A dispatch from Memphis, Tenn., says that the Southern Pacific Railroad is making elaborate preparations for the use of oil as fuel through that system. The company intend to establish steel tanks of 50,000 barrels average capacity along their lines. It is stated that the company intend to use oil for generating power on the locomotives from one end of the line to the other, and eventually on their engines, ferryboats and steamboats.

The United States government has decided henceforth to put its trust in electrical alarm devices rather than in bolts and bars and steel safes as means of protecting the public funds from the enterprising and up-to-date burglar. It is well known that by the use of electricity and certain secret compounds known to expert burglars, any vault or safe can be opened in a short time. The solution of this question seems to be in installing electrical alarm systems, whereby it will be impossible for burglars to enter or even make an attempt to disturb vaults without an alarm being given that will instantly call police or other protection. Devices have already been invented and put in use which demonstrate the entire practicability of electrical protection. Not only do they give instantaneous alarm whenever the safes or vaults are tampered with, but they report automatically every minute or two that everything is all right. Even if communication were interrupted so that an alarm could not be given, the fact that the regular automatic report is not received would cause the sending of men instantly to ascertain if there were any trouble.

Lieut.-Col. R. E. B. Crompton, the well-known English electrical engineer, is the author of the following very interesting sketch, published in the London financial paper, Electrical Investments :

" On one occasion Dr. Wm. Siemens was lecturing on arc lamps at the Royal Institution, and in those days it was the custom to work lamps with very short arcs. Owing to the fact that it was not appreciated that 45 volts were necessary for arc lamps, makers only allowed 35 volts, so that the lamps were always fizzing and hissing and forming ' mushrooms' or ' cauliflowers' on the negative carbon. Dr. Siemens was lecturing on the arc lamp, when one of these cauliflowers fell off one of his own lamps on to the center of his head - which was bald - and produced a most remarkable effect. I do not think the Royal Institution ever witnessed a more pleasing experiment."

The German ministers of war and agriculture have offered several prizes, 10,000 marks being the highest, for military automobiles using alcohol fuel.

Rear-Admiral Bradford, chief of the Bureau of Equipment, is investigating, through his agents abroad, all the systems of wireless telegraphy of any merit, with a view of ultimate adoption of one of them for the use of the navy. Thus it is to be presumed that the ships-of-war of the United States will have the best system.