carried out in 1785, they noticed that this worker bad, to a certain extent in dicated that "atmospheric nitrogen might contain some foreign material; this gas when sparked with oxygen should be completely absorbed by alkali, which he found was not the
cuse.
W. H. B. Murray, A.D.C.. Lient-Colonel O'Gor- man, D.A.A.G, Lieut. C. S. Taylor, RA, Capt. A. A. Thomas, D.A.A.G.
Judge:-Hon, J. J. Keswick, Starter:-Mr. A. Babington.
Clerk of the Scales:-Capt. W. H. Murray, A.D.C.
Hon. Treasurer:-Mr. A. Babington. Hon Secretary : -Mr. Hart Buck. During the afternoon the Band of the Rifle Brigade played the following selections:- Quadrille......
Monte Carlo " "Bauer and Dichter"
Overture Valse Selection. Dance
Galop
F4
"Louisana
"
Hewitt.
Suppe.
Squire.
Godfrey.
Schirbel.
"Little Christopher Columbus” Caryll. "The Boston Belle "Champagne
The two investigators then repeated the sparking process and separated a gas (argon), which was found to weigh 19.9, when nitrogen weighs paly 14, Another method for the separation of the two gases (uitrogen and argon) was then employed; it cousisted in passing the follow-gaseous mixture over heated magnesium, whịch retained the nitrogen, and the argon separated was found to be identical in properties with that obtained by the process of sparking. The speaker then explained that if a mixture of gases
"God save the Queen." be drawn through some porous material, as a day HALF MILE RACE; prize presented; for all pip, the lighter gases, according to a fixed law, China ponies; weight for inches as per soule diffuse faster than the heavier. This fact was with 12lbs. added; subscription griffins of made use of by the co-workers, and nitrogen and 1891/95, allowed 7lbs.; bona fide polo ponies argon, having been drawn through a series of and hacks, allowed Abs.; second to receive porous pipes, the lighter nitrogen diffusing left $10; third to save stake. Entrance, $3. a gas containing much argon. As it might be Capt. Thomas' Morrison, 11st.........(Owner) open to criticism as to whether this new gas Mr. Manners' Magic, 11st. 3lbs. might not be formed from the "atmospheric
(Mr. Hart Book) nitroged by the sparking and magnesium pro- Mr. W. D. Graham's Haughty, 10st. 12lbs. (Mr. Gedge) chemical" nitrogen was subjected to vessel in a seamaulike and proper manner.
a like treatment, but gave nu argou.
Lord C. Conyngham's Glenties (late Glen- That the vessel appears to have been sufperties of the new constituent were then dwelt
gairn) 11st. 9lbs......(Owner) ficiently found and manned.
upon, from which it appeared that the gas is Mr. John Peel's Griffin, 11st.
(Mr. Cruickshank) 0 colourless, without odour, density 19.9, and is
Morrison was of course the favourite. At the more than 24 times as soluble in water as nitrogen. The peculiarity of its spectra was start Magic led, with the others following iu then brought under notice, the principle of the line, Haughty being the closest to the leader. spectroscope being explained by exhibiting and The ponies were in a bunch when the bend was explaining an instrument. Argon gives 199 reached, and it was then that Morrison, who had bands, not one of which can be found in the been kept in reserve, shot to the front, and won
That on the morning of the 8th April at about five o'clock in foggy weather the ship took the ground on Jubilee Island (approaches to loug kong), the Master himself being on watch at the time.
The Court having regard to the evidence before it finds as follows :-
That the Master appears to have navigated his
That a safe and proper course was being steered and that when the weather became thick the necessary precautions were taken with the exception that the steam whistle was not sounded That the ship must have passed the Gap Rock at a distance of not more than 14 miles. she going at a moderate or slow speed, but that the
cesses,
The pro-
!