The Wonder Book of Knowledge: The Marvels of Modern Industry and Invention, the Interesting Stories of Common Things, the Mysterious Processes of Nature Simply Explained
History
The Wonder Book of Knowledge: The Marvels of Modern Industry and Invention, the Interesting Stories of Common Things, the Mysterious Processes of Nature Simply Explained
Industrial arts -- History
When the crowd on the other side of the baseball grounds yells across
the field it seems as though we have heard their cheers as soon as they
have been given, and so we have for all practical purposes, although in
reality half a second has elapsed while the sound has been coming across
the field. The time taken by sound in traveling is more apparent when
the volume is sufficient to carry it a long distance. The sound of an
explosion of a large quantity of dynamite and ammunition in Jersey City
was not heard in Philadelphia, ninety miles away, for over seven minutes
after it occurred.
[Illustration: CLIFF DWELLINGS, WALPI, ARIZONA]
[Illustration: _Photo by Brown Bros._
HOMES OF THE LONG-AGO
Famous reproduction of the Cliff-dwellers’ Ruins, near Colorado Springs,
Col. The cliff-dwellers of early America built their habitations in the
canyons of the Colorado and Rio Grande, where the action of the elements
had worn away a layer of soft rock, leaving layers of hard rock above
and below as roof and floor for the dwelling.]
What were the First Apartment Houses in this Country?
A great many years ago, long before the white men came to America, there
was a race of Indians called “cliff-dwellers,” because they built their
dwelling places far up on the sides of steep cliffs. They probably made
their homes so hard to reach in order that they might be safe from
visits of their enemies. While many of their homes were small
single-family houses, there were also a number of large two and
three-story dwellings with many rooms in which different families lived.
Some of these cliff dwellings may still be seen in the valleys of the
Rio Grande and the Rio Colorado and its tributaries. Close examination
shows that many of them were very skilfully built, every advantage being
taken of the natural rock formations, and the stones being dressed and
laid in clay mortar, very much as the bricklayer does his work on an
up-to-date apartment house today. The outsides of the buildings somewhat
resembled the cement houses which have been put up in later days, a coat
of clay being spread on the outside walls and carefully smoothed off.
Oftentimes the inner walls were plastered too.
Many relics of the inhabitants have been found in these cliff dwellings,
although we cannot tell how they lived, for the region is now rainless
and therefore destitute of food plants. Conditions must have been
different then and the ground less barren.
Why do We Call 32° Above Zero “Freezing”?
We know that freezing is the transformation of a liquid into solid under
the influence of cold. Each liquid always solidifies at some fixed
temperature, which is called its freezing point, and the solid melts
again at the same temperature. Thus the freezing point and the melting
point, or point of fusion, are the same, and the point is always the
same for the same substance.
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