Waltham High School - Mirror Yearbook (Waltham, MA)

Page 15 text:

IAIVELL 'I'IV9 'EISVS V061 E! F we Q 'qdvg '.xo1Ae,-L :VW PUUZH 21403 alsavzy A 93!'l1XX -n 5. 3 WO 11: :JUA1 '-I z3poH 'ASW 'zuzaag -:BW -xssv 'auoqg szgdeqg 'Blish

Page 14 text:

4 WATCH CITY BULLETIN. its light almost equals that of the arc. One glance at this is quite enough. In this way heat is con- stantly poured into our brick box until the desired temperature is attained, or the bricks melt. One frequently finds on opening a furnace that half a brick has melted away into the bottom of the furn- ace. For very powerful currents, furnaces must be lined with carbon, as every other substance melts at this intense heat, and even carbon is slowly vapor- ized. The hardest and most durable rocks quickly melt. An electric furnace in action is sometimes an awe-inspiring spectacle. In making silicon, jets of flame six or eight inches long shoot from the furnace and light the room more brightly than if the sun were si' ' ' ' , . nr ows. These flames of l1n1ng1n at all the wi I the burning vapor of silicon are just as dazzling to look at as the sun itself. Many other metals also distil out of the furnace and burn, so that the room is often so filled with smoke that in spite of three windows, the door and ventilator in the roof all open, we are compelled to retreat out of doors. A curious danger attending work about an electric furnace is that of ftsunburnf' My wrists smart from it now. The eyes must be shielded from the direct light of the are or of burning silicon, etc The men who work in the furnace room have the appearance of coal heavers, for the finely ground carbon that is often used as a reducing agent, is blown out by the gases generated and settles ovei all persons and things indiscriminately. Yet in spite of the dirt and the disagreeble fumes I derive more pleasure from my experiments with the electric furnace than from any others. It is the exploration of a newly discovered continent in the world of chemistry. An experiment of a few days ago may l l l i l i u l l n l l l l v l give you an idea of the intense heat of the electric furnace. I melted some brass, intending to add something else to it, but the zinc distilled out and burned in the air, leaving the copper behind. This principle of fractional distillation was made use of in preparing the specimen of chromium now in the chemical laboratory of the high school. The sodium of the sodium dichromate, from which it was made, distilled away in a torrent of fumes. The way in which the furnace room was- set on fire a month ago shows even better the terrific heat of the furnace. This particular one consisted of a sheet iron box two and a half feetlong with a double layer of fire-brick all around and on the bottom. The current had been on all day, and was turned off at five P. M. There was no sign of fire then, nor at midnight when the last man left the furnace room, yet when the engineer came at seven the next morn- ing the woodwork in the room was about burned up. The heat within the furnace, had, during the night been conducted down through two layers of fire-brick and the five inches of the cement table top, and so set fire to the wooden supports beneath. Such heat as this is beyond the capacity of the high school equipment, but any experiments in electro- lysis, and even a small arc furnace, the equal of that with which Moisson began his world-renowned researches in electrochemistry, are within the range of the school outt, and I feel sure that any boy who once becomes interested in this fascinating field of experiment will not willingly give it up. VVith best wishes to my boys and girls of the High school, I am. Sincerely yours, OLIVER P. YVATTs.

Page 16 text:

'mfr' ' A' 'asf' x - . - nl' . JL? x ' 4 'V ,v-'.v1:.Q.., 1 .,,, 5. , 5,0 . X , -,,'- . ' 1 X4 . ,Ae 'f ' w ' r , s A, ,I X N, If wi rf if-' ' 1' 'rg.! . 7, r , ui. 'Q' YN.: . YC -04. f a qw! 5 Q - , . ' 1 n Q ff . , ' v., '11 A Y, vw, W ,ffl ,w 1 ' 4 . '- ' - V .'..- I -s ,, A 1 4 . A A-'T W1 - ' 1 '- Q -. -if ' W . . I . , - ' .4 - 4, ,. ., '.. I ' 'f - 5 , , , .5 ' ' . - vue: - N , v .. ., ' I 14.': x L',,.L ,. , h Q' , ' 45 ..-:Y f y aff- . ' ' -ra- . A, , NL. lb T . ' 5 L N ' . I ,Q ' ' , F, ' -iw-1,..g, --sg ' ' ,A M .ry .-2 'f rg- 'Q ' w . 4 N .-4, 'gil-f.-. ff if ' ' I ' ,df jf. U ' . N 1. , ,iw .. D, Lf, A f A 4 , .- its , . . f.. 4 'T 5.9 is . ,H ,n , ' ' - '1,13.V:' . 'Q J N Q5 , ' ..'fr':: fl f - . -' 1 H- 47, f 4 'P ' . W f,4,, -.,Ji, -' v' - .' - J ' -5 . . , , , , ,t . , V ' - . 4 4 x :T 1 1::?P ' V5-L 'L . '., 2 , .'-.4 5- ' ',J-g,,u 'f-- ' 41- ' , ' ' 1- . '-fx: . , 4 Q , 9 ,., . '-,., . Pulau 'I' , ff VT. ,.L,',-11'-41- fx, - ., , - . .. , -, ' 4:3-:?'3!??f 1 , V 11.1 -,Q g-,--' J .J '45 . .. Vi . , '.f t A ,, -. -3 , .D I ,,- di, -.vfw!QvQJ 5- jf , . ' 5- ' il.. . ' ' 1: 3 'W V? .Z .,m,A,A,!V ,4 h , f ,'- H ' .::'4 . A-v ,w .i V' I f 1l,,.,-:ML ,bi .-F4 - ' la.,-Q ,- 1 N N . f , in 12' 1 1 vt- .Nx- . 'Li ,Ji Y . ,, HK. . .. :sn u .x ' , . , J QQ r-rv i ..l. , A-'JV' g' if 41' , 'jl.gx.43fc:! fnzng -' .Y?k if-' l r 4 . - V-Q -Adi: ,f 5, 'MT D Y 7 Ar.. Q-.Q ef' 1 11,5 ,eq t f -v mv, 'V 1.x A grhgl - V 2 . ff f .fs 5' -' ff.. -l .,,.',. 533 P- i