30,000 Scouts Gather in Washington Washington, June 29, The largest Boy Scout Jamboree ever held in America opened here to-day with the arrival of 30,00 scouts and a further 70,000 -friends and relations who had come to see the display.
The "Boy Scout City" covers a site of 400 acres along the banks of the Potomac River. It consists of 10,000 tents, and boasts a public utility system of remarkable size. including eight miles of' specially-laid water conduits, providing 1,000,- 000 gallons daily, 74 kitchens ana 250 cooks, 24 field hospitals four ambulances and 100 doctors, an electric light system, four miles of sewers, 1,500 shower baths, 100 telephone' connections, 25 branch post offices, 'a daily newspaper published and printed in the camp, and an arena seating 30,000 people. The Jamboree will last until July 8 and is expected to attract about 1,000,000 visitors to Washington.
The Scouts will be reviewed by President Roosevelt and will be entertained by him to a garden party in the White House: grounds, The Scout authorities are proud of the way in which they solved the washing-up problem. Instead of hiring upwards of 10,000 plates, they have bought 2487,42 paper plates, and claim they have calculated the supply so accurately that not one will be wasted.—Reuter.
Children would be fascinated by some of the devices used in the Physics Department for investigating noise problems. One of these is a tiny windmill, each sail of which is tipped with a "boot" As the- sail revolves the "boots" deliver a succession of blows on a floor. The noise represents that of a person walking in an upstairs flat.
By substituting for the ordinary floor an-insulated floor resting on rubber supports it was found that the sound of footsteps could be almost eliminated.
One of the most highly sensitive instruments made by the laboratory this year is a_microphone-amplifier equipment, with which it is possible to detect the presence of destructive insects in timber, It has even been found possible to distinguish between. different kinds of insects or larvae, by noting the differences in the sounds made by them, though the insects may be far below the surface of the timber.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.